We have 10 digital prize packs to give away to 10 Riot readers. The prize pack includes:
Celine by Peter Heller
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
The Book of Polly by Kathy Hepinstall
Life can be stressful. Book Club doesn’t have to be. Listen to your next book club pick on audio! Visit PenguinRandomHouseAudio.com/book club and get ideas, recipes, and recommendations to make your next book club meeting even more enjoyable.
Go here to enter the giveaway, or just click the image below:
Hey there, YA Readers!
Kelly is off on a well-deserved vacation this week, so she asked me to come on to host her YA newsletter to talk about some great middle grade/YA crossover reads! If you’ve read my stuff on Book Riot, you know that I love middle grade books (books geared for eight to twelve year olds). But I read lots of YA too, and it’s always fun to find “bridge books” that are fun for older middle grade readers who are looking for something new but who might not be into the more mature themes of typical YA.
The following books have just been released or are very-soon-to-be-published books that would appeal to older MG readers but would still be interesting for YA lovers. So many awesome titles out there this year, and I look forward to hearing what you think about them!
First, let’s look at some fantasy books. My first pick is Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway. This Japanese retelling of the Momotaro Peach Boy story is fresh, modern, and funny. Sixth grader Xander Miyamoto finds everything boring: school, annoying Lovey from school, and his no-adventure spring break. When his father gives him a comic book about a samurai warrior who pops out of a peach pit, Xander also finds that boring… until it leads to an adventure for him and his best friend Peyton to save Xander’s father. Spring break turns out to be not so boring after all. For those who love this book (as I’m sure you will), look out for the sequel. Momotaro: Xander and the Dream Thief comes out on April 18th.
Another new fantasy read, The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi, will be released by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers on March 28th. An exciting, Middle Eastern spin on Jumanji, The Gauntlet is a great read for readers who love adventure and games. When twelve-year-old Farah discovers a wrapped package on her birthday, she assumes it’s a gift from her aunt. Upon opening it and beginning to play it with her two best friends, they discover that the rules of the game are life and death, and when Farah’s brother gets sucked into the game and disappears Farah and her friends have no other choice but to follow him. But no one told them that the only way to escape the game is to win it…
One of my favorite books of the year is Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren, published by Bloomsbury USA on April 4th. I couldn’t put this book down! The book begins with thirteen-year-old Valor purposefully getting herself sent to Tyur’ma, an ice-cold children’s prison. She does this to follow her twin sister Sasha, who was accused of stealing a priceless item from the royal family. Author Ruth Lauren builds her story with skill and exquisite detail. A perfect read for upper middle grade and above who want a story filled with adventure and suspense.
One more fantasy pick: Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones, coming out from Alfred A. Knopf on September 19th. I know this book doesn’t come out for a while, but I had to add it because it’s such a fresh take on Regency-era mysteries and would be a lot of fun for many readers, especially advanced upper middle grade readers. The story is set in 1818 and begins with 16-year-old Annis Whitworth discovering that her father is dead and that all his money is missing. Oh, and that he might have been a spy. That leaves her with no choice but to become a spy too, of course. Unfortunately, no one takes her seriously so she takes matters into her own hand, using her rare magical ability to sew glamours, garments that can disguise the wearer completely. Then she takes on a double life and disguises herself as Madame Martine. Can she find out who killed her father and save her inheritance?
My favorite genre is realistic fiction, and there are some great books coming out for older middle grade and younger YA that you should keep an eye out for. My first pick: Braced by Alyson Gerber, published by Arthur A. Levine Books and coming out on March 28th. This is an amazing book about scoliosis and how to persevere amidst the many plot twists of adolescence. Rachel Brooks is thrilled about a new school year, the possibility of playing forward on her soccer team, and being done with appointments with her scoliosis doctor. But just when things start to look up, Rachel gets bad news: the sideways curve on her spine has worsened and Rachel needs to wear a restrictive brace twenty-three hours a day. I loved this book, and it’s definitely a great one for tween and teen readers!
Speed of Life by Carol Weston is coming out on April 4th from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, and I cannot wait. It’s the story about fourteen-year-old Sofia, whose mother died eight months ago. While her friends and community have been super supportive, with the new school year everyone is moving on while Sofia is still struggling. She comes across advice columnist Dear Kate, and finds herself writing to her… a lot. Suddenly, she finds herself opening up to Kate and sharing about her grief and even asking some embarrassing growing up questions. Which is great until Sofia discovers a secret about Kate that changes everything. I loved this funny, multicultural cast of characters and the realistic portrayal of grief.
The fabulous cover of Well, That Was Awkward by Rachel Vail sucked me in immediately. This modern-day take of Cyrano de Bergerac is so funny and enjoyable with a quick, quirky humor. It begins when Gracie starts noticing A.J. – like, noticing, noticing. But A.J. likes Gracie’s friend Sienna, and Sienna wants Gracie to write texts to him from her because she’s too nervous to do it herself. A.J. has surprisingly witty replies to her texts, really unlike how he is in person, and Gracie finds she’s enjoying talking to him. But wait – if she’s writing on behalf of Sienna, is someone writing on behalf of A.J.? A perfect adventure in mistaken identities, this book kept my interest from first page to last.
Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar (Nancy Paulsen Books, 4/11/2017), is another one of my favorite reads from this year. This compelling story is based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s as the daughter of Cuban-Jewish immigrants adjusting to life in New York City. It’s told from the point of view of Ruthie Mizrahi, hopscotch queen and proud owner of a brand-new pair of go-go boots. But when a devastating car accident leaves Ruthie in a body cast and confined to bed for month after month, Ruthie has to find peace as her body heals. A beautifully written, compelling read. (And the cover! So gorgeous!)
For non-fiction, Lion: A Long Way Home Young Reader’s Edition by Saroo Brierley, is a great foray into young reader’s editions. Adapted from Saroo Brierley’s memoir about being separated from his family on a train in India when he was five, this story tells a riveting tale of memory and what it means to feel connected to family and a culture. A great bridge book for readers getting interested in narrative non-fiction.
Well, that’s it for me! Thanks for letting me share some of the great crossover MG/YA books coming out. Next week, Kelly is back with more YA awesomeness. Happy reading!
-Karina Glaser
@KarinaYanGlaser
Cage Match is back! Unbound Worlds is pitting science fiction characters against fantasy characters in a battle-to-the-death tournament, and you can win a collection of all 32 books featured in the competition.
Enter now for your chance to win this library of sci-fi and fantasy titles!
The Kids Are All Right
What began as a first-grade class project has become a best-selling book! Last year, Nia Mya Reese of Birmingham, Alabama wrote a book about how to deal with an troublesome sibling. She and her parents turned it into a summer project and recently published the finished product, How to Deal With and Care For Your Annoying Little Brother, and it has flown up the charts. At this writing, Nia Mya holds the #1 and #3 spots in the “siblings” and “school-age children” categories respectively. We’re not sure how many copies have sold, but we do know this: Nia Mya, you’re our hero of the week.
Black Eyed Peas to Publish Original Graphic Novel
Entertainment Weekly reported this week that the Black Eyed Peas (yes, Fergie and the gang) have partnered with Marvel to write an original graphic novel. Masters of the Sun – The Zombie Chronicles follows hip-hop fan Zulu-X and his crew as they take on an alien God who attacks Los Angeles and turns the residents into zombies. Aside from the fact that this whole shebang sounds like it was spit out of the Comics Industry Mad Libs Engine (and Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso’s dubious claim that “Few artists have done more to embed hip-hop in popular culture than will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas”), this one is weird and interesting enough that my curiosity might overwhelm my extreme side-eye. The cover is pretty rad, too.
Pride and Prejudice and Neo-Nazis
Speaking of unexpected combinations and extreme side-eye! Members of the alt-right movement have begun quoting Jane Austen and referring to her novels as “blueprints for a white nationalist “ethno-state.” (Whatever the hell that means.) Anyone who has actually read Austen knows that she wasn’t really about that white male patriarchal system, so I guess the real headline here is (shocker) neo-Nazis don’t read.
Thanks to Things I Should Have Known by Claire LaZebnik for sponsoring This Week in Books.
From the author of Epic Fail comes the story of Chloe Mitchell: a girl on a quest to find love for her autistic sister, Ivy. Ethan, Ivy’s classmate, seems like the perfect match. It’s unfortunate that his older brother, David, is one of Chloe’s least favorite people but Chloe can deal, especially when she realizes that David is as devoted to Ethan as she is to Ivy. Winsome and witty, this is a novel about sisterhood, autism, and first love. Things I Should Have Known will steal readers’ hearts and remind us all of a different kind of normal.
We have 10 copies of Lola: A Novel by Melissa Scrivner Love to give away to 10 Riot readers.
Here’s what it’s about:
An astonishing debut crime thriller about an unforgettable woman who combines the genius and ferocity of Lisbeth Salander with the ruthless ambition of Walter White. The Crenshaw Six are a small but up-and-coming gang in South Central LA who have recently been drawn into an escalating war between rival drug cartels. To outsiders, the Crenshaw Six appear to be led by a man named Garcia, but the gang’s real leader (and secret weapon) is Garcia’s girlfriend, a brilliant young woman named Lola.
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the cover image below:
Salutations and felicitations, my fellow SF/F fans!
If short stories are your bag (as I suspect they are, given how many of you clicked that flash fiction link last time), I have excellent news for you: Lightspeed magazine is offering a free three-month trial subscription to new folks, or a free three-month extension to existing subscribers. I’m a fan — their monthly issues regularly feature some of my favorite authors both established and newly minted, and they published the Queers Destroy Science Fiction and Women Destroy Science Fiction special issues. Nota bene: they are a digital-only publication.
We’ve been talking about fairytales on the regular here, so perhaps you will be as delighted with this round-up as I am: fairy- and folk-tale collections other than the Brothers Grimm! I need that “Beauty and the Beast” one ASAP.
I don’t usually have time for convincing people that genre fiction is worth their time (because obviously!?), but this piece of recs for those who think they only like genre-bending lit-fic is excellent. For anyone in your life who has ever wanted “genre but, you know, GOOD.” Assuming you have not already killed them with your brain.
Do you have a minute for outer space? Because scientists would like your help discovering exoplanets! (Side-note: the current administration would like to shut down the DSCOVER program, which could help us identify the climate of exoplanets; how is Elon Musk supposed to save humanity without that info, I would like to know?) (I jest.) (Kind of.)
Moving right along … You may recognize this week’s sci-fi pick as having popped up around the site before; I have fallen hard for this book. And if you have already read my second pick, could you please email back so we can gush about it? K thx.
Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař
In the Czech Republic, a scientist named Jakub Procházka boards a spaceship on a mission to collect and analyze cosmic dust from a mysterious intergalactic phenomenon. The eight-month mission, funded by corporate sponsors and made possible by political wheeling and dealing, is the pride and joy of the country and Procházka is a national hero. So far it sounds 100% plausible, right? Vast chunks of this book are in fact extremely possible, up to and including Jakub’s response to meeting a giant alien spider-thing that may or may not be a figment of his imagination.
Kalfař uses the lens of speculative fiction (magical scientific realism? Could that be a thing?) to dig deep into post-Soviet Union life in the Czech Republic, as well as the mysteries of Life, The Universe, and Everything. (My phrasing, not his, although I suspect Douglas Adams would approve.) Jakub has spent his life trying to atone for his father’s crimes under the Communist regime, and is struggling to understand his relationship with his wife Lenka — and also not die in outer space. He is not an extraordinary person, but rather a person in extraordinary circumstances. Whether he’s fighting for sanity, for survival, or for his marriage, he is deeply compelling. Like all good sci-fi, Spaceman of Bohemia asks big questions and gives us a great story in the process. This one is for lovers of near-future, thoughtful, and/or deeply weird novels.
The Sea Is Ours: Tales from Steampunk Southeast Asia, edited by Jaymee Goh and Joyce Chng
While the cover is not my favorite (I’m a photo-realism junkie, what can I say), the contents of this anthology are absolutely must-read, especially if you’re a fan of Nisi Shawl’s Everfair. The writers in this collection look not only at steam technology, strange beasties, and the occasional bustle, but at colonialism, empire, and often-overlooked countries.
This is a gorgeous example of what can happen when editors go in search of voices — particularly since, as they say in the introduction, “[O]ur anthology presents a range of authors and characters that is predominantly women, and hella queer.” And what a range of stories these writers produced! All of these pieces stand successfully on their own. I still find myself referencing “The Last Aswang”; “The Unmaking of the Cuadro Amoroso” and “On the Consequence of Sound” both deserve to be read right next to World Fantasy Award-winner The Chimes for their evocation of the power of music. Others are more “hijinks ensue” in style, but none are slight — each of these stories has a strongly-beating heart. Combined, they create a gorgeously textured alternative vision of our world. This collection is one of my favorites from the past year — there’s a story in here for any reader, and quite likely more than one.
This newsletter is sponsored by Unbound Worlds Cage Match 2017.
Cage Match is back! Unbound Worlds is pitting science fiction characters against fantasy characters in a battle-to-the-death tournament, and you can win a collection of all 32 books featured in the competition. Enter now for your chance to win this library of sci-fi and fantasy titles!
Today’s Riot Rundown is sponsored by LOLA: A NOVEL by Melissa Scrivner Love.
An astonishing debut crime thriller about an unforgettable woman who combines the genius and ferocity of Lisbeth Salander with the ruthless ambition of Walter White. The Crenshaw Six are a small but up-and-coming gang in South Central LA who have recently been drawn into an escalating war between rival drug cartels. To outsiders, the Crenshaw Six appear to be led by a man named Garcia, but the gang’s real leader (and secret weapon) is Garcia’s girlfriend, a brilliant young woman named Lola.
“Lola is a gritty, fast-paced thriller rife with gangland intrigue layered over a moving story of absolution.” –Booklist
Today’s The Stack is sponsored by Dark Horse Comics.
The Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, and Nebula award–winning novel and upcoming Starz television series by Neil Gaiman is adapted as a comic series for the first time!
Shadow Moon just got out of jail, only to discover his wife is dead. Defeated, broke, and uncertain as to where to go from here, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday, who employs him to serve as his bodyguard—thrusting Shadow into a deadly world of the supernatural, where ghosts of the past come back from the dead, and a brewing war between old and new gods hits a boiling point.
We have a prize pack of YA Science Fiction & Fantasy books to give away today, courtesy of Macmillan.
The prize pack includes:
Go here to enter for a chance to win, or just click the image below. Good luck!
Happy Spring, lovers!
What’s the weather like in your area? I’m down in the desert, and it’s pretty much already summer here…which means by the time June rolls around…*shudder*
What’s new in the romance world? Harlequin, for one.
This week’s newsletter is sponsored by Hard Justice by Lori Foster.
Justice Wallington knows how to harness his strength and intimidating size—skills he puts to good use as a bodyguard at the Body Armor agency. But no one has ever left him feeling as off balance as his new client, heiress Fallon Wade. It’s a risk-free assignment, until he’s required to fake a relationship with her… Fallon longs to experience life which isn’t easy with Justice shadowing her every move. Despite their differences, pretending to be a couple stirs undeniable heat. And when danger strikes again, it’s not just her safety in jeopardy, but a passion that’s real, raw and absolutely against the rules…
First, Harlequin announced that a new imprint would be rolling out soon, and not the one you know about: Hanover Square Press, an adult fiction, general nonfiction, memoir, etc. imprint, was created, I guess, to attract non-Romance readers. Why did Harlequin decide they needed to expand their brand (and their image)? Your guess is as good as mine.
What else has Harlequin done? They had already announced that their sexy contemporary line, Blaze, would be discontinued. Then, they announced that they were starting a new line, DARE (not to be confused with the drug prevention program). This line would include hot, daring, contemporary stories with “eyebrow raising sex”. Amanda Diehl and I are both confused as to what this would actually mean. Is this their drive to bring readers of more sexually adventurous or darker romance into the Harlequin fold? We don’t know, but it could be promising. More in 2018, I guess.
And of course, the Romance Writers of America’s RITA nominations were announced this week! And oh man, do I have some reading to do! How about you?
Over on Book Riot, nod along with guest author Natalya Muncuff as she declares her love for romance. It’s all about love, baby.
Since it’s Women’s History Month, let’s talk about some awesome historical women whose stories are out (or will be out soon):
An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole (Out March 28 THAT’S NEXT WEEK!!!)
I have been bouncing with excitement for the chance to talk more about this book now that it will be out soon. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, get on it! You’ll want to devour it immediately, I promise. This book has gotten a lot of press in the romance universe, and for good reason: this is a Civil War romance that defies the boundaries of Civil War romance, while still grasping upon the realities of history and giving us an untold story. With kissing.
And spies.
SPIES.
This is a CIVIL WAR SPY ROMANCE.
The heroine, Elle, has an eidetic memory, which makes her the perfect candidate to go deep, deep, undercover, posing as an enslaved woman in the household of a Confederate senator. She’s working with Malcolm, one of Pinkerton’s men, to discover any plans around a plot to sideline the Union in Richmond. The pair share a striking, soulful chemistry, and their banter is fantastic. If you’ve read any Alyssa Cole, you know what I’m talking about. If not, this will make an extraordinary introduction to her talents.
See what I did there? Heh.
Chasing Moonlight, Raven St. Pierre
This was…an intense experience. Set in 1941 Alabama, this book is not a sugarcoated interracial romance. Where Cole’s book is full of snark and humor, this one is much more earnest in its execution. Quinn, “the help” for a town reverend and his family, first meets Jesse when he comes to pick up the reverend’s daughter for a date. The two are drawn to each other, even though they both know that even speaking to each other is dangerous. As the two form a tenuous relationship involving roadside walks at dusk and meetings in abandoned churches, we see the effects of Jim Crow in the daily workings of life. All is not lost, in the end, but some serious sacrifices have to be made for Jesse and Quinn to reach their happy ending. The third in the Again for the First Time series, it can be read as a standalone, but you’re going to be curious about the other two books when you’re done.
I’m currently working my way through The Liberators of Willow Run and it is fascinating. We’re all familiar with the image of Rosie the Riveter, but what do we really know about the bomber factories putting together giant planes using an adapted version of Mr. Ford’s assembly line? At the Willow Run factory in Detroit, Audrey and her fellow crewmates build B-24 bombers, working faster and faster every day to improve their record. We’ll see what happens between her and Ruth, a young woman whose parents left her at a home meant to restore her moral fiber. Or something. Liberators has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for lesbian romance, so fingers crossed I make it through.
As an aside, for your Women’s History Month pleasure, here’s the newest, super awesome digital collection at the Library of Congress.
And as usual, a few books to keep an eye out for between now and when we chat again.
Insight
, Santino Hassell
Growing Pains, Cass Lennox
Hot On Ice: A Hockey Romance Anthology
No One But You, Catherine Maiorisi
Hard Justice, Lori Foster
Strays, Garrett Leigh (March 27)
Dirty Filthy Rich Men, Laurelin Paige (March 27)
Forever Mine, Erin Nicholas (March 28)
Catch me on Twitter @jessisreading or Instagram @jess_is_reading, or send me an email at jessica@riotnewmedia.com if you’ve got feedback or just want to say hi!
Until next time, m’loves!