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15 YA Thrillers for the Classroom Library

YATeens love YA thrillers, and I’m constantly getting asked for recommendations of good young adult books with suspense, mystery, and light horror.   Here are some diverse YA thrillers that you might consider adding to your high school classroom library. As always, please preview these titles for yourself because what flies in my school may not fly in yours. I’ve made an effort to include titles highlighting diverse characters, authors, and stories. Please let me know your additional recommendations in comments. 🙂   Happy reading!   This post uses Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support makes this blog possible.   *As I Descended – Robin Talley This is a Macbeth retelling y’all, and I LOVE it. We have power

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When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn feat. Erin Callahan

Reading, writing, and … exorcisms? That’s all before lunch. YA novelist Erin Callahan is here to chat on When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn. (transcript) In today’s episode… When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn is a new spin on the teenage monster hunter trope. This time, Shelby has been training to be an exorcist, a secret she’s kept from everyone but her uncle and absent mother. So, yeah, on top of bio (the worst) and geometry (the worst), she has to come home and study Latin. Stuff happens, Shelby learns stuff – it’s a summer romp within a terrifying subgenre of supernatural fiction.   These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support

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Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie

Emily Skrutskie’s new sci-fi novel Hullmetal Girls is a world of economic inequality, a militarized police force, and humanity’s last breath. (transcript)   In today’s episode…   In Emily Skrutskie’s new sci-fi novel Hullmetal Girls, humanity has spent centuries in a fleet of starships searching for a new planet. We follow two protagonists, one from a background of poverty, the other from a background of privilege, as they are transformed into cyborg weapons for the fleet’s oppressive army. They have to learn to work together and decide whether to stand with their programming and the General Body or the rebellious Fractionists—and try not to kill each other along the way.     These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our

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I’m Not Missing by Carrie Fountain

Carrie Fountain’s new book I’m Not Missing is an exploration of friendship, loss, and not repeating the mistakes of the past. (transcript)   In today’s episode…   In Carrie Fountain’s I’m Not Missing, Miranda and Syd are best friends, brought even closer together by their shared trauma of being abandoned by their mothers. When Syd disappears and all Miranda finds is a note that says, ‘I’m gone; I’m not missing,’ Miranda is heartbroken that she’s been left again. She wants answers, but Syd isn’t responding to her texts. And as she grows closer to Nick Allison, she uncovers some truths that make her wonder how much she even knew her best friend.   These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through

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Zen and Gone by Emily France

Zen and Gone by Emily France is a story of sisterhood, self-care, and self discovery (with a side of romance), all set in the beautiful Colorado mountains. Our guest today is writer and blogger Samantha Leidig. (transcript)   In today’s episode… In Zen and Gone by Emily France, we meet sisters Essa and Puck who live in Boulder, Colorado. Essa’s taking the bulk of raising Puck since their mom spends most of her time high. Puck is precocious, vivacious, and mischievous, and Essa gets very little time to relax. Her only chance to be herself is her practice at the Zendo and her weekend trips to do some orienteering. When a new guy, Oliver, moves to town, Essa tries to include him, despite what a city-slicker he is. Puck stows away on the trip, though, and doesn’t

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Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

In Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse, Maggie the Monster Slayer fights for her life. Are the gods on her side? Sometimes. But her shotgun always is. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse begins the saga of The Sixth World. In this post-apocalyptic landscape, the Dinétah have survived the rising waters of climate change and are shaping the world anew. Gods, heroes, and monsters walk freely in the new world. Maggie, a monster hunter with supernatural abilities, has been called in to find a missing child, and what she finds is more horrifying than anything she’s encountered before. The plot thickens and Maggie must team up with a young medicine man, Kai, to try and solve the growing mystery.     These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for

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The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan

Erin Callahan’s debut novel The Art of Escaping is a fun and fresh read about escapology, testing your limits, and finding  your passion. (transcript)   In today’s episode… The Art of Escaping by Erin Callahan is about 17-year-old Mattie, who flies under the radar despite her parents’ push to be more exceptional and well-rounded. The thing is, she’s only ever really had a passionate interest in escapology. When she works up the courage to seek out the daughter of a legendary escape artist, a new world is open to her – one of handcuffs and straightjackets and death-defying stunts for a live audience. But when Will, her high school basketball team’s golden boy, sees her perform, she feels like her secret is about to come crashing down around her. But Will has secrets too, and

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Mariam Sharma Hits the Road Sheba Karim cover

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Sheba Karim

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Sheba Karim is a road trip romp about the 3 F’s; friends, family, and fried food. Join us as we chat about this Pakistani-American spin on coming-of-age. (transcript)   In today’s episode…   Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Sheba Karim follows a trio of friends on a summer road trip. Mariam, Ghaz, and Umar travel from New Jersey to New Orleans and have a flurry of that ventures and detours along the way. It’s a Pakistani-American spin on an old trope and a great addition to your summer reading list.   These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support makes this podcast possible.   Episode highlights…   Spoiler-Free *1:21

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How I Resist edited by Maureen Johnson

Words of empowerment and encouragement from thirty amazing creators? Yes, please! In today’s episode, we discuss How I Resist, an activism anthology for teens edited by Maureen Johnson with special guest, educator and activist Chris Peck. (Transcript) In today’s episode… How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation is an anthology of essays, poems, art, interviews, and short fiction all centered around the idea of activism. Editor Maureen Johnson calls it a “resistance book for teens”. The contributor list is absolutely amazing, and each contributor finds their own way and means to answer the question, “how do you resist?” These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support makes this podcast possible. Episode highlights… *7:03

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15 Mondays Not Coming Tiffany D Jackson cover

Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

  Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson is a heartbreaking snapshot of children who fall through the cracks. Our Bookstagrammer friends Anna & Courtney return to the show to talk about friendship, family, and gentrification. (Transcript)   In today’s episode…   In Tiffany D Jackson’s newest novel, Monday’s Not Coming, Claudia is the only one who seems to care that her best friend Monday hasn’t shown up for school. She tries talking to her parents, her teachers, the cops, and even Monday’s own dysfunctional family. Can Claudia help solve the mystery of her best friend’s disappearance?       These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support makes this podcast possible.   Episode highlights…  

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14 Jek Hyde Amy Ross cover

Jek/Hyde by Amy Ross

In Jek/Hyde by Amy Ross, a gothic classic finds a new home in a shiny research town. Join us as we talk about loyalty, the #metoo movement, and the darkness inside. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   Amy Ross’s novel Jek/Hyde offers a new vision of the gothic novella, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson. In the midwestern town of London, science and research loom large. Lulu and Jek have been best friends forever but he’s recently become distant, closing himself off in his lab. He’s made a new friend, a bad boy, Hyde who seems to push their usual parties out of control, Lulu’s hearing strange rumors about Hyde, and she begins to worry for Jek’s safety … and her own feelings.   These Show Notes

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13 All of This is True Lygia Day Penaflor cover

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor

All of This is True by Lygia Day Penaflor gives us a vision of obsession, betrayal, and the blurred line between fiction and reality. Join us as we chat about this new YA thriller with author Amanda K. Morgan. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   In the new novel, All of This Is True, we unravel the story of a group of friends and an author they’re obsessed with. When Miri, Soleil, Penny, and Jonah get a chance to meet the author Fatima Ro, they have to make sure it’s perfect. They have to make sure she notices them. Told in alternating sequences of interviews, text messages, and excerpts from Fatima’s new book, All of This is True gives us a vision of obsession, betrayal, and the blurred line between fiction and reality.  

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Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

  Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian is a ice cream romp with themes of friendship, feminism, and building a legacy. Join us as we chat about this fun summer book with our friend, Claire Nauman. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   In Siobhan Vivian’s newest novel, Stay Sweet, Amelia is looking forward to her last year at the Meade Creamery Ice Cream Stand. As Head Girl, she’s going to make sure she’s got every shift with her best friend, Cate, and she knows they’ll have an awesome time. But when tragedy strikes and the creamery founder, Molly Meade, passes away, the future of the ice cream stand is uncertain. Molly’s great nephew, Grady, moves to town looking to put his business school training to use. Can Amelia help Grady understand the legacy of Molly

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11 If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say Leila Sales cover

If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say by Leila Sales

  We take a look at online shaming and Leila Sales’ new novel, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say. Join us this week on the YA Cafe. (transcript)   In today’s episode…   In Leila Sales’ newest novel, If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, Winter Halperin gets caught up in a storm of online shaming after she posts a racist comment about the winner of the National Spelling Bee. She tries to defend herself, tries to apologize, claims she can’t be racist because she “has black friends”… it’s a whole thing. But when her college acceptance is rescinded and her future put on hold, she is forced to reckon with her actions. These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider

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Someday, Somewhere by Lindsay Champion (and other creative books)

In Someday, Somewhere by Lindsay Champion, Ben and Dominique are drawn together after a movie-magic chance encounter. Join us as we chat music and romance with our special guest, violinist and music teacher Leila Hobbs. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   In Lindsay Champion’s debut novel Someday, Somewhere we get a split perspective of a serendipitous meeting, and a whirlwind romance, of Ben and Dominique. Ben is a violinist at Brighton Conservatory in New York City, and Dominique is a high school student, dancer, and cinema buff from New Jersey. She pretends to be a student at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts to create reasons to be in the city, and to run into Ben. As the novel unfolds we watch Dom train back and forth from New Jersey as she

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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

  We’ll be talking about Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi with two ladies from the Bookstagram community, Courtney and Anna. Join us as we talk characterization, context, and why it matters. (transcript)     In today’s episode…   In Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel, Children of Blood and Bone, we meet Zélie, who was only five years old when King Saran ordered the Raid that wiped out the maji and killed her mother. Now, Zélie has a chance to bring magic back to all of Orïsha and strike at the monarchy, and realize the power flowing through her own veins.   These Show Notes use Amazon Affiliate Links for your convenience. If you decide to purchase this book, please consider doing so through our affiliate links. Your support makes this podcast possible.  

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The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding

We’re chatting with Anne Marie Wells, a fellow reader and foodie friend, about The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding. Check out more on this week’s episode of the YA Cafe.   In today’s episode…   In The Summer of Jordi Perez, Abby scores the internship of her dreams: working at a vintage clothing shop in LA. She hopes to turn this internship at Lemonberry into a paid part-time job (because how else will she be able to afford their awesome dresses otherwise?) and maybe gain a little inspiration for her fashion blog, +style. But when she discovers that she has to share this internship with Jordi Perez, Abby realizes that means some competition for the job. Can Abby somehow have the clothes, score the job, and get the girl? This is a summer

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Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert

Picture Us in the Light – Kelly Loy Gilbert Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined. Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family’s blessing to pursue the career he’s always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny’s lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their

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The Radical Element by Jessica Spotswood review cover

The Radical Element edited by Jessica Spotswood

  The Radical Element is a new anthology of historical YA fiction short stories edited by Jessica Spotswood. This anthology moves chronologically through American History. We’ll dive in to these stories on today’s episode of the YA Cafe, the podcast for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere.     In today’s episode…   The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls is a follow-up to Spotswood’s 2016 collection, A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls. Once again, she presents a diverse collection of historical fiction pieces with brave young women who tackle questions of identity, ambition, and justice. In Spotswood’s words, “they are mundane and they are magical. There is a power – a quiet badassery – in girls taking charge of their own destinies.

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The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert podcast cover

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

  Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. On today’s episode, we’ll be talking about The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert with our guest, Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven. Grab a mug of your favorite beverage, friends, and let’s talk books.     In today’s episode… The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert is the story of a 17-year-old girl named Alice, who has never been able to outrun her bad luck. She and her mother Ella have had to leave places at the drop of a hat, and Alice has caught occasional glimpses of what is following them. When Alice’s grandmother (a famous but reclusive author of a collection of dark fairy tales) dies, Ella says they will finally be free of

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Three YA Thrillers podcast cover

Oo, Scandalous: Three YA Thrillers

  Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. Today, we tackle three YA Thrillers: Secrets, Lies, and Scandals by Amanda K. Morgan, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and People Like Us by Dana Mele.     In today’s episode…   Today’s episode is a three-for-one special as we talked about Secrets, Lies, and Scandals by Amanda K. Morgan, One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus, and People Like Us by Dana Mele. As always, our first segment will be spoiler-free, and so you can stick around even if you haven’t checked out these books yet.   We chose these three books because we felt they shared a lot of DNA. All three begin with a murder, and our teen protagonists

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Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

  Welcome to the YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. In today’s episode, we talk about Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.     In today’s episode…   In today’s episode, we discuss Turtles All the Way Down by John Green with our friend, Erin Warzala. Erin is a children’s librarian in Indiana (where John Green is from) and she’s read most of John Green’s books.   In Turtles All the Way Down, Aza is a sixteen-year-old girl who gets wrapped up in this mystery of a missing billionaire. She and her best friend, Daisy, want to find him and claim the hundred-thousand dollar reward. It turns out that Aza knows the billionaire’s son, Davis, and even though they haven’t seen

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The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

  Welcome to our new podcast, The YA Cafe, where you’ll find conversations and reviews about Young Adult books for teachers, readers, and caffeine addicts everywhere. The YA Cafe is a round-table discussion of a new YA title each week. Our show is roughly split in half, with the first half being spoiler-free. Even if you haven’t read the book, you can hang out with us and decide if this new title is for you. Although we read a bit of everything, we especially love novels with a diverse cast of characters.     In today’s episode…   The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee presents a few months in the life of Henry Montague, our first-person narrator we grow to know as Monty. Monty, a consummate rake and rebel, embarks on his Grand

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A book tree is a great holiday decoration for nerds and English teachers, am I right? This can be great for your home, office, or classroom! Here's how to make a book tree AND our book tree reveal for 2017. :) Blog post at teachnouvelle.com.

5 Tips for Creating an Impressive Book Tree & an Inclusive Classroom Library

Whether you are looking to make a show-stopping book tree for the holidays or you want to ensure you have an inclusive classroom library, this post is for you! How to Create an Inclusive Classroom Library & Make a Show-stopping Book Tree Click the tabs below for resources, tips, & tricks on all-things-books! Making a Book Tree A book tree is a great holiday decoration for nerds and English teachers, am I right? This can be great for your home, office, or classroom! Here’s how to make a book tree AND our book tree reveal for 2017. This is our second year with a book tree, and here are some tips as you create your own.   1. Plan Your Book Tree How tall will your tree be? Where will you put it? Book trees

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Books with unreliable narrators are great additions to your classroom library. It’s easy to find rich examples of unreliable narrators in YA Lit, and here are some tips for discussing these characters with middle school and high school students. (blog post)

Unreliable Narrators in YA Lit

Unreliable narrators in YA Lit abound, and novels with these characters make great additions to your classroom library.   Unreliable narrators are voice whose perspectives on a situation are called into questions for any number of reasons. Basically, we as the reader cannot trust the very vehicle through which we are given the story! The unreliable narrator is a popular device in fiction, leading to winding mysteries and twist endings.   I believe that appeal to the teenage brain in particular, since they are establishing their worldviews and their decisions on whom to trust and distrust.   So, let’s look at some types of unreliable narrators and some concepts that you may want to discuss with students in their book conferences.   The Naïve Narrator   A naïve narrator imparts limited understanding of the events

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