Archives de catégorie : Bologna 2024 Children’s & YA

INFERNO’S HEIR de Tiffany Wang

For fans of Chloe Gong and Marie Lu: a debut YA fantasy that subverts expectations, featuring a diverse cast and a morally grey AAPI protagonist.

INFERNO’S HEIR
by Tiffany Wang
Bindery, October 2024
(via KT Literary)

A despised princess has survived her murderous half-brother’s many assassination attempts thanks to wits, magic, and a whole lot of blackmail.

With her brother’s coronation looming and her own life on the line, she hatches one last desperate plan: infiltrate the rebellion seeking to overthrow the monarchy, gain their trust, and then betray them to that same brother in exchange for her own safety and freedom.

Tiffany Wang hails from a town in North Texas, although she’s currently wandering her way through New York City. She studied communication and international relations at the University of Pennsylvania. In her spare time, she enjoys reading a variety of books (especially in YA!) and snacking on a questionable amount of Cheetos.

MY THOUGHTS HAVE WINGS de Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith, bestselling author of the viral poem “Good Bones” and the memoir You Could Make This Place Beautiful, delivers a lyrical and reassuring picture book perfect for calming active minds at bedtime (or anytime).

MY THOUGHTS HAVE WINGS
by Maggie Smith
Balzer + Bray, February 2024

In this relatable story, a young girl is trying to fall asleep but can’t because of all her worries and what-ifs. Her mother gives her some excellent advice—that it’s understandable that thoughts would want to stick around in her beautiful mind, but that she’ll want to leave room for good thoughts, too—that helps her envision happy, calming moments that “nest” in her mind.

Smith has created a wonderful tale that mimics a very real problem that many children (and adults) face: anxiety. Even though this topic can be complicated, Smith has simplified it to an understandable story and metaphor perfect for young readers. The text is clear against the page, the vocabulary is simple, and the concept is one that children will not only understand, but will probably use in their own lives. Hatch’s child-friendly, sweet illustrations really show how a child experiences the world. From the fears that race through the girl’s head to the birds that are her racing thoughts to the happy moments that form her safe place, Hatch shows them all. This is a generous tale that is also an excellent tool to give to children and psychologists.

Maggie Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir, Goldenrod: Poems, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change, and Good Bones.

Smith’s poems and essays have appeared in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Poetry, The Nation, The Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, AGNI, Ploughshares, Image, the Washington Post, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, The Southern Review, and many other journals and anthologies. In 2016 her poem « Good Bones » went viral internationally; since then it has been translated into nearly a dozen languages and featured on the CBS primetime drama Madam Secretary. Smith has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

WAR HOUR de Lauren Loscig

When powers are earned and not born, who shall wield them?

WAR HOUR
(The Broken Trials, Book 1)
by Lauren Loscig
Self-published, November 2023
(via The Whalen Agency)

Lysta lives in constant fear of Trialing, a deadly test that bestows an ability upon its victors, but only after pushing their mental and physical limits. Forced to Trial against her will, Lysta becomes a weapon others plan to use against the Untrialed, until an unexpected intruder from another Court presents her with an opportunity to stop it. But can she trust the plans of a man who seems to play the lines between enemy and ally?

Only through treason can Lysta save the people she once struggled beside. With the fate of her Court and the lives of the Untrialed at stake, the burden will fall on Lysta to convince the other Courts to intervene. Not to mention, the Crowns seem to fear the frustrating albeit handsome man who rescued her more than the one she testifies against. Lysta must find her own strength in a world of powers, battles, and court politics while navigating tumultuous relationships and hidden enemies.

Will Lysta save her Court or be ended by it?

Lauren Loscig is the debut author of YA Fantasy, WAR HOUR, first in The Broken Trials series. A lifelong reader and writer, she prefers being enraptured in stories rather than reality, whether that be in books, fanfiction, or her imagination.

HANGRY HEARTS de Jennifer Chen

Love, family, and food collide in this sparkling Romeo and Juliet-inspired romance.

HANGRY HEARTS
by Jennifer Chen
Wednesday Books, March 2025

Julie Wu and Randall Hur used to be best friends. Now they only see each other on Saturdays at the Pasadena Farmers Market where their once close families are long-standing rivals. When Julie and Randall are paired with ultra-rich London Kim for a community-service school project, they are forced to work together for the first time in years. It quickly becomes obvious that London has a major crush on Julie. But Julie can’t stop thinking about Randall. And Randall can’t stop thinking about how London is thinking about Julie. Soon, prompted by a little jealousy and years of missing each other, school project meetings turn into pseudo dates at their favorite Taiwanese breakfast shop and then secret kisses at the beach—far from the watchful eyes of their families. Just as they’re finally feeling brave enough to tell their grandmas, the two matriarchs rehash their old fight and Julie and Randall get caught in the middle when Julie’s brother finds out they are dating. Their families are heartbroken. But it’s the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious time to resolve disagreements and start anew, and Randall isn’t going down without fighting for what—and who—they love. Could the Lunar New Year provide not only a second chance for Randall and Julie, but for their families as well? Jennifer Chen’s Hangry Hearts is a funny, big-hearted romance about friendship, family, and first love—and being brave enough to have it all.

Jennifer Chen is a freelance journalist who has written for Today, New York Times, Oprah Daily, Real Simple, and Bust. Jennifer has a MFA and BFA in dramatic writing from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a proud volunteer for WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV writer husband, twins, two pugs, and a cat named Gremlin.

BLOOD LIKE WATER de Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

A house party turns deadly in this tightly wound thriller set against an icy Alaskan winter.

BLOOD LIKE WATER
by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Delacorte, Fall 2025
(via Sterling Lord Literistic))

Finley, Mya, River, and Eli. They were inseparable as kids, running wild on Alaska’s vast wide-open spaces. Then tragedy struck, and Finley moved to the lower 48. But now it’s senior year, and Finley’s back in Anchorage. When Mya throws a house party on a snowy Valentine’s Day night, it’s supposed to be a chance for the friends to reforge old bonds. But an encounter with a mysterious stranger quickly turns the evening into a nightmare. What happened that night was an accident, right? Or was there intent? Either way, loyalty takes a dark turn when Mya, the group’s de facto leader, pressures the friends into a pact of silence, plunging them into a web of deception. Now a man’s missing, the police are involved, and Finley doesn’t know what to do or who to trust.

Jennifer Lynn Alvarez is the author of the young adult thrillers, Lies Like Wildfire, Friends Like These, and two middle-grade fantasy series, The Guardian Herd and Riders of The Realm. She earned her degree in English Literature from UC Berkeley and is the Sonoma County Coordinator for SCBWI. Jennifer lives in Tennessee and often travels to Northern California.