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You are here: Home / Archives for love

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

June 20, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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“LaDelle does a fantastic job of bringing the complex, dynamic personalities and relationships of her characters to life while highlighting romantic, familial, and platonic love as well as self-love. Strong pacing allows the storylines to flow organically. Readers will find themselves hooked from the first page to the last. A sweet, charming story with both heartwarming and heart-rending moments.” KIRKUS

Prince Jones is passionate about music and romance, dishing out relationship advice on his Love Radio show. But his own love life is looking kind of quiet… until he meets Dani Ford. Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan to move to New York City to become a famous author, and avoiding dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago.

When the two meet, sparks fly – but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. So she gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for… sometimes the best love story is the one you write yourself.

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Filed Under: YA Tagged With: Detroit, love, romance

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

June 13, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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“Follmuth’s humorous debut lightly addresses discrimination faced by women of color in STEM, as well as issues of privilege and resource accessibility, set within an upbeat romantic comedy populated by a sympathetic and inclusive cast. The characters’ struggles are realistic, and the romantic chemistry is palpable, making this a joyful read.” Publishers Weekly

Nerds are so hot. Especially battle-robot-building nerds.

When Bel accidentally reveals a talent for engineering at school, she’s forced into joining the robotics club. Enter Mateo Luna, captain of the football team and the robotics club. He recognises Bel as a potential asset, even if they couldn’t be more different. And as the nights of after-school work grow longer, Bel and Teo realise they’ve made more than just a combat-ready robot for the championship: they’ve made a connection themselves.
But with graduation approaching, their differences and what they want for their futures, threatens what they’ve built together.

Can they survive Nationals without breaking their robots – or their hearts?

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Filed Under: YA Tagged With: love, robotics, romance, science, STEM

Serendipity ed. Marissa Meyer

February 21, 2022 By achuka Leave a Comment

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Love is in the air in this is a collection of stories inspired by romantic tropes and edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Gilded, Marissa Meyer.

The secret admirer. The fake relationship. The matchmaker. From stories of first love, unrequited love, love that surprises, love that’s been there all along, ten of the brightest and award-winning authors writing YA have taken on some of your favourite romantic tropes, embracing them and turning them on their heads.

Readers will swoon for this collection of stories that celebrate love at its most humorous, inclusive, heart-expanding and serendipitous.

Contributors include Elise Bryant, Elizabeth Eulberg, Leah Johnson, Anna-Marie McLemore, Marissa Meyer, Sandhya Menon, Julie Murphy, Caleb Roehrig, Sarah Winifred Searle and Abigail Hing Wen.

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Filed Under: YA Tagged With: first love, love, romance, short stories, tropes, young love

The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough

December 9, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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“Right from its opening line: ‘The white boys stare at us from the pub’, this story brings its readers into the First Nations community of south coast of NSW and into the realm of Aboriginal protagonist Jackson on the cusp of adulthood. Told through seventeen-year-old Jackson’s first-person point of view, The Boy from the Mish transports readers into the world of Jackson, Jarny, Kalyn, Mum, Aunty Pam, little brother Henry, cousins visiting from Sydney for the summer holidays – and Tomas, a young Aboriginal man who is in Aunty Pam’s care.”
Sydney Review of Books a highly recommended at-length review
“Gary Lonesborough’s debut YA novel is an extraordinary coming-of-age story of first love, community and discovering who you are.” Readings
“‘It is, honestly, a book I’ve been searching for over my whole career as an editor, as well as all my years as a (queer) reader. I’m not ashamed to say that it made me cry (repeatedly) and awed me with the power of its storytelling.’ David Levithan

It’s a hot summer, and life’s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It’s almost Christmas, school’s out, and he’s hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson’s Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city – but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them… As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret – a secret he thought he’d locked away for good.

Compelling, honest and beautifully written, The Boy from the Mish is about first love, identity, and the superpower of self-belief.

“I’ve had a long relationship with telling stories. It hasn’t always been good.” So begins a piece the author wrote for The Guardian.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: Aboriginal, first love, First Nations, love, queer

The Wanderer by Josie Williams

November 19, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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A moving, compelling and spooky YA romance. Fifteen-year-old Maggie is in foster care following the death of her mother and her grandmother’s slip into dementia. When Ryder saves her life, she can’t help but fall in love with him. The only problem is that he has been dead for five years… Unsentimental, passionate and moving, The Wanderer takes a fresh look at first love and growing up.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: love, romance

Voodooville Part 1 by Nova Chimera

July 12, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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A fine, emotionally engaging YA fantasy adventure featuring romance, gang warfare, humour and a rich cast of characters who engage in exciting set-piece chases and fights. There are touching scenes of young love. A music soundtrack is referenced throughout. The dialogue is pacy and contemporary. Spex, the 17 year-old narrator, frequently interjects face-to-camera type commentary/asides.

The debut author is a young Malawi in his twenties who has lived in the UK since the age of 3. He has always loved writing and drawing, and says that most of his early influences came from cartoons and anime. His main goal is to write an animated TV show, and embarked on writing this novel as a  way of testing his writing ability. 

Inspirations for Voodooville include Murukami’s Kafka On The Shore, the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels, the Japanese animation of Howl’s Moving Castle, City of God, Fooly Cooly (FLCL) and the 2015 film Brick. Readers of the book will find traces of all these in the story.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: crime, debut, fantasy, gangs, guitar, love, romance

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

May 26, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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A revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

Felix Love has never been in love – and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalisation too many – Black, queer and transgender – to ever get his own happily-ever-after.

When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages – after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned – Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi-love triangle …

But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself. Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognising the love you deserve.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: black, love, queer, transgender

The Obsession by Jesse Sutation

April 26, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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From the author of Dial A For Aunties…

Nobody knows Delilah like Logan does. Nobody. He makes sure of it by learning everything he can through her social media and watching her through a hidden camera he has trained on her house. Some might call him a stalker. Logan prefers to be called romantic. But after Logan sees Delilah killing her abusive stepfather, he realizes there’s still more about her to discover. His sweet, perfect Delilah isn’t so perfect after all. Delilah knows she should feel guilty, but all she feels is free. She’s so over the men in her life controlling her. Except Logan saw what she did, and he won’t let her forget it.

Delilah is done being the victim. And she refuses to be a character in Logan’s twisted fantasy. If Logan won’t let her go…she’ll make him.

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: boundaries, dating, love, obsessive, stalking

Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard ill. Christiane Furtges

April 5, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

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After five years at secondary school spent without any friends, Peyton King starts sixth form college determined that things will be different. Whatever happens, she will make friends at any cost. When she finds the friends she’s always dreamed of, including an actual boyfriend, she’s happier than she’s ever been.
But when they let her down in the worst way, Peyton is left no better off than when she started. Now Peyton knows the only chance she has of finding happiness is to look for it somewhere else. Her life may feel small, but it doesn’t have to be. With nothing but her sketchpad and a backpack, she buys a one-way ticket and gets on a plane. . .

In Destination Anywhere, Sara Barnard explores love, life and friendship in this exquisite tale of the lengths one girl will go to to change her story.

Follow Christiane Furtges on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fuertgesillustration/

Filed Under: YA Tagged With: friendship, love, sketching, teen, travel

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

February 22, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 23 Feb 2021

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“Each conflict is resolved authentically and naturally, moving the story along at the perfect speed. The scenes between Flávia and Nishat simmer, and their mesmerizing relationship unfolds with just the right amount of complexity. Most satisfyingly, each character gets the ending she deserves. Impossible to put down.” KIRKUS

A heart-warming, queer YA love story.

Nishat and Flavia are rivals at school, but Nishat can’t help the secret crush burning in her heart – even though her parents disapprove of the fact she likes girls.  When Nishat comes out to her parents, they say she can be anyone she wants – as long as she isn’t herself. Because Muslim girls aren’t lesbians. Nishat doesn’t want to lose her family, but she also doesn’t want to hide who she is, which only gets harder once Flavia walks into her life. Beautiful and charismatic, Flavia takes Nishat’s breath away. But as their lives become tangled, they’re caught up in a rivalry that gets in the way of any feelings they might have for each other.

A new voice in young adult fiction, Adiba Jaigirdar was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and moved to Dublin, Ireland from the age of ten. She has a BA in English and History from University College Dublin, and an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent.
The Henna Wars was f.p. hardback June 2020.
Follow the author on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dibs_j/

The author’s next book Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is out in May (2021)

Filed Under: Blog, BookOfTheDay, Books, YA Tagged With: coming out, family, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, love, queer, romance

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