Bookmarked: A YA Book Podcast

It's our final YA book club discussion!

In this episode, Saul and Brigitte return to the world of Tracy Deonn's Legendborn in the exciting sequel, Bloodmarked. We're excited to report that the followup is just as exciting and profound as its predecessor. We dive into how Tracy Deonn uses every aspect of storytelling to reinforce themes of ancestral bonds while also exploring the dark corners of familial and colonial heritage.

The YA book club returns with this Halloween-themed graphic novel from author Maggie Tokuda-Hall and artist Lisa Sterle.

When Becca starts at a new school, the last thing she expects is to make friends with a pack of cool-girl werewolves. Entering their vicious world brings confidence and power, but it also sets Becca on a slippery slope that leaves her questioning her decision to join the pack at all.

Fall doesn't only provide the best aesthetic (brightly colored leaves! sweaters! ghostly vibes!) but it often provides some of the best reads too.

Bookstacked writers Saul Marquez and Spencer Miller discuss the recent and upcoming novels that have caught their attention. There's plenty to choose from whether it be a spooky Halloween read, fantasy with epic stakes or even cozy a story next to the fire.

Which YA books are you reading this fall?

Get in touch with Saul: saul [at] bookstacked.com.

Related Links:

The podcast might be winding down at the end of the year, but we're still planning to fit in a couple more book club discussions, starting with a special Halloween-themed pick!

This month we're reading a graphic novel: Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Lisa Sterle.

Here's what you need to know from the blurb:

Pretty Little Liars meets Teen Wolf in this sharply funny, and patriarchy-smashing graphic novel from author Maggie Tokuda-Hall and artist Lisa Sterle.

When the new girl is invited to join her high school’s most popular clique, she can’t believe her luck—and she can’t believe their secret, either.

When Becca transfers to a high school in an elite San Francisco suburb, she’s worried she’s not going to fit in. To her surprise, she’s immediately adopted by the most popular girls in school. At first glance, Marley, Arianna, and Mandy are perfect. But at a party under a full moon, Becca learns that they also have a big secret.

Becca’s new friends are werewolves. Their prey? Slimy boys who take advantage of unsuspecting girls. Eager to be accepted, Becca allows her friends to turn her into a werewolf, and finally, for the first time in her life, she feels like she truly belongs.

But then things get complicated. As their pack begins to buckle under the pressure, their moral high ground gets muddier and muddier—and Becca realizes that she might have feelings for one of her new best friends.

-----

The book club discussion will be released at the end of next week — just in time for the Halloween weekend!

In Kacen Callender's latest, self-love is its own type of revolution. Lark Winters is on the path to being a writer, but when they cover up a social media accident for a past friend, they find themselves under the scrutiny of hordes of online strangers. Finding a way out of this mess is going to require an inner struggle of self-discovery.

Kacen joins Bookstacked writer Spencer Miller to discuss their personal ties to the story and the intersection of shame and accountability.

Get in touch …

Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

There's no exaggeration in saying that Nickelodeon's 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is one of the most popular animated shows of all time. For the generations that grew up with the show, it's a great time to be a fan. With more television series and movies on the horizon, there's a massive demand for Avatar content.

YA book author F. C. Yee knows all about it.

Yee has been part of the Avatar universe expansion since 2019, starting with the YA novel The Rise of Kyoshi. He joins us on this episode of the podcast to discuss his third Avatar novel, The Dawn of Yangchen. He shares some behind-the-scenes details about how the books came to be as well as his process of creating the characters and worldbuilding that fill the pages of his books.

Jessica Goodman is no stranger to YA thrillers, and with the release of her third novel, The Counselors, it's clear to see that she has cemented her place as a master of the genre. In her latest novel, Jessica tells the story of Goldie as she returns to summer camp with her two best friends. Dark secrets begin to wash up on the shore of Alpine Lake — along with the body of someone from Goldie's very recent past.

Jessica joins us this week to discuss her own history with summer camps, as well as why she is drawn to the thriller genre.

We're re-introducing our YA book club!

Sabaa Tahir's latest novel, All My Rage, is the first book we're kicking our 2022 book club off with. This newly-released contemporary might as well be crowned a YA classic. It's easily one of the best books we've read on the show. Exploring the lives of a Pakistani community through the eyes of two young protagonists, this book confronts trauma, grief, family and forgiveness in a way that rings authentic. We love this book!

Despite their novel, Break This House, being written in prose, Candice Iloh's history of writing poetry is woven into the book's fabric. On top of being beautifully written, Minah's story of confronting her past — almost literally by traveling back to her hometown after learning of a family tragedy — is one that is sure to inspire and encourage young adults everywhere to be open with who they are and how they feel.

We are delighted to welcome Candice onto the show this week to talk about their writing and the inspirations behind Break This House.

Netflix's 'Heartstopper' is taking the YA world by storm — and rightfully so!

By the time this YA novel begins, Siena and Patrick have already been dating for three years. With college in the near future, Siena is ready to let go and move on — to give herself a chance to grow. But before she can break up with Patrick, he breaks the news that he's moving out of state. Hoping that their relationship will break apart over time, Siena agrees to date long-distance ... which might have her re-thinking her feelings for Patrick altogether.

YA author duo Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka (#Wibbroka) explore the complexities of long-distance dating and young romance in their new YA novel, With and Without You. Being high school sweethearts who survived a long-distance relationship, you could call them experts on the subject!

Wibbroka sits with Chelsea Regan to dive into their latest YA novel in this episode of Bookmarked.

Anna isn't unlike the other girls her age, except for her recent diagnosis: the fictional disease of lepidopsy. Suddenly, the life she once knew begins to drift away — literally. Her disease causes her to physically float, amidst other moth-like symptoms such as craving light. Now Anna is forced to come to terms with her new reality, while still trying to hold onto the life she's always known.

Such is the story found in the new YA novel The Moth Girl by Heather Kamins. Heather drew from her own experience with Lupus to write Anna's story — a story she started writing in 2012. For Heather, staying authentic to the true experiences of chronic illness was front and center of her mind.

Heather joins Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan to discuss how she approached such an important topic.

Author Adib Khorram explores the complexities of being queer in the public eye in his latest YA book, Kiss & Tell. Hunter is a role model for queer teens — a boy band star currently touring North America. But with that stardom comes a lot to juggle, especially when his love life is under the microscope of public pressure.

Adib joins Chelsea Regan to discuss writing his novel and all things boy bands, including the eternal question: NSYNC or Backstreet Boys?

This episode contains an instance of mild swearing.

Deborah Falaye waited years to find a book that represented her culture and identity, but "that never happened," she said. Now she's making it happen.

Bookstacked writers Chelsea Regan and Spencer Miller sit down with Deborah to talk about her fantasy/sci-fi debut, Blood Scion, which follows the harrowing story of fifteen-year-old Sloane, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods.

Deborah talks about the importance of representation, diversity and her experience entering the YA book community.

Are you ready to pack up your heavy coats and scarves? It's time for the weather to warm up, which means we're looking for YA books to read during this springtime season!

The Bookstacked Team shares which books they think are perfect for spring in this panel discussion. We're recommending newer releases as well as some classics, with genres spanning across fantasy, contemporary and even graphic novels.

We want to know what your spring recommendations are too! Drop us a note in the Spotify app and we'll share your recommendations with other listeners. And stay tuned to the end of the episode to catch our first book club pick of the year!

Related Links:

In League of Liars, 17-year-old Cayder Broduck has sights on becoming a prosecutor. He wants to see illegal magic users punished. What follows is a magical court drama and a process that leaves Cayder rethinking his black and white mindset. Maybe the legal system he knows isn't as clean-cut as he used to believe?

Magical crime. Teenage criminals. Twists and turns!

Astrid Scholte joins us on the podcast to dive into her new YA fantasy novel.

Young adult books are getting something of a renaissance when it comes to film and TV adaptations these days. While the silver screen has seen something of a YA "drought" in recent years, studios are snatching up book rights once again — often for streaming and television — which means there's plenty that should be on your radar!

Bookstacked writer Spencer Miller walks us through some of the YA book adaptations he's looking forward to the most in 2022. There's plenty in the comic and graphic novel space to gush about. And some big titles from Angie Thomas and other popular writers are getting their shot on screen as well.

Which YA book adaptations are you most excited for?

Get in touch …

Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

Adriana Russo has her eyes set on the Olympics. While that dream is still at least four years away, she's dedicated to ice dancing — a dynamic winter sport where the competition is fierce. But when her skating partner, Brayden, suggests they play up their relationship, a fake-dating plot ensues and threatens to knock Adriana off balance.

Jennifer Iacopelli's novel, Finding Her Edge, is perfect for anyone who loves the world of winter sports and is the perfect novel to pick up if you're chasing those Winter Olympic vibes.

Jennifer joins Chelsea Regan to dive into the ins and outs of writing sports-centric stories and spinning a tale out of the ever-so-classic fake dating trope.

In I Must Betray You, Ruta Sepetys' characters face a dark world of strict obedience. When seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is forced to become an informer for the secret police, he risks his life and tries to undermine the dictatorship he lives under. It might sound like another dystopian novel, but this one is set against the backdrop of a real historical period: the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu.

Ruta Sepetys writes historical fiction. She shares the experience of writing I Must Betray You, and historical fiction in general, on this episode of the podcast.

When author Jennieke Cohen sat down to write her new novel, she knew she was going to take inspiration from the classic musical, 'My Fair Lady.' She also knew she wanted to bring the story into the modern age.

Stripping away the misogyny. Crafting British history to make it more inclusive. Adding a gender-swapped twist.

Jennieke gives us insight into how she tackles historical fiction in this episode of the podcast.

Fairytale retellings are still going strong in 2022, which is proven by Leslie Vedder's debut, The Bone Spindle. This gender-flipped take on Sleeping Beauty adds so much to the original story readers know and love. From exploring concepts of destiny, to marrying the fairytale genre with exciting elements from favorites like Indiana Jones — this is a YA book to have on your radar this year.

Happy New Year! It's time to say hello to 2022, but not without a quick retrospective on some of our favorite YA books from 2021.

Join us in this episode as we discuss which YA books from 2021 surprised and delighted us most. We also share some of the upcoming books we can't stop thinking about.

By the way, if you have recommendations for our book club selections next year, let us know! We're looking for books that have been written by authors from underrepresented groups. Check out the links below to reach out.

Get in touch …

Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

The summer of 2020 was different. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, millions of individuals from around the world took to the streets to make a statement: Black Lives Matter. In many ways, young adults led the charge.

The history of the Black Lives Matter movement is documented in Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter by Veronica Chambers, an editor at The New York Times. This book is an incredible resource for young readers, teachers, librarians and parents who are looking to better understand the movement and open discussions about the importance of activism.

Veronica joins Saul Marquez and Chelsea Regan to discuss the aims of Call and Response while also diving into how YA books are inspiring a generation of young readers to become activists who are changing the world.

Get in touch …

Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

An original romance with a bookish girl in a charming holiday town? Sounds like the perfect winter read.

Author Tif Marcelo joins us for this episode of the podcast to discuss her new novel, The Holiday Switch. There's fangirling, book blogging, a swoony love interest and lots of holiday cheer. You're not going to want to miss this special holiday episode!

Are you ready for Bookstacked's final book club discussion of the year?

Xiran Jay Zhao's debut novel, Iron Widow, rocked the YA book world at the beginning of the fall season which gave us plenty of reason to choose it as our third book club pick for 2021. An exciting sci-fi fantasy, this book challenges readers' expectations by adding exciting twists to tired YA tropes while challenging the problematic aspects of today's society, especially where patriarchal systems and misogyny are concerned.

The story that started with Monty's swashbuckling adventure, finally comes to a close, as we meet his little baby brother, all grown up and headed off on a quest of his own. We talk to bestselling author Mackenzi Lee about everything from how she developed her beloved books to how she feels about where she leaves our favorite siblings.

This series finale is both vividly exciting and deeply personal, and we were so excited to get to hear about creating it from this excellent author.

This YA detective takes on revenge porn in this debut that's being billed as Veronica Mars meets Moxie!

Carrie McCrossen and Ian McWethy introduce readers to Margot Mertz in their debut YA book, Margot Mertz Takes It Down. Margot is known for hunting down and erasing embarrassing digital content that others don't want online. When Margot discovers a secret revenge porn site, she makes it her mission to "take it down."

The authors join us in this episode to dish out how they brought Margot to life.

Kate Sweeney's debut novel, Catch the Light, is a YA contemporary that explores grief and love — and the ways they can change a person. After the death of her father, Marigold and her family move across the country. For Marigold, this means leaving everything she knows behind and starting a new life. How will she reconcile the change?

Memory. Photography. Grief. Love. Kate Sweeney takes us behind the scenes of her novel.

Every year thousands of writers around the world challenge themselves to write a 50,000-word novel in a month. This event, National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo), is a favorite of ours!

Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan took on the challenge last year, blogging about her experience for Bookstacked. Fellow team members Michael Burns and Saul Marquez have also attempted the challenge.

We hope you don't mind if we turn our focus to writing instead of reading this month, as we discuss some of the challenges and benefits of participating in NaNoWriMo!

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to compete in a reality TV show? Sarah J. Schmitt's new release, Where There's a Whisk, introduces readers to Peyton Sinclaire, a young waitress who gets the opportunity of a lifetime when she becomes a competitor of a teen reality TV show. If Peyton wants to win a scholarship to her dream culinary school, she'll need to navigate through harsh judges, aggressive competitors — and even a love triangle.

Sarah J. Schmitt joins Chelsea Regan and takes us behind the scenes of Where There's a Whisk.

What happens when you fall out of sync with your best friend — the person you've shared everything with? Friendships evolve over time, and Hayley Krischer's latest novel, The Falling Girls, doesn't shy away from this reality. In The Falling Girls, best friends Shade and Jadis drift apart when Shade takes on cheerleading and finds new friendships within the squad. Things only become tenser when one of the cheerleaders dies under mysterious circumstances.

Hayley Krischer joins us to discuss this thriller and her take on writing female friendships.

Robyn Schneider is best known for her contemporary novels like The Beginning of Everything and Extraordinary Means. Now she's venturing into the realm of young adult fantasy in her latest book, The Other Merlin — a feminist retelling of King Arthur with a couple of twists up its sleeve.

We welcome Robyn to the podcast where she gives us all the details on her newest book and explores what it's like to write in the vein of YA fantasy and King Arthur lore.

The story of the Baudelaire orphans has been explored in books, a television show and even a movie. While the final pages of A Series of Unfortunate Events were penned years ago, the story of Lemony Snicket continues in his latest book, Poison for Breakfast.

In this episode, Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan chats with author Daniel Handler—the man behind Lemony Snicket—to dive into his writing approach and the inspiration behind his latest novel.

Freshly sharped pencils, old and new faces, sweater weather and — of course — lots and lots of books. It's time to jump into fall, and what better way than with some great reads to dive into?

From old and new releases, there are several books on our mind that strike us as perfect for the season, whether you're actually returning to school or not. This year, we're digging strong female friendships, finding love at university and thrilling mysteries.

Bookmarked's YA Book Club is back, and this time we're venturing headfirst into one of last year's biggest fantasy novels: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

Bust out the sunglasses, beach towels and books!

With summer well underway, we sat down to discuss some of our favorite YA book reads for the season. We hit on new and old titles, discussing why each should be on your TBR (we apologize in advance for adding to it).

By way of information, we want to announce to our readers and listeners that we are continuing the Bookmarked YA Book Club we started earlier this year!

The Kinder Poison was an unforgettable race across the desert, complete with rival rulers, inventive magic and a very relatable, potential human sacrifice. Now, all the characters you fell in love with are back in the sequel, The Cruelest Mercy.

This episode includes minor spoilers for The Kinder Poison and The Cruelest Mercy!

We talked to Natalie about everything from how she adds humor to the most unlikely situations, to her surprise and delight at the rise of the #TeamKasta movement. Come listen in, as we dive deep into the magic and intrigue of her fantastic fantasy series.

Misa Sugiura's new novel Love and Other Natural Disasters isn't just a great twist on the fake dating trope, it's also a great novel to kick off Pride Month. Misa joins us for a bonus episode of Bookmarked to talk about her new novel and how she's offering a refreshing twist on the YA book rom-com.

Netflix's adaptation of 'Shadow and Bone' might be one of those rare occasions where the show turned out to be better than the book. *GASP!* We know, we know — it's blasphemy! But we still appreciated many of the changes to the source material, especially when those changes mean more screen time for our favorite Crows.

In this super-packed episode, we unravel all our feelings about 'Shadow and Bone.'

SPOILER WARNING: This episode includes minor spoilers for 'Fireborne' and 'Flamefall'!

In 2019, Fireborne introduced us to Lee and Annie, two young dragon riders struggling to come to terms with their pasts as they competed to see who would lead their newly rebuilt society.

Now, their story continues in Flamefall, where the political intrigue gets messier, the alliances become murkier and a brand new group of riders flies off the page. This is the book Fireborne fans have been waiting for and it does not disappoint.

Come listen in, as we talk to author Rosaria Munda about expanding her world, building complicated moral dilemmas and plotting the course for her incredible cast of characters.

Get in touch …

Let your voice be heard! There are several ways you can get in touch with us and interact with the show. Your messages might be included in the next episode!

Concrete Rose is Bookstacked's first YA book club pick — and we all agree it was a good one. Angie Thomas' Concrete Rose is an emotional journey that packs a punch. It's a relevant and needed book in today's world, one that further explores what it means to be Black in America while also being so relatable to absolutely anyone who picks it up.

In this episode of the podcast, we sit down to discuss what's sure to be one of our favorite books of the year.

Related Links:

There's a lot to say about 2020. Like every other industry, publishing wasn't spared from the pandemic. Readers and authors around the world reckoned with the current events that shaped our lives.

As we say goodbye to 2020, we look back at some of the biggest changes and themes we saw in YA books and publishing as a whole. One thing is for certain: things definitely changed this year.

Quidditch is a real thing ... sort of. It might not be the magical experience many know, but athletes across the world have transformed the once-fictional activity into a real and authentic sport. It's behind that backdrop that author Anna Meriano has penned her young adult novel, This Is How We Fly.

Meriano sits down with Bookstacked writer Chelsea Regan to discuss her new book in this special bonus episode of the podcast. There's lots of talk about Quidditch (including how the Harry Potter fandom has evolved beyond J.K. Rowling) as well as the importance of self-discovery in YA and themes of gender inequality and identity.