Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

BFYA Fall Roundup Art
Due to the large number of nominees, not all titles are shown here. See full list below.

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These books have been suggested by the team or through the title suggestion form, read by multiple members of the team, and received approval to be designated an official nomination. At the end of the year, the final list of nominations and each Selected List’s Top Ten will be chosen from these titles.


The City Beautiful. By­­ Aden Polydoros. Harlequin/Inkyard Press, $19.99 (9781335402509).

Amidst the glitz and glamour of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Alter Rosen, a gay, Jewish, Romanian immigrant teen, becomes possessed by the dybbuk of his murdered friend and must avenge the deaths of his friend and a growing number of other local Jewish boys.

Curses. By Lish McBride. Penguin Random House/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, $18.99 (9781984815590).

When Merit refuses to marry a prince, she is cursed to live as a beast. Tevin’s family runs cons on rich girls, but when his mom runs afoul of the beast she trades him for her freedom. This fresh, gender-bent Beauty and the Beast retelling examines what “beastly” really is. 

Continue reading Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Fall

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows

Cover art for My Contrary Mary

My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows; narrated by Fiona Hardingham
Publisher: Harper Audio
Release date: June 22, 2021
ISBN: 9780063087903

Mary, Queen of Scots, is an Eðian in a cutthroat world of Verities.  Despite her mouse form in a world of predators, she refuses to be a victim.  She may be caught between scheming deGuise uncles and a vicious Catherine de Medici, but she never forgets that she is a queen. Instead, she frees Eðians that have been captured and abused, retakes her throne, and discovers romantic love is possible, even in politically arranged marriages.

Hand, Ashton, and Meadows have spun off their Jane series and are now reimagining historical Marys. With their signature nods to actual history and several  hilarious homages to pop culture this well-crafted story of power and intrigue with a strong female protagonist is worth the listen. Fortunately, the characters are voiced by the consummate narrator, Fiona Hardingham. Hardinham flawlessly performs the multiplicity of accents (French, English, Scottish) enabling listeners to immediately recognize each character and breathes life into a rollicking tale that will appeal to teens.

Readers who enjoyed The Lady Jane Series (My Lady Jane, My Plain Jane–also narrated by Hardingham, and My Calamity Jane) will avidly devour this fantasy.

– Jodi Kruse

Other Nominated Titles

  • This Is Not The Jess Show by Anna Carey; narrated by Suzy Jackson (February 2, 2021)

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination. 
Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten. The previous years’ lists are available on The Hub.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun Cover Art


Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
by Jonny Garza Villa

Amazon Publishing / Skyscape
Publication Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1542027052 

Julián Luna has his senior year all figured out – spend time with his friends, get into UCLA, get the heck out of Texas and away from the pressure to be anyone other than his whole, true self. Unfortunately, with one drunken Tweet he outs himself to the whole world, and suddenly Jules finds himself having to navigate a blossoming romance with the perfect boy, Mat (who is 1500 miles away in LA) and the worst-case-scenario with his homophobic father while trying to hang on to his hope of leaving Texas at the end of the school year. 

Continue reading Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

Book cover for Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall; narrated by Kathleen McInerney, Robbie Daymond and Rob Shapiro
Listening Library
Publication Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 9780593340806

Bitter Rock has a long history of disappearances. In 2003, Sophia’s mother vanished and now years later, Sophia returns to discover the truth about what happened to her. Not everything is not as it seems. There is just something a little off, not quite right about Bitter Rock. The horrifying truth will have dire consequences for Sophia and the friends she meets on the island.

This horror novel weaves the supernatural with the psychological and forces the listener to ask, how well do we know our friends, our family? Can we trust what we see with our own eyes? This was deliciously creepy and Marshall did a great job of keeping the pace and the multiple narrators provided depth that provoked fear and sympathy for the characters.

Readers who enjoyed Marshall’s Rules for Vanishing, will be pleasantly surprised to see some minor characters featured more prominently in Our Last Echoes. However, one does not have to read one to enjoy the other. And for more island monsters, try Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand.

–Lorrie Roussin

Other Nominated Titles

  • My Contrary Mary by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows; narrated by Fiona Hardingham (June 22, 2021)
  • The Witch King (The Witch King Duology) by H.E. Edgmon; narrated by Dani Martineck (June 1, 2021)
  • Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom’s Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder; narrated by Amanda Dolan (March 30, 2021)
  • Pumpkin (Dumplin’) by Julie Murphy; narrated by Chad Burris (May 25, 2021)
  • Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar; narrated by Reena Dutt and Shubhangi Karmakar (May 25, 2021)

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination. 
Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten. The previous years’ lists are available on The Hub.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2021) Nominees Round Up, July 24 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.

My Calamity Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
HarperTeen / HarperCollins
Publication Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0062652812 

Everyone knows Calamity Jane as a girl in buckskins who performs tricks with the bull-whip in Wild Bill Hickock’s Wild West Show. What they don’t know is that Calamity, along with fellow sharpshooter Frank Butler and undercover Pinkerton detective Charlie Utter, is part of a team of werewolf, or garou, hunters led by Wild Bill himself. But when Jane discovers a suspicious bite after a tangle with a garou, she worries that her life is about to get a lot more complicated.

Continue reading Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2021) Nominees Round Up, July 24 Edition

#AA2019 Nominees Round Up, September 5 Edition

My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, narrated by Fiona Hardingham
HarperAudio
Publication Date: June 26, 2018
ISBN: 9780062841667

My Plain Jane, the second (standalone) title in the Lady Janes series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows, is a tongue-in-cheek, supernatural spoof of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel, Jane Eyre. In this retelling, our titular heroine, Jane, can see dead people. In fact, she’s what’s known in the ghosthunting world as a Beacon–ghosts are drawn to her and will do anything she asks of them. While Jane enjoys getting to hang out with her (unfortunately deceased) childhood BFF, Helen Burns, she does not want anyone to know about her secret ability. Jane’s (living) best friend, Miss Charlotte Bronte herself, sees great things for Jane, and is dismayed when Jane decides to take up a position as a governess at Thornfield rather than work for the exciting Society for the Relocation of Wayward Ghosts with Charlotte’s brother Alexander.

Continue reading #AA2019 Nominees Round Up, September 5 Edition

What Would They Read?: Firefly Part 2

firefly-title-card-logoAfter a slight break to feature various spooky monsters, I’m heading back to the ship “Serenity” to finish off a few more characters.  I promised you all I would not leave you hanging.  Back in September I told you all about the crew of “Serenity.”  The comments section hit on an obvious title that I overlooked so I wanted to make sure that it was added.  Blog reader Shari said that Kaylee would also love Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  After I read that comment, I mentally kicked myself and I’m not ashamed to say it hurt a bit.  Of course Kaylee would love the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer!  Not only is it futuristic, it’s set in a world where Chinese influences run abundantly…just like Kaylee’s world.  Also, with as much as she likes to take apart and fix “Serenity,” she would love a story where cyborgs run freely.  Great suggestion!  I just wish I thought of it first.  :P

Ok, back to the ship.

Inara Serra – Inara is a very proper lady by those viewing her merely for her profession.  A companion is basically a fancy prostitute and Inara holds her head up high at the prestige she gains.  However, we academy 7witness every episode a subconscious, or sometimes very conscious, desire for real love.  Her schoolyard relationship with Mal makes the audience cheer for their snarky exteriors to melt away and their true romantic feelings to take the lead.  That is why I believe that Inara would love books that regard strong female characters in a positive light, but still has a bit of romance.  I would recommend The Selection by Kiera Cass to Inara particularly because America stands tall with her convictions instead of following the crowd of wannabee princesses.  The romance is there, but it’s America who decides to whom those romantic tendencies will flourish.  In a similar vein, I would slip Inara Academy 7 by Anne Osterlund.  This title is a bit more romance, but the secrets kept by the main characters definitely taking center stage over the romance from time to time.  And I believe that Inara’s secrets are fairly unmatched. Continue reading What Would They Read?: Firefly Part 2