This Week’s YA Book News and New YA Books

Sponsored by Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale, with Fierce Reads

There’s nothing worse than peaking in high school. Nobody knows that better than Josie Pie. She was kind of a big deal—but the bigger you are, the harder you fall. And Josie fell. Hard. Ouch.

Meanwhile, her life keeps imploding. Desperate to escape, Josie gets into reading.

Literally.

She reads a book and suddenly she’s inside it. It’s alarming. But also . . . kind of amazing? It’s the perfect way to live out her fantasies. Book after book, Josie the failed star finds a new way to shine. But the longer she stays in a story, the harder it becomes to escape. Will Josie find a story so good that she just stays forever?

Hey YA Fans!

Let’s catch up on the latest in YA book news and new YA books that hit shelves this last week of the longest month ever (it’s been going on since March, right?). Good thing great reading helps.

YA Book News

There is a lot of adaptation news this week, as has been the case for the last couple of months, and I really hope we see some of these projects come to fruition because they are so good.

An adaptation of Renée Watson’s Piecing Me Together? YES PLEASE.
Netflix is taking on three of RL Stine’s Fear Street novels for 2021.
A giant book acquisition for a trilogy of books about real Black Girl Magic. Put this on your TBR.
Because of the pandemic, YALL Fest isn’t happening this year as it normally does. Instead, they’re going virtual with a YALLWrite event. Perfect for YA fans and for young people itching to practice their writing skills.
Fierce Reads is starting a YA book club.
Here’s the incredible cover of Leigh Bardugo’s next book. It reminds me a lot of Alexandra Bracken’s 2021 YA book cover.
UK’s Hachette has purchased 2 more novels in verse by Dean Atta, and let’s hope these hop the pond, too!
Speaking of UK books, the adaptation of Noughts and Crosses will hit US airwaves via Peacock.
An Aussie YA book that sounds awesome might see an adaptation by someone who has some incredible credits to their name.
This isn’t packed with YA book titles in it, but because it’s by YA superstar Lilliam Rivera and such an excellent read, it’s worth a share: “Caribbean Fiction That Blurs Genre Boundaries.”