#diversity in ya

[believeinwonder-publishing]

OMG!!! You guys! Cody Bonn has delivered to me a beautiful piece of music inspired by The Epic of Nicholas the Maker! It takes you on a magical adventure through the Black Forest Realm, and I couldn't be more delighted.#nicholasthemaker #BelieveInWonder

Be sure to check out his work - this young creative has great things in store. https://www.youtube.com/@bonnvillastudios9439

https://on.soundcloud.com/3L8zM

[the--art--of--reading]

book review | Himawari House

Author: Harmony Becker

Cover Design: Sunny Lee

Genre: Graphic novel, YA Fiction

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

When Nao returns to Tokyo to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, she books a yearlong stay at the Himawari sharehouse. There she meets Hyejung and Tina, two other girls who came to Japan to freely forge their own paths. The trio live together, share meals, and even attend the same Japanese-language school, which results in them becoming fast friends. But will they be able to hold one another up as life tests them with new loves, old heartbreaks, and the everyday challenges of being fish out of water?

This graphic novel was one of those stories that just feels perfect. For 384 pages readers are given an intimate look into the lives of the 5 residents of Himawari House - residents each with their own histories, ambitions, fears, and triumphs. I especially connected to Nao’s story of belonging to two different worlds. The artwork was amazing and hilarious at times. The only reservation I have is that there sometimes wasn’t a clear indication of the switching between the POVs of the three main characters, but I think that decision also reflected the fluidity of life and it’s small moments. The author, Harmony Becker, also illustrated They Called Us Enemy by George Takei ~ another read I recommend which is a moving graphic memoir about the internment of Japanese Americans. 

[lyssachiavari]

One month from today, One World, the last book in my debut series, The Iamos Trilogy, will be published by Snowy Wings Publishing.

This has been a series that's meant a lot to me emotionally. It's also the first YA series that was ever published to feature a canon, on-page demisexual protagonist (Isaak), and it was one of the first to feature an asexual protagonist (Nadin). Bringing their story full circle has been an incredible experience and I can't wait for everyone to read it!

(And I'm so excited that my publisher managed to schedule the release of the last book to take place during Ace Week!)

Here's what one of the first early readers, RoAnna Sylver, author of Chameleon Moon, had to say about it.

[maelancoli]

i'm kind of late to this but i just finished reading the scholomance trilogy by naomi novik and i feel like it is such an underrated urban fantasy?? taking the chosen one trope and turning it on its head with a fmc who has been prophesied to bring death and destruction, who is imbued with terrible power, but cannot even properly use said power to solve any of her obstacles because it would obliterate them and her soul. it takes a tired trope and the idea of an 'overpowered mary sue' and throws it back in your face by showing how all the power and destiny in the world is useless against a system filled with corruption that has burdened you with an easy way out (evil/destructive magic) that you can't take so now you have to work twice as hard as everyone else just to do simple, constructive spells instead of flicking your wrist and being done with it.

[supercalime]

Just thought about sharing this frame right here

Do with it what you will

[gabibookworm]

Here are some fiction books by Palestinian authors about Palestinian characters that I've read and enjoyed! Whether it's about living under the occupation or teenage diaspora falling in love, it's important to support Palestinian authors and read their stories, especially as attempts at censorship increase Let me know if you have any recs for me to add to my tbr!

[shorlibteens]

It's Pride Month!

Check out these LGBTQ+ themed reads at your local library:

GAY & LESBIAN

Last Night at the Telegraph Club / Malinda Lo

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love / Lex Croucher

Pritty / Keith F. Miller, Jr.

The Black Flamingo / Dean Atta

We Deserve Monuments / Jas Hammonds

The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School / Sonora Reyes

BI & PAN

Imogen, Obviously / Becky Albertalli

The Luis Ortega Survival Club / Sonora Reyes

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue / Mackenzi Lee

I Wish You All the Best / Mason Deaver

Ander & Santi Were Here / Jonny Garza Villa

Forever Is Now / Mariama J. Lockington

TRANS & NONBINARY

Pet / Awaeke Emezi

Man o' War / Cory McCarthy

Self-Made Boys / Anna-Marie McLemore

The Honeys / Ryan La Sala

The Sunbearer Trials / Aiden Thomas

Dreadnought / April Daniels

AROMANTIC & ASEXUAL

Wren Martin Ruins It All / Amanda Dewitt

Loveless / Alice Oseman

Planning Perfect / Haley Neil

All Out / edited by Saundra Mitchell

Being Ace / edited by Madeline Dyer

Gender Queer: A Memoir / Maia Kobabe

QUEER & INTERSEX

None of the Above / I. W. Gregorio

Hell Followed With Us / Andrew Joseph White

Just Ash / Sol Santana

Lark & Kasim Start a Revolution / Kacen Callender

Pantomime / Laura Lam

The Heart-Break Bakery / A. R. Capetta

[xiaq]

It’s giveaway time!

I have 2 signed/personalized copies of All Hail the Underdogs up for grabs (shipped to you for free if you’re in the US). You have 2 ways to enter:

1. Like + Reblog this post 2. Make your own post rec'ing one of my books (or fic, if you'd rather) and tag me in it.

Or do both for 2 entries. The contest closes and I'll announce winners on Friday the 6th. There's another contest happening on Instagram as well if you want to improve your chances of getting one!

Also! I ended up having to order more author copies of AHTU since I oversold the first 100 I offered. If you just want to pay ($20 w/shipping) for a signed/personalized one, you can email me at elmasseywrites@gmail.com.

Ok, ok. Here’s the blurb so any unfamiliar folks can be enticed into buying it:

When seventeen-year-old Patrick Roman is offered a scholarship to a top hockey preparatory school, he thinks maybe his notorious bad luck has finally ended. With a hearing for his legal emancipation on the horizon, he dreams of getting scouted and securing a place on a D1 college team. There’s only one problem: Roman has serious beef with his new winger on the team, Damien Bordeaux. They’re supposed to be perfectly in sync on the ice. But Roman, with his buzzcut and tattoos, has nothing in common with trust-fund-kid Damien, his floral scrunchies, and designer T-shirts that cost more than all of Roman’s secondhand hockey gear combined.

When eighteen-year-old Damien Bordeaux starts his senior year, he tells himself he’s going to focus on hockey and school. No more making out in the stacks, no more dorm parties. He needs to decide what his future will look like. Does he pursue his long-held dream of becoming an author? Or stay in his lane and do what he’s good at: hockey. Regardless, he’s not going to let any pretty boys distract him from figuring his shit out. Except his new center, Roman, is possibly the most beautiful boy Damien has ever seen. And his hockey—the way he moves on the ice—might be even more beautiful. Too bad he’s also probably a homophobic, racist asshole.

But their antagonistic beginning turns into an unlikely friendship and then turns into something much scarier for them both. Navigating relationships is hard enough for normal teenagers. It’s a lot harder when contending with lawyers, NHL scouts, and mutual past trauma. Roman and Damien have to decide: What do they really want in life? Are they willing to fight for each other—including fighting against their own pasts and prejudices—so they can have a happy ending?

[emeryleewho]

Hello! Today, I would like to give y'all a chance to win this special edition, gilded edge & ribbon bookmark edition of my YA trans romcom Meet Cute Diary. I need y'all to understand how *special* of a special edition this is. It is the only one that exists. I painted the edges by hand, and the art of Devin & Noah on the ribbon bookmark was commissioned from the original cover artist by me, meaning *I* am the only person who has the rights to use it. Not even my *publisher* could recreate this special edition. It can only come from me.

So how can you win it?

Donate 5 GBP or more to THIS GoFundMe to help this Palestinian family, and email me a screenshot of your donation confirmation to MCDGivesBack(@)gmail(.)com. I will pick one winner at random on May 9th. I will send the book anywhere in the world, so enter from anywhere just please understand that you need to be able to give me your mailing information to send you the book and must consent to that, and please, please boost this! Tumblr is my smallest platform, but y'all can be major beasts when you put your minds to it, so please help me help a family in need!

And if you're an author, consider hosting your own giveaway. Operation Olive Branch has a collection of vetted fundraisers, so please pick one and help motivate your readers to pitch in. This feels insurmountable, but if we all give a little, we can make a huge impact <3

[believeinwonder-publishing]

Illustrating book two of #NicholastheMaker due out November 2023!

[rhywhitefang]

I read Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan and I had so much fun with it! So here’s my favorite character from that book… the Golden Cobra! Can’t wait for the next book! Sorry I forgot to take process pictures but if you’re interested I can show you some of my sketch layers if you guys want :3

[ya-world-challenge]

18 Afrofantasy Worlds to Read after you watch Wakanda Forever

So I see you guys love these lists and, hey, I’m not going to complain, I love looking at these sets of beautiful cover art. This theme is... Afro Fantasy Worlds! ♥♥ From alt-Cairo to alt-Johannesburg and many magical worlds in between, I’ve chosen 18 books full of African magic.

Add your favorites in the comments, too! I only ended up with two male MCs... that’s sadly a shortcoming in YA fantasy in general, although not every book here is YA.

Support my blog and read at the same time when you buy from the linked titles below, which go to Bookshop.org (where you support small bookshops, too!) Or get a free trial at Scribd for ebooks & audiobooks.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray Fate binds two Black teenagers from different social classes together  as they strike a dangerous alliance to enter a magical jungle and hunt down the ancient creature menacing their home--and discover much more than they bargained for.

Daughters of Nri by Reni K. Amayo A gruesome war results in the old gods' departure from earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. Their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another.

Everfair by Nisi Shawl A steampunk alternate-history novel set in the Belgian Congo. What if the African natives developed steam power ahead of their colonial oppressors? This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of the Congo as well as escaped slaves returning from America and other places where African natives were being mistreated.

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi A fantasy trilogy with its roots in the mythology of Africa and Arabia, three women band together against a cruel empire where castes are divided by the color of one's blood.

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark A young magical detective in 1912 Cairo must investigate the murders of a secret brotherhood dedicated to one of the most famous men in history, al-Jahiz, when the murderer claims to be al-Jahiz himself returned to condemn the modern age for its social oppressions

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko Tarisai was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to compete to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince's Council of 11. If she's picked, she'll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust.

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron Heir to two lines of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. Under the disapproving eye of her mother, the Kingdom's most powerful priestess and seer, she fears she may never be good enough. But when the Kingdom's children begin to disappear, Arrah is desperate enough to turn to a forbidden, dangerous ritual.

Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness--except he doesn't want it. Instead, he prefers to chase forbidden stories about what lies outside the city walls. But when Danso stumbles across a warrior wielding magic that shouldn't exist, he's put on a collision course with Bassa's darkest secrets. Drawn into the city's hidden history, he sets out on a journey beyond its borders.

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. When her friend's sister is snatched, Rae knows she can't look away any longer. She finds unexpected support from a foreign princess and a street thief with secrets of his own.

Blood Scion by Deborah Falayei They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created. Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will--she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. When she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within.

Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata--a mermaid--collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable--she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods.

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna On the day of the blood ceremony of her village, Deka's blood runs gold, the color of impurity-and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death. Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki-near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire's greatest threat.

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes Set in a world where murderers and other criminals acquire magical animals that are mystically bonded to them. Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty 419 scam habit, and a talent for finding lost things. When a little old lady turns up dead and the cops confiscate her last paycheck, Zinzi's forced to take on her least favorite kind of job -- missing persons.

Noor by Nnedi Okorafor In a near-future Nigeria. Anwuli Okwudili prefers to be called AO, Artificial Organism. Instead of viewing her strange body the way the world views it, as freakish, unnatural, even the work of the devil, AO embraces all that she is: A woman with a ton of major and necessary body augmentations. And then one day she goes to her local market and everything goes wrong.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy Sixteen-year-old Eva is a princess, born with the magick of marrow and blood--a dark and terrible magick that hasn't been seen for generations in the vibrant but fractured country of Myre. Its last known practitioner was Queen Raina, who toppled the native khimaer royalty and massacred thousands, including her own sister, eight generations ago. Eva must now face her older sister, Isa, in a battle to the death if she hopes to ascend to the Ivory Throne.

Changa’s Safari by Milton Davis In the 15th century on the African Continent a young prince flees his homeland of Kongo, vowing to seek revenge for the murder of his father and the enslavement of his family and his people. He triumphs over the slavery and the fighting pits of Mogadishu to become a legendary fighter and respected merchant.

Waking Fire by Jean Louise Naira Khoum has only known life in Lagusa, a quiet village at the desert’s end. But to the rest of the world, Lagusa is a myth, its location shrouded in secrecy. While war rages to the north led by power-hungry Sothpike and his army of undead monsters called Dambi, Naira’s people live in peace. Until the impossible happens—Lagusa is attacked by a Mistress sent to do Sothpike’s bidding with a hoard of Dambi under her control.

Bonus: Daughters of Oduma by Moses Ose Utomi An elite female fighter must reenter the competition to protect her found family of younger sisters in this scintillating young adult fantasy inspired by West African culture.

[flowersandfashion]

How Many Drinks It Would Take Me to Hook Up with Classic Literature Writers

[desdasiwrites]

Happy Bi Visibility Day!

(And happy Bisexual Awareness Week! 💗💜💙)

Here's a list of books with bisexual representation, or by bisexual authors.

Books in the pictures are:

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

Revolutions of All Colors by Dewaine Farria

Running With Lions by Julian Winters

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith

Fresh by Margot Wood

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Subatomic: And Other Stories By and About Bisexuals edited by Mariëlle S. Smith and Sìne Màiri Ní Ailpín

I Hate Everyone But You by Gabe Dunn and Allison Raskin

[gabibookworm]

Happy Pride Month! Here's some queer YA books that I'm looking forward to! 📚