Putting the YA in FRIYAY: Sarah Everett Q&A

Did you know that Sarah Everett was the president of her high school’s Japanese club? After obsessing over her latest novel, No One Here is Lonely, we just had to find out more about her.

Which of your characters is most like you?

Eden is definitely the most like me. She doesn’t like change, she is fiercely loyal and she is oftentimes on the outside of things. Being a writer, I’m usually the one eavesdropping on conversations and experiences and writing them down so I can put them in a book!

Recommend a book for Eden.

I’d recommend Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson or If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser (out in March 2019). Both are fantastic YA books about being ghosted by your best friend, and how you move on when one of the most important relationships in your life ends (or changes). Since Eden goes through a similar journey with her best friend, Lacey, I think she would appreciate both books.

No one Here is Lonely has a fantastic, all-too-possible concept. Where did the idea for this concept come from?

I feel like loneliness is one of the universal emotions every teenager (every person, really!) experiences. I was thinking about this and imagining a world in which no one was lonely (hence, the title J), and the idea of a near-future world in which people could contact an artificially intelligent being, someone who would be there 24/7 – just a phone call away – popped into my mind. Then I found myself wondering what might happen if this Companion was someone who had died, a loved one who never really went away, and the idea for Will and In Good Company was born.

What are you reading now?

I’m currently reading Sadie by Courtney Summers. It’s a gritty contemporary thriller about a missing girl on a journey for revenge. It’s an absolute page turner.

What books do you recommend after reading No one Here is Lonely?

For the futuristic elements, I would recommend Noggin by John Corey Whaley and More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera. Actually, I’d recommend anything by Adam Silvera – They Both Die At The End is another favorite. Other books I’d recommend: The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon, We Are Okay by Nina LaCour and Finding Yvonne by Brandy Colbert.

Add No One Here is Lonely on Goodreads here!

Putting the YA in FRIYAY: 5 Bittersweet YA Romances

This week we celebrated National Bittersweet Chocolate day. Here are 5 YA romances that are equal parts bitter and sweet, best enjoyed with your favourite chocolate.

We Are Okay
Alone in an empty dorm during a snowstorm, Marin waits for her best friend Mabel to visit. When Mabel arrives, Marin will be forced to face everything that’s been left unsaid between them. Nina LaCour’s Printz Award-winning novel is a contemplative, intimate look at grief and love. Marin and Mabel’s relationship is complicated and nuanced, growing from a deep friendship to something more.
Add to Goodreads here.

The Sun Is Also a Star
With a nod to the popular New York Times article, “The 36 Questions That Lead to Love,” this epic love story between Daniel, son of Korean immigrants and wannabe poet, and Natasha, whose family is on the brink of being deported to Jamaica, has lots of highs and lows to keep you turning those pages. Look out for the film coming later this year!
Add to Goodreads here.

No One Here Is Lonely
This upcoming genre-bending novel made our Top 5 Sci-fi YA Novels we’re looking forward to in 2019, but it also qualifies as a romance. Eden is falling more and more in love with her crush, Will, only it’s not really Will, but a digital version of him created by an AI after-death service. Quill and Quire called this book “Ghost meets Judy Blume’s Summer Sisters,” and we are on board with that!
Available on February 5th, 2019
Add to Goodreads here.

Odd One Out
In Odd One Out author Nic Stone presents a fresh, stereotype-busting take on that classic romance trope, the love triangle. Coop develops feelings for his best friend Jupiter, who has a crush on the new girl, Rae. Rae is into Jupiter, but maybe also Coop . . . a surprising and rewarding read.
Add to Goodreads here.

Salt to the Sea
This gut-wrenching novel follows four refugees fleeing the horror of WWII for the ill-fated ship The Wilhelm Gustloff in pursuit of new lives. But even amid great tragedy, there are glimmers of love.
Add to Goodreads here.

Putting the YA in FRIYAY: 5 Sci-fi YA Novels We’re Looking Forward To

Welcome to 2019! The future is now and it is compelling. From poignant romance to wild space opera to mutative outbreaks at a girls’ school, here are five science fiction YA novels we can’t wait to get our hands on in 2019.

No One Here Is LonelyIf you’re new to science fiction, but love a good coming-of-age story, start with Canadian author Sarah Everett’s poignant No One Here Is Lonely. This novel reads like contemporary YA with a Black Mirror twist. Eden is devastated when her crush Will is killed in a car accident, but Eden finds solace in an unlikely place. Before he died, Will set up an account with In Good Company, a service that uploads voices and emails and creates a digital companion that can be called anytime. As Eden falls deeper into her relationship with “Will,” she hardly notices as her real life blooms around her.
Available: 02/05/2019
Add to Goodreads here.

Aurora RisingHan 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 The Illuminae Files return with another epic space opera. 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.
Available: 05/07/2019
Add to Goodreads here.

The Virtue of SinIf you’re fascinated by cults and alternative communities or have a nolite te bastardes carborundorum tattoo, you should definitely add The Virtue of Sin to your TBR pile. Miriam lives in New Jerusalem, a haven in the desert far away from the sins and depravity of the outside world. Within the gates of New Jerusalem, and under the eye of its founder and leader, Daniel, Miriam knows she is safe . . . but at what cost? Alongside unexpected allies, Miriam fights to learn–and challenge–the truth behind the only way of life she’s ever known.
Available: 06/25/2019
Add to Goodreads here.

Eve of ManEve 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.
Available: 06/18/2019
Add to Goodreads here.

Wilder GirlsIf strange plagues in isolated communities are your jam, you’ll love Wilder Girls. It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. First the teachers died one by one. Then the Tox began to infect the students, turning their bodies into something unrecognizable. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls wait for a cure. But Hetty is about to learn that there’s more life at Raxter than she could have ever thought true.
Available: 07/09/2019
Add to Goodreads here.

Tundra Book Group