19 Sept 2022

Event Recap: #FrenzyPresents Fall 2022 Release

I spent my Saturday night learning about some fantastic books coming out from September to December from HarperCollins Canada. I'm sure you'll be just as pumped as I was to learn about them!

It was a hybrid event which was so exciting! While I participated online, there were are a lot of people there in person - the first time since 2019.

Plus we heard from Tiffany D. Jackson about her new release which was super fun!

Fall 2022 Preview #FrenzyPresents

Spotlight on Tiffany D. Jackson

Special thanks to Tiffany D. Jackson for joining us at the event! It was so fun to learn about her Fall releases and more about her writing. I tried to write down some of the answers to the questions, including the ones I asked!

Tell us about your new book, THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD.

Tiffany: THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD is my homage to Stephen King's Carrie. It is about a girl named Maddie, set in 2014, and Maddie is passing at white and then she gets tormented after she goes viral. Her school wants to host their first integrated prom but they don't know that Maddie has another secret that will kill them all.

What was it that drew you to writing suspense and horror?

Tiffany: I've always been into horror and watching horror movies since I was 4 so I was always fascinated with it. My theses were on horror movies. I never saw myself in anything like this - I never saw a Black girl being the forefront of horror films but I was drawn to everything. My first three books were thrillers until my last book which was a haunted house. Carrie is my favourite horror film so I wanted to pay tribute to that.

It is a much needed update on Carrie and racism and discrimination was an addition to this to make it more contemporary. Why do you think horror makes a good vehicle for this type of social conversation?

Tiffany: We don't use enough of it. There has been more of that in recent years with GET OUT which has been cycling through recently, but this story about prom brings it to the forefront. It talks about racism through a familiar lens that also acts as someone's first political aspect.

It makes it very palpable and the social commentary is cemented. It's not stuffed down someone's throat which deters people from continuing on. We need to tell stories for teens that make sense to them and their circumstances. This was a great way to add them to the idea of prom.

Your books deal with heavy topics. Why do you write for the YA age group instead of adults?

Tiffany: When I look at adults, I know they can and have dealt with these issues. I'd rather deal with it from the root and children are the future. If we start early to strengthen empathy and compassion, laying out issues on the table, and in an entertaining way, those lessons will stick. Adults are really messy where kids are much easier to write for and to.

What's next for you?

Tiffany: WHITE OUT, with the same women who wrote Black Out, set in a snow storm in Atlanta. I don't know if you've been to Atlanta, but when it snows it's a whole shut down. I came up here in January once and it was -20 and I was like, "Never again." In fact, whenever I come up, I ask if it's cold before making a decision to attend events.

I'm also working on a next thriller, but I'm taking a year off in 2023 and it will be released in 2024.

Fall Releases

We then got into what the upcoming Fall 2022 releases are and there are so many fantastic books! I am going to be preordering some below and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

THE WEIGHT OF BLOOD

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson
Series: N/A
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Summary:
Author Tiffany D. Jackson ramps up the horror and tackles America’s history and legacy of racism in this YA novel following a biracial teenager as her Georgia high school hosts its first integrated prom.

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation... Maddy did it.

An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life.

But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret... one that will cost them all their lives.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

DAUGHTERS OF THE DAWN

Author: Sasha Nanua and Sarena Nanua
Series: Ria & Rani #2
Publisher: Harper Children's
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Summary:
Twin princesses Ria and Rani journey deep into dangerous new lands to save their home in this propulsive, immersive sequel to Sisters of the Snake, perfect for fans of We Hunt the Flame and The Wrath & the Dawn.

The powerful Bloodstone is in dangerous hands. And a deadly new threat rises.

Ria and Rani have barely settled into their new lives at the palace--as princesses, as sisters--when a sinister prophecy uproots them once more.

The Blood Moon will rise in one month's time, and with it their enemy Amara's opportunity to destroy everything Ria and Rani hold dear.

The twin princesses must find Amara--a deadly search that separates Ria and Rani once more and takes them to wintry kingdoms and scorching deserts, pitting them against ancient mysteries and trap-ridden labyrinths, lethal sea monsters and an elusive enemy that steals into their very dreams.

The lush world building of Star Daughter meets the thrilling adventure of Ash Princess in this sensational finale to Ria's and Rani's journeys that pits them against impossible odds--and battles from within that could destroy everything they've fought to save.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

LOVELESS

Author: Alice Oseman
Series: Osemanverse #10
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: September 13, 2022
Summary:
For fans of Love, Simon and I Wish You All the Best, a funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of a girl who realizes that love can be found in many ways that don't involve sex or romance.

From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it's okay if you don't have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone . . . since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection.

This is the funny, honest, messy, completely relatable story of Georgia, who doesn't understand why she can't crush and kiss and make out like her friends do. She's surrounded by the narrative that dating + sex = love. It's not until she gets to college that she discovers the A range of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum -- coming to understand herself as asexual/aromantic. Disrupting the narrative that she's been told since birth isn't easy -- there are many mistakes along the way to inviting people into a newly found articulation of an always-known part of your identity. But Georgia's determined to get her life right, with the help of (and despite the major drama of) her friends.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

SEOULMATES

Author: Susan Lee
Series: N/A
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Summary:
Her ex-boyfriend wants her back. Her former best friend is in town. When did Hannah’s life become a K-drama?

Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with their friends.

But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that’s exactly what now has her on the outs.

But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

RUST IN THE ROOT

Author: Justina Ireland
Series: N/A
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Summary:
The author of the visionary New York Times bestseller Dread Nation returns with another spellbinding historical fantasy set at the crossroads of race and power in America.

It is 1937, and Laura Ann Langston lives in an America divided—between those who work the mystical arts and those who do not. Ever since the Great Rust, a catastrophic event that blighted the arcane force called the Dynamism and threw America into disarray, the country has been rebuilding for a better future. And everyone knows the future is industry and technology—otherwise known as Mechomancy—not the traditional mystical arts.

Laura disagrees. A talented young mage from Pennsylvania, Laura hopped a portal to New York City on her seventeenth birthday with hopes of earning her mage’s license and becoming something more than a rootworker

But six months later, she’s got little to show for it other than an empty pocket and broken dreams. With nowhere else to turn, Laura applies for a job with the Bureau of the Arcane’s Conservation Corps, a branch of the US government dedicated to repairing the Dynamism so that Mechomancy can thrive. There she meets the Skylark, a powerful mage with a mysterious past, who reluctantly takes Laura on as an apprentice.

As they’re sent off on their first mission together into the heart of the country’s oldest and most mysterious Blight, they discover the work of mages not encountered since the darkest period in America’s past, when Black mages were killed for their power—work that could threaten Laura’s and the Skylark’s lives, and everything they’ve worked for.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

BONE WEAVER

Author: Aden Polydoros
Series: N/A
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: September 20, 2022
Summary:
A haunting fantasy following Toma, adopted daughter of the benevolent undead, making her way across a civil war-torn continent to save her younger sister as she discovers she might possess magical powers herself.

The Kosa empire roils in tension, on the verge of being torn apart by a proletarian revolution between magic-endowed elites and the superstitious lower class, but seventeen-year-old Toma lives blissfully disconnected from the conflict in the empire with her adoptive family of benevolent undead.

When she meets Vanya, a charming commoner branded as a witch by his own neighbors, and the dethroned Tsar Mikhail himself, the unlikely trio bonds over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from the revolutionary leader, Koschei, whose forces have stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives will be at Koschei’s mercy.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

MERE MORTALS

Author: Erin Jade Lange
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: September 27, 2022
Summary:
"Two teenage vampires are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all--high school"--

This hilarious, fresh take on a classic vampire tale follows a pair of hundred-year-old teenage vampires who are turned mortal and must face the greatest nightmare of all—high school.

Charlie and her brother, Reg, have been vampires for…a very long time. For a century, they enjoyed the glitz and glamour of life as members of the wealthiest vampire clan. But now, after one careless mistake, they’ve been expelled from the vampire community and dumped in the middle of Nowhere, Iowa, to live as mortals.

Suddenly Charlie has to deal with zits, tears, and—worst of all—high school. But things start to change when she and Reg find a group of friends, including the deliciously good-looking Dexter. And though Charlie would give anything to be vampire again, she begins to appreciate some of the new experiences that humanity brings too.

But nothing could make them forget the life they’ve left behind. When they’re offered a second shot at immortality, Charlie is desperate to seize it. It’ll just mean a total betrayal of all her new friends, who will have their minds wiped of their memories of her. She can handle that if it means she can live forever…right?
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

THE RESTLESS DARK

Author: Erica Waters
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Summary:
Enter Cloudkiss Canyon at your own risk.

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones.

Lucy was almost the serial killer’s final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide.

All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets.

But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind.

Perfect for fans of Sadie and Wilder Girls, this newest novel from Erica Waters follows three girls at a true-crime contest to find the bones of a lost killer—even as a mysterious force pulls at the contestants’ darkest desires.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

THE FIRST TO DIE AT THE END

Author: Adam Silvera
Series: Death-Cast #0
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 4, 2022
Summary:
In this prequel to #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon They Both Die at the End, two new strangers spend a life-changing day together after Death-Cast first makes their fateful calls.

It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera’s signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE

Author: Robin Roe
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 11, 2022
Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he's kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he's been living is based on a lie.

Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he's been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.

But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape . . . before he loses himself. 
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

NOTHING SUNG AND NOTHING SPOKEN

Author: Nita Tyndall
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: October 18, 2022
Summary:
Berlin, 1938

It is the summer before World War II begins, but Charlotte Kraus doesn’t know it yet. All she knows is the zing of electricity she feels every time her best friend, Angelika Haas, grabs her hand. Charlie would follow Geli anywhere—which is how she finds herself at an underground club one Friday night, dancing to contraband American jazz and swing music, suddenly feeling that anything
might be possible.

Under the oppressive shadow of the Nazi regime, returning to the club is a risk. But Charlie does, unable to resist the allure of sharing a secret with the girl she can’t stop thinking about, or the thrill of disobeying the Party’s rules. Soon the Swingjugend movement becomes more than a simple escape. It’s a place where Charlie and her friends find acceptance, freedom, and camaraderie among others who are determined not to sit on the sidelines of history.

Increasingly terrified by the tightening vise of Hitler’s power, Charlie is drawn to larger and larger acts of resistance—even as Geli, the daughter of a senior Party officer, begins to pull away. But resisting the Nazis is a dangerous proposition, and the war will test what Charlie is willing to risk at the expense of her family, her friends, and the girl she loves.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

HOW TO EXCAVATE A HEART

Author: Jake Maia Arlow
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Summary:
Kelly Quindlen meets Casey McQuiston in this sapphic Jewish twist on the classic Christmas enemies-to-lovers rom-com, as college freshman Shani’s internship is interrupted by a whirlwind winter fling.

It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru.

Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break.

It could be going better.

But when a dog-walking gig puts her back in May’s path, the fossils she’s meant to be diligently studying are pushed to the side—along with the breakup.

Then they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve. As things start to feel more serious, though, Shani’s hurt over her ex-girlfriend’s rejection comes rushing back. Is she ready to try a committed relationship again, or is she okay with this just being a passing winter fling?
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

SALT AND SUGAR

Author: Rebecca Carvalho
Series: N/A
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Summary:
The grandchildren of two rival Brazilian bakeries fall in love despite their families’ feud in this delicious debut rom-com perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Gloria Chao.

Trust neither thin-bottomed frying pans nor Molinas.

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

CHILDREN OF RAGNAROK

Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Series: Runestone Saga #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
Summary:
Sweeping adventure, breathtaking twists of fate, and immersive worlds based in Norse mythology are woven into this first volume of the Runestone Saga, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Seven Realms and Shattered Realms series.

Ever since Ragnarok—the great war between the gods and the forces of chaos–the human realm of the Midlands has become a dangerous place, bereft of magic, where most lead lives of desperation.

Sixteen-year-old Eiric Halvorsen is among the luckier ones. Between fishing, going vikingr, and working his modir’s farm, the family has remained prosperous. But Eiric stands to lose everything when he’s convicted by a rigged jury of murdering his modir and stepfadir. Also at risk is his half-systir, Liv, whose interest in seidr, or magic, has made her a figure of suspicion. Then a powerful jarl steps in: He will pay the blood price if Eiric will lead a mission to the fabled Temple at the Grove—the rich stronghold of the wyrdspinners, the last practitioners of sorcery.

Spellsinger, musician, and runecaster Reggin Eiklund has spent her life traveling from town to town, performing at alehouses all for the benefit of her master, Asger, the fire demon she is desperate to escape. Then after one performance that amazes even Reggin herself, two wyrdspinners in the audience make her an irresistible offer: return with them to the temple to be trained in seidr, forever free of Asger.

Eiric, Liv, and Reggin’s journeys converge in New Jotunheim, the site of the Temple at the Grove, a paradise fueled by magic. They soon realize that a great evil lurks beneath the dazzling surface, and that old betrayals and long-held grudges may fuel another cataclysmic war. It will require every gift and weapon at their command to prevent it. 
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

A THOUSAND HEARTBEATS

Author: Kiera Cass
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: November 29, 2022
Summary:
#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Selection series Kiera Cass is back with her most epic novel yet—a sweeping enemies-to-lovers standalone romance.

“Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.”

Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.

Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.

But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.

Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.
Preorder:
Amazon | Chapters | TBD

A MILLION TO ONE

Author: Adiba Jaigirdar
Series: N/A
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: December 13, 2022
Summary:
Adiba Jaigirdar, author of one of Time's Best YA books of all time, gives Titanic an Ocean’s 8 makeover in a heist for a treasure aboard the infamous ship that sank in the Atlantic many years ago.

A thief. An artist. A acrobat. An actress. While Josefa, Emilie, Hinnah, and Violet seemingly don’t have anything in common, they’re united in one goal: stealing the Rubaiyat, a jewel-encrusted book aboard the RMS Titanic that just might be the golden ticket to solving their problems.

But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer . . .

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper and Girl in the Blue Coat, this high-seas heist from the author of The Henna Wars is an immersive story that makes readers forget one important detail— the ship sinks.
Preorder:

Which of these are you most excited for? Are you going to preorder any?

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