Reading Records: An Informal Analysis of My Reading

July 20, 2016 |

I’ve been tracking my reading on Goodreads since 2008. (Unlike Kelly, I haven’t been tracking my reading in print before that, but I wish I had!) My reading tastes have changed a lot since then – I’ve focused more narrowly on young adult, but I’ve also branched out genre-wise and read a lot more contemporary and nonfiction. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how my reading has evolved, and I thought it would be fun to put together an informal analysis based on my Goodreads shelves. What have you noticed about your reading tastes over the years? Has Goodreads – or some other method of tracking – helped you identify your personal trends?

The number of books I read has definitely spiked. I read about 140 in 2014, which was the first year I was on Round 1 for Cybils, but the increase in my reading really began in 2010, which is when I started blogging in earnest here at Stacked. Blogging helps me read more, which in turn helps me blog more. Lucky me and lucky you! I’ve read a total of 753 books since 2008, give or take a few re-reads and missed records.

Since I started tracking my reading, I’ve read 184 adult books, 535 young adult books, and 97 books for children (which includes middle grade and picture books). I don’t actually record a whole lot of the picture books I read, so that number is likely higher – but these numbers also include random titles I added that I read prior to 2008, which includes a lot of children’s books. The data is not perfect. Still, these numbers aren’t surprising at all.

This graph shows how my YA reading has increased over the years. 2014 is a bit of an outlier since I read just a ton of books that year, period, but the overall trend is definitely upward.

This graph shows what percentage of my total yearly reading was spent on YA vs non-YA. I think it gives a clearer idea of how my reading really has skewed more toward YA as the years have passed, starting at about half in the first two years and gradually increasing each year. The exception is 2015, when I went back and re-read a ton of adult fiction that I loved years ago.

A lot of my reading has included non-traditional formats – audiobooks and graphic novels. Almost half of my reading is one of these two formats, and they’ve both seen an overall increase in the share of my reading over the years.

I credit the Cybils with significantly increasing my audiobook reading over the past two years. Also of note is that 2016 is about half over but I’ve already almost matched my audiobooks from last year!

I really started getting into graphic novels in 2010 and my interest in them has been pretty sustained since then (I don’t know what happened in 2012). I haven’t picked up many this year yet, but I’ve a feeling that 2016 number will be higher by December.

The figures that make up this chart include anything I added that I read prior to 2008, which is about 86 additional books. They were too tricky to eliminate from my genre count, but I don’t think they skew the data that much. This was a somewhat surprising graph for me. I consider myself a pretty avid romance reader, but it only makes up 5% of the books I recorded on Goodreads. A lot of my romance reading happened when I was a teenager, and not many of those books made it to my Goodreads account. The fantasy and science fiction, though – that’s not a surprise at all.

I did the star rating graph this way because I think it kind of looks like a grading bell curve. Most of my ratings are in the 3-star territory, with the fewest receiving 1 star and 5 stars. I’ve only given 15 books one star, and most of those are books I read several years ago. If a book is looking like it’s going to be a one-star read nowadays, I usually set it down and it goes on my “unfinished” shelf instead.

Hardcover to Paperback YA Book Cover Makeovers, Wow There Are A Ton Coming! Edition

July 18, 2016 |

As I’ve gently suggested in the title of this post, there are a lot of hardcover YA titles getting new looks — and new titles — in their paperback editions. A handful of these are available now, but most will be hitting shelves in the near future. This isn’t even a comprehensive look at the ones I’ve noticed lately; I picked the ones that seemed like they had a lot to talk about or think about in regards to design and the changes made on the covers.

Some are winning looks and some are far less so. As always, I’d love your takes on these redesigns. Which ones are working for you? Which do you think appeals more to a teen readership? Which nails the content better? Tell me your thoughts and if you’ve seen any recent cover makeovers that are worth looking at, leave me those titles, too.

A Step From Heaven won the Printz award in 2002 — one of the first books to receive the honor. It’s been in publication since then, but it’s had the same cover. It’s not at all a bad cover; it’s pretty straightforward and clearly a girl of East Asian descent. There is a real timelessness about the whole package, in that it doesn’t use a fancy font-driven style nor use illustration or a full stock image of a girl in clothes that could date it. It seems pretty clear there’s a reason this book’s cover has been around as long as it has.

This month, a reprint of the book is coming and it’s getting a makeover. Much as I think the original is a real solid cover, the redesign is beautiful. There’s a celebratory feel to it, and in many ways, the teen rendered in this image looks much older than the girl in the original image. The font selected for the title is really pretty and dreamy, which, along with the floral design surrounding the model, does give the book a contemporary, moody feel. I have a feeling this new package will absolutely introduce the book to a new generation of teen readers, and I think it’s the kind of repackage that might make librarians and teachers look at the conditions of their current copies and consider replacing.

I’m also a big fan of the lack of blurbs or praise on the new cover, aside from the obvious medal honors. That makes it feel timeless, too.

I remember reading the description of Sundberg’s debut All We Left Behind last year. It was compared to Courtney Summers and Ellen Hopkins, suggesting it’s a gritty and raw contemporary YA. I never got around to picking it up, since it was a big read — if I’m remembering, it was 400 or so pages, which is a big investment for a contemporary YA novel (I’m really picky about that, as anyone who has been around here a while will know). So imagine the surprise with that image of the book in my mind when I saw the redesigned cover.

The paperback is so light and airy. It reminds me of a summer-y, light read, even with the title — or maybe even because of that title. It’s an entirely different feel than the original cover which, while pretty generic, has some of those gritty elements going for it. Look, for example, at the fact we actually see an exposed bra strap on the hardcover. It skirts the line of sensual and sad in a way that doesn’t feel gross but instead really gives a sense of the content inside.

That paperback, though, might be the most generic thing I’ve seen in a while. It’s not bad, but it certainly tells me nothing of the book, and in a lot of ways, it looks like a cover that could be swapped onto any number of other books with the same forgettable effect. If this book really is raw and gritty, imagine the surprise readers, especially teenagers, will find picking up this cover and expecting a lighter book. I’ll take the hard pass on this one.

All We Left Behind will be available in paperback December 6. The original, if you’re interested, published in December of last year, which may be why it sort of fell off the radars of many readers.

Now for the first book in this list that’s not just getting a cover makeover, but a title makeover as well: Alexandra Adornetto’s Ghost House, aka Lament in paperback.

First, the hardcover: it’s not bad, but it’s also not especially remarkable. There is a nice eerie feeling to it, conveying the fact this is a horror novel. The guy in the center of the image is dressed a little bit like he’s a member of an elite class, perhaps maybe even of a slightly different time period than the present (though the long hair may be what keeps that from reading 100% that way for me). The font for the title and author’s name are pretty standard, though the purple hues of the cover are nice. There’s definitely a spooky tone set by this cover. And of course, the title Ghost House helps that along.

The paperback goes for ye-old paranormal romance standards. In fact, I initially thought this was a new Lauren Kate book, since it takes the same white girl in a dress with a one word title with some swirly styling motif. No longer does this book read horror; it reads as straight-up paranormal romance. Good on the designer to note clearly that the book has been retitled, but the thing I cannot get over is the girl’s face. It’s a weird “come hither” look to it, which doesn’t showcase any fear or trepidation, despite the fact she’s alone in the woods in a fancy ballgown. Not to mention the fact she certainly doesn’t look like she’s lamenting anything. I don’t get it — there’s a big disconnect going on.

But if the goal is to get it into the hands of Lauren Kate fans, well, then that paperback is a big winner. Otherwise, it’s absolutely forgettable.

Lament will be available in paperback on August 30.

The most interesting thing to me about the paperback redesign of Patrice Kindl’s A School for Brides is the tagline modification. The hardcover on the left originally notes that these are girls looking for husbands in a town without any men. The paperback? No longer are they looking for husbands, but rather, they’re looking for eligible bachelors in a town with no men.

I have no idea which of those I think is “better,” per se, especially to a YA audience, but I think the change is noteworthy nonetheless.

And I think the reason I’m uncertain is because this book is the right book for the right reader, meaning that the readers picking this up know exactly what they want in a historical fantasy novel, and whether it notes these are girls looking for husbands or eligible bachelors (which sure makes it more contemporary than historical) doesn’t matter a bit.

From a design standpoint, both books deliver what you’d expect tone and topic wise. I love the use of white space and the various different blue and purple-y hues. There’s a nice moodiness with that sort of minimalism. The paperback might fall more on the fun side, though — I love the various images of the girls at this particular institution wearing different dresses, enjoying tea, writing letters, and so forth. If I had to pick one as more along my taste preferences, it might be the paperback, but because this is a book with a clear sense of readership and audience in design, I don’t think one is better than the other.

You can pick up the paperback edition of A School for Brides right now.

Wildlife

This is a two-for-one makeover, and if I could say that both of these redesigned covers are among some of my favorite YA covers currently on the market, I will. Wildlife and Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood were originally published in Australia and they were brought to the US in the last two years. Overseas, they were published in this order: Six Impossible Things, followed by Wildlife. In the US, they flipped the publications, since these are companion novels that can be read either way without losing anything. Rather, it’s one of those situations where you read one and when you see the recurring characters, you get excited, rather than feel you need more backstory.

The hardcover editions of both books feature couples. They’re stock images, and in both sets, the models look like actual teenagers (which is surprisingly refreshing). It was a little disappointing to see the stock image choice for Six Impossible Things focus on the girl, since this book is 100% from a male point of view, something that could be easily missed with a cursory glance of the image. The font stylization for both the hardcovers, though, are fabulous — there’s a nice ombre effect with natural settings being the background to them.

But those paperbacks!

I love the use of real images on them, as well, and I love how they give such a unique feel to each of the books. Wildlife has a lushness and a crispness to it, and it really captures the nature setting of the book (it’s set in a school outdoors trip). Using the same leaf shape to include the title and author’s name was a smart way to break up the repetition and make them stand out. The use of different colored keys for Six Impossible Things also makes it stand out, in addition to being a way that doesn’t put a girl at the center of the book’s cover. The use of one key as a drawing to mimic the same idea from the title/author styling of Wildlife is smart. But perhaps the smartest part of these two redesigns is how neatly they’re connected without screaming “series” to readers, since this isn’t, in fact, a hard series — both books make use of that textured white background. The top one being a piece of notebook paper (think trees, school) and the second being a piece of wood (which does have a tie in to the attic scenes in that book).

Both of these books are great contemporary YA, and without doubt, I’ll be adding both of the paperback editions to the hardcovers on my shelf — and I don’t feel like it’s being repetitive, since my hardcovers are the Australian originals. Wildlife is available now in paperback, while Six Impossible Things will be available September 6.

Here is the second book on this round-up that features not just a cover redesign, but a title makeover as well. Amy Alward’s Madly was a debut last fall, and it featured a cover that, while eye-catching, really didn’t offer anything about the book at all. Is it magic? Is it contemporary? The look of the title and author, with the drawing, paired with the blurb declaring this a fun read and the tagline noting that it contains spells gives no real great indication of the genre. It’s confused, even if it’s a nice looking image.

The paperback of Madly will be retitled as The Potion Diaries and has an entirely different look. Aside from the unflattering pink circle blurb from Zoella (and the obnoxious proclamation inside it that the book is “so cool!”), the redesign is a winner. This cover knows what it’s doing — this is a bit of magic and fantasy. The reason, I think, that the quote feels so out of place and obnoxious is that the cover itself says the book is fun and cool. The fonts are winning here, as is the use of a crown to cap off that potion bottle.

This redesign will follow into the second book of this series, too:

The other thing that’s interesting about this redesign is what it suggests about the book’s audience. The original hardcover looks really mature, like it’s aimed at an older teen readership. Perhaps it’s the bottle and the illustration and sort of the symbolism behind how they’re presented. It might also be the use of rich colors.

The redesigns, both of the first book and of the sequel, certainly aim at a much younger YA readers, and perhaps they’re even aiming for those middle grade readers who are ready for YA. Not having read the book, I can’t suggest which one might be more fitting in terms of readership.

Paperback, hands down. You can pick up The Potion Diaries in paperback October 18 — the same day as the sequel will hit in hardcover.

Last but not least, Tim Floreen’s technology-themed YA title Willful Machines is also getting a makeover. This one is interesting to me for a number of reasons, but in particular, the original hardcover of the book reminds me a lot of so many other YA titles. It has hints of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, as well as hints of Leah Bobet’s An Inheritance of Ashes, even though all three of the books came out around the same time. So it was likely unintentional and perhaps made it challenging to make this book stand out since it’s not like either of those.

The redesign in paperback, though also not stunningly original, does stand out a lot more, in part because of the nice interplay between the white cover and dark, mysterious face, as well as because of the use of circuitry on the face. More, it appears to be a male face on the cover, and with the mystery behind it, has a real appealing quality. Who is this guy? What’s his story? Why’s he being compared to a machine?

I’d go with the paperback here, if for no other reason than it stands out a little bit more and the mystery surrounding the image on it would offer up mega reader appeal. It’ll also help the book not be unfairly compared to others which feature a similar hardcover design.

You can pick up the paperback edition of Willful Machines on October 18.

This Week at Book Riot

July 15, 2016 |

Last week was “Best Of” week at Book Riot, so I didn’t do a round-up of writing. So enjoy this twice-as-big edition of things I’ve written there these last two weeks.

A how-to guide to taking great bookish selfies.

Three on a YA Theme tackled fantastical and magical libraries, as well as loud, proud teen geeks.

And here’s your preview of 164 YA books hitting shelves between July and the end of September of this year.

As far as my week in reading has been concerned, I’ve blown through two more books in the “Little House on the Prairie” series and am elbow-deep into Domestic Arrangements, which I hope some of you will join me in reading. I’m deeply in love so far. It’s edgy by today’s standards, let alone 1982 standards.

Teenage Spies: A (2016) Booklist

July 13, 2016 |

Books featuring teenage spies were always among my favorites when I was a teen myself. I loved the idea of someone my age delving into a profession (let’s call it that) that was restricted to adults as well as highly dangerous. It’s one of the best kinds of literary escapism that doesn’t require magic or dragons or a dashing hero (though there are certainly some great spy novels that do include those things). A spy was something I could actually become! Why yes, I did read Harriet the Spy as a child and then follow members of my family around the house taking notes in a tiny notebook.

2016 is shaping up to be a great year for teenage spies. Here’s a roundup of eleven titles being published this year, plus one for early 2017. I expect there will be more to add as pre-publication information and catalogs for the fall season start making their way to us. Which ones are you looking forward to?

Descriptions are via Worldcat unless indicated otherwise.

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei (January 12)

Eight years after being kidnapped Addie Webster, now sixteen, resurfaces under mysterious circumstances, significantly changed, and her childhood best friend, Darrow Fergusson, is asked by a national security advisor to spy on her to uncover whether she is a threat to her father’s Presidency or the nation.

Assassin’s Masque by Sarah Zettel (January 12)

In 1716 England, with the Jacobite uprising stalking ever closer to the throne, it’s imperative that seventeen-year-old Peggy discover whom she can really trust. Can she save herself and the royal family, or is she doomed as a pawn in this most deadly game?

Desert Dark by Sonja Stone (January 30)

At Desert Mountain Academy, sixteen-year-old Nadia Riley begins a punishing routine to become an undercover CIA agent, but when a double-agent is reported on campus, she is the top suspect.

Dawn of Spies by Andrew Lane (March 29)

Rescued from a deserted Caribbean island, 17-year-old Robinson Crusoe and his female friend, Friday, find themselves in late 1600s London, a bustling city that proves as treacherous for them to navigate as the remote island they just left behind. Thanks to their honed survival skills, Crusoe and Friday are recruited by a young writer named Daniel Defoe to work as agents for Segment W, a covert spy group that reports directly to the Crown. Crusoe, Friday, and Defoe must rescue the Countess of Lichfield from a kidnapping plot. They are shocked to discover that a mystical and mysterious organization known as the Circle of Thirteen is behind the kidnapping. – Goodreads

Crossing the Line by Meghan Rogers (April 12)

Jocelyn Steely was kidnapped as a child and trained as a North Korean spy, but the tables turn when she becomes a double agent for the very American spy organization she has been sent to destroy.

Love, Lies and Spies by Cindy Anstey (April 19)

In the early 1800s, when her father sends her to London for a season, eighteen-year-old Juliana Telford, who prefers researching ladybugs to marriage, meets handsome Spencer Northam, a spy posing as a young gentleman of leisure.

Exile for Dreamers by Kathleen Baldwin (May 24)

Tess Aubreyson is being haunted by prophetic dreams of death and grief. She discovers that her dreams can help Lord Ravencross, the man she loves, and her fellow students at Stranje House. Which is good, because the traitorous Lady Daneska and the Ghost have returned to England to help make way for Napoleon’s invasion, and the young ladies at Stranje House might be the only ones who can save England from a power-mad dictator.

City of Spies by Nina Berry (May 31)

Celebrating her escape from East Germany and the success of her new film, teen starlet Pagan Jones returns to Hollywood to reclaim her place among the rich and the famous. She’s thrilled to be back, but memories of her time in Berlin–and elusively handsome secret agent Devin Black–continue to haunt her daydreams. The whirlwind of parties and celebrities just isn’t enough to distract Pagan from the excitement of being a spy or dampen her curiosity about her late mother’s mysterious past. When Devin reappears with an opportunity for Pagan to get back into the spy game, she is eager to embrace the role once again–all she has to do is identify a potential Nazi war criminal.

Lies I Live By by Lauren Sabel (May 31)

Callie Sinclair is seventeen years old, lives in San Francisco, and works for a secret governmental agency as a psychic spy.

Julia Vanishes by Catherine Egan (June 7)

Julia has the unusual ability to be . . . unseen. Not invisible, exactly. Just beyond most people’s senses.
It’s a dangerous trait in a city that has banned all forms of magic and drowns witches in public Cleansings. But it’s a useful trait for a thief and a spy. And Julia has learned–crime pays.
Her latest job is paying very well indeed. Julia is posing as a housemaid in the grand house of Mrs. Och, where an odd assortment of characters live and work: A disgraced professor who sends her to fetch parcels containing bullets, spiders, and poison. An aristocratic houseguest who is locked in the basement each night. And a mysterious young woman who is clearly in hiding–though from what or whom?
Worse, Julia suspects that there’s a connection between these people and the killer leaving a trail of bodies across the frozen city. – Goodreads

The Darkest Hour by Caroline Tung Richmond (July 26)

In 1943 sixteen-year-old Lucie Blaise is the newest recruit of Covert Ops, a secret espionage and sabotage organization of girls, and her mission in German occupied France is to track down information about a weapon that could wipe out all of Western Europe–and then dismantle it before it can be used.

You Don’t Know My Name by Kristen Orlando (January 10, 2017)

Sixteen-year-old Reagan, raised to be an elite spy, is torn between honoring her family’s legacy and living a normal life with the boy she loves.

YA Takes on Young Journalism

July 11, 2016 |

Have you been as taken with the story of the 9-year-old girl who broke the story of a local murder as I have? Hilde Lysiak got a lot of slack for the whole thing, in part because of her age and in part because the old school thinking about journalism and reporting meant that The Establishment was not really on top of it. Lysiak has scored a book deal, and I am so excited to see this young girl grow into a hell of a successful person.

Growing up, my dream was journalism. I wanted to work on my high school’s paper, and I wanted to edit it. I took on roles as an Opinions editor, then as a Features editor, and my senior year, I applied for — but did not become — the editor-in-chief. Instead, I was second in command of the paper, and used that “loss” to strengthen my writing, my reporting, my storytelling, and applied to a college where I knew I could get great experience on a paper for a future career.

Of course, life happened, journalism changed, and while I did eventually succeed as becoming an editor-in-chief of my college’s paper, my career in the field shifted a bit. I love what I do and absolutely credit my journalism background for where I am.

It’s interesting to me that despite the changes in the field at large, journalism remains an interest for so many teens and tweens. Moreover, it’s a fantastic narrative device in the sense that it allows teenagers to become investigators with a purpose; they aren’t super sleuths or interested in mysteries on their own, but rather, they’re seeking answers to an assignment. For me, that almost makes it more interesting than a straight-forward mystery, as the main character is exploring so much more than a single story.

I thought, in honor of Lysiak, as well as teens who are driven to make a name for themselves in newspapers, magazines, and other word-based media outlets, it’d be fun to round up some of the YA featuring journalists. This won’t be comprehensive, so feel free to add other titles to the comments. I’m sticking to YA, though it would be easy to do an even larger round-up of middle grade titles featuring young journalists. I’ve also opened it up to titles that might be a bit down the backlist, in part because it would be interesting to see how they hold up in today’s journalism era.

All descriptions are from Goodreads or WorldCat. And for fun*, I didn’t put these in any order (*I didn’t even think about it until after I put the images together).

Ink is Thicker Than Water by Amy Spalding

For Kellie Brooks, family has always been a tough word to define. Combine her hippie mom and tattooist stepdad, her adopted overachieving sister, her younger half brother, and her tough-love dad, and average Kellie’s the one stuck in the middle, overlooked and impermanent. When Kellie’s sister finally meets her birth mother and her best friend starts hanging with a cooler crowd, the feeling only grows stronger.

But then she reconnects with Oliver, the sweet and sensitive college guy she had a near hookup with last year. Oliver is intense and attractive, and she’s sure he’s totally out of her league. But as she discovers that maybe intensity isn’t always a good thing, it’s yet another relationship she feels is spiraling out of her control.

It’ll take a new role on the school newspaper and a new job at her mom’s tattoo shop for Kellie to realize that defining herself both outside and within her family is what can finally allow her to feel permanent, just like a tattoo.

The New Guy (& Other Senior Year Distractions) by Amy Spalding (she writes teens with such great interests!)

A ridiculously cute, formerly-famous new guy dropping into your life? It’s practically every girl’s dream.

But not Jules McCallister-Morgan’s.

I realize that on paper I look like your standard type-A, neurotic, overachiever. And maybe I am. But I didn’t get to be the editor of my school’s long-revered newspaper by just showing up*. I have one main goal for my senior year-early acceptance into my first choice Ivy League college-and I will not be deterred by best friends, moms who think I could stand to “live a little,” or boys.

At least, that was the plan before I knew about Alex Powell**.

And before Alex Powell betrayed me***.

I know what you’re thinking: Calm down, Jules. But you don’t understand. This stuff matters. This is my life. And I’m not going down without a fight.

—-

* Okay, I sort of did. But it’s a sore subject.

** I mean, I guess everyone knows about Alex Powell? Two years ago, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing about viral video boy band sensation Chaos 4 All. Two years ago, Alex Powell was famous.

***Some people think I’m overreacting. But this. Means. War.

Fake ID by Lamar Giles

Nick Pearson is hiding in plain sight…

My name isn’t really Nick Pearson.

I shouldn’t tell you where I’m from or why my family moved to Stepton, Virginia.

I shouldn’t tell you who I really am, or my hair, eye, and skin color.

And I definitely shouldn’t tell you about my friend Eli Cruz and the major conspiracy he was about to uncover when he died—right after I moved to town. About how I had to choose between solving his murder with his hot sister, Reya, and “staying low-key” like the Program has taught me. About how moving to Stepon changed my life forever.

But I’m going to.

So Not Happening by Jenny B. Jones (series)

Bella Kirkwood had it all: A-list friends at her prestigious private school, Broadway in her backyard, and Daddy’s MasterCard in her wallet. Then her father, a plastic surgeon to the stars, decided to trade her mother in for a newer model.

When Bella’s mom falls in love with a man she met on the Internet–a factory worker with two bratty sons–Bella has to pack up and move in with her new family in Truman, Oklahoma. On a farm no less!

Forced to trade her uber-trendy NYC lifestyle for down-home charm, Bella feels like a pair of Rock & Republic jeans in a sea of Wranglers.

At least some of the people in her new high school are pretty cool. Especially the hunky football player who invites her to lunch. And maybe even the annoying–but kinda hot–editor of the school newspaper.

But before long, Bella smells something rotten in the town of Truman, and it’s not just the cow pasture. With her savvy reporter’s instincts, she is determined to find the story behind all the secrets.

How can a girl go on when her charmed life is gone and God appears to be giving her the total smackdown?

Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond (series)

Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy.

Sophomore Undercover by Ben Esch

For fifteen-year-old, adopted Vietnamese orphan Dixie Nguyen, high school is one long string of hard-to-swallow humiliations. He shares a locker with a nudist linebacker, his teachers are incompetent, and he’s stuck doing fluff pieces for the school newspaper. But Dixie’s luck takes a turn when he stumbles across one of the jocks using drugs in the locker room; not only does he finally have something newsworthy to write, but the chance to strike a blow against his tormentors at the school as well.

However, when his editor insists he drop the story and cover homecoming events instead, Dixie sets off on his own unconventional-and often misguided-investigation. He soon discovers that the scandal extends beyond the football team to something far bigger and more sinister than he ever thought possible. Once he follows the guidelines of his hero, Mel Nichols (journalism professor at Fresno State University and author of the textbook Elementary Journalism) this high school reporter just might save the world. That is, of course, if Dixie can stay out of juvenile hall, the hospital, and new age therapy long enough to piece it all together.

Hell Week by Rosemary Clement-Moore (series)

MAGGIE QUINN IS determined to make her mark as a journalist. The only problem? The Ranger Report does not take freshmen on staff.

Rules are rules. But when has that ever stopped Maggie?

After facing hellfire, infiltrating sorority rush should be easy. It’s no Woodward and Bernstein, but going undercover as the Phantom Pledge will allow her to write her exposé. Then she can make a stealth exit before initiation. But when she finds a group of girls who are after way more than “sisterhood,” all her instincts say there’s something rotten on Greek Row. And when Hell Week rolls around, there may be no turning back.

If there is such a thing as a sorority from hell, you can bet that Maggie Quinn will be the one to stumble into it.

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly.

Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far too smart to clean a loaded gun.

The more Jo uncovers about her father’s death, the more her suspicions grow. There are too many secrets. And they all seem to be buried in plain sight. Then she meets Eddie—a young, brash, infuriatingly handsome reporter at her father’s newspaper—and it becomes all too clear how much she stands to lose if she keeps searching for the truth. Only now it might be too late to stop.

The past never stays buried forever. Life is dirtier than Jo Montfort could ever have imagined, and the truth is the dirtiest part of all.

The Rivalry by John Feinstein (series)

The Black Knights of Army and the Midshipmen of Navy have met on the football field since 1890, and it’s a rivalry like no other, filled with tradition.

Teen sports reporters Stevie and Susan Carol have been busy at West Point and Annapolis, getting to know the players and coaches—and the Secret Service agents. Since the president will be attending the game, security will be tighter than tight. Weeks and months have been spent on training and planning and reporting to get them all to this moment. But when game day arrives, the refs aren’t the only ones crying foul. . .

Diplomatic Immunity by Brodi Ashton (September 6)

Aspiring reporter Piper Baird decides to write a scathing exposé on the overprivileged students at an elite Washington, DC, school, only for her life to change when she begins to fall for the story’s main subject, in this new realistic contemporary romance from Brodi Ashton, the author of the Everneath trilogy.

Raucous parties, privileged attitudes, underage drinking, and diplomatic immunity…it’s all part of student life on Embassy Row.

Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the country’s most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—and winning will ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.

Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the intense competition in the journalism program—and the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school. And Piper knows access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.

The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s chance to get the full scoop. But as they spend time together, Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it could destroy the boy she just might love?

Throwing Stones by Kristi Collier

When Andy Soaring’s older brother, Pete, died in World War I, Andy’s life changed forever. Now, five years later, Andy is fourteen and beginning to feel the weight of his brother’s legacy, especially when he holds Pete’s basketball in his hands. Andy dreams of leading his high-school team to the Indiana state tournament, as his brother did before him. If only Andy could be a basketball star, maybe he could ease his parents’ sadness, and, more important, feel like he truly belongs to his family. But when Andy lets pride get in the way–over a girl, no less–all bets are off.

Sophomore Year is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin

High school sophomore Zona Lowell has lived in New York City her whole life, and plans to follow in the footsteps of her renowned-journalist father. But when he announces they’re moving to Athens for six months so he can work on an important new story, she’s devastated— he must have an ulterior motive. See, when Zona’s mother married an American, her huge Greek family cut off contact. But Zona never knew her mom, and now she’s supposed to uproot her entire life and meet possibly hostile relatives on their turf? Thanks… but no thanks.

Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold

Maggie Chen was born with ink in her blood. Her journalist father has fired her imagination with the thrill of the newsroom, and when her father is killed, she is determined to keep his dreams alive by interning at the local newspaper.

While assisting on her first story, Maggie learns that her father is suspected of illegal activity, and she knows she must clear his name. Drawn to Seattle’s Chinatown, she discovers things that are far from what she expected: secrets, lies, and a connection to the Chinese Exclusion Era. Using all of her newspaper instincts and resources, Maggie is forced to confront her ethnicity—and a family she never knew.

The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston

Kayla Dean, junior feminist and future journalist, is about the break the story of a lifetime. She is auditioning for the Lady Lions dance team to prove they discriminate against the not-so-well endowed. But when she makes the team, her best friend and fellow feminist, Rosalie, is not happy.

Now a Lady Lion, Kayla is transformed from bushy-haired fashion victim to glammed-up dance diva. But does looking good and having fun mean turning her back on the cause? Can you be a strong woman and still wear really cute shoes? Soon Kayla is forced to challenge her views, coming to terms with who she is and what girl power really means.

Famous Last Words by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

In Famous Last Words by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski, sixteen-year-old Samantha D’Angelo has death on the brain. Her summer internship at the local newspaper has her writing obituaries instead of soaking up the sun at the beach. Between Shelby, Sam’s boy-crazy best friend; her boss Harry, a true-blue newspaper man; and AJ, her fellow “intern scum” (aka the cute drummer for a band called Love Gas), Sam has her hands full. But once she figures out what—or who—is the best part of her summer, will she mess it all up?

As Sam learns her way around both the news room and the real world, she starts to make some momentous realizations about politics, ethics, her family, romance, and most important—herself.

Since You Asked by Maurene Goo

No, no one asked, but Holly Kim will tell you what she thinks anyway.

Fifteen-year-old Holly Kim is the copyeditor for her high school’s newspaper. When she accidentally submits an article that rips everyone to shreds, she gets her own column and rants her way through the school year. Can she survive homecoming, mean-girl cliques, jocks, secret admirers, Valentine’s Day, and other high school embarrassments, all while struggling to balance her family’s traditional Korean values?

Social Suicide by Gemma Halliday (series)

Twittercide: the killing of one human being by another while the victim is in the act of tweeting.

Call me crazy, but I figured writing for the Herbert Hoover High Homepage would be a pretty sweet gig. Pad the resume for college applications, get a first look at the gossip column, spend some time ogling the paper’s brooding bad-boy editor, Chase Erikson. But on my first big story, things went . . . a little south. What should have been a normal interview with Sydney Sanders turned into me discovering the homecoming queen–hopeful dead in her pool. Electrocuted while Tweeting. Now, in addition to developing a reputation as HHH’s resident body finder, I’m stuck trying to prove that Sydney’s death wasn’t suicide.

I’m starting to long for the days when my biggest worry was whether the cafeteria was serving pizza sticks or Tuesday Tacos. . . .