Christina Reads YA

Christina Makes the Bookish Rounds is a feature that will let you know about recent MG/YA/NA book related news. I'll post about articles from the publishing industry, cover reveals, discussions from fellow bloggers, the latest tv/movie news, and giveaways that you're hosting. If you would like to follow along with cover reveals during the week, see my Pinterest. (If you're interested in how I make these posts, here's your guide.)

Publishing:
Rights Report:

• The Magic Misfits - Neil Patrick Harris (an illustrated debut middle-grade series. Little, Brown; Publication is slated for spring 2017).
• Even the Darkest Stars - Heather Fawcett (debut; a YA fantasy duology; Set in a fictional kingdom reminiscent of Nepal, this is the story of an aspiring teen climber who is enlisted by a legendary explorer to help him climb the kingdom’s deadliest mountain – only to discover that his true mission may threaten her whole world. Publication is scheduled for fall 2017; HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray).
• Out of Order - Lynda Mullaly Hunt (A contemporary YA) & Hungry for Home - Lynda Mullaly Hunt (a historical middle-grade novel in verse) will share Hunt’s previous books’ emphasis on everyday kids facing difficult situations with resilience. (The new books are set to release in 2018 and 2019; Penguin's Nancy Paulsen Books).
• Finding Obeno - Keely Hutton (YA debut based on the life of Richard Ricky Anywar, who, abducted at 13 and forced to fight as a soldier for Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, managed to escape and is now a humanitarian helping to rehabilitate former child soldiers in Uganda. Publication is planned for spring 2017; Farrar, Straus and Giroux).
• One for Sorrow - Mary Downing Hahn (Hahn's 33rd novel, her latest ghost story, is set during the 1918 flu pandemic. In the story, a girl who is disliked at school dies of the flu and returns to haunt Annie, one of the girls who taunted her. The book will publish in spring 2017; Clarion).
• The Unicorn Hunt - Kamilla Benko (MG debut series in which two sisters are thrust from the present day into a world ruled by magic and embroiled in discord. Publication in the U.S. and U.K. is scheduled for fall 2017; Bloomsbury).

Nothing from last week has actually been posted to GR, so I’m just going to skip those old titles.

Awards: You can vote now for YALSA’s top ten teen books of 2015 until Teen Week in October. (Unrelated to YA: the Man Booker Prize winner). The 2015 Moonbeam Children's results (independent pubs), the Guardian Children’s (text) Literature shortlist, ALAN YA picks for September 2015. The National Book Award finalists were announced (my prediction: Bone Gap).

Authors: The Masked Truth - Kelley Armstrong, Illuminae - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff, The Rose Society - Marie Lu,Faceless - Alyssa Sheinmel, The Way I Used to Be - Amber Smith, The Loose Ends List - Carrie Firestone, It’s a Wonderful Death - Sarah J. Schmitt, Carry On - Rainbow Rowell

Excerpts: Wolf by Wolf - Ryan Graudin, Hotel Ruby - Suzanne Young, Forget Tomorrow - Pintip Dunn, Genius - Leopoldo Gout

Sexism in the Nobel Prize in Literature: by the numbers. And systematic sexism in YA → “We know why it is that men like John Green write Love Stories and women like Sarah Dessen write Romances...” more here.

Meg Wolitzer, Jandy Nelson, and Ally Condie will be going on tour together this November. Maybe you live near one of their stops?

If you are an independent bookseller employee or know one, consider filling out this form to nominate him/her for James Patterson’s holiday bonus of $250k by November 1st.

David Levithan and Nina LaCour are writing a new book together, “You Know Me Well.” “You Know Me Well, told in alternating points of view, is the story of two unlikely confidants. Classmates Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for a year, but have never spoken. One night, far from home, their paths cross, and soon, they realize they know each other better than anyone else. They’ll guide each other through their first loves and heartbreaks, which, by the way, don’t involve each other: Mark is in love with his best friend Ryan, while Kate has been in love with a girl from afar, and may have ruined her chance to meet her.” (Add to Goodreads here).

Another article on Neil Patrick Harris & his new MG series.

Rainbow Rowell plays an epic game of Would You Rather with the Buzzfeed staff.

If you were curious about Stephenie Meyer’s announcement last week re: Life and Death, check out this interview. It has some spoilers on why she chose to change certain scenes as well. Also, apparently the reason why she didn’t release Midnight Sun => GREY. Oh, E.L. James.

In a similar vein, Flavorwire is wondering whether genderbending the characters actually proves Twilight isn’t sexist.

Book Riot had a great series on diversity and here’s a round-up of their links.

I’m not sure who started the hashtag for #Stories for All, but it’s inspired some authors to share some personal things: Suzanna Herman, Maya Van Wagenen, Shannon Hale.

We need diverse writer landmarks.

This is an older discussion between Jacqueline Woodson and Renee Watson, but a lot of comments are still really relevant. (“I knew Jacqueline wouldn’t want to ignore the backdrop of our conversation. Her stories are filled with characters who don’t fit into neat, predictable boxes about what it means to be a girl, or Black, or gay, or white, or a teen. There is no shying away from difficult, painful topics. Light and dark are always present, side by side. Her books mirror reality…”)

!!! It’s not enough to have illustrated Harry Potter books. We’ve got ANIMATED illustrations for the ebooks (+ some commentary from J.K. Rowling!) → but only for Apple iBooks. OMG WHUT STOP TEMPTING ME TO BUY MORE AND MORE COPIES OF HARRY POTTER. (Also, can we make animated illustrations in e-books a thing? SO COOL).

Meg Rosoff, author of This Is How I Live Now, said some awful stuff and best recapped by other people. Here’s an open letter to her about her comments (probably to be read after the other article I linked to). Original comments here.

Maggie Stiefvater and John Green raced each other for charity. Here’s MTV’s recap of the event & here’s Maggie’s.

Teen book festivals are a win for all who attend.

Bookstores are taking YA author events to the next level.

A brief summary of author and industry events.

Jennifer Armentrout is currently running a contest for aspiring writers: send a story up to 1,500 words and you have a chance at attending the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention.

Disney is launching a new imprint called Freeform focusing on YA and crossover fiction and matching the newly renamed ABC Family (aka Freeform).

Graphic novels’ sales are on the rise, especially in kidlit.

Cover Reveals:

Discussions/Other Bloggers Posts:

Have you read these popular October releasing books yet?

YA themed etsy shops. There’s actually a surprising number of clothing, jewelry, and other art sites for YA.

Looking for some wicked scary reads this October? Here are Penguin Teen’s recommendations. (And here are Barnes & Noble’s recommendations).

How about some YA sports romances? There were actually a lot more recently published than I thought there’d be…

Always pretty cool to see how some readers are impacted by books: how The Golden Compass changed her life.

This girl took some quotes with Dumbledore’s advice and actually followed it for a week.

YAs set during senior year: I second the Anna & the French Kiss recommendation! :)

9 fantasy reads & books to anticipate for this spring & books to read for Hispanic Heritage Month.

When reading, do you ever note if an author is referring to another book within its contents? (Me: yes and no. But super cool to see these sometimes hidden sometimes right out there literary references).

National Coming Out Day was October 11th / already passed, but you should still check out these books and this list asap.

If you’re planning a dinner party, some YA books could give you ideas… (I love how this was organized for the food/drink/entertainment!)

Have you ever been kept awake at night by these book nerd fears?

If you’re looking to read more diverse YA SFF, here are 10 recent new releases. And more recs headed your way: if you are looking to read more deaf media or books with bisexual teen girls or SFF books from diverse authors, those links are good primers.

Whaa-- a Harry Potter themed cafe has opened in the Philippines. Can we make a replica in the states?

Have you ever committed one of these book crimes?

What do you think would happen if book lovers ruled the world?

Did you know all these facts about Barnes & Noble?

Movies & TV Shows:

Check out the Shadowhunters TV show via the second trailer (here was the first promo video). If you’re interested in how they made the TV show, you’ll get to find out on December 6 with a behind the scenes look.

The Arcana Chronicles by Kresley Cole has been optioned for a television show by Warner Brothers.

Gemma Chan, Carmen Ejojo, and Jon Voight have joined the cast of the Fantastic Beasts adaptation.

In case you were wondering about the Shatter Me TV Show.

R.L. Stine’s Fear Street adaptation is coming up next.

CBS is making Miss Maple younger, young enough for a tv show. (This sort of reminds me of the Nancy Drew show, with an older Nancy).

Old news: they’re considering Nat Wolff for the lead role in the Death Note adaptation. But, if you were on twitter when this was announced, there was a lot of uproar about the whitewashing, so I’m hoping that this won’t happen. (Related to that discussion: the acting roles in The Martian).

Not YA, but oh well: check out the trailer for Pride & Prejudice & Zombies.

Giveaways:

ARCs & Hardcovers, INT, ends 11/01.

Adventures in Children's Publishing giveaways: Win THAT TIME I JOINED THE CIRCUS by J.J. Howard. Enter by 10/29/15.; Win BLOOD AND SALT by Kim Liggett. Enter by 10/20/15;Win one of SEVEN packs of FIVE popular or recent YA titles, plus swag to help reward readers, for underfunded classrooms, schools, or libraries. Know a school or library who needs books? Nominate them! This month's donations from Martina Boone, Maggie Stiefvater,Danielle Paige, Laurie Halse Anderson and Maria Dahvana Headley. Ends 11/1/15.

Giveaways listed at Saturday Situation by Lori of Pure Imagination and Candace of Candace's Book Blog.

Don't forget to enter YABC's giveaways for the month.

Sci-fi and Fantasy Friday {SF/F Reviews and Giveaways}.

You have until January 1st to complete your Storyboard Sprites board and win a book up to $15.

If you have a giveaway, you should let me know.

Other:

New Releases: First & Then by Emma Wills, Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl, The Rose Society (Young Elites #2) by Marie Lu, Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) by Sara Raasch, The Immortal Heights (Elemental Trilogy #3) by Sherry Thomas, Newt's Emerald by Garth Nix, The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong, Truly Madly Famously (Famous in Love #2) by Rebecca Searle, Happily After (The Selection Companion) by Kiera Cass, Trust Me, I'm Trouble by Mary Elizabeth Summer, Darkthaw (Winterkill #2) by Kate A. Boorman, The Beast of Cretacea by Todd Strasser, The Emperor of Any Place by Tom Wynne-Jones, Dark Tide (Waterfire Saga #3) by Jennifer Donnelly, Weird Girl and What's His Name by Meagan Brothers,Martians by Blythe Woolston, No True Echo by Gareth P. Jones, The Devil and Winnie Flynn by Micol Ostow, Blue Voyage by Diana Renn, A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond, Juba! by Walter Dean Myers.

Recent Recommended Reads: You can check out what I’ve been reading lately in my September book talk & recap.

Which articles did you like best? Did I miss any news? Did you host a cover reveal or discussion that I should have posted about? A giveaway? Leave the links, and I'll either edit this post or post about 'em next week.