Hey YA Readers!
I hope you are enjoying some good reads right now, whether or not the weather is allowing you to do so outside. Here in the upper midwest, we have seen snow, record-breaking heat, and below-average temperatures all within the span of a few days. I would love some consistency, as my hammock has been calling.
Let’s dive into this week’s new books and book talk.
 |
I may need to restock my writing utensil collection with these bright and fun book nerd pencils! $8.50 for five and if you want different colors, you can pick different ones.
New Releases
For the mega list of new YA books out this week, you can slide over here, but here are two to know about right here and right now. On Thursday, I’ll highlight two paperback releases out this week.
I Guess I Live Here Now by Claire Ahn
Even though she’s always been curious about her Korean heritage, Melody was not prepared to be uprooted from her NYC home following a small school transgression. She and her mom are moving to Seoul to join her father and Melody doesn’t get the chance to say her goodbyes.
The good news is once she arrives in Seoul, it’s amazing. That is…until it isn’t. Now Melody has to figure out how to make the best of her situation, how to understand the challenges her family is dealing with, and what she wants from that relationship with a cute boy she’s met.
Only On Weekends by Dean Atta
Atta’s debut The Black Flamingo was such a great read so I’m eager to see what his sophomore effort brings.
15-year-old Mack is a romantic and he’s had a crush on the gorgeous Karim for forever. Now Karim is into him, too . . . just in time for Mack’s father to announce he has a job in Scotland so they’ll be moving. The long distance thing is hard, and it’s made even harder both because Karim is hard to read and because of the cute guy Mack has met at his father’s job.
This is a book in verse about first love, about the challenges of long-distance romance, and what happens when the perfect person comes along when you aren’t looking.
Riot Recommendations
Instead of book recommendations today, how about a look at two recent trailers that dropped for YA adaptations hitting screens this summer? I am not a huge TV or movie person, but I am going to make some time to sink my teeth into both of these (heh).
First up: First Kill. This is the adaptation of a Victoria Schwab story in the Vampires Never Get Old anthology. Queer vampires? Yes, please! This hits Netflix June 10.
And, of course, The Summer I Turned Pretty, based on the Jenny Han book of the same title. It’s been so long since I read these books but know I’ll be returning to them this summer. This hits Amazon Prime June 17.
As always, thanks for hanging out. I hope you are taking some time for you during these on-going days of tough news and that you’re finding some comfort in reading good books.
Until Thursday, happy reading!
— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter.