YA Books Set In Austin, Texas

February 11, 2019 |

Long-time STACKED readers know the backstory of how Kimberly and I began blogging together: we were both at the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Information and decided to start writing about YA books. We didn’t have the best class on YA there, and we were eager to have a place to talk about books we loved with fellow readers, librarians, and educators.

Austin has been making more and more appearances in YA lit since the time Kimberly wrote this great round-up of YA books set in Texas’s Capital, so it seemed fitting to highlight some of them.

Find below a range of YA books set in Austin, Texas. I’ve read most of these, though not all of them. I’ve included descriptions from Goodreads, as they offer a little more insight into the greater story than WorldCat typically does.

Know of any other YA books set in Austin not covered here or in Kimberly’s post from five years ago? Drop ’em in the comments.

YA Books Set In Austin, Texas

Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.

Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.

When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.

Yet, against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris. Be it loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making. He even starts playing actual hockey with these Texans.

But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.

Lies You Never Told Me by Jennifer Donaldson

Gabe and Elyse have never met. But they both have something to hide.

Quiet, shy Elyse can’t believe it when she’s cast as the lead in her Portland high school’s production of Romeo and Juliet. Her best friend, Brynn, is usually the star, and Elyse isn’t sure she’s up to the task. But when someone at rehearsals starts to catch her eye–someone she knows she absolutely shouldn’t be with–she can’t help but be pulled into the spotlight.

Austin native Gabe is contemplating the unthinkable–breaking up with Sasha, his headstrong, popular girlfriend. She’s not going to let him slip through her fingers, though, and when rumors start to circulate around school, he knows she has the power to change his life forever.

Gabe and Elyse both make the mistake of falling for the wrong person, and falling hard. Told in parallel narratives, this twisty, shocking story shows how one bad choice can lead to a spiral of unforeseen consequences that not everyone will survive.

Love, Inc. by Yvonne Collins and Sandy Rideout

Zahra, Kali, and Syd would never have met if their parents’ marriages hadn’t fallen apart. But when the three girls collide in group counseling, they discover they have something else in common: they’ve each been triple-timed by the same nefarious charmer, Eric, aka Rico, aka Rick. Talk about eye-opening therapy. Cheerful, diplomatic Zahra is devastated. Rico had been her rock and sole confidant. How could she have missed the signs? Folksy, flirtatious Kali feels almost as bad. She and Rick had only been on a few dates, but they’d felt so promising. Hardened vintage-vixen Syd is beyond tears. She and Eric had real history… Or so she’d thought. Now all three girls have one mission: to show that cheater the folly of his ways. Project Payback is such a success, the girls soon have clients lining up for their consulting services. Is your boyfriend acting shady? Dying to know if your crush is into you? Need match-making expertise? Look no further than Love, Inc.

Lucky Few by Kathryn Ormsbee

Stevie, Max, and Sanger: keeping Austin weird.

Stevie Hart is homeschooled, but don’t hold that against her. Sure, she and her best (okay, only) friend, Sanger, will never be prom queens, but that’s just because the Central Austin Homeschool Cooperative doesn’t believe in proms. Or dancing. Still, Stevie and Sanger know how to create their own brand of fun.

Enter Max Garza, the new boy next door. After a near-fatal accident, Max is determined to defy mortality with a checklist: 23 Ways to Fake My Death Without Dying. Dead set on carrying out fabricated demises ranging from impalement to spontaneous combustion, Max charms Stevie and Sanger into helping him with this two-month macabre mission. But as Stevie finds herself falling for Max, it becomes increasingly difficult to draw a line between his make-believe deaths and her real life.

A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

Nidali narrates the story of her childhood in Kuwait, her teenage years in Egypt, and her family’s last flight to Texas, offering a humorous, sharp but loving portrait of an eccentric middle-class family.

Nidali, the rebellious daughter of an Egyptian-Greek mother and a Palestinian father, narrates the story of her childhood in Kuwait, her teenage years in Egypt (to where she and her family fled the 1990 Iraqi invasion), and her family’s last flight to Texas. Nidali mixes humor with a sharp, loving portrait of an eccentric middle-class family, and this perspective keeps her buoyant through the hardships she encounters: the humiliation of going through a checkpoint on a visit to her father’s home in the West Bank; the fights with her father, who wants her to become a famous professor and stay away from boys; the end of her childhood as Iraq invades Kuwait on her thirteenth birthday; and the scare she gives her family when she runs away from home.

Funny, charming, and heartbreaking, A Map of Home is the kind of book Tristram Shandy or Huck Finn would have narrated had they been born Egyptian-Palestinian and female in the 1970s.

The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork

16-year-old Vicky Cruz wakes up in a hospital’s mental ward after a failed suicide attempt. Now she must find a path to recovery – and perhaps rescue some others along the way.

When Vicky Cruz wakes up in the Lakeview Hospital Mental Disorders ward, she knows one thing: After her suicide attempt, she shouldn’t be alive. But then she meets Mona, the live wire; Gabriel, the saint; E.M., always angry; and Dr. Desai, a quiet force. With stories and honesty, kindness and hard work, they push her to reconsider her life before Lakeview, and offer her an acceptance she’s never had.

But Vicky’s newfound peace is as fragile as the roses that grow around the hospital. And when a crisis forces the group to split up, sending Vick back to the life that drove her to suicide, she must try to find her own courage and strength. She may not have them. She doesn’t know.

Inspired in part by the author’s own experience with depression, The Memory of Light is the rare young adult novel that focuses not on the events leading up to a suicide attempt, but the recovery from one – about living when life doesn’t seem worth it, and how we go on anyway.

Select by Marit Weisenberg

Coming from a race of highly-evolved humans, Julia Jaynes has the perfect life. The perfect family. The perfect destiny. But there’s something rotten beneath the surface—dangerous secrets her father is keeping; abilities she was never meant to have; and an elite society of people determined to keep their talents hidden and who care nothing for the rest of humanity. So when Julia accidentally disrupts the Jaynes’ delicate anonymity, she’s banished to the one place meant to make her feel inferior: public high school.

Julia’s goal is to lay low and blend in. Then she meets him—John Ford, tennis prodigy, all-around good guy. When Julia discovers a knack for reading his mind, and also manipulating his life, school suddenly becomes a temporary escape from the cold grip of her manipulative father. But as Julia’s powers over John grow, so do her feelings. For the first time in her life, Julia begins to develop a sense of self, to question her restrictive upbringing and her family prejudices. She must decide: can a perfect love be worth more than a perfect life?

2019: The Fat Girl Gets Her Cover

February 4, 2019 |

It took way too many years to get to this place. It’s far from perfect, of course, but it’s progress nonetheless. I’ve been writing about the lack of fat girls on YA book covers (or their portrayals vis a vis food) since 2009. We’ve had some progress in the last few years, even if we’re still seeing the portrayal of fatness in YA in less-than-great ways.

One thing I didn’t highlight in those posts — and something absolutely worth making note of — is that not only do we see a lack of fat girls on YA covers. We’ve seen a lack of fat girls of color. What looks like a problem from the top is, of course, “from the top” of racial power. It’s even worse and more insidious for people of color, who’ve so rarely been on the covers, let alone allowed to be anything other than the white ideal of thinness when given the cover treatment.

It is getting better.

Let’s highlight some of the amazing covers featuring fat girls across the range of skin tones who’ll be getting the cover treatment in 2019. I’m making the covers big on this one so we can enjoy them, and I’ve included book descriptions below from Goodreads. I hope we continue to see more of this and it gets to the point where it’s no longer novel and worth highlighting in a round-up and instead, it’s so abundant that it doesn’t need to be a thing to celebrate because it’s simply the norm.

Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution by EE Charlton-Trujillo

Sophomore year has just begun, and Angie is miserable. Her girlfriend, KC, has moved away; her good friend, Jake, is keeping his distance; and the resident bully has ramped up an increasingly vicious and targeted campaign to humiliate her. An over-the-top statue dedication planned for her sister, who died in Iraq, is almost too much to bear, and it doesn’t help that her mother has placed a symbolic empty urn on their mantel. At the ceremony, a soldier hands Angie a final letter from her sister, including a list of places she wanted the two of them to visit when she got home from the war. With her mother threatening to send Angie to a “treatment center” and the situation at school becoming violent, Angie enlists the help of her estranged childhood friend, Jamboree. Along with a few other outsiders, they pack into an RV and head across the state on the road trip Angie’s sister did not live to take. It might be just what Angie needs to find a way to let her sister go, and find herself in the process.

If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann

High school finally behind her, Winnie is all set to attend college in the fall. But first she’s spending her summer days working at her granny’s diner and begins spending her midnights with Dallas—the boy she loves to hate and hates that she likes. Winnie lives in Misty Haven, a small town where secrets are impossible to keep—like when Winnie allegedly snaps on Dr. Skinner, which results in everyone feeling compelled to give her weight loss advice for her own good. Because they care that’s she’s “too fat.”

Winnie dreams of someday inheriting the diner—but it’ll go away if they can’t make money, and fast. Winnie has a solution—win a televised cooking competition and make bank. But Granny doesn’t want her to enter—so Winnie has to find a way around her formidable grandmother. Can she come out on top?

Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian

It’s 1989 in New York City, and for three teens, the world is changing.

Reza is an Iranian boy who has just moved to the city with his mother to live with his stepfather and stepbrother. He’s terrified that someone will guess the truth he can barely acknowledge about himself. Reza knows he’s gay, but all he knows of gay life are the media’s images of men dying of AIDS.

Judy is an aspiring fashion designer who worships her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS who devotes his time to activism as a member of ACT UP. Judy has never imagined finding romance…until she falls for Reza and they start dating.

Art is Judy’s best friend, their school’s only out and proud teen. He’ll never be who his conservative parents want him to be, so he rebels by documenting the AIDS crisis through his photographs.

As Reza and Art grow closer, Reza struggles to find a way out of his deception that won’t break Judy’s heart–and destroy the most meaningful friendship he’s ever known.

No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter

No Big Deal tells the story of Emily, a fat teenager who is perfectly happy with her body, thank you very much. With a mum signing up to new fad diets every week, and friends who appear to be having grown-up sexual relationships, Emily faces the constant battle to stay strong and not conform to society’s idealistic image of a young woman. Can she remain the strong feminist (with a great sense of style) that she is and retain her identity as a happy fat girl?

There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon

Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After he’s dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson (paperback)

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.

Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagen

Jasmine and Chelsea are sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women’s Rights Club. They post everything online—poems, essays, videos of Chelsea performing her poetry, and Jasmine’s response to the racial macroaggressions she experiences—and soon they go viral. But with such positive support, the club is also targeted by online trolls. When things escalate, the principal shuts the club down. Jasmine and Chelsea will risk everything for their voices—and those of other young women—to be heard.

January 2019 Debut YA Books

January 28, 2019 |

A new year means a brand new year full of debut YA novels. Let’s take a look at January debut YA books.

This round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past. Authors who have self-published are not included here either.

All descriptions are from Goodreads, unless otherwise noted; I’ve found Goodreads descriptions to offer better insight to what a book is about over WorldCat. If I’m missing any debuts that came out in January from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie/small presses are okay — let me know in the comments.

As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles. List is arranged alphabetically by title, with publication dates in parentheses. Starred titles are the beginning of a new series.

January 2019 Debut YA Novels

The Birds, The Bees, and You and Me by Olivia Hinebaugh (1/22)

Seventeen-year-old Lacey Burke is the last person on the planet who should be doling out sex advice. For starters, she’s never even kissed anyone, and she hates breaking the rules. Up until now, she’s been a straight-A music geek that no one even notices. All she cares about is jamming out with her best friends, Theo and Evita.

But then everything changes.

When Lacey sees first-hand how much damage the abstinence-only sex-ed curriculum of her school can do, she decides to take a stand and starts doling out wisdom and contraception to anyone who seeks her out in the girls’ restroom. But things with Theo become complicated quickly, and Lacey is soon not just keeping everyone else’s secrets, but hers as well.

The Dead Queens Club by Hannah Capin (1/29)

What do a future ambassador, an overly ambitious Francophile, a hospital-volunteering Girl Scout, the new girl from Cleveland, the junior cheer captain, and the vice president of the debate club have in common? It sounds like the ridiculously long lead-up to an astoundingly absurd punchline, right? Except it’s not. Well, unless my life is the joke, which is kind of starting to look like a possibility given how beyond soap opera it’s been since I moved to Lancaster. But anyway, here’s your answer: we’ve all had the questionable privilege of going out with Lancaster High School’s de facto king. Otherwise known as my best friend. Otherwise known as the reason I’ve already helped steal a car, a jet ski, and one hundred spray-painted water bottles when it’s not even Christmas break yet. Otherwise known as Henry. Jersey number 8.

Meet Cleves. Girlfriend number four and the narrator of The Dead Queens Club, a young adult retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. Cleves is the only girlfriend to come out of her relationship with Henry unscathed—but most breakups are messy, right? And sometimes tragic accidents happen…twice…

A Field Guide To The North American Teenager by Ben Philippe (1/8)

The Girl King by Mimi Yu* (1/8)

All hail the Girl King.

Sisters Lu and Min have always understood their places as princesses of the Empire. Lu knows she is destined to become the dynasty’s first female ruler, while Min is resigned to a life in her shadow. Then their father declares their male cousin Set the heir instead—a betrayal that sends the sisters down two very different paths.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu goes on the run. She needs an ally—and an army—if she is to succeed. Her quest leads her to Nokhai, the last surviving wolf shapeshifter. Nok wants to keep his identity secret, but finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with the girl whose family killed everyone he ever loved…

Alone in the volatile court, Min’s hidden power awakens—a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set’s reign…or allow Min to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one Emperor, and the sisters’ greatest enemy could turn out to be each other.

Just for Clicks by Kara J. McDowell (1/29)

Mommy blogs are great . . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom.

Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they’re expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as “just Claire”? And what should Claire do about Mom’s old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don’t sound like Mom’s perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life might be nothing but a sham . . .

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan (1/29)

Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations, but lately she’s finding that harder and harder to do. She rolls her eyes instead of screaming when they blatantly favor her brother and she dresses conservatively at home, saving her crop tops and makeup for parties her parents don’t know about. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life in Seattle and her new life at Caltech, where she can pursue her dream of becoming an engineer.

But when her parents catch her kissing her girlfriend Ariana, all of Rukhsana’s plans fall apart. Her parents are devastated; being gay may as well be a death sentence in the Bengali community. They immediately whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh, where she is thrown headfirst into a world of arranged marriages and tradition. Only through reading her grandmother’s old diary is Rukhsana able to gain some much needed perspective.

Rukhsana realizes she must find the courage to fight for her love, but can she do so without losing everyone and everything in her life?

Match Me If You Can by Tiana Smith (1/8)

Mia’s best friend Robyn is known for her matchmaking skills, which is perfect, because homecoming is just around the corner. But Robyn refuses to set Mia up with the guy of her dreams, which forces Mia to take matters into her own hands. She uses Robyn’s matchmaking service to make sure popular Vince Demetrius falls for her.

Vince asks her out, but Mia doesn’t count on Logan, the persistent school newspaper photographer who seems to like her out of the blue. Now she has to choose between Vince – the guy she knows is right for her – and Logan, who insists that she give him a chance. And she needs to make sure Robyn doesn’t find out that Mia’s been matchmaking behind her back.

Mia has two weeks before homecoming. Can she fix the mess she made or will she have to kiss her perfect match goodbye forever?

The Similars by Rebecca Hanover* (1/1)

The Similars are all anyone can talk about at the elite Darkwood Academy. Who are these six clones? What are the odds that all of them would be Darkwood students? Who is the madman who broke the law to create them? Emma couldn’t care less. Her best friend, Oliver, died over the summer and all she can think about is how to get through her junior year without him. Then she comes face-to-heartbreaking-face with Levi—Oliver’s exact DNA replica and one of the Similars.

Emma wants nothing to do with the Similars, but she keeps getting pulled deeper and deeper into their clique, uncovering dark truths about the clones and her prestigious school along the way. But no one can be trusted…not even the boy she is falling for who has Oliver’s face.

A Sky for Us Alone by Kristin Russell (1/8)

In Strickland County, there isn’t a lot of anything to go around. But when eighteen-year-old Harlowe Compton’s brother is killed by the Praters—the family who controls everything, from the mines to the law—he wonders if the future will ever hold more than loss. Until he meets Tennessee Moore.

With Tennessee, Harlowe feels for the first time that something good might happen, that he might’ve found the rarest thing of all: hope. Even as she struggles with the worst of the cards she’s been dealt, Tennessee makes Harlowe believe that they can dare to forge their own path—if they only give it a shot.

But as Harlowe searches for the answers behind his brother’s death, his town’s decay, and his family’s dysfunction, he discovers truths about the people he loves—and himself—that are darker than he ever expected. Now, Harlowe realizes, there’s no turning back.

A powerful story of first love, poverty, and the grip of the opioid crisis in the rural South, Kristin Russell’s gorgeous debut novel asks a universal question: When hope seems lost, are dreams worth the risk?

When The Truth Unravels by Ruthanne Snow (1/8)

Last month, Elin tried to kill herself.

She knows she’s lucky that her parents found her in time. Lucky to be going to prom with her three best friends, like any other teen. Like it never happened. And if she has anything to say about it, no one but her best friends will ever know it did.

Jenna, Rosie, and Ket will do anything to keep Elin’s secret—and to make sure it never happens again. That’s why they’re determined to make prom the perfect night. The night that convinces Elin that life is worth living.

Except, at prom, Elin goes missing.

Now it’s up to her friends to find her. But each of the girls has her own demons to face. Ket is being blackmailed by an ex. Rosie is falling in love for the first time. And Jenna . . .

Jenna is falling apart.

And no one, not even her best friends, knows why.

Heart-wrenching and utterly impossible to put down, When the Truth Unravels follows four friends as they confront their greatest hopes and darkest secrets in one life-changing night.

White Stag by Kara Barbieri (1/8)

As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.

Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.

Through every battle they survive, Janneke’s loyalty to Soren deepens. After dangerous truths are revealed, Janneke must choose between holding on or letting go of her last connections to a world she no longer belongs to. She must make the right choice to save the only thing keeping both worlds from crumbling.

Early 2019 YA Nonfiction Books To Put On Your TBR

January 14, 2019 |

With the new year comes a new crop of exciting nonfiction for young adults. Find below a list of upcoming nonfiction YA books hitting in the first half(ish) of the year. This isn’t comprehensive, as it’s really challenging to track down nonfiction lists in a way that it’s less so for fiction. YA nonfiction is becoming more focused on teen readers, but in many cases, it’s more accurate to call the category nonfiction for young readers, as many books perfect for YA nonfiction readers are marketed for 10-14 year olds.

As in previous round-ups, these are books that aren’t educational publications/library bound nonfiction titles that are part of a series or intended for research purposes only. The titles absolutely include books perfect for research and reference, but these titles also serve as more recreational nonfiction reading for teens.

If you know of other nonfiction for teen readers hitting shelves before June, drop ’em in the comments. I’ll revisit this in the summer and again in the fall, offering up as wide a picture of the state of upcoming YA nonfiction as possible.

Until then, here are some excellent-sounding titles to kick off your year. Titles are listed alphabetically with publication dates beside them. Descriptions come from Goodreads.

2019 YA Nonfiction Books

Bad Boys of Fashion: Style Rebels and Renegades Through The Ages by Jennifer Croll, illustrated by Aneta Pacholska (April 1)

A daring and different look at men’s fashion rule-breakers and icons

First came the bad girls. Now Jennifer Croll turns the spotlight on fashion’s bad boys. From Louis XIV to Kanye West, Bad Boys of Fashion takes us on a tour of the iconoclasts, leaders, and mistfits throughout history who have all used fashion to get what they want. Just as she did in her award-winning Bad Girls of Fashion, Croll shows us the power of clothes and the links between fashion and politics, art, social movements, and more. Croll’s lively and engaging prose draws the reader in, providing enough information to satisfy both budding fashionistas and pop-culture junkies alike. Aneta Pacholska’s illustrations are modern and fun, perfectly complementing the text and making the book as exciting to look at as it is to read.

In-depth features include Louis XIV, Oscar Wilde, Marlon Brando, Malcolm X, Andy Warhol, Karl Lagerfeld, Clyde Frazier, Malcolm McLaren, David Bowie, and Kanye West, with a diverse array of shorter biographies on subjects like Che Guevara, Basquiat, and Prince enriching the text.

Brave Face: A Memoir by Shaun David Hutchinson (May 21)

“I wasn’t depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and gay.”

Shaun David Hutchinson was nineteen. Confused. Struggling to find the vocabulary to understand and accept who he was and how he fit into a community in which he couldn’t see himself. The voice of depression told him that he would never be loved or wanted, while powerful and hurtful messages from society told him that being gay meant love and happiness weren’t for him.

A million moments large and small over the years all came together to convince Shaun that he couldn’t keep going, that he had no future. And so he followed through on trying to make that a reality.

Thankfully Shaun survived, and over time, came to embrace how grateful he is and how to find self-acceptance. In this courageous and deeply honest memoir, Shaun takes readers through the journey of what brought him to the edge, and what has helped him truly believe that it does get better.

Captured: An American Prisoner of War in North Vietnam (March 26)

Naval aviator Jeremiah Denton was shot down and captured in North Vietnam in 1965. As a POW, Jerry Denton led a group of fellow American prisoners in withstanding gruesome conditions behind enemy lines. They developed a system of secret codes and covert communications to keep up their spirits. Later, he would endure torture and long periods of solitary confinement. Always, Jerry told his fellow POWs that they would one day return home together.

Although Jerry spent seven and a half years as a POW, he did finally return home in 1973 after the longest and harshest deployment in US history.

Denton’s story is an extraordinary narrative of human resilience and endurance. Townley grapples with themes of perseverance, leadership, and duty while also deftly portraying the deeply complicated realities of the Vietnam War in this gripping narrative project for YA readers.

Dear Ally, How Do You Write a Book by Ally Carter (March 26)

In this book consisting of real writing questions from real teens, in-depth answers in Ally’s voice, and occasional, brief answers from guest authors, Ally Carter gives teens the definitive how-to guide on writing their first novel. From getting started, to creating conflict, all the way through to a guide to the publishing industry, Ally covers it all.

Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life and Work by Victoria Ortiz (June 4)

Dramatically narrated case histories from Justice Ginsburg’s stellar career are interwoven with an account of RBG’s life—childhood, family, beliefs, education, marriage, legal and judicial career, children, and achievements—and her many-faceted personality is captured. The cases described, many involving young people, demonstrate her passionate concern for gender equality, fairness, and our constitutional rights. Notes, bibliography, index.

Eiffel’s Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes (March 19)

Weaving together the behind-the-scenes history of the Eiffel Tower with an account of the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris for which the tower was built, Jonnes creates a vivid, lively pageant of people and cultures meeting–and competing.
The book opens a window into a piece of the past that, in its passions and politics, feels timelessly modern: art, science, business, entertainment, gossip, royalty, and national pride mingle in an unforgettable portrait of a unique moment in history, when Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley became the toasts of Paris and Gustave Eiffel, builder of the tower, rose to the pinnacle of fame, only to suffer a tragic fall from grace.
Above all, the 1889 World’s Fair revolved around two nations, whose potent symbols were the twin poles of the fair. France, with its long history of sophistication and cultivation, and with a new republican government eager for the country to take its place at the forefront of the modern world, presented the Eiffel Tower–the world’s tallest structure–as a symbol of national pride and engineering superiority. The United States, with its brash, can-do spirit, full of pride in its frontier and its ingenuity, presented the rollicking Wild West show of Buffalo Bill Cody and the marvelous new phonograph of Thomas Edison.
Eiffel, Cody, Oakley, and Edison are just a few of the characters who populate Jonnes’s dramatic history. There are also squabbling artists, a notorious newspaperman, and a generous sprinkling of royalty from around the world. Some of them emerged from the World’s Fair of 1889 winners, some losers, but neither they nor any among the vast crowds who attended the fair ever forgot it.

Feminism Is…by DK Publishing (January 3)

A lively and accessible book for teens on the history, pioneers, theories, questions, arguments, and daily reality of feminism today.

What is feminism? Combining insightful text with graphic illustrations, this engaging book introduces young adult readers to a subject that should matter to everyone. Feminism is… tackles the most intriguing and relevant topics, such as “Are all people equal?”, “Do boys and girls learn the same things?” and “Why do women earn less than men?” Find out what equality for women really means, get a short history of feminism, and take a look at the issues that affect women at work, in the home, and around sex and identity. Meet, too, some great women, such as Gloria Steinem, Frida Kahlo, and Malala Yousafzi, “rebel girls” who refused to accept the status quo of their day and blazed a trail for others to follow.

With more than 50 topics that address key feminist concerns, Feminism is… takes on the issues, is informative, and always thought-provoking.

Fly Girls Young Readers’ Edition: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O’Brien (March 5)

In the years between World War I and World War II, airplane racing was one of the most popular sports in America. Thousands of fans flocked to multiday events, and the pilots who competed in these races were hailed as heroes. Well, the male pilots were hailed. Women who flew planes were often ridiculed by the press, and initially they weren’t invited to race. Yet a group of women were determined to take to the sky—no matter what. With guts and grit, they overcame incredible odds both on the ground and in the air to pursue their dreams of flying and racing planes.

Fly Girls follows the stories of five remarkable women: Florence Klingensmith, a high‑school dropout from North Dakota; Ruth Elder, an Alabama housewife; Amelia Earhart, the most famous, but not necessarily the most skilled; Ruth Nichols, a daughter of Wall Street wealth who longed to live a life of her own; and Louise Thaden, who got her start selling coal in Wichita. Together, they fought for the chance to race against the men—and in 1936 one of them would triumph in the toughest race of all.

Complete with photographs and a glossary, Fly Girls celebrates a little-known slice of history wherein tenacious, trail-blazing women braved all obstacles to achieve greatness.

The Great Nijinsky: God of Dance by Lynn Curlee (April 9)

With one grand leap off the stage at the 1909 premiere of the Ballets Russes’s inaugural season, Nijinsky became an overnight sensation and the century’s first superstar, in the days before moving pictures brought popular culture to the masses. Perhaps the greatest dancer of the twentieth century, Nijinsky captured audiences with his sheer animal magnetism and incredible skill.

He was also half of the most famous (and openly gay) couple of the Edwardian era: his relationship with Serge Diaghilev, artistic director and architect of the Ballets Russes, pushed boundaries in a time when homosexuality and bisexuality were rarely discussed. Nijinsky’s life was tumultuous–after marrying a female groupie he hardly knew, he was kicked out of the Ballets Russes and placed under house arrest during World War I. Unable to work as he once did, his mental health deteriorated, and he spent three decades in and out of institutions.

Biographical narrative is interspersed with spotlights on the ballets the dancer popularized: classic masterworks such as Afternoon of a Faun, The Firebird, and of course, the shockingly original Rite of Spring, which caused the audience to riot at its premiere. Illustrated with elegant, intimate portraits as well as archival art and photographs.

High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction by Nic and David Sheff (January 8)

From David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy (2008), and Nic Sheff, author of Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines (2008), comes the ultimate resource for learning about the realities of drugs and alcohol for middle grade readers.
This book tells it as it is, with testimonials from peers who have been there and families who have lived through the addiction of a loved one, along with the cold, hard facts about what drugs and alcohol do to our bodies. From how to navigate peer pressure to outlets for stress to the potential consequences for experimenting, Nic and David Sheff lay out the facts so that middle grade readers can educate themselves.

The Lady Is a Spy: Virginia Hall, World War II Hero of the French Resistance by Don Mitchell (March 26)

When Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Virginia Hall was traveling in Europe. Which was dangerous enough, but as fighting erupted across the continent, instead of returning home, she headed to France.

In a country divided by freedom and fascism, Virginia was determined to do her part for the Allies. An ordinary woman from Baltimore, MD, she dove into the action, first joining a French ambulance unit and later becoming an undercover agent for the British Office of Strategic Services. Working as part of the intelligence network, she made her way to Vichy, coordinating Resistance movements, sabotaging the Nazis, and rescuing Allied soldiers. She passed in plain sight of the enemy, and soon found herself at the top of their most wanted list. But Virginia cleverly evaded discovery and death, often through bold feats and daring escapes. Her covert operations, capture of Nazi soldiers, and risky work as a wireless telegraph operator greatly contributed to the Allies’ eventual win.

Parkland Speaks: Survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas Share Their Stories edited by Sarah Lerner (January 22)

Featuring art and writing from the students of the Parkland tragedy, this is a raw look at the events of February 14, and a poignant representation of grief, healing, and hope.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School share their emotional journeys that began on February 14, 2018, and continue today. This revealing and unfiltered look at teens living in the wake of tragedy is a poignant representation of grief, anger, determination, healing, and hope.

The intimate collection includes poetry, eyewitness accounts, letters, speeches, journal entries, drawings, and photographs from the events of February 14 and its aftermath. Full of heartbreaking loss, a rally cry for change, and hope for a safe future, these artistic pieces will inspire readers to reflect on their own lives and the importance of valuing and protecting the ones you love.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities (April 23)

In this quick and easy guide to queer and trans identities, cartoonists Mady G and JR Zuckerberg guide you through the basics of the LGBT+ world! Covering essential topics like sexuality, gender identity, coming out, and navigating relationships, this guide explains the spectrum of human experience through informative comics, interviews, worksheets, and imaginative examples. A great starting point for anyone curious about queer and trans life, and helpful for those already on their own journeys!

Robert E. Lee: The Man, the Soldier, the Myth by Brandon Marie Miller (June 11)

Robert E. Lee’s life was filled with responsibility and loyalty. Born to a Revolutionary War hero, Lee learned a sense of duty and restraint after weathering scandals brought on by his father and eldest brother. He found the perfect way to channel this sense of duty at West Point, where he spent his days under rigorous teachers who taught him the organizational skills and discipline he would apply for the rest of his life. The military became Lee’s life: he was often away from his beloved family, making strides with the Army, forcibly expanding the United States toward the Western coastline, and fighting the Mexican-American War. And ultimately, the military and his defining role therein–General of the Confederate Army–would prove to be Lee’s legacy. Author Brandon Marie Miller separates fact from fiction and reveals the complex truth behind who Lee was as a person, a soldier, a general, and a father. The book includes numerous archival images, as well as original quotations, a timeline, an author’s note, a family tree, source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

SHOUT by Laurie Halse Anderson (March 12)

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice– and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

Soaring Earth: A Companion Memoir to Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle (February 26)

Margarita Engle’s childhood straddled two worlds: the lush, welcoming island of Cuba and the lonely, dream-soaked reality of Los Angeles. But the revolution has transformed Cuba into a mystery of impossibility, no longer reachable in real life. Margarita longs to travel the world, yet before she can become independent, she’ll have to start high school.

Then the shock waves of war reach America, rippling Margarita’s plans in their wake. Cast into uncertainty, she must grapple with the philosophies of peace, civil rights, freedom of expression, and environmental protection. Despite overwhelming circumstances, she finds solace and empowerment through her education. Amid the challenges of adolescence and a world steeped in conflict, Margarita finds hope beyond the struggle, and love in the most unexpected of places.

Strangers Assume My Girlfriend Is My Nurse by Shane Burcaw (April 30)

With his signature acerbic wit and hilarious voice, twenty-something author, blogger, and entrepreneur Shane Burcaw is back with an essay collection about living a full life in a body that many people perceive as a tragedy. From anecdotes about first introductions where people patted him on the head instead of shaking his hand, to stories of passersby mistaking his able-bodied girlfriend for a nurse, Shane tackles awkward situations and assumptions with humor and grace.

On the surface, these essays are about day-to-day life as a wheelchair user with a degenerative disease, but they are actually about family, love, and coming of age.

A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II by Elizabeth Wein (January 22)

In the early years of World War II, Josef Stalin issued an order that made the Soviet Union the first country in the world to allow female pilots to fly in combat. Led by Marina Raskova, these three regiments, including the 588th Night Bomber Regiment—nicknamed the “night witches”—faced intense pressure and obstacles both in the sky and on the ground. Some of these young women perished in flames. Many of them were in their teens when they went to war.

This is the story of Raskova’s three regiments, women who enlisted and were deployed on the front lines of battle as navigators, pilots, and mechanics. It is the story of a thousand young women who wanted to take flight to defend their country, and the woman who brought them together in the sky.

Packed with black-and-white photographs, fascinating sidebars, and thoroughly researched details, A Thousand Sisters is the inspiring true story of a group of women who set out to change the world, and the sisterhood they formed even amid the destruction of war.

Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard by Alex Berti (May 14)

I guess we should start at the beginning. I was born on November 2nd, 1995. The doctors in the hospital took one look at my genitals and slapped an F on my birth certificate. ‘F’ for female, not fail–though that would actually have been kind of appropriate given present circumstances.

When I was fifteen, I realized I was a transgender man. That makes it sound like I had some kind of lightbulb moment. In reality, coming to grips with my identity has taken a long time.

Over the last six years, I’ve come out to my family and friends, changed my name, battled the healthcare system, started taking male hormones and have had surgery on my chest. My quest to a beard is almost complete. This is my story.

Accessible and emotional, Trans Mission fills a gap in nonfiction about and for transgender teens.

VIRAL: The Fight Against AIDS in America by Ann Bausum (June 4)

Thirty-five years ago, it was a modern-day, mysterious plague. Its earliest victims were mostly gay men, some of the most marginalized people in the country; at its peak in America, it killed tens of thousands of people. The losses were staggering, the science frightening, and the government’s inaction unforgivable. The AIDS Crisis fundamentally changed the fabric of the United States.

Viral presents the history of the AIDS crisis through the lens of the brave victims and activists who demanded action and literally fought for their lives. This compassionate but unflinching text explores everything from the disease’s origins and how it spread to the activism it inspired and how the world confronts HIV and AIDS today.

We Are Displaced:

My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World by Malala Yousafzai (January 8)

Nobel Peace Prize winner and New York Times-bestselling author Malala Yousafzai introduces some of the people behind the statistics and news stories we read or hear every day about the millions of people displaced worldwide.

Malala’s experiences visiting refugee camps caused her to reconsider her own displacement – first as an Internally Displaced Person when she was a young child in Pakistan, and then as an international activist who could travel anywhere in the world except to the home she loved. In We Are Displaced, which is part memoir, part communal storytelling, Malala not only explores her own story, but she also shares the personal stories of some of the incredible girls she has met on her journeys – girls who have lost their community, relatives, and often the only world they’ve ever known.

In a time of immigration crises, war, and border conflicts, We Are Displaced is an important reminder from one of the world’s most prominent young activists that every single one of the 68.5 million currently displaced is a person – often a young person – with hopes and dreams.

We Are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults by Susan Kunklin (January 8)

“Maybe next time they hear someone railing about how terrible immigrants are, they’ll think about me. I’m a real person.”

Meet nine courageous young adults who have lived in the United States with a secret for much of their lives: they are not U.S. citizens. They came from Colombia, Mexico, Ghana, Independent Samoa, and Korea. They came seeking education, fleeing violence, and escaping poverty. All have heartbreaking and hopeful stories about leaving their homelands and starting a new life in America. And all are weary of living in the shadows. We Are Here to Stay is a very different book than it was intended to be when originally slated for a 2017 release, illustrated with Susan Kuklin’s gorgeous full-color portraits. Since the last presidential election and the repeal of DACA, it is no longer safe for these young adults to be identified in photographs or by name. Their photographs have been replaced with empty frames, and their names are represented by first initials. We are honored to publish these enlightening, honest, and brave accounts that encourage open, thoughtful conversation about the complexities of immigration — and the uncertain future of immigrants in America.

What Makes Girls Sick and Tired by Lucile de Pesloüan and illustrated by Genevieve Darling (March 18)

What Makes Girls Sick and Tired is a feminist manifesto that denounces the discrimination against and unfairness felt by women from childhood to adulthood. The graphic novel, illustrated in a strikingly minimalist style with images of girls with varied body types and personalities, invites teenagers to question the sexism that surrounds us, in ways that are obvious and hidden, simple and complex.

The book’s beginnings as a fanzine shine through in its honesty and directness, confronting the inequalities faced by young women, everyday. And it ends with a line of hope, that with solidarity, girls will hurt less, as they hold each other up with support and encouragement.

Yes She Can: 10 Stories of Hope & Change from Young Female Staffers of the Obama White House by Molly Dillon (April 23)

Meet ten amazing young women who were so inspired by Barack Obama’s inclusive feminist politics that they decided to join his White House. Although they were technically the lowest ranked members—and all in their early to mid-twenties at the time—their high levels of responsibility will surprise you.

There’s Kalisha Dessources, policy advisor to the White House Council on Women and Girls, who recounts the day she brought a group of African American girls (and world-renowned choreographer Debbie Allen) to the White House for Black History Month to dance for Michelle Obama; Molly Dillon, who describes organizing and hosting an event for foster care reform with Vice President Biden, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and a hundred foster kids; Jenna Brayton, one of the members of the first White House digital team, who talks about an Obama initiative to bring together students of all backgrounds and ages from across the country to showcase their vision for the future through cinema; and more.

Full of never-before-told stories, here is an intimate look at Obama’s presidency, as seen through the eyes of the smart, successful young women who (literally) helped rule the world—and they did it right out of college, too.

YA Book Cover Makeovers: 7 Hardcover-to-Paperback Redesigns To Consider

January 7, 2019 |

I will never grow tired of looking at and talking about YA book covers. Even more specifically, I love looking at redesigned covers and considering what it is that went into the thought process behind changing a book’s initial design into something different for its paperback release. Authors generally have little to no say in these redesigns, but rather, they often come about as a result of marketing direction changes or suggestions.

Let’s take a peek at seven upcoming YA book covers getting a new look in paperback. I’ve included a wide swath of titles here, showcasing some of the good, some of the bad, and some of the really questionable when it comes to YA hardcover-to-paperback redesigns.

Original hardcover designs are on the left, with the refreshed cover on the right.

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman

After the splashy cover reveal for Forman’s latest YA book, it was surprising to me how little this book seemed to be buzzed about. I read it and while it wasn’t my favorite — I tend to find myself unable to really fall into her stories — I know she’s got a legion of fans and admirers, and given the elements present in this particular book, I anticipated more. Part of me wonders if the cover, which is pretty bland and forgettable in a sea of covers that make use of a font-driven design, made people bypass it. It looks like an adult book, rather than a YA book, and the title itself isn’t one that’s easy to remember. Working in favor of this cover, though, is that it looks nice on a screen; it’s easy to read and understand.

That last part is what made me do a triple take on the paperback cover: it doesn’t translate on screen. The white boarder, coupled with the text messaging along the bottom, made me think I was looking at a private text message someone was sending with a pretty confusing image on it. I think that it’s great to see a girl of color on the cover, but where is she walking? The book is set in New York City but it also looks like she’s walking through a dirt pit. Interestingly, the paperback makes the font for the title and the author name the same size, though my eye is more easily drawn to the author’s name because it’s a different color than the girl’s shirt.

Like the hardcover, aside from the confusing framing, the paperback isn’t especially memorable or distinct, either. I’ve seen this cover a few times and immediately thought of the Jessa Halbrook series (one of Saundra Mitchell‘s pen names).

I don’t love either cover but the hardcover is less confusing and less confused over all, with a more cohesive design. I Have Lost My Way comes out in paperback April 16.

Illegal by Bettina Restrepo

I’ve always wondered what happened to this book. I read it when it came out as a debut in early 2011, and it’s a book about a family that illegally crosses the Mexican border and heads to Houston for work, security, and pursuit of a better future. The book disappeared not long after it was published, which, given how much immigration has been a major topic prior to that time and after, surprised me. So I’m really pleased to see that it’ll be getting a paperback reissue on August 27.

There’s not a whole lot to say about the original cover except that it really captures the spirit of the story — as well as the spirit of YA book cover design in 2011. It’s a real model and, though we can’t see her face, she appears to be a girl of color. We have the city skyline in the background, with a title font that features a wire fence design within it.

The paperback design is a study of contemporary cover trends. We have a teen of color facing out, and it’s illustrated. The girl looks quite young in the image, which I like, as the book itself features not just a younger teen protagonist but also, it reads as younger YA. Maybe my favorite part of the redesign is one of the smaller pieces: the tag line above the title, “We are all immigrants.” Although the book cover and title certainly make it clear what the book is about in both covers, that small line really makes clear that this is a story for non Native Americans for non Native Americans.

I’m eager to pick up the book with a new forward from the author eight years after its original publication. The paperback redesign here is fresh and I’m suspecting it’ll ignite a lot of new interest.

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova

Series redesigns always raise a lot of conversation. Readers who like their series to look cohesive often mention that they become frustrated with changes, while it becomes clear in some instances that the redesign of the series better reflects the way the series progresses or simply looks more interesting on shelves.

Which is why I’m fascinated by the cover changes that have happened with Zoraida Cordova’s Labyrinth Lost.

The hardcover design is one I really dig, in part because it plays homage to the lore within the book itself. The face painting, reminiscent of sugar skulls, is part of the fantasy in the book and something that Cordova digs into a little bit in her author’s note at the end of the book. It’s a very catchy cover, and it’s one that immediately speaks to the fantasy, the magic, and the traces of horror that the story holds. The font works for the title, though Zoraida’s name seems to get a bit buried on the cover. Shoved in between the author name and the title of the book is a blurb from Danielle Paige, but what’s fascinating in the design of those words is how her title and accolades actually take more real estate up on the cover than Zoraida’s name or the blurb itself. It almost feels like a well-thought tag line would be better there to really give a sense of the story’s content to readers.

The original paperback redesign in the center reminds me so much of the redesigned covers for Libba Bray’s “The Diviners” series. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because I think the two series would make for great read alikes to one another, making the cover similarities work in favor of both. The font for the title remains the same in that redesign, but we’re given something new in terms of an image: the gate which the characters go through during the course of the story. There’s definitely a placement of this book into the fantasy/magical realism realm with the design. Zoraida’s name is a little bigger and more easy to spot on this design, and while the blurb from Paige appears again, it’s been better laid out so that it takes up less real estate on a book that’s not her own.

The final image is the second paperback redesign and it’s wildly different from the previous iterations. The title font is something different, but once again, Zoraida’s name is really small beneath it. However, big points in favor of the redesign are noting Zoraida’s own credentials (“award-winning author” below her name) and the fact that the blurb which took up so much real estate from the cover is now gone. Instead, we get a tag line: “The first lesson of being a Bruja: Magic always has a price.” It’s perfect and captures so much about the story’s genre, about the stakes, and about the cultural the story takes place in. The image and design itself don’t especially stand out to me but those textual elements are knockout.

All three of the covers do a good job, and all of them seem to be angling toward the same audience. It took me longer to pick up this book than I wished, and I wonder if the new look will prompt other readers who held off to give it a chance (it’s a fun read!).

Royals by Rachel Hawkins

Speaking of books I know are fun reads but that I haven’t picked up yet: Rachel Hawkins’s Royals came out last May and has been a book that I’ve again heard very little about. It’s a romantic comedy and the reviews have all mentioned how funny it is — something I believe, given that Hawkins is known for writing with humor. The original cover was very pink and blingy, which I think shows off a lot of what the contents are meant to do. They’re a little over the top but grounded in a real-life fantasy for readers. Hawkins’s name is big on the cover with a different tone of pink from both the background and from the note that she’s a New York Times bestselling author. The tag line is cute, too: “He’s no prince, but he sure is charming.” Readers who love royal-themed stories will know without question this book is for them.

That said, the redesign hits both the royal-themed story lovers and those who want a more straightforward YA romance read. First thing to note: there’s a title change. No longer is the book called Royals (which always made Lorde’s song get stuck in my head). It’s instead being renamed Prince Charming. True to charm, the font choice is cute, it’s a deep pink or red, depending on your resolution, and the “A” features a sweet little heart inside. The way that the two teens on the cover are standing and slightly overlapping the title is clever, as if they were there first before the title came toward them. It gives the cover some movement, which is important given how stark the two teens look being in sketched grayscale. We have another illustrated cover here, continuing to stay in line with the trend that’s been big in YA for a few years. Check out the chucks on the girl, too: it’s a nice nod to the fact that the heroine might be a little bit more quirky than she lets on.

Both covers are quite good. Readers who aren’t familiar with Hawkins likely would fall into two camps on this one: those who love their books royal-themed knowing that the hardcover is for them and those who think the redesign is super cute, feminine, and romantic and dive right in. Given that this is a series, though, the paperback ekes out slightly for me because the sequel takes a similar design approach. It hits shelves on March 5. Check out the sequel’s cover here, which adds itself to my ever-growing list of YA book covers featuring sunglasses.

Top Ten by Kate Cotugno

The hardcover for Top Ten is one I’m not a huge fan of, but that’s entirely for personal reasons. It’s a very 1990s style cover, which is way cooler among young people than it is with me. It is also super white in terms of the couples shown, with neon signs, chucks, and lights. The title is almost easy to miss here, since there’s so much going on, though Katie’s name is nice and easy to find. There’s no tagline and no blurb on this so it’s hard to say what the book is about, though the images suggest it’s a summer story about a group of friends.

I’ve mentioned before that illustrated covers are the thing in book cover design and have been since Eleanor & Park. I’m also not a huge fan of them because they tend to blend together so easily. That plays out in Top Ten, as I feel like I’ve seen this same design on about ten other YA books that hit shelves recently or will be hitting shelves soon. While the people are still all white-presenting, there is at least more array in body shape and size, as well as complexion and hair. It’s a bit more representative of today’s teens across a broader spectrum than the hardcover is. The title is much bigger and more obvious, and the font and color of it match the author’s name. Bonus: we get a tagline. “The unlikeliest of friends…or something more.” I like that it gives a sense of the story, but it also makes me a little confused when it comes to who is on the cover. Is it one couple that keeps looking different? Is it a lot of couples who are “something more?”

Neither of these covers really do it for me. Not having read the book yet, I can’t suggest which one is truer to story.

Top Ten comes out in paperback January 15.

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Spoiler alert on this cover makeover: I love both of these covers very much and think both are excellent.

The hardcover for Anderson’s novel is really different. It takes a lot of the elements that are synonymous with today’s teens: enamel pins and denim jackets. This same trendy style is a throwback to the 90s and girl power culture, which fits in perfectly with the title and story itself. Without question, given the homage to new age beliefs (crystals and tarot cards) and the two zombie hands making the pinkie swear salute, this is clearly a book that’s a little bit horror, a little bit fun, and a whole lot about girls being good to other girls. The title being put into an enamel pin is clever, as is the way that Anderson’s name looks like it’s embroidered on the denim jacket.

The paperback cover also nails it. This is a book with a fat protagonist who has brown skin. That cover model is perfect, and not only is she perfect, but her stance and attitude speak volumes for what the tone of the book is. If you look closely, you’ll not only notice she’s wearing a denim jacket, but the pins that were on the original cover? They’re also on the jacket itself. If it weren’t for the fact that the pins on the hardcover were on one side of the jacket and on the opposite of the jacket in the paperback, you’d think this was simply a zoomed out take from the original design session. The title font is perfect here: it has a 90s clip art feel to it (and specifically, Word Art!). The font for Lily’s name is very modern though and is one I associate with contemporary cover trends, making this a nice mashup of today’s culture and nostalgic. The zombie hands? They’re just plain fun, and the tagline “We’re back, witches,” tells so much story in and of itself.

Both covers rock for different reasons. If pressed to pick one I like more? I’d say paperback, simply because it leans fully into girl power, feminism, and that cover model is just perfect. You can grab the paperback on May 14.

(Interesting to note that two redesigns are very pink covers. A trend to keep an eye on through 2019, maybe?)

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

Last, but not least, is one I’ll keep short and sweet. I love the original cover for Perkins’s book and I’m also really feeling the redesign for paperback. Not only does the redesign highlight that it’s a National Book Award nominee, but it also brings all of the elements that were inside the dancing woman on the hardcover and brings them to the outside. Look closely: the buildings. The grandeur. The feeling of connection to past and present. The dancers themselves. It still keeps the title the focus, but it also brings even more to the forefront. I’m also a big fan of the fact that the author name is even larger and more prominent in the redesign. My only critique is a tiny one, which is that the blurb on the bottom takes what is a well-thought out busy cover almost a little over the top in terms of putting a lot of things into a small space.

Perkins has a new book coming out this spring, too, and the cover design for that one has the same feeling as the new paperback redesign. You can peep Forward Me Back To You here.

So what do you think? Which covers are speaking to you? Which aren’t? Let’s talk in the comments!