A YA contemporary about star student Sasha, who finds herself in a dead heat for the valedictorian title (and the scholarship that comes with it) with her childhood best friend-turned-nemesis Ezra and decides to settle the score with a bet—winner takes all. Filled with heart and sure to make you laugh, this cinematic novel manages to be winsome yet entertaining and sweet yet smart, all while exploring how race, class, and intergenerational dynamics shape teenagers’ goals, ambitions, and drive.
YOU BET YOUR HEART
by Danielle Parker
Joy Revolution/Delacorte, Summer 2023
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)
Four years after her dad died, Sasha Johnson-Sun’s life is entirely different for her and her Korean immigrant mother: a smaller apartment, Saturdays spent cleaning classmates’ houses, her father’s photo on the bookshelf with other deceased relatives. Only Sasha’s top-of-class grades are the same, because if Sasha knows one thing, it’s this: she will graduate as the school’s valedictorian. After all, this is the dream her father had for her, and that her mother’s many sacrifices have made possible.
Now, two months before graduation, the title and the scholarship prize that comes with it are within grasp. That is, until the principal calls Sasha and her childhood best friend-turned-nemesis Ezra Davis-Goldberg into his office to deliver the second-worst news of Sasha’s life: they’re tied for valedictorian, a first in Skyline High history. And for some reason, Ezra—carefree, effortlessly gifted, uninterested-in-school Ezra—is as determined to win as Sasha is.
These things can’t be left to chance. Sasha and Ezra agree on a winner-takes-all, best-of-three bet, with the loser throwing their grade by failing to complete their final assignment. But as Sasha and Ezra go head-to-head in a series of academic challenges, they each are forced to reexamine not just what they want, but why… With everything hanging in the balance, Sasha can choose to ignore the tide of long-buried emotions that are rushing to the surface, honor her family, and win; or she can let go of the things she thought mattered and choose to believe that we are lovable and worthy because of who we are, not because of what we do. Decide wrong, and she will not just jeopardize her future, but also her shot at healing her heart and maybe, possibly, even finding true love.
Danielle Parker has written a remarkably funny, heart-filled romantic comedy that is sure to win over countless teen readers over: it’s part Election, part To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and part Happily Ever Afters. It is at once a winsome and hugely entertaining high concept romance about two biracial teens falling in love, and a sharp examination of how race, class, and intergenerational dynamics shape teenagers’ goals, ambitions, and drive. It’s also a tender portrait of a mother and daughter still grappling with grief, and of two childhood friends trying to remember why they drifted apart and trying to figure out who they’ve each become in the meantime.
Danielle Parker is a Pitch Wars alumnus and she shares Sasha’s Black and Korean biracial identity. She is a high school English teacher in the Pacific Northwest and has also worked as an editorial assistant at Weldon Owen/Insights Editions. You can follow her on twitter at @onedanip.
Les studios Paramount ont acquis les droits audiovisuels de la série de fantasy « Wayward Children » (« Les Enfants indociles ») avec pour projet la création d’une franchise autour des personnages et de leur univers, motivée par l’engouement des lecteurs pour les livres de Seanan McGuire et la grande communauté de fans déjà bien établie. Les adaptations seront produites par Pouya Shahbazian, producteur de la trilogie de films Divergente ou encore de la série Shadow and Bone sur Netflix. (Lire l’
Meet best friends Gabby Jordan, Priya Gupta, and Mindy Kim. They’re different in just about every way—personalities, hobbies, family, and more—but they have a few important things in common: they’re all in the same class, they absolutely love animals, and for reasons that are as varied as the trio themselves none of them can actually have any pets. Unable to resist the adorable temptation any longer, the girls decide to come up with a way to finally get their hands on some furry friends. And, as luck would have it, it seems like their neighborhood is in need of some afterschool dog-walkers. So, just like that, PAWS is born! But it turns out that running a business is harder than it looks, especially with three co-owners who are such different people. The girls soon argue about everything, from how to prioritize their commitments to the best way to keep their doggy clients happy. And when their fighting ultimately leads to a doggo crisis, will it tear their business and friendship apart or will they be able to get it together to save the day?
In a dangerous post-grad world of magic, a society of chosen magicians study the secrets of the lost library of Alexandria whose books can unlock a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams. Each decade, only the six most uniquely talented magicians in the world are selected to compete for initiation. This year, the competition is fiercer than ever before.
For nine years, South Carolina officials struggled to identify “the boy in the woods,” whose body had been discovered just south of Myrtle Beach in a fishing village called Murrells Inlet. Meanwhile,1,200 miles away in Kansas City, Missouri, Frank McGonigle’s family searched for him at Grateful Dead concerts and in the face of every long-haired hitchhiker they passed. Consumed by guilt for how they’d treated him, Frank’s eight siblings slowly came to understand that — like Jerry Garcia sang — he’s gone and nothin’s gonna bring him back. Frank McGonigle was finally found — and identified as “the boy in the woods.”