Posted in So Many Good Books, YA Novels

YA Books Set in Places I’ve Lived

This was a harder list for me to create as I don’t read as much YA as I do middle grade. And I’ve probably missed some. But I hope you find it interesting.

OREGON

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier

Eyes of the Forest and Girl, Stolen are just a couple of April Henry’s many books.

Flash Burnout by L.K. Madigan

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

KANSAS

Crossing the Tracks by Barb Stuber

WASHINGTON

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

Lovely, Dark, and Deep by Justina Chen

Tell Me a Secret and Don’t Breathe a Word by Holly Cupala

The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg

States I’m missing are Colorado and New Jersey. When I lived in those places, my kids were very young which influenced my reading. But I recently found this interesting list: “YA Books Set in Each US State” with a form to add any books you’ve written set in a specific state.

Posted in Award Winners, So Many Good Books, YA Novels

The Wicked Deep

TheWickedDeepIf you loved Maggie Siefvater’s Scorpio Races, I think you’ll love The Wicked Deep (Simon Pulse, 2018) by Shea Ernshaw. Both books are eerie.
Two centuries ago, in the small town of Sparrow, three teen girls were drowned in the harbor for being witches. Each June since, they return and take possession of teen girls’ bodies. The locals call it the Swan season after the dead girls. And each season at least three boys will be drowned for revenge. Sometimes it is local boys and sometimes tourists.
Our main character is seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot who lives on Lumiere Island with her grief-stricken mother. A boy comes to town looking for work and Penny gets involved with him. Can she save him from the three sisters?
This books has unexpected twists and turns, flashbacks to the past, and keeps one turning the pages. I highly recommend it.
This is author Shea Ernshaw’s debut and it quickly became a NY Times Best Seller. Netflix won the screen rights to the book–I hope they make the movie! Though I might not be able to watch it alone…
Read Shea’s bio here. I’m looking forward to her next book. Read this tweet about it.