Jessica’s 2018 Favorites

Jessica's 2018 Favorites

Now that the year is wrapping, it’s time for another round of 2018 favorites! If you haven’t already, definitely check out Audrey and Crystal’s list of top books for this year, and stay tuned for K. Imani’s favorites later this week. I feel like I say this every year, but this year was particularly exciting for YA. Without further ado, here are my fave 2018 YA books:

Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
Read the review here! And our author interview here.

Danny Cheng has always known his parents have secrets. But when he discovers a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with old letters and a file on a powerful Silicon Valley family, he realizes there’s much more to his family’s past than he ever imagined.

Danny has been an artist for as long as he can remember and it seems his path is set, with a scholarship to RISD and his family’s blessing to pursue the career he’s always dreamed of. Still, contemplating a future without his best friend, Harry Wong, by his side makes Danny feel a panic he can barely put into words. Harry and Danny’s lives are deeply intertwined and as they approach the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that shook their friend group to its core, Danny can’t stop asking himself if Harry is truly in love with his girlfriend, Regina Chan. When Danny digs deeper into his parents’ past, he uncovers a secret that disturbs the foundations of his family history and the carefully constructed facade his parents have maintained begins to crumble. With everything he loves in danger of being stripped away, Danny must face the ghosts of the past in order to build a future that belongs to him. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

A Thousand Beginnings and Endings edited by Ellen Oh & Elsie Chapman
Read our group discussion here.

Star-crossed lovers, meddling immortals, feigned identities, battles of wits, and dire warnings. These are the stuff of fairy tale, myth, and folklore that have drawn us in for centuries.

Fifteen bestselling and acclaimed authors re-imagine the folklore and mythology of East and South Asia in short stories that are by turns enchanting, heartbreaking, romantic, and passionate. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
Read our group discussion here.

The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know. The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.

But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts. [Image and summary via Goodreads]

So what are your 2018 fave YA books written by or starring PoC? Share with us!