Hey YA Readers!
Let’s get this week started with a whole lot of book talk.
“This Week in YA” is sponsored by The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan.
Leigh is certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. She winds up chasing after ghosts and uncovering family secrets. Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, and hope and despair, this is a debut novel about finding oneself through family history and love, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson and Celeste Ng.
Grab your TBR, open up your GoodReads page, and prepare to add some titles to your “have to read it” lists.
- A history of the ground-breaking YA lesbian novel Annie on My Mind.
- Celebrating the life of Virginia Hamilton through her nonfiction for young readers.
- See if you can figure out what these YA book covers are. Oh, they’re made out of LEGOS.
- Stunning Harry Potter cakes for Potterheads.
- Real badass ladies of history, as seen through YA fictional takes on their stories.
- We’re getting a new book by Marcus Zusak, author of the bestselling and wildly popular The Book Thief.
- 100 must-read YA book series.
- 10 great books about intrepid girls. Look at these awesome ladies!
- A round-up of teen guides to activism.
- Must-read coming out YA novels for newbies.
- High schoolers debate: are teens accurately represented in YA literature? Dig in!
- Behind the scenes of building a book festival for teenagers from the folks who put together the NoVa Teen Book Festival.
- Get these 40 paperback YA novels on your spring radar.
- Where to begin with reading bisexual and lesbian YA novels.
- This one is for the speculative fiction fans (or the curious!): 100 must-read YA science fiction books.
- YA fantasy series wrapping up in 2018.
- A shameless note that my next book’s cover was revealed on Book Riot. A not-at-all shameless note that you can also check out the cover for Cynthia Leitich Smith’s forthcoming YA novel on site, too.
- Nonfiction by Russell Freedman, who died last week at the age of 88.
- Fat positivity and body love books for children and teenagers.
- Teen girls who just happen to be sleuths in their free time.
- And finally, a look at YA books set in the long-ago past of the 1990s. . . a time before most of today’s teenagers were even born.
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Quick Pick…
The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk
This little gem of a novel is about grief and loss, written through the perspectives of three very different characters experiencing three very different deaths in their lives.
A character driven novel to the core, this quiet YA read lingers long after you’re done. Perfect for readers who love those emotionally-charged stories that allow for deep insight into individual characters. This one has a unifying thread of music for all of the characters, and it explores, too, how music can help those grieving.
One of the most interesting themes in the book is that of one’s digital life after death. How it can become both a ghost of the person and a tool for working through their loss.
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Cheap Reads…
Grab yourself a discounted digital YA book because the days are getting longer, which means you have more time to read (or something).
Insignia by SJ Kincaid is $2. Perfect for readers who like fast-paced, action-packed science fiction. First in a series.
Julie Reece Deaver’s classic YA book Say Goodnight, Gracie is $2. I haven’t read this one, but know it’s a title that would likely be included in a YA canon, if such a thing existed.
For nonfiction, check out Victoria: Portrait of a Queen by Catherine Reef at $3.
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Thanks for hanging out this week and we’ll see you back here next!
–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram
The Gunners
The Past is Never
The Fighter
Tin Man
The Ensemble