Hey YA Fans: Let’s catch up on some YA news.
“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Seafire by Natalie C. Parker from Penguin Teen.
After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric. But when Caledonia’s best friend barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric once and for all…or will he threaten everything the women have worked for?
Get comfy, since there’s a lot of recent YA news. For August being a quiet time in the publishing world, it’s certainly not in the grander YA world (which is great for us as readers!):
- Edi Campbell has put together an incredible resource called “50 Years of Diversity in Young Adult Literature.” A must-read and reference tool about inclusivity and YA, beginning all the way back in the beginning of the category we call YA.
- Who wants to go in with me to buy Bella Swan’s house from the Twilight films? We can buy it and make it a sanctuary of YA lit, where no one is judged for what YA books they enjoy reading.
- Lana Condon talking about flipping the stereotype of the Asian American on its head in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before is some great reading.
- If you coveted Lara Jean Covey’s look in To All The Boys, you can get it for yourself.
- Then see what Jenny Han had to say about seeing her book on screen.
- Been eagerly awaiting news on the film adaptation of Ruta Sepetys’s Between Shades of Gray in the US? There’s a premiere date!
- Dylan Farrow is writing a couple of YA novels. They’re from a packager, so the ideas aren’t necessary hers, even if the writing itself is.
- It’s been maybe five or more years since I’ve thought about the book Hush, Hush, but apparently it is being adapted and has cast some leads.
- There’s been a number of pieces about The Princess Diaries lately, and I suspect it’s because of the popularity of To All The Boys. Here’s one on why Lilly Moscovitz is the worst and here’s one on why The Princess Diaries should be revived for streaming.
- Want some more love in your summer? Here are some short YA romances to try out.
- BBC’s adaptation of His Dark Materials has cast a lead.
- It’s one tiny line in a longer article, but it’s one of interest to YA fans: Ryan Graundin’s book The Walled City has been optioned for adaptation.
- There’s a prequel to the Aquaman movie coming about his teen years.
- An upcoming YA book that’s part Lord of the Flies and part Lost has been optioned for adaptation.
- The first photos for Netflix’s The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina look so good.
- Have you watched Down A Dark Hall yet? It’s out in theaters now (but hasn’t been near me!).
- 11 Canadian YA books to put on your TBR for fall.
- Speaking of non-American YA, here are this year’s YA books of note in Scotland.
- 16 facts about Christopher Pike’s books.
- Here are 15 YA adaptations in development (which means we might really see them) and 15 which are possibilities (which means we might really see them but also we really might not). Hollywood is fickle.
- This preview of what we’ll see on Disney’s streaming service leads to noting that Jerry Spinelli’s Stargirl is being adapted, as is The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg.
Cheap Reads
Grab these great YA reads before August (finally) ends:
Gray Wolf Island by Tracey Neithercott is a moody debut fantasy adventure read and $2.
The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane is $4 and that title absolutely destroys me every time I see it because it’s so unique.
My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris looks like a fun, end-of-summer read. $1.
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma is still listed for $2 as of this writing, so snap it up if you haven’t already. This is for readers who love things creepy, eerie, and full of delicious writing.
Grab Lois Duncan’s Down A Dark Hall for $2 before you see the movie.
Recent Book Mail
Here’s what has hit my mailbox this week:
In Another Time by Caroline Leech
Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes
In Paris With You by Clementine Beauvais (This is a YA book in translation!)
Where She Fell by Kaitlin Ward
The Last Best Story by Maggie Lehrman
Let Me List The Ways by Sarah White
Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak
Sea Prayer by Khaled Housseini
The Lantern’s Ember by Colleen Houck
We Are Not Yet Equal by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden (YA nonfiction, especially great for budding social activists!)
A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
Sadie by Courtney Summers (If you like thrillers and true crime podcasts)
Dear Martin by Nic Stone (Out in paperback and an excellent Black Lives Matter novel).
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I wanted to wrap up this newsletter with a way to give back to young people in need. UCLA is welcoming 100 freshmen this year who are foster youth, and they need help getting those kids supplies for a successful first year in college. There is a video here worth watching and sharing — and if you’re so inclined, they have a list of things you can purchase to help them help these kids.
Thanks for hanging out, y’all. We’re taking Labor Day off, so the next newsletter will hit your box next Thursday, and it’s a really fun guest newsletter from a well-known, well-loved YA author.
Read some good books in the meantime.