Shelf-Involved Podcast

We're back with one of our last episodes of Shelf-Involved (for now). We're taking a break and will be back in a few months with a new podcast, Hardship & Hemlock: Revisiting the Dear America Series, focusing on a middle grade series that has has a hold on us since age 8. We're really excited to get into these books and see what has (and has not ) held up. Look for a feed drop for the new show in the next few months.

This week we're talking about teen chefs, a title that was meant to never see the light of day, but here we are. Teens who cook, teens who are good at cooking—we don't know. But we love these books, for reasons both delicious and personal.

We're back to talk about your favorite hot topic: cancel culture! Does it exist? Is it bad? Does it happen to teens? Let's get into it.

This week we're talking about the first book in our Season 5 Book Club: Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. This incredible memoir, that reads more like an epic, is unbelievable, and we think everyone should read it. 

This week we're talking about climate change in YA, otherwise known as climate fiction—Cli-Fi, if you will. It's a cool fun topic! Get excited. But seriously, we actually really enjoy the thoughtful ways these books deal with a reality that's pretty hard to not think about it.

This week, it's just Emily! We're trying something new this week that we're calling Close Reads. And Emily is talking about one of her favorite books, but not in an effort to get you to read it. We're getting a bit more personal with this series, opening up about why our favorite books mean so much to us, how our conception of them has changed over the years, and of course, the vast power of stories.

This week we're talking about what ifs in YA — sliding doors, alternate timelines, the flip of a coin, we want it all. And the books we talk about do really interesting things with this beloved trope

Way back in season 3 we gave you a list of our favorite spooky YA books, and now we have a whole new set of recommendations to get you in the spirit of spooky season. We love these books and even if you're not a horror fan, there are a few lightly-spooky, not too intense options on the list. And one that we both absolutely had to stop reading late at night and made us never want to go camping again. 

This week we're talking about grudges and the way this is used as a satisfying (and redemptive) plot device in YA. 

This week we're talking about teens abroad! We're looking at studying abroad and the interesting fish out of water trope combined with being a teen in decidedly adult situations. How thrilling! We also talk about the delightful ways in which this subgenre has developed and become more grounded in recent years.

We're back for season 5 (what? how?). And we're here, of course, with a list of all the books we read over the break that we've been dying to talk to you all about.

It's our last episode of season 4! But before we go on break and read things other than YA (but let's be honest, still lots of YA), we're here to give you a whole list of books to keep you busy this summer. You know how much we love a seasonal read.  

This week, we’re catching up again and reading Francesca Lia Block’s cult classic, Weetzie Bat. This book was a wild ride, and some things we loved and others we weren’t too thrilled about.

This week we’re talking about purity culture in YA and barely concealing our rage about how this culture, specifically in the Christian church, harms young people, especially girls and queer kids. It’s bad! We have a lot of thoughts, and we get into a little bit why this is such a personal issue for us. As always, we have some great thought-provoking books to share with you.

This week we're talking about our favorite Shakespeare retellings in YA. These are stories that have retold for hundreds of years, but our favorites are (unsurprisingly) the ones that put a spin on the narrative and place the marginalized or ignored characters center stage (get it, because Shakespeare was a playwright? I'm so sorry). We love the Bard, but also he wasn't great and it's good for us to admit that.

We’re back with our final book club discussion of season 4, and we’re so excited to talk about Nina LaCour’s latest novel, Watch Over Me.

This week we're talking about some of our favorite books where the main character is an athlete. We think this is super interesting, and it inherently plays into all sorts of things like class, privilege, and more. And Kenzie gets in her feelings about the belonging that comes from being a part of a team.

This week we’re talking about disability representation in YA. Most of these books are own voices stories about disabilities both visible and invisible, and we learned a lot about the harmful effects of casual (and overt) ableism and the importance of this kind of representation. As always, if we missed a big one, send us your recommendations!

This week we're talking about comedy in YA, and not just hilarious books but books that deal significantly with comedy as an art form. We're talking teen stand-ups and improv summer camps, and Kenzie reveals her deep obsession with comedian memoirs. 

This week we’re talking about food in YA and how we love learning about characters, families, and cultures through the food they make. We also talk about why we love this so much and how food in YA has changed over the last ten years and memorable food moments from books when we were kids.

We're talking some of our favorite stories of heartbreak in YA. Almost all YA books have that moment, that chapter near the end of the book where the main character has no friends, no love, real dark night of the soul stuff, but in this episode, we're looking specifically at stories that deal with the aftermath and consequences of real, lasting heartbreak. These books are sad, and we're only a little bit sorry about it. 

This week we’re talking about the American dream, the idea that America is the place where your dreams of success and prosperity will come true if only you work hard enough. We think this idea is only true/accessible for select few Americans, and we look at a few YA books that dismantle this idea.

We're here with a list of some seriously excellent fantasy novels from a diverse group of YA authors. We think there's so much to be gained from fantasy stories that are a departure from the traditions of the genre (we're looking at you, old white men from England), and these are some of our favorites. 

This week we are talking about inclusive romances, just in time for the end of inside season! It’s cold! Stay inside and read these books that we promise will warm your heart. In this episode, we’re looking specifically at books featuring protagonists and love interests that have traditionally been excluded from the romance genre. Of course, they are also books that we love a lot.

We’re back with another book club episode discussing one of our favorite books of 2020. Sia Martinez is a gorgeously written, genre-bending work of genius. The pitch for this book might seem like there's too much going on, but we promise that Gilliland is a master, who expertly weaves in different genres and plot lines and delivers a complex and unforgettable story. 

What do we love almost as much as teens who murder? It's teens who get framed for murder! We think this element is the ultimate high-stakes plot point in a YA mystery, and you know how we feel about YA mysteries.

This week we’re talking about one of the classic tropes in YA: teens choose a college! We’re looking at some books that approach this trope from new angles and talking about why we like to see this in books so much.

This week we’re catching up with Twilight! Neither of us have read this book and we have…thoughts. We were prepared to like this book. We love romance! We love paranormal! We are decidedly not highbrow. But while we don’t want to make fun of this book (we actually really liked some of the writing, and we think people who make fun of YA for being frivolous or fluffy are lame!), we had real issues with the romantic relationship and how it was portrayed. TLDR; Kenzie thinks Edward should be in jail.

We're back and ready to talk about all the books coming out this year that we are anxiously awaiting and some trends we see coming down the YA pipeline. 

We’re excited to talk about our top ten books of the year. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: bad year for the world, great year for books. We hope you get some good reading recommendations from this list.

This week we’re talking about one of our favorite things: seasonal reading! And we’re here with another round of reads perfect to lose yourself in during Indoor Season. We thought it was time to revisit this because we have some great books to add to this list.

This week we’re discussing Punching the Air by Yusef Salaam and Ibi Zoboi. This incredible novel in verse tells the story of a wrongfully incarcerated teen and his experience in the juvenile criminal justice system.

This week we're talking about dark fantasy in YA! We're discussing why we're so drawn to this genre and how we've seen YA fantasy evolve in recent years. And as always, we talk about a lot of books. 

This week we’re talking about a classic story trope — victories, triumph, winning the big game, etc. This trope has seen many variations over the years, and no surprises, the most recent way that YA has turned it on its head and given us the happily-ever-afters we deserve makes us very happy.

This week we're talking about Jewish representation in YA and why we think this growing subgenre is so important. We love reading about teens from other cultural and religious backgrounds, and the books on this list are excellent. 

This week we are reading Walter Dean Meyer’s iconic novel Monster, which tells the story of a teenage boy wrongfully incarcerated. This book came out almost 20 years ago, but it remains incredibly relevant and powerful. We loved this one. 

We’re talking about YA books that deal with voting and feature politically active teens! This has been a trend in YA for the past few years, and we’ve really enjoyed these books for a few reasons.

This week we're talking about YA books that deal with class dynamics and the important aspects of representation surrounding this. We're seeing this so much more in YA and we have a lot of thoughts on this one. 

This week we’re talking about immigrant stories in YA and how important these stories are for understanding other cultures and the realities that so many immigrants face. This list is not exhaustive, but these are some of our favorite books we’ve read about immigrant experiences in YA.

This week we’re talking about drag culture in YA. This is a growing trend in YA, and we think it’s such an interesting vehicle to explore identity, confidence, and unique corners of the queer community.

This week we’re talking about a favorite setting in coming-of-age-stories: summer camp. We have our own camp experiences, and we have, as always, many thoughts on why this is such an effective and fun to read setup for a YA novel.

We’re so excited to talk about our first book club pick of the season, Again Again by E. Lockhart. We’ve been a fan of E. Lockhart’s for a long time, and this newest release blew us away. Spoilers ahead for a not-so-spoilery book. We hope you enjoy the discussion.

This week we’re talking about some of favorite trans characters in YA. This is still a wildly underrepresented group in YA, but we’ve seen some great books come out recently and are super excited to talk about the good representation and #ownvoices stories we’ve seen.

This week we're talking about mythical creatures! Vampires, sirens, chimaera, all of them! We really enjoy reading about fantastical elements grounded in real world and contemporary settings and all of the interesting implications of having humans interact with.... non humans. 

This week we’re talking about dark academia, a favorite sub genre of ours that we sum up not so elegantly as “boarding school murders.” But really it’s a fascinating genre full of power dynamics and examinations of the class system and we are extremely here for it.

We’re back and so excited to be talking about YA for our fourth season! We’re still living that socially distanced life and recording from our separate houses in Portland, but talking to each other through the phone about books is a salve to this weird, weird time. In this episode, we’re talking about our favorite books we read during the break.

It’s our last episode of season 3! And we want to leave you with summer reading recommendations. But in light of everything that’s happening in our country and the continued violence perpetrated against the black community, we wanted to take an opportunity to elevate black voices. So our reading recommendations for you today are all black authors. We love these books, and we hope you do too. Check out the show notes on our website if you’re looking for more suggestions. 

This week we’re talking about friend breakups in YA, a new trend we’re seeing and loving! We think these breakups are so formative and often times more heartbreaking than romantic breakups, and we have a lot of thoughts on these types of stories.

This week we’re talking about YA books with excellent squads, groups of friends where each character is fully realized and the group as a whole is incredibly memorable despite not being the center of the story. It’s hard to pull off and it’s one of our favorite things to read!

This week we’re back with the final book in our Book Club series. We’re talking about Saba Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes, the first book in a fantastic series that will finish this year. Like with all our Book Club discussion episodes, light spoilers ahead.

This week we’re talking about magical realism and the roots in the Latinx community and the way the genre has evolved and sometimes been misconstrued. We are not experts in this genre, but as always, we want to learn, so if you have suggestions for us, please write to us and let us know!