Akwaeke Emezi – The Hub

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2023) Featured Review of Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Narrated by Caitlin Davies
Simon & Schuster Audiobooks
Publication Date: October 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1534477117

In order to save her fellow Gray Sisters, Artemisia accepts the saint’s relic and takes on the spirit of a revenant. She must battle for control of her own body while uncovering the truths buried in the past about revenants and creating, controlling and using a relic.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2023) Featured Review of Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: February 15, 2022
ISBN: 9780593309032

Years of foster care have severely damaged Black, bisexual teen Bitter’s ability to trust anyone, but she has come to feel safe at Eucalyptus, a home for vulnerable teen artists. There, she is able to pursue her art and, occasionally, bring it temporarily to life by bringing it into contact with her blood. When Bitter starts to engage with teens from Assata, a social justice group, her fury at the wealthy white people in control of their town, Lucille, results in the creation of a monster that calls itself Vengeance. Horrified at what she has created, Bitter is forced to work through her anxieties in order to find a way to stop a bloodbath.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger
Levine Querido
Publication Date: October 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1646140923

Nina is a Lipan Apache teen in the very near future. Ever since her great-great-grandmother told an untranslatable Lipan story on her deathbed, Nina has been searching for answers. Oli is a cottonmouth person in the Reflecting World. Ever since his mother sent him away (as all cottonmouth mothers eventually do), Oli has been trying to make a new home for himself. As Nina learns more about the connection between her family and their land, Oli’s best friend falls dangerously ill. Now the cottonmouth boy ventures to Earth to seek the help of a human girl, and together they must turn the tides of change to protect those they love.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2021) Nominees Round Up, March 24 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Quick Picks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Layoverland by Gabby Noone
Razorbill / Penguin Random House
Publication Date: January 21, 2020
ISBN: 9781984836120

Beatrice (Bea) Fox is dead. Stuck in purgatory (which looks a lot like a mediocre airport), Bea has been assigned to work in the Memory Experience Department, helping other souls move on to heaven. Her job gets complicated, however, when she’s assigned to assist Caleb, the cute teenage boy who caused her death.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2020) Nominees Round Up, December 13 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Best Fiction for Young Adults nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Knopf Books for Young Readers / Random House
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1524720964

In 2380, Tyler Jones, graduating cadet of Aurora Academy, rescues Aurora, a girl who has been in cryo-sleep for over 200 years and wakes with new, mysterious powers. Along with a squad of misfits from Aurora Academy, they go on a mission to uncover the truth about Aurora and what happened to Octavia, the colony Aurora had been heading to over 200 years ago.

Continue reading Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2020) Nominees Round Up, December 13 Edition

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2020) Nominees Round Up, November 6 Edition

Click here to see all of the current Amazing Audiobooks nominees along with more information about the list and past years’ selections.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi; Narrated by Christopher Myers
Listening Library / Random House Children’s Books
Publication Date: May 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-0593153994

The residents of Lucille claim they’ve eradicated the monsters. Angels of a generation past ensured the safety of all, Jam was taught that in school. Statues honor the children whose names had been hashtagged battle cries, those who had died at the hands of the everyday monsters in a time of great violence and cruelty, back before the revolution. But then Pet appears, clawing forth from Jam’s mother’s painting, a hulking and feathered creature born of Jam’s blood, a hunter in search of a monster in Jam’s plain sight. Can Jam protect her best friend when joining Pet’s hunt means confronting a truth that others would rather stay buried?

Continue reading Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2020) Nominees Round Up, November 6 Edition