Jonny Garza Villa

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Nominations Round-Up, Winter

Each quarter, the Selected Lists teams compile the titles that have been officially nominated to date. These are titles that have been 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.

*Prices shown are for Library Digital Download.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team. By Christina Soontornvat. Read by Quincy Surasmith & Christina Soontornvat. 2020. Brilliance Audio, $35.99 (9781713547792).

An honest and frank account of the 2018 Thai cave rescue told in a thrilling and fast-paced manner, perfect for younger and older teen readers alike. Quincy Surasmith is a capable narrator and will keep readers engaged with this tense and true story.

As Good as Dead: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. By Holly Jackson. Read by Bailey Carr, Kristen DiMercurio, Robert Fass, Lauren Fortgang, Johnny Heller, Barrett Leddy, Shezi Sardar, Vassilea Terzaki and Megan Tusing. Listening Library, $75.00 (9780593416761).

A shocking turnaround in the finale to the trilogy as the true crime podcast turns on the investigator herself. Once again brought to a spectacular audio experience using a full cast in audiobook form, this wrap up to the story will keep readers breathless to the end.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2022) Featured Review of Time Travel for Love and Profit by Sarah Lariviere

Stream Time Travel for Love and Profit cover art

Time Travel for Love and Profit by Sarah Lariviere; Narrated by Kristen Sieh
Listening Library
Release date: January 26, 2021
ISBN: 9780593294017

Nephele distinctly remembers when her best friend broke up with her. It isn’t surprising, given that Nephele’s peers describe her as “aggressively weird.” After all, Nephele has favorite math formulas and shapes. Couple that with the furry arm hair of her ancestors, and Nephele is an outsider looking in. That’s why the book Time Travel for Love and Profit so captures her imagination and inspires her to create an app that will allow her to go back in time and re-do her disastrous freshman year.

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.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2022) Featured Review of Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles

Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles
Scholastic Press
Publication Date: September 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1338734188

Gio’s life is complicated… not because he is bisexual. Not because of his father’s drinking problem. Gio’s life is complicated because his mother, who he has not seen or heard from in eight years, is back in town. She wants to meet and talk, but Gio is confused. Should he forgive her? Should he tell her that she gave up her chance to be in his life? Adding to Gio’s confusion is the attractive new boy that he meets in school. Are they friends? Or more than friends? There are no simple answers, but Gio is bound and determined to figure things out anyway.

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.