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What's Up in YA

🏆 A Bevy of “Best Of” YA Lists & More

Hey YA Readers: Let’s catch up on the latest in YA haps.

Sponsored by Fierce Reads and Archenemies by Marissa Meyer.

They are the world’s best hope . . . but each other’s worst nightmare. In this second installment of the bestselling Renegades trilogy, Nova, Adrian, and the rest of their crew are faced with escalating crime in Gatlon City, while covert weapons and conflicting missions have Nova and Adrian questioning not only their beliefs about justice, but also the feelings they have for each other. The line between good and evil has been blurred, but what’s clear to them both is that too much power could mean the end of their city—and the world—as they know it.


‘Tis the season of a billion and two “best of” lists. They’re always a toss up for me personally, as a reader, writer, and lover on YA. I love discovering the new books on these lists and seeing love for the quieter titles, but I also get tired seeing some of the same ones show up again and again while other titles are forgotten. But looking at them does tell you something about the year in books and highlights what titles were big ones. Plus? A lot of the books on these lists make for great gift or recommendation ideas for the readers in your life who might be less tuned in to the world of YA.

Let’s look at a bit of YA news that’s trickled in as the year comes to a close, beginning with some of those “best of” lists!

If you haven’t yet seen the news, YA author A.S. King lost her daughter last weekend. There’s a GoFundMe page set up to help her and her family with medical bills and living expenses. If you’re up for donating, more information is here.

 

Ebook Deals…

Grab these great YA reads while they’re on the cheap.

Read the first book in Libba Bray’s Diviners series for $2.

Nova Ren Suma’s fabulous and chilling The Walls Around Us is $2.

If you want a YA book set in college, Maria Padian’s  Wrecked is a must-read.

S. Jae-Jones’s Wintersong, the first in a fantasy duology, is $3.

 

Recent Book Mail…

Here’s a look at some of the recent YA reads that have hit my mailbox. Books are listed from top to bottom.

 

The Iliad by Gareth Hinds

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler

Other Words for Smoke bySarah Maria Griffin

Heroine by Mindy McGinnis

If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

This Is What It Feels Like by Rebecca Barrow

Your Own Worst Enemy by Gordon Jack

The Afterward by EK Johnston

The Girl With The Broken Heart by Lurlene McDaniel

A Place For The Wolves by Kosoko Jackson

The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

Captured: An American Prisoner of War in North Vietnam by Alvin Townley

Last of Her Name by Jessica Khoury

Pretend She’s Here by Luanne Rice

 

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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter and Instagram.