Hey YA Readers!
Grab yourself a drink of choice–I’m currently downing a (hot*) vanilla lavender latte from my local caffeine dealer–and settle in for some new YA paperback releases and a host of exciting YA book news.
*Anyone else have a weird temperature preference for their beverages? It should not make sense to need a hot coffee in the middle of summer, but I don’t like my drinks cold. I like to think of this as Big Main Character Energy. Or something.
Bookish Goods
Love a good fantasy trope? This sticker would look great on your notebook or water bottle (or book cart!). $2.50.
New Releases
Let’s highlight two paperbacks that hit shelves this week. One will have you eager for some more sports reads and one will make you question everything you put in your luggage.
Want the full list of paperbacks out this week? Grab that roundup here!
The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk
Alina was a talented dancer and wanted a professional career in ballet. But a fall breaks her leg and her dreams.
She’s now transitioned to a normal high school, since her dance school days are gone, and she decides to get involved in the school musical. But now there’s Jude, who is so annoying…and for whom she is obviously falling.
This is a book about changing one’s dreams, as well as about racism and prejudice in elite sports and performance. It’s a romantic read with plenty of humor, too, and adds a peppering of what perfectionism looks like . . . and why it might not be a useful trait. The comps on this one are Sarah Dessen and Mary H.K. Choi.
The Summer of Lost Letters by Hannah Reynolds
Looking for a contemporary with a historical element? Reynold’s book follows 17-year-old Abby who is spending her final summer before senior year heartbroken following the end of her relationship with her first boyfriend. Her friends are all on adventures, so she’s feeling lonely and sad.
But when a box of letters arrives with the rest of her grandmother’s possessions, she begins to unravel a love story involving her grandmother, a man named Edward, and the history of her grandmother’s life after escaping the Holocaust. Abby ends up on a whirlwind adventure in Nantucket, where she might just find love, too, in an unexpected place.
This one is comped to Morgan Matson and Ruta Sepetys.
YA Book News
- This Savage Song and Running Out of Time are in development for Universal Television.
- It looks like Hush Hush may finally see its film adaptation.
- The second season adaptation of Gretchen McNeil’s Get Even is about to drop on Netflix.
- Adam Sandler is developing You’re So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, a YA book from 2005, for the big screen.
- I’m so excited for this book that shares the story behind Go Ask Alice and similar moral panic YA of the era. I recommend, if you haven’t, tuning into the You’re Wrong About three-part series on Go Ask Alice.
- A great roundup of books by Latina YA authors for your TBR.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Saturday with some fab YA book deals.
— Kelly Jensen, who loves her drinks hot.