The B&N YA Podcast

A Special Message from the B&N YA Podcast

Thank you for subscribing to the B&N YA Podcast! This is a special message to let you know, soon we'll be merging our YA podcast with our main B&N Podcast. We've got so many YA writers joining us in the studio and we cant wait to share these conversations with all of our listeners! Here's more good news: If you've already subscribed to the B&N YA Podcast, you won't have to change a thing. You'll start seeing B&N Podcast episodes in your feed and those will include our episodes featuring YA and Adult writers. ☺️ We hope you'll enjoy hearing the full range of wonderful authors joining us on the B&N Podcast. From all of us at Barnes & Noble, thanks for listening!

Abigail Hing Wen

Our guest today is the novelist Abigail Hing Wen, who joins us to talk about her new YA novel Loveboat, Taipei [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/loveboat-taipei-abigail-hing-wen/1132291813?ean=9780063007970#/], a coming-of-age story about taking risks, finding your voice, and discovering yourself in places you never would have predicted. Ever's Chinese-American parents have planned every aspect of her future: but one summer in Taiwan -- a trip they've sprung on their daughter as a not-very-welcome surprise might change everything. The result is an absolutely sparkling story that's based in part on the author's own young experience and a program that's still going on today, and it's B&N's latest YA Book Club selection. Abigail Hing Wen sat down with Bill Tipper in the B&N studio to talk about the real summer-in-Taiwan experience that was the genesis for the story of Loveboat, Taipei. A note to listeners:  After this episode we're integrating our YA guests into our main B&N Podcast [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/category/bnpodcast].  Go to this page [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/abigail-hing-wen-podcast] to get links to subscribe to the B&N Podcast on your favorite podcast platform, or search for "B&N Podcast" wherever you listen!

Ryan LaSala

On today's episode we're joined by Ryan LaSala, for a conversation about his bewitching debut novel Reverie [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reverie-ryan-la-sala/1131044092?ean=9781728221014#/]. It's a story that begins as a mystery -- a high school student named Kane Montgomery is recovering from a terrible auto accident that left him nearly dead, and has robbed him of a large part of his memory. When Kane tries to solve the puzzle of what happened that night -- and why people he barely knows seem to treat him as an old friend -- what he discovers will turn his world upside down and inside out. Ryan LaSala has written a gripping YA fantasy in which dreams and reality trade places, and discovering the truth about yourself can have world-shattering consequences. Reverie is our B&N YA Book Club pick for January 2020, and we were thrilled to have him join Bill Tipper in the podcast studio to talk about the unusual path to this uniquely spellbinding read.

Tomi Adeyemi with Melissa Albert

Hi YA Podcast listeners. If you're a regular listener you know that one of our most exciting episodes ever was Melissa Albert's interview last December with the groundbreaking fantasy author Tomi Adeyemi, when the writer joined us for a deep dive into her critically acclaimed and hugely bestselling Children of Blood and Bone, the first volume in her West African–inspired series about an oppressed magical class and the girl who fights to reclaim their power. Huge world- building, electric storytelling and indelible characters combined to make that book an instant classic, and now Adeyemi has returned with the second volume in the series, Children of Virtue and Vengeance. To celebrate we're bring back Tomi Adeyemi's visit to our studio, and her conversation with Melissa Albert about the origin of the series, writing love letters to Harry Potter, and overcoming the reluctance to love your own work.

Brandon Sanderson

On today's episode science fiction and fantasy titan Brandon Sanderson joins us to talk about his brand new YA novel Starsight [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/starsight-brandon-sanderson/1130496129?ean=9780399555817#/], the sequel to 2018's New York Times bestseller Skyward. Sanderson has made his name with fans all over the world through epic fantasy like the Mistborn series and the Stormlight Archive, as well as the bestselling Reckoners trilogy for young adults. With Skyward, Sanderson says he set out to take a classic fantasy pairing -- think a girl and her dragon -- but gave it a sci-fi twist, matching the hotshot young pilot Sensa -- a girl with a mysterious past and some unique talents -- with an ancient spacecraft powered by a wisecracking artificial intelligence called M-Bot. Skyward was, simply put, a blast, and with its sequel Starsight, the author takes Sensa, M-Bot and her friends into a universe vastly larger -- and more dangerous --than the one she's known. Brandon Sanderson joined B&N's Bill Tipper just before Starsight hit bookshelves for a spoiler-free chat about his new novel, how a boy who didn't like books became such a prolific writer, and what he's learned from his students.