April’s New Books
Posted by Diversity in YA on Mar 28, 2011 in Blog, Featured, Middle Grade, New Books, Young Adult | 9 commentsEvery month we feature all the new middle grade and young adult releases that include diversity. April 2011 brings us two middle grade and eleven young adult novels, including an unprecedented three YA Asian-inspired fantasies in one month: Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon, Huntress by Malinda Lo, and Eona by Alison Goodman, not to mention the middle-grade adventure Ranger’s Apprentice, Book 10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan. Can teens handle so much awesomeness? We hope so!
By “diversity” we mean: (1) main characters or major secondary characters (e.g., a love interest or best friend kind of character) who are of color or are LGBT; or (2) written by a person of color or LGBT author. Unfortunately due to time constraints we are unable to include each book’s summary, but we encourage you to click on the book covers to be taken to Indie Bound, where you can read a description of the book.
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Middle Grade
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Young Adult
I hate to contradict you, but Ranger’s Apprentice is YA.
Don’t worry about it, everyone makes simple mistakes like this!
thanks! the novel is listed as for ages 9-12? that’s why it was labeled as MG? perhaps it’s one of those crossover books. much of the MG and YA designations have a lot to do with marketing too.
Yes, Cindy’s right, we go by the publisher’s classification, and they list it as middle grade (ages 9-12).
* This is so wonderful! I can’t wait to dive into the stories I hadn’t read yet.
Another YA release this much is You Don’t Have a Clue edited by Sarah Cortez
I thought Rangers Apprentice was MG, at least book one was.
Congratulations on your upcoming new releases.
Thanks! I’ve added You Don’t Have a Clue. How cool — Latino mystery stories for teens!
I finished Boyfriends with Girlfriends last night. It was very good. One of the main characters Sergio is bisexual, his best friend Kimiko is butch. Lance who likes Sergio is trying to come to terms with, Sergio also liking girls and what it may mean for their relationship. Lance’s, best friend Allie is trying to figure out the feelings she may have for Kimiko.
I thought Sanchez did a great job with this novel. And I like the cover that much more after reading it.
thanks for the congrats as well as the recs, doret!
always appreciated!
Glad I discovered your site! I just read Angie Smibert’s Memento Nora, which I think came out in April. One of the main characters, Winter, is gay (and Japanese-American). I liked how she handled it. Very matter of fact.