There’s something extra thrilling about a debut novel, which allows us to access the contents of a brand-new author’s brain, and all the magic therein, for the very first time. The 15 brave, strange, magical, funny, heartrending, lifesaving, eye-opening books below are all from new authors who’ve instantly made it onto my must-buy list. Look for more debut […]
It’s hard to match the excellence of 2015’s excellent LGBTQI YA offerings, from the bold bi pride of Hannah Moskowitz’s Not Otherwise Specified, to the gorgeous gut punch of Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not, to I.W. Gregorio’s groundbreaking None of the Above, to the heart-melting delight of Becky Albertalli’s Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, but if any […]
As a primarily contemporary reader, nothing excites me on the eve of a new year like the promise of new stories of brutal realism, light romance, psychological thrill rides, and everything in between. Being that contemporary is my absolute favorite genre, my “must-read” list is far longer than this, but apparently it’s frowned upon to […]
Back in 2015, I asked a bunch of publishing professionals about YAs they think “get it right”—ones that truly nail a part of the human, and specifically teen, experience. But while adults are definitely major consumers of YA, and wholly responsible for publishing it, no one can speak to the effectiveness of modern YA like […]
February is the kind of month that makes a YA lover skip their own birthday party/doctor’s appointment/dog’s wedding in order to have more reading time, and use up all their lunch money for book buying. The month’s epic stack of upcoming releases includes a book for every reader, whether you’re a sucker for fantasy, contemporary, sci-fi, historical fiction, […]