Author: Kelly Jensen

Hey YA Readers: Let’s catch up on some of the latest in book talk over on Book Riot.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi.

Debut author Tochi Onyebuchi delivers an unforgettable fantasy adventure that explores the meaning of justice and guilt. Packed with dark magic and thrilling action, Beasts Made of Night is a gritty fantasy perfect for fans of Paolo Bacigalupi and Nnedi Okorafor. In the city of Kos, corrupt mages magically call forth sin from sinners in the form of sin-beasts—lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt. Taj is a talented aki, young sin-eaters indentured to slay sin-beasts. When Taj is called to eat a member of the royal family’s sin, he’s thrust into a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos.

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As you’re picking yourself back up after the holiday nosh fest (or not!), why not build yourself an epic to-be-read list, courtesy of some recent YA book talk?

You’re welcome!

• We’re going to go ahead and start with the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time. I know it’s more middle grade than YA, but it’s worth a share.
• 5 YA fiction and nonfiction pairings. As a nonfiction fan, I LOVE posts like this.
• YA books featuring coffee covers.
• For the readers who can’t get enough Hallmark Christmas movies and want to read YA books with the same kind of vibe.
• How about some YA poetry collections?
• Why the “male savior” narrative in YA has got to go.
• Want to read like John Green? Here are 99 books he’s recommended. It’s nice to see he’s taken the memo about the importance of inclusivity to heart over the last few years.
• LOL with these funny YA books.
• Excellent Asian Canadian and Asian American YA reads.
• The power of angry girls in YA lit.
• Can you correctly identify each of these lines as either a line from a YA novel or a lyric from a late 90s/early 00s radio hit?
• 15 books that teens are recommending right now. Teen reading habits are some of my favorite!
• Sweet YA covers featuring teens of color hitting shelves in 2018.
• A look behind the scenes at how a YA book cover is made. Check out the story of The Wicker King.
• 15 YA adaptations of best selling adult nonfiction. I’ve found so many young reader adaptations to be really great lately, so I’m adding a ton of these to my own to-read.

 

Book Deal O’Clock…

Why not fill up your ereader with some cheap YA books? Here are a few worth looking into:

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthirst is $2, and I’ve read so many rave reviews of this one that I’m going to need to pick it up.

Megan Miranda’s Hysteria is $2. Thriller fans, it’s for you.

Kristen Simmons’s Article 5 (as well as the rest of the trilogy!) are $3 each.

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you back here next week!

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Hey YA Readers! Time to bulk up your TBR for the upcoming holiday season.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi from Penguin.

Our story begins on a frosty night . . .

Laylee can barely remember the happier times before her beloved mother died. Before her father, driven by grief, lost his wits (and his way) and she was left as the sole remaining mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood, destined to spend her days scrubbing the skins and souls of the dead in preparation for the afterlife.

But soon, a pair of familiar strangers appear, and Laylee’s world is turned upside down as she rediscovers color, magic, and the healing power of friendship.

Lush and enchanting, critically-acclaimed author Tahereh Mafi weaves together an all-new magical adventure in this dark, Persian fantasy, a companion to the New York Times bestselling Furthermore.

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As this newsletter hits inboxes, many will be frantically preparing for big Thanksgiving meals and many more will be hoping to hide away with a good book to survive those meals. And for non-US readers, well, of course there’s no wrong time to keep bulking up the TBR.

Every year it seems that the books which release in November and December get short shrift when it comes to hitting people’s radars. The “Best Of” lists release around this time, and people are busy making their lists of titles to look forward to in the new year.

But let’s take this week to highlight six books hitting shelves these last two months of 2017 which you may not have heard about but should (I didn’t include books like The Speaker or Renegades or Rosemarked or Retribution Rails below, but…I guess I just included them here!).

Descriptions come from Goodreads. I’ve included pub dates next to the titles not quite available yet.

 

The Closest I’ve Come by Fred Aceves

Marcos Rivas wants to find love.

He’s sure as hell not getting it at home, where his mom’s racist boyfriend beats him up. Or from his boys, who aren’t exactly the “hug it out” type. Marcos yearns for love, a working cell phone, and maybe a pair of sneakers that aren’t falling apart. But more than anything, Marcos wants to get out of Maesta, his hood—which seems impossible.

When Marcos is placed in a new after-school program for troubled teens with potential, he meets Zach, a theater geek whose life seems great on the surface, and Amy, a punk girl who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. These new friendships inspire Marcos to open up to his Maesta crew, too, and along the way, Marcos starts to think more about his future and what he has to fight for. Marcos ultimately learns that bravery isn’t about acting tough and being macho; it’s about being true to yourself.

Devil in Ohio by Daria Polatin

When fifteen-year-old Jules Mathis comes home from school to find a strange girl, her mother explains that Mae is one of her patients at the hospital and will be staying with their family for a few days. But shortly after, Mae is wearing Jules’ clothes, sleeping in her bedroom, edging her out of her position on the school paper, and kissing Jules’s crush. Then things get weird.

Jules walks in on a half-dressed Mae, she’s startled to see a pentagram carved into her back. Soon white roses start turning up on the front porch, a rabid dog bites one of Jules’ sisters, and Jules’ parents, who never fight, start arguing behind closed doors.

Jules pieces clues together and discovers that Mae may be a survivor of the strange cult that has taken over a nearby town. And they will stop at nothing to get Mae back.

 

Here, There, Everywhere by Julia Durango and Tyler Terrones (December 19)

Zeus would rather be anywhere than here—Buffalo Falls—the tiny town his family moved to at the end of the school year. Having left all his friends back in Chicago and with nothing to look forward to except helping out at his mother’s café and biking around town with his weird little brother, Zeus is pretty sure this is destined to be the worst summer of his life.

But then he meets Rose—funny, beautiful, smart, and an incredible musician.

Zeus can hardly believe that someone like her exists, let alone seems interested in being with him. However, while Zeus is counting down the minutes until he can see her next, Rose is counting down the days until she finds out whether she will be able to leave their small town to pursue her dreams. As the afternoons spent going on local adventures pass into nights discussing their deepest hopes, Zeus knows that he doesn’t have long to convince Rose that what they have is more than a summer fling…if only he’s brave enough to seize the chance.

Shadow Girl by Liana Liu (December 19)

The house on Arrow Island is full of mystery.

Yet when Mei arrives, she can’t help feeling relieved. She’s happy to spend the summer in an actual mansion tutoring a rich man’s daughter if it means a break from her normal life—her needy mother, her delinquent brother, their tiny apartment in the city. And Ella Morison seems like an easy charge, sweet and well behaved.

What Mei doesn’t know is that something is very wrong in the Morison household.

Though she tries to focus on her duties, Mei becomes increasingly distracted by the family’s problems and her own complicated feelings for Ella’s brother, Henry. But most disturbing of all are the unexplained noises she hears at night—the howling and thumping and cries.

Mei is a sensible girl. She isn’t superstitious; she doesn’t believe in ghosts. Yet she can’t shake her fear that there is danger lurking in the shadows of this beautiful house, a darkness that could destroy the family inside and out… and Mei along with them.

Three Sides of a Heart: Stories About Love Triangles edited by Natalie C. Parker (December 19)

In this collection, edited by Natalie C. Parker, some of your favorite YA authors tackle the much-debated trope of the love triangle, and the result is sixteen fresh, diverse, and romantic stories you don’t want to miss.

A teen girl who offers kissing lessons. Zombies in the Civil War South. The girl next door, the boy who loves her, and the girl who loves them both. Vampires at a boarding school. Three teens fighting monsters in an abandoned video rental store. Literally the last three people on the planet.

What do all these stories have in common?

The love triangle.

You may think you know the love triangle, but you’ve never seen love triangles like these.

Victoria: Portrait of a Queen by Catherine Reef

Victoria woke one morning at the age of eighteen to discover that her uncle had died and she was now queen. She went on to rule for sixty-three years, with an influence so far-reaching that the decades of her reign now bear her name—the Victorian period. Victoria is filled with the exciting comings and goings of royal life: intrigue and innuendo, scheming advisors, and assassination attempts, not to mention plenty of passion and discord. Includes bibliography, notes, British royal family tree, index.

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Splurge on Cheap YA Reads…

Tamora Pierce’s Trickster’s Choice is a mere $2.

Ever The Hunted by Erin Summerill — which has a sequel out in early December — is $2.

Haven’t yet read Terry Pratchett’s standalone YA title Nation? $2 will solve that.

 

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Thanks for hanging out again. We’ll see you next week with a big, delicious link round-up of all the recent YA talk.

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

 

PS! Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win $500 at the bookstore of your choice. This is the last week to enter, and you don’t want to be sad you didn’t try. 

Hey YA Readers: It’s News O’Clock!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew

Nazi England, 2014. Jessika Keller is a good girl — a champion ice skater, model student of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, and dutiful daughter of the Greater German Reich. Her best friend, Clementine, is not so submissive. Passionately different, Clem is outspoken, dangerous, and radical. And the regime has noticed. Jess cannot keep both her perfect life and her dearest friend, her first love. But which can she live without? Haunting, intricate, and unforgettable, The Big Lie unflinchingly interrogates perceptions of revolution, feminism, sexuality, and protest. Back matter includes historical notes from the author discussing her reasons for writing an “alt-history” story and the power of speculative fiction.

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Tons of interesting news to share this week from the world of YA.

• Daniel José Older is writing a Star Wars book!
• I’ve not watched the Carmella web series, but I have seen so much about it on Tumblr that it’s been on my radar. If you don’t know anything about this lesbian vampire story, read this piece and then get excited there’s a YA book coming.
• How YA lit is leading the queer disabled media revolution. Yes!
• Someday, I swear, I am going to write a piece about all of the YA tie-in novels that came out in the 80s and 90s because there are some great ones. How about the Halloween franchise in YA form? It happened.
• I haven’t read The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (a nonfiction giant!) but the animation based on the book just won a huge honor.
• “Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall is an expertly executed parable of the terror of teenage girlhood, when adults simply don’t understand and refuse to listen and the most valuable thing about you is your unspoiled youth and your easily influenced mind.”
• The CILIP Carnegie Medal finalists have been nominated. I love seeing what gets a nice nod across the pond.
• Then here are some of the nominees for one of Ireland’s biggest young adult prizes.
• And let’s round award talk out with this year’s Governor General’s Literary Award titles from Canada.
• Did you see the teaser trailer for the adaptation of Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda (now Love, Simon)?
• This is a small note in a larger piece but Diane Guerrero is writing a YA book! Her memoir was such a fabulous crossover read that this can only be good.
• How about some magical romance?
• Nutmeg is a comic described as the Breaking Bad YA comic you didn’t know you needed. Never heard of it, but I suspect it’ll be something up so many reader alleys!
• What do you think about the YA titles which made the list Goodreads put together of favorite horror reads? NGL: that there’s no Daniel Kraus is a surprise and disappointment.
• Survive The Night is getting an adaptation by…Pharrell and Tracy Oliver.
• Jenni Konner and Lena Dunham are teaming up to bring E. Lockhart’s recent Genuine Fraud to the big screen (I’ll be over here continuing to rally for an adaptation of Frankie Landau Banks).
• A fabulous profile of badass 12-year-old Marley Dias. Don’t know Dias and her killer work bringing awareness to black girl books? Fix that.
• And finally, bookmark this! Emily XR Pan and Nova Ren Suma are bringing a serial YA anthology to an internet screen near you. I’m so stoked for more YA short fiction and in a way that’s super accessible.

Y’all, did you see the amazing giveaway we have going on right now? If you’ve ever wanted to drop $500 at your favorite bookstore, then you need to enter.

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Cheap Reads…

Build up your YA collections with these inexpensive, but fabulous, reads.

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst is $2 and I’ve heard nothing but great things about this queer fantasy romance.

Heidi Heilig’s The Girl From Everywhere sails in at $2. Time travel!

And one of my all! time! favorite! YA! reads! is $3 this month. Pick up Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero.

 

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Thanks for hanging out, and we’ll see you back here next week for even more YA talk. Itching for more YA talk before then? Make sure you tune in to Hey YA, our biweekly YA podcast, hosted by me and Eric Smith.

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

 

Good Monday, YA Friends: It’s reading season!

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Last Chance by Gregg Hurwitz.

An alien threat has transformed everyone over the age of eighteen into ferocious, zombie-like beings, and Chance and Patrick are humanity’s only hope for salvation in Last Chance, the second book in Gregg Hurwitz’s thrilling The Rains Brothers series. Don’t miss the continuation of the tale Ridley Pearson called “all-too-creepy-and-believable…. Chilling!”

 

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Let’s kick off our foray into the month of November with a round-up of YA books in honor of Native American Heritage Month. This list includes both authors who identify as Native American, as well as books where the main character is Native. Titles in the first category don’t always include a Native main character. For books which fall in the second category, I’ve done what I can to ensure that the titles noted are among the strongest representations. For readers who are curious about and want to know more about Native American representation in youth literature, I recommend spending some time at Debbie Reese’s American Indians in Children’s Literature blog.

All descriptions below are from Goodreads.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Sherman is Spokane-Coeur d’Alene)

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

 

After The Fall by Kate Hart (Kate is a member of the Chickasaw Nation)

Seventeen-year-old Raychel is sleeping with two boys: her overachieving best friend Matt…and his slacker brother, Andrew. Raychel sneaks into Matt’s bed after nightmares, but nothing ever happens. He doesn’t even seem to realize she’s a girl, except when he decides she needs rescuing. But Raychel doesn’t want to be his girl anyway. She just needs his support as she deals with the classmate who assaulted her, the constant threat of her family’s eviction, and the dream of college slipping quickly out of reach. Matt tries to help, but he doesn’t really get it… and he’d never understand why she’s fallen into a secret relationship with his brother. The friendships are a precarious balance, and when tragedy strikes, everything falls apart. Raychel has to decide which pieces she can pick up – and which ones are worth putting back together.

If you haven’t, check out my interview with Kate from earlier this year.

Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend by Erika T Wurth (Erika is Apache/Chicasaw/Cherokee)

Margaritte is a sharp-tongued, drug-dealing, sixteen-year-old Native American floundering in a Colorado town crippled by poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse. She hates the burnout, futureless kids surrounding her and dreams that she and her unreliable new boyfriend can move far beyond the bright lights of Denver that float on the horizon before the daily suffocation of teen pregnancy eats her alive.

 

Feral Nights (series) by Cynthia Leitich-Smith (Cynthia is Muscogee Creek Nation)

When Yoshi, a sexy, free-spirited werecat, tracks his big sister, Ruby, to Austin, he discovers that she’s not only MIA; she’s also the key suspect in a murder investigation. Meanwhile, sarcastic werepossum Clyde and his human pal Aimee have set out to do a little detective work of their own, sworn to avenge the brutal killing of a friend.

When all three are snared in an underground kidnapping ring, they end up on a remote tropical island ruled by an unusual (even by shape-shifter standards) species. The island harbors a grim secret, and were-predator and were-prey must join forces in a fight to escape alive.

 

House of Purple Cedar by Tim Tingle (Tim is Choctaw)

“The hour has come to speak of troubled times. It is time we spoke of Skullyville.” Thus begins Rose Goode’s story of her growing up in Indian Territory in pre-statehood Oklahoma. Skullyville, a once-thriving Choctaw community, was destroyed by land-grabbers, culminating in the arson on New Year’s Eve, 1896, of New Hope Academy for Girls. Twenty Choctaw girls died, but Rose escaped. She is blessed by the presence of her grandmother Pokoni and her grandfather Amafo, both respected elders who understand the old ways. Soon after the fire, the white sheriff beats Amafo in front of the town’s people, humiliating him. Instead of asking the Choctaw community to avenge the beating, her grandfather decides to follow the path of forgiveness. And so unwinds this tale of mystery, Indian-style magical realism, and deep wisdom. It’s a world where backwoods spiritualism and Bible-thumping Christianity mix with bad guys; a one-legged woman shop-keeper, her oaf of a husband, herbal potions, and shape-shifting panthers rendering justice. Tim Tingle—a scholar of his nation’s language, culture, and spirituality—tells Rose’s story of good and evil with understanding and even laugh-out-loud Choctaw humor.

 

If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth (Eric is a member of Onondaga Nation)

Lewis “Shoe” Blake is used to the joys and difficulties of life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in 1975: the joking, the Fireball games, the snow blowing through his roof. What he’s not used to is white people being nice to him — people like George Haddonfield, whose family recently moved to town with the Air Force. As the boys connect through their mutual passion for music, especially the Beatles, Lewis has to lie more and more to hide the reality of his family’s poverty from George. He also has to deal with the vicious Evan Reininger, who makes Lewis the special target of his wrath. But when everyone else is on Evan’s side, how can he be defeated? And if George finds out the truth about Lewis’s home — will he still be his friend?

 

Killer of Enemies (series) by Joseph Bruchac (Joseph is Abenaki)

Years ago, seventeen-year-old Apache hunter Lozen and her family lived in a world of haves and have-nots. There were the Ones — people so augmented with technology and genetic enhancements that they were barely human — and there was everyone else who served them. Then the Cloud came, and everything changed. Tech stopped working. The world plunged back into a new steam age. The Ones’ pets — genetically engineered monsters — turned on them and are now loose on the world.

Lozen was not one of the lucky ones pre-C, but fate has given her a unique set of survival skills and magical abilities. She hunts monsters for the Ones who survived the apocalyptic events of the Cloud, which ensures the safety of her kidnapped family. But with every monster she takes down, Lozen’s powers grow, and she connects those powers to an ancient legend of her people. It soon becomes clear to Lozen that she is not just a hired gun. As the legendary Killer of Enemies was in the ancient days of the Apache people, Lozen is meant to be a more than a hunter. Lozen is meant to be a hero.

 

Lightfinder by Aaron Paquette (Aaron is Cree)

Aisling is a young Cree woman who sets out into the wilderness with her Kokum (grandmother), Aunty and two young men she barely knows. They have to find and rescue her runaway younger brother, Eric. Along the way she learns that the legends of her people might be real and that she has a growing power of her own.

The story follows the paths of Aisling and Eric, siblings unwittingly thrust into a millennia old struggle for the future of life on earth. It deals with growing up, love and loss, and the choices life puts in our path. Love and confusion are in store, as are loss and pain. Things are not always what they seem and danger surrounds them at every turn.

Will Raven”s mysterious purposes prevail? With darkness closing in how will they find the light to guide them? Will Aisling find Eric in time?

 

My Name Is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson (Debby is not Native, but her husband is Inupiaq)

Luke knows his I’nupiaq name is full of sounds white people can’t say. He knows he’ll have to leave it behind when he and his brothers are sent to boarding school hundreds of miles from their Arctic village. At Sacred Heart School things are different. Instead of family, there are students — Eskimo, Indian, White — who line up on different sides of the cafeteria like there’s some kind of war going on. And instead of comforting words like tutu and maktak, there’s English. Speaking I’nupiaq — or any native language — is forbidden. And Father Mullen, whose fury is like a force of nature, is ready to slap down those who disobey. Luke struggles to survive at Sacred Heart. But he’s not the only one. There’s smart-aleck Amiq, a daring leader — if he doesn’t self destruct; Chickie, blond and freckled, a different kind of outsider; and small quiet Junior, noticing everything and writing it all down. Each has their own story to tell. But once their separate stories come together, things at Sacred Heart School — and in the wider world — will never be the same.

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Cheap Reads!

Snap up some great YA without dropping a ton of bones:

Skin by Donna Jo Napoli, who is one of those YA authors you’ve seen a million books by but haven’t picked up yet. Here you go. $1.

ME Kerr is another author you’ve seen books by but haven’t tried yet. Give If I Love You, Am I Trapped Forever? a spin for $1.

Begin a mystery series for $1 with Steven James’s Blur.

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Thanks for hanging out again this week, and we’ll see you again next Monday for a round-up of the latest happenings in the YA world. In the mean time, get your read on and if you haven’t yet, tune into the latest episode of Hey YA, where Eric and I talk about LGBTQ YA, new trends we’re seeing, and the hilarious AOL Instant Messenger names of favorite YA authors.

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

 

Hey YA Readers!

This week’s “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by 36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant.

Inspired by the real psychology study popularized by the New York Times and its “Modern Love” column, this contemporary YA is full of humor and heart. It explores the interactions between Hildy and Paul, two random strangers in a university psychology study, when they ask each other the 36 questions that are engineered to make them fall in love. Told in the language of modern romance–texting, Q&A, IM–and punctuated by Paul’s sketches, this clever high-concept YA will leave you searching for your own stranger to ask the 36 questions. Maybe you’ll even fall in love.

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The end of October is here, and what better way to spend some time than by catching up on recent YA talk while enjoying sweet Halloween treats.

• Snow White retellings, YA style, in honor of its 80s birthday this year.
• Excellent quotes from John Green’s latest book. Oh, and here’s a Nerdfighter on reading the book.
• 12 of your favorite YA retellings of myths and legends.
• A look at the masterminds behind Rainbow Boxes, Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy, and their initiative to get queer books into the hands of young readers.
• A Harry Potter mug for you. A Harry Potter mug for you. And a Harry Potter mug for you.
• What do you think about these YA adaptations getting a redo?
• 13 YA books featuring bisexual boys.
• A rainbow of queer YA reads.
• Solid middle grade and YA comic book novelizations.
• YA verse novels written by black authors.
• Scary reads for YA fans.
• Recently released and forthcoming bisexual YA.
• 20 great YA books for older teens who are reluctant readers.
• A look at the (very few) YA novels set in Puerto Rico.
• Some YA reads about outcasts.
• YA books featuring asexual characters and whether or not you should pick ’em up.
• And finally, your teeny tiny round-up of YA books hitting shelves through the end of this year.

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I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that we’ve dropped not one, but two, episodes of Hey YA this month. If you love podcasts, then you’ll want to add this one to your podcast player of choice.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the $500 (!!!!!) gift card giveaway to a bookstore of your choice going on.

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Cheap Reads!

Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly, the first in the trilogy, is a mere $2.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, a fairytale retelling by Jessica Day George, is also $2. If you love this one, her Princess of the Silver Woods is also only $2.

I know I’ve shared this, but it’s worth repeating: Emery Lord’s The Start Of Me and You is $2, and you can never go wrong with Lord’s work.

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Thanks for hanging out this week. We’ll see you again next week for even more YA talk.

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Hey YA Readers!

This week’s “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by TAPROOT and ROAR Comics.

A Haunting Love Story

Blue is having a hard time moving on. He’s in love with his best friend, Hamal. But Blue’s also dead. Luckily, Hamal can see ghosts, leaving Blue free to haunt him to his heart’s content. But something eerie is happening in town, leaving the local afterlife unsettled. When Blue realizes Hamal’s strange ability may put him in danger, Blue has to find a way to protect him, even if it means… leaving him.

An Original Graphic Novel from Roar Comics!

Written & Illustrated by: Keezy Young

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About a year ago, I wrote a post called “where’s the love for nonfiction for young readers?” and it’s a post I keep coming back to. I obviously have a bit of a personal interest in this because it’s the arena in YA where I’ve published but I’ve also spent a lot of time thinking about it from the standpoint of knowing how much teens love nonfiction and how little time is dedicated to highlighting the books written for YA readers in nonfiction.

This year’s National Book Award finalists in Young People’s Literature lacked a single nonfiction title. Much of the buzz around Printz-worthy YA this year — one of the highest honors for YA books, as bestowed by librarians — has failed to name a single nonfiction title, either. Are we having a drought this year?

I don’t think we are.

So today, here’s a look at a few of this year’s excellent YA nonfiction. I’ve not read them all quite yet, but I am looking forward to many of the ones I haven’t yet picked up. Grab one or many of these titles next time you’re looking for a good read and spend a little time getting to know a whole new world of YA.

 

Alexander Hamilton, Revolutionary by Martha Brockenbrough

Discover the incredible true story behind the Tony Award-winning musical – Hamilton’s early years in the Caribbean; his involvement in the Revolutionary War; and his groundbreaking role in government, which still shapes American government today. Easy to follow, this gripping account of a founding father and American icon features illustrations, maps, timelines, infographics, and additional information ranging from Hamilton’s own writings to facts about fashion, music, etiquette and custom of the times, including best historical insults and the etiquette of duels.

 

Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and The Invention of Modern Journalism by Marc Aronson

Robert Capa and Gerda Taro were young Jewish refugees, idealistic and in love. As photographers, they set off to capture their generation’s most important struggle—the fight against Fascism. Among the first to depict modern warfare, Capa and Taro took powerful photographs of the Spanish Civil War that went straight from the devastation to news magazines. In so doing, they helped give birth to the idea of “bearing witness” through technology to bring home tragedies from across the world.

 

How Dare The Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

This profoundly moving memoir is the remarkable and inspiring true story of Sandra Uwiringyimana, a girl from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who tells the tale of how she survived a massacre, immigrated to America, and overcame her trauma through art and activism.

 

Obsessed: My Life With OCD by Allison Britz

A brave teen recounts her debilitating struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder—and brings readers through every painful step as she finds her way to the other side—in this powerful and inspiring memoir.

 

 

Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed The World by Sarah Prager

World history has been made by countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals—and you’ve never heard of many of them. Queer author and activist Sarah Prager delves deep into the lives of 23 people who fought, created, and loved on their own terms. From high-profile figures like Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt to the trailblazing gender-ambiguous Queen of Sweden and a bisexual blues singer who didn’t make it into your history books, these astonishing true stories uncover a rich queer heritage that encompasses every culture, in every era.

 

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin

Jim Thorpe: super athlete, Olympic gold medalist, Native American.

Pop Warner: indomitable coach, football mastermind, Ivy League grad.

Before these men became legends, they met in 1907 at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where they forged one of the winningest teams in the history of America’s favorite sport. Called “the team that invented football,” Carlisle’s innovative squad challenged the greatest, most elite teams—Harvard, Yale, Army—audaciously vowing to take their place among the nation’s football powers.

This is an astonishing underdog sports story—and more. It’s an unflinching look at the U.S. government’s violent persecution of Native Americans and the school that was designed to erase Indian cultures. It’s the story of a group of young men who came together at that school, the overwhelming obstacles they faced both on and off the field, and their absolute refusal to accept defeat.

Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers’ lives. Confidant, champion, sympathizer, friend, Theo supported Vincent as he struggled to find his path in life. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Meticulously researched, drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime, Deborah Heiligman weaves a tale of two lives intertwined and the love of the Van Gogh brothers.

 

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World came out earlier this year, too, wherein 44 voices ranging from artists to musicians to celebrities and more share their take on what feminism is.

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Cheap Reads!

Snap up Brigid Kemmerer’s Letters to the Lost for $1.99 if you’re a romance lover.

$1.99 gets you Shannon Hale’s classic Book of a Thousand Days, perfect for fans of fairy tale retellings.

And pick up the $1.99 edition of Soulprint by Megan Miranda if you are itching for a thriller.

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Also, did you know we’re giving away $500 to the bookstore of your choice? Now you do, and here’s where you can enter.

 

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

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Good Monday, YA Readers!

What’s Up in YA? is sponsored this week by Earth Hates Me: True Confessions from a Teenage Girl by Ruby Karp.

Earth Hates Me presents a look inside the mind of the modern teenager–from a modern teenager’s perspective. The Sixteen-year-old author addresses issues facing every highschooler, from grades to peer pressure to Snapchat stories, and their complicated effects on the teen psyche.

Ruby advises her peers on the importance of feminism (“not just the Spice Girls version”), dealing with jealousy and friend break-ups, family life, and much more. The book takes an in-depth look at the effect of social media on modern teens and the growing pressures of choosing the right college and career.

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I’ve been collecting a boatload of YA news over the last month, and there’s no time like the present to share it. Be prepared for a lot of adaptation news and updates (among other things, of course!).

• Here’s this year’s short list for the National Book Awards in Young People’s Literature. Read any of them? I’m about 3/4 of the way through Far From The Tree and y’all, it’s the real deal (as is Mexican Daughter — haven’t yet read the other titles but getting there!).
• Malinda Lo offers up her annual look at LGBTQ in YA. These numbers offer some optimism, but also remind us that no, cis boys aren’t missing in YA lit. They’re still the largest population of characters.
• A great piece about why teens should be reading about police brutality and racism (with a book list, natch).
• First glimpses from the set of The Hate U Give. Hi, ready for this now!
• Read Lockwood & Co? You might soon see it on the small screen.
• City of Saints and Thieves is ready for its big screen treatment. I haven’t read this one but it’s sitting near the top of my to-read.
• Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli are teaming up to write a YA book.
• On the most recent episode of Hey YA, Eric Smith and I talked about celebrity YA books. One of the things we mentioned was the lack of press for Cara Delevingne’s debut, Mirror Mirror. Here’s a nice pice about the book and about Delevingne’s experiences with depression and how that informed her book.
• I didn’t realize that the Beinecke had a big children’s archive collection, but now I’m glad I know, thanks to the fact they’re getting Judy Blume’s papers. (True story: I interviewed for an internship there in graduate school and it was the most intense and disastrous interview I’ve ever done).
• An excellent look at 12 women of color and why they write about mental health in their YA books.
• One Of Us Is Lying is getting the small screen treatment. Not surprised, since this one has “TV show” written all over it and has been a NYT bestseller for a while now.
• A spin-off of Pretty Little Liars is in the works, based on the spin-off YA series The Perfectionists.
• I did not know there were plans for either a Monster adaptation nor an Ophelia adaptation (by Walter Dean Myers and Lisa Klein respectively). Now I do.
• Freeform has ordered more episodes of Shadowhunters.
• Trailer and release date for the final film in the Maze Runner trilogy.
• I have never heard of the book Air, but it’ll be a movie. I am definitely curious since it’s social justice based.
• Dolly Parton is writing original songs for the adaptation of Julie Murphy’s Dumplin and tbh, this is the best news.
• Here’s another adaptation announcement I’m excited about. No link: I got this one straight from Reed herself — Amy Reed’s THE NOWHERE GIRLS, about three girls who come together to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate and in the process trigger a change in the misogynist culture at their high school transforming the lives of everyone around them, to Management 360 (GAME OF THRONES, STEVE JOBS).
• BuzzFeed asks you to answer some random questions and gives you a YA recommendation. Mine wasn’t too bad.
• Here’s the trailer for Marvel’s upcoming The Runaways, a YA-aimed comic that’s definitely worth picking up if you haven’t.
• I’d be remiss in not at least linking out to The Worst Bestseller podcast, wherein I was a guest on the show discussing the legendary 23-hour New York Times Bestseller brought down by CSIYATwitter, Handbook for Mortals. Sorry and you’re welcome!

And finally, though this was a publishing-wide event, so many YA authors coordinated and participated that it is worth sharing. Look at how much money was raised for Puerto Rico relief efforts:

 

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Snap up some cheap YA reads…

Conveniently, all of these particular titles are the first in a series. So try ’em out while they’re inexpensive before making the full commitment.

Snag National Book Award short list author Robin Benway’s Also Known As for $2.

If you’re itching for some fantasy, Julie Kagawa’s The Iron King is a mere $2.

And Kimberly McCreight’s The Outliers — for the thriller fans — is also only $2.

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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you back here next week!

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Hey YA Readers!

This week’s “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by All The Wind In The World by Samantha Mabry.

Sarah Jac Crow and James Holt have fallen in love working in the endless fields that span a bone-dry Southwest. To protect themselves, they’ve learned to keep their love hidden from the people who might use it against them. When a horrible accident forces them to start over on a new, possibly cursed ranch, the delicate balance of their lives begins to give way. April Genevieve Tucholke, author of Wink Poppy Midnight, says, “Mabry’s lyrical writing sizzles with the same heat as the relentless desert sun.” Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, All the Wind in the World is a breathtaking tale.

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I’m really excited to share an interview with Erika L. Sánchez today, author of the forthcoming YA book I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, which hits shelves next Tuesday. The book has been short listed for the National Book Award and is one you absolutely need on your TBR ASAP.

Let’s dig in!

Give us the pitch for I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

It’s a coming of age story that takes place in Chicago about a Mexican American girl named Julia who loses her sister.

What inspired this story? What made you want to write a YA book?

As Toni Morrison advised, I wrote the book I needed. I never read stories about people like me when I was growing up, so I thought I should write a novel that young women of color could connect to.

 

The title of your book is also a pretty apt pitch for it, and one of the things that we’ve seen over and over in the world of YA is how critical readers can be toward imperfect, flawed female characters who don’t make great decisions through the course of the story. How does Julia’s experience growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, as well as the “imperfect” daughter, play into or against the assumptions or feelings readers may have about the flawed female character?

It’s such a frustrating conversation! As you point out, the title is really straightforward, so I don’t understand why reviewers are surprised Julia is so flawed. I resent that men are never criticized for this kind of characterization. Women are always expected to be pleasing, but that’s so boring. (Like when men on the street tell me to smile. Hey, maybe I don’t want to! Also, mind your business!) Julia is definitely cantankerous, but she has reasons for being so angry and unhappy. Her life is difficult—her parents come from a very different world and she’s trying to figure herself out while grieving the loss of her sister.

 

In what ways did your own experiences growing up as the daughter of undocumented Mexican immigrants influence your writing?

My parents arrived in the US in 1978 and got amnesty during the Reagan administration. They eventually became citizens. Throughout my childhood, I watched them struggle to provide for us with their factory wages, and I felt so guilty about that. They are incredibly resilient and hardworking. I wanted to honor their experiences by telling a nuanced story about an immigrant family.

 

You grew up in Cicero, Illinois, which is a south suburb of Chicago and it’s roughly 90% Hispanic/Latino. Can you talk a bit about growing up here, about the sorts of books and reading you may or may not have been exposed to, and, maybe, talk a bit about the experience you had with the local public library?

In terms of YA or children’s lit, I read a lot of Judy Blume, which I loved, but man, I had trouble relating to those white kids at times. Their worlds were so foreign to me because everyone around me was brown and broke. I read everything I could get my hands on because I was such an inquisitive kid. I remember once checking out a book titled “Coping with Satanism,” just out of curiosity. (Lol) Also, books about spies, chemistry, and the “discovery” of America. I was all over the place. Unfortunately, the local library wasn’t a very welcoming place, so I would just check the books out and go home. I didn’t interact much with the librarians. Recently, I learned that they required government issued IDs for library cards.. I explained to them that this policy was discriminatory toward undocumented people and they agreed to change it!

 

Beyond YA, you write many other things. Tell us a little about your writing life and what you’re working on now.

I’m often working on a bunch of things at once, probably because I have a short attention span. I write poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. My poetry collection just  came out in July and I’m almost finished with a collection of personal essays. Also, I’m teaching creative writing  at Princeton, which I love. It’s all amazing, but I’m a little bit tired!

 

What books were you reading as a teenager? What books were resonating most with you?

I loved reading books about misfits. Catcher in the Rye was really important to me. Holden Caulfield cracked me up; his cynicism felt so familiar.  I also loved The Awakening, The Bell Jar, and other books about women struggling to find their place in the world.

What YA books have you read recently and want to make sure every YA reader picks up?

The Hate U Give was fantastic. It’s a bestseller for a reason. I loved the way she creates complex characters that push against the stereotypes society imposes upon them. A drug dealer isn’t necessarily a horrible person, for instance. Also, speaking of flawed brown girls, The Education of Margot Sanchez was so fun. I love the voice of the protagonist.

 

If you could go back in time and hand your teenage self any one YA book, what would it be and why? 

Damn, this is a tough one. I think Girl in Pieces by Katherine Glasgow would have been so comforting because like the protagonist, I struggled with depression. I need to know I wasn’t alone.

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Snap up some cheap YA reads…

Dig into Emery Lord’s The Start of You and Me for $1.99 if you’re itching for some romance.

$1.99 for Megan Miranda’s Fracture will satisfy your need for a mystery/thriller.

And if you’re looking for horror, $1.99 will get that for you in Madeleine Roux’s Asylum.

 

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Thanks for hanging out and we’ll see you back here next week with a round-up of YA news and happenings. If you’re itching for a little more YA in your life, don’t miss the latest episode of Hey YA, wherein Eric and I talk about YA authors who cross genres, celebrity YA authors, and so much more.

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Currently reading One Of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

 

Hey YA Readers:

It’s time to bulk up your TBR and your brain about all things young adult lit.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Madness by Zac Brewer from Epic Reads.

Brooke has gotten so good at pretending to be fine that they’re letting her leave inpatient therapy. Now this time, when she’s ready to end her life, there won’t be anyone around to stop her. Then Brooke meets Derek, the only person who really gets what Brooke is going through, because he’s going through it too. But when Derek’s feelings for her intensify, Brooke must accept that the relationship bringing out the best in her might be bringing out the worst in Derek—and Derek at his worst could be capable of real darkness.

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Happy October! Let’s catch up on the last month of YA book talk around Book Riot.

• A look at what the epilogue to Harry Potter taught one reader about happiness.
• 40 paperback YA titles hitting shelves this fall (perfect for toting around with you to read while you’re killing time!).
• Need some YA nonfiction in your life? Here are 10 great picks.
• Itching for the new John Green book? Here he is reading the first chapter.
• Teens who have odd, strange, and super unique part-time jobs in YA lit.
• Those poor misunderstood villains in YA.
• If you’re a librarian or teacher, here’s a handy guide to getting a great teen book club going in your school library.
• Dig into some of this year’s YA books in translation.
• Though the weekend of YA adaptations on Lifetime has passed, many of these are available to stream or purchase on the cheap. Get your YA lit on the small screen.
• Contemporary YA books that feature interracial couples.
• Excellent debut novels from this year you may have missed as the world goes down in flames. Read ’em, friends!
• Love your YA with some doom and gloom? This book list is for you!
• Hi, you can decorate your entire house in Harry Potter decor. See you at the Pottery Barn!
• Eight questions with British YA author Beth Garrod.
• If you love Gossip Girl, you might want to check out these books, too.
• Why is there a lack of discussion about female reproductive issues in YA lit? A look at the ways we need to see PCOS, endometriosis, and other uterine-related illnesses in fiction for teens.
• Love the K-Pop band BTS? Have a book list!
• Kick it old school with this reading guide to classic YA author Paula Danziger’s books.

 

If you didn’t know, now you will: we have launched a YA podcast, Hey YA! It’s hosted by me, Kelly Jensen, as well as YA experthusiast Eric Smith. The first episode is live and full of discussion about what, exactly, YA books are, our hot takes on the all-female remake of Lord of the Flies, and tons of books you’ll want for your fall TBR. Hey YA is biweekly, and episode two will drop Wednesday, October 4. Subscribe through your favorite podcast listening service, and feel free to hit us up with things you’d love to hear us talk about at heyya@bookriot.com.

Thanks for reading this week, and we’ll see you back here next week with a fun interview with a rising star of YA lit (and someone who has a book that you’ll want to be reading as soon as humanly possible!).

— Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Hey YA Readers!

This week’s edition of “What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by Neighborhood Girls by Jessie Ann Foley.

A powerful coming-of-age story from Printz Honor winner and Morris Award Finalist Jessie Ann Foley.

When Wendy’s father, a Chicago cop, gets a years-long jail sentence, her family falls on hard times. And when she gets jumped walking home from a party one night, she realizes that in order to survive her father’s reputation, she’ll have to make one for herself.

So Wendy joins the Academy of the Sacred Heart’s most feared and revered clique. But now, Wendy faces a toxic friendship, the exhaustion of keeping up appearances, and a shattering loss—one that could hurt more than losing herself.

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September 15 marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. It seems only appropriate, of course, to highlight some excellent back list YA titles by Latinx authors to read this month.

What is “back list” exactly? It’s any book that’s not new, and it’s generally seen as books which came out a year or more ago. But for the sake of really digging into the back list of YA, I’ve looked more than a year out (because by that measure, books like Shadowshaper would be back list and while technically it is, there’s something to be said about those titles from even further in the past).

Grab your TBR because it’s about to grow longer. If after you check these out you’re itching for even more Latinx YA, you will want to poke around Latinx in Kid Lit’s fabulous website.

Amigas series (beginning with Fifteen Candles) by Veronica Chambers

Quinceaeras are the fantastic parties thrown for Latina girls turning 15 years old and are a staple of the Miami social scene. But for Alicia Cruz and her three best friends, Carmen, Jamie, and Gaz, they were also just part of the background–until now.

 

Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos

He didn’t say good-bye. He didn’t leave a phone number. And he didn’t plan on coming back – ever.

In Wisconsin, Rico could blend in. His light hair and lighter skin wouldn’t make him the “dark dude” or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. The Midwest is the land of milk and honey, but for Rico Fuentes, it’s really a last resort. Trading Harlem for Wisconsin, though, means giving up on a big part of his identity. And when Rico no longer has to prove that he’s Latino, he almost stops being one. Except he can never have an ordinary white kid’s life, because there are some things that can’t be left behind, that can’t be cut loose or forgotten. These are the things that will be with you forever…. These are the things that will follow you a thousand miles away.

 

Down To The Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole

What if you don’t follow the rules and it radically alters the course of your life?

What if you get kicked out of the house and lose all your friends and everyone you love?

Will you turn the corner into a world filled with unusual friends and create a new kind of family or self-destruct?

 

The Girl Who Could Silence The Wind by Meg Medina

Sixteen-year-old Sonia Ocampo was born on the night of the worst storm Tres Montes had ever seen. And when the winds mercifully stopped, an unshakable belief in the girl’s protective powers began. All her life, Sonia has been asked to pray for sick mothers or missing sons, as worried parents and friends press silver milagros in her hands. Sonia knows she has no special powers, but how can she disappoint those who look to her for solace?

Still, her conscience is heavy, so when she gets a chance to travel to the city and work in the home of a wealthy woman, she seizes it. At first, Sonia feels freedom in being treated like all the other girls. But when news arrives that her beloved brother has disappeared while looking for work, she learns to her sorrow that she can never truly leave the past or her family behind.

Mexican Whiteboy by Matt de la Pena

Danny’s tall and skinny. Even though he’s not built, his arms are long enough to give his pitch a power so fierce any college scout would sign him on the spot. Ninety-five mile an hour fastball, but the boy’s not even on a team. Every time he gets up on the mound he loses it.

But at his private school, they don’t expect much else from him. Danny’ s brown. Half-Mexican brown. And growing up in San Diego that close to the border means everyone else knows exactly who he is before he even opens his mouth. Before they find out he can’t speak Spanish, and before they realize his mom has blond hair and blue eyes, they’ve got him pegged. But it works the other way too. And Danny’s convinced it’s his whiteness that sent his father back to Mexico.

That’s why he’s spending the summer with his dad’s family. Only, to find himself, he may just have to face the demons he refuses to see–the demons that are right in front of his face. And open up to a friendship he never saw coming.

 

Parrot In The Oven: Mi Vida by Victor Martinez

Dad believed people were like money. You could be a thousand-dollar person or a hundred-dollar person – even a ten-, five-, or one-dollar person. Below that, everybody was just nickels and dimes. To my dad, we were pennies.

Fourteen-year old Manny Hernandez wants to be more than just a penny. He wants to be a vato firme, the kind of guy people respect. But that’s not easy when your father is abusive, your brother can’t hold a job, and your mother scrubs the house as if she can wash her troubles away.

In Manny’s neighborhood, the way to get respect is to be in a gang. But Manny’s not sure that joining a gang is the solution. Because, after all, it’s his life – and he wants to be the one to decide what happens to it.

Rogelia’s House of Magic by Jamie Martinez Wood

When Rogelia becomes a maid at Marina Peralta’s home, it’s obvious to Marina and her friend Fern that they have a real mystic on their hands. Soon Rogelia agrees to teach the girls the magic of their ancestors, much as she taught her granddaughters, Xochitl and Gracielia. Even though Marina and Fern are thrilled to have this chance to understand and use their powers, Xochitl isn’t happy about sharing such a sacred thing with anyone but her sister, who perished in a car accident. Besides, magic has let Xochitl down before. Why wouldn’t it now? But, as the girls will eventually discover, at Rogelia’s House of Magic anything is possible.

 

The Vicious Deep (series) by Zoraida Cordova

For Tristan Hart, everything changes with one crashing wave.

He was gone for three days. Sucked out to sea in a tidal wave and spit back ashore at Coney Island with no memory of what happened. Now his dreams are haunted by a terrifying silver mermaid with razor-sharp teeth.

His best friend Layla is convinced something is wrong. But how can he explain he can sense emotion like never before? How can he explain he’s heir to a kingdom he never knew existed? That he’s suddenly a pawn in a battle as ancient as the gods.

Something happened to him in those three days. He was claimed by the sea…and now it wants him back.

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Need some great books for a great price? Here are a few you’ll want to pick up on the cheap:

Shallow Graves by Kaci Wallace is $1.99 and looks like a nice slightly-scary read.

Kate Cotugno’s 99 Days is a mere $1.99. If you want something with a romantic flair, this might serve you well.

For readers who want to know more about the characters who aren’t “the chosen one,” then you’ll want to pick up Patrick Ness’s The Rest of Us Just Live Here for $1.99.

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Last, but definitely not least, we’ve launched Hey YA, a podcast all about YA books. Tune in to episode one right here, where Eric Smith and I talk about upcoming fall YA releases we’re itching for, what the heck “YA” means, and what we’d rather see than an all-female remake of Lord of the Flies.

Thanks for hanging out & we’ll see you next week!

 

–Kelly Jensen, @veronikellymars

Currently reading Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds