The Cat’s Out of the Bag: This Is Our Last Episode
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"
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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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1:03:50
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1:03:50
Colombo Had the Right Idea: Interviews with Author Mariko Tamaki, Illustrator Nicole Goux and Author Hannah V. Sawyerr
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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1:13:10
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1:13:10
That Was Extremely Libra of You: September's Best New YA Releases
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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55:22
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55:22
All Thrills, No Chill: New YA Books for Spooky Season, Plus an Interview With Author Candace Fleming
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!
This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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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58:04
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58:04
Anywhere There's a Court, There's Mess: New YA Books For August
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.
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!
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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From great new books to favorite classic reads, from news to the latest in on-screen adaptations, Hey YA is here to elevate the exciting world of young adult lit.
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