Kelly Jensen's Blog, page 61

What I’ve Been Reading Lately: Reviews of Recent Contemporary YA Fiction

After I wrote about the way I read seasonally, my interest to read picked up significantly. It’s almost as if acknowledging it meant that I gave myself permission to follow my own reading desires and that sort of permission opened up the reading floodgates. Which isn’t a complaint. I’ve been reading a lot of really great stuff.

 

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandya Menon

Looking for a teen romantic comedy featuring two brown lead characters? This is the ticket. With mega appeal to fans of Jenny Han and Amy Spalding, this book will be flying off the shelves.

Dimple has her heart set on spending the summer at a coding conference in San Francisco. She wants to create an app that helps launch her to success and to meeting one of her coding heroines, a woman she believes will open many doors for her future. Dimple doesn’t believe her parents will let her go, especially since it’s her last summer at home before college. So when they do say she can attend, she’s excited and thinks her parents have finally loosened up the need to have control over her future.

But then she meets Rishi.

Rishi knows that he’s being set up to marry Dimple. His parents have him attending the same summer coding program as Dimple so they can meet before the inevitable marriage to come. But the moment Rishi encounters Dimple, he frightens her and she’s unable to accept the weird, creepy things he’s saying to her about being her future husband.

Perhaps….Dimple’s parents forgot to tell her something about why they’re letting her attend this coding program over the summer.

While this book isn’t perfect — there are some serious pacing issues, particularly in the last third of the book — it doesn’t matter. Readers are in this one for the two characters who are well-drawn, engaging, funny, and who manage to have a happily ever after. What matters is the ride to get there, and it’s really enjoyable to see both of them going fully after what their hearts desire with romance and in their dreams outside of a relationship. This one is written in a third person point of view which alternates between Dimple and Rishi’s voices, making the pages really fly by.

 

In A Perfect World by Trish Doller

When Caroline’s mother takes her dream position in a clinic in Egypt, Caroline’s less than pleased about leaving her friends, her boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend), and comfortable Ohio life behind. Egypt is nothing like home, and more, now she feels like an entitled and privileged American with her own driver and tour guide for Cairo.

That changes when Caroline meets Adam. He’s Muslim, and she knows that their relationship — even being seen together outside and around town — wouldn’t be a good thing to pursue. But he is the son of the person who is helping their family out and she can’t help but notice he’s cute, he’s driven, and he’s eager to take her out and about, even if it’s without much emotion attached to it.

Of course, you can guess what happens.

Doller’s book is a dazzling look at life in another culture through the eyes of a relatively privileged white girl who not only knows it, but acknowledges it, particularly when it comes to what her mother’s dealing with at her job and what she sees while being driven around by Adam. In a lot of ways, this was reminiscent of Anna And The French Kiss, but with an Egyptian setting and a little more frankness about how Caroline’s experiences are rare and at times, privileged-as-hell. There is great respect and interest paid here to getting Egyptian culture, as well as Muslim beliefs, correct, and Adam himself is a really well-rounded, complex, and interesting character who, as Caroline discovers, showcases how people who believe and live lives different than those in America can have just as many interests, desires, and complicated feelings as they do.

Readers who’ve liked Doller’s previous works will enjoy this one, as will those who’ve loved Stephanie Perkins’s romances and the relationship complexity that authors like Siobhan Vivian explore.

 

That Thing We Call A Heart by Sheba Karim

This book begin rocky for me, with what felt like a lot of information and, perhaps, an incorrect starting place. But as I kept on and moved into the second part of the book, I was suddenly unable to put it down because of how much had been built up.

Shabnam’s spending her last summer at home before heading to University of Pennsylvania and when her great uncle is in town from Pakistan, she’s voluntold she’ll be taking him out. Shabnam isn’t excited, especially since she’s not as invested in her cultural heritage as much of her family, including her great uncle. It’s also possible she told a bit of a lie about her uncle in the classroom and now she’s spinning it over in her head.

But it’s on that first excursion with her uncle that Shabnam meets Jamie. He’s cute and he’s white and he has a job opportunity for her at the pie shop his aunt owns. The job would be pretty easy and only for the summer, and Shabnam, blinded by her interest in Jamie and by what sounds like a nice way out of her house every day, says yes.

Of course, there’s the set up for the summer romance of her dreams. He’s so cute! He’s so interested in learning about her Pakistani heritage! He’s curious about how much she’s invested into her Muslim beliefs!

This isn’t the real focus of the story, though. The driving force here is the fractured friendship between Shabnam and her former best friend Farah. Farah, the only other Muslim at their posh private high school, is there on scholarship. She’s a loud, proud feminist. And she’s made the decision in the last few months to begin wearing the hijab. This sort of declaration of faith is what caused the rift in their friendship, as Shabnam felt that was a step back from everything Farah believed and everything she herself believed about her best friend.

With Shabnam in love and needing to tell someone, she flies back to Farah, ignoring all of the ways she’s ignored her and treated her poorly. Farah allows Shabnam back in, but it’s with reservation; Shabnam doesn’t see it, but we as readers do, especially as we begin to see how terrible a character Jamie is. Jamie loves Shabnam’s culture, and there’s a particularly stomach-churning moment when Jamie takes Shabnam to his aunt’s home, wherein she begins to see all of the cultural artifacts from around the world, which Jamie brushes off as “she’s just so interested in other people’s cultures,” like he is. But the more he presses her for her story and the more he presses Farah, the more we begin to see how he treats Shabnam not as a romantic interest but as a cultural curiosity.

He fetishizes her culture.

This book doesn’t have the happily ever after that would make it a romance, but I’d also say this isn’t really about romance or love at all. It’s about a crush, but more than that, it’s about friendship. Farah doesn’t go easy on Shabnam when they rekindle their friendship. In fact, she’s pretty frank and real with her about how terribly Shabnam has treated her and how little support and love she’s shown. In many ways, it’s Farah who is the most compelling character in this story, but it’s also clear why this isn’t her story. It’s about Shabnam coming to understand the ways people can misunderstand choices and how those meaningful choices people make don’t necessarily change who they are.

While reading this book, I kept thinking back to the comic that Wendy Xu wrote and drew for Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World and I can’t help as seeing them as a really worthwhile pairing to one another for understanding what happened between Shabnam and Jamie. They’d make an excellent pairing, and readers who love a good friendship story will want to pick this up.

This Week at Book Riot

Over on Book Riot this week…

I interviewed Laura Palese, a book designer, about what goes into making a book look awesome.  Laura was the brain behind the design of Here We Are, and I knew I needed to pick her brain a bit.

 

Pick up one or more of these awesome bookish candles to really light up your reading life (#sorrynotsorry).

 

This week’s “3 on a YA Theme” is all about girls who play baseball.

Monthly Giving: The Innocence Project

Our justice system is broken in a lot of ways. It disproportionately targets and incarcerates people of color, giving them longer and harsher sentences and funneling them into the school to prison pipeline early. It favors the wealthy and leaves the poor with substandard representation, often leaving them in jail simply because they are poor. It relies on flawed evidence often obtained illegally or unethically and sentences innocent people to life sentences and even death.

The Innocence Project tackles this last facet. Their mission is to “free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.” They do this mainly through DNA testing, helping to free people wrongly convicted through a procedure not available at the time of their conviction. Since 1989, 350 people have been exonerated through DNA evidence. Twenty of these served time on death row. 217 of these – 62% – were African American. The Innocence Project started their work in 1992 and have been instrumental in helping 183 of those wrongly convicted get justice. If you haven’t yet donated to an organization this month and have the means to do so, I urge you to join me in supporting their cause.

For this month’s book list, I’ve focused on novels and nonfiction featuring kids and teens in prison or kids and teens whose parents or other loves ones are in prison. If you know of any I’m missing, please let me know in the comments. Also be sure to check out the In the Margins book list, curated each year by Library Services for Youth in Custody. It focuses on recommended books for teens “living in poverty, on the streets, in custody – or a cycle of all three.”

Fiction – Picture Books

Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me by Daniel Beaty

A boy wakes up one morning to find his father gone. At first, he feels lost. But his father has left him a letter filled with advice to guide him through the times he cannot be there.

Far Apart, Close in Heart: Being a Family When a Loved One is Incarcerated by Becky Birtha

Children who have a parent in prison express their feelings of sadness, anger, worry, and embarrassment and suggest that talking to others and keeping in contact with the missing parent helps them deal with the situation.

Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson

A young girl and her grandmother visit the girl’s father in prison.

Fiction – Middle Grade

Ruby on the Outside by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Eleven-year-old Ruby Danes is about to start middle school, yet no one in her life, except her aunt, knows her secret–her mother is in prison. Then Margalit Tipps moves into Ruby’s condo complex, and the two immediately hit it off. Ruby thinks she’s found her first true-blue friend. Is she ready to tell Margalit the truth? When Margalit’s family history seems to tie in too closely to the very event that put her mother in prison, Ruby fears she may lose everything–but she may learn the true meaning of friendship, honesty, and love along the way.

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor

Eleven-year-old Perry was born and raised by his mom at the Blue River Co-ed Correctional Facility in tiny Surprise, Nebraska. His mom is a resident on Cell Block C, and so far Warden Daugherty has made it possible for them to be together. That is, until a new district attorney discovers the truth–and Perry is removed from the facility and forced into a foster home. When Perry moves to the “outside” world, he feels trapped. Desperate to be reunited with his mom, Perry goes on a quest for answers about her past crime. As he gets closer to the truth, he will discover that love makes people resilient no matter where they come from .. but can he find a way to tell everyone what home truly means?

Pieces of Why by K. L. Going

Twelve-year-old Tia lives in a white slum in New Orleans with her mother, and her whole world revolves around singing in the gospel choir with her best friend, Keisha–but when practice is interrupted by a shooting outside the church, and a baby is killed, Tia finds that she cannot sing, and she is forced to confront her feelings about her incarcerated father who killed a girl in a failed robbery years before.

Fiction – Young Adult

Wise Young Fool by Sean Beaudoin

Teen rocker Ritchie Sudden is pretty sure his life just jumped the shark. Except he hates being called a teen, his band doesn’t play rock, and “jumping the shark” is yet another dumb cliché. Part of Ritchie wants to drop everything and walk away. Especially the part that’s serving ninety days in a juvenile detention center. Telling the story of the year leading up to his arrest, Ritchie grabs readers by the throat before (politely) inviting them along for the (max-speed) ride.

Holding Smoke by Elle Cosimano

John “Smoke” Conlan risks everything to clear his name of the two murders he did not commit while he cultivates his supernatural ability of travelling freely outside the concrete walls of the dangerous juvenile rehabilitation center known as the Y, helping himself and his fellow inmates have a chance at redemption.

Something Like Hope by Shawn Goodman

Shavonne, a fierce, desperate seventeen year-old in juvenile lockup, wants to turn her life around before her eighteenth birthday, but corrupt guards, out-of-control girls, and shadows from her past make her task seem impossible.

The Row by J. R. Johansson

After visiting her father on death row for twelve years, seventeen-year-old Riley is determined to find out if he is guilty or not before he is either executed or retried and, perhaps, released.

Locked Out (series) by Patrick Jones

Explores the complex ways that parental incarceration affects teens, from physical absence to family histories of crime to stigmas and emotional health.

Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy

Eighteen-year-old Nikki’s unconditional love for Dee helps her escape from her problems, but when he involves her in a murder Nikki winds up in prison, confronted with hard facts that challenge whether Dee ever loved her, and she can only save herself by telling the truth about Dee.

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers

Teenage Reese, who is serving time at a juvenile detention facility, gets a lesson in making it through hard times from an unlikely friend with a harrowing past.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes

A handless teen escapes from a cult, finds herself in juvenile detention, and is suspected of knowing who murdered her cult leader. | Kimberly’s review | Kelly’s review

The Knife and the Butterfly by Ashley Hope Perez

After a brawl with a rival gang, sixteen-year-old Azael, a member of Houston’s MS-13 gang and the son of illegal Salvadoran immigrants, wakes up in an unusual juvenile detention center where he is forced to observe another inmate through a one-way mirror. | Kelly’s review

Burning by Danielle Rollins

After three years in juvenile detention, Angela is just months shy of release, but then ten-year-old Jessica arrives in shackles and is placed in segregation, and while no one knows what she did to end up there, creepy things begin to happen and it becomes clear that Jessica and her possible supernatural powers are more dangerous than anyone expected.

The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

Orianna and Violet are ballet dancers and best friends, but when the ballerinas who have been harassing Violet are murdered, Orianna is accused of the crime and sent to a juvenile detention center where she meets Amber and they experience supernatural events linking the girls together. | Kimberly’s review

Nonfiction

Caught Up: Girls, Surveillance, and Wraparound Incarceration by Jerry Flores

From home, to school, to juvenile detention center, and back again. This book follows the lives of fifty Latina girls living forty miles outside of Los Angeles, California, as they are inadvertently caught up in the school-to-prison pipeline.

Runaway Thoughts and Ghetto By the Sea edited by Amy Friedman

In 2013, students at Venice High School in Los Angeles formed the first P.O.P.S. (Pain of the Prison System) club, a club for those whose lives have been touched by prison. Many have parents, friends, siblings, uncles and aunts inside; some have had their own brushes with the law. All have stories to tell. These anthologies offer the stories, artwork and essays of those whose voices we too seldom hear.

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

The author explains how, as a young adult, he became a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to college, all the while hoping to become a writer.

No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin

This compelling work takes readers inside America’s prisons and allows inmates sentenced to death as teenagers to speak for themselves. In their own voices–raw and uncensored–they talk about their lives in prison and share their thoughts and feelings about how they ended up there.

Girls in Justice by Richard Ross

Reveals the world of incarceration of America’s young girls in detention. A rare, multi-dimensional look at these girls’ vulnerable lives, this book speaks to the unique issues they face with essays, images, and the life stories shared by girls in custody.

Juvenile in Justice by Richard Ross

The photographs in Juvenile in Justice open our eyes to the world of the incarceration of American youths. The nearly 150 images in this book were made over 5 years of visiting more than 1,000 youth confined in more than 200 juvenile detention institutions in 31 states. These riveting photographs, accompanied by the life stories that these young people in custody shared with Ross, give voice to imprisoned children from families that have no resources in communities that have no power.

Let Me Live: Voices of Youth Incarcerated edited by Save the Kids

This anthology collects the work of incarcerated youth worldwide. The poems and autobiographical sketches featured remind readers that incarcerated youth are thinking and feeling individuals with the same aspirations and goals as other children, not merely statistics to analyze or incorrigible people to forget and discard. As a creative outlet and space for expression, the book provides a means for the poets to empower themselves and resist victimization by the supposed criminal justice system.

Real Justice (series) published by Lorimer

True stories of wrongfully convicted young people in Canada, including Rubin “Hurricane” Carter and David Milgaard.

What Will Happen to Me? by Howard Zehr and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

Pairs portraits of children whose parents are incarcerated with the reflections of grandparents who are caring for them and includes resources for caregivers and advice on dealing with the unique emotions of these children.

2017 Nonfiction for YA and Middle Grade Readers, Part Two.

Late last year, I put together a round-up of nonfiction for young adult and middle grade readers that covered books hitting shelves through May. It’s time to revisit and update that list, this time with titles hitting shelves from now through the end of the year (as best as possible). This won’t be comprehensive, in part because not everything through the end of the year is set in stone with publishing. It also can’t be comprehensive because it’s so easy to miss nonfiction from smaller publishing houses, from university presses, and other institutions where information isn’t as readily available as it is on Edelweiss. Please do feel free to drop additional titles into the comments.

 

 

A couple of notes: an interesting aspect of nonfiction for young readers is that divisions between middle grade and YA aren’t as clear-cut as they are for fiction. Many nonfiction titles go for the 10-14 age range, which cuts through both the YA and middle grade field. Thus, some of these titles will certainly fall on the younger side while others, the older side. I know I’m going to miss titles, and I’ve purposely left off the series titles that libraries purchase (you know the kind — they’re 80 pages, full color, good for reports and not so much on the narrative).

All publication dates are via publisher catalogs on Edelweiss and all descriptions are from Goodreads.

 

Choose To Matter: Being Courageously and Fabulously YOU by Julie Foudy (May 2)

In Choose to Matter, Julie Foudy, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and former captain of the US National team, takes you on a journey to discover your authentic self. This book is a roadmap to unleash that courageous YOU and have you singing your dreams out loud. Along with sharing stories from her playing days and personal experiences, Julie taps into the wisdom of other incredible female leaders including “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, soccer stars Mia Hamm and Alex Morgan, and Facebook superwoman and Lean In founder Sheryl Sandberg. In her Leadership Academy, Julie encourages young women to find the leader that exists in all of them, whatever their personality or vocal chord strength might be. Complete with fun exercises and activities, Choose to Matter guides readers in all aspects of their lives. Julie believes every young woman has the power to be a leader who makes a positive impact. And it all starts by choosing to matter. So go ahead, start now. Because you can.

 

 

Deep Water by Katherine Nicols (May 2)

A group of teens traffic drugs between Mexico and California in this start to the brand-new Simon True series.

It’s 1971 in Coronado, a small southern California beach town. For seventeen-year-old Eddie Otero, a skilled waterman and avid surfer, life is simple. Then a friend makes him an offer: Swim an illicit package across the border from Mexico. The intense workout is dangerous. Thrilling. Lucrative. And the beginning of a small business.

When the young entrepreneurs involve their former high school Spanish teacher, the smuggling adventure grows into a one hundred million dollar global operation.

Soon they become fugitives. Living on the edge, they vow to return to their normal lives—right after one last run…

 

[image error]One Cut by Eve Porinchak (May 2)

A backyard brawl turned media circus filled with gang accusations turns a small, quiet town upside down in this second book in the new Simon True series.

On May 22, 1995 at 7 p.m. sixteen-year-old Jimmy Farris and seventeen-year-old Mike McLoren were working out outside Mike’s backyard fort. Four boys hopped the fence, and a fight broke out inside the dark fort made of two-by-four planks and tarps. Within minutes, both Mike and Jimmy had been stabbed. Jimmy died a short time later.

While neighbors knew that the fort was a local hangout where drugs were available, the prosecution depicted the four defendants as gang members, and the crime as gang related. The accusations created a media circus, and added fuel to the growing belief that this affluent, safe, all-white neighborhood was in danger of a full-blown gang war.

Four boys stood trial. All four boys faced life sentences. Why? Because of California’s Felony Murder Rule. The law states that “a death is considered first degree murder when it is commissioned during one of the following felonies: Arson, Rape, Carjacking, Robbery, Burglary, Mayhem, Kidnapping.” In other words, if you—or somebody you are with—intends to commit a felony, and somebody accidentally dies in the process, all parties can be tried and convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole, even if nobody had any intention of committing a murder.

What really happened that day? Was it a case of robbery gone wrong? Gang activity? Or was it something else?

 

Girling Up: How To Be Strong, Smart, and Spectacular by Mayim Bialik (May 9)

Growing up as a girl in today’s world is no easy task. Juggling family, friends, romantic relationships, social interests and school sometimes it feels like you might need to be a superhero to get through it all! But really, all you need is little information.

Want to know why your stomach does a flip-flop when you run into your crush in the hallway? Or how the food you put in your body now will affect you in the future? What about the best ways to stop freaking out about your next math test?

Using scientific facts, personal anecdotes, and wisdom gained from the world around us, Mayim Bialik, the star of The Big Bang Theory, shares what she has learned from her life and her many years studying neuroscience to tell you how you grow from a girl to a woman biologically, psychologically and sociologically.

 

 

Be The One: Six True Stories of Teens Overcoming Hardship With Hope by Byron Pitts (May 16)

Emmy Award–winning ABC News chief national correspondent and Nightline coanchor, Byron Pitts shares the heartbreaking and inspiring stories of six young people who overcame impossible circumstances with extraordinary perseverance.

Abuse.

Bullying.

War.

Drug Addiction.

Mental Illness.

Violence.

None of these should be realities for anyone, much less a young person. But for some it is the only reality they have ever known. In these dark circumstances, six teens needed someone to “be the one” for them—the hero to help them back into the light. For Tania, Mason, Pappy, Michaela, Ryan, and Tyton, that hero was themselves. Through stirring interviews and his award-winning storytelling, Byron Pitts brings the struggles and triumphs of these everyday heroes to teens just like them, encouraging all of us to be the source of inspiration in our own lives and to appreciate the lives of others around us.

 

How Dare The Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Uwiringiyimana (May 16)

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

Sandra was just ten years old when she found herself with a gun pointed at her head. She had watched as rebels gunned down her mother and six-year-old sister in a refugee camp. Remarkably, the rebel didn’t pull the trigger, and Sandra escaped.

Thus began a new life for her and her surviving family members. With no home and no money, they struggled to stay alive. Eventually, through a United Nations refugee program, they moved to America, only to face yet another ethnic disconnect. Sandra may have crossed an ocean, but there was now a much wider divide she had to overcome. And it started with middle school in New York.

In this memoir, Sandra tells the story of her survival, of finding her place in a new country, of her hope for the future, and how she found a way to give voice to her people.

 

She’s So Boss by Stacy Kravetz (May 16)

Whether you already have an idea for a business or you’re mulling how to turn the things you enjoy into a self-sustaining enterprise, this book will connect the dots. From inspiration to execution, there are concrete steps every young entrepreneur, creator, or leader needs to take, and this book shows you how.

Packed with information and with the profiles of more than a dozen real-life girl bosses who have turned their passions into business, She’s So Boss is about thinking big, aiming high, and becoming the boss of your thing, whether it’s a blog about baking organic treats or playing guitar and putting your music videos on YouTube.

 

 

 

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

This first-ever LGBTQ history book for young adults will appeal to fans of fun, empowering pop-culture books like Rad American Women A-Z and Notorious RBG.

World history has been made by countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals—and you’ve never heard of many of them. Queer author and activist Sarah Prager delves deep into the lives of 22 people who fought, created, and loved on their own terms. From high-profile figures like Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt to the trailblazing gender-ambiguous Queen of Sweden and a bisexual blues singer who didn’t make it into your history books, these astonishing true stories uncover a rich queer heritage that encompasses every culture, in every era.

By turns hilarious and inspiring, the beautifully illustrated Queer, There, and Everywhere is for anyone who wants the real story of the queer rights movement.

 

 

How To Write Good by Ryan Higa (May 30)

An unconventional, irreverent, yet heartfelt memoir by Ryan Higa, one of the top creators on YouTube. With pictures! And illustrations! And, y’know, words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Factory Girls: A Kaleidoscope Account of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire by Christine Seifert (May 30)

The twentieth century ushered in a new world filled with a dazzling array of consumer goods. For the first time in American history, fashion could be mass produced. Even the poorest immigrant girls could afford a blouse or two. But these same immigrant teens toiled away in factories in appalling working conditions. Their hard work and sacrifice lined the pockets of greedy factory owners who were almost exclusively white men. The tragic Triangle Waist Factory fire in 1911 resulted in the deaths of over a hundred young people, mostly immigrant girls, who were locked in the factory.

That fire signaled a turning point in American history. This book will examine the events leading up to the fire, including a close look at how fashion and the desire for consumer goods—driven in part by the excess of the Gilded Age—created an unsustainable culture of greed. Told from the perspective of six young women who lived the story, this book will remind us why what we buy and how we vote really matter.

 

Seven Wonders of The Solar System by David Aguilar (May 30)

Ready for a wondrous celestial journey? How about a trip to our close neighbor Mars, home to the largest volcano in the solar system? Or to Europa, a watery lunar world with a really deep ocean? Or beyond the beyond to mysterious Planet 9, an unseen giant lurking in the far outer regions of space?

This extraordinary book puts you right there: breaking through colorful gaseous hazes; exploring the surface of red-hot or ice-cold planets; hurtling through rings of flying, frozen ice chunks; and rocketing on out to deep space. Astronomer David Aguilar is our navigator on these seven wonderful trips through our solar system–journeys that someday may actually happen!

 

Our Story Begins edited by Elissa Brent Weissman (July 4)

From award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman comes a collection of quirky, smart, and vulnerable childhood works by some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators—revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today.

Everyone’s story begins somewhere…

For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license.

For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who liked to draw.

For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother’s Day—and perfected through draft after discarded draft.

For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words, and pictures, and stories.

Your story is beginning, too. Where will it go?

 

Far From The Tree: Young Reader’s Edition by Andrew Solomon, Laurie Calkhoven (July 25)

The old adage says that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, meaning that children usually resemble their parents. But what happens when the apples fall somewhere else—sometimes a couple of orchards away, sometimes on the other side of the world?

In this young adult edition, Andrew Solomon profiles how families accommodate children who have a variety of differences: families of people who are deaf, who are dwarfs, who have Down syndrome, who have autism, who have schizophrenia, who have multiple severe disabilities, who are prodigies, who commit crimes, and more.

 

 

 

 

The Life Heroic: How To Unleash Your Most Amazing Self by Elizabeth Svoboda (September 1)

Heroes are superhuman. Or, at least, it’s easy to assume that when you read ripped-from-the-news stories of derring-do. But in reality, almost anyone who’s motivated can be a hero, and the heroes who make the biggest impact aren’t always the ones who make headlines. This approachable, research-backed guide will equip kids with the tools they need to become an everyday hero. Along the way, you’ll hear from real heroes living out the truth of psychologist Phil Zimbardo’s words: “Most heroes are ordinary. It’s the act of heroism that’s extraordinary.”

 

 

Poison: Deadly Deeds, Perilous Professions, and Murderous Medicine by Sarah Albee (September 5)

For centuries, people have been poisoning one another–changing personal lives and the course of empires alike.

From spurned spouses and rivals, to condemned prisoners like Socrates, to endangered emperors like Alexander the Great, to modern-day leaders like Joseph Stalin and Yasser Arafat, poison has played a starring role in the demise of countless individuals. And those are just the deliberate poisonings. Medical mishaps, greedy “snake oil” salesmen and food contaminants, poisonous Prohibition, and industrial toxins also impacted millions.

Part history, part chemistry, part whodunit, Poison: Deadly Deeds, Perilous Professions, and Murderous Medicines traces the role poisons have played in history from antiquity to the present and shines a ghoulish light on the deadly intersection of human nature . . . and Mother Nature.

 

[image error]42 Is Not Just A Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero by Doreen Rappaport (September 12)

Baseball, basketball, football — no matter the game, Jackie Robinson excelled. His talents would have easily landed another man a career in pro sports, but such opportunities were closed to athletes like Jackie for one reason: his skin was the wrong color. Settling for playing baseball in the Negro Leagues, Jackie chafed at the inability to prove himself where it mattered most: the major leagues. Then in 1946, Branch Rickey, manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, recruited Jackie Robinson. Jackie faced cruel and sometimes violent hatred and discrimination, but he proved himself again and again, exhibiting courage, determination, restraint, and a phenomenal ability to play the game. In this compelling biography, award-winning author Doreen Rappaport chronicles the extraordinary life of Jackie Robinson and how his achievements won over — and changed — a segregated nation.

 

 

Obsessed: A Memoir of My Life With OCD by Allison Britz (September 19)

Until sophomore year of high school, fifteen-year-old Allison Britz lived a comfortable life in an idyllic town. She was a dedicated student with tons of extracurricular activities, friends, and loving parents at home.

But after awakening from a vivid nightmare in which she was diagnosed with brain cancer, she was convinced the dream had been a warning. Allison believed that she must do something to stop the cancer in her dream from becoming a reality.

It started with avoiding sidewalk cracks and quickly grew to counting steps as loudly as possible. Over the following weeks, her brain listed more dangers and fixes. She had to avoid hair dryers, calculators, cell phones, computers, anything green, bananas, oatmeal, and most of her own clothing.

Unable to act “normal,” the once-popular Allison became an outcast. Her parents questioned her behavior, leading to explosive fights. When notebook paper, pencils, and most schoolbooks were declared dangerous to her health, her GPA imploded, along with her plans for the future.

Finally, she allowed herself to ask for help and was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. This brave memoir tracks Allison’s descent and ultimately hopeful climb out of the depths.

 

 

Shaken: Young Reader’s Edition by Tim Tebow (September 19)

The Heisman Trophy winner and New York Times best-selling author of Shaken shares a vision for young Christians still forming their identity and finding their God-given purpose–even when life doesn’t go as planned. Tebow is the beloved college football champion who was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, but after a miracle season and playoff appearance with the Denver Broncos, he experienced a disappointing end to his pro career with three other teams. In his life Tebow’s won big victories and felt the depths of failure. In Shaken: The Young Reader’s Edition, Tebow writes about how neither the highs nor the lows of his life define him. Ultimately, only God can do that. Tebow’s goal in this writing is to inspire young people to find their identity and purpose in God too.

 

 

Shoe Dog: Young Reader’s Edition by Phil Knight (September 26)

In this young readers edition of the New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), opening up about how he went from being a track star at an Oregon high school to the founder of a brand and company that changed everything.

You must forget your limits.

It was only when Nike founder Phil Knight got cut from the baseball team as a high school freshman that his mother suggested he try out for track instead. Knight made the track team and he found he could run fast and even more he liked it.

Ten years later, young and searching, Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high quality running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car to start, he and his gang of friends and runners built one of the most successful brands ever.

Phil Knight encountered risks and setbacks along the way, but always followed his own advice. Just keep going. Don’t stop. Whatever comes up, don’t stop. Filled with wisdom, humanity, humor, and heart, the young readers edition of the bestselling Shoe Dog is a story of determination that inspires all who read it.

 

 

Earth Hates Me by Ruby Karp (October 3)

Earth Hates Me presents a look inside the mind of the modern teenager–from a modern teenager’s perspective. Fifteen-year-old Ruby Karp addresses the issues facing every highschooler, from grades to peer pressure to Snapchat stories, and unpacks their complicated effects on the teen psyche. With dashes of humor throughout, Ruby advises her peers on the importance of feminism (“not just the Spice Girls version”), how to deal with jealousy and friend break-ups, family life, and much more. The book takes an in-depth look at the effect of social media on modern teens and the growing pressures of choosing the right college and career. With Ruby’s powerful underlying message “we are more than just a bunch of dumb teenagers obsessed with our phones,” Earth Hates Me is the definitive guide to being a teen in the modern age.

 

 

More Girls Who Rocked The World by Michelle Roehm McCann (October 3)

From the inspiring author of Girls Who Rocked the World comes another comprehensive collection of true, inspiring profiles of successful young women throughout history who made their mark on the world before turning twenty.

Young women today crave strong, independent role models to look to for motivation. In the follow-up to the bestseller Girls Who Rocked the World, More Girls Who Rocked the World offers a fun and uplifting collection of influential stories with forty-five more movers and shakers who made a difference before turning twenty.

From Annie Oakley and Queen Victoria to Malala Yousafzai and Adele—each with her own incredible story of how she created life-changing opportunities for herself and the world—you’ll get to know these capable queens of empires and courageous icons of entertainment. Also included are profiles of gutsy teenagers who are out there rocking the world right now and personal aspirations from today’s young women.

 

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Secrets Of The Sea by Kate Baker, Eleanor Taylor (October 3)

This book takes you on a journey to discover an incredible and rarely seen world. From the rock pools along the shoreline to the deepest, darkest depths of the ocean, breathtaking illustrations reveal the sea’s creatures–from the microscopic and the bizarre to the fragile and the deadly–in all their startling beauty. Welcome to the secrets of the sea.

 

 

 

 

 

Witches and Witchcraft: A History by Richard Faulk (October 3)

The witch is an indelible part of our cultural imagination, but what do we really know about her? Is she a hapless victim of history or symbol of female resistance? What’s really the difference between a wise elder and an old crone? Witches and Witchcraft sifts through the rich and contradictory evidence to trace the development of the witch as a cultural phenomenon. Ultimately, the changing face of the witch is a mirror of our constantly changing ideas of spirituality, magic, creativity, gender, and the human relationship with the natural world. The witch’s story is far from over.

 

 

[image error]Sinking The Sultana: A Civil War Story of Imprisonment, Greed, and a Doomed Journey Home by Sally M. Walker (October 10)

In 1865, the Civil War was winding down and the country was reeling from Lincoln’s assassination. Thousands of Union soldiers, released from Confederate prisoner-of-war camps, were to be transported home on the steamboat Sultana. With a profit to be made, the captain rushed repairs to the boat so the soldiers wouldn’t find transportation elsewhere. More than 2,000 passengers boarded in Vicksburg, Mississippi . . . on a boat with a capacity of 376. The journey was violently interrupted when the boat’s boilers exploded, plunging the Sultana into mayhem; passengers were bombarded with red-hot iron fragments, burned by scalding steam, and flung overboard into the churning Mississippi. Although rescue efforts were launched, the survival rate was dismal — more than 1,500 lives were lost. In a compelling, exhaustively researched account, renowned author Sally M. Walker joins the ranks of historians who have been asking the same question for 150 years: who (or what) was responsible for the Sultana‘s disastrous fate?

 

Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say (October 31)

James Castle was born two months premature on September 25, 1899, on a farm in Garden Valley, Idaho. He was deaf, mute, autistic and probably dyslexic. He didn’t walk until he was four; he would never learn to speak, write, read or use sign language.

Yet, today Castle’s artwork hangs in major museums throughout the world. The Philadelphia Museum of Art opened “James Castle: A Retrospective in 2008.” The 2013 Venice Biennale included eleven works by Castle in the feature exhibition “The Encyclopedic Palace.” And his reputation continues to grow.

Caldecott Medal winner Allen Say, author of the acclaimed memoir Drawing from Memory, takes readers through an imagined look at Castle’s childhood, allows them to experience his emergence as an artist despite the overwhelming difficulties he faced, and ultimately reveals the triumphs that he would go on to achieve.

 

Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off The Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld (November 7)

Like many kids in elementary school, Kareem (then Lew Alcindor) struggled with fitting in, pleasing a strict father, and severe shyness that made him socially awkward. Unlike most kids, he also had to grapple with a sudden growth spurt that shot him up taller than pretty much everyone around him, including students, teachers, and even his own father. His increasing fame as a basketball player throughout high school brought new challenges as this shy boy was shoved into the national spotlight. At the same time, social unrest in the country, particularly involving the growing civil rights movement, tugged at his conscience as he tried to find his place in it. After all, he was just a kid. What could he do?

Recruited to UCLA, his fame as an unstoppable center made him a college superstar. But as his fame rose, so did the social turmoil in the country: Vietnam War protests, Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., large-scale riots, the Women’s Movement. He could have hidden from all the turmoil as a sports celebrity, but he chose to join in the social evolution. The result was converting to Islam and changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The public backlash was blistering, but he didn’t waver.

 

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Victoria: Portrait of a Queen by Catherine Reef (November 7)

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

 

 

 

 

A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield (January 2018…but this looks so good I’m putting it here anyway!)

On a hot day in July 1919, three black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the “white” beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture.

This Week at Book Riot

 

Over on Book Riot this week…

 

A look at YA books which explore the modern-day epidemic of sex trafficking.

 

 

A quiet week, for sure, but I’ve got a pile of stuff coming soon. In the mean time, keep your eyes peeled, too, for news about classroom/library Skype visits, as well as teen creative nonfiction workshops I plan to offer shortly. I got to do a workshop at a local library and booked one up for the fall already, and I’m eager to take it a little wider.

Decelerate Blue by Adam Rapp and Mike Cavallaro

In Rapp’s and Cavallaro’s dystopian near-future, everyone lives their life at high-speed. There’s no time taken for reflection and everything is always go-go-go. In fact, everyone is supposed to say “go” when they’re done talking to indicate that it’s time for the person they’re talking with to reply. It’s not strictly illegal to leave out the “go,” but it’s more serious than a social faux pas (like forgetting to say “please,” for example). Everyone reads abridged versions of classic novels in school, and beds are made upright. This world is more than just annoying, though: it’s a surveillance state, and the government punishes people for not living up to the hyper-efficient ideal, seen most alarmingly when protagonist Angela’s grandfather is sent to a “reduction colony” when his heart rate drops too low for too prolonged a time.

Angela is tired of living this way – and she learns a few others are, too, when she’s recruited into a resistance whose sole purpose is to deliberately slow things down, to dismantle this enforced way of life. The resistance lives underground, unplugged, and they have their own speech patterns, too – they refuse to use contractions, creating an immediately recognizable difference when reading the resistance sections versus the above-ground sections. The resistance, now with the help of Angela, are hatching a plan to make this sort of life possible for others on the outside, too.

The concept is intriguing, and I think a lot of teens will immediately find it relevant to their lives. Parts of the world-building seem like a stretch (upright beds?), but people said that about The Handmaid’s Tale too, and look where we are now. The story’s rhythm takes a while to get used to, mainly because every character really does end their sentences with “go” or eliminate contractions, so no one character really talks like we talk now. Cavallaro’s art is mostly black and white, with some spots of color during particularly emotional or important sections of the story. There’s a nice romance between Angela and a fellow female resistance fighter, and the “decelerate blue” of the title comes into play in a literal and shocking way at the end.

Decelerate Blue is a good question-raiser, even if its themes aren’t explored fully. It’s not a super long graphic novel, and it packs a lot of story into its roughly 200 pages. Somewhat ironically, I wish I could have lingered a little while longer in Rapp’s and Cavallaro’s future world, both the government-controlled one and the resistance, to get a more immersive experience and feel a greater connection to the characters. It felt like the story was sped up a bit, and then it was over too quickly, though the open ending is fitting. This is a good pick for teens who aren’t tired of dystopias yet – and we may actually see a resurgence of interest in this subgenre considering the current climate in this country.

Review copy received from the publisher. Decelerate Blue is available now.

The Seasonal Nature of Reading

One thing about being a writer and one thing about being a reader is that over the course of writing about reading, patterns emerge. I’ve found a really distinct pattern in my reading life in revising old blog posts and revisiting notes and lists I’ve kept myself about what and when I’ve been reading things.

Reading, for me, is seasonal.

This idea of seasonality has been on my mind for a while now, and it was something that really took hold during and following The Lady Project Summit in March. Everything comes in seasons, and if I take a page from the book of the world around me, I’d have see that much sooner. There are seasons when I need more rest than I do activity. Seasons where I can accomplish loads of things but my relationships take a back seat. Then there are seasons where all I want to do is talk with people I love and let my responsibilities become secondary.

This is also one of the big ah ha moments I’ve had as I’ve grown my work in photography — the more time I spend outside, the more I begin to notice how the world around me moves and functions.

Rather than trying to control these changes in seasonal needs, I’ve become to embrace them as necessary. Just as winter paves the way for spring and summer, seasons of life pave the way for new experiences and discoveries. And reading, while something that always finds its way into each of my seasons, is not always the primary goal or purpose or drive behind a particular season. It may be the case, too, that reading books isn’t a priority at all.

This period of time in particular, the one that blooms and blossoms immediately after a long winter, is one where I find my mind unable to connect with books the way it can at other times.

I picked up a book in early March to take with me while I traveled. The book, The Circus by Olivia Levez, is one I’d been looking forward to for months. I loved Levez’s The Island and knew this story of a girl who runs away from home because her father marries a woman she severely dislikes (step parent relationships are a never-ending source of fascination for me and a terribly underexplored theme in YA) would resonate.

But each time I opened the book, I couldn’t fall in.

I could fall asleep.

I could write an essay.

I could go out with friends.

I could let myself devour The Great British Baking Show.

I could let myself rewatch the entire series again. Then a third time.

Something about the act of putting the book in my hands activated a switch in my mind that begged me to do anything but read. In many ways, this last month has been one of my most productive and active and social and fulfilling. Yet reading, one of the basic needs in my life’s hierarchy, had fallen nearly completely off my agenda. I didn’t make time for it, and when I found time to settle in, I could find a million things to keep me from the book.

None of this was the book’s fault. It was the wrong time. The wrong place.

The wrong season.

My recent flight to San Antonio gave me a solid three hours to get some work done, as well as plenty of time to get in some leisure reading. But before traveling, I had real talk with myself: I knew I wouldn’t read the way I’d hope to while in Texas for a few days, so I shouldn’t weigh down my luggage with books that I’d carry and never consume.

It was that flight, with those restrictions, with that time, which allowed me to finish Levez’s sophomore read.

I flopped on the hotel bed after traveling and thought about the book. Little stuck with me, except for that last chunk of reading I’d just consumed. It was good, though nothing was completely outstanding for me. A good voice, but not as powerful as the one I’d read in The Island. An ending that was more wrapped up than the first book (and that untidy ending was a feature I admired, rather than a flaw that bothered me).

The book, marked read on social media now, became one I wouldn’t say or do much about. Not because I didn’t enjoy it. But because it didn’t come into my life during the right season. There won’t be permanence or resonance, and none of that is the fault of myself nor the book.

It’s the fault of simply wrong place, wrong time, wrong season.

When my trip ended, my life fell into a more familiar pattern at home. I’d been slowly carving more space into my daily routine for creative pursuits outside of writing and reading, and in a lot of ways, carving out that time meant winnowing a bit of the time I had for leisure reading in my afternoons.

But something magical happened, too — I found myself reading much better, and in the latter half of April, I blew through a good number of books. More than that, those books not only stuck with me, but they begged me to engage with them. I wrote reviews or incorporated some of what they’d given me into my own writing. I spent one afternoon after reading a professional development book and journaled about it privately. It was a kind of engagement I hadn’t felt in my reading life in quite a while, and it’s one where I’m allowing myself to stoke the fire and see where it leads me.

The seasonal shifts don’t always happen along the same lines that nature’s seasons do. Sometimes they run for a month. Sometimes for six months. Sometimes a year. Or a week or two. But I’ve come to listen to those shifts, to — if you will — lean into them, rather than attempt to hit reverse as quickly as possible. Because the more I let myself do the things that my heart and my mind are hungry for, when I come back to reading, I find myself more quenched, fulfilled, and engaged.

Will I return to The Circus to see if it works better now or in a couple of months? Probably not. The book came to me in that particular season for a purpose. It was a book meant to tell me to slow down, to be real with my expectations and desires, and enjoy it for what it was in the moment, rather than what I’d hoped for it to be.

Snag HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD for cheap (+ A Favor To Ask!)

 

I’ve been avoiding talking about Here We Are: Feminism For The Real World every time I see it at a good price, but I’m going to go ahead and do it today. I’ve watched the book drop penny by penny all week long on Amazon and thought it time to share.

You can snag my book for just a little over $10 in print on Amazon right now, and you can get it under $11 on Barnes and Noble, too. Of course, you can always snag it at your local indie, too, but if it’s price that’s been a hold back, then you’ll do well with the two big online retailers.

If you’ve read the book and enjoyed it, can you do me a favor? Leave a short review on Amazon for me, whether or not you read the book because you purchased it there or not. Every review is a good thing, and once a book hits 50 reviews, it’ll be included in “you might like” recommendations and more. That will expose it to new readers. You don’t have to write anything in depth or even anything long.

I note that and add this: knowing now the importance of this, I’ve made it a habit to go into Amazon once a month for 15-20 minutes and leave a pile of reviews for books I’ve read and enjoyed. It’s so valuable and easy, and it makes those books find even more readers, which is never a bad thing. So if you can dedicate even a few minutes periodically to doing that, you’re going to help those books and more, you’re going to help readers discover great new-to-them titles.

 

This Week at Book Riot

 

Over on Book Riot this week…

A round-up of the recent Star Wars novels for YA readers, both in canon and retellings.

 

This week’s “3 on a YA Theme” was about birds in YA book titles. Specific birds, that is. Also, there’s a round-up of YA books with bird nests on covers.

Teenagers in Space

I love a good space opera, which Goodreads defines as “a subgenre of speculative fiction or science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing powerful (and sometimes quite fanciful) technologies and abilities.” The opportunities for creativity are truly limitless when you throw your characters into outer space, allowing them to explore new planets, meet aliens, and battle with spaceships. Luckily for readers like me, there are a ton of new and upcoming YA space operas to satisfy the itch. I’ve read two of these recently – Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza and Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray – and both were quite good. I’ve limited the list to books published within the past 12 months, plus a few forthcoming titles to get excited about.

Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | October 18, 2016

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

[Sequel to Illuminae]

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid | November 1, 2016

Nemesis is a Diabolic. Created to protect a galactic Senator’s daughter, Sidonia. There’s no one Nemesis wouldn’t kill to keep her safe. But when the power-mad Emperor summons Sidonia to the galactic court as a hostage, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia.

She must become her.

Now one of the galaxy’s most dangerous weapons is masquerading in a world of corruption and Nemesis has to hide her true abilities or risk everything. As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns that there is something stronger than her deadly force: the one thing she’s been told she doesn’t have – humanity. And, amidst all the danger, action and intrigue, her humanity might be the only thing that can save her, Sidonia and the entire Empire.

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza | February 7, 2017

The only surviving heir to an ancient Kalusian dynasty, Rhee has spent her life training to destroy the people who killed her family. Now, on the eve of her coronation, the time has finally come for Rhee to claim her throne – and her revenge. Alyosha is a Wraetan who has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. Despite his popularity, Aly struggles with anti-Wraetan prejudices and the pressure of being perfect in the public eye.

Their paths collide with one brutal act of violence: Rhee is attacked, barely escaping with her life. Aly is blamed for her presumed murder. The princess and her accused killer are forced to go into hiding – even as a war between planets is waged in Rhee’s name. But soon, Rhee and Aly discover that the assassination attempt is just one part of a sinister plot. Bound together by an evil that only they can stop, the two fugitives must join forces to save the galaxy.

Starfall by Melissa Landers | February 7, 2017

When Princess Cassia Rose fled her home world of Eturia to escape an arranged marriage, she had no idea her sudden departure would spark a war. Now after two years hiding as a ship hand, she is finally returning to her beloved home, but not in the way she imagined. Shackled by bounty hunters, she is violently dragged back to account for her crimes. Her only solace is that the Banshee crew managed to evade capture, including Kane Arric, her best friend…with occasional benefits.

Meanwhile, Kane and the rest of the crew of the Banshee plan a desperate rescue mission. But when they arrive on Eturia, Cassia isn’t exactly in need of heroics—she’s claimed her birthright as Eturia’s queen, but has inherited a war-torn planet simmering with rebellion. Cassia must make alliances, and Kane, the bastard son of a merchant, isn’t a choice that will earn her any friends. Kane knows he will never find someone to replace Cassia—and is certain she returns his feelings—but how can he throw away his own promising future waiting on a queen?

[Sequel to Starflight]

Shadow Run by AdriAnne Strickland and Michael Miller | March 21, 2017

Nev has just joined the crew of the starship Kaitan Heritage as the cargo loader. His captain, Qole, is the youngest-ever person to command her own ship, but she brooks no argument from her crew of orphans, fugitives, and con men. Nev can’t resist her, even if her ship is an antique. As for Nev, he’s a prince, in hiding on the ship. He believes Qole holds the key to changing galactic civilization, and when her cooperation proves difficult to obtain, Nev resolves to get her to his home planet by any means necessary.

But before they know it, a rival royal family is after Qole too, and they’re more interested in stealing her abilities than in keeping her alive. Nev’s mission to manipulate Qole becomes one to save her, and to survive, she’ll have to trust her would-be kidnapper. He may be royalty, but Qole is discovering a deep reservoir of power–and stars have mercy on whoever tries to hurt her ship or her crew.

The Exo Project by Andrew DeYoung | April 4, 2017

Desperate for money to save his sick mother, seventeen-year-old Matthew agrees to participate in the Exo Project, a government plan to save the human race by flying across the galaxy in search of a habitable planet for resettlement. He thinks he’s been given a death sentence: 100 years in cryostasis, followed by a quick death on some barren world.

But then he lands on Gle’ah, discovering the strange, beautiful creatures who live there, including Kiva, the captivating teenage girl who leads her planet’s matriarchal society. Kiva views Matthew as a threat, and for good reason—if he tells Earth that he’s found a suitable planet, it will mean the end of her people’s way of life. But then Kiva and Matthew discover an emotional connection they never expected—and as they begin to delve into the secrets of Matthew’s mission and the dark truth behind the seeming paradise of Gle’ah, the choices they make will have consequences for both of their worlds.

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray | April 4, 2017

Noemi Vidal is seventeen years old and sworn to protect her planet, Genesis. She’s willing to risk anything—including her own life. To their enemies on Earth, she’s a rebel. Abandoned in space for years, utterly alone, Abel has advanced programming that’s begun to evolve. He wants only to protect his creator, and to be free. To the people of Genesis, he’s an abomination.

Noemi and Abel are enemies in an interstellar war, forced by chance to work together as they embark on a daring journey through the stars. Their efforts would end the fighting for good, but they’re not without sacrifice. The stakes are even higher than either of them first realized, and the more time they spend together, the more they’re forced to question everything they’d been taught was true.

Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Lindsay Cummings | August 1, 2017

Most know Androma Racella as the Bloody Baroness: a powerful mercenary whose reign of terror stretches across the Mirabel Galaxy. To those aboard her fearsome glass starship the Maurader, she’s just Andi, their captain and protector. When a routine mission goes awry, the all-girl crew’s resilience is tested as they find themselves in a most unfamiliar place: at the mercy of a sadistic bounty hunter connected to Andi’s past and a harrowing betrayal.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the galaxy, a ruthless ruler waits in the shadows of the planet Xen Ptera, biding her time to exact revenge for the destruction of her people. The final pieces of her deadly plan are about to fall into place, unleashing a plot that will tear Mirabel in two.

Andi and her crew embark on a dangerous, soul-testing journey that could restore order to their ship—or just as easily start a war that will devour worlds. As the Marauder hurtles towards the unknown, and Mirabel hangs in the balance, the only thing certain is that in a galaxy run on lies and illusion, no one can be trusted.

Nyxia by Scott Reintgen | September 12, 2017

Emmett Atwater isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family. Forever.

Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden–a planet that Babel has kept hidden–where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.

But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.

Freefall by Joshua David Bellin | September 26, 2017

In the Upperworld, the privileged 1% are getting ready to abandon a devastated planet Earth. And Cam can’t wait to leave. After sleeping through a 1,000-year journey, he and his friends will have a pristine new planet to colonize. And no more worries about the Lowerworld and its 99% of rejects.

Then Cam sees a banned video feed of protesters in the Lowerworld who also want a chance at a new life. And he sees a girl with golden eyes who seems to be gazing straight though the feed directly at him. A girl he has to find. Sofie. When Cam finds Sofie, she opens his eyes to the unfairness of what’s happening in their world, and Cam joins her cause for Lowerworld rights. He also falls hard for Sofie. But Sofie has her own battles to fight, and when it’s time to board the spaceships, Cam is alone.

Waking up 1,000 years in the future, Cam discovers that he and his shipmates are far off-course, trapped on an unknown and hostile planet. Who has sabotaged their ship? And does it have anything to do with Sofie, and the choices—and the enemies—he made in the past?

Unearthed by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner | January 9, 2018

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study… as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first. Mia and Jules’ different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race’s secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race.

Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda | February 20, 2018

Tuck Durante is a shipraider, combing space for Earth artifacts from a war that ended 500 years ago. When his parents’ ship crashes in the dead zone and the crew goes missing, Tuck hires a ragtag rescue team.

Meanwhile, curator Lana Gray is fighting to keep the US PANAM John Muir—and the remnants of its crew—alive. Their space capsule housing Yosemite National Park was hijacked. The hijacking turned ninety-five percent of her crew into nightmarish creatures called mourners who flay, dismember, or decapitate with nothing more than sharp-pitched shrieks.

Now, despite their differences, Lana, Tuck, and their crews must work together to save the John Muir. In space, nobody can hear you scream…but on the John Muir, the screams are the last thing you’ll hear.