Is It Teen Enough For You Now

We discuss the classic 2012 Kiera Cass novel and greedily await the Netflix movie.

We are still dipping into some pre-Pandemic recordings I found hiding on my hard drive. In this 8 minutes of unfettered joy, Molly hypes book one of Shelby Mahurin's Serpent & Dove series.

We put out a few shorter episodes awhile ago where we would interview one member of the panel about a book they'd recently read and enjoyed. I forgot we had these, and then started listening to this one and remembered what it used to be like to sit in a room with all these people. We are having so much fun talking about a book Lindsey was clearly excited about. Here's a 10 minute glimpse into an old life, and a persuasive pitch to read The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus.

In this episode we discuss Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger. That is a true sentence written by a tired man. A man who derails this podcast partway through by talking about landline telephones -- a topic that even the elder Millennial co-hosts were baffled by -- but that I'm certain Gen Z'ers will eat up.

In this episode we chat about the (frankly excellent) book Furia. Lindsey suggests Bend It Like Beckham. Kim suggests Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. Molly suggests Running with Lions by Julian Winters, books by Matt de la Peña, What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez, and the Disney movie Lemonade Mouth. Amy suggests There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon. Kim suggests I'll Be The One by Lyla Lee. Nathan suggests the track series starting with Ghost by Jason Reynolds, and Stand-Off by Andrew Smith. Nate suggests Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston. See Julien Miquel on Youtube for pronunciation.

In this episode we discuss selected titles from Scholastic's Wildfire series of teen romances from the early 1980s.

For our last episode of this turbulent year, what better title to discuss than Clap When You Land? After the end credits, stick around for some pretty uniformed takes on Aurora Burning (only Ca$h Money had read it at this point).

This was not intended to be released right before the election. We recorded it ages ago. Since we recorded, discussion of voter suppression has only grown in importance for this election. As the days have gone by it's reared its head in a plethora of ways we don't discuss here. Stay safe. Make a plan. Vote.

Somehow I totally failed to release an episode in September. Whoops! Here is an episode about Heavy Vinyl, the rad graphic novel by Carly Usdin and Nina Vakueva.

As with our previous episode, this one was recorded at a time of really strict quarantine. If we didn't give the individual stories enough consideration, we are sorry David Levithan--we love you; come on the show!

In this episode, recorded in the height of sheltering in place in California, we discuss the Lamar Giles novel, Not So Pure and Simple. Our limited contact with the outside world shows through as we head off on a few tangents and forget to provide real read-alikes.

We finish off with Collins's Hunger Games universe (at least for now; did someone say, "prequel?"). We really rattled off the readalikes this time, so I feel like I should probably list them again, like the old times: Cash Money suggests West World (the tv show) and Saga. Nate suggests Snowpiercer (the film). Amy suggests The Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Nathan suggests 1984 and anything by Philip K. Dick. Molly suggests literally everything by Michael Grant and Scott Westerfeld, the Razorland series by Ann Aguirre, and Green Angel by Alice Hoffman.

We continue our discussion of Suzanne Collins blockbuster trilogy. And the shelter in place mentality is clearly getting to us. The rosé isn't helping either.

We were planning to jump back into discussing new YA lit, but then our counties went into shelter in place, so we all scrounged under our collective couch cushions and pulled out Hunger Games. You know, a feel good novel for the end times. It's our first time recording using Zoom, so please apologize the sound quality for Lindsey.

Here's a really short take to cleanse your palette of Twilight before we jump back into our regular full length discussions of contemporary YA lit.

Cue the victory lap; we have made it! We've reached the final installment of our sparkly vampire series: Breaking Dawn. Let our voices echo through the Internet.

In this episode we discuss book 3 of Twilight. All sense of organization and decorum has completely collapsed at this point. It'll be exciting to find out if we can speak in anything other than exasperated sighs and frustrated screams when we discuss Breaking Dawn.

We're still talking about the Twilight books?

We went for it. We read Twilight. Well...most of us read it. And we discussed it. And somehow it's our longest episode ever.

Somewhere in the holy hot mess of our bantering back and forth is a really profound discussion of The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (it's not our fault if you don't make it to the real discussion). Seriously, though, this has a 12 minute Easter Egg (that only those who love us will be able to sit through) that was cut down from about 35 minutes of side conversation and transitions. Only the finest tofu giblets for our esteemed listeners.

For some reason we discuss have 2 minutes of discussion about Sisqó at the beginning of this episode. Feel free to fast forward to the 7 minute mark. Eventually we discuss the book Once and Future.

In this short take, Lindsey sells us on reading Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera. Also Cash Money talks up Laini Taylor and Cerce by Madeline Miller. Nathan talks briefly about Anna-Marie McLemore. And Nate has an exciting, but totally untrue, announcement.

We took a week off for Labor Day (gotta support the labor movmnt!) In this episode we discuss the book Spin by Lamar Giles. Nate hijacked the opening and took us through a breakneck speed. Just like the book, we get right to business. I hope it lives up to our standards (*ahem* I know, you're asking, "you have standards"?) because the book is great! Lindsey suggests On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Nate suggests Jo Nesbø's Harry Hole series (start with Flaggermusmannen—or The Bat if you read it in English). Molly suggests Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin. Cash Money suggests Veronica Mars.

working on my vacation and left some files at work, so this one lacks some of the polish you may be accustomed to (ha!). Hopefully, it feels like you are in the room where it all happens. Nate suggests Friday Night Lights Molly suggests My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame Cash Money suggests Euphoria and Girl Mans Up by M.E. Girard

We discuss Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan. Molly spends the middle of the episode embodying the character Chelsea. Molly suggests The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy by Kate Hattemer, Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts)by Lev AC Rosen, I Kill The Mockingbird by Paul Acampora, and How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation by Maureen Johnson Lindsey suggests The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu. Cash Money suggests Can We All Be Feminists?: New Writing from Brit Bennett, Nicole Dennis-Benn, and 15 Others on Intersectionality, Identity, and the Way Forward for Feminism edited by June Eric-Udorie, and the show Chambers on Netflix.

In this episode we discuss We Set The Dark on Fire by debut author Tehlor Kay Mejia. The panelists in the room all thought the book had potential, but we all wanted more. We hope our discussion is substantive and constructive. We know the book got some starred reviews, so we're interested in hearing from people who really loved it. Also beware there are Mockingjay spoilers in our readalikes section. Molly suggests The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Cash Money suggests The Selection by Kiera Cass. Nathan suggests Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

Marvel at Lindsey's book talking abilities as she seems to persuade one sighing panelist into giving Jeff Zentner's new book Rayne & Deliliah's Midnite Matinee a shot.

We recorded this discussion waaaaaay back when we could still have Kim around to talk about books with. She's doing committee work that means she can't really talk to us about any YA books this year. We miss her, so we figured you might too. This discussion gets off to a less than professional start because we were intending to talk about a different book, but the gravity of this one pulled us in at the mention of its name. We forgot to read a passage or do the other niceties we normally do to make stuff sound more like a show and less like a free for all. Please enjoy a closer glimpse into our process (light editing). Readalikes include: NATE And I Darken by Kiersten White Deadwood KIM Red Dead Redemption MOLLY Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger Firefly AMY Westworld NATHAN Sally Lockhart series by Philip Pullman LINDSEY The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart CASH MONEY That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnston

We chat about the Pride and Prejudice Remix PRIDE by Ibi Zoboi. Readalikes? MOLLY Jake, reinvented by Gordon Korman (a Great Gatsby rewrite) Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart (a Talented Mr. Ripley rewrite) NATHAN The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo NATE Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina LINDSEY In the Heights by Quiara Alegría Hudes & Lin-Manuel Miranda

In this episode we discuss Sadie by Courtney Summers. The conversation bounces around to journalism and true crime writing. We offer Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston and Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis as readalikes.

In this episode we discuss Harbor Me. Our readalikes include Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo and the track series by Jason Reynolds (particularly Patina). For the first time ever I didn't add background music to the cold open. We had a not so great recording of Amy and that bit usually takes the longest (in no small part because I often compose a new song each time). Probably no one would have noticed if I hadn't said anything. Not many people are probably tuning in for my sick beats.

Molly tells us about Bill Konigsberg's new novel in our 2nd shorter take. Enjoy!

In this episode we discuss the Adam Silvera/Becky Albertali collaboration, What If It's Us. We discuss whether we're team Arthur or Ben, and have a long discussion about punctuality. I'm super embarrassed to have realized that our discussion of punctuality does not include a discussion of class. Arthur comes from money; Ben does not, and I somehow managed to miss that when talking about the fact that Ben has to rely on modes of more affordable transportation. I wish we'd had this conversation, and I may ask us to get back together to record an amendment to this episode in the future. But feel free to take us to task for missing it here. We'd love to hear your take. Additionally, Lindsey suggests More Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle. Molly suggests The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. Amy suggests The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson, every book by David Levithan, and Becky Albertali's books. Cash Money suggests The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding and From Twinkle With Love by Sandhya Menon.

We're trying something new here: a short review by one panelist. We're hoping to release these shorter takes in between longer discussions. We hope they are just as illuminating as our hour-long discussions, but more digestible (for when you need a short nibble and not a full meal). In our inaugural attempt, Lindsey talks about Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution, a companion/sequel to the Stonewall Award winning Fat Angie by e.E. Charlton-Trujillo.

Five of us discussed Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (waaaay back in 2018). We talk about zombie metaphors, the 13th amendment, and half the podcast sings Hamilton throughout. Molly suggests Firefly (and I think she suggested Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older, but we lost some audio in a glitch). Nathan suggests Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Cash Money and Kim suggests Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Amy talked a lot about the Governor arc of Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman; she also suggests The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. There is also a lot of talk of the show Harlots.

We each give a rundown of the things we enjoyed most in 2018 and it's a ridiculously long list. Lindsey: The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak, Cardboard Kingdom (various authors), Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Runaways by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphana, Saga vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples, As the Crow Flies (by Melanie Gillman?), The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez, The Hazelwood by Melissa Albert, Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali, Ladycastle by Delilah S. Dawson, The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the best burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding, Leah on the Offbeat AND Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali, The Lady's Guide to Piracy and Petticoats by Mackenzi Lee, Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour, Drum Roll, Please by Lisa Jenn Bigelow, Her Name in the Sky by Kelly Quindlen, Blanca and Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore, and Archenemies by Marissa Meyer. Nate: Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson, Check, Please by Ngozi Ukazi, and the film Captain Ron (really?) Kim: Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa, Monstress Vol. 3 by Marjorie Liu, My Brother's Husband by Gengorah Tagame, #NotYourPrincess (edited) by Charleyboy, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee, Laid-back Camp by Afro, and Crush by Svetlana Chmakova Molly: The Photogrpaher by Didier Lefèvre, Emmanuel Guibert, and Frédéric Lemercier, The Damkeeper by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi, Witchboy by Molly Ostertag, My Brother's Husband by Gengorah Tagame, The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, My Hearbeat by Garret Freyman-Weyr, Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma, What if it's Us by Becky Albertali and Adam Silvera, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Cash Money: Dopesick by Beth Macy. Television shows: Curious Creations of Christine McConnell, American Gods, Killing Eve, Brooklyn 99, Superstore, The Good Place, Big Mouth, Billions, Adam Ruins Everything, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sharp Objects, Nanette by Hannah Gadsby, CNN's 70s, 80s, and 90s documentaries, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Brainchild. Podcasts: Binge Mode, Ologies. YouTube Channels: New Rock Stars. Instagram Celebrities: Celeste Barber and Donte Colley. Bands: Blood Orange and The Wiggles. Nathan: Less by Andrew Sean Greer, Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, the podcast Shelf-Involved.

Here are two of the original episodes we recorded that are both too short for individual release (though hopefully not to short for a meaningful discussion). We discuss Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin and Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys and suggest the books George by Alex Gino, Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills, and None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio, as well as author Elizabeth E. Wein.

In what turned out to be a surprisingly contentious discussion (our panel is passionately divided), we discuss Amy Spalding's The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles). Molly suggests Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. Kim suggests To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner. Amy mentions When Dimple Met Rishi as a potential readalike (before we talk readalikes). Lindsey suggests Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore. Cash Money suggests the movie Sarah Burgess is a Big Loser. Nathan mentions Pink by Lili Wikerson but vacillates on whether it is a good readalike or not.

This one is pretty loose, gang(complete with a spaced out Nathan and some cool interruptions from children—mostly relegated to easter egg status). We do manage something resembling a discussion Becky Albertali's Leah on the Offbeat. Nate suggests To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han and Noggin by John Corey Whaley. Lindsey suggests The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding. Cash Money and Amy suggest The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson.

Here's the second half of our conversation. We also get into book recommendations. Nate (accidentally) suggests Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson (he'd intended to suggest it for Poet X) and Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli. Lindsey suggests The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon. Cat mentions that students at her school read Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. Cash Money suggests American Panda by Gloria Chao.

In this episode we discuss To All The Boys I Loved Before by Jenny Han with Catherine and Marguerite—who have both done scholarly work and taught classes on Asian American Literature. Thank you both again for joining us and helping demonstrate how worthy teen literature is of scholarly discussion. Our conversation here is wide ranging, fruitful, and—frankly—a little long. So, to make it digestible and also not deprive anyone of the full conversation, we'll be releasing it as two episodes. Here is part one; look for part two in two weeks.

Our smallest panel in a long time discusses The Poet X (a National Book Award Long List nominee at the time of our recording; best of luck Elizabeth Acevedo). Nathan suggests Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. Nate suggests Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina and Piecing Me Together by Rene Watson. Lindsey suggests Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero Cash Money suggests the show Insecure.

We discuss the sequel to Scythe and cannot maintain our cool. It's a total geek out. Neal Shusterman you are our hero. Amy suggests Renegades by Marissa Meyer. Molly suggests the Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow. Kim suggests Illuminae by Amie Kauffman and Jay Kristoff. Nathan mentions Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith.

In this episode we discuss The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson, dream about Lee Pace, decide upon our favorite inanimate objects, promote Bryan Fuller, and lose any future collaboration with the Fox network (Thanks, Lindsey). Lindsey suggests the show Wonderfalls, which prompts Cash Money to suggest Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me. Cash Money suggests Avengers: Infinity War. Amy suggests They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. Molly suggests anything by A.S. King or Adam Silvera and Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Kim suggests Glory O'Brien's History of the Future by A.S. King.

In a content filled episode we discuss The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert. Molly suggests Waters Luminous and Deep by Meredith Ann Pierce, anything by Carol Plum-Ucci, anything by Holly Black, Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children Series (especially Every Heart a Doorway), and the Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling edited Snow White, Blood Red. Lindsey suggests Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, and A Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo. Amy suggests The Changeling by Victor Davalle, Nightingale by Amy Lukavics, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, and Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. Kim suggests The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, Fairest by Marissa Mayer, 100 Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg, and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Cash Money suggests Beauty by Sheri S. Tepper and anything by Angela Carter. Nathan suggests City of Glass by Paul Auster and David Mazzucchelli, The Courtyard by Alan Moore, the 2008 Canadian horror film Pontypool, The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle, and anything by Margaret Atwood.

Some friends asked us to spend about 15 to 20 minutes talking about YA trends. So, we rambled for an hour and Nate swore a lot, so I hope it's still usable for their educational purposes (also we'd seriously love to have your whole class on the show: extra credit!?). We'd love to hear from you about what trends we missed or what we got wrong. Email us! isistteenenoughforyounow@gmail.com And we'll be back in two weeks (despite Nate's joke that this is our last episode) with an episode on Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood.

In this episode we discuss Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. We also talk about Ruth Graham's old essay Against YA, which had somehow been spammed around the Facebook Group ALA Think Tank the day before recording. (So, we're sorry that we're dragging Ruth Graham again; she's got to be tired of it, too). Watch out: the sound improves drastically at around 29 minutes and you may want to turn the volume down a bit. Kim suggests Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Black Panther (the comic and the movie I presume), Afar by Leila Del Duca, and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Amy suggests Strange the Dreamer as well. She also suggests Fledgling by Octavia Butler (which prompts Kim to suggest the graphic novel version of Kindred). Molly suggests the works of Tamora Pierce and Avatar: The Last Airbender. She also suggests books by Nnedi Okorafor, prompting us to remember Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi. Nate suggests The Hate U Give. Lindsey suggests Strange the Dreamer, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. Cash Money suggests Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. Amy also suggests (after prompting from Kim) Dread Nation by Justina Ireland.

Recorded on the same day as our discussion on Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez (oh, you should check that episode out), so, like that one, featuring not your perfect audio quality, this episode centers on damn near perfect Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. Seriously, we are so into it, it's almost difficult to sustain discussion. Everytime I read a passage for us to discuss everyone just oohs and ahs. Molly suggests Macbeth and Hamlet. Nate suggests Monster by Walter Dean Myers, The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon, Ghost by Jason Reynolds, and also "Hit 'Em Up" by Tupac Shakur. Kim suggests Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, and The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. Amy suggests Bus 57 by Dashka Slater. Cash Money suggests Boyz N The Hood. Lindsey suggests The Godfather Part 2.

In this episode, we discuss National Book Award winner Far From the Tree by Robin Benway. Kim suggests They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. Amy suggests The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. Molly suggests Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. Cash Money suggests White Oleander by Janet Fitch. Lindsey suggests the television show The Fosters (and definitely NOT The Secret Life of the American Teenager). Nate suggests We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Freaky Friday (w/ Jodie Foster: he specified this, but it did not make the final cut). Also because no one will understand what is meant by Molly's statement, Kim has—on occasion—cosplayed as as Rita Skeeter.

I pulled one of our proof of concept episodes out of the vault for this week since I (Nathan) suggested this book in our discussion of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. Here we talk about The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos, published in 2016. We used to believe that brevity was the soul of wit, so we aren't as detailed here as we tend to be now, but this book deserves your attention. We used to only suggest a handful of books (and did so as a group), so here we suggest Papertowns by John Green, She's Not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick, and I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest.

We prove to be less than perfect podcasters: the recording came out a bit too quiet and a lot of compression was used to salvage comments. Things sound a little fuzzy or underwater. (Don't worry Nate and Amy were not forced to discuss this book while underwater.) We manage to discuss National Book Award finalist I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. Kim suggests Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson and Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani. Molly suggests Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez, A Step From Heaven by An Na. Lindsey suggests City of Saints and Thieves by Natalie C. Anderson, I Was Here by Gayle Forman, and the television program Veronica Mars. Nate suggests We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. ¢a$h Mo₦€¥ suggests Gabi a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero , The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez, and the film Real Women Have Curves. Nathan suggests "Girlfriend in a Coma" by The Smiths and The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos. Amy suggests Gabi Girl in Pieces as well, and ties up our conversation on Lady Bird.