I was just at YALSA in Louisville, Kentucky. During the closing session on Sunday several publishers presented the latest buzz in YA titles for 2018.
Here are a few that look amazing...
From Macmillan Children's Publishing Group:
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson
This graphic novel adaptation of the novel (a national book award finalist), will be an amazing way for the book to come alive for new audiences.
Mary's Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created FRANKENSTEIN by Lita Judge
This is a novel written in verse and paired with black-and-white watercolor illustrations. Mary’s Monster is a unique and beautiful biography of Mary Shelley, the pregnant teenage runaway who became one of the greatest authors of all time. The book comes out in time for the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein.
In Search Of by Ava Dellaira
This is a multi generational story of a mother-daughter pair, Marilyn and Angie. Angie is 17 and mixed race. Her mother, Marilyn, is a white single mother. In this novel, Angie uncovers some hard truths about herself, her mother, and what truly happened to her father.
Out Of The Blue by Sophie Cameron
In this novel, mysterious winged creatures have been falling from the sky for the past nine months - but none have survived the fall to Earth. When a female winged creature lands near Jaya—and is still alive—she doesn’t call the authorities. She hides her and tries to nurse the winged being back to health.
Set against the backdrop of a society trying to come to grips with the possibility of a world beyond, Out of the Blue is the story of how one unexpected turn of events can put you on a path toward healing.
Children Of Blood And Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
This novel is the first book in a new trilogy. It is a fantasy of dark magic and danger. Teen Vogue calls this new trilogy, “One of the biggest young adult fiction debut book deals of the year. Aside from a compelling plot and a strong-willed heroine as the protagonist, the book deals with larger themes, like race and power, that are being discussed in real time.”
From Scholastic Publishing Group:
Hurricane Child by Kheryn Child
Twelve-year-old Caroline is a Hurricane Child, born on Water Island during a storm. Coming into this world during a hurricane is unlucky, and Caroline has had her share of bad luck already. Prepare to be swept up by this exquisite novel that reminds us that grief and love can open the world in mystical ways.
Chasing King's Killer by James L. Swanson
In his meteoric, thirteen-year rise to fame, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a mass movement for Civil Rights through his relentless, peaceful, non-violent protests, public demonstrations, and eloquent speeches. But as violent threats cast a dark shadow over Dr. King's life, Swanson hones in on James Earl Ray, a bizarre, racist, prison escapee who tragically ends King's life.
The Invasion by Peadar O'Guilin
This is book two (The Call was book one). For young adults who love horror, this is the series for them.
After so much danger, Nessa and Anto can finally dream of a happy life. But the terrible attack on their school has created a witch-hunt for traitors -- boys and girls who survived the Call only by making deals with the enemy.
From Penguin Young Readers Publishing Group:
Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore
From the author of Graceling, comes a novel that is composed of genre mashups.
If you could change your story, would you?
Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.”
What Jane doesn’t know is that at Tu Reviens her story will change; the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But every choice comes with a price. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. At Tu Reviens, anything is possible.
HOPE NATION by Rose Brock
Hope is a decision, but it is a hard one to recognize in the face of oppression, belittlement, alienation, and defeat. To help embolden hope, here is a powerhouse collection of essays and letters that speak directly to teens and all YA readers. Featuring Marie Lu, James Dashner, Gayle Forman, David Levithan, Julie Murphy, Jeff Zenter, Renee Ahdieh, and many more!
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
This is a stunning debut novel based on the true story of the iconic painter, Artemisia Gentileschi.
Joy McCullough's bold novel in verse is a portrait of an artist as a young woman, filled with the soaring highs of creative inspiration and the devastating setbacks of a system built to break her. McCullough weaves Artemisia's heartbreaking story with the stories of the ancient heroines, Susanna and Judith, who become not only the subjects of two of Artemisia's most famous paintings but sources of strength as she battles to paint a woman's timeless truth in the face of unspeakable and all-too-familiar violence.
Hero At The Fall by Alwyn Hamilton
This is the final installment of the Rebel In The Sands series. This novel will have you on the edge of your seat until the dust from the final battle clears.
As Amani Al'Hiza watches those she loves most lay their lives on the line against ghouls and enemy soldiers, she questions whether she can be the leader they need or if she is leading them all to their deaths.
A Land Of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Tareq lives in Syria with his warm and loving family, until the bombs strike.
This is a story of resilience in the face of darkness, and of one boy’s courage in desperate circumstances. But it is also the story of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. With Destiny as a narrator offering perspective and context, readers see that the conflict in Syria is part of a long chain of wars throughout time — and that, throughout all of those wars, there have also been heroes, small and large, who prove that humanity is ultimately inclined toward good.
A note from Asia Abawi: I wrote A Land of Permanent Goodbyes to humanize the refugee crisis we see today. Like with my first novel, The Secret Sky, I want readers to see beyond the headlines and short video clips. I’ll never forget, and never want to forget, the pain I felt day after day researching this novel – speaking with refugees, witnessing what was happening in Greece, standing in the lifejacket graveyard among thousand upon thousands of lifejackets, each representing a person who took the risk to live. The abandoned baby shoe I brought back home with me sits in my office and I often wonder where the little girl is now. I hope my book can in some way give the reader a better understanding of those who are living the crisis as they relate to the characters. And I hope maybe—just maybe—it will inspire them to do what they can to help or at least understand.
Between The Lines by Nikki Grimes
This is the thought-provoking companion 15 years in the making to Bronx Masquerade. Through the magic of literature, mere months have passed since we were last in Mr. Ward’s school, where open-mike poetry readings changed the culture of the classroom over the course of a year. It’s a new school term, with a fresh slate of students, except for Tyrone Bittings, a carry-over from Bronx Masquerade. However, it is Darrian Lopez, a boy with newspaper ink in his veins, who acts as the Greek chorus this time around. As Darrian and his classmates get to know one another through poetry, they bond over the shared experiences and truth that emerge from their writing, despite their private struggles and outward differences. A beautiful story highlighting the power of words.
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen
A Jewish girl-turned-spy must infiltrate an elite Nazi boarding school in this highly commercial, relentlessly nail-biting World War II drama!
Her name is Sarah. She’s blonde, blue-eyed, and Jewish in 1939 Germany. And her act of resistance is about to change the world.
Boots On The Ground by Elizabeth Partridge
America’s war in Vietnam - over a decade of bitter fighting, it claimed the lives of more than 58,000 American soldiers and beleaguered four U.S. presidents. More than forty years after America left Vietnam in defeat in 1975, the war remains controversial and divisive both in the United States and abroad.
Elizabeth Partridge proves once again that nonfiction can be every bit as dramatic as the best fiction.
Trouble Never Sleeps by Stephanie Tromly
This is the final book in the Trouble trilogy, and it is a non-stop thrill-ride. The schemes might be over-the-top but this Breakfast Club cast is irresistibly real as they cope with regular high school stuff from social media shaming to dating your best friend, all with a twist no one will see coming. Fans of mysteries and detective series should start with book one: Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine.
From Harlequin Teen Publishing Group:
Frat Girl by Kiley Roache
Sometimes the F-word can have more than one meaning…
For Cassandra Davis, the F-word is fraternity—specifically Delta Tau Chi, a house on probation and on the verge of being banned from campus. Accused of offensive, sexist behavior, they have one year to clean up their act. For them, the F-word is feminist—the type of girl who hates them to the core and is determined to make them lose their home.
The Diminished by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson
In the Alskad Empire, nearly all are born with a twin, two halves of a whole that can rarely survive without the other. The twin who survives is considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy.
A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule.
As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.
Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig
This debut novel is librarian-recommended for teens who have aged up from Wonder by RJ Palacio... so it better be good :)
Meet Ginny. She’s fourteen, autistic, and has a heart-breaking secret… Ginny Moon is trying to make sense of a world that just doesn’t seem to add up…. After years in foster care, Ginny is in her fourth forever family, finally with parents who will love her. Everyone tells her that she should feel happy, but she has never stopped crafting her Big Secret Plan of Escape. Because something happened, a long time ago – something that only Ginny knows – and nothing will stop her going back to put it right.
This book is a powerful affirmation of the fagility and strength of families.
Rosie Colored Glasses by Brianna Wolfson
Just as opposites attract, they can also cause friction, and no one feels that friction more than Rex and Rosie’s daughter, Willow. Rex is serious and unsentimental and tapes checklists of chores on Willow’s bedroom door. Rosie is sparkling and enchanting and meets Willow in their treehouse in the middle of the night to feast on candy.
After Rex and Rosie’s divorce, Willow finds herself navigating their two different worlds. She is clearly under the spell of her exciting, fun-loving mother. But as Rosie’s behavior becomes more turbulent, the darker underpinnings of her manic love are revealed.
Whimsical, heartbreaking and uplifting, this is a novel about the many ways love can find you. Rosie Colored Glasses triumphs with the most endearing examples of how mothers and fathers and sons and daughters bend for one another.
This novel is recommended for teens who are touched in some way by the current opioid epidemic in America.
