Hey YA Readers!
We’re past the midway point of January somehow already, and this month has been loaded with so many great new releases. Let’s take a look at this week’s paperback treats, alongside the latest in YA book news.
Bookish Goods
Dinosaur Bookmarks by Bristlebearhug
I just put together a book fetish post for the site to post in a couple weeks that rounds up all kinds of bookish dinosaur things. SOMEhow, though, these lo-fi dino bookmarks did not pop up when I did that piece, and so they get to be spotlighted here. I’m obsessed. $1.30 each.
New Releases
Welcome to paperback releases out this week. This is but a sample of what’s hitting shelves; you can grab the full list of YA paperback books out this week over here!
Note that you may need to toggle to the paperback edition from the link.
This week, there are not any paperbacks being published in YA by authors of color. As usual, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather to address the fact these two titles are not as inclusive as YA itself is.
It Will End Like This by Kyra Leigh
Are you into stories that reimagine the Lizzie Borden murders? Then step right into this one.
Six months ago, Charlotte’s mother died suddenly. Everyone says her heart stopped but she’s not buying it. The only person who even understands both her sadness and her suspicion about the true cause of her mother’s death is sister Maddi.
Their father has, however, moved on. So, too, has their mother’s personal assistant. They seem to have moved on…together. Charlotte and Maddi agree: this is not good, and everything that their family worked for is at stake if the assistant and their father become more employer and employee. It might mean they, too, will “die suddenly.”
How do they put an end to this?
Lawless Spaces by Corey Ann Haydu
A Heart in a Body in the World meets All the Rage in this verse novel about generations of women in the Dovewick family who’ve shoved down their experiences, thoughts, and realities into a series of journals that have then been passed down again and again. It is Mimi, our 2022 entry, who works to break the cycle.
This book dives into sexual abuse and high-profile #metoo allegations and the impact that has on the survivors and their families. Even deeper, though, is how stories like these have played out in every generation, wherein women are told to be one thing, pinned to a photo of that image, and are unable to break outside those lines for fear of what may or may not happen if they do. For Mimi, it’s one image on her well-followed social media accounts. For her mother, it was what happened while trying to break into acting and the sexy nymph photos she was cajoled into taking. For her grandmother, it was being the wife of a solider lost at war. For her great-grandmother, being whisked away to a home for pregnant teenagers, her first child taken from her to maintain the family’s reputation.
Generation after generation of female trauma, of expectations for girls and women, and the tremendous bravery that comes in dismantling (an apt word) the entire system and legacy are at the heart of this one.
For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- Meg Medina is the new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. GREAT choice.
- Work with teens? Tell them to apply for this FREE training from PEN America and Brooklyn Public Library about the freedom to read.
- Everything there is to know so far about the adaptation of I Wish You All The Best.
- All of the new YA science fiction and fantasy hitting selves this month.
- YA graphic novels hitting shelves this spring.
- Dig into these first look photos for the adaptation of American Born Chinese.
- This series at Bloody Disgusting is a fun one if you love old school YA horror. The most recent addition is for Friday The 13th: The Carnival, part of a series of YA novels based on the film franchise.
- This queer YA horror anthology looks great! As someone who spends a lot of time reading and talking about YA horror, this captures a nice segment of what is simply not yet on selves.
- Teen Annabelle Chang opened her own bookstore in Los Angeles and you should know about her and it!
As always, thanks for hanging out! We’ll see you on Saturday with some terrific book deals.
Until then, happy reading!
— Kelly Jensen, currently reading Central Places by Delia Cai