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Happy Monday, YA Readers: Let’s dig into all of the book talk we can.

“What’s Up in YA?” is sponsored by White Rabbit by Caleb Roehrig.

Rufus Holt is having the worst night of his life. It begins with the reappearance of his ex-boyfriend, Sebastian. Just as Rufus is getting ready to move on, Sebastian turns up out of the blue, saying they need to “talk.”

Then Rufus gets a call from his sister April, begging for help. He and Sebastian find her, drenched in blood and holding a knife beside the dead body of her boyfriend, Fox Whitney.

April swears she didn’t kill Fox, but Rufus knows her too well to believe she’s telling him the whole truth. April has something he needs, though, and her price is his help. Rufus has one night to prove his sister’s innocence . . . or die trying.

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Do you ever feel like your to-read list will literally never end? Because 1. so does mine and 2. this won’t help out the situation much.

• A look at YA books about divorced parents.
• What are essential pulp YA reads for the not-so-young adults? We’ve got 5 recommendations from the hosts behind the podcast “Teen Creeps.”
• DC-based YA authors one reader discovered at Awesome Con (with book recs for where to begin with their titles).
• Interracial couples featured on YA book covers.
• Christian reads for teens (& for tweens, too). During my time working as a teen librarian, this was one of the most common requests I got.
• Speaking of that, why recommending books to young readers is important. Though the piece focuses on the very young readers, the thoughts here absolutely apply to teen readers.
• It’s debatable whether Madeleine L’Engle is YA or much more situated in the middle grade arena, but regardless of where you land in that debate (or care), a reading pathway to her work.
• Love READY PLAYER ONE? These 4 YA books will be up your alley.
• This list isn’t entire YA titles, but it’s one that YA readers will appreciate regardless: 50 must-read coming of age books.
• Have you picked up these must-read April YA books yet?
• And if you’re already thinking about the books hitting shelves over the next couple of months, then this guide to 170+ you can read between April and June will help you tremendously.
• Big fan of LOVE, SIMON? Here are some more YA titles to read.
• Grief in YA is a huge topic, but this list of 10 titles can help you wade in and try reading some of the best.
• Readers who want more books like This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp will do well to try these out.

 

Cheap Reads!

Because a good deal on YA is a good deal. Try one of these ebook steals:

Tiffany Schmidt’s Break Me Like A Promise is $2. You can read this without reading the first in the duology, and if you love romantic suspense, get on it.

A Tyranny of Petticoats, an anthology of short stories about “belles, bank robbers, and other badass girls” through history edited by Jessica Spotswood is $2.

Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King is $2. This is for the YA readers who want their feelings punched.

 

Reading Recs!

A few quick picks from my recent reading worth mentioning. I’ve admittedly read a lot of female-led books lately, but I promise for readers itching to hear about boys in YA, there’s a special newsletter coming for you soon. In the mean time, let’s hear it for the girls (/rimshot).

First, I’ve just begun From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon, which comes out May 22, and I’m smitten. It’s a romantic comedy, and it’s told in a really compelling form: through letters from Twinkle to her favorite female filmmakers (her dream is to become like one of them). This is for those seeking some snort laughter and a lot of heart.

 

 

Devils Unto Dust by Emma Berquist might be one of my favorites of 2018 so far. This standalone is part Western, part zombie novel, and fully about one badass teen girl who has to find her father, as there’s a bounty out on him that could impact her and her siblings if not settled. The pitch for this is True Grit meets 28 Days Later and tbh, it’s a perfect pitch.

 

 

If you love a book about enterprising girls, then Siobhan Vivian’s Stay Sweet is out this week and absolutely worth picking up. What happens when a girl who is super likable is put into the position to be in charge of the legendary ice cream stand in her town? How does she keep the place afloat? How does she instill order? This book is sweet, it’s smart, and will appeal to readers who love Morgan Matson or Jenny Han.

 

Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now by Dana L. Davis is out May 1, and it follows a girl who just lost her mother as she’s sent to live with a father she’s never met. And that father, who lives with his four other daughters and a new wife in southern California…is an adjustment from her life in Chicago. This book digs into race, colorism, into family, and it’s also a story about Tiffany’s decision to break some of the rules in her new family that allow her to build a powerful friendship with a “weird” boy who is an outcast at her new school. The pacing on this isn’t perfect, but the voice is pitch-perfect and the story so enjoyable that it’s easy to let go.

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

–Kelly Jensen, on Twitter and Instagram as @veronikellymars.