🎬 Kiernan Shipka, Netflix YA Adaptation Star.

Hey YA Readers! Let’s catch up on a ton of exciting YA news.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

They say your destiny is carved in stone. But some destinies are meant to be broken. The only curse Jesse believes in is his grandmother’s will: to inherit his family farm he must win over his childhood best friend, the girl he froze out freshman year. A fortuneteller tells Scarlett she’s psychic, but what is real are Scarlett’s dark secrets at home. She may be able to escape if she can rely on the boy who broke her heart. Each midnight meeting pushes Jesse and Scarlett to confront their secrets, but as love blooms, the curse rears its ugly head…

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The world of YA news has exploded in great stuff since the start of the year.

• Empire of Sand has been optioned for film development.
• Did you know that we’re getting YA novels in the world of Carmen Sandiego?
• The Miseducation of Cameron Post is being set for HBO. This is awesome and will get the movie into more eyes.
• Dear Haiti, Love Alaine has such an amazing cover and sounds like a great read.
• A new partnership between Swoon Reads and A&E Studios means we’ll see even more YA adaptations. I’m here for many of these books being made into visual mediums!.
• Renee Ahdieh’s vampire book series has a cover! You can also read a preview. (Vampires are back, y’all!).
• Cosmo highlighted a number of great-sounding 2019 YA books.
• Did you know Michael B. Jordan is going to be directing a YA adaptation?
• Take a peek at this preview of Canadian middle grade and YA books hitting shelves this spring.
• Kiernan Shipka is the new Netflix YA star. She’ll be in the new John Green/Maureen Johnson/Lauren Myracle adaptation Let It Snow. 
• New Marvel YA books are coming, including one by former Book Rioter and budding YA star Preeti Chhibber.
• I’m always game for YA books about women’s rage.

Tour news!

Last summer, I asked some of the “What’s Up in YA?” readers what they’d like to see here, and one of the answers was mention of YA authors who’ll be on tour. Here’s a peek at a few authors hitting the road soon across the US.

• Laurie Halse Anderson will be touring for SHOUT! (I’ll be there in Chicago and hope to see some of you, too).
• Go meet Angie Thomas at any number of her tour stops for On The Come Up. 
• Mimi Yu, AC Gaughen, and Brigid Kemmerer have a few stops on their tour still.
• Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan will be on tour. Right now, there are just a couple events listed, but more are coming.
• Christopher Paolini is on tour.
• Robin LaFevers is on tour for Courting Darkness.
• East coasters might be able to catch this season’s Epic Reads tour, including Ben Philippe, Maureen Johnson, and more.
• There are a few stops left on Roshani Chokshi’s book tour for The Gilded Wolves.
• Leigh Bardugo is hitting the road soon for King of Scars.

Recent Book Mail

Here’s what has hit my mailbox recently. Listed top to bottom. Interesting to see not one, but two books, referencing birds in the title.

This Is Not A Love Scene by SC Megale

Flight of a Starling by Lisa Heathfield

Castle of Lies by Kiersi Burkhart

The Manic Pixie Dream Boy Project by Lenore Appelhans

The Truth And Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr

Love and Other Curses by Michael Thomas Ford

Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge

The First True Thing by Claire Needell

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown

The 826Chi Compendium (For some reason, I can’t link to the newest volume, but this is to the previous).

Summer Scares!

I’ve mentioned before that there’s a new, exciting reading program that’s cosponsored by The Horror Writers Association, Book Riot, Library Journal, and United for Libraries. Winning titles were selected this week, and they’ll be announced February 14 (your bloody-and-not-so-bloody Valentine’s Day treat).

If you’d like to know more about the program (and those of you in libraries especially will want to since there’s going to be so much great, free stuff for you!) and/or add some more horror to your TBR, you’ll do well checking out the program’s resource page and this interview Becky Spratford did with United for Libraries.

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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again soon!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.