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The “Meet” Market: YA X-Meets-Y Pitches of Note, Part Two

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Yesterday, I talked about the “x-meets-y” pitch style for a pile of YA books. Since there were so many interesting ones I came across, I thought I’d round up another set of those pitches in a second post. As you might notice, there is one particular publisher who really likes this method of describing what a book is.

All descriptions are from Edelweiss, and all of the books are either published in the last year or are coming out this year.

If you’ve seen a particularly noteworthy x-meets-y recently that I didn’t catch in either this post or yesterday’s, I’d love to hear it in the comments. Likewise, I’d be interested in knowing what you think of this pitch style and whether you think they’re effective in terms of explaining the book.


Fargo meets Pretty Little Liars in this gripping and darkly humorous murder mystery.



Friendship, Wisconsin, is a quiet little town. The kind of place where everyone wears a smile and no one ever locks doors. But all of that changes the day homecoming queen Ruth Fried is found murdered in the middle of a cornfield.

Kippy Bushman, Ruth’s best friend, knows that Friendship’s small-time cops are hopelessly unprepared for the investigation. And Kippy just won’t stand for that, don’tcha know. Armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary, Kippy decides to look for the murderer on her own. But in a small town like Friendship-where no one is a suspect-anyone could be the killer.

Kathleen Hale’s gripping debut novel is an intricate, ingenious murder mystery that perfectly blends horror with humor. It will keep readers guessing, laughing, and cringing-not necessarily all at the same time-from the very first page until its dramatic final chapter.

No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale is available now. 
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer meets The Fifth Wave in this blockbuster new series from Kimberly Derting.
A flash of white…and then…nothing. When softball phenom Kyra Agnew wakes up behind the local gas station she has no memory of the night before. She makes her way home only to find that five years have passed…yet she hasn’t aged a day.

With the help of her old boyfriend’s annoying little brother, Tyler-who is now a handsome teenager-she begins to uncover what happened to her that fateful night five years ago. They discover strange facts and phenomenon no one can explain, and other people who have been “taken,” just like Kyra. With a determined, secret government unit after her, Kyra desperately races to find an explanation and reclaim the life she once had…but what if the life she wants back is not her own?

The Taking by Kimberly Derting will be available April 29 from HarperTeen. 
The Bourne Identity meets Virals in this thrilling mystery of erased memories, secret experiments, and genetically altered teens.
They were made to forget. But they’ll never forgive.
Everything about Anna’s life is a secret. Her father works for the Branch, at the helm of its latest project: monitoring and administering treatments to the four genetically altered boys in the lab below their farmhouse. There’s Nick, solemn and brooding; Cas, light-hearted and playful; Trev, smart and caring; and Sam . . . who’s stolen Anna’s heart.

When the Branch decides it’s time to take the boys, Sam stages an escape. Anna’s father pushes her to go with them, making Sam promise to keep her away from the Branch, at all costs.

On the run, with her father’s warning in her head, Anna begins to doubt everything she thought she knew about herself. She soon discovers that she and Sam are connected in more ways than either of them expected. And if they’re both going to survive, they must piece together the clues of their past before the Branch catches up to them and steals it all away.

Altered by Jennifer Rush is available now. 
It’s Bring it On meets The Craft in this spellbinding witchy series debut.

A stolen book. A deadly plan. A destiny discovered.

If high school is all about social status, Indigo Blackwood has it made. Sure, her quirky mom owns an occult shop, and a nerd just won’t stop trying to be her friend, but Indie is a popular cheerleader with a football-star boyfriend and a social circle powerful enough to ruin everyone at school. Who wouldn’t want to be her?

Then a guy dies right before her eyes. And the dusty old family Bible her mom is freakishly possessive of is stolen. But when a frustratingly sexy stranger named Bishop enters Indie’s world, she learns that her destiny involves a lot more than pom-poms and parties. If she doesn’t get the Bible back, every witch on the planet will die. And that’s seriously bad news for Indie, because according to Bishop, she’s a witch too.

Suddenly forced into a centuries-old war between witches and sorcerers, Indie is about to uncover the many dark truths about her life-and a future unlike any she ever imagined on top of the cheer pyramid.

Hexed by Michelle Krys will be available June 10 from Delacorte. 
The Scarlet Letter meets Minority Report in bestselling author Sophie Jordan’s chilling new novel about a teenage girl who is ostracized when her genetic test proves she’s destined to become a murderer.

When Davy Hamilton’s tests come back positive for Homicidal Tendency Syndrome (HTS)-aka the kill gene-she loses everything. Her boyfriend ditches her, her parents are scared of her, and she can forget about her bright future at Juilliard. Davy doesn’t feel any different, but genes don’t lie. One day she will kill someone.

Only Sean, a fellow HTS carrier, can relate to her new life. Davy wants to trust him; maybe he’s not as dangerous as he seems. Or maybe Davy is just as deadly.

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan will be available January 28 from HarperTeen. 

This one might win for the least helpful but most head-scratching “meets.”

La Femme Nikita meets Maximum Ride in this action-packed debut novel about seventeen-year-old Wren, who rose from the dead as a Reboot and is now the government’s top soldier-until she is given an order she refuses to obey.

Wren Connolly died when she was twelve years old. She woke up 178 minutes later as a Reboot. The longer a Reboot is dead, the stronger and less human she becomes when she returns-making Wren 178 the perfect weapon.

Callum 22, on the other hand, is practically still human. He’s the worst trainee Wren has ever had, yet there is something about him that makes her feel alive. When Callum refuses to follow a direct order, Wren is commanded to eliminate him. She has never disobeyed before, but now she’ll do whatever it takes to save Callum’s life.

Reboot by Amy Tintera is available now. 

The Raven Boys meets TV’s Charmed in this spellbinding paperback original about a seventeen-year-old girl who finds her normal life colliding with her secret magical one.

They say a witch lives in the old house under the bridge. Always in the shadows, draped in ivy and sorrow…. Some people think it’s only a silly tale to scare children, but it’s true. Every word.
Josephine Hemlock knows that the rumors of a witch living in Willow’s End, Nebraska, are true-after all, she’s the witch in question. Jo has always managed to keep her magical life separate from her normal one. But now the mysterious Curse that killed her mother-and so many Hemlock witches before her-has returned. Soon Jo realizes that the life she’s fought to keep hidden could destroy the one she’s worked so hard to protect.

House of Ivy & Sorrow by Natalie Whipple will be available April 15 from HarperTeen. 

M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village meets Michael Grant’s Gone series in this riveting new adventure from Amy Plum, internationally bestselling author of the Die For Me series. 

Juneau has grown up knowing that she and the rest of the people in her village are some of the only survivors of World War III. But when Juneau returns from a hunting trip one day and discovers that everyone in her village has disappeared, she sets off to find them. Leaving the boundaries in remote Alaska for the very first time, she learns a horrifying truth: There never was a war. Everything was a lie.

Juneau must now make her way in a modern world she never knew existed. But while she’s struggling to rescue her friends and family, someone else is looking for her. Someone who knows the extraordinary truth about the secrets of her past.

After the End by Amy Plum will be available May 6 from HarperTeen.

The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor & Park in this beautifully written, clever, and emotionally poignant novel.

Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can’t walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions.

Plagued by an obsessive-compulsive disorder, Matthew is consumed with repeated thoughts, obsessive rituals, and crippling fear.

Both are in desperate need of a friend to help them reach out to the world. When Amy decides to hire student aides to help her at school, Amy and Matthew are thrust into each other’s lives. As they begin to spend time with each other, what started as a blossoming friendship eventually grows into something neither expected.

Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern will be available June 3 from HarperTeen. 

Stephen King meets Tuck Everlasting in this riveting, emotionally complex story about a teenage girl haunted by the loss of her sister-and trapped by the strange power that fuels her small town.

Gardnerville is a paradise.

A place where no one gets sick, and almost no one ever dies.

A place built on secrets and lies.

A place that will creep into your heart, keep you guessing-and never let you go.

From the author of Another Little Piece comes a spellbindingly unique tale of a town trapped in a cycle of madness, and a teenage girl haunted by the loss of her sister. Four years ago, Skylar’s sister, Piper, led her classmates on a midnight death march into a watery grave. Now Piper is gone. But the secrets she left behind keep taunting Skylar-whispering that if she wants her sister back, she must find a way to stop Gardnerville’s murderous cycle once and for all.

Don’t You Forget About Me by Katie Karyus Quinn will be available June 10 from HarperTeen. 

John Green meets Stephen King in this original take on the zombie apocalypse, about a teen boy protecting his fragile younger brother from the horrors around them. With great plot twists, nonstop action, and profound commentary on environmental devastation, human nature, and identity, this is a striking debut novel by a promising young author.
It happened on Halloween.

The world ended.

And a dangerous Game brought it back to life.

Seventeen-year-old Michael and his five-year-old brother, Patrick, have been battling monsters in The Game for weeks.

In the rural mountains of West Virginia-armed with only their rifle and their love for each other-the brothers follow Instructions from the mysterious Game Master. They spend their days searching for survivors, their nights fighting endless hordes of “Bellows”-creatures that roam the dark, roaring for flesh. And at this Game, Michael and Patrick are very good.

But The Game is changing.

The Bellows are evolving.

The Game Master is leading Michael and Patrick to other survivors-survivors who don’t play by the rules.

And the brothers will never be the same.

The End Games by T. Michael Martin is available now. 

Game of Thrones meets the Grimm’s fairy tales in this twisted, fast-paced romantic fantasy-adventure about Sleeping Beauty’s daughter, a warrior princess who must fight to reclaim her throne.

Though she looks like a mere mortal, Princess Aurora is a fairy blessed with enhanced strength, bravery, and mercy yet cursed to destroy the free will of any male who kisses her. Disguised as a boy, she enlists the help of the handsome but also cursed Prince Niklaas to fight legions of evil and free her brother from the ogre queen who stole Aurora’s throne ten years ago.

Will Aurora triumph over evil and reach her brother before it’s too late? Can Aurora and Niklaas break the curses that will otherwise forever keep them from finding their one true love?

Princess of Thorns by Stacey Jay will be available December 9 from Delacorte. 

Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl’s journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.

Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.

Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.

With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she’s ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.

But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her.

As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex’s secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge will be available January 28 from Balzer and Bray. 

The Fault in Our Stars meets Sarah Dessen in this lyrical novel where sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia and creates a take-no-prisoners bucket list that sets off a war at school…only to find out she’s gone into remission.

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying-only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you?

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs-however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, who she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her archnemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most?

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy will be available March 18 from Balzer and Bray. 

Gone Girl meets Pretty Little Liars in this romantic and suspenseful teen murder mystery about a girl’s quest to uncover the hidden secrets in her town before it’s too late.

Growing up in a house of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. She knows that perfect senior-class president Erin Donohue isn’t what she seems. She knows why Erin’s ex-boyfriend, hot football player Matt Houser, broke up with her. And she also knows that, even though she says she and Matt are just friends, there is something brewing between them-something Erin definitely did not like.

But secrets, even ones that are long buried, have a way of returning to haunt their keeper.

So when Erin is found dead the day after attacking Lily in a jealous rage, Lily’s and Matt’s safe little lives, and the lives of everyone in their town of Potsdam, begin to unravel. And their relationship-which grew from innocent after-school tutoring sessions to late-night clandestine rendezvous-makes them both suspects.

As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim.

The Secrets of Lily Graves by Sarah Strohmeyer will be available May 13 from Balzer and Bray. 

The Diviners meets The Luxe in this thrilling Jazz Age suspense novel about a budding magician who has spent her whole life trying to hide her very real-and very dangerous-powers.

Born of Illusion is the story of gifted illusionist Anna Van Housen, who assists her mother, the renowned medium Marguerite Van Housen, in her stage show and séances, easily navigating the underground world of magicians, mediums, and mentalists in 1920s New York.

As the illegitimate daughter of Harry Houdini-or so Marguerite claims-sleight-of-hand illusions have never been much of a challenge for Anna. The real trick is keeping her true gifts a secret: because while Marguerite’s own powers may be a sham, Anna actually can sense people’s feelings and foretell the future.

But as Anna’s powers intensify, she experiences frightening visions that lead her to explore the abilities she’s tried so long to hide. And when a mysterious young man moves into the flat downstairs, introducing Anna to a society that studies people with gifts like hers, she begins to wonder if there’s more to life than keeping secrets.

Born of Illusion by Teri Brown is available now. 

The Hunger Games meets Matched in this high-concept thriller where citizens must prove their worth by defeating the other version of themselves-their twin.

Two of you exist. Only one will survive.

West Grayer is ready. She’s trained for years to confront her Alternate, a twin raised by another family. Survival means a good job, marriage-life.

But then a tragic misstep leaves West questioning: Is she the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future?

If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from herself, but also from love…though both have the power to destroy her.

Dualed by Elsie Chapman is available now. 

Any favorite “x-meets-y” pitches in this batch? Any confusing ones? Do any of these pique your interest in a way that you might not have otherwise even paid attention? 

The “Meet” Market: YA X-Meets-Y Pitches of Note, Part One

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I’m not a huge fan of pitches in the vein of x meets y. I find they don’t often make a lot of sense, and if I’m not familiar with either or both of the titles being called out, the description is meaningless to me. But despite not being a fan of them, I still like reading them. Maybe it’s because some are so bizarre that you have to stop and wonder what it means, if anything. Maybe it’s because sometimes I wonder who the pitch is geared toward — is it the teen reader or is it the adult who will be getting the book into the hands of the teen reader (or the adult who will read it themselves)? 

X-meets-y is different than books which are pitched as read alikes or for fans of a certain genre, author, or well-known book, and it makes me wonder if the x-meets-y is a bit reductive. I know it’s all in the marketing, but when so many books are pitched as x-meets-y, I wonder what’s new and fresh. 

Then again, some of the x-meets-y pitches really do pique my curiosity (the one for The Girl in the Well below really got me interested). 

And now it should be clear why I can’t stop reading them. They torment me a little bit because I want it both ways. 

I thought it’d be fun to round up some of the recent YA x-meets-y pitches I’ve read that have stood out to me in one way or another. All of the descriptions come from the publisher’s copy on Edelweiss, and all of the books are either out recently or will be out sometime this year, with included dates of publication. As you might notice, Edelweiss descriptions are much different than ones that would come from WorldCat, as they’re much more about selling the book than they are about giving a short, to-the-point description. 

This is part one of a two-part post because there were so many I wanted to show off the range of them. 

Prep meets The Crucible in this spellbinding thriller inspired by real life events

It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian, deciphering boys’ texts: through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t.

First Clara Rutherford starts having loud, uncontrollable tics in the middle of class. More students and stranger symptoms follow: seizures, body vibration, violent coughing fits. The media descends on Danvers, MA, as school officials, angry parents and the board of health scramble to find something, or someone, to blame. Pollution? Stress? Or are the girls faking? But Colleen—who’s been reading The Crucible for extra credit—comes to realize what nobody else has: Danvers was once Salem Village, where another group of girls suffered from a similarly bizarre epidemic three centuries ago…

Conversion by Katherine Howe will be available July 1 from Putnam.
The Ring meets The Exorcist in this haunting story about an American boy whose last hope for protection lies with a vengeful ghost

Okiku wants vengeance…and she gets it. Whenever there’s a monster hurting a child-the same way she was hurt 300 years ago in Japan-her spirit is there to deliver punishment. But one American boy draws her like no other. The two are pulled into a world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from the American Midwest to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan. The boy is not a monster, but something evil writhes beneath his skin, trapped by a series of intricate tattoos. Can Okiku protect him? Or is her presence only bringing more harm?

The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco will be available August 5 from Sourcebooks. 

Lisa McMann’s Dead to You meets Kate Ellison’s The Butterfly Clues in a psychological thriller full of romance, intrigue, and mystery.

One year ago, Callie was found in an abandoned apartment, scrawling words on the wall: “I KILLED HIM. His blood is on my hands. His heart is in my soul. I KILLED HIM.” But she remembers nothing of that night or of the previous thirty-six hours. All she knows is that her father, the reverend at the Church of the Holy Promise, is missing, as is Hannah, a young girl from the parish. Their disappearances have to be connected and Callie knows that her father was not a righteous man.

Since that fateful night, she’s been plagued by graphomania-an unending and debilitating compulsion to write. The words that flow from Callie’s mind and through her pen don’t seem to make sense-until now.

As the anniversary of Hannah’s vanishing approaches, more words and memories bubble to the surface and a new guy in school might be the key to Callie putting together the puzzle. But digging up the secrets she’s buried for so long might be her biggest mistake. 

Oblivion by Sasha Dawn will be available May 27 from EgmontUSA.

A breathtaking, genre-defying debut that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page

Thirteen Reasons Why meets Ellen Hopkins in a fresh and unexpected love story with the conceptual punch of a murder mystery

Sophie Winters nearly died. Twice.

The first time, she’s fourteen, and escapes a near-fatal car accident with scars, a bum leg, and an addiction to Oxy that’ll take years to kick.

The second time, she’s seventeen, and it’s no accident. Sophie and her best friend Mina are confronted by a masked man in the woods. Sophie survives, but Mina is not so lucky. When the cops deem Mina’s murder a drug deal gone wrong, casting partial blame on Sophie, no one will believe the truth: Sophie has been clean for months, and it was Mina who led her into the woods that night for a meeting shrouded in mystery.

After a forced stint in rehab, Sophie returns home to a chilly new reality. Mina’s brother won’t speak to her, her parents fear she’ll relapse, old friends have become enemies, and Sophie has to learn how to live without her other half. To make matters worse, no one is looking in the right places and Sophie must search for Mina’s murderer on her own. But with every step, Sophie comes closer to revealing all: about herself, about Mina and about the secret they shared.

Far From You by Tess Sharpe will be available April 8 from Disney-Hyperion. 

Cabaret meets Cassandra Clare — a haunting magical thriller set in a riveting 1930s-esque world.

Sixteen-year-old Thea Holder’s mother is cursed with a spell that’s driving her mad, and whenever they touch, Thea is chilled by the magic, too. With no one else to contribute, Thea must make a living for both of them in a sinister city, where danger lurks and greed rules.

Thea spends her nights waitressing at the decadent Telephone Club attending to the glitzy clientele. But when her best friend, Nan, vanishes, Thea is compelled to find her. She meets Freddy, a young, magnetic patron at the club, and he agrees to help her uncover the city’s secrets-even while he hides secrets of his own.

Together, they find a whole new side of the city. Unrest is brewing behind closed doors as whispers of a gruesome magic spread. And if they’re not careful, the heartless masterminds behind the growing disappearances will be after them, too.

Dark Metropolis by Jaclyn Dolamore will be available June 17 from Disney-Hyperion.
The X-Men meets Ocean’s Eleven in this edge-of-your-seat sci-fi adventure about a band of “super” criminals.
When the MK virus swept across the planet, a vaccine was created to stop the epidemic, but it came with some unexpected side effects. A small percentage of the population developed superhero-like powers. Seventeen-year-old Ciere Giba has the handy ability to change her appearance at will. She’s what’s known as an illusionist…She’s also a thief.
After a robbery goes awry, Ciere must team up with a group of fellow super-powered criminals on another job that most would consider too reckless. The formula for the vaccine that gave them their abilities was supposedly destroyed years ago. But what if it wasn’t?
The lines between good and bad, us and them, and freedom and entrapment are blurred as Ciere and the rest of her crew become embroiled in a deadly race against he government that could cost them their lives.
Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones will be available July 15 from Little, Brown. 
ABC’s hit show Nashville meets The Summer I Turned Pretty in this YA series debut about a teen country music star on the rise.

The best songs come from broken hearts.
Sixteen-year-old Bird Barrett has grown up on the road, singing backup in her family’s bluegrass band, and playing everywhere from Nashville, Tennessee to Nowhere, Oklahoma. One fateful night, Bird fills in for her dad by singing lead, and a scout in the audience offers her a spotlight all her own.
Soon Bird is caught up in a whirlwind of songwriting meetings, recording sessions, and music video shoots. Her first single hits the top twenty, and suddenly fans and paparazzi are around every corner. She’s even caught the eye of her longtime crush, fellow roving musician Adam Dean. With Bird’s star on the rise, though, tradition and ambition collide. Can Bird break out while staying true to her roots?
In a world of glamour and gold records, a young country music star finds her voice.
Wildflower by Alecia Whitaker will be available July 1 from Little, Brown. 
The Maze Runner meets Hatchet in this sci-fi adventure with a surprise twist ending that no one will see coming.

Survive one world. Save another.

Ana wakes on a barren alien world. The instructions in her pocket tell her that she must survive a trek across Paradox in less than 28 hours.

Mission? Check.
Weapons? Check.
Memory? Missing….

Meeting up with three other teens-including one boy who seems strangely familiar-Ana treks across the inhospitable landscape, occasionally encountering odd twists of light that carry glimpses of people back on Earth. They’re fighting some sort of disease, and the situation is critical. What’s the connection between Ana’s mission and the crisis back on Earth, and how is she supposed to figure it out when she can’t remember anything?

Paradox by A. J. Paquette is available now, though it’s getting a new cover in September when it releases in paperback.
Paranormalcy meets Heist Society in this new twist on ghosts from #1 New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike, which School Library Journal called a “whirlwind adventure full of secrets, lies, unlikely friendships, and romance.”

Kimberlee thought she was doomed to haunt the halls of her high school for eternity…until she met Jeff.
Life After Theft by Aprilynne Pike is available now. 
Lisa McMann’s Wake trilogy meets the blockbuster Inception in this dark page-turner from #1 New York Times bestselling author Aprilynne Pike.

Oracles see the future but are never supposed to interfere. Charlotte learned that the hard way. If she hadn’t tried to change one of her childhood visions, her father would still be alive. Since the accident, Charlotte has suppressed her visions to avoid making the same mistake. But when she receives a premonition of a classmate’s murder, she can no longer ignore her powerful gift.

Then Charlotte meets someone who not only knows her secret but who also has a way for her to stop the killer. He offers to teach her how to manipulate her visions to change the future. But doing so will put Charlotte in the path of the murderer.…



Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike will be available April 9 from HarperTeen. 
It’s interesting to me this isn’t the first book Pike’s had a “meets” pitch for, and it’s interesting it’s not the first “meets” pitch to use Lisa McMann as a comparison. 
If I Stay meets the movie Ghost in this first book in a teen duology about a teenage-girl-turned-ghost who must cling to the echoes of her former life to save the people she left behind.

When Callie’s life is cut short by a tragic accident, she expects to find nothingness, or maybe some version of heaven.

Instead, her spirit travels to the Prism, an ethereal plane populated by the ghosts she thought were fictional. Here she meets a striking and mysterious ghost named Thatcher, who is meant to guide her as she learns to haunt and bring peace to the loved ones she left behind.

However, Callie uncovers a dark secret about the spirit world: The angry souls who always populate ghost stories are real, dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay on Earth, threatening the existence of everyone she ever cared about.

As she fights to save them, Callie will learn that while it may no longer beat, her heart can still love-and break.

Ashes to Ashes by Melissa Walker is available now.

Number the Stars meets Code Name Verity in Anne Blankman’s harrowing and evocative debut.

In 1930s Munich, danger lurks behind dark corners and secrets are buried deep within the city. But Gretchen Müller, who grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her uncle Dolf, has always been shielded from that side of society. Uncle Dolf has kept Gretchen’s family in his cherished inner circle ever since her father traded his life for Dolf’s, and Gretchen is his favorite, his pet.

Uncle Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler. And Gretchen follows his every command.

Until she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen, who claims that her father, the adored Nazi martyr, was actually murdered by an unknown comrade.

As Gretchen investigates the very people she always considered friends, she must decide where her loyalties lie. Will she choose the safety of life as a Nazi darling or will she dare to dig up the truth-even if it could get her and Daniel killed? 

House of Night and Fog by Anne Blankman will be available April 22 from Balzer and Bray.

The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge…no matter how far it takes her.

Amelie Ainsworth is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Amelie’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Amelie knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Amelie’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Amelie’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Amelie’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Amelie will have to decide which is worse: denying the only man she might ever love, or subjecting him to the fate the Furies want for him?

Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland is available now.

Cold cases are about to get hot. The Mentalist meets Heist Society in this exhilarating teen crime thriller.

Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But, it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides-especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms close. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.

Think The Mentalist meets Pretty Little Liars – Jennifer Lynn-Barnes’ The Naturals is a gripping psychological thriller with killer appeal, a to-die-for romance, and the bones of a gritty and compelling new series.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is available now. I think it’s interesting this one got TWO x-meets-y descriptions in the summary. 

Graceling meets The Lion King in this powerful high-fantasy debut YA novel.

Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.

But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he is persistent-and darkly attractive-and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by the Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.

When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival-and vengeance-might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

In her arresting debut novel, Livia Blackburne creates a captivating world where intrigue prowls around every corner-and danger is a way of life.

Midnight Thief by Liv Blackburne will be available July 8 from Disney-Hyperion. 
Inception meets Unearthly in this hot romance for fans of Meg Cabot’s Abandon Series!

Sixteen-year-old Iris has a recurring dream— about a long corridor of many doors, and behind each door a hidden world—some magical, some terrifying. But always she is searching for the man who calls to her—the man of her dreams—who knows everything about her, who stirs feelings in her that she’s never felt before. When she discovers her father is actually the god of dreams, her nightmares and dreams follow her into reality, with both frightening and romantic results. Hunted by the god of nightmares, stalked by the horrifying creatures of the underworld, Iris must try to navigate both of her worlds, as she tries finally to be with Sebastian, the man of her dreams. Can she triumph over the dangers that have haunted her forever, and be with Sebastian, or will terrors ultimately destroy them both?

In Dreams by Erica Orloff is available now from Speak. Is it bad I don’t even know what Unearthly is off the top of my head?
Pretty Little Liars meets Final Destination in this YA psychological thriller that will have readers’ hearts racing right till the very end!

Every year, the lives of ten girls at Vienna High are transformed.

All because of the list.

Kenzie Summerall can’t imagine how she’s been voted onto a list of the hottest girls in school, but when she lands at number five, her average life becomes dazzling. Doors open to the best parties, new friends surround her, the cutest jock in school is after her.

This is the power of the list. If you’re on it, your life changes.

If you’re on it this year? Your life ends.



They All Fall Down by Roxanne St. Claire will be available October 14 from Delacorte.
Pretty Little Liars meets Heist Society in this thrilling and flirtatious caper about a high school girl whose innocent game of Robin Hood spirals way out of control.

Pretty Crooked is Elisa Ludwig’s feisty debut and the first in a trilogy about teen outlaw Willa Fox. With a daring heroine who has the pluck to stand up to bullying, a string of clever heists, a flirtatious romance, and a dramatic ending that will leave readers eager to snatch up its sequel, Pretty Crooked is perfect for fans of Sarah Mlynowski, Ally Carter, or Sara Shepard. 

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig is available now, though the new paperback cover, as seen above, will be available February 18. 

Are any of the X-Meets-Y pitches here appealing to you as a reader? Any favorites? Any head-scratchers? I’d love to know! 

Comics You Should Be Reading: Captain Marvel by Kelly Sue DeConnick

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I don’t read a lot of superhero comics. They’ve always seemed too difficult to really dive in to. There’s a ton of history with each character, and that’s incredibly daunting for a newbie. And then if you decide to be thorough and read up on all that history, it’s usually not very kind to females.

Enter Carol Danvers. Or, rather, the re-emergence of Carol Danvers. Previously, she was a superhero named Ms. Marvel, a woman who gained her powers thanks to a freak accident with Captain Marvel, a member of an alien race called the Kree. But now Captain Marvel has died, and Carol has to decide whether to take up the name (not-a-spoiler: she does). What’s extra-nice about all this background is that it’s reviewed in the comics themselves, which makes this story arc an excellent diving-in point.

So right off the bat there are huge issues of identity for Captain Marvel to contend with. While she struggles with this, she also has to deal with being a member of the Avengers and all that entails (saving the world, that kind of thing). Oh, and then there’s a small matter of time travel, where she finds herself in the year 1943, on a battlefield, facing down an all-female group of soldiers. We have huge issues of character alongside hugely entertaining plots, and what more could you ask for in a comic?

Captain Marvel as written by Kelly Sue DeConnick has garnered a loyal and very vocal following. It’s difficult to see a lot of female superheroes in comics, with their disproportionate bodies and fondness for nudity and flat characterization, as anything other than straight male fantasies. The re-launch of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel (with a similar relaunch of her costume to a character-appropriate flightsuit!) smashes those preconceptions. This is a very feminist comic, not because the title character is always talking about feminist issues, but because she is an actual woman – you know, a person, with strengths and hangups like all the other women of my acquaintance. Plus she can fly.

The Cybils don’t honor a lot of superhero comics in their graphic novel categories, but they’ve named the first volume of Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel a finalist for the YA age group this year. It’s well-deserved. The book is well-written, exciting, with plenty of witty dialogue and complex relationships. I liked first artist Dexter Soy’s work on the book more than second artist Emma Rios’, but even my apathy toward Rios’ art didn’t detract from the story.

Marvel is re-launching Captain Marvel yet again with a Captain Marvel #1 this March (DeConnick is still writing and the character is still Carol Danvers, it’s just the beginning of a new story arc and a marketing thing. As a comics newbie I still find this strange). This means the issues from the initial relaunch in 2012 through then make a perfect beginning-to-end story. Comics newbies wanting to dip their toes into the format have no excuse. Or if you want to start completely fresh and clean, reading what everyone else will be reading, start with the upcoming March issue. The cover is very pretty, don’t you think?

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher (& a giveaway!)

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Emily’s father came home after a trip out to the woods — somewhere he went regularly — and he had the body of a teen girl in his arms.

She was dead.

It doesn’t take long before police arrive and Emily’s father’s put into jail, accused of murdering the girl. He was the only one it could be, right? But Emily has more questions than answers, though she is positive her dad was in no way responsible for killing Ashlee. Sure, he might suffer PTSD and he might not always be in his rightest of minds, but her father isn’t a killer and no way will she let him be locked up for the crime he didn’t commit.

Welcome to Lucy Christopher’s The Killing Woods.

Damon is the boyfriend of the girl — Ashlee — who was found in the woods. He’s at peace with the idea that the person who killed Ashlee has been found, but he’s not at all at peace with how she died in the first place. Worse, he feels immense guilt because when she died, he was too drunk and high from their playing “the Game” to know up from down or even be aware of what was happening around him.

All he knows is that they went into the woods and she didn’t come out alive.

Christopher’s novel is told in alternating view points, both of which are full of desperation. Emily determined to clear her father’s name from the crime and Damon, determined to find out just what happened and how Ashlee died. Emily and Damon aren’t coming together on this; quite the opposite, in fact. School’s turning into a real hell hole from Emily, as people see what they believe her father did as somehow something she should have to suffer for further.

But even if the two of them aren’t coming together, Emily and Damon will come together, when they realize that the only way to put the entire story to bed is if they figure out the timeline of events. Who was really in the woods? What really happened to Ashlee? What role did Emily’s dad actually play in her death, if any at all? The novel is built upon the two of them investigating this independently but it’s when they have to piece it together collaboratively that the tensions and stakes rise even higher.

The woods in Christopher’s novel are exceptionally depicted. Part of why the woods matter so much is because of what they meant to Emily’s father. The woods contained an old bunker, and he liked to spend his time in there. Maybe “liked to spend his time there” is a bit misleading. Emily’s father felt somewhat comforted by the bunker’s presence. As readers who know anything about mental illness know, what helps a person doesn’t always make the most sense. In this case, it doesn’t seem clear why her father would be comforted by a bunker, but at the same time, it makes perfect sense.

Damon and his friends weren’t strangers to the woods themselves. In fact, they enjoyed the sprawling, somewhat odd, woods because of how it afforded them the chance to play “the Game.” The game was one that let them show off their masculinity. Their power. Helped them train to become tough guys and strong guys. It would be a nice means of getting them prepped were they ever to want to join the military because they’d be prepared physically — and mentally. And the day Ashlee died, she was playing the game with them as well. Except her version of the game differed from their version of the game. And the day Ashlee died, the game involved a little more partying from the boys than it did usually.

And the day Ashlee died, more secrets spilled out than ever before.

Perhaps Damon and Ashlee weren’t exclusive.

Perhaps Ashlee wasn’t a victim of Emily’s father’s hands.

Perhaps Ashlee was a victim of . . . herself.

Don’t want to be spoiled? Go ahead and skip down to the paragraph beginning with a “*.” Because from here on it, it’s all spoilers since there is a lot I want to talk about which can’t be tackled without spoiling the reveal.

As it turns out, Ashlee wasn’t killed by Emily’s father. Nor was she killed by something that Damon did. Throughout the book, we see both of their stories, and we worry about whether Damon’s being drunk and high when she died played a big role in what happened and we worry at times that Emily’s father really did commit the crime. Christopher is savvy in how she builds her evidence for both sides, and because both teens are well-voiced and their passion for answers strong, there are enough faults in logic in each of their tellings that it seems maybe what they hoped wasn’t true really is. For a long time, I bought more into Damon being responsible, though at times I saw where Emily’s father was responsible, too. This is great story crafting, and it compelled me to keep pushing forward to figure out who the responsible party really was. But better — I hoped neither of those possibilities was the actual explanation.

And neither were.

Even though we’re given a pretty big picture of the story through two sets of eyes and two perspectives, what we aren’t knowledgeable of is what ends up playing the biggest role in the resolution: we don’t know Ashlee. We know of her. We know she played the Game. We know she was Damon’s girlfriend. We know they were sexually active and involved and we know how much that mattered to Damon. But beyond that, we’re not keen on who she was or what her goals or desires were.

Until there’s a break and we learn that maybe Ashlee wasn’t entirely sympathetic. That maybe she harbored some really dark secrets. That maybe she wasn’t exactly as faithful to Damon as Damon was to her.

Because Ashlee liked attention and she liked the attention of boys who’d give it to her. Especially when those boys were playing their Game. Especially when she could get a boy alone and let him play her game.

Although it’s well-written and plays into a bigger, quite interesting, theme about emerging sexuality and experimentation with adulthood (drugs, drinking, the Game’s goals of building and bulking up), where Christopher’s story falls apart a bit for me is when we get the big Ashlee reveal. Her game was the choking game. She lived for the high of being choked and passing out. In many ways, it’s written to be equivalent in terms of a high as reaching orgasm. It was the height of pleasure and thrill for her, and that she could convince boys to do this to her, it was even more of a high to her. Ashlee’s death happened because the boy she convinced to choke her managed to hurt her more than intended — either by her or by him. Emily’s father comes into the picture when he tried to rescue her from the woods and resuscitate her. Because her father had been in the bunker and managed to figure out there was a girl he could try to save in a way that he’d failed to save when he was himself at war. This was his shot at redemption for past actions (again, handled exceptionally well knowing that this was his means of making sense of PTSD through his PTSD-suffering mind).

What seems like a logical explanation for what happened doesn’t entirely fit the voice of the story nor does it work for me in terms of the ages of the characters. The choking game is very juvenile: it’s the kind of thing teens experiment with in middle school and something that — at least in my experience — becomes a warning to kids very early on in their lives. I don’t like to self-insert when it comes to review writing and suggest my experience is universal, but I think most teens who are 16 or 17 or 18 are well beyond the point of finding the choking game the kind of rush that Ashlee might. And while Christopher does a good job of building it against the idea of sexuality, thus aging it up, I don’t necessarily buy it. I don’t want to say it felt convenient because it didn’t — the writing and storytelling allow this explanation to be right — I don’t buy it. I wonder how teens would feel about this explanation. Would it feel too juvenile to them? Or would it make sense to them and feel like it was written right at them?

* While I didn’t buy the explanation, I thought the strong writing, the compelling characters, and the pacing of this book make it a great read. It’s crafted smartly, and I loved how much want there was in this story. At no point was there a lull because every scene involved a character desperately seeking something: an answer, a resolution, a connection. There’s no saggy middle.

Like in her Stolen, Christopher gives us characters who have a lot going on internally and who struggle with their ethical and situational choices. She knows how to write moral ambiguity and that shines through. The characters grow and change their minds, and even when the explanation comes through, what resonates with The Killing Woods isn’t the “how it happened,” but instead, “how they grew.” Damon changes significantly throughout the book, and at the end, he realizes what it is he really needs to move forward. Emily discovers the depths of her father’s own illness throughout and it helps her in the end better connect with him in a way she was never able to before.

The Killing Woods will appeal to readers who loved Stolen and who love stories where nothing is quite as it seems. This is a character-driven thriller, and there’s a lot of respect paid to teenagers coming into their own. Emily and Damon aren’t necessarily characters you like as a reader, but they’re characters you come to care about because their stories are interesting and honest. Readers who loved Carrie Mesrobian’s Sex & Violence or Stephanie Kuehn’s Charm & Strange will find this an excellent next-read in terms of character and voice, as well as for their explorations of violence and sexuality and masculinity and more. Readers who liked Laurie Halse Anderson’s The Impossible Knife of Memory, especially the aspects regarding how Hayley’s father’s PTSD impacted her and her family will find this book to be complementary — there are some neat parallels between the two books. There’s more mystery to The Killing Woods, but it’s the characters who resonate (and make up for the aforementioned misstep in the “what really happened” aspect of the story).

Readers who like their realistic YA with a darker edge have been treated lately to a lot of great stuff, and Christopher’s book will further satisfy those readers.

Want your own copy of The Killing Woods? Thanks to Scholastic, I’ve got two copies to give away to a US reader. Fill out the form and I’ll pull two winners at the end of the month.

A Cybils Retrospective

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I’m deep in my reading for the Cybils, which means a lot of what I’ve been reading lately can’t be discussed (at least not yet). I thought it might be fun to revisit some older Cybils titles, particularly some SFF finalists from the years before I got involved as a judge. One of the things I like best about Cybils finalists is they almost always include a few books that flew under the radar; I love that the Cybils can help these books find a larger audience. Unless otherwise stated, links lead to my reviews.

2012

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst was a finalist in 2012. I loved this unique desert-set fantasy which featured creative world-building, beautiful writing, a living religion, and a complicated, three-dimensional person of color as the protagonist. (Much less importantly, the cover is gorgeous.) Read my full review here.

2011

This was my first year as a judge for the SFF category, which means I’ve read all the titles. I enjoyed Blood Red Road, our winner, quite a lot, but Karen Healey’s The Shattering holds a special place in my heart. It demonstrates the tremendous ability fantasy has to reveal truths about our own world. Highly recommended and will make you want to read everything Healey has ever written.

Misfit by Jon Skovron was a wonderful surprise this year. It’s a paranormal fantasy with a little extra bite to it, a book that pushes the boundaries a little, which I always appreciate. The secondary story featuring the teen protagonist’s parents is heartbreaking, too.

Red Glove by Holly Black introduced me to the world of magical mobsters, a mini-trend which still seems to be going strong in YA fiction. Black’s series deals in very real terms with the consequences of magic – which is, of course, representative of the consequences of our actions in general. The idea of magical “blowback” is well-done and used creatively. I highly recommend this series for fans of contemporary fantasy.

2010

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry is a book I can honestly say I would never have picked up if it weren’t for the Cybils. This is a zombie story done right: it focuses on the human characters while also giving us some high-stakes thrills. Benny’s voice is spot-on teen, too, which isn’t always the case in apocalyptic stories, where our protagonists often sound older than their years. This was the winner in 2010.

I read Plain Kate by Erin Bow without knowing it was a Cybils finalist. Many readers loved it, but I was pretty tepid toward it. Even now, I have a hard time even remembering what it was about. I do remember that Kate was always referred to as Plain Kate, rather than just her name – Kate – and that irritated me. Not all books will be winners for everyone. Jen reviewed this title and obviously liked it quite a lot more than I did.

2009

Lips Touch is the book that got me hooked on Laini Taylor’s writing. I don’t normally go for short stories, but this collection featuring three stories/novellas about magical kisses (and not necessarily nice ones) looked so darn beautiful (with illustrations by Jim DiBartolo), I had to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. The writing is gorgeous, approaching the feel of poetry. I never reviewed this one here, but I did on Goodreads: “Contrary
to a few of my friends’ opinions, I thought the third story was the
strongest (I loved all three). And the artwork rocked.” 

2008

I listened to Airman by Eoin Colfer on audio and it was excellent. Lots of adventure, a bit of humor, some fun accents – what’s not to love? The protagonist is a boy who was born in a hot air balloon while being shot at from the ground, and that sets the tone for the entire story.

Elizabeth Bunce’s A Curse Dark as Gold is another that I didn’t love, but got great acclaim from others (including the inaugural Morris award). I found this re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale too slow to really get lost in. In fact, I gave up before I finished it. You can read a somewhat rambling analysis of my dislike for the book here.

This was also the year of Graceling and the Hunger Games, and I’m sure you all know by now my opinions on those books. (Hint: positive)

2007

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale is a book that helped rekindle my love of YA. I read it for a YA class in library school and loved it. It was my first and favorite of Shannon Hale’s books. I love the diary format and that it’s a re-telling of a lesser known fairy tale (Maid Maleen). This isn’t usually high up on people’s list of favorite Hale books, but it’s certainly mine.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher is another book that fell flat for me. The concept – a living, sentient prison – is certainly unique, but the book was just a slog for me. Perhaps it’s my affinity for fast-paced stories that prevented me from loving this one. My Goodreads review sums up my feelings in a very pithy manner: “So bizarre and way too long.”

2006 was the inaugural year, and I haven’t read any of the finalists from the SFF category. This was the year that the Book Thief was a finalist in the YA fiction category, though, so I’d say the awards started off right.