children's & YA recommendations on the go
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.
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.
“Each author tells a love story about teenagers – maybe a dozen young people in total. Their lives are loosely but seamlessly interlinked through brief appearances in each others’ stories. No doubt, the writers’ email trails, agreeing details of plots, characterisation and so on, would be fertile ground for future PhD Sherlocks. Tiffany D. Jackson’s ‘The Long Walk’ gives structure to the whole through 5 ‘Acts’, set between the other authors’ narratives. Jackson’s story reflects a sustained conversation between Tammi and her ex, Kareem, thrown together by chance on this extraordinary evening, four months after they had broken up. For them Blackout brings illumination and renewal as they make their way across the city to a party in Brooklyn where Kareem is scheduled to deejay.”
BfK 5-star review
‘Blackout is our love letter to love, to New York City, and to Black teens. Our reminder to them that their stories, their joy, their love is valid and worthy of being spotlighted.’ Dhonielle Clayton.
When a heatwave plunges New York City into darkness, sparks fly for thirteen teenagers caught up in the blackout.
A first meeting.
Long-time friends.
Bitter exes.
And maybe the beginning of something new…
When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths, love blossoms, friendship transforms and new possibilities take flight.
Six of today’s biggest stars of the YA world, Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon, bring all the electricity of love to a collection of charming, hilarious and heartbreaking tales that shine the brightest light through the dark.
“O’Donoghue’s intriguing story takes in myth, history, tensions between Catholic and Protestant, and race in Ireland. Helping the repentant Maeve search for the missing girl is Lily’s nail-polish wearing brother Roe, formerly Rory, who is the essence of fluidity in a novel that’s all about the power of liminal spaces.” The Financial Times
“Detailed, interesting characters carry this contemporary story of competing energy and curses. Woven delicately throughout are chillingly eerie depictions of the Housekeeper, a figure who shows up on an extra card in the deck, echoing the White Lady legend from Irish folklore. Even more disturbing is an organization of young people led by a homophobic but charismatic figurehead intent on provoking backlash against Ireland’s recent civil rights victories.” KIRKUS
“Ghostly menace, queer liberation, and sweet nonbinary romance all find room in this modern Irish contemporary.” Publishers Weekly
Maeve Chambers doesn’t have much going for her. Not only does she feel like the sole idiot in a family of geniuses, she managed to drive away her best friend Lily a year ago. But when she finds a pack of dusty old tarot cards at school, and begins to give scarily accurate readings to the girls in her class, she realizes she’s found her gift at last. Things are looking up – until she discovers a strange card in the deck that definitely shouldn’t be there. And two days after she convinces her ex-best friend to have a reading, Lily disappears.
Can Maeve, her new friend Fiona and Lily’s brother Roe find her? And will Maeve’s new gift be enough to bring Lily back, before she’s gone for good?
“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)
Matthew is 14 and is struggling to fit in – something that’s extra hard when you’re taking care of your mum, being bullied at school, and have earned the nickname Stinky Mog because of your poor personal hygiene. On top of all that, he wants to catch the attention of one of the coolest girls in school, Ari. Ari doesn’t walk: she floats, like mist on the water. And she’s as sporty as she is cool.
When Ari’s brand new bike is stolen, Matthew spots his chance to make a good impression by getting it back for her… But will he just end up in even more trouble or is Matthew is about to learn that friendship and heroes can be found in unlikely places?
A gritty and touching story of one teenager’s struggles with bullying and isolation.
Anthony McGowan was awared the Carnegie Medal last year (2020) for Lark.
See also:
The Truth Of Things
Rook
Shortlisted for Branford Boase Award 2019
A YA novel told from the perspective of someone with Down’s syndrome. A love story inspired by the author’s experiences alongside her severely autistic brother.
A heart-pounding love story that grips like a riptide, and doesn’t let go…Fifteen-year old Sam has moved from the big city to the coast – stuck there with his mum and sister on the edge of nowhere. Then he meets beautiful but damaged surfer-girl Jade.
“I read Kook with my heart in my mouth the whole way…” Emily Drabble, Guardian Children’s Books
This Guardian book blogger writes well, and speaks a lot of sense. She should read Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine to help her fall back in love with YA 🙂
Recently… I have been falling out of love with the literature that has been parading around me. They flaunt their crisp and shiny covers with stunning typography, photography and models, yet to me their insides are far from beautiful. I have my favourite authors and books, but at the same time everything negative about any novel I have recently read has waved a red flag and emitted a spine-chilling peal in my ear.
Love triangles: why are there so many in teen fiction?
Read more
All I see is fantasy/dystopian genres attempting to conform to popular film ideals. It almost seems like there is a checklist being passed round: star-crossed lovers and/or a love triangle/love square? Tick. Fight-to-the-death competitions? Tick. The swinging bait of a sequel at the end of a novel because all recent YA films have not been standalone? Tick. I’m obviously not saying everyone does this, but I do feel as if there are certain “ingredients” authors feel they must include if their book is going to be published and become a success.
via Falling out of love with YA | Children’s books | The Guardian.
Bloomsbury has announced the worldwide launch of a new clean-teen If Only line of young adult romances. The first two titles, Fool Me Twice by Mandy Hubbard and Wish You Were Italian by Kristin Rae are launching in the US in May and the UK in June 2014.
The If Only novels centre on teens who fall for someone they shouldn’t. Each high-concept book will feature the If Only logo and design branding. Some titles will be stand-alone, while others will be the start of a new series within If Only. The novels will each highlight the theme “you want what you can’t have.”
Ellen Holgate, UK Editorial Director for Children’s Fiction said: ‘After a glut of new adult fiction, these “clean teen” romances are perfect holiday reading for those looking for a bit of real-life escapism. We are very pleased to have such a talented group of authors writing for this list.’
‘With all the dreary, end-of-the-world fiction out there, it’s refreshing to offer a series about new love, the tantalizing thrill of should-I-or-shouldn’t-I, and the exciting roller coaster ride of real life to our teen readers,’ says Cindy Loh, US Publishing Director for Bloomsbury Children’s Books. ‘It’s time to bring back the happy!’
The If Only titles will be supported by a global marketing campaign which will include a tumblr promotion, blog tour, social media outreach and more.
The line will continue with the next book, Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan, in Autumn 2014.
via Book Trade Announcements – Bloomsbury Launches If Only, A New Line Of YA Romances.
