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Shanta Newlin has been promoted to vice president at Penguin Young Readers. She will also continue to serve as the executive director of publicity.

Newlin first joined the company back in 2008. In the past, she has held positions at ABRAMS, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and Random House Children’s Books.

Since Newlin came on board, she has worked on campaigns for several high profile authors including Sabaa Tahir, B.J. Novak, Eric Carle, John Grisham, and the Roald Dahl backlist. She reports to the president of the division, Jen Loja.

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By Cynthia Leitich Smith
for Cynsations

Of late I had the honor of joining Daniel José Older and Sabaa Tahir in answering questions on Diversity in YA Fantasy from Maggie Reagan from Booklist. My thoughts included:

I’ve had students ask me, “How do I write this without freaking out the white folks?” And yet authors hold back at the peril of young readers. Those who share our perspectives go invalidated, and those who don’t are never exposed and enlightened.

I also noticed a Freudian slip in my comments, and I'm inclined to leave it be. I refer to some allied librarians, insistent on telling (rather than sharing) stories of Native people as stock characters uniformly suffering from alcoholism on reservation. But telling is what I really did mean. There aren't Native children's-YA writers crafting fiction along those lines.

Yet I'm told, time and again, that this stereotype is the single story that resonates. It's come up to stand alongside the "romantic, New-Age-y" stereotype and "historical savage" stereotype. Together and separately, these persistent tropes negate respect, nuance, complexity, humanity, and back to the focus of article, the potential for Native-inclusive children's-YA fantasy done right.

It's disheartening to refute, coming from allies. So, if you count yourself among them, please know that you are appreciated. But also be careful of assumptions, however benevolently intended.

See Telling Better Stories: Writing Diverse YA Fantasy.

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An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Razorbill. 2015. Reviewed from ARC.



The Plot: It's been 500 years since the Martials defeated the Scholars. At various times Rebellion has been threatened, but the Martials always destroy it.

Laia, 17, is a Scholar. The once studious and education people are now banned from anything hinting at learning. Laia lives with her older brother, Darin, and her grandparents, until the night their home is raided by the Martials and their terrible agents, the silver-faced Masks. Her grandparents are killed, Darin is arrested, and Laia flees into the night.

She stumbles upon rebels who agree to help her free her brother, for a price. Go into the heart of the Martial training ground and spy on their Commandment. To do so, she'll have to pretend to be a slave. But for Darin, she'll do it.

Elias, twenty, is a Martial who has been trained to be a Mask since the age of six. Except he has a secret, kept hidden and deep. He hates the death and torture and violence of what he his, of what he is trained to do. He doesn't want his face to be forever silver. He dreams of escape, even though it will dishonor his Grandfather, but anyone caught running away is brutally executed. As each day goes by, he finds himself increasingly bound to the Martials and to his friends and wondering if the only escape is death.

The Good: Read this book. Now. The only down side of reading this book ASAP is that the sequel is out next summer, and you're going to have to wait that long to find out what happens next.

Read this book. It is a wonderfully complex setting, influenced by the Roman Empire and other ancient cultures. Sometimes a cultural setting such as the one in An Ember in the Ashes either downplays or ignores the consequences and reality of its setting. This book does not do that; it is a brutal, violent world and both Laia and Elias have been shaped and formed by that brutality. (For those who wonder about the violence on the page, I'll put it this way. A book can describe a death in a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter -- this book goes for the sentence or two. Does it lessen the horror of that death? No, it doesn't drag it on for pages and pages.)

Laia masquerades as a slave, but, no, that's wrong. While Laia is spying, she is actually a slave and all that implies. She is owned by the Commandment, who can do anything she wants to the slaves she owns. Laia is beaten and whipped; her name is taken from her. Other slaves have been scarred, branded, mutilated. The possibility of sexual assault and rape is real. So she has to survive both the change in status from free to slave but also figuring out how to be a spy for the rebellion.

Elias has been trained since the age of six to become a Mask, like his mother and grandfather before him. (His mother is the Commandment.) He has seen children whipped to death; he has been beaten; he has killed. He has followed orders. He has become one of the top soldiers. And he hates it. One of the things I love about An Ember in the Ashes is that while it's easy to hate the Martial class and all that Elias is and represents, the reader can't help but like Elias and root for him. To like his friends and understand his loyalties.

If you're wondering, because there is a girl and a boy and it's a young adult book, whether there is a romance -- well, yes and no. Again, complexity! While Elias may look at Laia and see a pretty girl, Laia looks at Elias and sees a dangerous soldier. Elias also is the type who sees Laia as a pretty girl who is a slave so is someone who for that reason shouldn't be touched (not a sentiment towards slaves shared by others.) There's a young man who is a rebel who Laia begins to have feelings for, and Elias has feelings towards another soldier, a young woman, and he's trying to deny them. So this is more a rectangle than anything else, and very realistically done given the different positions of power people have.

The Martial Empire is HORRIBLE. I wouldn't want to live there. But, again with reasons I like this -- when Laia learns more about the history of the Scholars, she realizes that her history and society is more complex than good/bad, vanquished/conquered. Elias looks around him and doesn't like how the Empire treats people, and he may be alone in this. It's hard to tell, because to confess such things would to betrayal, punishment, torture, death. His friends, though, are also likable, though part of this may be that we only see them in a context where they aren't arresting and killing and torturing, though we know that is what they have been trained to do. And truth be told while the ways of his training are harsh and I'm running out of words that mean "brutal," it's also realistic in terms of what is needed to create the perfect killing machine -- and that appears to be the sole aim of Elias's training and schooling.

The ending -- the ending!!! Don't worry, it's a great ending for a first book in the series in that it both works well as an ending for this book but there is also a great lead in to what will happen in the next book. I don't feel cheated or frustrated; I just feel MORE MORE MORE.

And the plot is so great that I don't want to say a word about it.

One more thing. The women in this story! Of course, there is Laia, who will do anything to save her brother but has been fairly sheltered up to this point. Poor, sometimes hungry, but always loved and protected by her family. Her strength is in her ability to survive, to love, to do what it takes.

Then there is Helene. Female soldiers are only accepted once in a generation, and so she is not just the sole female in her class, she's the sole female in her school. She has to be twice as good, ignore twice as much, as those around her. The friendship between Elias and Hel is one of equality and respect.

And Elias's mother, the Commandant. She was the female soldier of her generation. And as the head of the school that trains and forms soldiers, she is the one that every student fears. She is the one every slave fears. And with good reason: punishments, torture, and death all take place at her whim.

There is the Lioness, a legendary head of the Rebellion, brilliant but ruthless and willing to sacrifice anything for her cause.

And there are Laia's fellow slaves, Kitchen Girl and Cook, who have survived years in the Commandant's house, watching other slaves come and go. (And by "go" I mean die, whether at their own hand or the result of the Commandant's brutality.) There is more to each of them . . . .

One more thing. With this book there is always one more thing. I recognized the ancient Rome references in names and family structure; Tahir's guest post at the Perpetual Page-Turner goes into that research, as well as the research needed for everything from weaponry to the names of the other nations and groups in the book.

ARGH. I want to revisit this world, even though I was so worried about Laia that at times I could read no more than a few chapters at a time. My heart just couldn't take it.

OF COURSE this is a Favorite Book of 2015.










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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

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The Amazon editors have revealed their picks for Best Books of 2015. According to the press release, 22 debut authors were selected for the Top 100 Books of the Year list.  Follow this link to see the full list of 100 titles.

We’ve listed the top 10 books below. In addition to a general list, the Amazon team has also put together “top 20 lists in over two-dozen categories.” Did any of your favorites make the cut?

Amazon Editors’ Top 10 Books of 2015

1. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

2. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

3. Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt

4. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

5. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

6. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

7. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

8. Purity by Jonathan Franzen

9. Hold Still by Sally Mann

10. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

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Sabaa Tahir’s heart-wrenchingly fierce debut novel will draw you deep into the hearts and minds of Laia and Elias as you join them on their battle for freedom.

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Young adult writer Sabaa Tahir has landed a deal with Penguin Young Readers Group. The Razorbill imprint will publish Tahir’s sequel for An Ember in the Ashes.

The company executives have ordered a first printing of 250,000 copies for this book. The release date has been tentatively scheduled for April 2016.

Here’s more from the press release: “In her next novel, Tahir takes readers into the heart of the ruthless Martial Empire as Laia and Elias fight their way north to liberate Laia’s brother from prison. Hunted by Empire soldiers and haunted by the events of An Ember in the Ashes, Laia and Elias must outwit their enemies and confront the treacherousness of their own hearts.”

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Which five words best describe An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill, April 2015), by Saaba Tahir? Adventurous, Brutal, Honest, Fast-Paced, Romance

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We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending May 03, 2015–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #3 in Young Adult) An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: “Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free. 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.” (April 2015)

(Debuted at #7 in Hardcover Nonfiction) On the Move by Oliver Sacks: “With unbridled honesty and humor, Sacks shows us that the same energy that drives his physical passions—weight lifting and swimming—also drives his cerebral passions. He writes about his love affairs, both romantic and intellectual; his guilt over leaving his family to come to America; his bond with his schizophrenic brother; and the writers and scientists—Thom Gunn, A. R. Luria, W. H. Auden, Gerald M. Edelman, Francis Crick—who influenced him.” (April 2015)

(Debuted at #8 in Hardcover Fiction) Gathering Prey by John Sandford: “Lucas Davenport’s adopted daughter, Letty, is home from college when she gets a phone call from a woman Traveler she’d befriended in San Francisco. The woman thinks somebody’s killing her friends, she’s afraid she knows who it is, and now her male companion has gone missing. She’s hiding out in North Dakota, and she doesn’t know what to do.” (April 2015)

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Told from two points of view — Laia, a slave; and Elias, a reluctant captor — this compelling novel depicts the characters' colliding worlds and the myriad other people they encounter, from the rebels and the slaves to the rulers of the empire. It will leave you breathless waiting for the second book in the [...]

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I couldn’t put Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes down. This is a statement of fact: I picked it up late at night when I couldn’t sleep, started reading, and had to force myself to go to bed approximately 300 pages later. (Wendy can vouch for me here as the lucky recipient of some early morning “OH MY GOD THIS IS SO GOOD” texts.) I can’t remember the last time this happened and it was excellent. It reminded me of how I felt about reading as a teenager, which is to say that I was engrossed in Sabaa Tahir’s imaginary world. And that is basically what I want to reiterate, now that An Ember in the Ashes is out and ready and waiting to keep you up at night. Oh my God, you guys. This book is so good. It’s not a perfect book (more on that later) but it is... Read more »

The post An Ember in the Ashes: Review appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

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I really enjoyed An Ember in the Ashes, and I enjoyed meeting author Sabaa Tahir when I went to visit the set of the book trailer shoot. When the opportunity came up to host a guest post, I naturally had questions about the film that’s in development! It’s a little too early to share any details on that front, but the author is here with some of her favorite book-to-film adaptations for the official blog tour, with thoughts on why she thinks they were so successful. We’ve got pretty strong opinions on this topic, so we hope that An Ember in the Ashes will be as fun to watch as it was to read. 5 Great Book-to-Movie Adaptations by Sabaa Tahir Some of you know that An Ember in the Ashes has been optioned for a film by Paramount Pictures, with Mark Johnson (Breaking Bad) and Haroon Saleem (Chronicles of... Read more »

The post An Ember in the Ashes: 5 Great Book-to-Movie Adaptations with Sabaa Tahir appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

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We have selected three picture books, a middle grade novel and two young adult books to highlight for this month's new release kids books. Enjoy perusing our picks for kids and teen books that we feel represent some of the best new kids stories ... Read the rest of this post

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Enter to win an autographed advance reader copy of An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill, April 28, 2015), by Sabaa Tahir, and a T-shirt. Giveaway begins March 26, 2015, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends April 16, 2016, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

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Two months ago, I was invited to attend a lunch to meet author Sabaa Tahir and to watch the filming of  the trailer for her book An Ember in the Ashes. The shoot took place here in Los Angeles, and while I’ve been on location before as a film publicist, this was the first time I’ve ever walked into a studio filled with smoke! It was a dark, moody setting that suited the book perfectly, since the story follows an orphan named Laia who risks her life to save her brother Darin, who’s held captive by a brutal empire. The actress who played Laia was friendly and chatty, and she showed us the tattoo painted on her shoulder. It’s an important and serious part of the book, so it was cool to see the attention to detail in the make-up and costumes. The Kommandant was small, blonde, and totally badass... Read more »

The post An Ember in the Ashes: trailer feature + giveaway appeared first on The Midnight Garden.

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Publishers Lunch has two new editions in its free Buzz Books series, buzzed about as the first and best place for passionate readers and publishing insiders to discover and sample some of the most acclaimed books of the year, before they are published. Substantial excerpts from 65 of the most anticipated books coming this spring and summer are gathered in two new ebooks, BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Spring/Summer and BUZZ BOOKS 2015: Young Adult Spring, offered in consumer and trade editions (adult and YA). All are available free through NetGalley.

Book lovers get an early first look at books from actress and activist Maria Bello, \"Morning Joe\" co-host and bestselling author Mika Brzezinski, NPR/Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon, and bestselling fiction writers Dennis Lehane, Ann Packer, Ian Caldwell, and Neal Stephenson, among others. Highly touted debuts include Leslie Parry’s Church of Marvels, Erika Swyler’s The Book of Speculation, J. Ryan Stradal’s Kitchens of the Great Midwest, Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite’s War Of The Encyclopaedists, and Jessica Knoll’s Luckiest Girl Alive. From inside publishing, there’s Jonathan Galassi’s debut novel Muse, and George Hodgman’s memoir Bettyville.

The YA edition features the latest from Sarah Dessen, David Levithan, Barry Lyga, and Michael Buckley, plus renowned middle-grade authors including Newbery winner Rebecca Stead and Louis Sachar. There’s Alice Hoffman’s Nightbird, her first novel for this age range. We also get a first look at YA debut authors Margo Rabb, Maria Dahvana Headley, plus Paige McKenzie’s The Haunting of Sunshine Girl (adapted from the web series of the same name and already in development as a film from the Weinstein Company) and Sabaa Tahir’s debut An Ember In the Ashes (already sold to Paramount Pictures in a major deal).

Fourteen of the adult titles featured in last year’s Buzz Books 2014 were named to one or more major \"Best Books of 2014\" lists, and 18 became bestsellers. Of the 28 books published to date and previewed in the 2014 Fall/Winter edition, 19 have made \"best of the month/year\" lists and nine are New York Times bestsellers.

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The Children’s Book Review | January 16 Enter to win an autographed advance reader copy of An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill, April 28, 2015), by Sabaa Tahir, and a T-shirt. One (1) winner receives  An advanced reader copy of An Ember in the Ashes autographed by Sabaa Tahir. An Ember in the Ashes T-shirt. Age Range: 12 and up Giveaway begins January 16, […]

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