Archives de catégorie : Young Adult

JASMINE ZUMIDEH NEEDS A WIN de Susan Azim Boyer

Set during the Iran hostage crisis, and pitched as a cross between Darius the Great Is Not Okay and Election, Jasmine Zumideh is a young, Iranian American heroine poised to run for her senior class president, just as an international incident unfolds and sets in motion a series of life-changing events

JASMINE ZUMIDEH NEEDS A WIN
by Susan Azim Boyer
Wednesday Books, November 2022

It’s 1979, and Jasmine Zumideh is ready to get the heck out of her stale, Southern California suburb and into her dream school, NYU, where she’ll major in journalism and cover New York City’s exploding music scene. There’s just one teeny problem: Due to a deadline snafu, she maaaaaaybe said she was Senior Class President-Elect on her application―before the election takes place. But honestly, she’s running against Gerald Thomas, a rigid rule-follower whose platform includes reinstating a dress code―there’s no way she can lose. And she better not, or NYU will rescind her application. But then, an international incident turns the election upside down: a group of students in Iran, fed up with the U.S.’s interference in Iranian politics, takes the American Embassy in Tehran―and the people within it―hostage. And, as the Iran Hostage Crisis dominates the nightly news, her opponent seizes the opportunity to stir up anti-Iranian sentiment at school and turn the electorate against her―with the help of her outspoken brother, who never stops talking about it. Now, as the white lie she told snowballs into an avalanche, Jasmine is stuck between claiming her heritage or hiding it, standing by her outspoken brother or turning her back on him, winning the election or abandoning her dreams for good.

“Whip-smart, funny, and bursting with heart. Jasmine Zumedeh is exactly the kind of protagonist I want to spend pages with.”—Jenn Bennett, author of Alex, Approximately

Susan Azim Boyer writes young adult fiction featuring Iranian American heroines she *never* encountered growing up, who make messy, complicated choices that rapidly snowball into avalanches. JASMINE ZUMIDEH NEEDS A WIN is her young adult fiction debut. She hails from Nebraska but grew up in Los Angeles before spending several years in San Francisco and the next twenty in Sonoma County. She now lives in the Coachella Valley with her husband, Wayne, and her Pug mix, Teddy. Their son, Alec, lives in New York.

BEGIN AGAIN d’Emma Lord

A laugh-out-loud funny and emotionally resonant send-up of Legally Blonde and The Ex Talk, this is a vibrant, romantic YA novel about the journey we take to find our people and ourselves by New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord.

BEGIN AGAIN
by Emma Lord
‎ Wednesday Books, January 2023

Andie Rose has a plan. Transfer to the illustrious Blue Ridge State mid-Freshman year. Major in psychology. Become an iconic self-help figure. Create a lasting, positive impression on the world just like her larger-than-life, beloved talk-radio host mom—before she passed away. But even the most carefully-laid plans can fall spectacularly apart. The kind of belonging Andie has anxiously searched for—in her high-school boyfriend, Connor, in writing advice columns, in her intense Fix It Plans for other people—she finds instead in Shay, her roommate, and Valeria, a new tutor—people who begin as strangers but slowly begin to feel like home. And in her R.A., Milo, a coffee-addicted grouch with seafoam green eyes that somehow disrupts all her ideas about love and relationships. And finding the power of her voice as The Squire on Blue Ridge State’s legendary underground pirate radio station—the organization her mother founded years ago before she became a legend. Andie swore she could never follow in her mother’s incredible footsteps—but it’s Andie’s turn to become alegend in her own way. Because finding your path sometimes means learning to let go of what holds you back in order to step into the future that awaits you.

Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, lots of love, and a copious amount of grilled cheese.

THE MYSTIC TRILOGY de Jason Denzel

A fantasy trilogy for lovers of Robert Jordan, Tamora Pierce or Mistborn, about a low-born teenager who has the chance to join an order of powerful and revered sorcerers, and must break both law and tradition as she proves her worth.

THE MYSTIC TRILOGY
by Jason Denzel
‎ TOR
(via JABberwocky)

Book 1: MYSTIC (Tor, 2015)

For hundreds of years, high-born nobles have competed for the chance to learn of the Myst. Powerful, revered, and often reclusive, Mystics have the unique ability to summon and manipulate the Myst: the underlying energy that lives at the heart of the universe. Once in a very great while, they take an apprentice, always from the most privileged sects of society. Such has always been the tradition-until a new High Mystic takes her seat and chooses Pomella AnDone, a restless, low-born teenager, as a candidate. Commoners have never been welcomed among the select few given the opportunity to rise beyond even the highest nobility. So when Pomella chooses to accept the summons and journey to Kelt Apar, she knows that she will have more to contend with than the competition for the apprenticeship. Breaking both law and tradition, Pomella undergoes three trials against the other candidates to prove her worthiness. As the trials unfold, Pomella navigates a deadly world of intolerance and betrayal, unaware that ruthless conspirators intend to make her suffer for having the audacity to seek to unravel the secrets of the Myst.

Book 2: MYSTIC DRAGON (Tor, 2018)

Seven years have passed since lowborn Pomella AnDone became an unlikely Mystic’s apprentice. Though she has achieved much in a short time, as a rare celestial event approaches, Pomella feels the burden of being a Mystic more than ever. The Mystical realm of Fayün is threatening to overtake the mortal world, and as the two worlds slowly blend together, the land is thrown into chaos. People begin to vanish or are killed outright, and Mystics from across the world gather to protect them. Among them is Shevia, a haunted and brilliant prodigy whose mastery of the Myst is unlike anything Pomella has ever seen. Shevia will challenge Pomella in every possible way, from her mastery of the Myst to her emotional connection with Pomella’s own friends―and as Shevia’s dark intentions become more clear, Pomella fears she may be unstoppable.

Book 3: MYSTIC SKIES (Tor, October 2022)

The world is Changed. Fifty-four years have passed since Crow Tallin, the catastrophic celestial event that merged Fayün and the human world. One devastating result of that cataclysm is that most human babies are born fused with fay spirits. The Mystics of Kelt Apar, once beloved, are blamed for this worldwide phenomenon. On the island of Moth, the Barons have declared the Myst illegal and imprisoned all Mystics under house arrest. Under the watchful eyes of deadly Hunters, a much-older Pomella AnDone now lives as a prisoner at Kelt Apar with her granddaughter and apprentice Mia, as well as the rapidly declining High Mystic of Moth, Yarina Sineese. When the time comes to conduct the ceremony intended to pass the title of High Mystic from Yarina to her successor Vivianna, something goes horribly wrong, leaving the lineage of Mystics in doubt. With new rivals seeking to claim Moth for their own, Pomella must undergo a dangerous dreamwalk into the mind-bending and heart-wrenching Mystic Skies in order to learn the mystical name of the island itself.
In this epic conclusion to Jason Denzel’s The Mystic Trilogy, which spans decades and timeless realms and dreams, Pomella must confront her greatest and most personal challenge yet. For the Deep mysteries of the world will reveal themselves only to the most powerful and dedicated of Mystics.

Jason Denzel is the founder of Dragonmount, the leading online community for Robert Jordan’s « The Wheel of Time » saga and the web’s top destination for franchise-related news, features, and discussion. Dragonmount has been featured in USA Today, CNN, ABC, Wired, and the Los Angeles Times. Denzel lives in Northern California with his two young boys, and owns a lot of swords.

A DISASTER IN THREE ACTS de Kelsey Rodkey

An aspiring documentary filmmaker tries to use her best friend’s ex as the subject for her film school application, only to discover there’s more to him than what’s in front of the camera. Fans of Elise Bryant and Rachel Lynn Solomon will swoon for this romance packed with snark, banter, and inconvenient crushes.

A DISASTER IN THREE ACTS
by Kelsey Rodkey
‎ HarperTeen, July 2022
(via JABberwocky)

Saine Sinclair knows a little something about what makes a story worth telling. Your childhood best friend refuses to kiss you during a pre-adolescent game of spin the bottle? Terrible, zero stars, would not replay that scene again. The same ex-friend becomes your new best friend’s ex? Strangely compelling, unexpected twist, worth a hate-watch. That same guy—why is he always around?—turns out to be your last shot at getting into the documentary filmmaking program of your dreams? Saine hates to admit it, but she’d watch that movie. There’s something about Holden that makes her feel like she’s the one in front of the camera—like he can see every uncomfortable truth she’s buried below the surface. Saine knows how her story’s supposed to go. So why does every moment with Holden seem intent on changing the ending?

« Madeline is quick-witted, bright, and passionate… a lighthearted page-turner. » —School Library Journal

« This enemies-to-lovers romance includes a business rivalry, a deadbeat mom, and a last-gasp attempt to save a family store… A solid rom-com. » —Kirkus Reviews

« Rooted as much in family as it is in cute banter, book nerdery, and sexual tension… You’ve Got Mail for teens. » —Booklist

Kelsey Rodkey is the author of the YA rom-com Last Chance Books. A burrito lover and banter enthusiast, she’s striving to create the stories she lacked as a teenager. She lives near the capital of Pennsylvania, which a lot of people think is Philadelphia, with her significant other and their cat, Cheese.

THE COMEDIENNE’S GUIDE TO PRIDE de Hayli Thomson

A funny, thoughtful YA debut about going after what you really want and letting people love who you really are, perfect for fans of Jaye Robin Brown’s Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit.

THE COMEDIENNE’S GUIDE TO PRIDE
by Hayli Thomson
‎ Page Street Kids, June 2022
(via JABberwocky)

Wicked funny and hella gay, it’s time for Taylor Parker to come out about a lot of things. Taylor Parker has always been a funny girl―but when she is accepted as a finalist for a diverse writers’ internship at Saturday Night Live, it turns her life upside down. If she wants a shot at winning in a little more than a month, Taylor will have to come out about both of her secrets: She wants to be a comedian . . . and she’s a lesbian.
With a mom who gave up a career in comedy to raise her, and a comedian dad who left for a younger woman, working in comedy is a sore subject in Taylor’s house. To keep her secret under wraps, she sneaks out to do improv and hides her sketches under the bed, and to distract from her anxiety about the competition, Taylor
frequents Salem’s Museum of Witchcraft to pine for Abigail Williams from the back row.
It’s at the Museum of Witchcraft where Taylor falls deeper in love with the girl who plays Abigail Williams―Charlotte Grey, an out and proud lesbian at Nathaniel Hawthorne High. Charlotte radiates so much confidence in her acting and queerness that Taylor can’t resist her. So when Charlotte reaches out for help on a school project, Taylor readily agrees. As they spend more time together, Taylor sees what living her truth and pursuing her dreams could bring her, but Charlotte can’t understand why someone as funny as Taylor wouldn’t go all out to make the most of her opportunities. To live up to her own comedy dreams and become the person she wants to be, Taylor will have to find the confidence to tell everyone exactly who she is and what she wants.

Hayli Thomson lives in Sydney, Australia, and writes novels about candid characters for anybody who ever watched Jo March leap a fence and longed to be her best friend. Bizarrely, during her teen years, Hayli was afflicted with a “headache” every third Monday in September, when she was left with no option but to stay home from school and watch her favorite female comedians collect Emmys live on the other side of the world.