After a failed mission in Ukraine, Peter, a teen CIA operative, finds himself removed from active duty and enrolled in a prestigious academy to finish high school. Narrator Kevin Free’s Ukrainian accents are replaced by a variety of American and British ones as Peter heads to Colorado, enjoying anonymity until an unwanted photo suddenly exposes him online. Free highlights Peter’s training using a steady pace in both action and expository scenes, demonstrating Peter’s cool head even as their school is invaded by hostiles with an unknown purpose. Though the idea of teen spies could seem completely implausible, listeners looking for a quick action story will find that Reid’s novel paired with Free’s skilled narration provides a pleasurable listening experience. J.M. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kara Thomas’s The Cheerleaders is the tangled tale of a trio of cold cases that heat up five years later: an alleged accident, double homicide, and apparent suicide that claimed the lives of five Sunnybrook cheerleaders, and are now being investigated by the younger sister of one of the dead girls. To celebrate its release, […]
One bright spot in 2017 was that publishing began to make strides–to be continued, for sure–toward publishing more books by marginalized voices. And if this list is any indication, 2018 will be an even more stellar year for your bookshelves (and mine!). Here, some of your favorite authors offer truly diverse contenders for your 2018 […]
YA Open Mic is a monthly series in which YA authors share personal stories on topics of their choice. The aim of the series is to peel away the formality of bios and offer authors a platform to talk about something readers won’t necessarily find on their websites. This month, eleven authors discuss everything from […]
One of my favorite things about spy plotlines is they can be mashed up with basically any genre, from romcoms to epic fantasies. If you like your books with a side helping of secret identity, be sure to add these novels to your reading list—starting with a classic boarding school/secret agent combo straight out of […]
Meet the Young Adults, the B&N Teen Blog’s swat team of awesome teenaged bloggers. YA literature is a strange and wonderful landscape of books that should be read by everybody, but each month we highlight the perspective of teens reading the best of the best books written for and about them. Check back monthly to see what they’re recommending […]