Five Things I Want from YA in 2015

In 2014, I fell in love with The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski, The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson and A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. I adored debuts by Anne Blankman and Emery Lord. I went to theaters for the big screen adaptations of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, Veronica Roth’s Divergent and Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay. There was a new Scott Westerfeld book (Afterworlds!) and I’m still struggling to let go of Leigh Bardugo’s Alina, Laini Taylor’s Karou and Stephanie Perkin’s Anna, Lola and Isla. Also in 2014, I discovered #WeNeedDiverseBooks and vowed to read more diversely.  

Basically, 2014 was awesome. Here’s what I’m excited/desperate/hoping for from 2015!

Fantastic Debuts

Right now I’m reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and I’m loving it! Technically, she’s not a debut author, but this is her YA debut, and that counts in my book! I’m excited for other debuts like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi and The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall (which I’ve already read and loved and it comes out next week!).

 

Sequels/Series Continuations

The Winner’s Crime, The Heart of Betrayal, Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke, Throne of Glass #4, The Heir, Winter. SO MUCH WANT! 2014 was a great year for series beginnings and I can’t wait for their sequels and other series continuations!
 
 

More Diversity in Books and Movies

Well, I pretty much want this always. More diversity on the shelves and at the theaters. And it'd be nice if (particularly in the case of YA books) their covers reflected their diversity. One of my goals for 2015 (see last week's post) is to read more diversely. I even made a list of seven diverse books I want to read this year and hung it behind my desk!

 

Books from My Favorite Authors

All Fall Down by Ally Carter, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and A Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot. I’ve sampled all these and WOW! I can barely wait a couple weeks for the start to Carter's new series (I've already pre-ordered the signed edition, thank you very much!), let alone wait until May and June for the other two! Now just give me a new J.K. Rowling fantasy series and I’m set for life!

  

Things I mentioned last January that I’m still waiting on

This includes: a new John Green book and the Next Big Thing. The former is self-explanatory, but the latter… well, maybe John Green is the next big thing? Vampires, then dystopia, and maybe now it’s realistic fiction? (I refuse to call it ‘sick lit.’) It’s been argued that realistic fiction isn’t a trend, as it’s always there and it's always popular. But maybe the John Green/Rainbow Rowell/Gayle Forman brand of realistic fiction is the next trend? Or maybe if Stephenie Meyer was the forefront of the vampire trend, and Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games was the kick-start to the dystopian trend, maybe John Green is the beginning of the next trend? I suppose this remains to be seen.

 

Here's hoping for an awesome 2015!

Diversifying My Reading List

You may have heard of the #weneeddiversebooks campaign that went viral (Yay!) over the past few days. For more information, click HERE. Well, it got me thinking...
 

Reading is a great way to learn about a culture/race/orientation/religion etc. other than the one you identify with. Personally, books have always been a source of learning for me. I widen my vocabulary, learn about legends, hobbies, history and places other than what I’m familiar with, but am I reading enough diverse books? Am I learning about other cultures/races/orientations/religions in the books I read?

I’m not so sure. Out of the 18 books I’ve read this year, only two of them have main characters who are diverse:

·         Two Boys Kissing—David Levithan

·         The Tyrant’s Daughter—J.C. Carleson

My reading repertoire overall has more diversity, but still the percentage to total books read is low. Looks like I need to ramp it up! For each of the eight months left of 2014, I’m going to read at least one book with a main character unlike me, whether they are of another culture, race, orientation, religion etc. One of the best things about reading diversely is that I'll be able to recommend diversely (remember: I'm a bookseller by day).

My #weneeddiversebooks Reading List for 2014

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian—Sherman Alexie

The Summer Prince—Alaya Dawn Johnson

Ask the Passengers—A. S. King

The Art of Secrets—James Klise

The Living—Matt de la Peña

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe—Benjamin Alire Sáenz

She is Not Invisible—Marcus Sedgwick

Marcelo in the Real World—Francisco X. Stork

Oh, and here’s some diversity in the wild!

 

Five Things I want from YA in 2014

Last week I wrote about my goals for 2014. But there are also some things I'm hoping/wishing/DYING for in the YA genre this year. In no particular order, I want...

 

More News like this:

Here it is! All twelve authors of MY TRUE LOVE GAVE TO ME + more details: http://t.co/SDccunDXdF
— Stephanie Perkins (@naturallysteph) January 7, 2014

Also an announcement from John Green re: new book. I know he’s writing and I don’t want to rush him (okay, maybe I do a little) but I just want NEWS that another book is coming. I just want the knowledge. It will comfort me.

 

More Diversity

YA books can be boundary-breaking, but the genre is strides away from being where it should concerning diversity. I desire a wider range of characters when it comes to race/creed/orientation/background/situation. As a reader, I have to seek this out, and I would like it to be reflected on the shelves. For that to happen, it has to be a group effort. Let’s get this done, folks!

 

Movie Releases/Announcements

TFIOS. Divergent. The Giver. If I Stay. Maze Runner. Mockingjay. I WANT THEM ALL. Now, please. Also, I want optioned movies moving to development. And in development movies moving to filming. You get my drift. I want more YA books becoming movies.

 

Series Endings

I need Ruin and Rising (by Leigh Bardugo), The One (by Keira Cass), Dreams of Gods and Monsters (by Laini Taylor). I want the closure they will provide. And authors, be nice. No one needs to die. Except maybe the bad guys…

 

The Next Big Thing

I love a good dystopian novel, but it recently came to my attention that the subgenre is waning in popularity. Dystopia burned bright and fast due to the popularity of Hunger Games and Divergent. Even though they are still on our radar with the upcoming movies, I’m curious as to what will be next. Because right now, I have NO IDEA what's coming.

 

Honorable Mention:

Debuts, series and authorial (or NEW BOOKS)

Winner’s Curse, Side Effects May Vary, The Inventor’s Secret, Death Sworn, PANIC. The book by Lauren Oliver… I’m not actually panicking. Though I’m starting to as I realize there is not enough time to read all of this awesomeness. Sigh, just another reason I need a timeturner.