Hey YA

Kelly and Erica look back on 8 years of Hey YA, highlighting their favorite (and messy!) YA moments, their most memorable episodes, and some YA books they think deserve more attention.

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Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18!

Memorable Moments:

Hey YA episode “Podcasting While Eating Chocolate Cake”

Hey YA episode “I See a Cat, I Like It”

How YA Twitter Took Down a Best-Seller Pretender

The Blues Traveler Story

The Worst Bestsellers Episode on Handbook for Mortals

“A History of Buying Books Onto the Bestseller List” 

Hey YA episode "I'm Optimistic Because It Saved My Life"

Noor.org

Books Discussed:

East by Edith Pattou

Frost by Marianna Baer 

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson

The Suffragist’s Guide to the Antarctic by Yi Shun Lai

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

13 Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby

Aya by Marguerite Abouet

The Cuffing Game by Lyla Lee

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In the first half of this two-part episode, Erica goes back in time to the late '80s with Mariko Tamaki's and Nicole Goux's sapphic murder mystery This Place Kills Me. Next, Kelly Jensen speaks to Hannah V. Sawyerr about her novel-in-verse Truth Is.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter!

Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18!

Show Notes:

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux

Nicole Goux's current reading list: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid (Audiobook), The Corus Wave by Karenza Sparks

Mariko Tamaki's current reading list: Collected Millar by Margaret Millar, My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones, The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Follow Mariko Tamaki on Instagram and Nicolce Goux on Instagram

The Turnaway Study

Brave New Voices

When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur

Six Truths and a Lie by Ream Shukairy

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo

Plan A by Deb Caletti

Ask Me How I Got Here by Christine Heppermann

Find Hannah V. Sawyerr on Instagram and TikTok.

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Kelly and Erica highlight the best of September's new YA books, including some feminist nonfiction, thrilling mysteries, goth-y fun, and more.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter!

Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18!

Show Notes:

Self-Silencing Is Making Women Sick

Twilight Will Be Back in Theaters This October

The Story of My Anger by Jasminne Mendez

YA Novels in Verse for 2025

Truth Is by Hanna V. Sawyerr

Arm in Arm: The Grimke Sisters' Fight for Abolition and Women' s Rights by Angelica Shirley Carpenter

Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America by Deborah Heiligman

You’ve Goth My Heart by L.C. Rosen

By Invitation Only by Alexandra Brown Chang

When We Were Monsters by Jennifer Niven

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis

Through Our Teeth by Pamela N. Harris

Who’s All Going (To Die)? by Lisa Springer

If Looks Could Kill by Julie Berry

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Erica highlights some new YA genre-bending thrillers and Kelly talks with YA author Candace Fleming about her latest book, Death in the Jungle, as well as cults and YA nonfiction.

Subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter!

Ready for a cozy, bookish autumn? Let Tailored Book Recommendations help you find your next favorite read with handpicked suggestions from professional book nerds. Get started today from just $18!

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Show Notes:

The Devil's in the Dancers by Catherine Yu

Roar of the Lambs by Jamison Shea

When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur

Empty Heaven by Freddie Kölsch

Predatory Natures by Amy Goldsmith

Death in the Jungle by Candace Fleming

The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh by Candace Fleming

The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

The Great and Only Barnum by Candace Fleming

"What Makes for Good YA Nonfiction" from School Library Journal

Wake the Wild Creatures by Nova Ren Suma

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

All Thirteen by Christina Soontornvat

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

Cultish by Amanda Montell

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

Underground by Haruki Murakami

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson
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Kelly and Erica discuss the latest media they've been consuming and the YA books coming out in August that they're most excited about.

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To get even more YA news and recommendations, sign up for our What’s Up in YA newsletter!

Book Riot is hiring a digital content specialist! If you love books and know the ins and outs of social media strategy, and especially social video, consider joining the team. Find details and apply by August 22, 2025, at riotnewmedia.com/careers.

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Books Discussed:

Tin House Workshop

Legendary Fry Bread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

A Beautiful and Terrible Murder by Claire M. Andrews

Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai

The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min

White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History by Ann Bausum

The Next Generation United Daughters of the Confederacy: Book Censorship News, April 28, 2023

Tall Water by SJ Sindu, Dion MBD

Rosa By Any Other Name by Hailey Alcaraz

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux

What Hunger by Catherine Dang

Savvy Summers and the Sweet Potato Crimes by Sandra Jackson-Opoku
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