Ultimate YA
Ultimate YA is an organization that promotes young adult (YA) literature and reading. We feature one young adult author every month. Each feature includes a short biography of the author, as well as fun facts and an interview. If you would like to be featured, please send an email inquiry to ultiamteyareadinggroup@gmail.com.
In addition to our features, we post quotes and memes of the week that relate to books, writing, and/or reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively. We also post anything else that we find interesting regarding reading and writing.
If you like this, you can also join our Facebook group, 'like' us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
ChinLin
(Remy Starr)
Publisher and fabulous creator of this *ultimate* group
~You can also follow ChinLin's blog
Liz
(Suzannah 'Suze' Simon)
Co-publisher and creator of this tumble-log
~You can also follow Liz's blog
Brittney
(Taylor Markham)
Staff
~You can also follow Brittney's blog
Katy
(Katniss Everdeen)
Staff
~You can also follow Katy's blog
As May begins, the Ultimate YA is excited to bring you this month’s Featured Author: Antony John! His newest novel, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip, was recently released last month.
Summary:
Thou Shalt Not Road Trip is the story of a sixteen-year-old boy named Luke, who writes a spiritual guide that becomes a bestseller. His publisher, trying to capitalize on the book’s success, sends him on a promotional book tour along Route 66. The problem is, Luke’s chauffeur is his brother, Matt, who’s a bit of a loose cannon. And if random detours weren’t trouble enough, they have company in the form of Luke’s former crush, Fran. It’ll be a life-changing journey for Luke … just not in the way he expects.
Want to read Thou Shalt Not Road Trip? You can order it through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or IndieBound!
April has arrived, perhaps with a few pranks for those of you who enjoy April Fool’s Day. Now the Ultimate YA Reading Group brings you this month’s Featured Author: Leigh Purtill! Her newest novel, Chasing the Falls, is out, so get excited and get ready to read away!
Summary:
For most of her life, 17 year old Lila Dahl has been estranged from her alcoholic father and happy to live 3000 miles away from him. But when her mother dies, Lila has nowhere else to go. Her move from rural New England to Los Angeles is overwhelming and she’s suddenly a turtleneck-wearing, Bean-booted outsider at an elite private school. Her new friends, the children of wealthy Hollywood families, have no idea she’s the daughter of a celebrity-chasing paparazzo. That’s a secret she’s embarrassed to share.
Life in LA improves significantly, though, when Lila meets Dax, a cute-but-geeky Star Wars fan who introduces her to Elvis sandwiches and midnight movies. But just as Dax brings her out of her shell, Lila’s father needs her help. Can Lila keep his secret and keep Dax? Or will she discover she has a lot more in common with her father than she ever thought?
Chasing the Falls is available as an e-book on Amazon.
Hello there, bookworms! We, the Ultimate YA Reading group are excited to share March’s Featured Author: Cole Gibsen! Winter is still blowing outside, so while you wait for spring, curl up in your favorite nook and read Cole Gibsen’s new novel Katana!
Summary:
KATANA is the story of a teenage girl who, after being attacked in the mall parking lot, finds herself possessed by the spirit of a fifteenth century samurai.
Looking forward to reading Katana? Check out Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Cole Gibsen’s website to order it!
Depending on where you live, it’s either very cold, very hot, or somewhere in between. Nonetheless, Valentine’s decorations are up, chocolate is on sale, and people are celebrating love. From bookworm to bookworm, Ultimate YA brings you ASHLEY HOPE PEREZ’s second novel, The Knife and the Butterfly!
Summary:
After a marijuana-addled brawl with a rival gang, 16-year-old Azael wakes up to find himself surrounded by a familiar set of concrete walls and a locked door. Juvie again, he thinks. But he can’t really remember what happened or how he got picked up. He knows his MS13 boys faced off with some punks from Crazy Crew. There were bats, bricks, chains. A knife. But he can’t remember anything between that moment and when he woke behind bars.
Azael knows prison, and something isn’t right about this lockup. No phone call. No lawyer. No news about his brother or his homies. The only thing they make him do is watch some white girl in some cell. Watch her and try to remember.
Lexi Allen would love to forget the brawl, would love for it to disappear back into the Xanax fog it came from. And her mother and her lawyer hope she chooses not to remember too much about the brawl—at least when it’s time to testify.
Lexi knows there’s more at stake in her trial than her life alone, though. She’s connected to him, and he needs the truth. The knife cut, but somehow it also connected.
Interested? You can buy the book from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Lerner Books, or your local bookstore!
Happy New Year, bookworms! We shall begin 2012 with KRISTINA SPRINGER! Her novel, Just Your Average Princess, released last fall. The timing may be off, but nonetheless, let’s welcome KRISTINA SPRINGER as our Jan. 2012 Featured Author!
Book summary: Jamie Edwards has loved growing up on her family’s pumpkin patch in Average, IL, and she’s always dreamed of one day being the town’s Pumpkin Princess at the annual Pumpkin Festival. But when her rich and famous cousin, Milan Woods, comes to town and changes everything, Jamie knows she has to expose Milan for who she really is and teach her that life’s not all pumpkins and apple butter at the patch.
In addition, we will give away 3 sets of bookmarks from KRISTINA, as shown before. (Open to U.S. residents only. Sorry, internationals!)
The first 3 lucky bookworms to email their names and mailing addresses to ultimateyareadinggroup@gmail.com will get the bookmark sets! Deadline: January 31, 2012.
It’s that time of the year again—autumn. Crispy and colorful leaves pile up on your lawns. The wind breeze feels lovely but stings at the same time. But since this is reality, let’s jump into the fictional world with SHEL DELISLE, our November 2011 FA!
Her debut novel, Dolphin Girl, was released as an e-book not too long ago! Stay tuned for more about Dolphin Girl and Shel Delisle!
Hey everyone! Happy October! I hope you’re all ready for this month’s featured author—Danielle Joseph! Her newest book, Pure Red, is already out in stores!
Summary from goodreads:
I, Cassia Bernard, do solemnly swear to find pure red—my passion—this summer. Dad’s passion is art. When he’s painting, no one can reach him, not even me. My mom’s passion was the ocean. She said the ocean allows you to see whatever you want to see. That was one of the last things she ever said to me…
Sometimes what your heart desires isn’t what it needs. Over the course of a hot Miami summer, sixteen-year-old Cassia discovers that sometimes it takes bullies and basketball, a best friend, and a gorgeous guy to help you understand what you actually need—and to help you see that, maybe, everything isn’t so black and white.
Want to buy the book? Check out these links!
Amazon Barnes and Noble IndieBound
Already a fan of her two previous books—Indigo Blues and Shrinking Violet?
Check out their Facebook fan pages here and here!
To learn more about Danielle and her books, check out her website and stay tuned for her mini-bio and fun facts!
It’s mid-September and you know what that means. We, The Ultimate YA admins, shall reveal the next YA author, who has the most splendid honor of being our Featured Author of October 2011. First, drum roll please.
***DRUM ROLL***
Our FA is DANIELLE JOSEPH, author of Shrinking Violet, Indigo Blues and Pure Red! Pure Red recently hit the bookstores this month. Please stay tuned, for in just a few weeks, you will learn more about DANIELLE and her books from our interview!
When Willow Grey was nine, her mom dropped the bomb of ultimate betrayal: they would be moving from their small town in Georgia to glitzy Las Vegas. Willow was devastated to have to leave her best friend, Max, behind. So she decided to take control of the situation: she told Max to relax, to let his eyelids droop and then she said: “Max Montgomery, for as long as we live, you and I will be best friends…” Now, at seventeen, Willow and her mom move back to their hometown and Willow is determined to pick up where she and Max left off in Jennifer Jabaley(Featured Author of August 2011)’s, Crush Control.
How to get a copy:
The tiny fishing community of Deeper Harbour is in deep trouble—and so is fourteen-year-old Roland MacTavish. Roland’s mom wants to move with him to Ottawa, away from his father, his weird friend Dulsie, and his even weirder grandfather, Angus. So Roland does what any sane teenager would do: He invents a sea monster. Unfortunately, the scheme quickly spins out of Roland’s control, and he has to go to greater and greater lengths to keep up the illusion. And then Roland must deal with a situation far more terrifying than any sea monster. As moving as it is irresistibly funny, Steve Vernon (Featured Author of May 2011)’s portrait of Roland and Deeper Harbour is perfect for anyone who’s ever been stuck badly enough to do something awesomely, brilliantly, heroically stupid.
Check your local bookstore for copies.
Hey everyone! It’s now April and we are so happy to present April’s Featured Author—Kirsten Hubbard!
Her debut novel, Like Mandarin, has been receiving great buzz and can currently be found in stores and online!
Summary from goodreads:
It’s hard finding beauty in the badlands of Washokey, Wyoming, but 14-year-old Grace Carpenter knows it’s not her mother’s pageant obsessions, or the cowboy dances adored by her small-town classmates. True beauty is wild-girl Mandarin Ramey: 17, shameless and utterly carefree. Grace would give anything to be like Mandarin.
When they’re united for a project, they form an unlikely, explosive friendship, packed with nights spent skinny-dipping in the canal, liberating the town’s animal-head trophies, and searching for someplace magic. Grace plays along when Mandarin suggests they run away together. Blame it on the crazy-making wildwinds plaguing their Badlands town.
Because all too soon, Grace discovers Mandarin’s unique beauty hides a girl who’s troubled, broken, and even dangerous. And no matter how hard Grace fights to keep the magic, no friendship can withstand betrayal.
Want to get a sneak peek? The first chapter is posted online!
Want to buy the book? Check out these links!
Amazon Barnes and Noble Borders
To learn more about Kirsten Hubbard check out her website!
Also, be sure to check out YA Highway, the fabulous YA blog where Kirsten blogs with fellow YA fans and authors!
Stay tuned for her mini-bio and fun facts! :)
Goodbye winter and hello spring! No more snow, no more ice, no more chilly weather that makes your lips dry.As Mother Nature brings the season of spring to us, we, The Ultimate YA Reading Group, would like to present to you our Featured Author of March 2010—Saundra Mitchell! Her book, The Vespertine, comes out March 7!
Summary | The summer of 1889 is the one between childhood and womanhood for Amelia van den Broek-and thankfully, she’s not spending it at home in rural Maine. She’s been sent to Baltimore to stay with her stylish cousin, Zora, who will show her all the pleasures of city life and help her find a suitable man to marry.
Archery in the park, dazzling balls and hints of forbidden romance-Victorian Baltimore is more exciting than Amelia imagined. But her gaiety is interrupted by disturbing, dreamlike visions she has only at sunset-visions that offer glimpses of the future. Soon, friends and strangers alike call on Amelia to hear her prophecies. Newly dubbed “Maine’s Own Mystic”, Amelia is suddenly quite in demand.
However, her attraction to Nathaniel, an artist who is decidedly outside of Zora’s circle, threatens the new life Amelia is building in Baltimore. This enigmatic young man is keeping secrets of his own- still, Amelia finds herself irrepressibly drawn to him. And while she has no trouble seeing the futures of others, she cannot predict whether Nathaniel will remain in hers.
When one of her darkest visions comes to pass, Amelia’s world is thrown into chaos. And those around her begin to wonder if she’s not the seer of dark portents, but the cause.
You can order the book online | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
The holiday season is coming to a close. It’s officially a new year and that means it’s time for a new Featured Author! The first author of our 2011 year is the very cool and accomplished………..Kailin Gow!
Her latest book, Dark Beginnings, will be available on the 24th of January! If you’ve ever wondered about the adventures of the mother of the iconic “Phantom of the Opera,” this is the book for you!
Summary from goodreads:
Love in Paris During the Time of Napoleon’s Reign…
Veronique, arrives in Paris to be groomed into a fashionable noble lady. As soon as she meets the aristocratic Philippe Aragon and his darkly attractive cousin Martin Aragon, her life is changed. Romance, magic, intrigue, and action follows in this lush historical paranormal romance between the Aragons and the one woman who would be the greatest influence on Eric, known as the Phantom in Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. A stand alone novel, Dark Beginnings, is also a prequel to The Phantom Diaries.
How to get a copy:
Want to start with The Phantom Diaries (book #1 in the series) instead?
To learn more about Kailin Gow and her books, check out her website!
Already a fan of The Phantom Diaries? Check out the series’ Facebook fan page.
Also, there’s a great discussion guide for the Phantom Diaries that fans will love!
Stay tuned for her mini-bio and fun facts!
