Join five young adult authors for a conversation about their debut or sophomore titles moderated by Candice Mack, President of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association. Participating authors include Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Ace of Spades), Cory Anderson (What Beauty There Is), Angeline Boulley (Firekeeper’s Daughter), Cassandra Hartt (The Sea is Salt and So Am I), and Joan He (The Ones We’re Meant to Find).
This month, we’re interviewing Christian McKay Heidicker, author of 2020 Newbery Honor book Scary Stories for Young Foxes! This fall, the series continues with Scary Stories for Young Foxes: The City. This next installment chronicles the adventures of three fox kits desperate to survive the terrors of a frightening new world.
Christian shares more about his inspiration for the story and what he hopes young readers will learn here.
Read a Q&A with Christian here →
An instant New York Times bestseller, Angeline Boulley’s debut novel, Firekeeper’s Daughter, is a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, perfect for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.
Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.
★ “This novel will long stand in the hearts of both Native and non-Native audiences.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “Though it both shocks and thrills, in the end, what leaves you breathless is Firekeeper’s Daughter’s blazing heart.” —BookPage, starred review
★ “Boulley, herself an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, writes from a place of love for her community and shares some key teachings from her culture, even mixing languages within the context of the story.” —Booklist, starred review
★ “This suspenseful upper-YA novel will keep readers wondering who Daunis can trust.” —Horn Book, starred review
Bestselling author April Henry shares the inspiration for her chilling new YA mystery, The Girl in the White Van. Plus, download the teacher’s guide for April Henry’s collection of books and discover more writing tips on April’s website!
Author Paul Greci reads from Hostile Territory, a thrilling YA wilderness survival story, in which a catastrophic earthquake strands four teens in the Alaskan wilderness—and leaves them without a civilization to return to.
Praise for Hostile Territory:
“This fast-paced book contains all the hallmarks of a classic wilderness survival novel (deadly terrain, vicious predators, literal cliff-hangers) and the best of the postapocalyptic genre … The author’s decades of Alaskan wilderness experience is evident throughout … A great high-stakes wilderness survival tale.”—School Library Journal
“Heart-racing… A rugged wilderness lover’s post-disaster survivalist tale.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Heart-thumping suspense for readers who liked Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave.”—Booklist
The School & Library team talks about some of our top Winter ’20 Young Adult reads here.
The School & Library team talks about some of our top Fall ’19 young adult reads here.
