YALSA has announced the finalists for the 2019 Morris Award. The award is given to a debut author writing for teens and “celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature.” Here are the finalists:
Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton (9780525580966)
Take a dazzling and frightening look at our potential future in this novel for teens. Told in six linked stories, the novel starts in the near future with a look at the moral medical questions of saving one twin by killing the other. Things only get more complicated from there with genetic modifications becoming more and more prevalent. Where does a human end and a cyborg begin? What happens when a modified human loses empathy but gains so much intelligence? What about cryogenics when it falls into the wrong hands? Can humans evolve so far that they appear to be another species entirely? Each story takes the reader farther from the present day and into a wild exploration of the depths of genetic modification taken to the logical extreme.
Dayton could have created six stand-alone stories but instead wisely chose to tie all of them together but not in an expected way. Instead of one of the main characters, it is a minor but majorly influential character who is in the background of all of the stories, making an appearance himself or just having his theories mentioned. He is a religious man who starts out believing that genetic modification is the work of the devil and creates demons but then has his own personal experience with death and genetics and finds a way to become the leading figure in promoting genetic modification.
Dayton keeps a firm hand on the politics of her world as well, setting one of her stories in Australia and another in Russia while the remainder take place in the United States. This global focus allows readers to see more deeply into the divided views on genetic modification and also to see more of the questions related to how far it is alright to take this. Each of Dayton’s stories is an ethical question wrapped in a taut and fascinating plot in a shared world.
Brilliant and timely, this novel for teens is remarkable in its ethical and open questions. Appropriate for ages 13-18.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Delacorte Press.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi (9780062866561)
In the year after the 9/11 attack, Shirin starts yet another new school. At 16, she is in high school and is the only girl in her new school who wears a hijab. Shirin knows what she is in for and comes to school every day braced for both full-faced insults and microaggressions. She tends to ignore everyone, taking advantage of the way her hijab can hide her earbuds so that she can listen to music even in class. But even though she is determined to ignore everyone, people still enter her life. Part of it is her brother starting a breakdancing club that Shirin joins. And then there is Ocean, a white boy who wants to get to know Shirin and can see past her headwear to really see her as a person. But Shirin knows what the world is like and how it will turn against them both if they pursue their feelings for one another. Could the risk be worth it?
Mafi, known for her Shatter Me series, turns to realism and romance in this new book. Her writing is interesting because to make this work for white readers, she has to talk directly about the microaggressions that Shiring experiences and then also about how that makes Shirin feel. Her writing works beautifully and her directness is a strength. Part way through the book, the drama builds alongside the romance into a terrifying mix of love and xenophobia.
The anger of Shirin creates a strong and remarkable heroine. There is no way to read this book without deeply relating to Shirin and her experiences, that includes understanding her fierce defensiveness and rage at the world. Shirin is truly the center of the novel which is a great mix of breakdancing, romance, anger, and defiance. Her relationship with her family is complicated and honest, as is her first romantic relationship. It’s all complicated and wonderfully so.
A fierce heroine faces racism alongside romance in this gripping novel for teens. Appropriate for ages 13-17.
Reviewed from library copy.
Kirkus has released another of their best of the year lists. Here are the books selected as their best YA with plenty of great surprises included:
After the Fire by Will Hill
After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Rovina Cai
Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro
An Assassin’s Guide to Love & Treason by Virginia Boecker
Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
The Bird and the Blade by Megan Bannen
Black Wings Beating by Alex London
Blacklisted!: Hollywood, the Cold War, and the First Amendment by Larry Dane Brimner
Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
The Book of Pearl by Timothee de Fombelle
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu
The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr’s Assassin by James L. Swanson
Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
Driving by Starlight by Anat Deracine
The Fall of Innocence by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Feathered Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico by David Bowles
Final Draft by Riley Redgate
Fire Song by Adam Garnet Jones
For Everyone by Jason Reynolds
The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas
The Grand Escape: The Greatest Prison Breakout of the 20th Century by Neal Bascomb
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Home and Away by Candice Montgomery
The House of One Thousand Eyes by Michelle Barker
I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall
I, Claudia by Mary McCoy
If Only by Jennifer Gilmore
I’m Afraid of Men by Vivek Shraya
Iron River by Daniel Acosta
Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Last Pick by Jason Walz
Latchkey by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
My Brother’s Husband by Gengorah Tagame
My Name Is Victoria by Lucy Worsley
Notes from My Captivity by Kathy Parks
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron
Period Power: A Manifesto for the Menstrual Movement by Nadya Okamoto
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
The Place Between Breaths by An Na
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Sadie by Courtney Summers
Secrets of the Casa Rosada by Alex Temblador
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
The Storyteller by Traci Chee
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman
The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding
Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan
Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
This Book Betrays My Brother by Kasigo Lesego Molope
This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kheryn Callender
Troublemakers by Catherine Barter
Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens edited by Marieke Nijkamp
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown
Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners by Naomi Shihab Nye
Votes for Women: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot by Winifred Conkling
We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden
What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper
When My Heart Joins the Thousand by A.J. Steiger
Wildcard by Marie Lu
Your One & Only by Adrianne Finlay
Amazon has released their list of the best YA books of the year. They have selected 20 books as the best and also one book as the top pick for the year:
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Here are the other books in the Top 20:
After the Fire by Will Hill
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M.T. Anderson, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
A Map of Days by Ransom Riggs
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
Sadie by Courtney Summers
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos
PW has released their list of the top books of the year for children and teens. The list includes the top 50 books out of the 1700 books reviewed in PW this year. Here are the top picks for Middle Grade and YA readers:
MIDDLE GRADE
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel Jose Older
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Herstory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook Up the World by Katherine Halligan, illustrated by Sarah Walsh
A History of Pictures for Children: From Cave Paintings to Computer Drawings by David Hockney and Martin Gayford, illustrated by Rose Blake
It Wasn’t Me by Dana Alison Levy
Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Sanity & Tallulah by Molly Brooks
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson
YOUNG ADULT
The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M. T. Anderson, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke
Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Sadie by Courtney Summers
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh and Elsie Chapman
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
The War Outside by Monica Hesse
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos
Oh my goodness, does this look good! So much better than Insatiable… What do you think?
Released on Netflix on December 7th.
The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown (9781328810151)
This graphic novel tells the stories of Syrian refugees in their own voices. Based on interviews and visits to refugee camps around the region, the book clearly tells the story of the basis of the refugee crisis in Syria. As the flood of refugees begins and then continues, the nations taking in the refugees see sentiments in their populations shift to be anti-immigrant due to the overwhelming costs and disruption. Still, the refugees need a place to live in peace, a place to make a home and a place to feel safe.
Brown returns with another gripping nonfiction graphic novel. He uses the refugees’ own stories to really create a book that is heart-wrenchingly realistic. Young readers will benefit from hearing how the crisis began and will learn a lot about refugees, the dangers they face and the risks they are willing to take for freedom. The art in the book is done in limited colors, often filled with sandy yellows and deep browns. The faces of the refugees are compellingly depicted, often with expressions of deep fear, loss and grief.
A strong and important look at the Syrian refugee crisis in a format that makes the content very readable. Appropriate for ages 13-16.
Reviewed from library copy.
Mirage by Somaiya Daud (9781250126429)
Amani is taken from her farming village to the center of the Vathek empire, the alien race that now rules their planet. She looks nearly identical to the half-Vathek princess, Maram. The princess is despised by everyone, including the courtiers that surround her and her own half-sibling. Amani is drawn cruelly into a world where her very survival depends on her being able to pretend to be a princess. The training in being a body double is precise and ruthless. As Amani begins to conform to the expectations, no one can take away her love of reading and poetry. But Amani doesn’t know who she can trust in a world built on deceit and blood.
Daud does several things marvelously in this debut novel. She has created compelling characters, including Amani herself who is brave and willing to take immense risks for those she loves. Even Princess Maram becomes more complex as the book continues. The prince that Maram is betrothed too is also richly drawn, particularly as he and Amani become more closely acquainted. She has also created a richly built world that draws from Middle Eastern culture. It is a unique and compelling vision of the future that hearkens back to traditional tales in a fascinating way.
Given that this is a debut book, readers should expect some beginner issues. There is a lot of telling and not showing in the writing. I also struggled as Amani started to become friends with her oppressors, even though she is also given a way forward as a spy and mole, someone who could work aggressively to take down those who are hurting her family and her planet. I am hoping that in the next book in the series, there will be less warmth for the oppressors and more for the rebels fighting back.
This is a science fiction book for teens worth reading thanks to its unique setting and strong characters. Appropriate for ages 14-18.
Reviewed from library copy.
Waking Brain Cells 