Young Adult Crossover

Close up of a young girl reading in the library. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/115_3955573/1/115_3955573/cite. Accessed 21 Oct 2017.

Teen Read Week ended recently, but we're still thinking about fiction for young adults - specifically, young adult crossover books, though the term "crossover" has a bit of a contentious history  -  you can read "A Brief History of the Crossover" on iO9, and Tor's website has a long-standing column called "Genre In the Mainstream" that dies into some of the issues surrounding genre crossover.

BookBrowse defines crossover as "books that are targeted at adults but are likely to be of interest/suitable for teens." The Oxford Research Encyclopedia says crossover may occur "from child to adult or adult to child audiences, or they may be explicitly published for both audiences... Children have been appropriating adult books for centuries," but only in the 21st century has it become a recognized genre. Author Maggie Stiefvater heartily agrees:

Some adults are the stereotypical teen, too. They love pop culture, they’re reluctant readers, they love to shop and gossip. I would argue that if you looked at the percentages, the number of those sort of readers are identical for ages 16 and 60. Age has nothing to do with it. That’s who these readers are... So what does this mean for crossover titles? Well, I think it means that the real power of a crossover title isn’t a novel’s ability to appeal to both teens and adults. I think the real power of a crossover title is a novel’s ability to appeal to a wide range of humans.

Stiefvater discusses titles like Twilight and the Harry Potter series as examples. She says that at all her book signings, the number of adults and teens attending has always been equal; that Harry Potter crosses age, and gender lines, because of the amazing world J.K. Rowling created. She suggests that there are adults who don't like child narrators in books, but they can forget that the Harry Potter books are written from the perspective of a child, because the world of the book "is, like our real world, concerned with many things, and so therefore, many different sorts of people can be concerned with it" and that "we have to give teens the credit they deserve. They are young adults. ADULTS. That means that they are as varied in their reading tastes and abilities as adults are." 

Adults reading novels aimed at young adults is, of course, not news. It was all the way back in 2014 that  Ruth Graham got readers all worked up with her essay "Against YA." It's a different world now - even the New York Times Book Review has a semi-regular column called "Y.A. Crossover." But what about teens reading books aimed at adults? Another author, Dan Josefson, made a list for Writer's Digest of some points that make a book appeal to both sets of readers, which are:

1. While you should certainly feel free to include characters of whatever age you choose, make sure there’s at least one teenager.
2. Make things more complex, not less.
3. It’s important, as in any other kind of book or story, that your writing feel honest and true.
4. In novels that involve both children and adults, issues of authority, of power and powerlessness, are often central.
5. The resolution of these novels is often tricky.  

Most of these points could be applied to any literary work, apart from always adding a teenager to the mix. There are adult books written with youthful protagonists, such as C. Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. And as Meg Wolitzer has pointed out, "individual taste is beautifully mysterious." Maybe your teen's varied reading tastes and abilities might be ready for some adult material.

Here are a few books marketed for adults that your teen might enjoy:

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

March by John Lewis

Bellweather Rhapsody by Kate Racculia

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

In the Sea There Are Crocodiles: Based on the True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari by Fabio Geda

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

Lowboy by John Wray

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

It's Fine By Me by Per Petterson

The Guineveres by Sarah Domet

The History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

The Crane Wife by Patrick Ness

Boo by Neil Smith


But, if you're not ready for your teen to start reading adult titles, there's always New Adult, "fiction [which] encompasses books that feature protagonists in the 18-25-year-old age range (sometimes this is stretched to 30), and many popular titles feature college students in contemporary settings."

Grown Up Books for Adults Who Love YA Fiction

Are you an adult who once loved young adult fiction and are starting to get burnt out on it? Or maybe you still love young adult fiction but you want to expand your reading. Either way, I created this list of "grown up" books that pair nicely with young adult books, for anyone who wants to make the jump from young adult fiction to adult fiction or non-fiction, for any reason.

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi

Charles Manson and the events of August 9-10, 1969 will probably always fascinate people. In the past few years, a couple YA books have come out that are loosely based on Charles Manson, or that have characters who are fascinated by the Manson Girls (Family by Micol Ostow and American Girls by Alison Umminger).

 Columbine by Dave Cullen

Why: School shootings are a hot topic in YA fiction. Columbine is an excellent look at what happened and why. It's a great book to pair with This Is Where It Ends, Hate List, and Violent Ends: A Novel in Seventeen Points of View.
Hawkes Harbor by S.E. Hinton

Why: S.E. Hinton wrote The Outsiders, which is considered the first young adult book. Hawkes Harbor is a great book to read if you like vampires but have read everything the young adult genre has to offer. It's not a paranormal romance, though, so if you prefer your vampires with a side of romance, Hawkes Harbor might not be what you're looking for.

Christine by Stephen King

Why: Christine takes place during the main characters' teen years, which make it an easy way to jump from reading young adult fiction to adult fiction. It's also a beautifully haunting, and of course terrifying, story.


Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay

Why: Just like the I Hunt Killers trilogy by Barry Lyga, the Dexter series offers a different perspective on serial killers.

Books in this series (in order): Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter, Dexter in the Dark, Dexter by Design, Dexter is Delicious, Double Dexter, Dexter's Final Cut, Dexter is Dead

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda


Why: Megan Miranda was a young adult author before she started writing adult fiction. All the Missing Girls is reminiscent of novels like Never Missing, Never Found, a YA mystery with plenty of twists and turns, just like All the Missing Girls. As a bonus, it's the first book in a series.

Books in this series (in order): All the Missing Girls, The Perfect Stranger

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Why: Stephanie Garber's YA debut, Caraval, has been pitched as The Hunger Games meets The Night Circus. Both feature competitions, romance, and plenty of magic.



The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

Why: Mental illness is also a hot topic in young adult fiction. Matthew Quick has also written YA fiction, and The Silver Linings Playbook is a great look at what adulthood is like for someone who has a mental illness.

Celebrating 50 Years of Young Adult Novels

2017 marks the fifty year anniversary of the young adult novel. The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, was published in 1967 and is widely considered to be the first young adult novel.

In celebration, here are my top fifty young adult novels. I created the list based on the books I've given four and five-star ratings to on Goodreads, and I narrowed that list down to the books that have had the largest emotional impact on me over the years. This list will change over time, of course, as more YA novels are published.

Perfect Escape by Jennifer Brown

The Siren by Kiera Cass

The Reader by Traci Chee

Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Along for the Ride, Saint Anything, The Truth About Forever, and What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

Bright Young Things, Beautiful Days, and The Lucky Ones by Anna Godbersen

None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

Golden, In Honor, and Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby

Boy Meets Boy by David LevithanTwo Boys Kissing by David Levithan

When We Collided by Emery Lord

I Hunt Killers, Game, and Blood of My Blood by Barry Lyga

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Lovely, Dark and Deep by Amy McNamara

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids and Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

A List of Cages by Robin Roe

Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets by Evan Roskos

The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin

The Beginning of Everything and Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Days of Blood and Starlight, and Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Bonus: After I made my list, I read a young adult book that should absolutely have been in my top 50.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett by Chelsea Sedoti

What books are on your list? Let us know in the comments!

For Miyazaki Fans

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988). Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/144_1473505/1/144_1473505/cite. Accessed 19 Jan 2017.

We are big fans of the animated films of Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, the film and animation studio he co-founded in 1985. The films of Miyazaki first gained renown in the west with Princess Mononoke  in 1997, after he had already created 6 full-length animated movies to great acclaim in Japan. Fans of manga and anime will enjoy his films, which are catalogued as children's DVDs in the library catalog, but can be enjoyed by all ages.

Once we watched the films, we got to wondering - if you love the worlds and vision created by Miyazaki, where might you go from there? There are some picture books based on the films and screenplays of the films available in the library catalog, and a couple of his movies have been based on books, but we thought it might be interesting to provide a list of readalikes not so much based on the book, or in manga format, but with similar subjects that might entertain Miyazaki fans. We've used NoveList, which you can access from the Quick Links in our Books and Literature guide, to find suggested titles. We've tried to provide a couple suggestions for each Miyazaki scripted-and-directed film in the catalog, with readalikes mostly for more than one age range (assuming most adults won't mind young adult titles). Let us know how we did in the comments!

Princess Mononoke
readalikes: Wildwood by Colin Meloy [J]; The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne Valente [YA]

Spirited Away
readalikes: The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Edwards [J]; The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman [YA]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
readalikes: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle [J], Meridian by Barbara Kesel [YA]

Porco Rosso
readalikes: Riddle in Ruby by Kent Davis [J]; Dark Run by Mike Brooks [adult] 

Lupin the III: The Castle of Cagliostro 
readalikes: Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix [YA]; The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, A Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides by Ben Tripp [YA]

Howl's Moving Castle
readalikes: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones [J]; A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Ponyo
readalikes: Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown [YA]; The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Ann Noble [YA]

Kiki's Delivery Service
readalikes: Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguire [YA]; Worst Witch by Jill Murphy [J]

Castle in the Sky
readalikes: The Apothecary by Maile Meloy [J]; Airman by Eoin Colfer [YA]

My Neighbor Totoro
readalikes: Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater [J]; Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier [YA]

The Secret World of Arrietty
readalikes: The Borrowers by Mary Norton [J]; The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett [J]

The Wind Rises
readalikes: Dragonwings by Laurence Yep [J]; The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt [adult]


If you are a Miyazaki fan, also consider checking out the films of Isao Takahata, another Studio Ghibli co-founder. To learn more about the workings of Studio Ghibli's animation studio, also check out the documentary The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. We hear Miyazaki might be coming out of retirement to make one more film! Fingers crossed.

Book Cover Love: Jewelry and Keys

Over the past few months, I've showcased book cover trends in young adult fiction. First, I focused on amusement parks, and then I focused on crowns. Today, I'm highlighting book covers with jewelry and keys on them. It's a small selection this time, but these covers are beautiful. I especially love the covers for The Keeper of the Mist and Burning Glass.

Love, Lies, and Spies by Cindy Anstey

Becoming Jinn and Circle of Jinn by Lori Goldstein

Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman

The Keeper of the Mist by Rachel Neumeier

Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer Nielsen

Burning Glass by Kathryn Purdie

Which cover is your favorite? Is there a cover you love that I didn't include? Let us know in the comments!

Tough Topics in YA Fiction

In October, Publishers Weekly posted an article called YA Authors Turn Advocates. The article focused on young adult authors who choose to write about topics such as mental illness, bullying, suicide, sex trafficking, life as a refugee, living with a disability, and sexual assault.

There is no shortage of YA books that explore these types of topics. In fact, the amount of books published that focus on social issues and tough topics seems to be increasing (based on my observations). Sometimes, though, it can be hard to get these books into the hands of teen readers, because teens may be too afraid to ask for books that deal with sensitive subjects, especially when it means their privacy may be at stake.

To help, I've put together a list of books the library has, and their call numbers, that touch on sensitive subjects and difficult topics. I've broken it down by topic to make it easier to find books about any given subject. These lists include books that haven't been released yet, but that will be published later this year. For those books, I've included the release dates, that way anyone who wants to see if the library has purchased those books can check the catalog closer to the publication dates.

In the interest of making sure the lists aren't too long, I tried to include only books that have been published from 2012 to 2017 (with a few exceptions).

Bullying

The Tightrope Walkers by David Almond (YA Fiction Almond)
Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti (YA Fiction Colasanti)
Period 8 by Chris Crutcher (YA Fiction Crutcher)
Speechless by Hannah Harrington (YA Fiction Harrington)
Random by Tom Leveen (YA Fiction Leveen)
How It Ends by Cathy Lo (YA Fiction Lo)
Tease by Amanda Maciel (YA Fiction Maciel)
The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Mathieu (YA Fiction Mathieu)
#scandal by Sarah Ockler (YA Fiction Ockler)
The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts (YA Fiction Roberts)
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby (YA Fiction Ruby)
Identity Crisis by Melissa Schorr (YA Fiction Schorr)

Characters of color

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (YA Fiction Alexie)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (YA Fiction Han)
Enter Title Here by Rahul Kanakia (YA Fiction Kanakia)
Like No Other by Una LaMarche (YA Fiction LaMarche)
Scarlett Undercover by Jennifer Latham (YA Fiction Latham)
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon (YA Fiction Magoon)
Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina (YA Fiction Medina)
Ink & Ashes by Valynne E. Maetani (YA Fiction Maetani)
The Book of Broken Hearts by Sarah Ockler (YA Fiction Ockler)
The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler (YA Fiction Ockler)
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds (YA Fiction Reynolds)
When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez (YA Fiction Rodriguez)
Permanent Record by Leslie Stella (YA Fiction Stella)
The Hate U Give by Angie C. Thomas (YA Fiction Thomas)

Disabilities and obesity

How to Keep Rolling After a Fall by Karole Cozzo (YA Fiction Cozzo)
Girls Like Us by Gail Giles (YA Fiction Giles)
Butter by Erin Jade Lange (YA Fiction Lange)
Dead Ends by Erin Jade Lange (YA Fiction Lange)
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy (YA Fiction Murphy)
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven (YA Fiction Niven)
The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider (YA Fiction Schneider)
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland (YA Fiction Sutherland)
Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (YA Fiction Thomas)
All in Pieces by Suzanne Young (YA Fiction Young)

LGBTQIA+

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown (YA Fiction Brown)
Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman (YA Fiction Brugman)
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills (YA Fiction Cronn-Mills)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth (YA Fiction Danforth)
Tessa Masteron Will Go to Prom by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin (YA Fiction Franklin)
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin (YA Fiction Garvin)
Cut Both Ways by Carrie Mesrobian (YA Fiction Mesrobian)
Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz (YA Fiction Moskowitz)
It's Our Prom (So Deal With It) by Julie Anne Peters (YA Fiction Peters)
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith (YA Fiction Smith)

Mental illness and suicide

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (YA Fiction Asher)
Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall (YA Fiction Gornall)
Paperweight by Meg Haston (YA Fiction Haston)
OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu (YA Fiction Haydu)
How it Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes (YA Fiction Holmes)
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (YA Fiction Kinsella)
Calvin by Martine Leavitt (YA Fiction Leavitt)
When We Collided by Emery Lord (YA Fiction Lord)
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (YA Fiction Niven)
World Without You by Beth Revis (YA Fiction Revis)
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (YA Fiction Shusterman)
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (YA Fiction Stone)
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley (YA Fiction Whaley)

School shootings

Hate List by Jennifer Brown (YA Fiction Brown)
The Light Fantastic by Sarah Combs (YA Fiction Combs)
This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp (YA Fiction Nijkamp)
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt (YA Fiction Reichardt)
Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson (YA Fiction Violent)

Sexual assault

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA Fiction Anderson)
Some Boys by Patty Blount (YA Fiction Blount)
Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen (YA Fiction Cohen)
Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook (YA Fiction Halbrook)
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler (YA Fiction Hartzler)
Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston (YA Fiction Johnston)
Asking for It by Louise O'Neill (YA Fiction O'Neill)
Those Girls by Lauren Saft (YA Fiction Saft)
The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith (YA Fiction Smith)
All the Rage by Courtney Summers (YA Fiction Summers)
Empty by K.M. Walton (YA Fiction Walton)

Student-teacher/student-adult relationships

Even When You Lie to Me by Jessica Alcott (YA Fiction Alcott)
Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon M. Draper (YA Fiction Draper)
Hit by Lorie Ann Grover (YA Fiction Grover)
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga (YA Fiction Lyga)
Consent by Nancy Ohlin (YA Fiction Ohlin)
We Are the Goldens by Dana Reinhardt (YA Fiction Reinhardt)

Another great resource for further information and booklists is the Teen Librarian Toolbox, which has done multiple projects about tough issues:

SVYALit (Sexual Violence in Young Adult Literature)
FSYALit (Faith and Spirituality in Young Adult Literature)
MHYALit (Mental Health in Young Adult Literature)
Poverty in YA Lit (This is a less in-depth project, compared to other Teen Librarian Toolbox has done, but I'm hoping it will grow over time.)

On Our Radar: Young Adult Books of 2017

2017 is going to be a great year for young adult books. From debut authors to authors we know and love, here's a list of some the books being published next year that are on my radar.*

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard
Once and For All by Sarah Dessen
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles

The Ship Beyond Time by Heidi Heilig

The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby
Fall Boys & Dizzy in Paradise by Jandy Neslon
Dreamfall by Amy Plum
Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
The Truth Beneath the Lies by Amanda Searcy
The Gauntlet by Megan Shepherd
History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Gem & Dixie by Sara Zarr


*Some of these books won't come out until summer and fall of 2017, which means they don't have covers yet. You can still check them out on Goodreads, though! Also, some of these books have expected publication dates of 2017, but publication dates can change.

When Your Reading Tastes Change

I've noticed recently that I don't want to read young adult fiction as much anymore. At first, I thought it was part of the reading slump I've been going through, but I also noticed that I've wanted to read more adult fiction. And, I've been much more selective in the young adult fiction I've been reading.

All those things got me thinking about changes in reading tastes. I can't help but wonder if I'm starting to outgrow YA, just a little bit, so I decided to ask some of my colleagues if they're experiencing the same thing. Here's what we all had to say.

Me: I've noticed that within the last year, especially the last few months, I've been reading YA more selectively, especially when it comes to contemporary YA. I've also been reading more non-contemporary YA titles than I normally would (science fiction, fantasy, etc.). And, I've noticed that within the last two months, I've really been wanting to read adult fiction and non-fiction instead of YA. all this makes me wonder if I'm starting to outgrow YA. Do you guys feel similarly?

Crystal: I am definitely reading YA more selectively. Since there's a lot of YA out there now, you have to sift through it more to find the "good stuff." The market has grown and I've ended up reading a lot of YA books that aren't that great. So, I've become more hesitant about choosing books to read.

Veronica: YA is still my book of choice, unless we are talking non-fiction. Then I will read adult. I have read a few fiction adult books lately, but they have not been my cup of tea.

Nichole: When looking back at the YA books I've read this year, a lot of them are older publications. I am not as excited about a lot of the newer publications. Like Crystal said, I feel like I have to do a lot more searching before I find one that catches my attention.

Sheila: YA is still my jam. With that said, I guess I am being more selective with YA contemporary, but it's always been my least favorite genre anyway, so I don't know that it's a recent development. On the other hand, I've really been enjoying the sci-fi, fantasy, and horror that's been coming out recently. I've always felt like those areas were seriously under-served. But now, there are tons of authors contributing to those genres, so I have way more books to choose from.

Since I've always been a big reader of adult genre fiction anyway, I think I get a good mix of YA and adult to keep myself from feeling burnt out in any one place. I have been reading way more non-fic and literary fiction since I started my book club, and so far, I've really enjoyed the books I've chosen.

Based on our conversation, it seems like I'm the only one who feels like I'm outgrowing YA books, though I'm not the only one who is reading it selectively. Another one of my colleagues and I talked about this in person, and she felt similarly to me in outgrowing YA.

Overall, I still love YA books, but I'm finding that as I get older, I want to read more books about adults and not teens. And when it comes down to it, I (and my colleagues) have to be selective about everything we read, because there just isn't enough time to read everything.

Mini-Reviews: My Favorite Summer Reads

Since it's summer, and I'm currently obsessed with all things beach/ocean-related, I thought I'd do a post about my favorite young adult fiction summer reads. To clarify: These books don't necessarily take place during the summer, although some of them do. As long as they take place in the summer or are set at the beach/on the ocean, I'm including them on this list.

The Siren by Kiera Cass

I am obsessed with all things mermaids right now. This book is just beautiful, from the cover to the writing.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

I can't have a summer reads list without including Sarah Dessen. A lot of her books are set in the summer and/or at the beach, and while this isn't my favorite Sarah Dessen novel, it's my favorite Sarah Dessen novel that takes place both during the summer and at the beach.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig

I surprised myself with this one. I don't usually read fantasy, but I loved the cover and thought the story sounded good, so I decided to give it a try. The Girl From Everywhere will probably end up on my list of favorite books from this year. What I really love about it is that it can easily be a standalone, but it actually is the first book in a series. Initially, I wasn't too excited about that, but now that the cover of the second book, The Ship Beyond Time, has been revealed, I can't wait to get my hands on it. Just look at these covers (note: both images are from Goodreads)!

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

I also can't have a summer reads list without including something by Jessi Kirby. Moonglass is her first novel, and it is so, so wonderful. Crystal Cove is a beautiful setting, both in the book and in real life (confession: I went there just because it's the setting of this book). I've read it three times, and I fall more in love with Crystal Cove each time I read Moonglass. 

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler

Reason number one why I love this book: diversity! The narrator is from the Caribbean. Reason number two why I love this book: It's set in a beach town. I love books set in beach towns. Reason number three why I love it: The story is wonderful. It's hard to go wrong with Sarah Ockler, and this is probably my favorite book by her.

What are you favorite books that are set during the summer or that have a beach setting? Let me know in the comments!

Young Adult Releases: June and July

Looking for something good to read this summer? There are plenty of options! Here is a list of young adult books coming out in June and July. These are not comprehensive lists, as there are far too many books to make such a list.

June releases

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
The King Slayer by Virginia Boecker
Tumbling by Caela Carter
With Malice by Eileen Cook
Into the River by Ted Dawe
The Darkest Lie by Pintip Dunn
Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan
Lotus and Thorn by Sara W. Etienne
The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone
Zero Line Chronicles by James Frey
We Were Never Here by Jennifer Gilmore
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand
Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker
Empire of Dust by Eleanor Herman
The End by Charlie Higson
How it Feels to Fly by Kathryn Holmes
The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson
Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana
The Museum of Heartbreak by Meg Leder
You Know Me Well by David Levithan and Nina LaCour
How it Ends by Catherine Lo
True Letters from a Fictional Life by Kenneth Logan
Goldfish by Nat Luurtsema
A Season for Fireflies by Amanda Maizel
Never Missing, Never Found by Amanda Panitch
The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes
Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies by Lindsay Ribar
Before We Go Extinct by Karen Rivers
Escape from Asylum by Madeleine Roux
How to Disappear by Ann Redisch Stampler
One Paris Summer by Denise Grover Swank
The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash
American Girls by Alison Umminger
The Cresswell Plot by Eliza Wass
And I Darken by Kiersten White

July releases

The Memory Book by Laura Avery
Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond
Mirage by Tracy Clark
Chasing Stars by Helen Douglas
The Shadow Hour by Melissa Grey
The Killer in Me by Margot Harrison
Black River Falls by Jeff Hirsch
The Devil's Banshee by Donna Hosie
Flying by Carrie Jones
Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally
Learning to Swear in America by Katie Kennedy
The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno
Secrets, Lies, and Scandals by Amanda K. Morgan
Rampage by John Sandford
Rebellion by J.A. Souders
Little Black Dresses, Little White Lies by Laura Stampler
Autumn's Wish by Bella Thorne
The Exorcism of Sofia Flores by Danielle Vega

Stay tuned--on June 4, we'll have a post announcing this year's Summer Reading Program, along with ideas for how you can read more this summer.

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is National Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I just happened to be reading a young adult novel that deals with this topic during the past week, and the NPR did a piece on April 1 about the benefits young adult fiction can have when parents talk to their teens about sexual consent. The article mentioned some great titles, like Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and John Green's The Fault in Our Stars, but I thought I'd provide a more complete list of novels that deal with sexual assault and abuse here*.

For further reading, also check out the Teen Librarian Toolbox's Sexual Violence in Young Adult Literature (SVYALit) Project--it includes a wealth of information, including statistics and essential information about sexual assault, discussion posts, book reviews, and booklists.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Some Boys by Patty Blount
Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Panic by Sharon Draper
Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler
Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
The Gospel of Winter by Brendan Kiely
The First Time She Drowned by Kerry Kletter
Charm & Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
Boy Toy by Barry Lyga
Inexcusable by Chris Lynch
The Word for Yes by Clarie Needal
Live Through This by Mindi Scott
The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers
All We Left Behind by Ingrid Sundberg
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney


*Many YA books also deal with topics such as abusive relationships, and while these may fall under the category of books about sexual assault, they are not the books I wanted to emphasize in this post.

Alex Awards: Recommended Adult Books for Young Adult Readers

Do you know a teen (ages 12-18) who is ready to read at an adult level, and is looking for titles? Are you an avid young adult book reader looking for a change of pace? Look no further than the Alex Awards, administrated by YALSA [Young Adult Library Services Organization].

The Alex Awards are named for Margaret Alexander Edwards (called Alex by her friends), who was the administrator of young adult programs at Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore for over thirty years. In the middle of the 20th century, she was one of the first librarians to recognize that "adolescence was...a distinct age different from both childhood and adulthood" and reached out to local young adults via "booktalks" in high schools to establish programs for teens and to make teens aware of services and materials available to them to them in the public library. She even rented a horse-drawn wagon to bring library collections to those who couldn't get to the library!  You can read excerpts from her book about her experiences, The Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts: The Library and the Young Adult, online.

The Alex Awards were born in 1986 as the "The School Library Journal Young Adult Author Award/Selected and Administered by the American Library Association's Young Adult Services Division". The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18, selected from the previous year's publishing. The award has been annual since 1998.

The purpose of the Alex Awards is to identify those adult titles that have the most interest and appeal to teens. The titles were selected by the YALSA Adult Books for Young Adults Task Force from the previous year's publishing and were  part of the Adult Books for Young Adults Project, which explored the role of adult books in the  reading lives of teenagers and was funded by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust. In 2002, the Alex Awards were approved as an official ALA award, and the Task Force was superseded by the Alex Awards Committee. The task force decided to select ten titles annually, and also decided to select a top ten list rather than a single title or a long list because of the popularity of the concept and because it parallels the Top Ten titles selected by the Best Books for Young Adults and Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers committees. The task force members also believed that selecting more than one book provided a greater variety of titles, whereas a longer list would be less selective than desired. A top ten list also allows for a more balanced list—fiction and nonfiction, as well as various genres.

According to Wikipedia, only one author, Neil Gaiman, has made the list twice. Here are the books that made the list for 2016!


All Involved by Ryan Gattis

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates 

Bones & All by Camille DeAngelis 

Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits by David Wong

Girl at War by Sara Nović

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie 

Humans of New York: Stories by Brandon Stanton 

Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia 

Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey From a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League by Dan-el Padilla Peralta 

Unraveling of Mercy Louis by Keija Parssinen 

 

Links

Alex Awards on the YALSA website

Alex Awards on the ALA website 

YALSA's Teen Book Finder App for Android & iOS