041: YA Trends

Some friends asked us to spend about 15 to 20 minutes talking about YA trends. So, we rambled for an hour and Nate swore a lot, so I hope it's still usable for their educational purposes (also we'd seriously love to have your whole class on the show: extra credit!?).

We'd love to hear from you about what trends we missed or what we got wrong. Email us! isistteenenoughforyounow@gmail.com

And we'll be back in two weeks (despite Nate's joke that this is our last episode) with an episode on Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood.

Episode 040: Children of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi

In this episode we discuss Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.

We also talk about Ruth Graham's old essay "Against YA," which had somehow been spammed around the Facebook Group ALA Think Tank the day before recording. (So, we're sorry that we're dragging Ruth Graham again; she's got to be tired of it, too).

Watch out: the sound improves drastically at around 29 minutes and you may want to turn the volume down a bit.

Kim suggests Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Black Panther (the comic and the movie I presume), Afar by Leila Del Duca, and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.

Amy suggests Strange the Dreamer as well. She also suggests Fledgling by Octavia Butler (which prompts Kim to suggest the graphic novel version of Kindred).

Molly suggests the works of Tamora Pierce and Avatar: The Last Airbender. She also suggests books by Nnedi Okorafor, prompting us to remember Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi.

Nate suggests The Hate U Give.

Lindsey suggests Strange the Dreamer, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Cash Money suggests Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young.

Amy also suggests (after prompting from Kim) Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.

Episode 039: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Recorded on the same day as our discussion on Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez (oh, you should check that episode out), so, like that one, featuring not your perfect audio quality, this episode centers on damn near perfect Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Seriously, we are so into it, it's almost difficult to sustain discussion. Everytime I read a passage for us to discuss everyone just oohs and ahs.

Molly suggests Macbeth and Hamlet.

Nate suggests Monster by Walter Dean Myers, The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, Ghost by Jason Reynolds, and also "Hit 'Em Up" by Tupac Shakur.

Kim suggests Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.

Amy suggests Bus 57 by Dashka Slater.

Cash Money suggests Boyz N The Hood.

Lindsey suggests The Godfather Part 2.