This week, we review the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. We’re talking about queer subtext, the unapologetic writing of a villain’s backstory, and what representation looks like when every character is evil.
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Bailey, Eunice and Teffer round up some of their favourite books for that back to school feeling! Do boarding school books just feel more school-y? What’s the difference between a school book and a summer book? Is autumn just a better time to read fantasy? We answer these questions and more!
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“He looks slimy but in a way that I’d put up with for jewelry…”
Is Edward an incel? Is Carlisle a zaddy? On this episode of YA, we decide—yes. Featuring longtime friend of the show Candice Pye (@candicepye)
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This week Eunice, Bailey and Teffer talk about the Netflix series adapted from the beloved Babysitters Club books. We share our opinions of the adaptation, which babysitters we most identify with, and what we hope for in season 2!
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This week, Teffer and Bailey talk about disability, boundaries, and medical bullshit in Sick Kids in Love, a book that provides much-needed representation of chronic illness in YA.
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This week, Eunice and Teffer go on a trip down memory lane with a book we both read in highschool! We’re talking about romance, responsibility, grief, and Taylor Swift. Grab your low rise capris and impossibly long tank top because we’re heading to 2004!
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This week, we’re looking at a book that puts a new spin on the geek-to-prom-Queen story. We talk about proms in general, our prom in particular, and where the idea of “highschool culture” comes from.
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This week, Kristina Forest joins us for a conversation about why she writes YA, how she started out, and where she gets her inspiration. We talk about preserving the things she loves in YA while adding the representation the genre needs, some of the books that have inspired her, and what it really means to write a coming of age story.
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This week is full of new stuff! We have a new host, Eunice Hong, and our first review of an upcoming release! We talk about the role of tropes in comfort reading, what makes an author an “automatic buy,” and how the YA landscape has improved since our highschool days.
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96. A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow
This week, we plunge into some magical realism, exploring a world where sirens, merpeople, and gargoyles inhabit Portland. This book feels extremely relevant right now; we talk about the role of fantasy in social commentary, the current protests and police violence in Portland, and the cohesive look Morrow takes at misogynoir through her world building.
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