I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few publisher previews recently and have noticed a few recent trends in YA publishing. Since I haven’t been able to attend all the previews it’s not a completely comprehensive list so I welcome any suggestions for those I’ve missed.
Road Trips:
- Kissing in America by Margo Rabb (5/2015). Teenaged girl still grieving over her father’s death a
few years before contrives with her best friend to enter and win a teen game show to win a trip to CA to follow her crush. - The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg (5/2015). Two teens embark on a road trip to uncover the root cause of three generations of family estrangement and solve their difficult family issues.
- Drive Me Crazy by Terra Elan McVoy (4/2015). Two girls who don’t really like each other, now related due to their grandparents’ wedding, try to get along as they accompany their grandparents on their California road trip honeymoon.
Mental Illness:
- Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (4/2015). Caden, 14, is gradually descending into
schizophrenia and lives in two worlds – the real one and the one in his delusions. - One Thing Stolen by Beth Kephart (4/2015). Girl who steals things then weaves them into elaborate nests is also losing the ability to speak due to a mental disorder.
- Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (5/2015). Girl with paranoid schizophrenia
Death/Dying:
- The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell (5/2015). Seventeen-year-old Japanese boy dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease) wants to die on his own terms.
- Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider (5/2015). Two teens with terminal TB
Kidnapping:
- Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (6/2015). Teenaged Emmy’s friend and neighbor Oliver
disappeared when they were in 3rd grade and she’s been overprotected by her parents ever since. Oliver returns years later after he finds out he was kidnapped by his father and must try to adjust to life with Emmy and his community again. - Shackled by Tom Leveen (8/2015). Teenager suffering from severe panic attacks ever since her best friend disappeared six-years ago determines to find her after thinks she sees her again.
- Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller (3/2015). Seventeen-year-old Peggy recounts how when she was 8, her mentally ill survivalist father kidnapped her from London and took her to an isolated forest where they survived off the grid after he told her the world had been destroyed.
