Hey YA Readers!
It might be your last “regular” week at work for the year this week and if so, congrats–you’ve made it! If you’re still chugging along as normal, I see you too and hope you’ve got something warm to drink and sweet to eat. Those books you’ve got on your stack will be waiting eagerly for you when you’re able to get to them.
Let’s dig into this week’s new books and look at a fun trend prediction for 2024 through the lens of YA book covers.
Bookish Goods
Floral Book Tote Bag by VincenzaSilviaCream
Are you in the market for a big tote bag? Look no further than this one, which measures 19″ L x 12″ H x 8″ W. You’ll be able to pack a lot of books in here, and it’s cute, too! $40.
New Releases
You don’t need me to repeat it, but I will: it’s the end of the year so the new releases aren’t as abundant as they are at other times of the year. You can find the entire roundup over here.
This week, there are zero new releases in hardcover, as far as I can tell. So I’m going to do something a little different: here are two paperback releases. There are not enough stand-alone/first-in-a-series new releases in paperback to do this for Thursday, so consider this entry for that newsletter, too. Want the full paperback release roundup though? No sweat–I’ve got you here!
The Black Queen by Jumata Emill
Nova Albright is going to be the first Black homecoming queen at Lovett High School. This is a huge deal, especially because the system at Lovett has been rigged in favor of white courts since the beginning, as the school came to be post-Katrina and combined the rich white students from one part of the Mississippi town with the lower-income Black students from another part of town. The Black students are de facto segregated at the school: they’re not in the AP classes, but they ARE there to help the school’s sports teams excel. This little factoid is important for several reasons, including why Nova’s crowning is especially important.
So it’s incredibly suspicious when Nova is found dead days before Homecoming on the same night a viral video of Tinsley McArthur emerges. Tinsley, who believes she deserved the crown. Tinsley, who has a family legacy to uphold. Tinsley, who was drinking with her friends that night and said she was going to murder Nova.
But Tinsley swears she’s innocent. This was a setup by her ungenerous so-called friends. She was drunk when she made that statement. She absolutely did not kill Nova.
Or did she?
On Top of Glass by Karina Manta
Looking for a teen sports memoir about coming of age as a queer person? This is a winner for that and more.
Karina skated at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and quickly became a fan favorite. She then became the first skater on Team USA to come out as queer.
Her memoir explores life on the ice, as well as growing up in a big school where, even in an era where queerness became more accepted than in the past, she knew virtually no one else having the experiences she was. Because this is a sports memoir, it also explores the ups and downs of figure skating, including the unreal pressures placed upon athletes to look and act in a certain way.
YA On Trend
One of my favorite year-to-come reports to read is Pinterest’s. Utilizing what people have been searching for, the social media company creates a guide to the trends they expect to either emerge or really blow up in the next year.
A huge trend for 2024? Bows. Bows have been a topic of interest, whether they’re used for hair accessorizing, neck accessorizing, heels, crochet, what have you.
Naturally, I figured it was worth looking to see where YA stacks up in this trend. What book covers have given us bows in the past? These would be fun pulled together into a book display if you’re in a bookstore, library, or classroom and have the space. Some of these bows are going to be what springs to mind when you think of the word “bow”—but not the kind with an arrow—including those representative of cultural dress and style.
I’ve done the best I can tracking down cover artists to be difficult (see my annual rant about that here).
Ready? Set? Let’s bow stack!
Amy Chelsea Stacie Dee by Mary G. Thompson, whose paperback edition sports a bow.
Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa, publishing April 9, 2024. The cover was designed by Kerri Resnick and illustrated by Max Reed.
Cheer Up!: Love and Pom Poms by Crystal Frasier (Author), Val Wise (Illustrator), and Oscar O. Jupiter.
Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce, publishing January 9. Cover illustrated by Liz Parkes.
The Fox Maidens written and illustrated by Robin Ha, publishing February 13.
Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins. The third book in this series, Lady Renegades, is also an excellent fit for the theme.
As always, thanks for hanging out. We’ll see you on Thursday for your reader favorites of 2023.
Until then, happy reading!
–Kelly Jensen