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Hey YA Readers!
I hope you’re taking care of yourselves and staying well. Let’s take a look at this week’s small batch of YA book news and less-small batch of new YA book releases.
YA Book News
- The audiobook performer for the upcoming book Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam is a big deal.
- Tess Sharpe’s forthcoming YA book has a film adaptation in the works with Millie Bobby Brown as a star.
- New and forthcoming children’s and YA books by Black writers.
- A slight chance in release plans for the adaptation of Words on Bathroom Walls.
- Details about the second season of Trinkets on Netflix.
- The debut They Wish They Were Us, hitting shelves this month, has been optioned for television.
- An interview with Stephenie Meyer about Midnight Sun.
New Books This Week
So many books got shifted back to August, so prepare for this month to be packed with new book releases each week. A * means I’ve read and recommend the book.
*The Black Kids by Christina Hammond
Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak by Adi Alsaid (paperback)
Come November by Katrin van Dam (paperback)
Containment by Caryn Lix (paperback, series)
Court of Lions by Somaiya Daud (series)
Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers (paperback, series)
Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon
*Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal (paperback)
The Game by Linsey Miller (paperback)
The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young (paperback)
The Good for Nothings by Danielle Banas
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig (paperback)
How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates (paperback)
I Am Here Now by Barbara Bottner
Igniting Darkness by Robin LaFevers (series)
Illegal by Francisco X. Stork
The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg (paperback)
Lobizona by Romina Garber (series)
The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (paperback)
A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong
Maybe This Time by Kasie West (paperback)
More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood
The Morning Flower by Amanda Hocking (series, paperback)
Notes From a Former Virgin by Emma Chastain (series, paperback)
Quarantine: A Love Story by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Salvation by Caryn Lix (series)
Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin (paperback, series)
Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons
Shatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells (paperback, series)
Some Kind of Animal by Maria Romasco-Moore
They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
This Week at Book Riot
- Dig into some YA books about cults.
- A look at suffrage in YA fiction.
- Great YA books set in post-apocalyptic cities.
- YA books about basketball.
- Excellent YA horror books for scratching your “need to ready scary things right now” itch.
- This one isn’t YA lit specific but it’s great and relevant: lessons from the high school library.
As many readers likely know, I have a book coming out on August 18 (it’s Body Talk and yes, preorders will get you some sweet swag!). I wanted to share a few rad virtual events I’m doing in conjunction with the release that I think will appeal to so many YA readers. All events are free.
- Join myself, as well as YA luminaries Nic Stone, Julie Murphy, and Kati Gardner, writer and artist Jerlyn Thomas, and model Ady Del Valle on a panel moderated by incredible body activist Amy Pence-Brown for a discussion all about boobs with Charis Books. This will be an especially great panel for tweens and teens who have tons of questions about breasts, as we’ll be open, honest, and eager to field those inquiries. August 18, 8 pm Eastern time.
- Rachael Lippincott, Eric Smith, Junauda Petrus-Nasah, Alicia Lutes, and I will be together on a panel Saturday, August 21 at 3 pm Central time with Blue Willow Bookshop.
- Disability rights activist and powerhouse Alice Wong, as well as New York Times bestseller Rachael Lippincott will be in conversation with me on August 25 at 7 pm Central with Women and Children First.
There will be a couple more that I’ll share when they get closer. I promise this won’t become a regular section in the newsletter, but because I know how awesome it is to see so many authors virtually at once, I wanted to highlight these panels I’m stoked to be part of.
Thanks for hanging out, y’all, and we’ll see you with some great ebook deals on Saturday.
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.