The B&n Ya Podcast

Samira Ahmed’s debut, Love, Hate & Other Filters, explored Islamophobia through the contemporary story of Indian American teen Maya Aziz, whose life changes after a terrorist attack whose perpetrator shares her last name. Her new book, Internment, takes place fifteen minutes into a dark near-future, where Muslim Americans are being incarcerated in internment camps following a political spiral into bigotry and intolerance. We talked to Ahmed about the new book, her path to YA author, and maintaining your belief in the power of resistance. 

Karen McManus’s debut thriller, One of Us Is Lying, was a runaway hit, spending months on the bestseller list and winning countless readers with its twisting storyline and addictive elevator pitch: Breakfast Club with murder. Now she’s back with a bestselling sophomore novel, Two Can Keep a Secret, a cold case mystery set in the tiny town of Echo Ridge. We talked to McManus about the new book, plotting a sprawling story, and how she finds time to write.

On today's podcast, Dhonielle Clayton drops into the studio to talk about her new novel The Everlasting Rose, the exciting sequel to her New York Times bestseller The Belles.  Joining her to talk about everything to do with the exciting world of Orleans is YA writer, editor, and B&N Teen regular contributor Sona Charipotra.

For the last four years, Sarah Enni has traveled the country interviewing YA authors about their histories, their craft, and their new releases, as the creator and host of the wonderful First Draft Podcast. Today, I get to talk to Enni about her own first novel, Tell Me Everything, a tale of art and anonymity, and good intentions and bad mistakes. We talked internet spaces, outsider art, the appeal of Jeff Goldblum, and why she writes.

In this episode we're featuring a crossover with our sibling podcast The B&N Podcast as we welcome debut novelist Gita Trelease, whose sparking new novel Enchantée has critics and readers buzzing alike. Trelease weaves a suitably enchanting adventure of 18th-century France that journeys from the gutters of Paris to the gilded halls of Versailles, on the eve of Revolution. Gifted with a magical talent, Trelease's heroine Camille transforms herself from hungry child of the streets to a glamorous aristocrat -- and that change is only the beginning in this gloriously original blend of history and fantasy. The author joins B&N's Miwa Messer to talk about how she built a glittering world — and kicked off what just might be a whole new series of wonders.

When Bett Devlin discovers that her Dad has a new long-distance boyfriend, that’s one thing.  But when he wants to send Bett off to a strange summer camp with his new boyfriend's daughter Avery? No thank you!  Bett fires off an irate email to a girl she definitely doesn’t want to be camp buddies with, in the hopes they can put a quick end to their Dads’ plans.  But fate has other ideas, and the result is the hilarious and moving story of foes-turned-friends that is To Night Owl from Dogfish.  Bestselling co-authors Meg Wolitzer and Holly Goldberg Sloan join us in the studio to talk about their own camp days, the bonus material and outtakes in the B&N Exclusive Edition, and how their novel started when Meg got an email — not from Holly, but from Bett.

Laura Sebastian’s Ash Princess is a book of elemental magic, fallen royals, and brutal betrayal, about a deposed princess living in exile in her murdered mother’s palace. When her country’s brutal conqueror pushes her too far, she starts laying the groundwork for rebellion, reclaiming her lost power. Sebastian’s trilogy continues this month with Lady Smoke, in which her conflicted heroine, Theo, has both her freedom and a hostage, but must raise an army to save her people. Sebastian is a New York Times bestseller, former Floridian, current New Yorker, and one-time child actor, and we talked to her about worldbuilding, writing fanfic, different kinds of heroines, and plotting Theo’s rise to rebellion.

Leigh Bardugo is the keeper of the Grishaverse, a sprawling fantasy landscape that includes the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, gorgeous fairy tale collection The Language of Thorns, and now King of Scars, the opening title of a duology about Nikolai, the charming, haunted Ravkan king. On the eve of its publication we talked to Bardugo about her path to publication, finding solace in books, what it means to write a zero draft, and the upcoming Netflix adaptation. 

Today we have a special treat for you, a YA Podcast extra featuring bestselling author Angie Thomas talking with YA podcast host Melissa Albert about her brand-new book On the Come Up.  Thomas dropped in to see us last year to talk about her blockbuster hit The Hate You Give, just before the movie adaptation was set to release, And while she was with us, Melissa asked Angie to talk a little bit about the book we couldn't wait to read, her new novel On the Come Up.  And now that it's here, we want to share what she told us about her brand new book about hip-hop, high school, and learning to find your own voice.  The first item on the menu — all the incredible extras Angie added to the Barnes & Noble exclusive edition.

Does anyone in high school really know themselves?  That’s one of the subjects explored — via laughter — by this week’s guest Ben Philippe, who dropped by our studio to talk about his wonderful debut novel The Field Guide to the North American Teenager.  It’s  the story of a sharp-tongued and cynical black French Canadian boy who is transplanted to a Texas high school —  with appropriately complicated, and often hilarious results.   It's one of Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers selections for Spring 2019, and the author was joined this week in the studio by Discover director Miwa Messer, sitting in for our regular host Melissa Albert.

Since her 2016 debut The Star-Touched Queen, Roshani Chokshi has been blending existing and created mythology, taking readers to Indian folklore-infused fantasy worlds filled with witty characters and dangerous creatures. New trilogy starter The Gilded Wolves is a magical heist novel set in a glittering alt Paris, which explores questions of who owns the historical record and will the world survive the greed of secret society the Order of Babel. We talked to Chokshi about the new book, her twisty path to becoming a writer, and how she refills the creative well.

Whether she’s writing London-set ghost stories, offbeat coming of age tales, or cold-case mysteries, Maureen Johnson’s YA books are full of eccentric supporting characters, eerie and oddball twists, and deeply specific heroes and heroines. Her latest series began with last year’s Truly Devious, combining a present-day riff on the manor house mystery with a 1930s-set cold case murder, both centering on isolated boarding school Ellingham Academy. Sequel The Vanishing Stair hits shelves January 22, and it will answer loads of your burning questions while raising many more. We talked to Johnson about plotting a mystery trilogy, working on a theater production in which everything went wrong, and her deep and abiding love for podcasts.

Malala Yousafzai is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, an advocate for comprehensive women's education around the world, and the author of the brilliant memoir I Am Malala. In her new book, We Are Displaced, she gathers the stories of refugee women displaced by conflict, genocide, and loss. We spoke to Malala Yousafzai about the new book, her life at Oxford, and how she maintains her optimism in dark times.

Christopher Paolini has been writing about the wide world of Eragon since he was a teen, drawing from classic fantasy influences including Tolkien, Pullman, McCaffrey, and LeGuin. Since 2002 he has released four novels in the bestselling Inheritance Cycle, focusing on the dragon-filled land of Alagaesia, and now he’s introducing The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, a triad of short stories that kicks off his new Tales of Alagaesia series. We talked to Paolini about his early reading life, his writing habits, and the books all fantasy writers should read.

This week, B&N Teen Blog editor Melissa Albert sat down with blog contributors and authors Dahlia Adler and Sona Charaipotra to discuss the YA books we loved in 2018, and the incredible YA

Julie Murphy is the author of layered contemporary tales celebrating body positivity, fierce female characters, and complicated friendships. Her bestselling second book, Dumplin’, just hit the screen in a Netflix adaptation that turned our eyes into hearts and had us listening to Dolly Parton tracks on repeat. We talked with Julie about seeing her work on the screen, new Dumplin' sequel Puddin’, and what it was like to meet Dolly.

Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is the biggest YA fantasy of the year, a politically relevant West African – inspired series starter about an oppressed magical class and the maji girl who fights to reclaim their power. It spent most of the year atop the bestseller list, is currently in development for film, and will be getting a hotly awaited sequel, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, next year. I talked to Tomi about the spark that became her debut, writing love letters to Harry Potter, and overcoming the reluctance to love your own work.

Chris Colfer has been a YA writer, middle grade writer, screenwriter, actor in movies including Struck by Lighting, based on a book he wrote, and Kurt Hummel on Glee. Soon he’s adding director to the list, with the film adaptation of his bestselling Land of Stories series, set in a fairytale land and inspired by a story he started writing when he was seven years old. Colfer is busy, but he sat down with us to talk about fairy tales, his writing process, and his new book, The Land of Stories: The Ultimate Book Hugger’s Guide.

On December 4 Cassandra Clare’s Dark Artifices trilogy will end with Queen of Air and Darkness, picking up just after the devastating, game-changing events that closed last year’s Lord of Shadows. We talked to Clare about the new book, the Shadowhunters world, and why she loves morally gray heroes.

In her beloved Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy, a portal fantasy spanning Earth and the angel- and chimaera-populated land of Eretz, Laini Taylor cemented her reputation as a creator of rich, expansive worlds, author of impossible love stories, and spinner of narrative spells. In her new Strange the Dreamer duology, she introduces an unlikely hero: Lazlo Strange, an orphan-turned-librarian whose obsession with the lost city of Weep leads him, finally, to its borders. The duology closed in October with Muse of Nightmares, a book that is glitteringly magic, achingly romantic, and stuffed with gorgeous prose. We talked with Taylor about her process, her perfectionism, and her fictional obsessions.