DIYA recap!

Part of the reason my brain is so foggy is that I am still recovering from the most excellent evening last Thursday when we hosted our six Diversity in Young Adult Fiction authors.  The discussion ranged from talking about cover art to racist vampires to disabilities in the fantasy world to BFFs in the YA writing community.

Photo credit: Diversity in YA Fiction

I had an excellent time, especially because everyone else did too!  The book signing was jubilant, with the authors and their fans talking excitedly for an hour.

Were you able to go?  What did you think?  Were there questions you felt were especially important?  I hope these conversations continue; while diverse representation in fiction for children and teens has certainly improved, there are still characters and situations I wish I was reading about more often.

Ash, Huntress and Malinda Lo

Today's featured DIYA author is one of the founders of Diversity in YA, Malinda Lo.


Ash

&

Huntress

(Can I have just one moment of girlitude where I gush about the dress on the cover of Ash? Everyone wants that dress, right? Right.)

The title is an allusion to the famous fairy tale about an orphan girl who toils for a harsh stepmother until the appearance of a fairy godmother and a handsome prince. This tale presents a more complex choice between being saved by magic and saved by love. In place of a fairy godmother there is a ominous fey suitor; instead of falling in love with a king, Ash is drawn to the royal Huntress.

Huntress is NEW, y'all! Really new, it just came out last week, and I have copies available in the Teen Room. In this romantic adventure (set in the same world as Ash but many years prior) two young women set out on a quest to save their people, facing the dark magic of the Fairy Queen.

Are you amped for this May 12th event yet guys? I made a display of all the books by these six authors, so start reading!