katrina leno – The Hub

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1984812537

Seeing ghosts is just a fact of life for Jake Livingston. He is stuck seeing people in their last moments of life, their deaths looping over and over. So far life has been weird and somewhat complicated, but bearable. That is until the ghost of Sawyer, a school shooter from a neighboring high school, breaks free from his death loop and starts stalking Jake. Sawyer wants something from Jake and figuring out what exactly that is will put Jake in more danger than he has ever experienced.

This is a short and fast paced read with a definite creepiness that horror and thriller lovers will like. The story is told from the dual perspectives of Jake in present time and Sawyer’s journal from before the shooting event, which adds more depth to the story and the characters’ motivations.

Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers (#QP2022) Featured Review of This is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes

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 field nomination form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams will feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation will be listed as well. At year’s end, the team will use that list of nominated titles to select a final list and Top Ten. The previous years’ lists are also made available on The Hub.

This is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes
HarperTeen / Harper Collins
Publication Date: November 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0062422446

Daffodil doesn’t have a typical plan for the summer before her Freshman year of college. Instead of hanging out with friends or traveling, she agrees to house-sit all alone in a creepy mansion. As the summer progresses, things in the house get progressively stranger and more sinister, and Daffodil can’t ignore that there is something evil about the house. Will she be able to discover the house’s secret before it’s too late?

This is Not a Ghost Story is a quick-paced read that delves into the action of the story quickly with short chapters that keep the story moving. Told from a first-person, stream-of-consciousness point of view, teens will appreciate that the voice actually sounds like a teenager. The mystery of the story is compelling and will keep teens guessing until the twist ending.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2021) Nominees Round Up, October 23 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.

Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario
Simon Pulse / Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: February 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-1534442955

In this dual perspective novel-in-verse, Row’s older sister, Ariana, disappears at night during a snowstorm when a second family loss triggers both girls to reflect on the death of their mother six years prior. On the edge of tearing apart, both Row and Ariana need to learn how to thaw their hearts if there is any hope for their family to knit themselves back together.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2020) Nominees Round Up, July 12 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.

You Must Not Miss by Katrina Leno
Little, Brown / Hachette
Publication Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-03164497799

In order to escape her broken home life and her ostracization at school by her ex-best friend Allison and Allison’s boyfriend Brandon, Magpie writes in her yellow notebook about a perfect world called Near. But when she discovers she has the ability to make Near real, Magpie uses Near to get revenge on those who wronged her, including her family, Allison, and Brandon.

Continue reading Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2020) Nominees Round Up, July 12 Edition

Booklist: Asexuality and Aromanticism in Young Adult Fiction

In February 2016, the YALSA Hub published a booklist, Asexuality in Young Adult Fiction, as a response to teens wanting to see this kind of representation in books. It was a hard list to create as there were very few books at the time with any mention of asexuality or aromanticism, and most of the representation in the books listed is minimal at best. In that list, most representation was of side characters, or the word asexual was never explicitly mentioned. Over the past three years, some exciting books for teens have been published that center the Ace/Aro experience.

Asexuality in YA Fiction

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#QP2019 Nominees Round Up, December 4 Edition

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
Cormorant Books, Inc. / Dancing Cat Books
Publication Date: September 1, 2017
ISBN: 9781770864863

In Dimaline’s future world, dreams are as defunct as the ever-degrading environment–except for one group of people. Descendants of indigenous tribes are still capable of dreaming, and the government is hunting them for their bone marrow in order to bring dreams back to the white people. Frenchie is a survivor who has lost every member of his biological family to the hunt. It is with his new tribe of ragtag survivors that he begins to learn the stories of his people.

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#BFYA2019 Nominees Round Up, November 30 Edition

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
Harlequin Teen
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-1335145161

Yumeko has spent her whole life in the Silent Winds temple, isolated from the rest of the world and using her Kitsune (half-human, half-fox) nature to cause mischief. All that time she was unaware of the treasure protected by the monks in the temple. Not gold or riches, but one piece of a scroll that can summon the great Kami Dragon. When the temple is attacked, Yumeko must flee with the scroll in order to keep it safe.

Continue reading #BFYA2019 Nominees Round Up, November 30 Edition