Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Ten new and upcoming college-set YA novels

At the BN Teen Blog Dahlia Adler tagged "ten new and forthcoming [college kid] books that highlight independence, long-distance relationships, growing up, identity, sexuality, marginalization, assault, roommates, and much more," including:
American Panda, by Gloria Chao

Mei’s a seventeen-year-old freshman at MIT, where she’s supposed to major in biology, find a Taiwanese boy to marry, and devote all her free time to studying. But none of that is who she is or wants to be, no matter how hard she tries. And she does try: shadowing a doctor, keeping up with her studies, trying not to fall too hard for adorable but Japanese Darren. But the more she tries to be who her mother wants her to be, the more Mei realizes it’s just not in the cards. She’ll have to do the seeming impossible and find a way to be true to herself and the family she loves. From impossible expectations to sexually transmitted infections, this delightful debut definitely nails aspects of college living, including the challenge of developing relationships when you’re younger than your peers.
Read about the other entries on the list.

The Page 69 Test: American Panda.

--Marshal Zeringue