Hey YA Readers!
I’ve been on a reading streak lately, across a whole bunch of different genres and formats. But an interesting reading coincidence is that I’ve now read two similar-yet-different titles about survival (a favorite of mine) that both published in the first few months of the year.
Survival stories aren’t new, of course, but it got me thinking about whether or not this might be a microtrend for 2022 I had not paid attention to. I wonder if writing a survival story felt good during those early days of the pandemic–both books feature prepping, so there’s a sense of having control over the situation, whether or not it’s more illusory than realistic. I’ll have to dig into this some more and maybe you’ll see some further thoughts on survival stories in the future. (The books are both by white authors, as this is still an arena lacking in books by authors of color. The books are Trigger by N. Griffin and Gone Dark by Amanda Panitch).
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The perfect young adult magnetic bookmark for inside your YA book. $4.25.
New Releases
Two of this week’s exciting paperback releases. Note you may need to toggle at the link to get to the paperback edition.
Want more of this week’s YA paperback releases? Here you go!
Aetherbound by E.K. Johnston
Looking for a space adventure? Look no further.
Pendt has a genetic mutation that her family–who owns an intersteller freighter–sees as an insurmountable issue for her. She’s taking up important space and food. But on a layover at a space station, Pendt meets the twins who are heir to the station and together, they plan to overthrow the station and remake the lives that have been slated for them.
Made in Korea by Sarah Suk
This one is pitched as Frankly in Love meets Shark Tank and I somehow missed this one in hardcover but will not be missing it now.
Valerie runs a successful beauty business in her high school with her cousin. She loves making money and has big plans for a trip to Paris. But when Wes, the new kid, shows up to school and begins selling K-pop branded products, he, too, sees that he can make the money he needs to attend music school after graduation.
Now Valerie and Wes are rival businesses in the same school…and mayyyyy be falling for each other, despite being competition for the limited market.
Don’t forget you can get three free audiobooks at Audiobooks.com with a free trial!
YA Book News
- This year’s Bram Stoker awards for horror have been announced and the YA category–including its winner–is excellent.
- Heartstopper will get a season 2 and 3.
- Here’s the trailer for season 3 of Love, Victor.
- Nonfiction writer Jim Murphy, who penned a number of middle grade/YA titles, died earlier this month.
- The Hunt A Killer franchise is growing. If you aren’t familiar with it, there are a number of YA books under the label, which is a mystery-solving series.
- Fictionz is a new podcast/storytelling app focused on female stories and one of their initial projects is an adaptation of a YA novel.
- Here’s what Canadian teens voted their favorite YA book of last year.
- And finally, though Catherine Called Birdy is not a YA novel despite how many outlets insist on calling it that, here’s some information about the upcoming adaptation since it’s likely that YA readers are familiar with this middle grade book.
As always, thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you on Saturday for some great YA book deals to keep you reading over the long weekend (and if you don’t have one, they’ll keep you reading over the new season ahead!).
Happy reading!
— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Twitter.