Hi everyone, my name is Stephanie and I’m the new Kids Marketing & Publicity Intern at Tundra Books. I’m from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and love everything YA.
I’ve been a lover of young adult novels since I was 12 and discovered Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Since then, books have consumed my life and my bookshelves ( I never have enough shelves).
If you want to follow along with what I’m currently reading, check out my GoodReads page.
UPDATE: Stephanie has since been promoted to Kids Marketing & Publicity Coordinator at Tundra Books and Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers.
5 Random Facts About Me
- My family goes all out for Halloween every year. It’s also my favorite holiday.
- I’ve been obsessed with Greek Mythology ever since I read Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I even have a Greek myth inspired tattoo.
- I have a big love of all things paranormal, including vampires, mermaids, and witches.
- I have an 76% escape rate for Escape Rooms (with the help of my team).
- Halsey and Bastille are my favorite artists, with “929” and “Those Nights” being my favorite songs, respectively.
Favorite Penguin Random House Titles
Iron Widow
By Xiran Jay Zhao
400 Pages | Ages 14+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780735269934 | Penguin Teen Canada
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain. When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected – she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead. To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way – and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
The Montague Twins: The Witch’s Hand
By Nathan Page
Illustrated by Drew Shannon
352 Pages | Ages 12+ | Hardcover
ISBN 9780525646761 | Knopf BFYR
Pete and Alastair Montague are just a couple of mystery-solving twins, living an ordinary life. Or so they thought. After a strange storm erupts on a visit to the beach, they discover there is more to their detective skills than they had thought. Their guardian, David Faber, a once prominent professor, has been keeping secrets about their parents and what the boys are truly capable of. At the same time, three girls go missing after casting a mysterious spell, which sets in motion a chain of events that takes their small town down an unexpected path. With the help of David’s daughter, Charlie, they discover there are forces at work that they never could have imagined, which will impact their lives forever. An exciting new graphic novel from innovative creators Nathan Page and Drew Shannon that is at once timely and thrilling.
An Ember in the Ashes
By Sabaa Tahir
480 Pages | Ages 14+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781595148049 | Razorbill
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear. It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy. There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier – and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined – and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.
Aurora Rising
By Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
496 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781524720995 | Ember
The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the academy would touch:
A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm.
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates.
A smart-ass tech whiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder.
An alien warrior with anger-management issues.
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering.
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem – that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline cases, and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy. NOBODY PANIC.
Vampire Academy
By Richelle Mead
352 Pages | Ages 12+ | Paperback
ISBN 9781595141743 | Razorbill
Love and loyalty run deeper than blood. St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school – it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s – the very place where they’re most in danger . . . Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi – the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires – make Lissa one of them forever.
Favorite Non Penguin Random House Titles
- Night World series by L.J. Smith
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
- A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Anticipated Penguin Random House Titles
- Coven by Jennifer Dugan, Illustrated by Kit Seaton
- How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy
- Someone is Always Watching by Kelley Armstrong
- Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow, #2)
- The Depths by Nicole Lesperance
If you’re new to science fiction, but love a good coming-of-age story, start with Canadian author Sarah Everett’s poignant 
Han Solo & Chewie. Mulder and Scully. Sci-fi is full of dynamic duos. May we suggest adding Kaufman and Kristoff to this list? The co-authors of 
If you’re fascinated by cults and alternative communities or have a nolite te bastardes carborundorum tattoo, you should definitely add 
Eve is the only girl born in fifty years. She is the savior of mankind, kept protected under a glass dome of safety until she is ready to renew the human race. But when the time comes to find a suitor, Eve and Bram – a young man whose job is to prepare Eve for this moment – begin to question the plan they’ve known all along.
If strange plagues in isolated communities are your jam, you’ll love