Happy Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month! Racial diversity is still a growing need in YA lit, but this year is seeing a nice amount of growth, finally, in YAs featuring main characters of Asian descent, from all over the continent and in a wide variety of genres. We had some great ones last year (highlights include Tell […]

Killer kings, demon slayers, and dragons? You bet we’re not in Kansas anymore. These eight awesome fantasies bend and shape the flavors of Asia and the Middle East into something entirely new—and reading them will have you plotting a trip of your own.

Part of being a great YA author is being a great YA reader, and seeing what your peers are putting out into the world for teens. But research isn’t the only reason to read YA, of course; we read it because it’s damn good, and as writers ourselves, we appreciate the written word done right. […]

The month of epic releases in glorious numbers continues today, adding heartbreaking and thoughtful contemporary, chilling horror, gender-norm-shattering dystopian, and demonic fantasy to YA. Today, series are starting, series are ending, and your wallet will probably implode (in the best way), thanks to these 12 new kids on the block.

Silver Phoenix author Cindy Pon’s brand-new fantasy introduces readers to the Kingdom of Xia, and to Skybright, a teenage girl who’s growing to realize she isn’t who or what she thought she was. Skybright is in possession of a dark power, one she’ll need to learn to embrace if she’s going to let herself be loved. […]