It is officially the week of the Young Adult Literature Convention! The schedule has been released, I have finally bought my tickets and I am super excited. YALC always ignites my reading mojo, it’s so satisfying to be around people who love books and love young adult literature. I love watching the panels and hearing authors feel so passionate about their books and the topics they’re writing about. And I love going book shopping, even if my back aches from carrying too many on the way home.
Now that the schedules have been released, we know what days the authors are attending. If you’re trying to cram in what books to read, here are 4 that I recommend shooting top of your TBR.
Books
If Bird Fly Back by Carlie Sorosiak*
If Bird Fly Back is Carlie Sorosiak’s beautifully debut novel about two teenagers who meet while looking for answers about the missing people in their lives and somehow manage to find each other. I absolutely adored this book and I can’t wait to see what Carlie does next. If Birds Fly Back is perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven and Jandy Nelson.
Orangeboy is Patrice Lawrence’s award winning book about a young boy called Marlon who gets caught up in gang culture after the death of a girl he took to the funfair on a date. Orangeboy is set in Hackney in East London where I’m from and I felt the book was very authentic and true to it’s roots. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it deserves all the praise it is getting.
Rachel Lucas’ debut novel follows Grace who has Asperger’s who notices her home life turns upside down after she kisses Gabe at a party. It was refreshing to read a book whose main protagonist is on the autism spectrum as I’ve never read a main character along the spectrum before. The State of Grace is undeniably charming and, most importantly, is an own voices book!
The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr
Emily Barr’s YA debut follows Flora who suffers from memory loss. But one time she remembers kissing someone she shouldn’t have and follows them to the arctic to see if he can remind her of who she once was. This is Emily Barr’s first YA novel after coming from an established career in writing thrillers and she really nails the unreliable narrator writing style in Flora Banks. The book was so intriguing and kept me wanting to know more.
I hope you have found some new book recommendations!
Until next time
*Disclaimer: I was sent If Birds Fly Back from the publisher Pan Macmillan!
Categories: books!
Hayley Sprout 