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.
 

Episode 038: Far From the Tree by Robin Benway

In this episode, we discuss National Book Award winner Far From the Tree by Robin Benway.

Kim suggests They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera.

Amy suggests The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas.

Molly suggests Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares.

Cash Money suggests White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

Lindsey suggests the television show The Fosters (and definitely NOT The Secret Life of the American Teenager).

Nate suggests We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Freaky Friday (w/ Jodie Foster: he specified this, but it did not make the final cut).

Also because no one will understand what is meant by Molly's statement, Kim has—on occasion—cosplayed as as Rita Skeeter.

Episode 037: The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos

I pulled one of our proof of concept episodes out of the vault for this week since I (Nathan) suggested this book in our discussion of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. Here we talk about The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos, published in 2016.  We used to believe that brevity was the soul of wit, so we aren't as detailed here as we tend to be now, but this book deserves your attention. 

We used to only suggest a handful of books (and did so as a group), so here we suggest Paper Towns by John Green, She's Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick, and I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest.

Episode 036: I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez.

We prove to be less than perfect podcasters: the recording came out a bit too quiet and a lot of compression was used to salvage comments. Things sound a little fuzzy or underwater. (Don't worry Nate and Amy were not forced to discuss this book while underwater.) We manage to discuss National Book Award finalist I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez.

Kim suggests Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani.

Molly suggests Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez, A Step From Heaven by An Na.

Lindsey suggests City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson, I Was Here by Gayle Forman, and the television program Veronica Mars.

Nate suggests We Are Okay by Nina LaCour.

¢a$h Mo₦€¥ suggests Gabi a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez, and the film Real Women Have Curves.

Nathan suggests "Girlfriend in a Coma" by The Smiths and The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos.

Amy suggests Gabi Girl in Pieces as well, and ties up our conversation on Lady Bird.

Episode 035: Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

In this episode we discuss the debut novel by S.K. Ali the Morris Award finalist Saints and Misfits.

We discuss how we're hoping for a whole series of books set in the same town (possibly following the side characters), the potential arguments the novel lays out about owning the way you are portrayed, and how Nate never wants anyone to look at his forehead.

Nate suggests The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

Lindsey suggests Ms. Marvel. (Lindsey also describes a song during our Random Comments section; Amy joked that it was probably by Fall Out Boy. The song is actually "I'm Just a Kid" by Simple Plan).

Nathan suggests Exit Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston.

Our next recording session takes place on May 7th, we'll be talking about I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez, Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, and Far From the Tree by Robin Benway. You can expect those episodes over the next few weeks.

If you want to see what we'll be reading after that, please check out our Goodreads group in the next few days. We'll be adding the books we'll be discussing in the coming months. https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/415645-is-it-teen-enough-for-you-now