Writing Young Adult Fiction

When Harold Ross founded The New Yorker in 1925, he described it as a “comic weekly.” And although it has become much more than that, it has remained true in its irreverent heart to the founder’s description, publishing the most illustrious literary humorists of the modern era. This anthology gathers together, for the first time, the funniest work of more than seventy New Yorker contributors.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ruta Sepetys is known for creating vivid characters and harrowing plots. After five award-winning works of historical fiction and countless hours of meticulous research, she can affirm that the secret to strong writing is embedded within your life experience. You: The Story is a powerful how-to book for aspiring writers that encourages you to look inward and excavate your own memories in order to discover the authentic voices and compelling details that are waiting to be put on the page.

New enemies, allies, powers, and realizations drive Salem, Juniper, and Zee to their extreme limits. In the fastest-paced adventure they've undertaken yet, they will ascend into the sacred Himalayan mountains in search of a lost creature, speak with ghosts as real as living people, and rally a global army of diversity against the forces seeking to destroy them. All as the Fringe and Commons grow ever closer towards either colliding or separating from each other forever.

When seventeen-year-old Willow Carter and her parents head to their annual camping trip at a small Pacific Northwest beach town, the last thing they expect is to have their vacation upended and their safety threatened. Twin Harbors State Park is all too familiar to the Carters, who have been camping there for years alongside their longtime family friends. As the two families settle into their neighboring campsites, they are greeted unexpectedly by a stranger who has no problem inserting himself into their daily activities.

On a visit to Jerusalem, Bruce Feiler has a revelation: the stories of the Bible occurred in real places, places he could visit today. So he sets out on a perilous 10,000 mile journey retracing the greatest stories ever told.

Bianca Monroe knows one thing: her idea for a Sisterhood of Protectors is going to survive whatever the Central Network Council throws against it. She's determined. Ready. And totally lost. When an unexpected letter threatens High Priestess Scarlett, the responsibility to keep their leader safe falls to Bianca. A shocking predator, the fight for legitimacy, and the struggle for Bianca's own safety conspire to hold the fate of the Sisterhood from becoming a reality.

In the quiet halls of a small-town community college, five ordinary students find their lives forever altered. When a mysterious system event thrusts them into a galaxy-wide tournament, they must rise to the challenge.

After a chance encounter with an Abolitionist, Rebekah is obsessed by a desire to end slavery. But as a young Amish Girl living on a farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, she feels hopeless to do anything about it. Although she feels loved by her Amish family, she believes she has a higher purpose. But her protective father commands that she not interact with the non-Amish world. In his view, what happens outside their tight-knit farming community is none of her concern. But her life, and the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg, changes when the Confederate Army suddenly descends on her farm.

Set in 14th-century Germany under the crushing weight of the Holy Roman Empire, the story reveals the brutal toll exacted on the lower classes. While nobles and corrupt clergy hoard power and wealth—often enforced by mercenaries and violent knights—families like the Symons must fight to survive. The story picks up after Yakov’s Run, where the three Symon siblings—Yakov, Anna, and Dieter—were torn apart. Yakov, once a soldier under the ruthless Petres the Chain, begins to see through the lies of power and longs to return to the life he lost.

A cataract of evil has fallen over the planet Varchal as its orbit enters the influence of Sol-Ar, stirring up tectonic upheavals called Black Hallows. As malignant rains fall on the Imperious Crescent, those who access these sites are transformed into shadows of shame. Accession to the Donnephon throne at the age of 18 has thrust monumental responsibility on Tayem Fyreglance, queen of the Dragon Riders. Yet, there is a greater burden to bear.

Here's some good news for everyone who's ever been bullied into believing they can't speak their own language: The grammar snobs are bluffing. Half the "rules" they use to humiliate others are really just judgment calls and the rest they don't even understand themselves. Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies is a laugh-out-loud funny collection of anecdotes and essays on grammar and punctuation, as well as hilarious critiques of the self-appointed language experts.

After getting kidnapped by a demigod and imprisoned in another dimension, Makayla was really hoping that her life would get back to normal. Or at least as normal as life could be when you had a goblin for a best friend. But now her sleepy midwestern town is being invaded by shadows. Her neighbors are being stolen away and replaced by changelings. And when she tries to escape, her path threatens to take her to the one place she never wanted to return to: the mysterious and dangerous Land of Annwfyn.

Abandoned as an infant, 15-year-old Bonnie Hartwright doesn't know who she really is. And that just might get her killed. After her latest scrape with the law, foster girl Bonnie is abruptly carted off to a "reform sailing camp" on the Carolina coast. There, she discovers the camp is actually a training compound of a centuries-old secret society, all of whose members are descendants of a notorious pirate.

Rogue Watcher, the next installment of the Second Moon Trilogy, picks up where Alpine Tide left off. The stakes are higher than ever as eighteen-year-old Miriam Madsen and her fellow survivors face new threats from across the Universe. To avoid their certain destruction, Watcher 3 of Earth, known locally as Spence, will stop at no length to protect Miriam, the woman he loves--even if it means going rogue.

Bianca Monroe should be celebrating—she’s just handfasted the love of her life, Merrick. But fate has other plans. A summons from High Priestess Alina pulls Bianca to the Southern Network, where magicless witches are vanishing without a trace. To accept Alina’s plea for help means defying the Central Network Council. To refuse could cost innocent lives.

A Bold Rebellion is the tenth book in the thrilling YA fantasy collection The Network Series.

Imagine coming of age surrounded by terror and militancy. Tamar, Nour, and Rivki all live in Jerusalem, and all are on the cusp of adulthood, but in a city of tribal culture and an intractable conflict, it is almost inconceivable they will ever meet, let alone become friends. Then, one night, during yet another cycle of violence, their paths cross just as a terrorist decides to carry out an attack on the light rail train.

In an empire ruled by the honored dead, seraphs are the ultimate weapons. Fueled by the pilot's very soul, these colossal humanoid war machines are unstoppable in battle. Only a few possess the gift to control such craft, and those men and women are prized above all others. Seth Elexen and a small group of elite pilots have tracked the renegade Veketon to the far side of the galaxy. With only one ship and a single squadron of seraphs, they alone must face the tyrant within the heart of his growing power. But Veketon is no easy mark.

When a comet streaks near Earth, its reverberation tears Croy Justice out of bed. The reverberation causes an onset of earthquakes which mark utter ruin on Earth, especially on the small island where Croy Justice lives. With a gang of boys who want to scour her of dignity, Croy must outrun the gang or risk a gruesome death at their hands. Will she survive these end times? Or, will Croy be snapped up into satan’s grip?

Interest in the social life of humankind shows that, across time, people are driven by the same needs: food, shelter, safety, and connection. In The Fletcher’s Gambit, Book 2 of The Der Flechtemann Chronicle, Michael and James uncover secrets of 14th-century Germany. Like in Yakov’s Run, injustices and family separations drive the story. These tales reflect our past and present, told to uplift, inspire, and reveal timeless human truths.