Sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
From New York Times best-selling author Traci Chee comes We Are Not Free, the collective account of a group of Nisei, second-generation Japanese Americans, whose lives are irrevocably changed by the U.S. incarcerations of World War II. Fourteen teens who have grown up together and are as interconnected as they are conflicted. Fourteen teens whose lives are turned upside down when over 100,000 people of Japanese ancestry are forced into incarceration camps. In a world that seems determined to hate them, these young Nisei must rally together as racism and injustice threaten to pull them apart. Also available in audio.
Hey YA Readers!
If you had a long weekend, I hope you enjoyed it. I was able to read a pile of books on my TBR, which was exactly what I’d hoped to do.
Let’s catch up on the latest in YA book news — something that’s light this week — and in new YA book releases — there are many!
YA Book News
- Jennifer Lynn Barnes writes some of my favorite in-depth, psychologically-based essays and research and her latest about how fictional characters can and do really become real friends to us is so good.
- Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé just got a massive deal for a forthcoming YA book series and it sounds awesome. YA author Leah Johnson hinted about this in an episode of Hey YA Extra Credit early this summer.
- There might be a reboot of Pretty Little Liars in the works.
- Meg Cabot’s The Mediator might see an adaptation.
- On my personal blog, I pulled together a massive list of 2020 YA horror for those of you needing your spooky reading fix.
New YA Books This Week
Prepare yourself for a flood of incredible new reads this week! Note: as we’re seeing the realities of printer backups, some of the books that were scheduled to release today may have had their publication dates change. I’ve done the best I can to update where appropriate.
36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant (paperback)
The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif (paperback, series)
Beauty Mark by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan
Displaced by Dean Hughes
Iron Heart by Nina Varela (series)
A Match Made in Mehendi by Nandini Bajpai (paperback)
Meme by Aaron Starmer
Night Shine by Tessa Gratton
Nobody Knows But You by Anica Mrose Rissi
Only Ashes Remain by Rebecca Schaeffer (paperback, series)
The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep by Allan Wolf
Somebody Give This Heart a Pen by Sophia Thakur
Sources Say by Lori Goldstein
Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer (paperback)
These Vengeful Hearts by Katherine Laurin
War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi (paperback)
When Villains Rise by Rebecca Schaeffer (series)
This Week On Book Riot
- Don’t miss these September YA releases for your TBR.
- Awesome diverse horror YA books.
- A look at the best Jane Yolen books, including some of her YA titles.
- Great books for 12th graders to read.
- These YA books about the creative struggle are #relatable.
- YA books about the realities of poverty.
Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you next week with a special guest-penned (typed?) newsletter.
— Kelly Jensen, @heykellyjensen on Instagram and editor of Body Talk, (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, and Here We Are.