We sat down with Adib Khorram to discuss his origins in our interviewer’s library, the power of language and words in young adult literature, and the power of writing in second person in his new novel, One Word, Six Letters.
Earth Day was just this Wednesday, and we are marking the occasion by sharing some titles and resources that are sure to make think.
The only person who ever seemed to get Ash was their Grandpa Edwin. Before he died, he used to talk about building a secret cabin, deep in the California wilderness. Did he ever build it? What if it’s still there, waiting for him to come back…or for Ash to find it? To Ash, that maybe-mythical cabin is starting to feel like the perfect place for a fresh start and an escape from the miserable feeling of alienation that haunts their daily life.
An exhilarating dystopian YA recalling The Last of Us and Divergent—Climate Of Chaos is a hard-hitting survival story featuring a disabled protagonist that explores the chilling effects of climate change and medical debt.
Eliza and Javi are both dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, and while their circumstances are different they are co-presidents of the environmental club school. This story explores climate change induced anxiety and how inequalities are increased by climate change.
In this haunting, speculative coming-of-age novel about finding your place in an unforgiving environment, a partially deaf teen questions everything she knows about family, love, and her future.
Practical Magic meets Twister in this debut contemporary fantasy standalone about heartbreaking power, the terror of our collapsing atmosphere, and the ways we unknowingly change our fate.- Goodreads.
Akira, Owen, George, and Natalie are all swept up in the devastating effects of climate change. They are also connected in ways that will shock them–and could alter their destinies forever.
We sat down with Markelle Grabo to discuss tackling forced heteronormativity in fairytales, queerness not as the tragedy or the conflict of a fantasy romance, and the role of yearning and spice (or lack thereof) in young adult romance. The Redwood Bargain comes out April 28, 2026, from Page Street YA!
Nick Brooks on Up in Smoke, his newly-released follow-up to his bestselling Promise Boys
We chatted with Wisconsin author, Jamie Pacton, ahead of her latest YA fantasy release, The Absinthe Underground. Jamie’s previous novels include The Vermilion Emporium and two contemporary YA novels, The Life and Medieval Times of Kit Sweetly and Lucky Girl. She has a forthcoming YA romance, Furious, written with Rebecca Podos, due out summer 2024.
1) Jamie, let’s chat about your books as a whole. You’ve written in a few different genres–contemporary, fantasy, romance–which is your favorite? Do you find it difficult to write across genres or do the stories kind of tell themselves?
I feel so lucky to have published across many genres (and there are more new and exciting things in different genres and age ranges in my publishing pipeline!). I don’t find it difficult to write in different genres– a story is a story and characters are characters be they in worlds with dragons or worlds with cell phones– and I think if you keep that in mind, it’s very possible to move among genres as a writer as the stories and your own interest takes you. I love all my books, but fantasy is forever and always my first love. All of the new projects I’m working on are fantasy ones, and I just thrive on creating new worlds, magic systems, and figuring out how it all works together and then plopping characters into those worlds and seeing what happens.
2) What was your favorite book as a teen?
I read a lot of very serious adult books as a literary-minded teen– (I remember devouring Anna Karenina by the ocean one summer, for goodness sake, lol.) But I also absolutely loved romance novels and some of the early YA-ish books that were publishing in the late 90s. Things like Homecoming by Cythia Vogit and all of Mercedes Lackey’s fantasy books. My absolute favorite book as a teen was By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey, which is about a fierce, sword-wielding woman in a magical world, and if you’re read my debut, The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweety, you can see why this book was entirely my jam as a teen.
3) What makes Absinthe Underground so special to you?
The Absinthe Underground is a story that’s particularly close to my heart. Here are 10 reasons why:
*I carried this story for more than a decade— from when I first got the hint of an idea at an art exhibit in 2012 to now. I carried this story for more than a decade—
*It’s a cozy, tender novel about two best friends who are (secretly) in love with each other and will do anything— even go to Fae— to protect the girl they love.
*It’s full of cats. Really, there are so many cats! (7 in one apartment alone!)
*It’s a love letter to all the queer people in history who have had to love each other secretly, and it’s a story of hope for queer kids now that’s full of joy and possibility.
*It’s the “The Were Roommates…” trope writ large with a hearty dose of magic, danger, dragons, Fae queens, and much more.
*It’s about overcoming fear and the freedom that’s waiting on the other side of that journey.
*It’s full of Fae magic and a portal fantasy about a lush Fae world!
*It’s got a decadent, Belle Époque night club like the Moulin Rogue, which is full of artists, writers, and dancers, and many other people drawn from history.
*It’s also got a green fairy who’s hanging out in our world, who is terrifying and beautiful in equal measure.
*It’s an absolute romp of a book with poster and museum thefts, a heist in Fae, magical traps, and much more.
