Instagram Facebook X-twitter Linkedin

Sign Up

Get the latest ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

All , , , Coverage

All YA Fiction Coverage

Children's & YAYA FictionYAPicture Book

Remembering larger-than-life heroes of black history

Feature by Robin Smith

I love the careful, almost photographic style of illustrator (and now writer) Kadir Nelson and was thrilled to hear that he was working on a history of Negro League baseball for young readers. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball was well worth the wait. Everything about this book is beautiful, even the copyright and dedication pages, which are lightly printed with quotations from Negro League greats such as Satchel Paige and Buck O'Neil. In my town, there was a baseball card store where former Negro League players used to sit around and tell stories over coffee, while adoring fans looked on. This book has the feel of a grandfather telling stories from way-back-when, during Jim Crow. And what stories they are! In nine chapters, called innings, of course, the stories flow with the cadence of the spoken word . . . and some of the bravado that often goes along with oral storytelling. "Some of those guys would spike their mother if she were blocking home plate." Can't you picture the old guys nodding their heads in agreement?

Though the stories flow in We Are the Ship, it's the artwork that is absolutely stunning. Nelson frames most of the illustrations from a perspective slightly below the level of the subject, as sports photographers often do. That allows the players to appear larger than life, towering over the reader. With its fascinating details about life as a black person in America, from Jim Crow through the current baseball era, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of baseball, African Americans and race. With all the talk of steroids and drugs in baseball this year, Nelson reminds us of another time, a time when players played for the love of the game.

A FAITHFUL COMPANION
Night Running: How James Escaped with the Help of His Faithful Dog, written by Elisa Carbone and illustrated by E.B. Lewis, is a true story that Carbone found while researching her young adult novel, Stealing Freedom. It tells the story of James and his dog, Zeus, who eventually make it across the Ohio River to freedom. James worries that Zeus will be a burden on the long trip, but it turns out that Zeus is one special dog one who will sniff out slave catchers, fight off other dogs and even pull his boy out of a river. Another gripping story brought to life with the watercolors of the incomparable E.B. Lewis, who knows how to sniff out a fantastic manuscript himself.

PLAYING WITH PASSION
Biographies are an important part of the books available for young history readers. Piano Starts Here: The Young Art Tatum, by Robert Andrew Parker, tells the story of someone I am embarrassed to say I had never heard of. But that is the magic of the story—I was drawn in from the first page and found myself thinking about Art Tatum for weeks. I went to websites to explore his music and was completely amazed that this jazz pianist, mostly self-taught and nearly blind since birth, found the prominence he did. Written in the first person and illustrated in Parker's familiar filmy watercolors outlined with pen, this biography reveals the author's obvious admiration for his subject. From the time Tatum started playing in clubs in 1926 at the age of 16, his short life spanned the heyday of the Jazz Age through the mid-1950s. Parker's telling makes it all so alive that it is hard not to want to know more. Children often ignore the end matter that is so important in books, but I hope they will read about the author and Tatum in the fascinating endnotes. For the child or adult who has a passion, whether musical or not, and is inspired by others who follow their passions, this would be a welcome gift.

REVISITING A TRAILBLAZER
Most children learn about George Washington Carver in school and are able to connect him with the words "peanut" and "sweet potato." Tonya Bolden explores Carver more seriously in George Washington Carver, a book to accompany a traveling exhibit on Carver from the Field Museum in Chicago. Filled with archival photographs, artifacts and Carver's own scientific drawings, this is a book to slowly savor. Maybe it's because Carver working in his lab reminds me so much of my own grandfather working in his pharmacy, but Carver has always been a hero to me. His dedication to the earth and his reverence for nature will surely resound with ecologically aware students today. I particularly enjoyed the tidbits that Bolden sprinkles into her narrative—Carver saving everything, even string; Carver knitting and doing embroidery; and, my favorite, a photo of Carver taking his early morning walk, specimen case in one hand, a branch in the other, and a flower tucked in his lapel. Reading about the research he completed with the most basic tools renews my admiration for him. Bolden's straight-shooting afterword addresses Carver's detractors (he did not publicly oppose segregation, which put him at odds with some in the Civil Rights movement) and brings him back into the fold of famous scientists. Now, I just have to hope that the traveling exhibit comes to my city (check fieldmuseum.org to see if it's coming to yours).

INSPIRING PORTRAITS
If you're looking for a new reference book on civil rights history for young children, David Adler's newest offering is a good place to start. Heroes for Civil Rights, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, discusses eight men, two women and three groups of people who fought for civil rights. The heroes are arranged alphabetically, from Ralph Abernathy to Earl Warren. I especially enjoyed revisiting the stories of Fannie Lou Hamer and Fred Shuttlesworth, two lesser-known heroes. Adler includes Lyndon Baines Johnson and Earl Warren to remind children that some white people, too, fought for civil rights. Farnsworth's oil paintings remind me of the formal portraits we often see hung in businesses or schools to honor past presidents and principals. Sepia tones add to the serious presentation. It's hard to look in the eyes of murdered civil rights workers Goodman, Schwerner and Chaney without thinking about their ages—early 20s—the ages of my own children. Simple, spare and easy to navigate, this is a great resource for children who love history.

WHAT LIES BENEATH
Though the horrors of slavery are acknowledged in Jean Ferris' fine young adult novel, Underground, set in the Mammoth Cave region of Kentucky in 1839, they are mostly a thing of the past for Charlotte Brown and her beau, the brilliant cave explorer Stephen Bishop (a real-life figure). Their new owner treats them well, even allowing Stephen to explore and map caves on his own for days at a time. When Stephen brings Charlotte into Mammoth Cave for privacy as he teaches her to read, Charlotte finds a safe place to hide runaway slaves from the slave catchers and their dogs. She also discovers that she loves Stephen and that she has the inner resources it takes to lie in order to protect the runaways.

Though Charlotte and Stephen are the main characters of this novel, Mammoth Cave itself also figures prominently in the story. A beautiful but peculiar place, filled with blind fish, white crickets and sounds that resemble the voices of spirits, the cave seems to have a life of its own. Ferris weaves interesting details about the daily life of slaves into her fast-paced story. Historical information about the Underground Railroad is also seamlessly included in this suspenseful page-turner, as is an overall sense of respect for the cave itself.

I love the careful, almost photographic style of illustrator (and now writer) Kadir Nelson and was thrilled to hear that he was working on a history of Negro League baseball for young readers. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball was well…

YA FictionYA

Summer sizzlers: Terrific teen novels for lazy days

Feature by Lynn Beckwith

Once kids hit the age of 13, they seem to be stuck between different worlds. They're still children, but they wish they were adults. They want to be trusted, but often act impulsively. Their reading, appropriately enough, is just as unpredictable as they are. One minute, they pick books from the bestseller lists, and the next, they nostalgically curl up with Dr. Seuss. Because teens are such a tough audience, we've rounded up some new books that are sure to keep them entertained during those long June afternoons.

KEEPER OF THE NIGHT
In her new book Keeper of the Night, writer Kimberly Willis Holt takes on a sensitive subject a mother's depression and suicide. Holt addressed the topic of mentally challenged parents in My Louisiana Sky and the treatment of the morbidly obese in When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Both books have a loyal following and are on summer reading lists across the country. Set in the Guam of her military brat childhood, Holt's newest novel has a shroud of mystery hanging about it, as the child narrator struggles in the months following her mother's suicide.

Holt's plain, direct prose belies the deep pain the narrator feels as she tries to understand her mother's life and death. The book opens with the breathtaking sentence, "My mother died praying on her knees." Slowly, almost like the stories that surface during therapy sessions, Isabel's sadness and confusion emerge. The death is terrible enough, but the aftermath threatens to engulf every member of Isabel's family. Tata, her father, sleeps curled on the floor next to his bed. Little sister Olivia's bedwetting and nightmares disrupt her sleep. Older brother Frank uses the long nights to carve words in the wall next to his bed and eventually into his own skin.

Isabel's story is both heartbreaking and inspirational, as we watch her sink further into sadness. But, at the breaking point, she and her family are saved by their ability to tell their stories, forgive themselves and begin again.

THE DREAM BEARER
Walter Dean Myers returns this summer with another powerful story of young men growing up in Harlem. In The Dream Bearer, David Curry meets mysterious Moses Littlejohn, an African-American man with white hair, a stubbly beard and baggy clothes, who professes to be a 303-year-old dream carrier. Moses is looking for someone to pass his dreams to, and, as it turns out, David could use a few.

Caught between his violent, unpredictable father, his dedicated mother and Tyrone, his older brother, who is beginning to succumb to the temptations of gang and drug life, David is a gentle boy who listens to the older man's dreams, which soon become a part of him, adding to his understanding of himself, his family and the larger world of Harlem. Myers' latest is a tale that will linger with readers.

A NORTHERN LIGHT
Jennifer Donnelly's first book for young adults, A Northern Light, is a story as big and bold as the North Woods of New York State where it is set. In the tradition of Gene Stratton Porter, Donnelly delivers a novel filled with the particulars of life at the turn of the century, weaving in details of the local farming and logging cultures, and examining attitudes of racial prejudice and feminism.

Narrator Mattie Gokey loves poetry and would like nothing more than to accept the scholarship to Barnard that her teacher, Miss Wilcox, has helped her earn. But her mother recently died of breast cancer, her brother left the family farm after a fight with her dad, and she is desperately needed at home, where her sisters and brothers are too old to be bossed but too young to do farm work.

A talented writer with a thirst for books, Mattie tells her own story in a strong but conflicted voice. Her best friend, Weaver Smith, is also hoping to go to college, but as a black boy saving money for Columbia he faces his own challenges. Their unusual but completely believable friendship sustains Mattie through a difficult year and helps her decide on a course for her life. As the novel progresses, she makes two big promises, and these promises frame the narrative.

For readers who will eventually graduate to the sweeping books of John Irving and Barbara Kingsolver, A Northern Light is the perfect stepping-stone. Deft foreshadowing and a real-life mystery keep the story moving along.

LUCAS
With Lucas, author Kevin Brooks tells the poignant story of Caitlin McCann and her family, who are also reeling from a death. Caitlin's mother died almost 10 years ago, but the wounds still fester, especially for her father. At his suggestion to "let it all out," to "cry herself a story," Caitlin recounts the events of her 15th summer, from the first time she sees the beautiful outsider, Lucas, to the tragic events on the mudflats.

In between, Caitlin spins a dark, suspenseful tale of British life in a small island village not the resort town you might imagine, but a small-minded, inbred community characterized by alcohol abuse, gossip, prejudice and evil. When Lucas, a pale boy with a ghostly presence, suddenly appears on the island nothing is the same for Caitlin. She is bewitched by his manner and his kindness. Lucas seems to have a sixth sense about people, and he warns Caitlin about her companions, whom he sees as dangerous, angry and cruel. Turns out he's right about everything.

This taut story, though quite a bit longer than most young adult novels, will keep readers in its web, much like Lucas keeps Cait captivated throughout the narrative. As the tale unwinds, we see Lucas become the object of jealousy and suspicion, as mean Jamie Tait and his cohorts plot to rid their island of this "gyppo." Brooks' wonderful novel, told by an unforgettable protagonist, reminds us of the redemptive power of stories.

Once kids hit the age of 13, they seem to be stuck between different worlds. They're still children, but they wish they were adults. They want to be trusted, but often act impulsively. Their reading, appropriately enough, is just as unpredictable as they are. One minute, they pick books from the bestseller lists, and the next, they nostalgically curl up with Dr. Seuss. Because teens are such a tough audience, we've rounded up some new books that are sure to keep them entertained during those long June afternoons.

YA FictionYAMystery

Supernatural reads just in time for Halloween

Feature by Hilli Levin

Supernaturally tinged stories have long been one of the most popular trends in the realm of teen literature (Twilight, anyone?), and it doesn’t look like it’s dying down any time soon. Thankfully, that means there are plenty of new novels to choose from for your Halloween reading stack. From a team of teenage monster hunters to a modern tale of witchy biker gangs, we’ve got the perfect book to get you in the spooky spirit. 

HERE THERE BE MONSTERS
Looking for a heavy dose of girl power? Cat Winters, masterful author of dark historical novels like The Steep and Thorny Way, has crafted a spooky novel of two Van Helsing-like sisters who fight nightmarish monsters in Odd & True. Odette and Trudchen, or as they prefer, Od and Tru, live on their aunt’s Oregon farm in the 1900s. Od loves telling the younger Tru fantastical stories about magic and their monster-hunting mother—until one day, Od disappears. Two years later, Od returns with weapons and proof that her bedtime stories were far more fact than fiction. The sisters must go on the run from a haunting predator and prepare to fight the demonic beast known as the Leeds Devil. But the demons they must face aren’t all literal, and Winters’ split narratives reveal family scars from very dark places indeed. 

DRACULA RETURNS
In Kerri Maniscalo’s sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper, young investigators Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell are still dealing with the trauma from their harrowing investigation of the notorious London killer. The two are on a train en route to Romania, hoping for some time to decompress at a prestigious academy, when their peaceful journey is interrupted by cries from an adjoining car. Audrey Rose rushes to the scene and discovers a passenger has been murdered—with a stake to the heart. Could the whispers of the return of Vlad the Impaler hold any truth? When they arrive to find their new school is housed in what used to be Dracula’s castle, the creeping dread sets in, and the vampiric murders start to pile up. Is Dracula actually real, or is this simply a copycat killer bent on terrorizing the town? Maniscalo’s Hunting for Prince Dracula is a winning historical filled with finely tuned details that’s sure to please fans of atmospheric Gothics.

BOOK OF POSSESSION
Melanie Vong is a troubled teen: She’s got some serious anger management issues, often gets into fights with her classmates and doesn’t have much luck with social interaction aside from the time she spends with her Wiccan best friend, Lara. In order to organize her overwhelming thoughts and feelings, Mel decides to follow in Lara’s footsteps and start journaling. When she goes out to buy a new diary, none of the options at the local chain store seem appealing, so she wanders into a used bookshop that just happens to specialize in occult texts. Finally Mel finds the perfect one—a mystical-looking blank book with an intricately embossed cover. She steals it, but each time she tries to put pen to paper, she can’t quite bring herself to scrawl her high school drama into such a special book. Lara suggests using it as a spellbook, or Book of Shadows, and that’s when things start to get seriously weird. New spells start appearing on pages all on their own, and it’s clear that something dark has been unleashed. A great pick for any serious horror buff, The Book of Shadows delivers some serious spooks.

START YOUR BROOMSTICKS
Looking for a bewitching fantasy with a modern twist?T ry Jennifer Rush’s refreshingly original urban fantasy, Devils & Thieves. There’s plenty to love in this action-packed story of a group known as the kindled—those imbued with magical powers—who live separate from the ordinary humans, known as drecks. Eighteen-year-old Jemmie Carmichael has powers of her own, but her unique ability to also sense magic through scent and color—which often results in splitting headaches—keeps her from doing any spell casting of her own. Further complicating her life are her lingering feelings for her best friend’s brother, Crowe Medici, who just so happens to be the leader of the powerful kindled motorcycle gang called the Black Devils. Rush revvs up the drama when Jemmie initiates a new flirtation with a member of the Deathstalkers during the annual Kindled Festival, which brings all of the rival bike gangs to her small New York town. This well-crafted love triangle, coupled with a dangerous mystery involving Jemmie’s father, makes Devils & Thieves a guaranteed page turner that’s perfect for any young reader who can’t get enough of the witchcraft trend.

Supernaturally tinged stories have long been one of the most popular trends in the realm of teen literature (Twilight, anyone?), and it doesn’t look like it’s dying down any time soon. Thankfully, that means there are plenty of new novels to choose from for your Halloween reading stack. From a team of teenage monster hunters to a modern tale of witchy biker gangs, we’ve got the perfect book to get you in the spooky spirit. 

YA NonfictionYA FictionYAArt

Expand their horizons

Feature by Jill Ratzan

From inspirational feminist essays to illustrated fairy tales and an interactive journal, three new books provide material for teen readers to savor during winter’s long nights.

Thirty-eight women and girls, from high school students to bankers to professional authors, write about the opportunities and struggles of being female in ­Because I Was a Girl: True Stories for Girls of All Ages, edited by bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. Some contributors were discouraged from their chosen careers. Others have dealt with being the only woman in their offices, labs or studios. Some pieces rile the reader’s anger while others are laugh-out-loud funny. But all of the women featured have gone on to carve their own niches and find their own voices. Timelines of major events in the women’s rights movement are interspersed among short biographical sections, making Because I Was a Girl a great choice for either reading in batches or appreciating as an entire work.

TALES TO TREASURE
Everyone thinks they know the stories: the Minotaur in the labyrinth, the gingerbread cookie come to life and the sea princess with the beautiful voice who exchanges her mermaid’s tail for a pair of legs. We also know that an illustrated book pairs images with words to tell a story—but what if these ideas were inverted, turned inside out and presented in new and unexpected ways? In The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic, author Leigh Bardugo and illustrator Sara Kipin collaborate to do just that. Five short stories and a novella, all set in the world of the author’s Grisha trilogy, subvert readers’ expectations of what, exactly, constitutes a happily-ever-after. The story forms through both words and pictures, as each page adds one more element to the mostly monochromatic, illustrated borders. Bring tissues: Some of these tales are total tearjerkers!

GET CREATIVE
Keri Smith, bestselling author of Wreck This Journal, is back with a new book made for creative scribbling. As readers pencil in the titular shape in The Line, they’re invited to explore patterns, navigate obstacles and participate in everything from revelation (“The answers are contained in the line itself. The line may reveal them to you, but only if you are ready to hear them.”) to destruction (invitations to cut, fold and otherwise mutilate the pages). The reader’s line meanders across shapes, words, blank spaces and black-and-white photographs as its adventures build to a crescendo. Like Smith’s previous books, The Line can be devoured in a single sitting, or each page’s activity can be completed one at a time. This is a great gift (especially when accompanied by an exquisite pencil) for teens who love art, journaling and introspection.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

From inspirational feminist essays to illustrated fairy tales and an interactive journal, three new books provide material for teen readers to savor during winter’s long nights.

YA FictionYA

Teen superheroes take the spotlight

Feature by Hilli Levin

If 2017’s biggest blockbusters were any indication, the superhero fever that’s taken hold of the pop culture world doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. As the classic Marvel vs. DC battle rages on, two new takes on beloved, misfit superheroes just so happen to be hitting shelves on the same day. But we're not taking sides—there’s enough love for all these heroes to go around. 

BECOMING THE BAT
Bestselling author Marie Lu (The Young Elites) follows up Leigh Bardugo’s Wonder Woman: Warbringer with her own highly anticipated installment in the DC Icons series—Batman: Nightwalker. In her reimagining of the beloved hero’s origin story, we meet a young Bruce Wayne en route to his 18th birthday party. He’s been carefully groomed by his legal guardian, Alfred (one of the most delightful characters in Lu’s story), to take on the mantle of his late parents’ renowned corporation along with an inheritance that clocks in around a billion dollars.

But despite the polished, confident playboy-image he presents to the press, Bruce is a sensitive and deeply empathetic teen whose social anxiety is more easily triggered than he’d like. His moral ideals are soon challenged by Gotham City’s new gang known as the Nightwalkers, and his newfound independence leads him to make the decision to fight them head-on since the local police can't seem to help. But jumping headfirst into a criminal investigation results in a young Bruce being sent to Arkham Asylum as punishment. There, he comes face-to-face with the kind of criminals he’s hated for so long, but a fellow teen named Madeleine challenges Bruce’s long-held beliefs when she offers to help him shut down the Nightwalkers for good. 

Longtime fans won’t find much new terrain explored here, but Lu’s trademark ability to seamlessly incorporate lots of tech and diversity in her fictional worlds serves Batman well. Although nowhere near as dark as Christopher Nolan’s cinematic series, it’s always compelling to see Bruce Wayne’s progression from starry-eyed, privileged punk to brooding caped crusader, and Lu’s novel is no exception.

LIVING ON THE FRINGE
Christopher Golden’s new novel picks up where the original Marvel comic series, which became an instant cult-classic, left off. Hitting shelves just before fellow bestselling YA author Rainbow Rowell takes the reins and brings the comic series back from the brink, fans and newcomers alike will surely want to dive into this accessible new story centered on a ragtag group of orphaned teens. When Golden’s novel kicks off, the Runaways are struggling with their newfound powers and the grief that’s followed the deaths of each one of their parents—a high powered collection of secret supervillains who were known as The Pride. Now searching for solace and peace in LA, Karolina, Chase, Nico, Gert and Molly discover a secret underground base constructed by their families. It seems like the home they’ve been searching for, however fraught with emotional ghosts as it may be, and they’re determined to utilize all of the tech and gadgets in their quest to do good.

Although it may seem like teens with psychic links to dinosaurs, super strength or spellcasting abilities aren’t the most relatable, Golden excels at making their problems (no matter how big or small) and emotions ring true to life. This is an accessible introduction to the characters and a perfect read for fans of Stand by Me and The Breakfast Club—other beloved stories that explore the resilience of the young spirit, the importance of our chosen families and the possibility of growing up without hardening your heart. 

If 2017's biggest blockbusters were any indication, the superhero fever that's taken hold of the pop culture world doesn't seem to be dying down anytime soon. As the classic Marvel vs. DC battle rages on,  two new takes on beloved, misfit superheroes just so happen to be hitting shelves on the same day. But we're not taking sides—there's enough love for all these heroes to go around.
YA FictionYA

The highs and lows of young love

Feature by Hilli Levin

Stressing over school crushes and candy grams around Valentine’s Day are (unfortunately) just normal teen rites of passage, but wouldn’t getting lost in a book be a whole lot more fun? Check out two of our favorite new young adult romances that capture the spark of first love and explore the all-too-real challenges of growing up.

FALLING FOR YOUR NEMESIS
Laurie Devore (How to Break a Boy) has crafted yet another winning young adult romance with Winner Take All. Nell Becker is determined to graduate as the class valedictorian at Cedar Woods Prep. She’s feeling pretty salty about being the only solidly middle-class kid at a prep school filled to the brim with old money Southerners, but as she freely admits, she’s not here to be liked. She’s here to be the best at all times, and she would be if it wasn’t for the annoyingly handsome and effortlessly perfect Jackson Hart. For a while, it seems like all they can do is spit venom at one another, but I’m sure you can guess that an attraction slowly creeps up on the both of them.

Fans of 10 Things I Hate About You will find plenty of common ground here with the conflict between fiercely independent and outspoken feminist Nell and terminally chill Jackson, but Devore’s story has much sharper edges than the beloved ’90s confection. Never shying away from tough subjects like mental illness, parental pressure, difficult family life, the maddening gender disparities in schools, sexuality and class issues, Winner Take All nicely balances the thrill of young love with two difficult but believable protagonists.

BREAKING BARRIERS
Alvie just wants to live a normal life. But first, she’ll have to convince a judge and a few other people that she’s capable of living a normal life on her own. Alvie is a 17-year-old orphan who also happens to be autistic, but she’s determined to live on her own terms. She’s not a big fan of surprises or anything that goes against the routines that make her feel safe and secure, but that’s exactly what Stanley is—a surprise. When she meets this quirky college boy, Alvie is puzzled by his uncommon condition known as osteogenesis imperfecta. Stanley’s bones are unbelievably brittle, and he’s forced to use a cane for support, but Alvie finds comfort in his no-nonsense approach to living with a disability. 

Readers looking for a straightforward, sweet love story will want to pick up When My Heart Joins the Thousand, and although these two teens may be atypical, their slowly blossoming relationship will be instantly recognizable to any reader. 

Stressing over school crushes and candy grams around Valentine’s Day are (unfortunately) just normal teen rites of passage, but wouldn’t getting lost in a book be a whole lot better? Check out two of our favorite new young adult romances that capture the spark of first love along with the all-too-real challenges of growing up.
YA FictionYA

When (dating) life imitates literature

Feature by Anita Lock

Love stories inspired by classic lit take center stage in these two new comedic coming-of-age teen romances. 

THE WIDE WORLD OF WEB DATING
Sixteen-year-old Emma Nash wallows in self-pity when Leon Naylor dumps her for another girl. Attempting to move on with her life, Emma shifts her private blog titled “MissH” (where she channels Miss Havisham from Great Expectations) from a place for her self-deprecating chatter to a site where she documents her chain of awkward social-media dating experiences. Complications arise when Emma begins to stalk Leon, her ex-boyfriend who ghosted her, online at the same time. As her online and real-life situations get out of hand, Emma seeks the advice of her two trusted friends, Steph and Faith, since she can’t rely on her habitually on-the-prowl mother. Amid a string of convoluted (and often hilarious) circumstances, it remains to be seen whether or not Emma can win back Leon’s affection.

Hormones and emotions run amok in this laugh-out-loud debut. Dating Disasters of Emma Nash is told in blog entries and is laced with Briticisms, teen angst and all things sarcastic, ironic and lewd. Author Chloe Seager includes a small but cosmopolitan and relatable cast to surround her white protagonist, Emma. The plot focuses on sexuality, but self-esteem and healthy relationship-building play equally important roles. A sidesplitting YA read with crossover appeal, this novel is a blast from the past for any older readers who remember obsessing to the max.

BETTER IN BOOKS
Romantic bookworm and sophomore Merrilee “Merri” Campbell is convinced that “boys are so much better in books” until she switches from an all-girls school to Hero High, an elite co-ed prep school. Although Hero High is a bit out of her caliber, Merri acclimates well to her new surroundings and makes friends fast. What she doesn’t expect is an accidental kiss from bad-boy junior Monroe Stratford that quickly throws them into a tumultuous Romeo and Juliet-style romance, but it fizzles just as quickly as it begins. The last thing Merri wants to read after breaking up with Monroe is another romantic tale. Ironically, Merri’s English teacher, Ms. Gregorie, assigns her Pride and Prejudice. While reading, Merri discovers parallels to her own life between the covers, and like Jane Austen’s Elizabeth, finds herself falling head over heels for the least likely person.

Author Tiffany Schmidt’s Bookish Boyfriends has many of the same romantic inklings and relatable characters as readers can find in Dating Disasters of Emma Nash, minus Emma’s teen angst and lewdness, and with the addition of a great cast of multicultural characters.

Love stories inspired by classic lit take center stage in these two new comedic coming-of-age teen romances. 

YA FictionYA

Into the woods we go

Feature by Jon Little

Two new young adult novels open in Boulder, Colorado, and find their teen protagonists in the wilderness—struggling to save themselves or someone they love.

With a host of deftly drawn characters, Emily France’s Zen and Gone is a paean to the multicultural mountain mecca of Boulder.

With no father, a stoner mom who burns through boyfriends like cigarettes and a little sister to look after, Essa is not a carefree teenager. Determined to give her little sister, Puck, the stability and attention she so desperately needs, Essa spurns drugs and dating for the clean thrills of orienteering and the practical wisdom of Zen Buddhism. Everything changes when a Chicago transplant named Oliver arrives in Boulder for the summer, and Essa’s self-imposed no-dating rule is put to the test. But when the couple signs up for a survival game in the Rocky Mountains, Puck breaks the rules and tags along—and promptly goes missing in the Colorado wilderness.

Though Zen and Gone toggles back and forth between Essa’s and Oliver’s viewpoints, with the latter struggling to come to terms with his sister’s schizophrenia, this story belongs to Essa. And as she searches for Puck, it becomes a tale of faith as much as anything else.

While France’s promotion of mindfulness and her foregrounding of Buddhist principles make Zen and Gone a unique contribution to the YA canon, its vivid rooting in place and its granular depiction of present-day Boulder is its greatest achievement.

Kathy Parks’ Notes from My Captivity also features a complex female protagonist who is thrust into the unknown, but Parks favors quick-witted dialogue over detailed description, resulting in a story filled with high-energy prose and off-kilter humor.

When Adrienne leaves Boulder to join her anthropologist stepfather in the Siberian wilderness on a mission to find the elusive and possibly mythical Osinov family, she quickly finds herself out of her depth. In a matter of pages, their entire search party dies and Adrienne is captured by the Osinovs. The only eligible woman for miles around, Adrienne decides her best shot at surviving rests with the Osinovs’ youngest son, Vanya. If she can make him fall for her, then she might be able to survive long enough to convince him to smuggle her back to civilization. Though it begins as a ploy, their real attraction threatens to develop into something else entirely.

When Adrienne learns that the Osinovs can communicate with the dead, her focus turns from her budding romance and dreams of escape to her deceased father. She would give anything to speak to him just one more time, but if it means losing Vanya and forgoing the chance of returning to her home, will she go through with it? With a touch of magic and a heavy dose of humor, Notes from My Captivity is a fast-paced summer read sure to thrill.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Two new young adult novels open in Boulder, Colorado, and find their teen protagonists in the wilderness—struggling to save themselves or someone they love.

Children's & YAYA FictionYAMiddle Grade

Summer fantasies to keep young readers flipping pages

Feature by Hilli Levin & Savanna Walker

Sweeping fantasies are this year’s biggest trend in children’s and teen literature—think breathtaking action, complex world building, magical abilities and bands of young heroes who must save the day.

Like any great high fantasy should, Jaleigh Johnson’s The Door to the Lost opens with a series of maps depicting the land of Talhaven and the grand city of Regara, where “magic is dying,” only to be found in the abilities of 327 seemingly orphaned children who have been mysteriously jettisoned from their magic-filled homeland known as Vora.

A young girl known as Rook happens to be one of these magical refugees, and she and her friend Drift survive in Regara by offering their magical skills on a sort of black market. Rook’s particular talent is creating doors—she simply draws a rectangle with a piece of chalk and channels thoughts of her destination in order to open a portal. But one client’s door goes horribly wrong, and Rook lets in a giant Fox, whom she discovers is actually a shape-shifting boy from a snow-filled world. Can Rook and Drift get Fox back home again when they’re not even sure how to get there?

Johnson’s spell-casting cast of young heroes will entertain and endear, and their sweet adventure will help young readers grasp some key details of the refugee crisis in a way that never feels ham-fisted.

MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP
The latest middle grade novel from Printz Honor-winning author Garret Weyr, The Language of Spells, is an extraordinary tale that meshes real historical events with a winning cast of magical creatures.

As this magic-filled journey begins in 1803, we meet a young dragon known as Grisha in the Black Forest. He’s young and carefree and enjoys eating acorns and playing by the stream—until one day, a heartless sorcerer imprisons him in a teapot. Grisha’s teapot is sold to the highest bidder, and for hundreds of years, he silently observes the world as it changes around him. When his enchantment is finally broken, he’s reunited with a group of dragons in Vienna during World War II. But the lives of the once mighty dragons are now controlled by the Department of Extinct Exotics, an organization that refuses to allow them to return to the forest and instead assigns them strict jobs and curfews. On a night off in a hotel bar, Grisha meets a human girl named Maggie, and the two forge a sweet and powerful friendship built on empathy and honesty. Soon, the two join forces to face their fears and investigate what happened to the city’s missing dragons.

Katie Harnett’s black-and-white illustrations kick off each chapter and add to the classic European fairy-tale atmosphere, and Weyr’s allegorical tale never glosses over a heart-rending detail or passes up a chance for a gorgeous turn of phrase, making this an ideal read-aloud that fantasy lovers of all ages can enjoy.

EPIC TRAGEDY
Puccini’s opera Turandot is based on a Persian fairy tale about a princess who challenges her suitors to solve three riddles in order to win her hand. If they fail, they will be executed. As one would expect from an opera written in 1924 set in the “mystical East,” there isn’t much historical accuracy to be found—but the original fairy tale was inspired by a Mongol warrior woman named Khutulun, who declared she would only marry a man who could beat her in a wrestling match. It is within this Mongol Empire that author Megan Bannen sets her retelling of Turandot, The Bird and the Blade (Balzer + Bray, $17.99, 432 pages, ISBN 9780062674159, ages 13 and up).

Slave girl Jinghua is on the run with deposed Mongol Khan Timur and his kindhearted son Khalaf. Timur wants to raise an army to take back his lands. Khalaf wants to marry the princess Turandokht by solving her riddles and, as her husband, restore his father to power. Jinghua, who thinks both plans are idiotic, is hilariously blunt about her chances of surviving either of them, but less open about her growing feelings for Khalaf.

Bannen plays with time in her YA debut, beginning with the trio’s arrival at Turandokht’s palace and then flashing back to their dangerous journey there. The awkward attraction between Jinghua and Khalaf, plus Timur’s caustic sarcasm, makes this novel surprisingly funny. But after Bannen reveals the utter devastation behind one character’s self-deprecating facade, it’s a relentless rush to the finale as Jinghua tries to save Khalaf.

Bannen’s prose grows ever more lyrical, soaring to match her ambition as The Bird and the Blade arrives at an unforgettable climax.

LOST GIRLS
For some reason, there are an awful lot of new YA novels in which women are endangered or oppressed. Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart is one of the most compelling of the bunch.

Serina Tessaro and her sister, Nomi, travel to the capital city of Bellaqua where Serina will compete for a chance to become one of the Heir’s Graces. Banghart doesn’t spell it out all at once, but Graces are essentially glorified concubines who represent the ideal subservient woman. The sisters are shocked when rebellious Nomi is chosen, and soon Serina takes the fall for one of Nomi’s crimes and is sent to Mount Ruin, a prison island.

Nomi’s storyline has the romantic entanglements and sparkling settings common to YA fantasy, but Banghart presents both with queasy suspicion. The beautiful rooms and pretty gowns of the Graces are mere decoration for another type of prison, and it is impossible to fall in love with a man who might see you as a possession or a tool.

Meanwhile, the all-female prisoners of Mount Ruin are forced to fight for rations, and Serina’s lifelong training to become a Grace surprisingly helps her excel in her new environment. As she begins to enjoy the camaraderie and mentorship of other women for the first time in her life, Serina’s feminine ideal quickly transforms from elegant consort to ferocious warrior. After all, in a society that constrains women at every turn, both roles offer a way to survive.

 

This article was originally published in the July 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Sweeping fantasies are this year’s biggest trend in children’s and teen literature—think breathtaking action, complex world building, magical abilities and bands of young heroes who must save the day.

YA NonfictionYA FictionYACrafts, Hobbies & Home

The gift of less screen time

Feature by Jill Ratzan

Books are easy to use (no charging or downloading required) and will always be in vogue. For the age group that’s the most difficult to buy for, we’ve got reads for musical lovers, Hunger Games fans and DIY crafters.

The Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, which follows the eponymous teen’s struggle with social anxiety, has taken Broadway by storm. Now, the creators of the show offer another way for fans and newcomers alike to experience Evan’s story through Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel. Written in a light, breezy narration, the novel tells the story of how Evan, a teenage loner, takes his therapist’s advice and begins writing letters to himself each day in order to deal with his anxieties and insecurities. But when one of his private notes lands in the wrong hands, Evan accidentally becomes a social media sensation after the note resurfaces at the scene of a classmate’s suicide. Like the musical upon which it’s based, Dear Evan Hansen tackles serious themes—like isolation, mental health, friendship, love, community and the difficulty of telling the truth, even to yourself—in a sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious way that is sure to connect with today’s teens.

A WORTHY TRIBUTE
Suzanne Collins’ acclaimed Hunger Games series—perhaps one of the most popular and well-loved YA series of all time—is now available in a gift-ready new package. The Hunger Games: Special Edition Box Set celebrates the 10th anniversary of this action-packed series with new paperbacks that feature luxe foil covers and lots of great bonus material. Fans will relish the longest published interview with Collins to date, a conversation between Collins and the late author Walter Dean Myers, a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the series and a timeline of Hunger Games-related events from 2008 to the present.

GET STICHIN’
For crafty teens, there’s Australian embroidery expert Irem Yazici’s Tiny Stitches: Buttons, Badges, Patches, and Pins to Embroider. This guide lays out necessary materials and sewing techniques for needlework newbies, and there are plenty of illustrated examples and step-by-step instructions for projects like pins, patches and buttons. From outdoorsy scenes to cutesy snack items, young readers will be sure to find a pattern to love. Traceable templates allow the budding crafter to immediately deck out their best denim.

 

This article was originally published in the December 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Books are easy to use (no charging or downloading required) and will always be in vogue. For the age group that’s the most difficult to buy for, we’ve got reads for musical lovers, Hunger Games fans and DIY crafters.

YA FictionYA

Amy Brashear’s playlist of ’80s teen nostaligia

Feature by Hilli Levin

Author Amy Brashear (No Saints in Kansas) has penned a hilarious, cinematic and off-the-wall story of a small town’s (fake) nuclear demise with her latest YA historical novel, The Incredible True Story of the Making of the Eve of Destruction. There isn’t much to do in Griffin Flats, Arkansas in 1984, and misfit teen Laura is painfully aware of that fact. The only thing that cuts through the boredom is the omnipresent threat of a Soviet bombing of the town's nuclear missile silos and the Mutually Assured Destruction that would follow. But when a Hollywood big shot chooses Griffin Flats as the shooting location for his upcoming nuclear holocaust movie, The Eve of Destruction, the whole town is turned upside down. When Laura calls into the local radio station and wins a walk-on role, she drags her stepbrother, Terrence, along to the set with her. 

With steadily rising tension, plenty of high jinks and a steady stream of fun ’80s pop-culture and music references—many of which are lovingly and hilariously explained in footnotes for today’s Gen Z teen readers—Brashear’s story is a surefire winner. In fact, music plays such a big role in The Incredible True Story of the Making of the Eve of Destruction that Brashear has crafted the pitch-perfect playlist to listen to as you read, and it includes “songs that were referenced in Incredible True Story’s text, songs that Amy had in rotation while she was writing the book, and songs that she associates with the story (re: themes, time frame, mindset, etc.).” Check out her lovingly compiled playlist below, or click here.

YA author Amy Brashear shares a playlist to go along with her newest novel, The Incredibly True Story of the Making of the Eve of Destruction.
YA FictionYA

New YA graphic novels explore queer coming-of-age tales

Feature by Heather Seggel

So much of teenage life is about looking forward—to college, first jobs or living away from home. Two new YA graphic novels with LGBTQ+ storylines artfully play with this idea. In one, looking too far forward could mean missing an amazing present, and the other shows how hard it is to move on when the past is filled with secrets and lies.

In Kevin Panetta’s Bloom, Ari is ready for his real life to begin. An apartment in the city with friends and the chance for his band to break out are all Ari can focus on, to his parents’ dismay. Their family bakery needs his help to stay afloat, but Ari is so determined to go that he posts a flyer advertising his bakery job as available. Only one applicant, Hector, has an aptitude for baking, and while Ari trains him, the two begin to grow close. Can Ari reconcile his dream for his future with his new reality?

Artist Savanna Ganucheau’s illustrations show us the charm of the seaside town Ari is so ready to bail on; you can practically hear the surf in the background and see the tourists wandering past. The fracture lines in his friendships grow as his focus on work is renewed and his feelings for Hector become more serious. Readers see Ari’s focus changing, but it stings when his friends seem to be moving on without him.

Viewed one way, Bloom tells a small story of two boys who meet and fall in love while beginning to face adulthood. But because it’s set at a time in life when being totally self-obsessed (while lacking any self-awareness) is the norm, it feels bigger than the sum of its parts. Long scenes of Ari and Hector simply baking together are deeply romantic, and they each have complex backstories (including family, exes and friends you love but sometimes want to slap silly) that make us care more about their happiness. Grab a red velvet cupcake and take a bite of this sweet story.

Kiss Number 8 is a story with a hairpin turn that readers will not see coming—and which will not be spoiled here. Rather than wanting to move on like Ari, Mads is in the sweet spot—happy at her Catholic school, a regular at Sunday mass and has friends who keep her grounded (Laura) and appeal to her wilder side (Cat). She’s kissed a bunch of thoroughly “meh” guys before realizing her idolization of Cat might be something more than friendship. Then things start getting complicated.

Author Colleen AF Venable’s story pivots in ways that recall the classic TV show “My So-Called Life.” Mads’ dad has a secret that drives a wedge between them, and Mads convices steadfast Laura to help her research what he’s hiding. Cat starts to enter into more adult spaces where she gets drunk, kisses more boys, and ignores her feelings about it all. If you’re concerned as to how a Catholic kid will fare in what turns out to be a very queer story, you should be; religion is the family’s safety net right up until it threatens to rip and drop them all.

Sometimes high school friendships fade, and sometimes an action that can’t be taken back blows them to smithereens. But Mads has family who are ultimately able to see what’s important and support her, even as they struggle to reconcile their feelings about the secret she uncovers. Kiss Number 8 is honest about how hard it can still be to come out, and it reflects on the grief felt by generations for whom it was never an option, but this story is ultimately hopeful.

So much of teenage life is about looking forward—to college, first jobs or living away from home. Two new YA graphic novels with LGBTQ+ storylines artfully play with this idea. In one, looking too far forward could mean missing an amazing present, and the other shows how hard it is to move on when the past is filled with secrets and lies.

YA FictionYA

Cutthroat class is in session

Feature by Kimberly Giarratano

Adriana Mather’s Killing November opens as November Adley, an unassuming 17-year-old, wakes up at the Academy Absconditi. She was dropped off at this peculiar boarding school, which is housed in a medieval castle in an undisclosed European location, by her ex-CIA father with little explanation, other than the fact that she is there for her own safety. 

But November feels anything but safe; in fact, one of the calculating and conniving students punches her in the face on her first day. And the administration? They simply encourage November to retaliate in an equally violent fashion. This is all a bit alarming, but soon November learns that she is a member of an ancient family of powerful assassins and tacticians. Without realizing it, November has been training for this school her whole life. But when a student at the academy is murdered, the blame immediately falls on November, and she’ll need to count on her survival instincts to find the truth.

Unlike her highly suspicious classmates, November is an optimist who refutes cynicism—even in the face of life-and-death conflict. What might be most refreshing for readers is the academy’s egalitarian ideals: There are no limitations placed on any student, regardless of gender. And November proves she can handle the most challenging task with aplomb, securing her place in this school of renegades.

Suzanne Young’s Girls With Sharp Sticks is also a tale of female empowerment but with a sci-fi spin. At Innovations Academy, the student body is a homogeneous group of intelligent and beautiful teenage girls who study gardening, etiquette and decorum in a repurposed factory. They are all graded on manners, beauty and compliance. This is the norm for Innovations student Philomena.

She doesn’t know what it’s like to have bodily autonomy or freedom, and she doesn’t question life at the academy until one of her friends goes missing. Suddenly, the academy’s all-male staff doesn’t seem like it has the girls’ best interests at heart. But any girl who doesn’t behave and comply with the staff’s orders gets a dose of impulse control therapy, which affects their memories. Even more disturbingly, a sweet budding romance between Philomena and a local boy is juxtaposed against the unsettling advances of the much older staff. As Philomena and the other girls discover what they’re really being groomed for, they begin to defy orders.

Girls With Sharp Sticks is a thrilling story about a sisterhood smashing the patriarchy. Philomena and her friends resort to subversion in order to protect one another, relying on the same tribal instincts that were encouraged in their education. While this novel reads like a feminist manifesto, it’s also a reflection of modern movements to end sexual harassment.

Both Killing November and Girls With Sharp Sticks are fast-paced and gripping female-centered stories in which the class curriculum centers on survival. But be prepared—they’re both perfectly primed for sequels.

Hidden campuses, bitter rivalries, subversive relationships and a lapse of adult supervision make two new boarding school stories tantalizing reads. The curriculum? It’s all about survival.

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.

Sign up now

Recent Reviews

All Reviews

Author Interviews

More Interviews

Recent Features

All Features