Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 56

YA Cover Makeovers: 5 Redesigns To Consider

It’s time for another round of YA cover makeovers. As usual, some of these are great redesigns, some are not so great, and some make you wonder why they were being changed at all. I’d love to know what you think of the covers, either the original or the redesign, in the comments, and if you have seen other recent changes worth noting, lay ’em in the comments, too. Original designs are on the left, and the paperback redesign is on the right.

 

 

Saving Hamlet by Molly Booth has undergone a pretty dramatic transformation. The original cover was entirely illustrative, and it was quite clear that the book had something to do with Hamlet. There’s Yorick there, as well as an image of the crown above the word “Hamlet,” and the spotlight gives a good indication it has something to do with theater. It’s a cute cover, though perhaps reads a little bit young. Yet, I can imagine the teens who see this being excited by it because they know exactly what it is they’re getting into.

The paperback redesign of this cover, though, didn’t strike me as YA when I first saw it. It reminded me of a romance novel, and that’s precisely why I stopped and looked at it more closely. This cover is very clever, incorporating parts of the original cover design into the new look. We have Yorick still, as well as the crown. We also have a font which, if not exactly the same, is really close to being the same. But the changes: we have a boy and a girl who are back to back. From afar, it looks like there are handcuffs, but upon a closer look, it’s clear each is holding their own hands and they’re hovering near the sword. This is a weird image, for sure, and while it’ll certainly appeal to readers seeking a romance, I’m not sure it hits the same demographic as the original cover. The new design also incorporates a tag line that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense without context: “Shakespeare gets real.” Was Shakespeare not real before? I can’t say I get it not having read the book.

Neither cover is better or worse. They cater to wildly different readerships. Saving Hamlet will hit shelves in paperback on November 7.

 

 

I kind of hated the original cover for Anna Banks’s Nemesis and I can say that I hate the paperback a little bit less. The original features a stone-faced girl and a color scheme that could only be described as bland. The only feature that stands out is her blonde hair, which tells me absolutely nothing about the book except that there’s a white girl at the center of the story. The tag line at the top, “She didn’t expect to fall in love — with her nemesis” only adds more to the nothing factor of the cover. It sounds like every other fantasy or dystopian novel tag line. It’s frustrating to not get a ready on genre at all, as I can’t tell who this book would be great for.

The paperback, which will be released October 3, isn’t hugely better in terms of giving a genre read, but from a design perspective, it’s worlds better. It looks, I think, a little more science fiction than fantasy, but that may be from the font alone — I can’t place it, but I’ve definitely seen that look for an author’s name. What this cover improves, though, is on color: we have at least a little bit. There’s also a nice sheen to the image in the center, and the girl on it is less easy to identify. The dropping of the tag line is also an improvement.

I don’t love either cover, but the paperback is much better, if for no reason other than it looks like it could be shelved alongside a bunch of other similar books for readers to pick up and know whether or not it is for them.

 

 

The Last True Love Story by Brendan Kiely came out last fall and it didn’t seem to land as loudly as it should have, given that Kiely had gained a significant amount of acclaim in his work with Jason Reynolds in American Boys. The cover for The Last True Love Story, however, is pretty quiet. It’s clear it’s a giant sky with movement, and the font itself sort of mirrors the look. It reads contemporary love story to me, though beyond the title, little exactly says that. . . and little indication of what is really inside the book. This is an example of a font-driven title that does the job of explaining the story but that doesn’t add much to the design itself.

The paperback, which just hit shelves, tells a little bit more. What’s interesting is how much it looks like a movie still: we see a girl who looks lost, we see the dreamy lights behind her, and then that’s mirrored by the dreamy motion and lights of the ferris wheel below. Brendan’s name has been moved from below the title to above, likely being the bigger selling feature than the title, and interestingly, the blurb from Julie Murphy takes up far more real estate on paperback than it did on the hard cover. Toning down the font for the title does the cover service, too. It’s not perfect, but this one screams mature, dreamy YA love story in a way the original doesn’t. The original nails YA love story but less of the “mature” and “dreamy” aspects. I’m really digging the buttery-yellow color for the author name, too — there’s a shade of yellow I’ve not seen much on YA books and adds to that dreamy feel.

My own reader tastes would pick up the paperback before the hard cover edition, but I can see the appeal for both. I think they hit the same readership, though they tell different stories.

 

 

Dust of 100 Dogs by AS King came out many years ago from Flux as a paperback original. This was King’s first book and one that doesn’t seem to get the same kind of talk or attention as her subsequent titles. It’s a pretty cool cover, focusing on three colors, a unique font design, and using the negative space really well.

King’s first book is being reissued on October 3 through Speak, an imprint of Penguin, which is where she’s now being published. The choice in reissuing is a smart one, given that she’s grown her audience since this book, and the designers were clever in making the new edition look really similar to the previous ones. The font is very close to being the same, though her name has been made white and more standard looking. There is now a list of acclaims beside her name, and a blurb from the New York Times. If you’re curious why they didn’t just keep the original design, my guess would be that it was copyrighted by the designer and/or house, so getting rights for that would be challenging. But the way they managed to keep it so similar, just using different pieces, is pretty impressive.

While I prefer the original cover, I’ve got no qualms with the reissue. I think the similarity is clever. I only wish that our girl was wearing something on her body in the new edition. Her boots blend in a little too much. (Also, look at how she went from knee-high heeled boots to less-high combat-style boots).

 

 

Here is the cover design baffling me the most out of the ones here. Krystal Sutherland’s Our Chemical Hearts hit shelves last fall with a cover that was super fresh and unique. I love the blue-hued fish and the way the font plays with the fish shapes. There’s a cool three dimensional effect, and it’s just so different. Does it say anything about the story? Absolutely not. This is a book about first love, but from that cover, you’d never know. And yet, the cover is cool and fresh enough to encourage readers to pick it up to find out what it could possibly be about. Fish? Maybe romance…but fish?

The paperback edition of the book, which hit shelves earlier this month, continues to tell us nothing about the story. It’s pretty, sure sure, but the choice in all lowercase letters for the title and author name is odd. This is a very bright and fun cover that achieves an effect of being just that. The blurbs for this book call it “John Green meets Rainbow Rowell” — we’re still not past that lazy and useless description — but the book doesn’t look like it would belong in the hands of fans of either of those authors. Working in favor of this cover over the original, though, is the blurb on top, as we know it’s a story about first love.

It also reminds me a lot of Natalie C. Parker’s forthcoming anthology Three Sides of a Heart.

Verdict? I really like the design and feel of both covers, yet neither one seems to fit the book. Either would stand out on a display but how would you know who to hand it to?

 

What do you think? Do you prefer any of these covers? Lay your opinions and thoughts in the comments.

Memories of a Reading Life

Memories of a reading life, in roughly chronological order:

Reading Oz books aloud to my dad while he did the dishes.

Reading The Westing Game with my mom and keeping a notebook of all the clues so we could try to solve the mystery alongside the characters.

Walking home from middle school reading a brand-new Ann Rinaldi book my mom brought to me during lunch (from a stack of five or so, recommended by the public librarian). The mylar was fresh and the book pure and unsoiled – reading a new library book is one of my favorite things. This is also the first time I can remember discovering a new-to-me author and being able to take a deep dive into her backlist.

Falling in love with On Fortune’s Wheel and Biting the Sun thanks to friends’ recommendations; these remain two of my favorite books of all time.

Reading Swan Song with the new (at the time) Britney Spears CD as my soundtrack. The fact that it was a pretty odd combination did not occur to me; they were simply two things I really loved.

The smell of The Amber Spyglass, which my mom gave me as an early gift after a particularly bad day at school (freshman year was tough). This is still one of my favorite physical books.

Listening to countless audiobooks during our annual summer vacation road trips: scary stories, mysteries, historical fiction, stuff my siblings and I chose ourselves from the shelves of the library and stuff my parents were into as well. I read widely now thanks in large part to this practice.

The sound of the cassette player overheating on these road trips and the narrator speaking in a chipmunk voice for a few seconds as a result.

Re-reading The Giver in my high school library during lunch, sneaking bites of a cookie I bought from the vending machine.

Discovering that The Giver had two sequels. This is something that is easy to learn now thanks to the internet, but finding them just sitting on the shelf at the library with no prior knowledge felt magical to me.

Buying a whole bag of books at the end of the public library’s book sale, when they offered a special deal to clear out as many books as possible. This is how I accumulated Jean Auel on my dad’s recommendation and almost all of Anne Perry’s works on my mom’s.

Checking out dozens of romance novels from the library just to read the dirty parts, and being disappointed when I read an author who did fade to black instead.

Buying whole trilogies of adult fantasy from Half Price Books at once, based solely on how promising the covers were. This is how I discovered Elizabeth Haydon, James Clemens, Jennifer Fallon, and many others.

Visiting the Barnes and Noble near the University of Texas campus on a high school trip and realizing that when I went away to college, I’d be able to do this whenever I wanted. I bought my first Juliet Marillier book and my first Sharon Shinn book from that store.

Staying up until 2 am reading the last Harry Potter book, trying to slow myself down so it could last forever.

Listening to audiobooks my dad sent me while I was in college at the University of North Carolina. Giving books “just because” is one of my favorite expressions of love.

Reading Jane Eyre for the third time as an undergrad English major and finally getting it; this is my favorite classic, and “Reader, I married him” will always be my favorite line.

Finishing up The Book Thief on a sunny day on the Texas Capitol grounds during grad school, before it was tainted by my knowledge of exactly what goes on there. It’s still one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been, and I’ll never again be able to feel the same way I felt during that day. The memory will have to be enough.

Listening to the Amelia Peabody books on the bus to grad school and falling in love with them all over again.

The smell of the exhibit hall during the Texas Library Association annual conference and how it just felt like possibility.

Listening to Jim Dale read Harry Potter in the mornings while I got ready for work during my first year as a professional librarian.

What are some of your strongest reading memories?

Anatomy of an Anthology: A Series About Young Adult Anthologies

I’m really excited to announce a new, ongoing series here at STACKED called Anatomy of an Anthology. The series was borne from my own experience in putting a young adult anthology together, the questions that came up while promoting it, and the questions which I receive pretty frequently now: how did you put the thing together?

 

 

That’s always the first question, followed by a series of other “how”s and “what”s behind the process. And the truth of it is that a lot of my answers came from being thrown into the experience and consulting with those who’d done this before me to get advice. Unlike writing a novel, there’s less information available on the web relating to how anthologies work, so it only seemed like there was an opportunity to demystify the experience.

Anatomy of an Anthology will begin with a few posts scattered over the next couple of months, and it’ll be an ongoing series that editors of anthologies are welcome to take part in as their new books become available (you can email me at kelly AT stackedbooks DOT org for more details). I like to think of this as not only a central resource for authors and editors, but also for readers who are curious about the behind-the-scenes of anthologies and what they should have on their TBR. All of the posts will be tagged as “anatomy of an anthology,” making them easily searchable and sharable.

The series launches soon, so get excited. I’ll begin with my own story, followed by guest posts from authors who have their first (or second!) anthologies available or just about to be released.

 

On The Radar: September YA Reads To Know

 

“On The Radar” is a monthly series meant to highlight between 9 and 12 books per month to fit a budget of roughly $300 or less. These lists are curated from a larger spreadsheet I keep with a running list of titles hitting shelves and are meant to reflect not only the big books coming out from authors readers know and love, but it’s also meant to showcase some of the titles that have hit my radar through review copies, publicity blasts, or because they’re titles that might otherwise not be readily seen or picked up through those traditional avenues. It’s part science and part art.

For September, I have cheated something pretty fierce, but for good reason. I’ve pulled 17 titles (I know), but I’ve done so because not all of these might be right for your purchasing purposes. Many titles this month are coming out as part of a series or from authors who have huge followings, and I wanted to hit not only those titles, but others which should be noted alongside the louder ones. Some of these have had great buzz or earned solid reviews or have something about them that make them worth knowing for the month of September.

Book descriptions come from Goodreads and reasons for putting on your radar are mine and mine alone! Titles are alphabetical, with pub dates beside them. Titles with a * in front of them are books that are starting or a continuation of a series.

 

*Before She Ignites by Jodi Meadows (9/12)

Before

Mira Minkoba is the Hopebearer. Since the day she was born, she’s been told she’s special. Important. Perfect. She’s known across the Fallen Isles not just for her beauty, but for the Mira Treaty named after her, a peace agreement which united the seven islands against their enemies on the mainland.

But Mira has never felt as perfect as everyone says. She counts compulsively. She struggles with crippling anxiety. And she’s far too interested in dragons for a girl of her station.

After

Then Mira discovers an explosive secret that challenges everything she and the Treaty stand for. Betrayed by the very people she spent her life serving, Mira is sentenced to the Pit–the deadliest prison in the Fallen Isles. There, a cruel guard would do anything to discover the secret she would die to protect.

No longer beholden to those who betrayed her, Mira must learn to survive on her own and unearth the dark truths about the Fallen Isles–and herself–before her very world begins to collapse.

 

Why it should be on your radar: It’s the first in a new series by Jodi Meadows, and it’s a series that involves dragons.

 

Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (9/26)

Four Months Ago

Sara Zapata’s best friend disappeared, kidnapped by the web of criminals who terrorize Juarez.

Four Hours Ago

Sara received a death threat – and with it, a clue to the place where her friend is locked away.

Four Weeks Ago

Emiliano Zapata fell in love with Perla Rubi, who will never be his so long as he’s poor.

Four Minutes Ago

Emiliano got the chance to make more money than he ever dreamed – just by joining the web.

In the next four days, Sara and Emiliano will each face impossible choices, between life and justice, friends and family, truth and love. But when the web closes in on Sara, only one path remains for the siblings: the way across the desert to the United States.

 

Why it should be on your radar: A new Francisco X Stork book, and this one is about drug cartels…which has been one of the odd microtrends of this year.

 

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart

The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.

Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.

An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.

A bad romance, or maybe three.

Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.

A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.

A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

 

 

Why it should be on your radar: A new book from E Lockhart has been generating a lot of buzz and will continue to do so.

 

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust (9/5)

At sixteen, Mina’s mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

 

Why it should be on your radar: A stand alone fantasy called Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber.

 

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore (9/19)

Jane has lived an ordinary life, raised by her aunt Magnolia—an adjunct professor and deep sea photographer. Jane counted on Magnolia to make the world feel expansive and to turn life into an adventure. But Aunt Magnolia was lost a few months ago in Antarctica on one of her expeditions.

Now, with no direction, a year out of high school, and obsessed with making umbrellas that look like her own dreams (but mostly just mourning her aunt), she is easily swept away by Kiran Thrash—a glamorous, capricious acquaintance who shows up and asks Jane to accompany her to a gala at her family’s island mansion called Tu Reviens.

Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites to you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.” With nothing but a trunkful of umbrella parts to her name, Jane ventures out to the Thrash estate. Then her story takes a turn, or rather, five turns. What Jane doesn’t know is that Tu Reviens will offer her choices that can ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But at Tu Reviens, every choice comes with a reward, or a price.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Kristin Cashore fans have been waiting for a new book from her for years and years, and this one goes in an entirely different genre direction than her “Graceling” series. I have to say, I’ve read middling reviews on this one, but that won’t stop it from being picked up.

 

The Last Jedi, Leia by Claudia Gray (9/1)

A young adult novel, written by New York Times Best-selling author Claudia Gray, about sixteen-year-old Princess Leia, set before A New Hope.

 

Why it should be on your radar: There is virtually no description of the book, but it’s part of the YA Star Wars novels, and it’s by Claudia Gray. That’s enough reason.

 

 

 

 

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (9/19)

MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!

Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with a school administration at her small-town Texas high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the ’90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother’s past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She’s just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Aside from the controversy surrounding the Kirkus review of this title, Mathieu’s latest is a feminist read which has been optioned by Amy Poehler’s production company. Lots of buzz already and I suspect it’ll only grow.

 

Neighborhood Girls by Jessie Ann Foley (9/12)

When Wendy Boychuck’s father, a Chicago cop, was escorted from their property in handcuffs for his shady criminal practices, she knew her life would never be the same. Her father gets a years-long jail sentence, her family falls on hard times, and the whispers around town are impossible to ignore. If that wasn’t bad enough, she gets jumped walking home from a party one night. Wendy quickly realizes that in order to survive her father’s reputation, she’ll have to make one for herself.

Then Wendy meets Kenzie Quintana—a cigarette-smoking, Catholic-school-uniform-skirt-hiking alpha—and she knows that she’s met her savior. Kenzie can provide Wendy with the kind of armor a girl needs when she’s trying to outrun her father’s past. Add two more mean girls to the mix—Sapphire and Emily—and Wendy has found herself in Academy of the Sacred Heart’s most feared and revered clique. Makeover complete.

But complete is far from what Wendy feels. Instead, she faces the highs and lows of a vapid, toxic friendship, the exhaustion that comes with keeping up appearances, and the only loss that could hurt more than losing herself

 

Why it should be on your radar: Foley’s first book, The Carnival at Bray, was a Morris and a Printz short list title. This is her sophomore release.

 

 

Odd and True by Cat Winters (9/12)

Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.

In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Cat Winters was a Morris finalist a few years back, and she’s continued putting out really unique titles. This one is part historical, part gothic-y horror, and it’s a stand alone.

 

*One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake (9/19)

The battle for the Crown has begun, but which of the three sisters will prevail?

With the unforgettable events of the Quickening behind them and the Ascension Year underway, all bets are off. Katharine, once the weak and feeble sister, is stronger than ever before. Arsinoe, after discovering the truth about her powers, must figure out how to make her secret talent work in her favor without anyone finding out. And Mirabella, once thought to be the strongest sister of all and the certain Queen Crowned, faces attacks like never before—ones that put those around her in danger she can’t seem to prevent.

 

Why it should be on your radar: It’s the sequel to Three Dark Crowns.

 

The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics (9/26)

From the outside, the Cane family looks like they have it all. A successful military father, a loving mother and five beautiful teenage daughters. But on the inside, life isn’t quite so idyllic: the Cane sisters can barely stand each other, their father is always away, and their neglectful mother struggles with addiction and depression.

When their youngest and most beloved sister, Rose, dies in a tragic accident, Mona Cane and her sisters are devastated. And when she is brought back from the dead, they are relieved. But soon they discover that Rose must eat human flesh to survive, and when their mother abandons them, the sisters will find out just how far they’ll go to keep their family together.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Amy Lukavics is writing some the darkest, creepiest horror in YA right now. Readers itching for that will gobble this up.

 

*Shadowhouse Fall by Daniel José Older (9/12)

Sierra and her friends love their new lives as shadowshapers, making art and creating change with the spirits of Brooklyn. Then Sierra receives a strange card depicting a beast called the Hound of Light — an image from the enigmatic, influential Deck of Worlds. The shadowshapers know their next battle has arrived.

Thrust into an ancient struggle with enemies old and new, Sierra and Shadowhouse are determined to win. Revolution is brewing in the real world as well, as the shadowshapers lead the fight against systems that oppress their community. To protect her family and friends in every sphere, Sierra must take down the Hound and master the Deck of Worlds… or risk losing them all.

 

Why it should be on your radar: It’s the sequel to the New York Times bestseller and fan favorite Shadowshaper.

 

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins (9/26)

One-by-one, the students of Osborne High are dying in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, the dark secrets among them must finally be confronted.

International bestselling author Stephanie Perkins returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Stephanie Perkins wrote a horror novel. And this horror novel sounds fabulous, too, given the love Perkins has for the genre.

 

 

They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera (9/5)

On September 5, a little after midnight, Death-Cast calls Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: They’re going to die today. Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure and to live a lifetime in a single day.

 

Why it should be on your radar: As Adam Silvera grows as a writer, so does his fan base. It’s his second release of the year and it’s another title featuring queer and diverse characters.

 

 

 

*Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas (9/5)

Chaol Westfall has always defined himself by his unwavering loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since the glass castle shattered, since his men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken.

His only shot at recovery lies with the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme in Antica—the stronghold of the southern continent’s mighty empire. And with war looming over Dorian and Aelin back home, their survival might lie with Chaol and Nesryn convincing its rulers to ally with them.

But what they discover in Antica will change them both—and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

 

Why it should be on your radar: This is the sixth book in the wildly popular “Throne of Glass” series.

 

*Warcross by Marie Lu (9/12)

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

 

Why it should be on your radar: It’s the first book in a new series by bestseller Marie Lu.

 

You Bring The Distant Near by Mitali Perkins (9/12)

This elegant novel captures the immigrant experience for one Indian-American family with humor and heart. Told in alternating teen voices across three generations, You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture–for better or worse.

From a grandmother worried that her children are losing their Indian identity to a daughter wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair to a granddaughter social-activist fighting to preserve Bengali tigers, Perkins weaves together the threads of a family growing into an American identity.

Here is a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

 

Why it should be on your radar: Perkins writes cross cultural novels that are really damn good, and this one sounds no different. I’ve read a lot of great reviews of this one, too.

This Week at Book Riot

 

Over on Book Riot this week…

 

Some fun bookish gifts for YA lovers.

 

 

Monthly Giving: Houston Food Bank (Hurricane Harvey Relief)

This has been a rough few days for Texans, particularly those living on the Gulf Coast. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States and the largest one in Texas by far. Chances are, if you’re not hunkered down trying to ride out Harvey, you have loved ones in Houston and its surrounding areas who are. This storm has caused unprecedented destruction, and it’s not over yet. Even here in Austin, trees are down in my neighborhood and power was out for over 24 hours for many residents – and we’re 150 miles from Houston.

Several of my neighbors in Austin have opened their homes to evacuees, and those who can’t do so are looking for other ways to help. Giving money (not stuff) is still one of the most effective things you can do. To ensure your donation gets the most impact, give to a local organization with a good track record of using the majority of donations to directly help people in need (rather than salaries or fundraising). With the assistance of Charity Navigator, I chose to donate to the Houston Food Bank.

Instead of providing a booklist, I’ve compiled a list of resources and further information that were especially useful or enlightening for me when trying to understand Harvey, its effects, and how to help. If you have any other information you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comments.

Journalist Jia Tolentino wrote a great Twitter thread about Houston and ways to donate locally.
The Texas Tribune has a good summary of why people didn’t evacuate before Harvey. Evacuating such a large population (over two million people in Houston alone, plus millions more in surrounding areas and along the coast) would ultimately cause more deaths from accidents and heat illness (it’s over 100 degrees every day in southeast Texas in August) than hunkering down and riding it out. A drive that would normally take 3 hours takes 20 or more during an evacuation. The decision not to evacuate was informed largely by Hurricane Rita in 2005, where more people died from attempted evacuation than the storm itself.
It’s also good to remember that being able to evacuate at all is a privilege for those with money, which disaster researcher Mika McKinnon breaks down in this Twitter thread.
Just how bad is Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Harvey? The New York Times has a good explanation.
The Guardian US has a set of before and after photographs that drive home the seriousness of the flooding in Houston and along the coast. There are feet of water on major highways. SUVs would be completely submerged.
Private residents with boats have answered the call to help rescue those in need of it. This man is one of many.
Kate Messner has set up a KidLit Cares auction to help raise money for the relief effort. Kelly is offering a Skype visit and 10 signed copies of Here We Are as part of the auction; there are almost 200 different items being auctioned so far and some of them are very, very impressive. Take a look.

Debut YA Novels of August 2017

 

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month — here’s what we’ve got for August.

This round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past. Authors who have self-published are not included here either.

All descriptions are from Goodreads, unless otherwise noted; I’ve found Goodreads descriptions to offer better insight to what a book is about over WorldCat. If I’m missing any debuts out in August from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie/small presses are okay — let me know in the comments.

As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles. List is arranged alphabetically by title, with pub dates beside them.

 

*All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis (first in a series)

Speth Jime is anxious to deliver her Last Day speech and celebrate her transition into adulthood. The moment she turns fifteen, Speth must pay for every word she speaks (“Sorry” is a flat ten dollars and a legal admission of guilt), for every nod ($0.99/sec), for every scream ($0.99/sec) and even every gesture of affection. She’s been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can’t begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she’s unable to afford.

But when Speth’s friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family’s crippling debt, she can’t express her shock and dismay without breaking her Last Day contract and sending her family into Collection. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: rather than read her speech – rather than say anything at all – she closes her mouth and vows never to speak again. Speth’s unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.

 

The Big F by Maggie Ann Martin

Danielle’s plans for the future were pretty easy to figure out… until she failed senior English and her single college application was denied. Suddenly she’s in hot water with very few options, because honestly who applies to a safety school when their mom is a semi-famous “college psychic”?!

Determined to get her life back on track, Danielle enrolls in her hometown community college with a plan: pass her English class and get back into Ohio State and her mother’s good graces. Romance isn’t on her radar… until she reconnects with her childhood crush and golden-boy-next-door, Luke.

Between family drama, first love and finding her own way, Danielle can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. Thankfully she has her friendship with the snarky and frustratingly attractive Porter, her coworker at the campus bookstore, to push her to experience new things and help keep her afloat.

One thing’s for sure: This time, failure’s not an option.

 

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F. C. Yee

The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie Lo’s every waking thought. But when her sleepy Bay Area town comes under siege from hell-spawn straight out of Chinese folklore, her priorities are suddenly and forcefully rearranged.

Her only guide to the demonic chaos breaking out around her is Quentin Sun, a beguiling, maddening new transfer student from overseas. Quentin assures Genie she is strong enough to fight these monsters, for she unknowingly harbors an inner power that can level the very gates of Heaven.

Genie will have to dig deep within herself to summon the otherworldly strength that Quentin keeps talking about. But as she does, she finds the secret of her true nature is entwined with his, in a way she could never have imagined…

 

Just Friends by Tiffany Pitcock

A new spin on the classic smart-girl-and-bad-boy setup, this witty contemporary romance shows how easily a friendship – even one built on an elaborate lie – can become so much more.

Jenny meets Chance for the very first time when she is assigned as his partner in their Junior Oral Communications class. But after they rescue a doomed assignment with one clever lie, the whole school is suddenly convinced that Little-Miss-Really-Likes-Having-A’s and the most scandalous heartbreaker in school have been best friends forever. It’s amazing how quickly a lie can grow―especially when you really, really want it to be the truth.

With Jenny, Chance can live the normal life he’s always kind of wanted. And with Chance, Jenny can have the exciting teen experiences that TV shows and movies have always promised. Through it all, they hold on to the fact that they are “just friends.” But that might be the biggest lie of all.

 

Kissing Max Holden by Katy Upperman

Kissing Max Holden was a terrible idea…

After his father has a life-altering stroke, Max Holden isn’t himself. As his long-time friend, Jillian Eldridge only wants to help him, but she doesn’t know how. When Max climbs through her window one night, Jill knows that she shouldn’t let him kiss her. But she can’t resist, and when they’re caught in the act by her dad, Jill swears it’ll never happen again. Because kissing Max Holden is a terrible idea.

With a new baby sibling on the way, her parents fighting all the time, and her dream of culinary school up in the air, Jill starts spending more and more time with Max. And even though her father disapproves and Max still has a girlfriend, not kissing Max is easier said than done. Will Jill follow her heart and allow their friendship to blossom into something more, or will she listen to her head and stop kissing Max Holden once and for all?

 

League of American Traitors by Matthew Landis

When seventeen year-old Jasper is approached at the funeral of his deadbeat father by a man claiming to be an associate of his deceased parents, he’s thrust into a world of secrets tied to America’s history—and he’s right at the heart of it.

First, Jasper finds out he is the sole surviving descendant of Benedict Arnold, the most notorious traitor in American history. Then he learns that his father’s death was no accident. Jasper is at the center of a war that has been going on for centuries, in which the descendants of the heroes and traitors of the American Revolution still duel to the death for the sake of their honor.

His only hope to escape his dangerous fate on his eighteenth birthday? Take up the research his father was pursuing at the time of his death, to clear Arnold’s name.

Whisked off to a boarding school populated by other descendants of notorious American traitors, it’s a race to discover the truth. But if Jasper doesn’t find a way to uncover the evidence his father was hunting for, he may end up paying for the sins of his forefathers with his own life.

 

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller (first in a series)

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal Leon steals a poster announcing open auditions for the Left Hand, a powerful collection of the Queen’s personal assassins named for the rings she wears — Ruby, Emerald, Amethyst, and Opal — their world changes. They know it’s a chance for a new life.

Except the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. But Sal must survive to put their real reason for auditioning into play: revenge.

 

Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta (first in a series)

To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.

Faris grew up fighting to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne.

Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance—magic that addicts in the war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverages Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything—or kill anyone—she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own.

With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed—or saved—with only a touch.

 

Wicked Like A Wildfire by Lana Popovic (first in a series)

All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love.

But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever?

 

 

The Wood by Chelsea Bobulski

When Winter’s dad goes missing during his nightly patrol of the wood, it falls to her to patrol the time portals and protect the travelers who slip through them. Winter can’t help but think there’s more to her dad’s disappearance than she’s being told.

She soon finds a young man traveling in the wood named Henry who knows more than he should. He believes if they can work together to find his missing parents, they could discover the truth about Winter’s dad.

The wood is poisoned, changing into something sinister—torturing travelers lost in it. Winter must put her trust in Henry in order to find the truth and those they’ve lost.

 

 

You Don’t Know Me But I Know You by Rebecca Barrow

There’s a box in the back of Audrey’s closet that she rarely thinks about.

Inside is a letter, seventeen years old, from a mother she’s never met, handed to her by the woman she’s called Mom her whole life. Being adopted, though, is just one piece in the puzzle of Audrey’s life—the picture painstakingly put together by Audrey herself, full of all the people and pursuits that make her who she is.

But when Audrey realizes that she’s pregnant, she feels something—a tightly sealed box in the closet corners of her heart—crack open, spilling her dormant fears and unanswered questions all over the life she loves.

Almost two decades ago, a girl in Audrey’s situation made a choice, one that started Audrey’s entire story. Now Audrey is paralyzed by her own what-ifs and terrified by the distance she feels growing between her and her best friend Rose. Down every possible path is a different unfamiliar version of her life, and as she weighs the options in her mind, she starts to wonder—what does it even mean to be Audrey Spencer?

This Week at Book Riot

 

Over on Book Riot this week…

 

Great YA books that would make for solid adult book club picks.

 

35 Bookish totes you’ll want to carry around all the time.

On Vacation

Hey y’all, Kimberly here. I’m on vacation this week at a beautiful lake in New Hampshire (pictured below) snuggling my nephew and visiting family I haven’t seen in a decade. My regularly scheduled post this week is also on vacation! Have a great Wednesday, and I’ll see you all next week.

 

YA On The Edge

A curious thing in YA: title trends. I’ve seen many come and go, of course, and probably have many a draft post with a title trend as something worth covering. There are a lot of YA titles about Ashes and Fire. And as we’ve seen, the girl/s trend is no where near dissipating.

But this one caught me by surprise.

How about a ton of YA books on the edge? That is, YA books with “Edge” in the title. I didn’t notice it until looking at a few recent YA reads in alphabetical order by title. What a nice nod to what it is to be a teenager.

These are all relatively recent titles, pubbed in the last couple of years. Know of others? I’d love to hear them in the comments.

At The Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson

Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished.

More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone except Ozzie.

Ozzie doesn’t know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking.

When Ozzie is paired up with new student Calvin on a physics project, he begins to wonder if Calvin could somehow be involved. But the more time they spend together, the harder it is for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves Tommy.

But Ozzie knows there isn’t much time left to find Tommy–that once the door closes, it can’t be opened again. And he’s determined to keep it open as long as possible.

 

The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

For the perfect love, what would you be willing to lose?

It’s been a shattering year for seventeen-year-old Zoe, who’s still reeling from her father’s shockingly sudden death in a caving accident and her neighbors’ mysterious disappearance from their own home. Then on a terrifying sub-zero, blizzardy night in Montana, she and her brother are brutally attacked in a cabin in the woods—only to be rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter they call X.

X is no ordinary bounty hunter. He is from a hell called the Lowlands, sent to claim the soul of Zoe’s evil attacker and others like him. X is forbidden from revealing himself to anyone other than his prey, but he casts aside the Lowlands’ rules for Zoe. As they learn more about their colliding worlds, they begin to question the past, their fate, and their future.

 

 

The Edge of Falling by Rebecca Serle

Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie’s life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she’s famous for something she didn’t do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she’s ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie’s as well.

 

 

The Edge of Forever by Melissa E. Hurst

In 2013, sixteen-year-old Alora is having blackouts. Each time she wakes up in a different place with no idea how she got there. The one thing she is certain of? Someone is following her.

In 2146, seventeen-year-old Bridger is one of a small number of people born with the ability to travel to the past. While on a routine school time trip, he sees the last person he expected—his dead father. The strangest part is that, according to the Department of Temporal Affairs, his father was never assigned to be in that time. Bridger’s even more stunned when he learns that his by-the-book father was there to break the most important rule of time travel—to prevent someone’s murder.

And that someone is named Alora.

Determined to discover why his father wanted to help a “ghost,” Bridger illegally shifts to 2013 and, along with Alora, races to solve the mystery surrounding her past and her connection to his father before the DTA finds him. If he can stop Alora’s death without altering the timeline, maybe he can save his father too.

 

The Edge of The Abyss by Emily Skurtskie

Three weeks have passed since Cassandra Leung pledged her allegiance to the ruthless pirate-queen Santa Elena and set free Bao, the sea monster Reckoner she’d been forced to train. The days as a pirate trainee are long and grueling, but it’s not the physical pain that Cas dreads most. It’s being forced to work with Swift, the pirate girl who broke her heart.

But Cas has even bigger problems when she discovers that Bao is not the only monster swimming free. Other Reckoners illegally sold to pirates have escaped their captors and are taking the NeoPacific by storm, attacking ships at random and ruining the ocean ecosystem. As a Reckoner trainer, Cas might be the only one who can stop them. But how can she take up arms against creatures she used to care for and protect?

Will Cas embrace the murky morals that life as a pirate brings or perish in the dark waters of the NeoPacific?

 

The Edge of The Light by Elizabeth George (Also see her The Edge of The Water)

Since his beloved grandfather’s stroke, Seth has been focused on getting Grand home again, before his aunt can take advantage of the situation to get her hands on Grand’s valuable real estate. Then there’s Prynne. Seth would like to get his relationship with her on solid ground. He loves her, but can he believe she has her drug use under control?

Meanwhile, things are complicated for the other Whidbey Island friends. Derric has found Rejoice, the sister he left behind in Uganda, but Rejoice doesn’t know she is his sister. Jenn is discovering feelings for her teammate Cynthia, feelings her born-again Christian mother would never find acceptable. And Becca, hiding under a false identity since her arrival on the island, is concealing the biggest secret of all.

In the final book of the Whidbey Island saga, events build to a climax as secrets are revealed, hearts are broken, and lives are changed forever.

 

On The Edge of Gone by Corinne Duyvis

January 29, 2035.

That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her mother and sister, Iris, have been assigned to a temporary shelter near their hometown of Amsterdam to wait out the blast, but Iris is nowhere to be found, and at the rate Denise’s drug-addicted mother is going, they’ll never reach the shelter in time.

Then a last-minute encounter leads them to something better than a temporary shelter: a generation ship that’s scheduled to leave Earth behind and colonize new worlds after the comet hits. But each passenger must have a practical skill to contribute. Denise is autistic and fears that she’ll never be allowed to stay. Can she obtain a spot before the ship takes flight? What about her mother and sister?

When the future of the human race is at stake, whose lives matter most?

 

On The Edge by Allison van Diepen

Maddie Diaz never should have taken that shortcut through the park. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have seen two members of the Reyes gang attacking a homeless man. Now, as the only witness, she knows there’s a target on her back.

But when the Reyes jump her on the street, Maddie is protected by a second gang and their secretive leader, Lobo, who is determined to take down the Reyes himself. Lobo is mysterious and passionate, and Maddie begins to fall for him. But when they live this close to the edge, can their love survive?

On the Edge is a compelling story about fighting for what’s right and figuring out where you belong. The novel showcases a gritty, realistic voice and earth–shattering romance that will intrigue readers of Simone Elkeles and Paul Griffin and captivate fans of Allison van Diepen’s other novels.

 

 

Walk The Edge by Katie McGarry

Smart. Responsible. That’s seventeen-year-old Breanna’s role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully’s line of fire—and brings fellow senior Thomas “Razor” Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don’t belong. But when he learns she’s being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them—a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness—he knows it’s time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he’ll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she’ll help him seek answers to the mystery that’s haunted him—one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they’re both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they’re going from here.