Archives par étiquette : Writers House

CASCADIA de Colin Meloy

A dual timeline narrative with deep roots in current global crises, CASCADIA is an absurdist yet all too relatable vision of a future where unchecked capitalism, advanced technology, and climate emergencies have come to a head.

CASCADIA
by Colin Meloy
Little, Brown, Summer 2027
(via Writers House)

Barnaby Chambers is no hero. He’s just another bio broker in Cascadia trying to scrape out a living in an already scraped-thin world. Plummeting birth rates mean the market is rising for anything people believe will promote fertility, especially cauls (the membrane that can cover a newborn’s head). But when a lead on a new caul saddles Barnaby with an abandoned baby, instead, he must navigate the dangerous road home and a difficult AI-run government system in search of someone to care for his unexpected ward.

A decade earlier, in 2043, civilization as we know it is careening towards the cliff of no return. Cascadia is newly formed, having just separated from the United States. Its people are searching for a better method of government to combat climate change and guard against the pitfalls of governance tainted by human self-interest. Two computer scientists meet for the first time: Dr. Emil Franke and nine-year-old prodigy Gershwin Datta. They will change everything.

As the story moves back and forth in time, it becomes clear that Barnaby’s troubles—and the baby he’s rescued—are inextricably linked to Emil and Gershwin’s work. They are all connected. Not just to the fate of Cascadia, but the world.

Colin Meloy is the author of the middle grade novels The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid, The Stars Did Wander Darkling, and the New York Times bestselling Wildwood Chronicles, as well as two picture books, The Golden Thread: A Song for Pete Seeger and Everyone’s Awake! He is also the singer and songwriter for the indie rock band the Decemberists. Colin lives in Oregon with his wife and frequent collaborator, illustrator Carson Ellis, and their sons.

FURY SEALED IN STONE de F.C. Yee

Sold in a heated US auction, this exquisite Crossover fantasy duology follows a girl named Casip, orphaned by the early sparks of war and taken under the wing of a wandering philosopher, whose humanist beliefs only support defensive warfare. Incredibly suspenseful and impossible to put down, this ambitious epic is perfect for fans of R.F. Kuang.

FURY SEALED IN STONE
by F.C. Yee
Sourcebooks, Summer 2027
(via Writers House)

The board is set.
The game is life and death.
Out in the dark, the Beast moves first.

The Three Nurukan Kingdoms are famous for their philosophers: strategists who whisper in the ears of royalty and guide their actions with educated wisdom. But when leaders heed the wrong advice, the consequences are devastating. Casip, a young member of the lowest caste of society, pays the greatest price when followers of a brutal warlord known as the Beast raze her village, leaving her its sole survivor.

When a wandering academic and his infuriatingly gifted protégé discover Casip in the burning wreckage, she expects nothing but the disdain and cruelty her people have always received. Instead, they offer her a rare and coveted chance to become a Shandaiist philosopher, a scholar-warrior who can sway nobles, command troops, and shape nations.

As Casip climbs up the class rankings and clashes with her rival at school, the Beast’s armies swell and spread ruin. His imminent arrival draws Casip into a deadly game of defensive battles and court politics, where the fate of an entire city hangs in the balance. To survive, she’ll need to be two steps ahead of allies and enemies alike. But what will her heart choose: the pursuit of justice—or the lure of vengeance?

F. C. Yee grew up in New Jersey and went to school in New England, but has called the San Francisco Bay Area home ever since he beat a friend at a board game and shouted “That’s how we do it in NorCal, baby!” Outside of writing, he practices capoeira, a Brazilian form of martial arts, and has a day job mostly involving spreadsheets.

IRON SWORN de Namina Forna

Sold in a heated six-house auction, a new YA fantasy duology about a teen who discovers she’s the heir to a magical—and fabulously wealthy—family, set in a world that’s Black Panther meets Crazy Rich Asians, from the bestselling author of The Gilded Ones.

IRON SWORN
by Namina Forna
Random House, September 2027
(via Writers House)

Juniper has given up on being adopted out of the Atlanta foster care system… until her long-lost uncle pulls up in a Maserati on her sixteenth birthday. He reveals that Juniper is the heir to the powerful Jawara dynasty, whisking her off to the opulent West African country of Azanzia.

There, Juniper discovers she’s inherited not only riches but a magical legacy. She’s a descendant of the Iron Sworn, an elite group of warriors who bargained for powers from the fae to defend Azanzia from colonizers and monsters. Juniper begins training alongside the other teenage heirs, including beautiful, ruthless Thione, but struggles to command the magic that they’ve spent their whole lives mastering.

When an ancient evil returns to Azanzia and preys on magical beings, Juniper’s fledgling powers and new alliances are put to the test. And when Juniper learns that the key to defeating the evil is buried in her past, she’ll have to confront both monsters and family secrets to uncover her true lineage.

Namina Forna is the New York Times bestselling author of the Gilded Ones series. She’s been published in over 24 different countries and also works in film and television. She loves telling stories with fierce female leads and now lives in London, where she spends all her time trying to stay warm.

IMAGINE US PERFECT de Jas Hammonds

Sold in a heated US auction, this speculative YA standalone fuses the grounded future setting of Black Mirror and the lurking horror of generative AI, with an added twist of toxic wellness culture. A girl spends an explosive weekend at at a high-brow wellness retreat that is supposedly designed to bring families back together…but continues to break her own apart.

IMAGINE US PERFECT
by Jas Hammonds
Random House, Fall 2027
(via Writers House)

Photo Credit: Kay Ulanday Barrett

Fifteen-year-old Mel Cooke is bummed when her parents whisk the family away on an impromptu trip at the beginning of winter break. She’d planned on spending the vacation devising a plan to come out as queer to her family with the help of her best friend. But tension has been building in the Cooke family for months—especially between Mel and her older sister, Maya–and Mel’s parents are insistent that this getaway is necessary.

When the Cooke family arrives at the remote Figment Falls Wellness Center, Mel quickly realizes this is no ordinary vacation. Mel’s parents have signed up for an experimental therapy program designed to bring families closer. Everyone will get a chance to privately share how they wished their family members looked and acted against a backdrop of their perfect day. The scenarios will then be uploaded to a simulation for the entire family to experience together. But to ensure everyone has the opportunity to live their truth, only the person who constructed the day is free to speak and act as they wish—everyone else is beholden to the constructor, a bit like puppets, and must save their opinions until the day is over. As they work through the scenarios, the family is assigned a grade to reflect how “healed” they’re becoming, with the ultimate goal being a perfect 100%.

Mel’s earlier apprehension is suddenly replaced with excitement. This could be the perfect opportunity to come out to her family and fix her fragile relationship with Maya. So, during her intake session, Mel constructs a day where she comes out as queer and her family accepts her. She even starts to see Figment Falls as the magical place it promises to be—undoubtedly influenced by Audrey, a cute girl who is also undergoing therapy and is constantly singing Figment Falls’ praises. Mel becomes obsessed with making sure her family comes out as a shining example of an “A+” family.

But as the days unfold and everyone’s expectations and dreams are revealed, Mel realizes everyone in her family wants her to be someone she’s not. Buried secrets are dragged to the surface as the line between Mel’s real life and the simulations becomes increasingly blurred. When Mel’s parents reveal their time at Figment Falls is their last-ditch effort before divorce, Mel must decide if fixing her family is worth shrinking herself—or if the illusion of perfection is good enough.

Praise for Jas Hammonds:
Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent Winner
People Magazine Best Book of the Year
Kirkus Best Book of the Year
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Reader’s Digest Best Book of the Year
A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Selection
An ALA Rainbow Book List Pick
A YALSA Top 10 Fiction Book

Jas Hammonds (they/them) was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from Art Omi, Baldwin for the Arts, Boyds Mills and more. They are also a Lambda Literary Fellow and a MacDowell James Baldwin Fellow. Their bestselling debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award for New Talent. Their second novel, Thirsty, was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. They live in New Jersey.

YOU AND I ARE EARTH de Kerilynn Wilson

As sixteen-year-old Ria sets out to prove her missing grandfather’s wild theories about the flying jellyfish of local lore, she discovers that reality can be far stranger—and more dangerous—than anything she imagined. This eerily beautiful and distinctive graphic novel from an award-winning creator is for fans of Lee Knox Ostertag, E. M. Carroll, and Tillie Walden.

YOU AND I ARE EARTH
by Kerilynn Wilson
Greenwillow, March 2027
(via Writers House)

A year ago, Ria’s whole life changed. Her grandfather—a noted marine biologist—went missing, presumed dead, in Siren Cove. And her grandmother, who Ria rescued from the water, hasn’t been the same since.

Most people in town avoid Siren Cove. They believe in the rumors about the flying jellyfish and the disappearances just enough to stay away. But Grandad was convinced those creatures held the key to curing his wife’s failing memory. Now it’s up to Ria to prove it, no matter what anyone else thinks. She’ll sneak out of the house, she’ll lie to her parents, she’ll pull away from her best friend, Mena. Whatever it takes.

But Mena’s not about to let Ria sacrifice her own life, her own happiness, chasing a myth. So she accompanies Ria on one last trip to the cove, to help her friend move on.

What they find is impossible. What they experience is indescribable. What they discover is that the bonds of friendship are the strongest on earth.

Kerilynn Wilson’s sophisticated, haunting artwork and nuanced characters tell a story of friendship, loss, and healing. You and I Are Earth is a striking, sometimes surreal graphic novel from an award-winning creator that will appeal to fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Black Mirror, and Stranger Things.

Kerilynn Wilson is an author-illustrator with a love of the weird and wonderful. She is the creator of the acclaimed picture books A Monstrous Bedtime and One Foggy Christmas Eve, as well as the award-winning graphic novel for teens The Faint of Heart. She lives in Oregon City, Oregon, but her mind tends to wander to made-up places in her head filled with flying jellyfish and birds that eat the stars.