Hey YA Readers!
Are you all feeling that desire for summer creeping up like me? I’ve got no real big plans for summer, but this spring has been cold, wet, and dreary. I am ready for warm and hot days with sunshine and sweat dripping down my neck. I just bought a new hammock and that baby needs to be broken in.
Whatever your feelings right now, I suspect there is something we can all agree on: books. Books are perennially welcome, so let’s dive into this week’s paperback releases and book news.
Did you know we just launched a new podcast? I got to be a guest on the second episode, talking about the legacy of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. BookRiot.com co-founder Jeff O’Neal explores the wide bookish world. Interviews, lists, rankings, retrospectives, recommendations, and much more, featuring people who know and love books. Subscribe to First Edition on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your podcatcher of choice.
Bookish Goods
Bookish Stickers: Library and Bookcart Collection by TheBooksInMyLapp
I could not pick which of these bookish stickers I liked best, so I’m highlighting all of them. I love the nod to Arthur with the library card one, I think the bookcart one is just dang pretty, and two lovely open books feature the perfect words about the reading life. $2 each, so why not grab every one?
New Releases
It’s a good week for paperback YA releases. Find a couple below, but grab the entire list over here.
As always, you might need to toggle your view from the link to get to the paperback edition.
The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero
Ilana Lopez is sent to live with her aunt in Prague in order to see what a quiet artists’s life looks like. Ilana is biracial and Jewish, and she’s struggling to decide whether to pursue a life as a violinist — the kind of life like her aunt’s — or listen to her parents’ desires for her to find a career that would be far more stable and financially rewarding.
When Ilana stumbles upon a forgotten Jewish cemetery, she meets the ghost of Benjamin, who died over 100 years ago. She begins to restore his grave and he shows her the side of Prague she’d otherwise never know — one of enchantment, kind ghosts, and more.
But Benjamin isn’t the only one in Ilana’s life. There’s also Rudolph Wassermann. He’s obsessed with Ilana’s music, and he’s made her a promising offer: he’ll lend her his magic for the opportunity to make her music and be with Benjamin.
Except, not all is as it seems with Rudolph, and now, Ilana has become stuck in an even tougher place.
This verse novel is full of magic and what it is to pursue one’s own dreams while also respecting the wishes of one’s family.
Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
Ophelia Rojas is a romantic. She’s head over heels for boys.
Except…now that things with her ex have gone south and her plans for an amazing prom with him are gone, Ophelia now finds herself crushing hard on someone completely unexpected: Talia Sanchez.
Add to the impending end of high school a fracturing of her friendships, Ophelia finds herself questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. She might not be as straight as she thought…and she might need to shoot her shot or risk never getting to know Talia (or herself).
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
YA Book News
- Are there any Baby-Sitters Club books you can say changed your life? I love this piece!
- There’s an extended trailer for XO, Kitty, the companion to To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, starring younger sister Kitty. This might lean more middle grade than YA, but I don’t even care.
- Ngozi Ukazu just announced a new graphic novel, Bunt!
- “I’m the only person who thinks the Teen Killing Quota is weird, but no one takes me seriously, except when I hypnotize them with my steely blue eyes, which I’ve been told look like ice.” A humorous take on the typical life for a protagonist in a YA fantasy novel.
As always, thanks for hanging out. You can find me in my hammock with a seltzer and a couple of books.
We’ll see you on Saturday with some great YA book deals.
— Kelly Jensen, currently reading The Fall of Whit Rivera by Crystal Maldonado, and being envious is okay!