Tag Archive | love

S is for Sun and Rook, SPELL BOUND in magical emergencies! by F.T. Lukens (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr22
book cover of Spell Bound, by F.T. Lukens. Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Magic is real – fact.
Cars still don’t fly – sad.
You’ve got magic or not – great or so very sad.

Just-graduated Edison misses his late grandmother’s magic and needs a job, so he asks the most powerful sorcerer in the city, Antonia Hex. Because her magic fries out electronics, the owner of Hex-a-Gone cursebreaking services hires the tech-savvy 16 year old, dubbing him Rook.

The non-magical teen has invented a secret device that displays the spell-powering ley lines that only magic-wielders should be able to see. Antonia isn’t a fan of the Consortium that makes all the magical rules, so this is…interesting. But according to teenage Sun, ever-clad in black and apprentice to sorcerer Fable, that Spell Breaker device is going to get Rook into big trouble.

Rook and Sun see each other on big jobs where Antonia and Fable must (grudgingly) work together to fix things like singing mice in apartment walls. And meet for coffee while Sun finishes their summer school homework before apprentice hours with Fable. And venture to his grandmother’s house together, Spell Breaker in hand…

Can Antonia really teach magic to Rook?
Will the Consortium find out?!?
What did happen to her last apprentice?

Chapters by Rook and by Sun recount the growing fondness between the teens, in contrast to the deepening feud between Antonia and Fable, with the Consortium’s iron fist ever-looming over all. (watch out for that enchanted doormat with a bad temper)

Just published! Modern-day magic by the author of In Deeper Waters (more here) and So This is Ever After (recommended here) – anything they write, I want to read!

If you could cast just one spell, what would you choose?
**kmm

Book info: Spell Bound / F.T. Lukens. Margaret K. McElderry Books/ Simon & Schuster, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

R is for romance, fake – but THIS TIME IT’S REAL! by Ann Liang (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr21
book cover of This Time It's Real, by Ann Liang. Published by Scholastic Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Another year, another school,
another place to not fit in –
just keep writing…

Little sister is adapting fine to their new school, but moving back to China after many years away for Mom’s consulting career is really tough for high school senior Eliza – just keep writing…

When her adorably perfect boyfriend must exit the shadows “protecting his privacy” so social media readers can have more of their romantic interludes, Eliza is aghast.

No way that will happen since the 17 year old invented him for her school blog entry!

That writing opened the door to a prestigious online magazine’s internship, so somehow she’s got to make him really real, have cute adventures in Beijing together, snap some filtered photos, and keep the story going during their senior year.

Desperate, she pleads with Caz Song at school – if the popular model/actor will step in as her dream sweetheart, she’ll help him write the college application essays demanded by his over-busy parents.

How will they pull it off without endangering Caz’s contract obligations?
Can she convince their classmates and her best friend Zoe back in California that it’s a real relationship?
Is Mr. Perfect movie star actually a little lonely?

This adventure/relationship might not follow her outline or his script! Counting down to their big television interview…

How would you write your own happily-ever-after?
**kmm

Book info: This Time It’s Real / Ann Liang. Scholastic, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

O is for on campus, starting college at FIRST-YEAR ORIENTATION! edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi (YA book review) @A2Z

Apr18
book cover of First-Year Orientation, edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi. Published by Candlewick Press | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Move-in day,
time for goodbyes and hellos –
your new life after high school begins!

Welcome to Rolland College, home of the Owls! Many first-year students (we don’t say freshman anymore) come from other states or countries to this small New Jersey institution, which is a hometown fixture for a few.

This year’s entering class includes marching band buddies and theater stars (on stage and behind the scenes), a football player with brains and brawn, former child actors trying to escape rerun fame, youth with helicopter parents or a missing family member or a big secret…

Through these 16 short stories by YA authors and an actress, we meet students who are first in their family to attend college and those following relatives’ footsteps at Rolland, young people who want to reinvent themselves or finally get to show their true selves.

Get ready for dorm drama, an emotional support rabbit, a crack in the universe, and campus ghosts in these stories by Adi Alsaid * Anna Birch * Bryan Bliss * Gloria Chao * Jennifer Chen * Olivia A. Cole * Dana L. Davis * Kristina Forest * Lauren Gibaldi * Kathleen Glasgow * Sam Maggs * Farah Naz Rishi * Lance Rubin * Aminah Mae Safi * Eric Smith * Phil Stamper.

I love how main characters in one story appear in others as the first-years and returning students at this fictitious college rush to and from orientation, the student organizations fair, welcome parties, and the much-anticipated live concert… a kaleidoscope of encounters and emotions.

Just published this month in hardcover and paperback! From the editors of short story anthology Battle of the Bands, another look at a single day from multiple perspectives by several YA authors – recommended here.

What “how I got here” story do you tell on your first day in a new place?
**kmm

Book info: First-Year Orientation / edited by Eric Smith & Lauren Gibaldi. Candlewick Press, 2023. [Eric’s site] [Lauren’s site] [publisher site] Review copy via Edelweiss and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

M is for Hayao Miyzaki masterwork: SHUNA’S JOURNEY west to save his people, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit (Graphic Novel review) #A2Z

Apr15
book cover of Shuna's Journey, by Hayao Miyazaki; translated by Alex Dudok de Wit. Published by First Second Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Shuna’s people are ever-hungry as no crops can thrive in their cold desert land.

When a traveler tells of a strong golden grain that grows far away, the young prince is determined to bring its seeds back to their mountain valley.

Riding west on his yakul, Shuna traverses strange landscapes, fights those who would capture him, despairs at the fortress slave market.

He rescues two sisters at great peril, and the trio travels west without stopping until they reach the cliffs of World’s Edge.

Can Thea and her little sister safely reach their home in the north?
Can Shuna reach the God-lands past these dreadful cliffs and find the golden grain?
Will Thea and Shuna ever meet again?

Just before co-founding Studio Ghibli in 1985, Miyazaki created this stunning illustrated story based on a Tibetan folktale about a prince’s epic pilgrimage to bring barley to his people.

Four decades after its publication in Japan, the classic graphic novel (read back to front) is available to English readers for the first time. Visit the publisher’s page here to look at its gorgeous artwork.

When the going gets tough, how do you respond?
**kmm

Book info: Shuna’s Journey / Hayao Miyazaki; translated by Alex Dudok de Wit. First Second Books/Roaring Brook Press, original 1983, English translation 2022. [translator interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

K is Kyr battling in space for vengeance and SOME DESPERATE GLORY, by Emily Tesh (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr13
book cover of Some Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh. Published by Tordotcom | recommended on BooksYALove.com

“While we live, the enemy shall fear us.”

They’re the last true humans, hidden in a hollow asteroid, living on scant food, training for vengeance after Earth was obliterated by the alien Majo.

Genetically-enhanced Kyr expects the other teen girls to train for combat with her focused ferocity, so they’ll be placed on a battleship instead of being trapped in the nursery as breeding stock.

Only her brother Mags is a stronger warrior, yet he is sent on a suicide mission to a planet of Majo-cooperating humans, and the Commander assigns Kyr to her worst nightmare.

Desperate to save Mags and herself, Kyr enlists the help of his tech-savvy friend and crush Avi to escape their fates by using the recently-captured Majo ship and its alien pilot Yiso.

Away they flee, to the same planet that their big sister defected to, the planet that the supreme Majo leader will soon visit…coincidence?

The history relentlessly drilled into Kyr gets a reboot, a shadow engine of subreality makes their toughest training sims seem like babies’ play, and the young people have only a short time to help Yiso keep things from getting worse.

And then time twists… and twists…

Who’s the hero here?
How can anyone gay survive in a society where reproduction is paramount?
What other ways could Kyr’s life have turned out?

In the future, as now, different views of the same events bring conflict as well as opportunities for peace.

What “fact” of history learned in childhood have you unlearned?
**kmm

Book info: Some Desperate Glory / Emily Tesh. Tordotcom, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

D = Is she a good animator or just DRAWN THAT WAY? by Elissa Sussman & Arielle Jovellanos (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr5
book cover of Drawn That Way, by Elissa Sussman; illustrations by Arielle Jovellanos. Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers | recommended on BooksYALove.com

The greatest animation director in the world is offering a summer internship – Hayley is so excited to be chosen to work with other teens on producing short films and maybe get a real job at BB Gun Films.

She’s been so inspired by Beckett’s magical, Oscar-winning film based on his son Bear’s imagination that she follows all his advice on their craft – what will the so-private genius be like in person?

Four films, four teams, all the leadership roles given to boys, including Bear himself who seems really bored with everything – not fair! Away from the studio, Bear seems a nice enough guy, reluctantly dragged into the program when his long-divorced dad discovered he can draw so well.

At least Hayley’s BB mentor is a woman, but she warns that this studio is as much an “old boys’ club” as the others and that women in animation have to work much harder to get work, let alone get credit for it.

Truth! Their team director takes credit for Hayley’s script, then lies about it in front of Beckett himself who chastises Hayley and puts her on Bear’s team as ‘his muse’ – stating bluntly that the Jewish girl was among the interns chosen “for diversity.”

After following Beckett’s advice for so long, Hayley is utterly stunned – is she really as talented as she thinks she is?

Bear believes in Hayley’s talents and reminds her that the animation business never promised to be fair. Being with Bear in the evenings alone – that’s more than fair.

The few other girls in the program are equally angry about their team leaders’ lack of leadership, and Hayley has an idea – why don’t they make their own short-short film too?

Working wild hours outside their team projects, the young women create Hayley’s girl and golem story that Beckett said no one could relate to – can they sneak it into the final showcase?

Time to aim for that glass ceiling and break through!

When has someone denied your proven talents?
**kmm

Book info: Drawn That Way / Elissa Sussman; illustrations by Arielle Jovellanos. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021, paperback 2022. [author site] [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Come along with SHINY HAPPY PEOPLE, words by R.E.M., illustrated by Paul Hoppe & Shinyeon Moon (Picturebook review)

Dec22
book cover of Shiny Happy People; song lyrics by R.E.M.; illustrations by Paul Hoppe with Shinyeon Moon. Published by LyricPop / Akashic Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

A journey, a reunion!

At the train station crowded with animals, a young fox spots his rabbit friend:
“Meet me in the crowd, people, people. Throw your love around, love me, love me”

Biking back to Rabbit’s house, the pair are “Shiny happy people laughing” under blue skies until angry Dad Rabbit points at the “no foxes allowed” sign, and the illustrations grow red and chaotic, even as the lyrics call “Everyone around, love them, love them”…

Fox has brought a gift that Rabbit’s brother likes and the parents try to ignore: “Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines”

When Dad Rabbit yells at him for trying to please them, here come some carnivores to defend Fox – oh no!

But the youngsters take control of the conflict: “WHOA! HERE WE GO!” and calm down both groups.

The lyrics “Shiny happy people holding hands, shiny happy people laughing” repeat for several pages as the grownups begin enjoying their time together, following Fox and Rabbit’s lead.

This well-loved R.E.M. song (with its Tiananmen Square uprising connection) is elevated by the storyline of friendship, acceptance, and joy through illustrations by Paul Hoppe and Shinyeon Moon.

Sing along with this new addition to LyricPop’s story-song picture books, just published on 22 November 2022.

What song should LyricPop turn into a picture book next?
**kmm

Book info: Shiny Happy People / song lyrics by R.E.M.; illustrations by Paul Hoppe with Shinyeon Moon. LyricPop / Akashic Books, 2022. [lyrics info] [artist Paul] [artist Shinyeon] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

THE FIRE STAR jewel is missing – will these young courtiers be next? by A. L. Tait (YA book review)

Dec14
book cover of The Fire Star (Maven & Reeve Mystery, book 1), by A. L. Tait. Kane-Miller Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

A wedding almost delayed by goats,
a new squire for the groom,
a reluctant lady’s maid for the bride…

Rennart Castle is swirling with preparations for Sir Garrick’s wedding to Lady Cassandra – and rumors that its Airl will oppose the new King who is using the kingdom’s wealth for himself alone.

Reeve’s training in court etiquette and observing people should help Sir Garrick through this new situation – and is the 16 year old’s final chance to become a knight himself.

Maven now waits upon a young noblewoman displeased to be marrying a lowly knight. Not long ago, Maven also wore fine clothes, but the teen’s family has fallen upon desperately hard times.

The priceless Fire Star gem always goes to the family’s youngest daughter upon her betrothal – never to a son – and that is what Lady Cassandra brings into this marriage. The Airl will soon demand that she gives it to his headstrong daughter.

When the Fire Star is stolen before the wedding, Reeve and Maven find themselves searching for clues in the castle and countryside new to them both.

Is the secret Birch Circle of women involved?
Why is the Airl’s daughter taking so many risks?
Can Maven’s forbidden ability to read and write stay hidden?

Told in alternating chapters by the two teens, The Fire Star takes us to a medieval land where their detecting skills can save the castle household and perhaps the entire kingdom! Followed by The Wolf’s Howl (info here).

What part of courtly life would you like to experience for yourself?
**kmm

Book info: The Fire Star (Maven & Reeve Mystery, book 1) / A. L. Tait. Kane-Miller Books, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

So much to do as SISTER OF THE BOLLYWOOD BRIDE! by Nandini Bajpal (YA book review)

Dec8
book cover of Sister of the Bollywood Bride, by Nandini Bajpal. Published by Poppy/ Little Brown & Company | recommended on BooksYALove.com

As big sister Vinnie’s wedding approaches and Dad is immersed in his new start-up, Mini misses their late mother more than ever. Thankfully, the Boston teen has an entire community of Desi aunties to help her with all the planning details, since Vinnie and fiance Manish are medical students in Chicago.

Tutoring pays Mini’s fashionista bills (thrift stores plus her sewing skills equals amazing), and running with her dog Yogi on the grounds of a nearby college gives her time away from planning and time to get to know handsome Vir, the dean’s son.

The beautiful gold wedding jewelry that Mom left for them inspires Mini’s vision for the big day:
Outdoor venue? The beautiful gardens in the park where Vinnie played youth sports – check!
Food from two different regions of India? Check and… the other will get back to her (eventually?)
Dress? By her designer aunt Masi, of course. Never mind that Mini’s role model and inspiration has been oddly distant these past few years.

Worrying about whether Dad will accept her dream of attending design school (instead of law/medicine/engineering that all Indian parents want for their children), if she can actually get Manish to ride in on a horse per tradition, what Vir’s very successful father will think of her – two months to plan a summer wedding!?

Mini is determined to squeeze their budget to make Vinnie’s wedding as memorable and beautiful as any Bollywood movie extravaganza, like Mom would have done.

Family, love, fun and stress, British car enthusiasts, henna and altering bridesmaids’ outfits…
And then the weather forecast changes – hurricane on the horizon!

From the author of Made in Mehendi (recommended here), another Indian-American romance to savor.

What’s your favorite wedding tradition?
**kmm

Book info: Sister of the Bollywood Bride / Nandini Bajpal. Poppy/ Little Brown & Company, 2021.
[author site] [publisher site] Personal copy; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Sisters sharing DRIZZLE, DREAMS, AND LOVESTRUCK THINGS, by Maya Prasad (YA book review)

Dec7
book cover of Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, by Maya Prasad. Published by Hyperion /Disney | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Four sisters,
four seasons,
five chances for love…

For the past decade, the four teen Singh sisters have lived in the Songbird Inn on Orcas Island, where their widowed father met and married Pop as they renovated the old property together. But three years ago, the girls’ beloved stepdad died, before he could see their dream named as “the most romantic inn in America” for its unique seaside weddings.

Nidhi has planned her senior year and beyond in great detail as she will head to pastry school in Paris after graduation, with boyfriend Matt. A tree crashing through her bedroom brings Grayson and construction crew to the inn – how will his secret artistic passions affect her carefully ordered life this fall?

Avani has spent the winter avoiding Francisco after a date mix-up, not so easy when his family supplies produce and goat cheese to the inn daily. Her grief for Pop lingers even as Dad begins seeing Amir, so she decides to revive his beloved Winter Ball in his memory, finding that Francisco’s help can make it happen.

Spring on the is photographer Sirisha’s favorite season, and hosting the Thousand Shores theater troupe at the Inn makes it even better – brown girls, queer girls, stories turned and retold. And beautiful Brie leaves her tongue-tied, even as the young actress tries to help Sirisha find the story that will help her photos win the San Juan Snaps contest.

Queen of Romance – Rani’s deep love of romance novels has helped her twin Avani and her older and younger sisters find happiness this past year. As they prepare for the biggest summer wedding of all, which inn visitor will be her happily ever after – socially-conscious Vikram, fun and sporty Leo, or Raj who didn’t kiss her last summer?

A wonderful year in Washington’s Pacific Northwest with the Singh family as they work through past issues with family still in India, decide what their futures might look like, and host a parade of interesting guests in the beautiful inn that they call home.

Where would you build the best inn ever?
**kmm

Book info: Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things / Maya Prasad. Hyperion, 2022. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.