Author: Kelly Jensen

Hey YA readers: Let’s catch up on the latest in the YA world!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

When Araceli Flores Harper is sent to live with her great-aunt in a ramshackle Victorian home, the plan is simple. She’ll buckle down and get ready for college. Life won’t be exciting, but she’ll cope, right?

Wrong. From the moment she gets off the train, she sees missing person posters everywhere. When she starts receiving mysterious letters that seem to be coming from the past, she suspects someone is pranking her or trying to drive her out of her mind. But it starts to seem like everything strange in town is connected, and there are secrets fighting to stay buried.

Deep into summer now — at least by publishing and school related calendars — the news has slowed down. Here’s a peek at some of the stories hitting the world of YA.

• The Enola Holmes adaptation has some casting news.
• I’m pretty strongly in the camp that After is not a YA book, but it’s one that many YA readers dig. It’ll hit Netflix soon…as in, well, this weekend!
• Though this list of books that the Canadian Broadcast Corporation isn’t entirely YA, their compilation of what to read this summer includes some excellent YA books.
• The Fence comics are being novelized for teen readers. Fun note in there, too, about YA author Lilliam Rivera writing the middle grade adaptation of Goldie Vance.
• Did you know that the new Ophelia film is based on a YA novel? It is! The novel is by Lisa Klein, conveniently titled Ophelia.

I mentioned this was a short news roundup, right? Let’s look at some recent cover reveals, too. This is such a great way to get new and upcoming books on your radar.

• Loveboat, Taipei looks like the perfect inclusive rom-com.
• Love the body diversity and the bold color choices for Sarah Gailey’s When We Were Magic. 
• Need more Akemi Dawn Bowman? Harley In The Sky looks fabulous.
• I’m so ready for a new novel in verse from Juleah del Rosario. Turtle Under Ice is at the top of my TBR.
• The Degenerates sounds fantastic.
• A bisexual teen boy story? Sign me up for We Are Totally Normal by Rahul Kanakia.
• When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk is about friendship, which is a topic in YA I cannot get enough of.
• A whole bunch of incredible book covers are up at Epic Reads, too, including the memoir in comics by Noelle Stevenson, the new Lamar Giles, an illustrated memoir by Robin Ha, and more. Oh, and there’s the cover for the second book in Tehlor Kay Meija’s “We Set The Dark on Fire” duology.

To round out today’s news and cover reveals, how about some links from Book Riot you may have forgotten about or didn’t know about at all!

All summer long, I’ve dropped a short-form edition of the YA podcast into the feed as I’ve read my way through the work of early YA writer Norma Klein. Tune into the Hey YA: Extra Credit podcast and feel free to read along — or reminisce about reading those books in your own youth.

• The YA podcast is nearing its 50th episode, which will be a really special one. Catch up on the latest in our biweekly “shout about YA books” podcast before then.
• Did you know Book Riot is on Pinterest? Give us a follow over there, and dig into the board chock full of YA book lists.
• If you love kid lit of the younger than YA sort, make sure you’re listening to KidLit These Days, our kid lit podcast, as well as that you’re subscribed to “The Kids Are All Right” newsletter. A reader of that newsletter just asked why YA books aren’t covered there and it made me think about those of you wanting to know about picture books, middle grade books, and other great reads for the younger set. These are the tickets!
• Last, but certainly not least, Tirzah has been putting together some awesome weekly YA posts, carrying on the “3 On A YA Theme” column every Wednesday.

Thanks for hanging out, y’all. We’ll see you on Saturday with a nice, meaty roundup of cheap YA ebooks!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA readers! Let’s talk duologies.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Book Riot’s Amazon store. Shop our favorite summer reads (including some of our favorite books of 2019 so far), bookish accessories, deals, and more.

I’m terrible about reading series, which I’ve talked about quite a bit on Hey YA. It’s not that I don’t like series books; it’s that I can’t wait between books and need to enjoy the whole series in one go. This is why I’ve been waiting eagerly for the final book in Libba Bray’s “The Diviners” series because I know I’m going to love those books — but I need them all in order to get started.

Enter duologies. They’ve always been around, but in the last few years, as trilogies have waned a bit in popularity, duologies have found more shelf space. Duologies are only two books long, meaning that enjoying the whole of a series doesn’t take as long an investment or as long of a wait between titles.

Let’s take a look at a handful of recent duologies that can be read start to finish right now — or very soon. Since I haven’t read these all myself (so many books, etc.), I’ve used Amazon descriptions of the first book to give a sense of what they’re about and avoid spoilers.

Note that sometimes, even though books are duologies, a third book may come along later on. That might happen with any of these but take heart: usually there’s a real conclusion at the end of book two, and the third book is a “bonus” chapter in the saga.

“Akata Witch” by Nnedi Okorafor, starting with Akata Witch

Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in. And then she discovers something amazing—she is a “free agent” with latent magical power. And she has a lot of catching up to do.

Soon she’s part of a quartet of magic students, studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But as she’s finding her footing, Sunny and her friends are asked by the magical authorities to help track down a career criminal who knows magic, too. Will their training be enough to help them combat a threat whose powers greatly outnumber theirs?

“Contagion” by Erin Bowman, starting with Contagion.

After receiving a distress call from a drill team on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is sent into deep space to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

When they arrive, they find the planet littered with the remains of the project—including its members’ dead bodies. As they try to piece together what could have possibly decimated an entire project, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

“The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch” by Daniel Kraus, starting with The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch, Volume One: At The Edge of Empire

May 7, 1896.

Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is gunned down by the shores of Lake Michigan. But after mere minutes in the void, he is mysteriously resurrected.

His second life will be nothing like his first.

Zebulon’s new existence begins as a sideshow attraction in a traveling medicine show. From there he will be poked and prodded by a scientist obsessed with mastering the secrets of death. He will fight in the trenches of World War I. He will run from his nightmares—and from poverty—in Depression-era New York City. And he will become the companion of the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.

Love, hate, hope, and horror—Zebulon finds them. But will he ever find redemption?

“The Girl From Everywhere” by Heidi Heilig, starting with The Girl From Everywhere

As the daughter of a time traveler, Nix has spent sixteen years sweeping across the globe and through the centuries aboard her father’s ship. Modern-day New York City, nineteenth-century Hawaii, other lands seen only in myth and legend—Nix has been to them all.

But when her father gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. Rae Carson meets Outlander in this epic debut fantasy.

If there is a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place and any time. But now that he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, the year before Nix’s mother died in childbirth—Nix’s life, her entire existence, is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years.

“Rebel Seoul” by Axie Oh, starting with Rebel Seoul

EAST ASIA, 2199. After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the academy’s ranks. Abandoned as a child in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past.

When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory. But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war.

With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands–as a soldier of the Republic, or a rebel of the people.

Pacific Rim meets Korean action dramas.

“Reign of the Fallen” by Sarah Glenn Marsh, starting with Reign of the Fallen

Without the dead, she’d be no one.

Odessa is one of Karthia’s master necromancers, catering to the kingdom’s ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it’s Odessa’s job to raise them by retrieving their soul from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised: the Dead must remain shrouded. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, a grotesque transformation begins, turning the Dead into terrifying, bloodthirsty Shades.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears around the kingdom. Soon, a crushing loss of one of her closest companions leaves Odessa shattered, and reveals a disturbing conspiracy in Karthia: Someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead–and training them to attack. Odessa is forced to contemplate a terrifying question: What if her magic is the weapon that brings the kingdom to its knees?

Fighting alongside her fellow mages–and a powerful girl as enthralling as she is infuriating–Odessa must untangle the gruesome plot to destroy Karthia before the Shades take everything she loves.

“Want” by Cindy Pon, starting with Want

Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits, protecting them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is, or destroying his own heart?

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers! Let’s catch up on YA news.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Epic Reads.

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society.

Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her pedigree is a lie. She must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.

And school couldn’t prepare her for the difficult choices she must make after graduation, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio.

Will Dani cling to the privilege her parents fought to win for her, or will she give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio—and a chance at a forbidden love?

The summer is a quieter time for news in the book world, but here’s what’s been going on and is worth a read. This is heavy on adaptation news, which is neat to see (I mean — the more YA adaptations we get, the better, right?).

• Prom, the musical being turned into a YA novel by Saundra Mitchell, is being turned into a film, too.
• Molly Templeton did a really thorough job highlighting Twitter, social justice, and the YA book world.
• His Dark Materials casting news.
• Abdi Nazemian’s Like A Love Story has had adaptation rights grabbed.
• There’s been casting news for the Love, Simon television series.
• Queer girls in YA books are on the rise, but there’s still work to be done.
• Another Riverdale cast member is penning a YA book.
• Translated books are gaining visibility in libraries.
• Elizabeth Acevedo is a queen in the YA world.
• Adaptation news for Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.
• Our Chemical Hearts will be adapted by Amazon Studios.
• Hulu will release Looking For Alaska this fall.
• While this is not a YA book writing related newsletter (she says, knowing the next link kind of jokingly IS about that), many of those who read this might be interested in knowing that Tin House is opening a YA writing workshop. It features three incredible YA writers.
• Why not create your own YA contemporary novel title with this fun little generator? I’m working on a book titled After Candy Apples, which is contemporary horror, obviously.

Blast From The Past

Here are some things we were talking about at Book Riot in Julys gone by:

• 4 YA books about questioning characters.
• 65 YA horror books by women.
• YA books for fans of Sansa Stark.
• Amazing Asian American protagonists in YA lit.
• Why one reader started digging into YA as a parent.
• Queer people of color in YA.

Declare yourself a fan of a good ship with this I Ship It bookmark. $5, with many color options!

We’ll see you again next week, as there’s no newsletter hitting your inboxes on Thursday with the US holiday. Until then, enjoy your next great book!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers: It’s Deals Time!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by The Protectorate Wars: Born Hero by S.A. Shaffer.

David, a brilliant, young aide with a caring heart, had finally landed the job of his dreams as assistant to the most powerful politician in the land. Little did he know the position included slander, sabotage, and murder. Can David expose Alönia’s corruption before the rest of the Fertile Plains fall into chaos.Take flight in spectacular airships and soar through the clouds. Feel the wind in your hair along daring voyages and narrow escapes. Solve mysteries, forge friendships and watch an ordinary boy become the hero he was born to be.

Grab your ebook reader and prepare to load it up with some excellent YA. Note that many of these deals will expire at the end of June, so snag these before they go back to being full price reads. Prices are current as of Friday, June 28.

I’m going to self promote and note that my award-winning anthology (Don’t) Call Me Crazy: 33 Voices Start The Conversation About Mental Health is available for $2.

There are a number of great queer books still on the cheap this month in honor of Pride. Grab:

• Meredith Russo’s If I Was Your Girl for $3.
• Sara Farizan’s Tell Me Again How A Crush Should Feel is $2.
• Ashley Herring Blake’s Girl Made Of Stars for $3.
• When The Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore for $3 (so good!).

Alex London’s Black Wings Beating for $3.

• Jen Wilde’s Queens of Geek for $3 (I loved this one!!).
• Malinda Lo’s Ash for $3 (a classic!).
• You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan for $3.
• Tehlor Kay Meija’s We Set The Dark On Fire for $3 (one of my favorites of 2019!).
• Saundra Mitchell’s anthology All Out for $1.
• This Is Kind Of An Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender is $2.

Queer characters and theater something you want? Amy Rose Capetta’s Echo After Echo is $3.

• Robin Talley’s As I Descended is $3.
• If you’re one of the six folks who hasn’t read Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, do yourself the solid and grab it for $3.

Want some good contemporary for your summer reading? Trish Doller’s Something Like Normal and Where The Stars Still Shine are $3.

Grab the first book in Erin Bowman’s duology about science, disease, and horror, Contagion, for $2. The sequel comes out soon!

Natalie C. Parker’s Beware The Wild is $3.

The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd is $3.

If you’re itching for romance, grab Jennifer E. Smith’s The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight for $3.

Contemporary favorite Bryan Bliss’s first book No Parking At The End Times is $4.

Enjoy your new reads and we’ll see you next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers: Let’s talk 2020 reads!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Penguin Teen.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret—she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she rescues the boy, losing her gumiho soul in the process. Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. When a shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her gumiho soul, the consequences are disastrous and reignite a generations-old feud . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.

It’s half-way through 2019, which means it’s the perfect time to begin pining for the YA books that’ll hit shelves next year. Certainly, we’ll be highlighting more books out this year, too, but there’s nothing nicer than planning even further ahead.

Take a peek at these six amazing-sounding YA titles you’ll be able to read next year. Since I (obviously!) haven’t read them yet, I’m pulling from Amazon descriptions. But you better believe I’ve just increased my TBR.

I’ve included beloved authors in this list, as well as new voices, to offer up a rich tapestry of stories.

Every Reason We Shouldn’t by Sara Fujimura (March 3)

Fifteen-year-old, biracial figure skater Olivia Kennedy’s Olympic dreams have ended. She’s bitter, but enjoying life as a regular teenager instead of an athlete… until Jonah Choi starts training at her family’s struggling rink. Jonah’s driven, talented, going for the Olympics in speed skating, completely annoying… and totally gorgeous. Between teasing Jonah, helping her best friend try out for roller derby, figuring out life as a normal teen and keeping the family business running, Olivia’s got her hands full. But will rivalry bring her closer to Jonah, or drive them apart?

The King’s Questioner by Nikki Katz (January 14)

Kalen is a mental picklock, able to access a person’s memories and secrets by touch. His skills make him the perfect questioner to the king, and he spends his days interrogating prisoners of the crown.

But when Kalen’s estranged childhood friend, Prince Cirrus, falls into a sudden coma, the king begs Kalen to intervene. By accessing Cirrus’s mind, Kalen saves his life―and uncovers a terrifying secret. The prince has a sister, banished long ago, and she is the key to the destruction or survival of the kingdom.

With the help of Cirrus and a silver-haired thief named Luna, Kalen must find the princess and bring her home. Or risk death at the hands of his king.

Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles (January 21)

I’ve spent a good chunk of time looking for a description of this one and cannot find it as of this writing.  But…it’s Lamar Giles and that cover is on fire. This is one of those “just trust me” situations.

A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell (March 10)

In 2018, sixteen unique, distinctive voices on the cutting edge of young adult fiction embarked on a challenge: together, to depict the past, present, parallel, and future of the Black female and gender nonconforming (GNC) experience. Their goal was to weave worlds where Black women are centered, and the result is a stunning collaboration filled with stories of love and betrayal, folktales and magic, from retellings of legends to explorations of yet-to-be invented technologies. In fantasy and science fiction, these sixteen acclaimed authors introduce us to unforgettable characters like Solange, who sheds her skin nightly to transform into a ball of fire and fly above her Caribbean island, or Abigail Crow, a girl armed only with her smarts and her .38 who must defend her New Mexico homestead from marauders, or Mae Mitchell, a Brooklyn-born, space-bound alien interrogator. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn are on fire, and they shine brightly. You won’t soon forget their stories.

Reverie by Ryan La Sala (January 7)

Inception meets The Magicians, except with better wigs and a maniacal drag queen sorceress attempting to unravel the reality of Connecticut (yes, the state) and replace it with something…well something better than Connecticut.

Ryan La Sala’s debut fantasy is an #OwnVoices story following Kane Montgomery, a gay teenager piecing his life back together after an attack robs him of his memories. As Kane searches for who he was, he uncovers a war for the creative rights to reality itself, each battle played out in an imagined world turned real: a reverie.

Reveries are worlds born from a person’s private fantasies, and once they manifest they can only be unraveled by bringing their conflicts to resolution. Reveries have rules and plots, magic and monsters, and one wrong step could twist the entire thing into a lethal, labyrinthine nightmare. Unraveling them is dangerous work, but it’s what Kane and The Others do.

Or did, until one of The Others purged Kane of his memories. But now Kane is back, and solving the mystery of his betrayal is the only way to unite his team and defeat reality’s latest threat: Poesy, a sorceress bent on harvesting the reveries for their pure, imaginative power.

But what use might a drag queen sorceress have with a menagerie of stolen reveries? And should Kane, a boy with no love for a team that betrayed him, fight to stop her, or defect to aid her?

Reverie is about the seduction of escaping inwards, about the worlds we hide within ourselves, and the danger of dreams that come true.

*Note: this description comes from Goodreads because there’s simply not one at Amazon at the time of writing.

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco  (March 3)

Tala Warnock has little use for magic – as a descendant of Maria Makiling, the legendary Filipina heroine, she negates spells, often by accident. But her family’s old ties to the country of Avalon (frozen, bespelled, and unreachable for almost 12 years) soon finds them guarding its last prince from those who would use his kingdom’s magic for insidious ends.

And with the rise of dangerous spelltech in the Royal States of America; the appearance of the firebird, Avalon’s deadliest weapon, at her doorstep; and the re-emergence of the Snow Queen, powerful but long thought dead, who wants nothing more than to take the firebird’s magic for her own – Tala’s life is about to get even more complicated….

*Note: Goodreads description.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also highlight my Hey YA podcast cohost Eric Smith’s 2020 novel, too. I got to read Don’t Read The Comments super early and loved it and I suspect you will, too.

Don’t Read The Comments by Eric Smith (January 28)

Divya Sharma is a queen. Or she is when she’s playing Reclaim the Sun, the year’s hottest online game. Divya—better known as popular streaming gamer D1V—regularly leads her #AngstArmada on quests through the game’s vast and gorgeous virtual universe. But for Divya, this is more than just a game. Out in the real world, she’s trading her rising-star status for sponsorships to help her struggling single mom pay the rent.

Gaming is basically Aaron Jericho’s entire life. Much to his mother’s frustration, Aaron has zero interest in becoming a doctor like her, and spends his free time writing games for a local developer. At least he can escape into Reclaim the Sun—and with a trillion worlds to explore, disappearing should be easy. But to his surprise, he somehow ends up on the same remote planet as celebrity gamer D1V.

At home, Divya and Aaron grapple with their problems alone, but in the game, they have each other to face infinite new worlds…and the growing legion of trolls populating them. Soon the virtual harassment seeps into reality when a group called the Vox Populi begin launching real-world doxxing campaigns, threatening Aaron’s dreams and Divya’s actual life. The online trolls think they can drive her out of the game, but everything and everyone Divya cares about is on the line…

And she isn’t going down without a fight.

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again soon!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers: I’ve got a really special interview today for you between two incredible YA authors.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Libro.fm.

Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore. You can pick from more than 100,000 audiobooks, including New York Times best sellers and recommendations from booksellers around the country. With Libro.fm you’ll get the same audiobooks, at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name), but you’ll be part of a much different story, one that supports community. In June, Libro.fm is launching their Kids Club and YA Club, which will offer select audiobooks priced under $10 each month, as well as their Summer Listening Challenge–each person to finish will get free audiobook credit and the chance to win free audiobooks for a year! Sign up here to get three audiobooks for the price of one.

Happy Monday — or whenever you’re reading this newsletter. I’ve got two incredible authors interviewing one another today. Best-selling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds (you know him, right?) sat down with author Randy Ribay, whose book The Patron Saints of Nothing just hit shelves. Jason and Randy are talking not only about the book, but also about identity, family, religion, and more.

I’ve had a copy of The Patron Saints of Nothing on my pile but haven’t yet gotten to read it, but the reviews are raving and I cannot wait to dive in. This interview makes me even more convinced to pick it up sooner, rather than later. Here’s the description via Amazon:

Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his senior year playing video games before heading to the University of Michigan in the fall. But when he discovers that his Filipino cousin Jun was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs, and no one in the family wants to talk about what happened, Jay travels to the Philippines to find out the real story.

Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth — and the part he played in it.

And now, without further ado, Jason Reynolds and Randy Ribay!

Jason Reynolds (JR): My first question is probably the most important, at least to me. There are only a few Filipino writers (that I know of) in children’s literature, and I’d argue in (American) literature on the whole. Why are these stories important? Also, I know some of the interesting history of the Philippines. Can you talk a bit about the complexities of that history and the effect they have on Filipino culture, and how these stories are told? (I know, it’s a big question but…lol)

Randy Ribay (RR): Filipinos have been in North America since about 1587. We’re the third largest immigrant group in the United States and the second largest population of Asian Americans. A lot of people might find this all surprising because we’re so disproportionately underrepresented in American literature and media. So I’d say our stories matter for the sake of visibility. To borrow some wisdom from Rudine Sims Bishop, Filipinx Americans need more “mirrors”—stories that allow us to see ourselves—while non-Filipinx Americans need more “windows” and “sliding glass doors”—stories that invite readers into our world. Having a healthy quantity of stories that depict the diversity of Filipinx American experiences will help build empathy and solidify a sense of connection and belonging.

As to the second part of your question, the complexity of our community’s history makes for an especially deep well of diverse experiences. The Philippines consists of over seven thousand islands and over one hundred and seventy languages. Early in its history, the indigenous peoples interacted with China, India, and Islamic missionaries, so you can see those cultures interwoven into our own. Then there was over three hundred and fifty years of Spanish colonial rule, forty years of American rule, and four years of Japanese occupation. As an American commonwealth, English spread and our status allowed for a wave of working class immigrants to enter the US at a time when the Chinese Exclusion Act prevented other Asians from doing so. Of course, that didn’t mean we were welcomed with open arms. Jim Crow and anti-miscegenation laws also applied to Filipinos, especially as our presence expanded and anti-Filipino sentiment grew in white communities.

All that said, while there certainly are some shared experiences—not only between Filipinx Americans, but also with other minority groups in the US—there’s also infinite nuance. I’m glad to see an increasing number of Filipinx American writers in kid lit like Melissa de la Cruz, Erin Entrada Kelly, Marie Cruz, Mae Respicio, myself and others, but there are a lot of untold stories in our community still waiting in the wings.

JR: You chose to write what, to me, feels like hyper-contemporary work. Like, this is a story about a family, but it’s framed around a political moment that’s playing out in real life, day-by-day. Why choose this, and was there any apprehension around the decision and execution?

RR: Issues like the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines’ drug war get at the core of what it means to be human and to been seen (or not seen) as human by society. But these issues can often feel abstract and distant when only reading articles and statistics which then leaves a lot of room for apathy or complacency. Initially, I wrote Jay’s story to try to make it more real for me. The deeper I got into the story, though, the more I realized Jay & Jun’s family was becoming a microcosm for what’s happening at the macro level and I began to cultivate the story with that in mind, understanding that the novel could make the abstract real for a lot of other people as well.

There was—and will always be—for me the concern that since I’m FIlipino American and not Filipino I have no right to broach the topic. However, instead of avoiding that issue, I leaned into it. It’s intentionally written from the perspective of a Filipino American, and Jay grapples with this on the page. I didn’t want him to be a savior, so I focused on positioning him as a learner. I felt a responsibility to get the facts right in doing so. Granted, the facts can be elusive, so I tried to do my due diligence in researching and speaking with people about what’s going on. I also tried to present different perspectives in a way that didn’t dehumanize anyone. I believe there is a very small percentage of people who support the extrajudicial killings for the sake of personal gain, but I believe a vast majority of Filipinos who support it really do want what’s best for their family, for the country. At the same time, I wanted to make clear the human effects of the policy and the ways it’s abused.

JR: Family plays a huge role in this story. Can you talk a bit about duality of identity, and how it often comes to a head when dealing with the duality of family, as in your protagonist Jay’s case, a family in the United States, and a family in the Philippines.

RR: Family is always complex, but in the case of someone like Jay (and me) who is biracial and has family in two different cultures/countries, there’s a whole other layer to it. Neither parent/side of the family fully understands what it’s like to be part of the first generation that is both, so many of us are left to navigate what that means on our own. At its best, you feel like you have a foot in both worlds. At its worst, you feel like you don’t truly belong anywhere. In situations where you’re surrounded by one side of extended family or the other or when you’re visiting your homeland, these feelings can’t be ignored. I always felt pretty firmly American growing up, but I was always keenly aware that others didn’t think of me automatically as such because of how I looked. People asked me “What are you?” all the time. But then when I traveled to the Philippines, I’d feel this connection because people looked more like me and ate many of the foods my family grew up cooking, but I didn’t speak any of the languages and wasn’t familiar with a lot of the customs. Some people choose not to think about this too much, electing to simply weather the temporary discomfort. But I think it’s always healthier to confront those feelings, struggle with them, and then come out the other side with a stronger sense of identity.

JR: There’s also an element of this story that felt like a bit of a mystery, in the best way. Like a whodunit. Expound on how secrets can be both an incredible literary device, and the cornerstone of a story about family.

RR: As a literary device, it’s a great technique for automatically hooking the reader. A secret asks a question, and it’s in our nature as human beings to answer questions. So, it automatically gives the plot a trajectory. Then the challenge as a writer is to craft a story that follows a believable and engaging journey for your protagonist to uncover the truth and to offer an answer that’s going to feel satisfying or meaningful or logical.

Now, family secrets can be a particularly powerful storytelling device because of the emotional stakes. Secrets are secret for a reason. If a family member is hiding something, it’s probably because it has some real potential to fracture the deepest of relationships and cause some legit lasting trauma. Family secrets are also very relatable. A vast majority of us are never going to try to solve a murder, but we probably all have some family secrets lurking in the shadows.

As a side note, it’s funny to me that it sometimes gets pitched or marketed as a mystery novel because I don’t think of it that way at all. To me, the family piece is absolutely the central element of the story even though a mystery drives the plot. As I wrote, I was thinking primarily about how to capture the nuance and complexity of Jay’s family dynamics.

JR: The title, Patron Saints of Nothing, alludes to the patron saints of the Catholic church. How does faith play into Jay’s story?

RR: Religion is something Jay’s grown up with but hasn’t given much thought to. I believe that about 80% of Filipinos are Roman Catholic (Thanks, Spanish colonialism…), but in my experience, it’s often a cultural thing. People go to Mass and celebrate the holidays and basically just go through the motions because that’s what they’re supposed to do. But how many are really thinking about these things deeply? His cousin Jun is one of those careful thinkers, though, and Jay reads about that in some of his letters. The more Jay considers Jun’s thoughts and the more he digs into the drug war, the more dissonance he feels. Like, one of the Ten Commandments is not to murder, and Jesus speaks about loving your neighbor as yourself—it’s contradictory to embrace those teachings while supporting extrajudicial killings. He begins to understand this hypocrisy in a way I think is common to teens. Adults might have already resigned themselves to ignore or justify certain inconsistencies of principle or to hide behind the “it’s complicated” excuse, but teens will call bullshit. They’re still figuring out the world, and they’ll be honest about when they notice adults telling them one thing but doing another. Jay works through a lot of this internally throughout the story, and I made one of his uncles a Catholic priest because I wanted to give him the opportunity to confront someone about this, to try to untangle it on the page, externally. I admire the way Kelly Loy Gilbert’s Conviction and Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X do this, and I know there are others confronting the topic as well. But I wish more MG and YA showed us kids processing their relationships with religion

JR: This is your third book. How are you feeling about it all?

RR: Amazed people keep letting me do this. For real. I love creating worlds and characters with nothing but words, and it’s wild to think I have three stories out in the world for anyone to read. Any time I see my books in a bookstore or a reader comes up and tells me they loved one of them, there’s still this feeling of unreality to it all. It’s also kind of different to move out of the debut mentality to thinking about my books forming a body of work.

To be honest, though, at the same time I feel a lot more pressure than I used to. Not many people knew about my debut, An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, when it came out in 2015 so the only expectations I was dealing with were my own. After the Shot Drops got some good reviews and has maintained some steady momentum. Patron Saints of Nothing has also received some really positive reviews, and there has been a lot more chatter pre-publication about it compared to my previous books. At a practical level, the longer I’m in the game and the more readers I pick up along the way, the more requests to do interviews, school visits, festival appearances, etc. I receive. I’m grateful for all of these chances to meet and interact with readers, but at the end of the day, fielding those requests and doing that stuff takes time away from writing-—as I’m sure you know. And as a full-time teacher, time is not something I have an abundance of. At a deeper level, having more readers familiar with your work and having positive reviews creates a constant expectation that the next thing is going to be even bigger and better and more profound than the last. While I’d like to think that the more I write the better I get at it, that line of thinking falls into the trap of assuming that quality is objective. But there’s a significant subjective component to art, so different readers are going to connect with different stories. I try to keep that in mind and focus on the story at hand and telling it as truly as I can.

Big thanks to Jason and Randy for this fabulous and insightful conversation and big thanks to you all for hanging out this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers: It’s T-Shirt Time!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Tor Teen.

Based on the Caribbean boogeyman myth, Five Midnights is an immersive murder mystery set against the backdrop of modern-day Puerto Rico.

Five friends cursed.

Five deadly fates.

Five nights of retribución.

If Lupe Dávila and Javier Utierre can survive each other’s company, together they can solve a series of grisly murders sweeping through Puerto Rico. But the clues lead them out of the real world and into the realm of myths and legends. And if they want to catch the killer, they’ll have to step into the shadows to see what’s lurking there—murderer, or monster?

I love how much books have influenced other people’s creativity and their dedication to the book itself. That’s why, even though I don’t wear t-shirts myself, I cannot get enough of bookish YA t-shirts.

Because it’s summer and because, well, it’s t-shirt time.

Wear your love for the Song-Covey sisters. $26 and up.

This one is for all of the fans of The Raven Cycle. Love the vintage styling!

Though not technically a t-shirt, this Everything Everything slouchy sweatshirt was too great not to include.

The perfect Starry Court shirt for Sarah J. Maas fans.

Wear this while waiting for the next book in Holly Black’s Cruel Prince series.

Fashion, Six of Crows style.

I do love a good baseball style t-shirt, and this one for Marie Lu’s Wildcard series doesn’t disappoint.

This shirt is a nice homage to Stalking Jack The Ripper.

Last, but certainly not least, this shirt epitomizes everything in Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give.

Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA friends! Let’s highlight some of 2019’s rad YA comics.

“What’s Up In YA?” is sponsored by If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann and Swoon Reads.

Winnie is living her best fat girl life at her Granny’s diner, Goldeen’s, in the small town of Misty Haven. She’s poised for one last perfect summer twirling around the diner floor in her 50’s-inspired uniform before starting college in the fall. And then she becomes Misty Haven’s Summer Queen, a highly anticipated matchmaking tradition that she wants absolutely nothing to do with. Newly crowned, Winnie discovers almost immediately that she’s deathly afraid of it all: the spotlight, the obligations, and the way her Merry Haven Summer King, wears his heart, humor, and honesty on his sleeve.

If you love YA books and haven’t been reading YA comics lately, I hope this roundup will convince you to pick up a new title or two. For those who already know the incredible range of talent in YA comics, this look at a handful of 2019 YA comics will also likely add some new finds to your reading lists.

My own YA comics reading this year has been lacking, despite an incredible slate of new titles, so descriptions are from Amazon while I frantically catch up. This isn’t comprehensive, of course.

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden (September 10)

Bea is on the run. And then, she runs into Lou.

This chance encounter sends them on a journey through West Texas, where strange things follow them wherever they go. The landscape morphs into an unsettling world, a mysterious cat joins them, and they are haunted by a group of threatening men. To stay safe, Bea and Lou must trust each other as they are driven to confront buried truths. The two women share their stories of loss and heartbreak―and a startling revelation about sexual assault―culminating in an exquisite example of human connection.

This magical realistic adventure from the celebrated comics creator of Spinning and On a Sunbeam will stay with readers long after the final gorgeously illustrated page.

Bloom by Kevin Panetta and Savanna Ganucheau

Now that high school is over, Ari is dying to move to the big city with his ultra-hip band―if he can just persuade his dad to let him quit his job at their struggling family bakery. Though he loved working there as a kid, Ari cannot fathom a life wasting away over rising dough and hot ovens. But while interviewing candidates for his replacement, Ari meets Hector, an easygoing guy who loves baking as much as Ari wants to escape it. As they become closer over batches of bread, love is ready to bloom . . . that is, if Ari doesn’t ruin everything.

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw

Mads is pretty happy with her life. She goes to church with her family, and minor league baseball games with her dad. She goofs off with her best friend Cat, and has thus far managed to avoid getting kissed by Adam, the boy next door. It’s everything she hoped high school would be… until all of a sudden, it’s not.

Her dad is hiding something big―so big it could tear her family apart. And that’s just the beginning of her problems: Mads is starting to figure out that she doesn’t want to kiss Adam… because the only person she wants to kiss is Cat.

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Laura Dean, the most popular girl in high school, was Frederica Riley’s dream girl: charming, confident, and SO cute. There’s just one problem: Laura Dean is maybe not the greatest girlfriend.

Reeling from her latest break up, Freddy’s best friend, Doodle, introduces her to the Seek-Her, a mysterious medium, who leaves Freddy some cryptic parting words: break up with her. But Laura Dean keeps coming back, and as their relationship spirals further out of her control, Freddy has to wonder if it’s really Laura Dean that’s the problem. Maybe it’s Freddy, who is rapidly losing her friends, including Doodle, who needs her now more than ever.

Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnists like Anna Vice to help her through being a teenager in love.

Mera: Tidebreaker by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne

When the Xebellian military plots to overthrow Atlantis and break free of its oppressive regime, Mera seizes the opportunity to take control over her own destiny by assassinating Arthur Curry–the long-lost prince and heir to the kingdom of Atlantis. But her mission gets sidetracked when Mera and Arthur unexpectedly fall in love. Will Arthur Curry be the king at Mera’s side, or will he die under her blade as she attempts to free her people from persecution?

An astonishing graphic novel that explores duty, love, heroism and freedom, all through the eyes of readers’ favorite undersea royalty.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (October 15)

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different―Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if―instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut―they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you again soon!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA readers! Let’s catch up on the latest YA book talk.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura, from Epic Reads.

CJ’s never lived up to her mom’s ambition, and she’s perfectly happy just helping her aunt, Hannah, at their family’s flower shop. She doesn’t buy into Hannah’s ideas about flowers and their hidden meanings, but when it comes to floral arrangement, CJ discovers a skill she can be proud of. Then her mom decides to sell the shop—to the family who swindled CJ’s grandparents when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps during WWII. Soon a rift threatens to splinter CJ’s family, friends, and their entire community; and for the first time, CJ has found something she wants to fight for.

It’s been a minute since we’ve caught up on all of the incredible YA book talk happening over on Book Riot. Let’s take this opportunity to do just that.

You’ll note so much excellent YA fantasy talk here! Likewise, don’t miss out on the start of Hey YA: Extra Credit and all things Norma Klein.

• Add a pile of new YA paperbacks to your summer reading lists.
• Want some queer YA fantasy reads? Here you go!
• Here’s what Asian Pacific American YA authors want you to know (I love this style of interview so much, as it allows so many voices to shine!).
• Royals in YA fantasy.
• Dig into the top YA horror books.
• Gilded covers in YA fantasy are trending.
• Read your way into some excellent unlikable female characters in YA fantasy.
• YA books that are set at the beach.
• On the representation in We Hunt The Flame. 
• There are never enough YA ballet books as far as I’m concerned.
• Author Tom Mitchell talks about his book How To Rob A Bank.
• Animals of Unusual Size in YA fantasy.
• YA fantasy books set in the modern world.
• These are some of your favorite unconventional YA love stories.
• How about some monster girls in YA fantasy?
• Books by UK authors of color for middle grade and young adult readers.
• Love Stephanie Garber’s “Caraval” series? Here’s what to read next.
• Add some YA fantasy themed flair to your life.
• Where can you find great YA books in translation? Let us help!
• YA books about reproductive freedom.
• More of the kinds of heroes we’d love to see in YA fantasy.
• Excellent Asian-inspired YA fantasy.
• 50+ must-read YA books about sports.
• Get your hands on these inclusive YA fantasy books.
• Diverse YA fantasy books where heroines dress like boys. Oh, and here are some more, too.
• How about some Harry Potter fanvids?
• 2019 feminist YA fantasy reads.
• What is it that adults love about YA fantasy?
• Get into some standalone YA fantasy books.
• Last, but not least, read your way into the work of YA author E. Lockhart.

Just for fun, enjoy this photo of my bunny Hollandaise and her least-favorite book in the Harry Potter series. Enjoy some more bookish pets here.

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you later this week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.

Hey YA Readers: Let’s talk popular YA!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by the audiobook edition of Birthday by Meredith Russo.

From the award-winning author Meredith Russo, comes a heart-wrenching and universal story of identity, first love, and fate. Eric and Morgan have been best friends since day one. They share nearly everything together, even their birthdays, but Morgan hasn’t been able to tell Eric his biggest secret. He knows that he’s supposed to be a girl. Six years of birthdays reveal Eric and Morgan’s destiny as they come together, drift apart, fall in love, and discover who they’re meant to be—and if they’re meant to be together. The audiobook of Birthday is read by Dana Aliya Levinson.

I’m always curious what people are most interested in, in part because as much as we talk about trends, those aren’t always defined by those who, well, actually set the trends (see the “trend” that low-rise jeans are coming back into style that’s been from Fashion, as opposed to everyday folks who are hanging on to high-waisted jeans for dear life).

This extends not to just fashion but to books and reading as well. I suspect a lot of readers feel this way — whether or not you’re a reader of everything that is popular, it’s always nice to know what it is people are interested in because it’s great for social ice breaking and also, well, determining whether or not you should look into the thing for yourself.

I’ve gone through the YA books that we have talked about at Book Riot for the first half of 2019 and rounded up the top 10 books. These are based on the number of mentions they’ve had on site and showcase a really wonderful range of genres and authors. There are front list and back list titles here. I limited to one book per author (see: Angie Thomas!) to give a nice range of titles.

This list doesn’t necessarily reflect the bestsellers list and that’s what makes it so interesting.

Because I’ve yet to read all of these YA books, I’ve used Amazon descriptions. May you be adding some more awesome reads that are reader tested and reader approved to your TBR. These are in alphabetical order.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious “errands”; she speaks many languages–not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When one of the strangers–beautiful, haunted Akiva–fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own. Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she enlists the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling tells the story of the vulnerable-yet-strong Katsa, who is smart and beautiful and lives in the Seven Kingdoms where selected people are born with a Grace, a special talent that can be anything at all. Katsa’s Grace is killing. As the king’s niece, she is forced to use her extreme skills as his brutal enforcer. Until the day she meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, and Katsa’s life begins to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Internment by Samira Ahmed

Rebellions are built on hope.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons.

Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo

Sparks fly between a K-pop starlet and a tabloid reporter in Somewhere Only We Know, a heartwarming rom-com from Maurene Goo.

10:00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11:00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about.

With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

This brilliantly written thriller explores the lives–and deaths–of two girls, and what they will do to win justice. Sure to be one of the most talked-about books of the year!

Nothing’s been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died.

Her dad is drowning in grief. He’s also the only one who has been able to see and hear her since the accident. But now she’s got a mystery to solve, a mystery that will hopefully remind her detective father that he needs to reconnect with the living.

The case takes them to a remote Australian town, where there’s been a suspicious fire. All that remains are an unidentifiable body and an unreliable witness found wandering nearby. This witness speaks in riddles. Isobel Catching has a story to tell, and it’s a tale to haunt your dreams–but does it even connect to the case at hand?

As Beth and her father unravel the mystery, they find a shocking and heartbreaking story lurking beneath the surface of a small town.

We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal

People lived because she killed. People died because he lived.

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya―but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds―and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you on Monday!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars on Instagram and editor of (Don’t) Call Me Crazy and Here We Are.