Megan's Pick: 20 LGBTQIA+ Books to Read for Pride and Beyond [Contributor: Megan Mann]

Welcome to 2020 where everything you thought would happen didn't, where the things you thought wouldn't happen are plaguing us, and where we've realized that maybe staying away from people isn't the worst thing in the world. We've also entered into a very important time in America's history. Late May and the month of June, so far, have been dedicated to eradicating systemic racism and defunding the police.

While this is vital (please make sure you sign petitions, donate, learn everything you can to be anti-racist and help in the fight), June is also Pride Month. This is a month where the LGBTQIA+ community can stand together, proud of who they are and where they've come from. After all, much like we're seeing today, Pride was started 51 years ago by Black and Brown trans women who were tired of the system betraying them.

To celebrate this rainbow month, I've put together a list of books that are all about the LGBTQIA+ community. While this is only a small sampling of all of the amazing books out there, here's something to get you started! 

Ask the Passengers by A.S. King

I am stupidly biased about this one because it is tied for my favorite book of all time, so I feel like everyone should read it. It follows Astrid as she navigates figuring out how she fits into the conservative small town that her mother is so desperate to maintain appearances in. Which makes her struggling with her sexuality even harder to try to figure out. Her mom is worried about the wrong things, her dad unwilling to listen, and Astrid doesn't want to to confide in her sister. So she asks the passengers in the planes flying overhead for advice. Using magical realism, Ask the Passengers is an absolute must-read. (Again, not only because it's my favorite book, but also because it's just that good.)

When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perri

If you want a deliciously sexy read, I cannot recommend When Katie Met Cassidy enough. Katie has just discovered that her fiance is cheating on her with her friend. So it's no surprise that when she heads to a brief one morning, she doesn't realize that the man she assumed she bumped into in the lobby is actually a female lawyer, and she's sitting across from her. Katie decides to go out later that night and who does she run into but the same woman. Cassidy, ever the suave player, sees Katie as nothing more than a conquest; Katie sees her as nothing. However, the two wind up spending more time together and bring out sides of each other that both are surprised to discover.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

I was mad at myself for waiting so long to finally read this. It's that good. Marin is a college student who is quiet and keeps to herself. She doesn't have a ton of possessions in her shared dorm room and aside from her roommate, she doesn't really have any friends. But it wasn't always that way. When Marin lived in California with her grandpa, she had plenty of friends including her best friend Mabel. They were inseparable and held feelings for each other that they never told anyone about. When Mabel comes to visit Marin, everything they've kept from each other comes out.

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

This is a really fantastic graphic novel if you want to understand pronouns, and I think is an absolute must-read for everyone. Identity is sometimes difficult for those who are conflicted about it and/or their sexuality, so if you don't understand the hurt and pain it can cause if you misgender someone, this is crucial reading. Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, takes readers through eir journey through navigating self-identity, sexuality, and having the difficult discussions with family about pronouns. E takes you through the trauma of pap smears, the confusion around sex, and being proud of the skin you're in.

Lot by Bryan Washington

This was something so unique and interesting to read. Instead of taking readers on a linear journey, Washington has taken his novel about a gay kid living with his family in Houston and woven in short stories about the people in the surrounding area to give the city and story itself more depth. It was absolutely incredible. The story follows a boy who is half-Black and half-Latino as he navigates his family, their constantly-on-the-brink-of-going-broke restaurant, and tries to figure out where he fits in in this world. We also learn of a woman whose lover is killed by her husband, a local drug dealer, a group of hustlers just trying to make a living and others who surround him. Oh, and there's a story about a chupacabra, so it's got that if nothing else interests you. A powerful new voice. 

My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame

Yaichi is home cooking for his daughter when a burly Canadian shows up at his door introducing himself as his dead twin brother's husband, Mike. Yaichi is uncomfortable and it's only at the behest of his daughter, who has come home to discover Mike there, that he allow him to stay with them. Over time, Yaichi realizes that making assumptions based on someone's sexuality isn't fair and that Mike is as much a member of his family as Ryoji. In a country that does not allow the LGBTQIA+ community to openly be themselves, Mike and Yaichi both learn from each other. Just a note: this is a manga. If you are not sure how to read them, you can watch a video. It can be hard at first!

Mama's Boy by Dustin Lance Black

Dustin Lance Black is a well-known screenwriter (he won the Oscar for Milk) and LGTBQIA+ activist, but unless you read his book, Mama's Boy, you'd never know that he grew up in a conversative Texas town with an even more conservative mother. As you might expect, this combination does not mix well with a young, gay teen. The two people go at each other over their ideals, but it's his mother who shows Dustin what strength and resilience looks like and how family can sometimes change their long-held beliefs. It's a story about familial love, identity, politics, and facing the odds together.

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

Nova is a young witch who works at her grandmothers' bookshop. They sell books, but if you know what you're looking for, they'll loan you the right spellbook. She loves a good investigation and one night, she discovers her childhood crush battling a horse demon. Tam has been wandering around for years without any place to call home, but with dark forces trying to steal her white wolf powers, Nova offers to help Tam defeat the enemy. Working so closely together brings up old feelings for both of them. It's got witchcraft and evil spirits and love and magic! Who could ask for anything else from a graphic novel?

George by Alex Gino

George is a girl stuck in a boy's body and she's tired of it. When she decides to audition for to play Charlotte in the school's production of Charlotte's Web, she sets in motion a string of events that give her the strength to embrace who she really is and start living the life meant for her. This is a really great middle-grade novel for those who want to understand the trans experience in simpler terms or for those who want to share a trans story with the children in their lives. It's a great lesson in acceptance both of yourself and others. Bonus: Alex Gino wrote another book along these lines called Rick which is also super important!

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Aristotle is a bit of a loner. While at the pool one day, he meets Dante, a boy with a lot of personality but whom he's not exactly sure about. There's something different about Dante though. He makes Ari laugh and the two quickly become friends who spend most of every day together. But Ari's parents know something is different about Dante, and it's something they don't want Ari being around. When Dante says he'll be moving to Chicago for eight months and then something terrible happens, Ari doesn't know how to feel. Life and the universe have many mysteries, and Ari believes that Dante has figured out most of them. But can Ari figure out the secret that's most important? Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a stunning novel that you will be drawn into from start to finish.

Too Much is Not Enough by Andrew Rannells

You may know him from Broadway productions, as Elijah from Girls, from the sadly cancelled-too-soon The New Normal, or the one guy who hit Blake Lively's character with a car in A Simple Favor. But before all of that, Andrew Rannells was just a struggling actor trying to make it in New York. It's about a Midwestern kid coming of age through horrible auditions, bad relationships, not-so-great hookups, and all of the ups and downs of chasing your dreams. It's hilarious, it's relatable (even if Broadway isn't your prize), and a really great memoir of what it's like before you finally find real success. It stops just before he gets a major role and I love that it doesn't keep going and get too muddied by that. It's about chasing the dream, not what it's like once you're there.

Bingo Love by Tee Franklin

When I tell you I adored this graphic novel, I really mean I loved every single page. It's about a same-sex couple over the span of 60 years. SIXTY. Hazel and Mari meet in 1963 at a church bingo game as teenagers. As the two girls grow up and get closer, they realize that they love each other more than just platonically. But their families put a stop to the relationship before it can go any further. Both women wind up marrying men and having children, though they're not as fulfilled as they hope to be. Decades later, they find each other again at a bingo hall. Once they see each other, they know that their hearts still belong to each other. I cried. A lot.

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

Imagine that all of the witches in Salem weren't burned during the witch trials. Imagine that those who didn't get found out stayed hiding in plain sight and that their descendants, and therefore their coven, still live there today. Hannah's an elemental witch who's just coming into her power and learning how to wield it. Her grandmother is the head of their coven and maintains the rules pretty strictly. When things start happening in her town, she thinks it's because of something stupid her ex, Veronica, did with some blood witches (the worst sort of witches). Between dealing with the blood witch threat without the full use of her magic and trying to date the new girl, she's got a lot on her hands. I read this book so fast and Isabel just released the sequel, This Coven Won't Break!

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Prince Sebastian is supposed to be looking for a bride, but he's just not into it. He's dreaming of the pretty dresses all of the ladies get to wear. At night, Sebastian likes to dress up as a woman and galavant around Paris going by the name Lady Crystallia. But his secret is found out by Frances, a woman who works in the castle and is waiting for greatness to happen in her life. Together, the two become the talk of the town: he as the most fashionable woman and she as his dressmaker. But his secret weighs heavily on her. How long can she keep it? How long can she hold herself back from her own dreams to see his dreams come true? This is a BEAUTIFUL story of love and identity and acceptance.

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

A brand-new release, this stunning collection of essays by George M. Johnson, a journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist, explores everything from childhood to college, from adolescence to the bullying that took place throughout his entire life. He talks about his relationships and what family means to him. It's about the difficulties about not only being queer, but also being Black and queer. It's about identity and masculinity (toxic and otherwise), love and consent, and being proud of who you are. This has been optioned by Gabrielle Union, so get on it!

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

This is another book that I suggest to everyone. I'll Give You the Sun follows Jude and her twin brother Noah as they grow up and grow apart. Noah is a gifted artist who begins to realize that he's in love with the boy next door. Jude has always been jealous of the ease with which Noah creates art. He's quiet while she's the party girl. Over the next few years, they stop speaking altogether and lose their innate, twin telepathy. The first half of the novel is told by Noah and the second half is by Jude; the story weaves love, friendship, identity, jealousy, art, family deceit, and so much more together. This is an absolutely breathtaking novel.

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston

Alex Claremont-Diaz is the First Son of the United States and he basically runs that place with his sister and the Vice Presidents's granddaughter. Together they do the perfect marketing for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. When photos of Alex and his British rival, Prince Henry, leak to the press, the dream team has to think of a way to save the situation before it spirals out with some serious consequences. So they dream up a fake friendship between the two. Alex soon realizes that maybe Henry isn't too bad after all. And then maybe he decides that he's super into him and they have a secret relationship that could also derail a ton of things... like his mother's reelection. This story is so delicious that you won't be able to put it down.

Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan

Lou is determined to have the absolute best summer ever. Except... she's the girl in the hotdog costume at Magic Castle Playland. She can't stop swooning over Diving Pirate Nick, who totally has a girlfriend, but Lou has never felt this way about anyone before and wants to be the princess of the story for once. Her best friend, Seeley, works over at the carousel and sees her friend struggling with the whole "best summer ever" thing. And yeah, maybe Seeley wants her happily ever after too. With Lou, Diving Pirate Nick, Seeley, and Nick's princess girlfriend all realizing this is the last year they'll be at Magic Castle Playland, they fight to keep the park from closing and their hearts open to love and all its possibilities.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

This book is also a brand-new release and follows Felix, a transgender teen, as he navigates growing up queer, his identity, and falling in love for the first time. He thinks that love is easier for everyone except him. Why doesn't he deserve love? But he worries that all aspects of his identity — queer, Black, and transgender — are just too much for any one person to take on. The novel follows as a student anonymously posts photos of Felix, along with his deadname, from pre-transition and transphobic messages and how Felix decides to tackle that situation. It's an absolute must-read that will have you addicted. It's a great story about how everyone deserves love.

Drag Teen by Jeffrey Self

Drag Teen is a really fun novel. It's about a high-school student whose parents don't understand why he wants to go to college. They certainly don't have the money to send him so if he wants to go, he is told that he needs to figure it out for himself. Thankfully, his friends have his back and tell him about a drag competition for teens with a college scholarship on the line. Totally insecure and questioning whether he should do it, Drag Teen is a story about friendship, finding your confidence and voice, knowing what's right for you — and above all — love and acceptance.

Memoirs! Graphic novels! YA! Fiction! Mangas! It's all here for you. What are some of your favorite Pride books? Tweet me at @MissMeganMann and let me know. 

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Ask An Author: Talking with Tyler Feder, Author of Dancing at the Pity Party [Contributor: Megan Mann]

During college, I took a course that featured graphic novels. At the time, I was still of the belief that not only was YA not real literature, but that graphic novels were scarcely more than longer comic books. Readers, I can assure you that I was not only wrong on both fronts but now spend most of my time reading as many YA and graphic novels (half of the time a delicious crossover of the two!) as I can get my hands on.

So, you can imagine the happiness that welled inside of me when I found Tyler Feder's Dancing at the Pity Party on my doorstep!

This beautiful, insightful, poignant graphic novel details the relationship shared between Tyler and her delightful mother, the difficult journey her family found themselves on once her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and the long, winding road that they walk in grief after her passing. It's a story that anyone who has lost a parent should read, yes; but it's also an important read for those of us who need to better understand how to help those who are struggling with loss.

I got the chance to talk to Tyler about the importance of her book.

Congratulations! Dancing at the Pity Party is finally available! How does it feel?

It feels surreal!  I’m so proud of the book and so excited to share it with the world, and it’s definitely strange to be releasing it during a pandemic.

What made you decide to write a graphic novel about losing your mom during college?

It was more of a full-body urge than a real decision. This story has been weighing on me for a decade, and I felt like I needed to put it into some kind of big creative project before I could fully explore other topics in my work.

Was writing this a cathartic, emotional, or a heavy mixture of the two experiences?

All of the above! There were many emotional moments and times of catharsis, but also it was hard just in the way that writing a BOOK is hard — deadlines and hand cramps are real even when the topic is so personal!

What I loved about it is that you tie in such levity to such a dark situation. All of the chapter ends were so funny. I think, without sounding too much like Sirius Black or Dumbledore, that we really can’t have the light without the dark. Is that what you were going for?

Yes, absolutely.  In my experience, levity and grief are so tied, and it would have felt weird and wrong to include one without the other.

Something else that I think is super important is not only highlighting how difficult it is to lose a parent, but how the Jewish faith grieves their dead with Shiva. For some, that’s not common knowledge. Do you think that process helped when you lost your mom?

I was just talking to my sisters the other day about how nearly all my memories of the Shiva are positive ones. It was so healing to be stuck in a house for a week with so many people I love, an abundance of comfort food, and lots of familiar smells and sounds. Highly recommend!

Sometimes people tend to keep difficult subject matter, like an entire novel about losing a parent, at a distance because of what it might bring them. Do you hope readers find some sort of healing in your work?

Yes, of course! I think being open and honest can make difficult subjects more approachable and less scary. If I can bring comfort to any number of people in a similar situation to mine, I consider that a win.

I think my favorite parts were the pages that were entirely dedicated to what you should and shouldn’t say to someone who is grieving, and how your own grief is a very complex process and different from everyone else’s. Which of those resonates most with you?

I think people have a tendency to use euphemisms when they talk about death and grief, but I find it much more comforting when people acknowledge just how bad things really are. To me, an “I’m so sorry you have to go through this” is way better than a “She’s in a better place.”

What do you hope readers, whether they lost a parent or not, take away from Dancing at the Pity Party?

I hope that readers who haven’t experienced loss get a better understanding of what goes on “behind the scenes” and learn how to better help the grieving people in their life. For readers who have lost someone they love, I just hope they feel seen and know that they’re not alone.

Okay, let’s move to graphic novels. How do you feel about the wider reach of graphic novels now?

Both as a creator and consumer of graphic novels, I love it!

What would you tell someone who doesn’t see graphic novels as “real books”?

First I would give them a giant eye roll, but then I would remind them that graphic novels are not just the funnies in the newspaper! They can have just as much depth and complexity as any traditional novel! They just develop that depth in a different way.

Did you always know this would be a graphic novel?

Yes I did! It’s easiest for me to express myself with a combination of words and pictures, and this book actually started as a four-page graphic essay for a Creative Nonfiction class I took in college a year or two after my mom died. I can’t believe that essay is now a real live book!

Since this is a hard time for writers to get the word out about their work, what are some other books that are coming out during the pandemic that you want people to know about?

I am so excited to read Madame Clairevoyant’s Guide to the Stars!  The author, Claire Comstock-Gay, writes the most beautiful and moving horoscopes for The Cut, and I’m sure her book will be just as lovely. Also, although the incredible Samantha Irby definitely doesn’t need a shout-out from little old me, I read an excerpt of Wow No Thank You and I can’t wait to gobble the rest of it up!

What books are you looking forward to in 2020?

My art friend Beth Evans’ book Hi, Just a Quick Question comes out in August! We’ve worked on our books together at many coffee shop art dates, and it’s going to be so cool to see the finished product!

What are you reading now?

I treated myself to ordering two of Lisa Hanawalt’s books (they haven’t arrived yet) and I’m particularly looking forward to reading Coyote Doggirl.

Guys, I cannot stress enough how much I immensely enjoyed this book. I laughed, I cried, I found new ways to help those who are dealing with something beyond my own comprehension. Dancing at the Pity Party is a lesson in empathy and understanding, of loss and of hope, and is a must-read for everyone.

We want to thank Tyler Feder for talking with us about her incredible new book Dancing at the Pity Party out NOW from Penguin Teen! Follow her on Twitter and Instagram and pick up your copy today! (Preferably from an independent bookstore of your choice, as they need your help!)

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8 Books to Read If You Loved Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley [Contributor: Megan Mann]

Over the last few years, I have walked by the middle grade section in numerous libraries and bookstores and stared down Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. I said, each and every time, that I would pick it up the next time and would finally read it. Of course, it took until this year to do so, but it was well worth the wait!

The story follows Micah as he navigates the end of his beloved grandfather Ephraim’s life. All of Micah’s life, his grandfather told him stories, grand and small, but his favorite stories were of Circus Mirandus: a circus that was made of pure magic. He learned of The Man Who Bends Light and the miracle that this person promised his grandfather many moons ago. After Ephraim falls gravely ill, despite what his cruel Aunt Gertrudis and his disbelieving friend Jenny Mendoza says, Micah writes to the Man Who Bends Light and begs him to make good on the miracle. 

What ensues is an adventure every child dreams of having with a magical circus. As Micah seeks out the truth about Circus Mirandus, he sees that life truly is filled with magic. But sometimes, that magic isn’t spells and illusions; some of that magic is the love we share with one another. As the book comes to a close, we learn that Micah is going to follow the circus. 

And there’s a sequel to this book on its way! On October 1, 2019, The Bootlace Magician will hit shelves and let us eager readers know exactly what awaits Micah and the Circus Mirandus.

If you’re unable to wait that long once you’re finished with the first delicious installment, here are a few books that are similar in theme to sustain you! 

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein

Kyle learns that world famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, has designed his town’s new library and is having an invitation-only lock in. He knows he has to be there. However, the real game isn’t played until it’s time to get out of the library. In a romp through the history of literature and decoding the Dewey Decimal System, Kyle and the other kids have to solve puzzles in order to find themselves on the other side of the library doors. 

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

A classic, of course, but Willy Wonka created a world full of pure imagination. The story worked on a specific sort of magic that has mesmerized audiences for decades. Charlie Bucket finds himself destitute and dreaming of a better life: one where he can have Wonka candy whenever he wants. When the Wonka Factory announces its golden ticket contest, Charlie keeps hope alive to participate. When he finds that last golden ticket and enters that factory of delicacies and delights, his world completely changes.

The Candymaker by Wendy Mass

It’s every kids dream, like Charlie Bucket’s, to have an endless supply of candy. But four kids’ dreams are about to come true when they learn they’ve been selected to compete in a national candy-making contest. Logan, Miles, Daisy, and Philip each tell their own unique perspective of a story that is filled with mystery, intrigue, and delicious revelations. Who will make a candy more delicious than ever before? Who will crack under the pressure?

The Book Scavenger series by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

This fast-paced adventure follows friends Emily and James as they play the game of Emily’s literary idol, Garrison Griswold. He created Book Scavenger, a game that’s played around the world. The object of the game is to solve puzzles and follow the clues to hidden books. When Emily learns that Griswold has had an accident leaving him in a coma just before his latest game is launched, Emily and James find an odd book that they believe is the new game itself. As they race against the clock, they wonder if the same people wo attacked Griswold are after them as well. Will they beat the clock and finish the game?

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt

Bingo and J’miah are your average brothers, except for the fact that they are also raccoons. And they’re now the newest Scouts of the Sugar Man Swamp. This high honor to serve the Sugar Man is also a huge responsibility for the brothers; they have to relay all of the important information to the rest of the swamp in a swift manner. When they learn that the swamp is about to be turned into an Alligator Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, they know they have to wake the Sugar Man. Don’t worry. He’s only been asleep for a few decades. Can they do it? Can they save the swamp?

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

Felicity arrives in Midnight Gulch, a town that used to be consumed by magic but was cursed and is now just as ordinary as any town. But Felicity can see words everywhere and Midnight Gulch is the first place she’d ever seen the word “home.” Does this mean that her luck is about to change? In an effort to keep that word floating around her, Felicity will do anything to bring back the magic to Midnight Gulch. Can she lift the curse of the town and of her mother’s wandering heart? Can Midnight Gulch finally be home?

The Way to Stay in Destiny by Augusta Scattergood

Theo does not want to be in Destiny, Florida with an uncle he hardly knows. But due to circumstances beyond his control, that’s where Theo finds himself. Luckily, he’s managed to find solace in Miss Sister’s Boarding House and Dance School where the piano calls him. He loves playing but when he meets Anabel, a baseball enthusiast, the two find themselves on an adventure to uncover the mystery of the town’s connection to former baseball players who may have lived in Destiny years before. It’s melodic prose will have you excited for the adventure, but staying for the heart.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Much like Micah’s friend Jenny in Circus Mirandus, Ophelia hardly believes in anything that can’t be proven with scientific fact. After her mother passes, her father moves her and her sister to a snowy town for a job in a museum. Ophelia comes upon a boy locked in a long-forgotten room. He claims to be a prisoner of the Snow Queen and is in desperate need of Ophelia’s help. But will Ophelia be able to suspend her belief and go against everything she knows in order to save him? It’s an elaborate story-within-a-story that is sure to charm many readers. (Including this reader because I loved it.)

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley is available now with the sequel, The Bootlace Magician, following on October 1. 

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Ask An Author: These Witches Don't Burn’s Isabel Sterling [Contributor: Megan Mann]

(Image credit: Penguin Teen)

In modern-day Salem, tourists come from around the country to learn the history of the witch trials and visit one of the many shops dedicated to the occult. One such shop, Fly By Night Cauldron, has a specialty though: Hannah, who is an Elemental Witch. No one knows that she's a witch since it's against coven rules to let the Regs — non-magic folk — know about their powers.

Hannah's recent breakup and the possibility of a new relationship are hard for her to focus on when things start to go sideways in Salem. First, Hannah thinks a Blood Witch has come to kill her, but the coven discovers a witch hunter is in town ready to take them out. How will Hannah figure out who it is? Is it Detective Archer or her arrogant classmate Nolan? What about her newest coworker Cal? Can she trust anyone anymore?

In Isabel Sterling's latest release, These Witches Don't Burn, romance, intrigue, action, and the occult weave together to form a fast-paced ride that will keep the pages turning until the very end.

Here's what Isabel had to say about her fantastic new book!

Congratulations on the release of These Witches Don’t Burn! How does it feel?

Thank you so much! It’s been such a wonderful experience so far. I love hearing from readers who connect with Hannah’s story (it’s honestly the best feeling), and it’s been really cool to hear about all the places TWDB is showing up around the world. Most recently, I heard from readers in Paris and Manila!

I absolutely love the idea of the witches still being in Salem. What was the catalyst for the modern-day Salem witch?

I’ve been fascinated with the Salem witch trials since I first learned about them in middle school. When Hannah’s character walked into my life, she was a “real” witch working at an occult shop and highly annoyed with the so-called wannabes who shopped there. I knew immediately it had to be set in Salem.

Right off the bat, you let the audience know that Hannah is a lesbian. I absolutely love that there’s no fanfare when she comes out to her parents. It was the same when Morgan explains telling her parents she was bi later on. In some cases, that’s how it goes. Did you want to make it super easy to let readers know that they don’t have to fear coming out to their families?

Coming out is such a complex, and ongoing, experience, and I’d never want to prescribe for someone whether it’s safe or easy for them to come out (sometimes it’s really not). Everyone should have the space and freedom to come out in their own time.

I open the book with Hannah’s nonchalant coming out to let readers know right away that this is a story where being part of the LGBTQ community is both accepted and celebrated. I wanted to signal right away that this wouldn’t be a book with queer pain. At the same time, I wanted to include some of the small realities of being openly queer. That’s why we see Gemma’s parents treating Hannah differently. That’s why we see Hannah decide whether to come out to her new co-worker, Cal. With each scene, I was actively trying to balance the challenges of being queer in our society while creating a fun story where LGBTQ characters can just be.

I loved the double mystery happening in the book. Hannah is chasing the mystery of what’s going on and readers are chasing the mystery of how everything happened in New York to make Hannah so edgy about the idea of a Blood Witch coming to Salem. How did that dual intrigue come about?

I’m so glad you enjoyed that! The entire NYC mystery didn’t come to me until after I’d signed my book deal, actually! I needed a more concrete reason for Hannah to be afraid of the Blood Witches, and I actually wrote myself a little prequel story about how Hannah and Veronica broke up. The entire NYC situation evolved from there.

Something that I really appreciated about the book was how seamless it was to go from mystery hunting to magic to romance and back around again. It’s one of the few times where I’ve read the mind of a teenager so realistically. Did you mean to show that teenagers can compartmentalize things differently in terms of attention and emotion?

Ooh, that’s an interesting question! I’m glad it resonated. People (including teens!) are really complex, and we often have to juggle so many competing priorities. I remember being a teen and being stressed about finals and band practice and a million other things, but there was always time to talk about crushes with my friends.

Instead of keeping it within the town, you added a collection of new people to Salem as everything started to go down. It made Hannah, Veronica, and the coven question first outside people before looking in. Was the addition of new people in town to make it harder to figure out the identity of the blood witch?

It was! Creating several viable suspects was an important part of crafting the mystery. I wanted readers to feel like no one was completely innocent until all the twists played out.

When you were writing These Witches Don’t Burn, did you plan out the surprises or were they surprises to you too?

The main villain was the same in every draft, though the reason for their villainy did deepen and evolve over time. A lot of the ways the villain goes after Hannah and her friends did change a lot through revisions with my editor though!

I recently asked author Camille Perri this question and I’d love to hear your opinion on it. It seems like LGBTQIA+ stories and authors are becoming more common on the shelves and bestseller lists. These Witches Don’t Burn has several different LGBTQ characters (including a lesbian, a bisexual girl, and a queer trans guy). Do you think we’re finally moving forward? When do you think stories like this will be less labeled and seen as regular stories?

While there’s been progress made over the last decade (and the last few years in particular), there’s still a long way to go, especially with trans characters and characters of color within the LGBTQ communities.

As far as book “labeling,” I actually think there’s a lot of value in being explicit about LGBTQ rep in books; I think it’s important for queer and trans readers to be able to easily find characters like themselves. Though it may not be done with this intent, when LGBTQ books are marketed with zero hint of their identities present, it can feel like the publisher was purposefully burying that information to “protect” sales. LGBTQ identities shouldn’t be a dirty secret that readers only discover after picking up the story or intense online research.

All that said, I do understand the need for “under cover” LGBTQ books for teens, especially since not everyone can safely bring openly queer content into their homes.

What was the researching aspect like for this one? It’s a fun book, but you have to get your facts straight.

Well, as Hannah would say, I don’t do anything “straight.” (Sorry, I had to!) The most fun aspect of research was visiting Salem with my wife! We went to Salem in between my first draft and my initial big revision, and walking the streets helped the feel of the town come alive for me.

What is it about magic that you think readers are perpetually drawn to?

I think there’s something undeniably fun about magic. Especially for those of us who might not have a lot of power in our own lives, the thought of having an inner power manifest in such a real and undeniable way is alluring for a lot of us.

The book was released just a few days shy of Pride Month. What are some of the best LGBTQIA+ books you recommend?

So many! Some of my recently released favorites include:

• Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
• Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan
• We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
• Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins
• Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Finally, and I feel as if this is the most important, what kind of witch would you be? Elemental, Caster, or Blood Witch? What would be the best part of having magic?

Hmm, if I could choose one for myself, I'd want to be an Elemental. Being able to control the elements would be so cool. But if I’m going based on my personality, I think I’d probably end up a Caster Witch. I’m definitely a nerd, and keeping a journal of potions would be very much my thing.

These Witches Don't Burn, as well as Hot Dog Girl and Her Royal Highness are available now from Penguin Teen! And follow Isabel on Twitter.

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The World of Dystopia: A Review of The Voyage of Poe Blythe [Contributor: Megan Mann]

(Image credit: Penguin Teen)

Years ago young adult literature was leaving the world of vampires and werewolves behind. The mythical creatures and their love stories were on the way out, making room for a new genre: dytospian fiction. Yes, dystopias took the world by storm with books like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Selection by Kierra Cass, and Matched by Ally Condie.

It was a genre that focused on the future rather than the past. Dystopias ask the questions, “What if everything goes south? What would that world look like? Would the human race survive, or tear each other to pieces? Does our past influence what comes next when the world is unrecognizable?”

While some of these novel’s landscapes are unfathomable to us, they also aren’t exactly out of the realm of possibility either. That’s what allows writers the freedom to create a future that’s just enough to make you wonder, “Is this possible? If so, would I survive?”

And Ally Condie does just that. In her dystopian trilogy that began with Matched, Condie showed a future where we meet our life partner at seventeen years old in a tightly controlled society. In her latest dystopian take, the focus is less on believing that you’re in a Utopian society and instead discovering its seedy underbelly. This book is about knowing exactly where you stand in a future where you have to do what you can in order to survive.

That’s exactly what Poe Blythe intends to do: survive and seek revenge.

At the beginning of The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe, we meet Poe and her best friend turned boyfriend, Call, as they sail down the river in a mining ship. It’s a less-than-desirable job since there are often Raiders lurking on the shores waiting to rob the ship of whatever gold it dredges from the river. It’s a dangerous journey, but Poe believes not as important for Raiders anymore as there are less and less outlets willing to trade in gold.

Poe and Call have a plan: they’re going to set sail as if they are going on a regular mission but instead of turning around and heading back to the Outpost, they’re going to keep sailing and see what the wilderness has in store for them. It could change their lives for the better and they’ll be together in this new adventure. As they talk about their escape plan during an excursion, Poe’s help is needed inside the ship. When she comes back on deck with two other crew members, she can immediately tell that something is wrong.

Raiders.

As the Raiders take over the ship, she notices that Call is missing. Poe hopes that he’s simply hiding and didn’t have time to raise the alarm letting the rest of the crew know they were in trouble. But when they bring him up to the deck, she knows with certainty that Call is dead. Her hopes, her dreams, her heart is shattered in that moment. The Raiders take the ship and allow the rest of the crew to leave with a message to the Outpost that the Raiders, or drifters as they call themselves, will no longer allow them to take the gold from the rivers. As the group makes the long trek back to the Outpost, with the ship exploding in the distance, Poe feels the fire ignite in her.

“I make them a promise, as their smoke and fire blot out the stars. I will make you nothing too.”

Over the next two years, Poe does seek revenge on the Raiders. Through dreams, she sees Call creating armor to protect the mining ships and sets to creating it. Ever since she brought the dream to life, the last remaining ship has yet to be raided and its gold taken. This has allowed Poe to move up at the Outpost and live in her own apartment while working with the Admiral. But her need for revenge has not yet been quelled. When the Admiral tells her that she will be making another voyage, this time on a river that has yet to be mined by the Outpost, Poe isn’t sure how to feel. However it’s not an option; it’s an order.

It’s been two years since she had been on a ship and now as Captain, she’s unsure how to feel. She wonders about the crew and whether or not they can be trusted. She wonders if they will have a problem with being lead by someone who is just 17 years old. She wonders why the Admiral wanted her on this voyage in the first place. The ship fills her with memories and also suspicion. This is surely going to be the voyage that Poe was not anticipating.

Dystopias have to draw me into a version of our future while keeping me grounded in something relatable in order to be good. They have to make you believable in the relative impossible while keeping you glued to the page. The story has to be intense with great plot and action sequences because if you have to fight to survive, it better be a good fight. As a writer, you have to build the suspense and make the reader feel like they can’t put the book down.

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe did all of that and more for me. It kept me guessing and wondering what was going to happen next. It was a story of survival, sure, but it had so much heart as well. It was, as somehow most dystopias are, a coming of age story set against an impossible backdrop. Being the captain of a ship where your boyfriend was killed and dead set on revenge at such a young age is a lot grapple with.

I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story as well. Since Poe doesn’t know what all of the mining is for, we don’t know and you’re constantly wondering along with her. There are little tidbits here and there throughout the plot that come back around brilliantly. I love when writing brings small things back around and proves they were actually big pieces to the story.

If you’re looking for a story that is going to pull you in and keep you guessing, The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie is the perfect read for you. It’s a fresh take on the pirate story that will have you racing through the pages trying to figure out the mystery of it all. It’s fresh, exciting, and it’s the perfect summer read just waiting for you to dive into!

Get your copy of the book today!

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Ask an Author: The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky’s Jana Casale [Contributor: Megan Mann]

With her debut novel, Jana Casale tells a story that is more identifiable than most literature. Instead of relying on literary tropes to tell a story about a woman as she navigates life, Casale instead looks to the realities a woman goes through. It's a relatable read and it's a book that, unlike Noam Chomsky, you won't just purchase and never read.

So what does Jana Casale think of her book? Keep reading to find out!

Congratulations! Your debut, The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky, is now in paperback! How does it feel?

It feels many different things, but overall I feel incredibly grateful and very humbled by all the amazing things that have happened to my little book. 

What was the catalyst for this story?

I was in class at Emerson College and a student was giving a presentation on Noam Chomsky. The professor asked her, “Have you read any of his work?” and she said, “No, but I’d like to when I have more time.” And I thought, "That’s never going to happen." Nothing against that young woman or course, it just seemed like one of those things in life you hope to do but never get to.

I found myself identifying with a lot of this book (especially when Leda’s mother said, “Dreams first, boys second”). Were you hoping that female readers would identify with Leda in one way or another?

I felt that there was a real gap in literature in terms of representing much of the female experience, and I really wanted to write something that was as vulnerable and honest as possible. I think when you do that you run the risk of alienating people because you’re usually talking about very specific, very personal things. But without being that open and raw about your own experiences, I think you are unable to really give your reader something to fully connect with. It’s thrilling when I hear that women do see themselves and can relate to my character because that was really my hope with this novel. I wanted women to feel a little less lonely when reading it.

Including Rochelle’s rape story may be too much to handle for some readers. But for many women, this situation occurs far more than it should. Was that what made you want to include it?

I really appreciate this question because this chapter to me is such an important one in the novel. I didn’t think it was right to write a book about womanhood and the female experience and to not talk about rape. Rochelle as a character was a way for me to be frank about the violence women face and the way that violence is just part of so many women’s lives. To some degree Leda acts as a mirror to the way society does and turns her back on Rochelle, which is why that final image of Rochelle at the end of the chapter is so important. It’s a complicated chapter, but I feel very proud of it. And even though it’s not essential to Leda’s narrative, I think it is incredibly essential to the narrative of the book thematically.

The difficulties of friendship segued into Leda’s spiral into depression about upending her entire life from Boston to San Francisco for John’s job. This left her entirely without aspects of her identity: friends, family, job, school. This is more common than ever now. Why choose for them to uproot their lives for him instead of her?

Part of what I wanted to do with this novel is talk about the ways in which women get so much self-worth from having men in their lives. In reality Leda is so happy with having John [that] she is willing to make that sacrifice for him and move to California. We see later on that having a great boyfriend in and of itself is not fulfilling enough for her, but the initial decision is based very much around that. And I would suspect the reason they don’t leave is because John does not feel the same sense of accomplishment by having a partner as Leda does and so is likely less motivated to make a big change just for her. To be fair it was also a smart financial decision for them and life, I think, just gets away from you very often when you make a big move like that, so that was part of it as well.

Something that I think is so important for you to bring up in this story is how social media has turned motherhood into a competition. It’s also creates this insidious world of mommy shaming. Do you think mothers reading this will scream “YES! THIS!” when reading your novel? 

I hope so! I find social media to be so depressing in my own life, and I think very often it feeds into the worst of ourselves and our relationships with other people. Women can be so hard on each other, and I hate the way all too often we use each other’s faults and failures to feel better about our own lives. The good thing about social media is that it’s very useful for writing. So many interesting and complicated human interactions happen through it, and because it’s all written, it really lends itself to the medium of prose. We’ve all seen those scenes in television and movies where they try to integrate texting or social media, and it really doesn’t work but it’s absolutely perfect for books.

I think we’ve all had the experience in the dressing room with the bathing suits. (Except for maybe Kendall Jenner.) Instead of creating a story that’s clear-cut, you created a story that’s realistic and messy. It makes it easy for the reader to identify at some point. What made you want to tell a straightforward story that didn’t rely on the themes we generally see in fiction?

The bathing suit scene is the one most frequently brought up to me which isn’t surprising because every woman (probably even Kendall Jenner!) has gone through something similar to that. Hating our bodies is so intrinsic to the female experience, but it’s almost never discussed. Honestly, so few protagonists you read about seem to struggle with many of the experiences women struggle with in their lives, and I think the reason is that many writers write in a way that is more derivative of art than of reality. I really wanted to write something that was not built on women that I’ve read about but built on women that I’ve known, and so I tried to be as messy as possible. And what’s messier than bathing suit shopping?

Okay, so here’s a few fun questions! If this were to become a Netflix series, who would you cast?

Believe it or not I never think about this kind of thing! I think I’d just want Leda to be played by someone with a sense of humor.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on my second novel which is about three different women who are in love with terrible men. It’s tentatively titled, How to Fall Out of Love Madly.

(Megan’s note: I’m here for it. Very excited for this already!)

What’s the best writing advice you received during this process?

To think about your career holistically and to only publish what you really want out in the world. 

What are you reading right now?

I just finished Mary Laura Philpott’s book of essays called I Miss You When I Blink. It’s coming out this spring and it’s amazing. So hilarious. So touching. I highly recommend!

(Megan’s note: This book is, in fact, incredible and I also think everyone should read it.)

And last, because I have to ask, what’s a book you bought and then never read?

Honestly, there are too many to name! I love books, which means I over buy in a big way. But I did read Noam Chomsky!

The Girl Who Never Read Noam Chomsky is available now in paperback! And find Jana on Instagram!

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Ask an Author: Field Notes on Love’s Jennifer E. Smith [Contributor: Megan Mann]

For the better part of my almost 30 years on this planet, I have been a complete and total hopeless romantic. I simply love love. Sure, I love the saccharine stickiness that comes with it but I love all of the messy, salty bits too. Because that's what love is: a mix of salty and sweet. So it would come as no surprise when I tell you how much I love a good love story.

This is why I love Jennifer E. Smith's work and am always coming back for more. She writes a good love story that draws you in and keeps you there. Not because there's so much drama, but because she's mastered the will they/won't they theme in the best possible way. This is work written by someone who understands love on a level that has created a loyal fanbase always clamoring for more. It's beautiful storytelling that has you wistful and hopeful and starry-eyed with each turn of the page.

Her newest novel, Field Notes on Love, delivers all of this and more. In fact, it's probably now become my favorite of all of her books. (Which is astonishing since I loved The Geography of You and Me so much.)

Hugo is dumped just a week before his cross-country American train ride, and is obviously sad. Not just because Margaret broke up with him, but because this was a chance to do something on his own, and not as a packaged deal with his sextuplet siblings. When Margaret suggests he still go on his trip, Brit's joy is quickly dashed when he realizes everything is in her name and non-refundable. With the help of his siblings, they hatch a plan to find another girl with the same name willing to go on the adventure with him.

This is where Mae comes in. After her friend sends her the ad, the budding filmmaker responds with a video of her Hudson Valley hometown with its stifling (for her) tranquility. By chance, he ends up picking Mae when someone else falls through and the two meet in New York to embark on an adventure that shows them more than just the countryside. It shows them what they want out of life.

The story is stacked with love, but not in an overwhelming way. The scenes involving Hugo and Mae's families and friends are truly heartwarming and you hotly anticipate the next moment they'll share, leading you to believe that something is happening between these two strangers.

Here's what author Jennifer E. Smith had to say about her latest novel.

Congratulations! Field Notes on Love is finally out! How does it feel?

It feels great! I’m really proud of this book, so it’s fun to finally have it out in the world, and I’ve loved getting such enthusiastic responses from readers so far. It’s by far the best part of the job!

The story takes place primarily on a train. Where did the idea of a cross-country train ride as the center of your story come from?

I’ve always loved trains. There’s something so soothing about the rhythm of them and the way the world passes by out the window. I’ve never taken a train all the way across the country, as Hugo and Mae do in the book, but I’ve been on some long rides, and I wanted to explore what would happen when you took two complete strangers and put them together on a journey like that.

There's a certain nostalgia, and even romance, to rail travel. Did that play a part in your decisions? 

Absolutely. I think there’s something inherently romantic about the idea of train travel. Though I will say, after taking one overnight for research, it’s not quite as dreamy as it might seem. Don’t get me wrong — I loved the experience. And the views were incredible. But those sleeper rooms are tiny. As are the bathrooms!

(Megan's note: This is important to mention because after I, too, traveled overnight on a train and had a "sleeper seat," I realized that sleep was a loosely defined idea and maybe I should have done research first on what that meant.)

I also love that you wrote about the view of a single person among a packaged deal like sextuplets. What made you want to explore that?

Honestly, I’ve just always been fascinated by multiples. When I was dreaming up Hugo, I knew he would be looking for an excuse to escape his life for a bit. At first, I thought maybe he’d just come from a big family. But then I realized he’d feel more boxed in if his siblings were the same age — and if there were a lot of them.

Plus, I just figured it would be fun to write, and it really, really was — especially their group texts, which made me laugh. I feel like I could write a whole book just about the sextuplets. I love them all!

One of my favorite parts about your books is chance. In almost all of them, a chance encounter sets two people off on this epic love story. What makes the idea of two strangers happening on each other at the right moment so appealing for you?

I always say that I love to write about moments in time that act as hinges — days where there’s a clear split between a before and an after. Where yesterday your life was one way, and tomorrow it will be totally different. Fate, timing, chance, serendipity — whatever you want to call it, there’s something really fascinating about the idea that the right person could drop into your life at just the right moment. So I find myself returning to that theme again and again.

One of the things that Mae’s Nana says really struck a chord with me. She said that love is love and it doesn’t have to be for life — it could be for a week. I feel like that’s something that’s missing in books, specifically in YA. Love doesn’t have a timeline. It just is what it is. Why was that important for you to include?

Readers sometimes get frustrated because my books usually end in a way that’s hopeful but unresolved. Don’t get me wrong — I’m a sucker for a great happily ever after But life is long, and that doesn’t always happen when you’re 17 or 18. If it does, that’s amazing. But I also like the idea that life can be full of interesting experiences, and that it’s possible to have more than one great love story. Nana certainly did!

I also loved what Hugo said: “The truth is, love isn’t just one word. It’s different things for different people.” This is so important for readers, specifically teenagers and young adults who believe love is supposed to look a certain way. Am I reading too much into that or would you say the same?

No, I agree. I think it’s helpful to remember that love isn’t one size fits all.

But I think my favorite part about the whole book is that this isn’t just about romantic love. It’s all encompassing in our lives. There’s familial, romantic, platonic love and they’re all represented. Did you set out to showcase all aspects of love or was it a happy coincidence?

I always try to showcase different types of love in my books, and often the family stories are just as important to me as the romantic ones. In this book, in particular, there’s so much heart to the other stories: Mae’s dads and her grandmother, and Hugo’s parents and siblings. I wanted those to feel as real and meaningful as what was happening between the two of them on the train. Their story takes place over the course of a week, but those other relationships have existed their whole lives; they’ve formed the bedrock of who these two people are, and that’s no small thing.

With the book so open-ended, what do you think happens with Mae and Hugo?

I have my own ideas, but of course I’d rather leave it to the reader to decide!

Field Notes on Love is not the first book that involves travel. (See: The Geography of You and Me and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight.) What makes the transient nature of travel so appealing? Why do so many of your books feature it?

There are so many reasons. On a personal level, travel has always been an important part of my life, and there’s something really fun about getting to revisit the places I love most in the world through the eyes of my characters. More broadly, I think it’s important to break out of your bubble and be a little uncomfortable and experience new things, and it makes me very happy every time I hear from a reader that my books have inspired them to travel too.

And then on a narrative level, there’s something about the forward motion of it all — literally moving the characters from one place to another — that always feels inspiring to me. I realize it’s getting a little ridiculous, how many books I’ve written about travel, but I just really, really love it. So this definitely won’t be the last.

Now to the fun parts! We know that your last release Windfall was optioned for film. (Any information would be so greatly welcomed!) Has there been any talks about Field Notes on Love becoming a film? 

I’m not sure what will happen with Field Notes, but yes, Windfall is still in development, as are several of the others. It’s a long road from the page to the screen, but there are some great people working on them, so we’ll see what happens. Fingers crossed!

Is there anything specific you were listening to while writing the story of Mae and Hugo that inspired you?

You know, I don’t really listen to music while I write. Sometimes I’ll put on the score from a favorite movie, but mostly when I work, I’m just listening to the sound of my beagle snoring beside my desk!

What are you reading right now?

I’ve always got a few books going at once! I’m actually reading Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier for the first time ever, and also The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. I recently finished Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, which was riveting, and Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, which was so impressive. I also loved Becoming by Michelle Obama, of course.

In terms of YA, my most recent favorite was XL by Scott Brown, which just came out this week. It’s funny and moving and smart, and the voice is just so clever and unique. Next up: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, which I’m so excited to finally read!

I want thank Jennifer for taking the time out to talk to me about her amazing new book. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith is available now. You can find Jennifer on Twitter for updates on the movies and her next work!

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Ask An Author: Dig’s A.S. King [Contributor: Megan Mann]

(Image source: Penguin Random House)

Very rarely do I find an author whose work I look forward to time after time — whose work I literally throw my phone while screaming upon the announcement of their next book. But I am constantly amazed at the work of A.S. King. If you've ever asked me for a book recommendation, the first one I'll suggest is Ask the Passengers.

So you can imagine my excitement when I stumbled on her blog last year and discovered that her new book would be out in 2019. I had a brief Twitter freakout and have been counting down to this day for months. And the newest novel didn't disappoint.

Dig follows a string of characters as they navigate their lives in a suburb outside of Philadelphia. There's something that each character is doing because of their parents. Marla has a secret that she can't share with her kids because they'll know that's why they turned out so strange. Loretta lives by the script she knows she should be playing out because her dad has a temper and her mother won't do anything. CanIHelpYou? sells drugs in the Arby's drive-thru to get away from her racist mother. The Shoveler is tired of moving because his mom can't hold down a job. Malcolm, Gottfried, Jake Marks. They've all been visited by The Freak and she knows what each of them needs. But how? And how do each of the stories intertwine?

I was lucky enough to dig (see what I did there?) through A.S. King's brain to see what she had to say about her newest book.

Dig is finally out! How does it feel?

This book has always felt a bit like I was walking upstream with three full barrels of dirt tied to my waist. So it feels good to finally release it. Maybe that means I can also untie the barrels now.

What was the writing process like for this one?

It was fun and frustrating, exciting and excruciating, just like all other books. But longer. With barrels tied to my waist, walking upstream. I write by the seat of my pants, so the speed and ease of a book’s writing process depends solely on how willing my characters are to cooperate. These characters weren’t so bad, but they were slow. Nearly four years slow. They did cooperate eventually... though The Freak didn’t tell me her secrets until page 350, so that was a bit cheeky of her. But mostly it was fun. And sometimes scary.

Let’s talk potatoes as some might be terrifically perplexed by their place on the cover before picking up Dig. Were they the catalyst for the story or did they simply keep coming up?

Potatoes just showed up. Over and over again, potatoes kept showing up. Then the former farm showed up, then the university showed up. It’s not that simple though. Again, I follow the characters. So once the spuds showed up a few times, I did what anyone would do: I Googled potatoes and potato recipes. They kept showing up, so I read non-fiction and researched more. (I am lucky to have a pretty extensive potato-growing past, so I know the feel and the smell of potato plants and their horticultural details very well. That helped.) So the spud fascination fed itself. It showed up, then it made me want to know more. This is pretty much my process.

I’ve said this to you before, but magical realism is one of my favorite aspects of your writing. But it wasn’t until Dig that it dawned on me how you’re using magical realism in terms of mental health. Astrid is struggling with her sexuality and sends messages to the sky. China has turned herself inside out from PTSD. Vera is seeing her best friend in different scenarios through her haze of grief. Gerald dreams in a different world to escape reality. In Dig, The Freak flickers to new places. Would you say a lot of your work is about the struggles of mental health?

My not-quite-realism/surrealism is certainty all about metaphors. And yes, I use it to connect with the real lives of my readers. That could mean something as serious as mental illness, or as mild as just feeling normal emotions most of the time. That said, The Freak isn’t a great example in this book of someone suffering from mental illness. I’d say the Shoveler probably is. Or Marla. Or Missy and Loretta. But yes, dealing with mental illness is surreal so I feel surrealism lends itself to the stories that my characters tell me.

As for the last question, yes, I’d say my stories are often about people who are struggling, period. Who doesn’t struggle? Sometimes my characters have diagnosable mental issues, sometimes not. But yes, the mental health of human beings has been something I have been interested in for my whole life. Not just because I have dealt with it directly, but because I know too many people who don’t “believe” in teenage mental illness, which leaves struggling teens at a disadvantage to face their issues with the help of professionals or even within their families. My goal is to crack/break/destroy the stigma, open the conversation, and finally get to a place where people can see what’s really going on. Some people don’t respond well to real-talk, so surrealism helps me sew it into their brains through a loophole.

Something else I’ve always immensely enjoyed, and why I think your work stands out to me, is the intense reality of it all. YA is often centered around typical teenage problems. But yours get down to the dirty parts of life — the parts not everyone always wants to explore. Why do you think that that makes you, or someone like Andrew Smith, stand out?

I’m not even sure if I do stand out. I write real because I am real. I know this is probably why Smith and I are great friends. It’s easy to talk to him because we speak the same real-language. Same with many of my writer friends who stand out. I have spent a lot of time in my life surrounded by people who were not living in the real world. People who lie to themselves. People who pretend everything is fine. People who can never be wrong or who make up stories to keep themselves superior. These are adults, mind you. Teenagers? I find them to be a lot more real than adults for the most part. And writers who have that same respect for teenagers, then, stand out to me.

Look, life is dirty. If we don’t start looking at the dirt, we... oh. We’re probably already there. That’s why I write about intense reality — because life is intense reality. Ask any kid who had to cower against a wall in their classroom today during a drill, or the real thing. Life is intense reality.

The formatting of this book is interesting. Was that intentional or did it just happen organically?

The formatting of the Shoveler’s and Marla’s internal rants probably made me the enemy of all typesetters everywhere. I knew it would. But that’s how his thought tunnels look. It’s a visual metaphor. And it was totally intentional.

But you could mean the structure — if so, yes, it was weird, wasn’t it? The blender. The strainer. I really have no idea where those came from. It just happened. So, I’ll claim: organic with revision intension.

Your characters are all so very different, but they all exist within the same place. Their stories don’t always intertwine in a big way, but they’re still aware of each other. Is that a reflection of how we’re absorbed in our own problems and don’t see the problems others are facing or am I simply reading too much into this?

I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t try to do anything in my books, so what happens is organic. And maybe organic things reflect reality. And if that’s true, then yeah, maybe this is true. So you aren’t reading too much into anything. You are educating me about my own book. Thank you. It fits the theme, all right.

But on this topic, I think it’s important to note that the book is about generational differences and, most importantly, the withholding and confusion of familial love and how that affects people in different generations. A lot of people don’t have the ability to love without conditions or without a sort of emotional blackmail. I’m no psychologist, but I’d say the family we read about in Dig is riddled with more approachable issues like anxiety and depression, but also more surreptitious issues like narcissism and sociopathy.

A lot of what happens to us as kids is what shapes the rest of our lives. Malcolm is lost because of his mother and father dying. Marla’s children are cold, distant, and a little unhinged because she was distant. The Freak had a tumultuous upbringing. What is it that drew you to these stories?

Oh, Megan, I know I’m a frustrating interviewee. I really do.

What drew me to the stories were the characters who showed up and started talking to me. They started telling me stuff and I started writing. I know that sounds like my brain is made of granola, but that’s really how I write books. I’m the last to know what the hell is going on. So choices, then, are unlikely.

But here’s a story about the day I figured out Dig was a real-live novel versus the weird bits of writing I was trying:

So I’d written the short Marla/Gottfried (note: this is the first mention of potatoes on page two —my brain is messed up!) and Marks brothers chapters first, then I wrote the Shoveler. For maybe eighty pages. He just kept shoveling and he wasn’t telling me much at all. The Freak showed up but she was a mystery (remember: she didn’t tell me squat for 350 pages) and I decided to toss the book. Bye, book! You’re fired!

I started writing another book about a girl named CanIHelpYou? and her job at Arby’s. After a few chapters, she and her friend hang out at the park one night and suddenly, there’s a kid with a snow shovel in the park — but there’s no snow. I thought: OH WOW. IT’S AN A.S. KING NOVEL. I dug out the Shoveler and The Freak, Malcolm showed up, and then I eventually figured out how they all fit together.

Technically, that’s what drew me to these stories. Curiosity. Excitement. And pure weirdness. And trust. I trust the process. I try not to stress when I toss 80 pages of what seemed like a good thing. They will usually wander back. But not without trust.

Okay, let’s change gears. What do you hope readers gain from Dig?

As always, I hope readers get what they need from the book.

But specifically, I hope readers can taste the privilege in their lives and their communities after seeing these examples, and I hope they can see that love is the only important thing. (Dental hygiene is pretty important, too, but love rocks.)

Have the characters from a future novel introduced themselves to you yet? If so, what can you tell us?

YES, THEY HAVE! And I can tell you nothing. Not yet. Sorry. But in the meantime, I do have a middle-grade novel coming out in October (The Year We Fell From Space) and I can tell you that it’s about stars, depression, and a meteorite.

(Megan's note: This bothers me because I WANT TO KNOW.)

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading poems, mostly. All kinds of poems. So many poems.

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten lately?

Breathe. 🡨 best advice ever.

And most importantly, what's your favorite potato dish?

Mashed, with proper homemade gravy.

I want to thank A.S. King so much for letting me getting super deep with her about her latest novel. It was an insightful read that will prove the importance of not only connection, but deep connection — the kind that reminds you that you're okay, that you're safe, and that you have someone to rely on when you need it. It's a book that reminds you to learn from your mistakes and not pass them on from generation to generation. It was, in short, another home-run for one of my favorite authors.

Dig is available to buy today!

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Ask An Author: Night Music's Jenn Marie Thorne [Contributor: Megan Mann]

New York is a magical place. It's considered one of the most important food cities in America, it's home to Broadway, an inordinate amount of books, movies, and television series have been set there, it's a worldwide fashion capital and girls from around the world vie for a chance to be part of the city's illustrious ballet companies. It's also known as a city that embraces dreams and offers up a world of possibilities both large and small. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

However, Cartier and caviar aren't the only things that New York is known for. As a mecca of American and global culture, New York is home to one of the most famous halls of classical music: Lincoln Center. Famed musicians and singers from around the world have graced its stage and wowed audiences for decades. But I bet you wouldn't expect that to be the subject of a YA novel, right?

The worlds of New York and classical music is, in fact, at the epicenter of Jenn Marie Thorne's newest release Night Music. Ruby Chertok is classical music royalty. Or at least her family is. Her mother is a world-renowned pianist, her dad is one of the most notable composers and conductors in modern classical music, her sister is a first chair violinist, her brother is a conductor and composer, and her oldest brother has always been incredibly gifted in terms of music. No matter how hard she tries, Ruby just doesn't feel like she belongs. She can play piano, but not as well as the rest of her family and she can't really compose. So where does this leave her?

In the summer of her contemplation — and eventual liberation from bottom of the totem pole to forging her own path — Ruby meets Oscar. He's an internet phenomenon that her father has personally brought to the Amberley School of Music to make his mentee. He sees potential for Oscar, but he also sees dollar signs and donations. Of course, Oscar doesn't know that he's being used as a pawn as he creates his first symphony because he's under so much pressure to succeed.

The pressure to find yourself not only in the classical music world, but in the world itself is at the heart of Night Music. Ruby is desperate to find her purpose while Oscar just wants to find his place in a world that doesn't accept who he is or who he loves. It's a dual coming-of-age story that explores the steps we need to take to figure out who we are and what we want out of life.

Luckily, I was able to talk to Jenn Marie Thorne about her lovely new novel.

Congratulations! Night Music is finally out there! How does it feel?

Jenn: It’s a little surreal! Night Music has had a long journey from initial idea to publication. My totally unscientific theory is that the longer you’ve worked on a book, the harder it is to let it go and hand it over to readers. But at the same time, the response has been really positive so far, and of course I’m proud to have it out there.

Classical music, whether it be through composing or performance, is an interesting choice for a YA story. What inspired that?

The first spark of the idea was actually for a fantasy novel, if you can believe it. I was interested in the idea of a non-magical person in a magical world with a sort of failed birthright falling for a very powerful magician. The idea kind of got stuck there until I realized why I’d come up with it in the first place, as a way of processing my own disappointment over not pursuing a career in music.

I’ve always loved classical music and studied classical voice for many years; but deep down, I always knew I didn’t have the natural ability that would enable me to really make a go of it. It’s hard to accept that the thing you love doesn’t fully love you back — but it does help to write a whole book about it!

What was the research like for this project? Did you go and experience the magic firsthand?

When I lived in New York, I spent a lot of time at Lincoln Center. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but my friends and I used to buy really cheap seats for the Metropolitan Opera, then sneak into empty seats in the front row during the first intermission. I did, of course, research the music world in more detail with the help of a few friends who are professional musicians. I must say, I’m desperate to get back to New York after spending so much time there in my imagination over the course of writing the book.

(Megan's note: I, too, have bought cheap seats and moved down during multiple Broadway shows. Broke, but cultured, you know?)

Music is also a huge part of NYC culture, especially the Met Opera and Lincoln Center, but are very rarely the center of the NYC story. Why do you feel that is?

Well, there’s a lot going on in New York, right? And much of it is probably more accessible than the classical music world. I think to people who aren’t avid fans, Lincoln Center can feel a little insular and off-putting. Another reason I think you don’t see music as a central theme as much as, say, ballet is that it’s really hard to write! There’s that old expression, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” and I do think it presents a daunting challenge.

Something that's clear throughout the story is the difference between Ruby, Oscar, and Jules. Ruby has it all while Jules is struggling, but Jules is much more confident than Ruby. Oscar has all of the talent and charisma, while Ruby's family is a classical music legacy and she's extremely shy. Did you want to create those differences between the characters or was it organic?

I would love to say that I carefully planned and outlined each character to serve as a useful counterpoint to each other, but it was a happy accident in this case.

Funnily enough, Jules was the first fully-formed character that I got my head around, then the adult characters, then Oscar, and Ruby arrived last — probably because she’s the character who’s closest to myself and I’ve always found it excruciating to write about myself.

What wound up informing the confidence levels of each of the characters was their histories. Jules is essentially a foundling with a fantastic guardian, and as a result, she’s been able to bolster her confidence in a way that’s often a bit defensive. Oscar comes from a loving and supportive home, whereas Ruby’s upbringing has been extremely haphazard and left her feeling like an add-on who should just be grateful to be along for the ride.

Another thing I found interesting was Oscar pointing out that his talent, his love of classical music, and desire to be a composer made him the odd one out even more than his ethnicity did. Why do you think that is? Do you think there's a sort of racial bias in terms of classical music?

There’s an absolute racial bias in the classical music world, despite the prevalence of blind auditions today, and the problem starts early. Nonprofits like the Sphinx Organization and Castle of our Skins provide music education for Black and Latinx children and promote the work of Black musicians and composers, respectively. There’s a lot left to be done on a systemic level to acknowledge and address the diversity issue within classical music. That being said, I think anyone being raised outside of the classical music bubble with Oscar’s level of genius would feel like the odd man out.

There's a lot of mental struggle throughout the book. Ruby is constantly wondering what she can do to have an impact as she navigates moving out of her family's spotlight, while Oscar starts having dark days filled with panic attacks. I would say that most people in the arts are often riddled with anxiety. Did you want to highlight that for any particular reason?

Maybe this is my own personal lens, but it seems to me that anxiety is a huge issue for a lot of teens and adults that often isn’t explicitly portrayed in fiction, so in Night Music, I wanted Oscar and Ruby to deal with the pressures that have been placed on them in a way that to me felt authentic.

Okay! Now to the fun questions! If this were to become a movie, who would be in your dream cast?

I’m so bad at casting my main characters, because they are so particularly themselves in my brain that I have a hard time picturing someone new in the role. I’ve got some adults, though, for the supporting cast: Bryce Dallas Howard for Nora and Mandy Patinkin is Marty Chertok. This doesn’t often happen, but he was head-canon as Marty before I even started writing the book!

(Megan's note: Oh my GOD. I cannot unseen Mandy Patinkin as Marty. It's the most flawless casting.)

What was the writing process like?

Epic. I wrote a very quick rough draft before I moved to England, then almost completely rewrote it after moving to England. There was a lot of back and forth and incredible beta reader input and then one day, magically, it was in ARCs!

What did you listen to when you were writing this? (I think it would be hilarious if you had to write a novel entirely about music in complete silence!)

You’re not far off! I listened to classical music constantly while I wasn’t writing, especially the pieces featured in the story, but I am an extremely distractible person, so while I was doing the actual work, I needed silence or I would just, like, start singing opera and two hours would have passed with zero words written.

What would you like readers to take away from Night Music?

Your life is your own and it’s your one true art. Your worth is inherent, whether you’re gifted or not. Be kind, be brave, love wildly, and enjoy yourself.

And finally, what are you reading right now?

I’m finally reading Circe by Madeline Miller (who I went to high school with!) and it’s as incredible an achievement as everybody said.

Night Music (from Penguin Teen) hit shelves today! Make sure to pick up a copy for your spring break reading or for a lovely love story to devour in a weekend!  

Happy reading, friends!

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Ask An Author: Four Dead Queens' Astrid Scholte [Contributor: Megan Mann]

I'm a sucker for good dystopian fiction.

And I mean a good dystopian fiction. I don't want to read about zombies or nuclear warfare. I want to read about circumstances that have led countries astray and have gotten aforementioned countries into places where they're now using bizarre caste systems. I don't seek out the dystopian genre these days like I used to, having been burned too many times before, but when one of these novels strikes my fancy, I give it a shot.

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte didn't even need a shot. The cover did all of the work and got me hook, line and sinker. The toppling collection of glittering crowns and the bold title let you know that this was going to be one heck of a ride.

And let me be the very first to tell you that this was a ride you won't want to get off.

Four Dead Queens follows thief Keralie as one of her routine jobs sends her spiraling into a life-changing situation. She listens to her boss, Mackiel, when he says to steal a case of comm chips from an Eonian messenger. Kralie thinks that the high-priced item would sell at auction, catch a pretty penny, and be another notch in her belt. But when the messenger shows up at the auction house and the chips are never put on the block, she knows that something is wrong. It's only when Keralie figures out that she's been played and she swallows the comm chips does that she understands the reigning monarchs — the four queens of Quadara — have been murdered.

What follows is a twisting, turning, looping rollercoaster of mystery and intrigue. There's nothing to prepare you for the lightning speed in which you'll flip through the pages. You want to find out how each queen meets her demise, who the killer is, and why the murders have taken place. No clues can quite prepare you for the insanity that is Astrid Scholte's debut novel.

Thankfully, I was able to talk to Asrid and pick her brain about Four Dead Queens (in the least spoilery way possible for you all) and who she dreams would be cast in the perfect film adaptation. Keep reading to see what she has to say!

What was the catalyst for the story of Keralie, Varin, and the four dead queens of Quadra?

Astrid: I had previously written two YA fantasies that I had failed to get an agent with and I was brainstorming what my next manuscript would be. I wrote a list of all the things I loved, not only in YA but in TV and movies, including forbidden romance, royal intrigue, deception, hidden secrets, shifting agendas, and unexpected twists and turns. I’ve also loved murder mysteries since I was a kid and thought it would be unique to set a murder mystery in a fantasy world.

The main catalyst was when I had a dream about sitting in a horse-drawn carriage wearing an elaborate Victorian-style dress and a futuristic silver car flew past, I wondered what kind of world would exist with such contrasting technologies. That was how Quadara was born!

I have to admit, it seems like half of the fun of writing a dystopian novel is coming up with names for characters, locations, and government. Would you say that’s true?

Absolutely! I love playing around with new words and worlds. Writing fantasy gives you absolute freedom, but at the same time, you need to establish rules so that the world, and the people inside it, feels believable. The fun part is working out the boundaries for the world to exist in, and then see how far you can bend it, without breaking.

Okay, let’s jump right on in. The book starts with a bang: a robbery and a murder. It’s what sets the whole story in motion. What made you decide to do that?

I knew from the beginning I wanted to have a thief as the main character — someone who isn’t necessarily “good” from the outset — and have them entangled within this deadly plot to kill all the queens. I wanted the main character to have to decide to “do the right thing,” which wasn’t what they were used to doing.

As for the murders, I wanted to jump straight into the action and have the murders play out on the page, from the queens’ point-of-view, as I thought that would generate the most drama. Because Four Dead Queens is mainly a murder mystery/thriller that just happens to be set in a fantasy world, I knew the pacing would have to be breakneck and have the rules of this complex nation unravel as the mystery does.

I want to talk about how you have a society entirely ruled by not just one, but four women, for hundreds of years. Talk about girl power! What do you hope female readers take from that choice?

In this current climate, I think it’s really important to see female characters not only working together but supportive of each other. Each queen has a very distinct personality and different background and culture, but they come together to ensure the peace of the nation. I wanted to show that we should support each other, regardless of where we come from and how we may differ from each other. Ultimately, it’s about tolerance and finding and creating your own family.

Keralie and Varin may come from different quadrants, but you discover over time that they feel trapped by the hand they were dealt and wish to be free of the constraints placed on them. Was that mirroring intentional?

To a certain extent, yes. I love the opposites attract and hate-to-love tropes, but at the same time, I wanted the love interests to bond over a shared goal. They both want to change their situation, break through restrictions, and be who they’re meant to be. In finding themselves, they also found each other.

Of all the crazy twists, the comm chips and the assassin’s identity reveal were the most insane. How did that come to be?

I actually didn’t know who the killer was for a third of the first draft! I was brainstorming who could be the culprit and when I hit on a specific idea, I knew it was the winner! I love hearing readers’ responses to the ending!

If Four Dead Queens were to get turned into a movie (which I very seriously see happening), who would be your dream cast?

I would absolutely love if Four Dead Queens became a movie or TV series! As a visual writer, I clearly see the characters and scenes in my head before writing.

My dream cast would be:

• Queen Marguerite: People have remarked that my painting of Queen Marguerite looks like Jessica Chastain, and there’s a reason for that! I would love if she played the auburn-haired Queen of Toria.
• Queen Stessa: Banita Sandhu looks exactly how I would imagine the youngest queen on screen.
• Queen Iris: Isabel Lucas has the right regal look for the stern but compassionate queen.
• Queen Corra: Letitia Wright would be wonderful as cautious and controlled Queen Corra.
• Keralie: Dove Cameron would be perfect for the charming and brash young thief.
• Mackiel: Darren Criss, I was so impressed with his performance in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. He can play both charming and dangerous, key for Mackiel.
• Varin: While he’s a little old, Jeremy Irvine would make a great Varin!

(Megan's note: Not only would everyone be insanely perfect, but Letitia would crush Corra's stoicism after playing an A.I. in Humans. I told Astrid months ago that Jessica Chastain is simply the only choice for Queen Marguerite. You'll agree.)

What books would you recommend our readers pick up?

I adore the Lady Helen and the Dark Days trilogy by fellow Aussie, Alison Goodman. I love the blend of the supernatural and historical. It’s clear how much passion Goodman has for the Regency era and it’s like being transported back in time with such exquisite detail.

Four Dead Queens is currently available for pre-order and will hit shelves February 26th. Make sure you order your copy today, and find Astrid on Twitter and Instagram!

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