This Week in YA — Issue #72
Welcome to the Voyage newsletter!
It’s another new week and another installment of this newsletter for you this week, my fellow YA enthusiasts. Those of us who work in education are nearing the end of our school year—so close! I for one am trying my best to get as many books in students’ hands before summer break, and in the meantime, my own TBR pile for the summer continues to grow. Hope you’re all making space to add to your own TBR as well, because we have some more suggestions below!
News and Resources
Julia at Booklist recently shared Top 10 Historical Fiction for Youth: 2023. My favorite genre! And I happen to know several other fantastic-sounding works of historical fiction are in the pipeline for this year.
You can find 34 YA Books About Mental Health & Mental Illness over on Epic Reads. Some great picks here.
Tirzah’s most recent “three on a theme” post on Book Riot covers YA Books about AI.
Speaking about AI (because who isn’t these days), I found this Vanity Fair piece really enlightening: “The First Skirmish in a New War”: Why AI Should Be Central in the Writers Strike. Definitely check it out, because it’s relevant to all writers.
With book banning continuing to make headlines, I was glad to see Two Florida moms are at the center of the fight against book banning in America covered by the Los Angeles Times. More people taking a stand like these, please!
Finally, in case you missed the explosion on social media last week, check out Publishers Weekly’s summary of New Leaf Literary & Media Faces Backlash After Dropping Authors.
The 5 Questions Interview Series
Each week, this newsletter will include interviews with industry professionals sharing insight about the who, what, where, when, why in YA today.
Today we’ve got an interview with author Kendall Kulper, whose latest YA, A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife, is out today! Kendall is a well-known author of YA historical fantasy whose latest book sounds just as compelling as the rest. Read on to see what it’s all about.
5 Questions Interview with Kendall Kulper, critically acclaimed YA author
ABOUT A STARLET’S SECRET TO A SENSATIONAL AFTERLIFE
A budding starlet and her handsome-but-moody co-star go from bitter enemies to reluctant partners when they get tangled up in the disappearance of a beautiful young actress in 1930s Hollywood.
Eighteen-year-old Henrietta arrives in Los Angeles in 1934 with dreams of trading her boring life for stardom.
She’s determined to make it as an actress, despite her family’s doubts and rumors of would-be starlets gone missing. And by the skin of her teeth, she pulls it off! A serendipitous job offer arrives and Henrietta finds herself on a whirlwind publicity tour for a major film role—with a vexingly unpleasant actor tapped by the studio to be her fake boyfriend.
But fierce Henrietta has more in common with brooding Declan than she realizes. They both have gifts that they are hiding, for fear of being labeled strange: he is immune to injury and she can speak to ghosts. Together, they might be the only people in Hollywood who can do something about these poor missing girls. And in doing so . . . they might just fall in love for real.
This whip smart, seductive caper by the author of Murder for the Modern Girl has the perfect combination of romance, vengeance, and a hint of the supernatural, set in the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hand to fans of These Violent Delights and My Lady Jane.
ABOUT KENDALL KULPER
Kendall Kulper is an author and artist living in Cambridge, MA. She writes historical fantasy for young adult readers and has published four novels, beginning with Salt & Storm (YALSA Best Books for Young Adults, Junior Library Guild Selection) and Drift & Dagger (JLG Selection), a novella, Saltwater Heart, as well as Murder for the Modern Girl (JLG Selection). Her most recent novel, A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife, is also now available. Since 2018, she has hand-crafted unique, custom embroidered pieces for clients around the world. She graduated from Harvard University with an honors degree in History & Literature in 2008 and lives with her husband, two daughters, and much-Instagrammed dog, Abby.
1. Who: Who are your instabuy, go-to YA authors? And which new talent have you discovered recently?
Unsurprisingly, I love historical YA. Stacey Lee and Ruta Sepetys are two I will always pick up—their books are very different in terms of historical fiction, but I just love everything they write. My favorite books are those that teach me something new: Ruta’s books delve into historical eras that tend to be undertaught in America, while Stacey’s books look at more familiar moments in American history from a unique perspective. Love them all.
For debut authors (who of course write historical!), I have been loving Amanda Glaze’s The Second Death of Edie and Violet Bond, about a pair of spirit medium twins; Krystal Marquis’ The Davenports, about a wealthy Black family in the 1910s; and Kate J. Armstrong’s Nightbirds, about magical girls in magic-outlawed 1920s.
2. What: What was the most joyful moment in preparing to bring A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife into the world?
I love this question, because as much as Starlet covers a really dark subject matter—the abuse and exploitation rampant in early Hollywood—at its core, it’s a book about joy.
When I was drafting the book, I really struggled with how to give the story any kind of happy ending, because even though this is about a girl who tries to find justice for Hollywood’s victims, in real life, we are still fighting to dismantle those systems of oppression. Long, endless fights can feel so draining and hopeless—which I honestly think is so often the point and why it’s so difficult to enact change.
Then I read this beautiful quote, “Joy is an act of resistance,” and it just completely woke me up. I started to think about how you can continue to fight for change while still experiencing joy, that the very process of experiencing joy is a way to tell the people that want to destroy you “I’m not giving up.” I rewrote my main character, Henrietta, to be an absolute firework of joy. She loves life, she loves people, and it’s that joy that gives her the fire and the strength to keep fighting for what’s right.
The last few years have been difficult and exhausting for everyone, and there are still so many problems that can feel completely insurmountable and overwhelming. Writing this book has taught me not to trivialize joy but to lean into it, to harness it as a powerful force for change.
3. Where: Where is the state of YA right now, from where you sit? Where do you hope to see it go next?
I’ve been doing this professionally ten years now; I’ve seen YA change so much. Every time I think I have a sense of the industry, it shifts again, so I’m not sure I—or anyone!—could really define where it is right now. I will say that over the last ten years I have seen so many more beautiful stories arise from authors who were underrepresented or pigeonholed. Diversity is about so much more than ticking boxes—it’s about celebrating and supporting the gamut of human experience, and it’s been incredible to see that grow over the years, although there is always room for more, from the people writing the books to the publishing industry finding, editing, publishing, and promoting those books.
As for the future of YA, one thing that does really concern me—and, I’m sure, a lot of other authors, too—is the rise of censorship across the country. As a historian and an author, I know there are few things more damaging to a generation than limiting access to stories and information, and books for teens and kids are at the forefront of that fight. There are so many brave librarians, booksellers, and educators who are working hard to combat censorship, but we need to do more. Get involved in your local politics, support your libraries, speak out about censorship, and make your love of books known. I firmly believe that books are some of our very best teachers, safe ways to explore the world, incredible ways to learn about ourselves. It’s completely terrifying to see kids lose access to these vital sources of exploration and knowledge, and if I have one hope for the future of YA (and all books!), it’s that we’re able to stem the tide of censorship and get those books back into kids’ hands.
4. When: Looking ahead to next year (or beyond), what exciting things are next on the horizon for you?
Aaahh, I can’t really share anything publicly just yet(!!!), but I will say writing A Starlet’s Secret and its companion novel, Murder for the Modern Girl, has been the best gift, and maybe there are still a few more adventures in that world to be had :).
But like all authors, I feel like a duck on the water, trying to look all cool and calm on the surface while furiously paddling underneath. Right now, I’m working on two very different YA novels, a graphic novel, and a handful of other projects, one for adult readers, and the other for young readers. I’m also an artist, and I’ve been experimenting with pushing my style in a more illustrative direction. It all seems like a lot, but I really enjoy the challenge of learning new things and growing my skills. Hopefully people will someday be able to see one (or maybe all?!) these projects in the future!
5. Why: Why YA? What drew you to writing this book for this age group?
There is something so exciting about those teenage years. They’re so full of change and exploration. Generally, young kids get told who they are and how to behave, and adults can be kind of set in their ways about who they are, but teenagers really get to figure out what kind of person they are and what kind of person they want to become. Every first just feels so much more powerful and impactful. From a writing standpoint, that makes for such dynamic characters!
But also, teenagers are such great readers. The books I read as a teen are stamped on my heart forever—I think you just love books so differently and deeply when you’re a teenager—and it’s always such an honor to hear from a reader that my books are like that for them. Plus, I am just constantly in awe of how smart, thoughtful, and excited this generation of teens is! Whenever I get the chance to meet and interact with them, I’m always left inspired and energized. Writing for teens was literally my dream job since I realized it was an actual job, and I’m so grateful I get to keep doing it.
Writing Inspiration from Kip
I really love what Kendall wrote above about how teens today love their favorite books so much. It’s so true! With everything from BookTok sensations like They Both Die at the End to the phenomenon that is Heartstopper finding massive success, I couldn’t agree more that today’s teens are passionate about their faves.
But it’s also so interesting to see that beyond the faves that everyone adores, it really feels like there’s something for most teens these days—whether they want to see a particular identity on the page, a particular setting, or a particular genre. Even looking back over the authors we’ve interviewed here at Voyage for these newsletters, the range of YA books being published these days is so much more varied and interesting than when I was growing up.
This all reminds me that we need to remain especially vigilant about book banning, especially since those bans target and harm traditionally marginalized identities. Teens today don’t want to go back to the olden days when most YA books were about white, straight characters. The diversity we’ve seen more recently in published books reflects today’s readers, and we need to do all we can to make sure this continues to happen. Please speak up and support the right to read!
Thank you for joining me on this voyage!