This Week In YA News: ‘Simon’, Tahereh Mafi, & More!

Welcome to the YA weekly where we get you up to speed on everything YA! This week was packed with *epic* YA news! Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda got a cast, Tahereh Mafi announced her new book, and Netflix premiered A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and more! Read on for more YA news-Let’s get it rolling

Becky Albertalli Interviews Jeff Zentner

Two of our faves sat down to talk about YA, The Serpent King and more! Becky Albertalli interviewed Jeff Zentner in honor of The Serpent King being named a Morris Finalist! Read the full interview below:

Read an Exclusive Excerpt of E. Lockhart’s New Novel

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.
Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.
An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.
A bad romance, or maybe three.
Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.
A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.
A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

Read the excerpt here!

Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda Gets a Cast!

This week Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda got two new cast members and they could not be more perfect! The movie adaptation of Beck Albertalli’s novel is set to shoot in March 2017 and will be directed by Greg Berlanti! Read more about the cast here!

EXCLUSIVE: Katherine Langford has just sealed the female lead in Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda https://t.co/h2VSTinHHJ

— Deadline Hollywood (@Deadline) January 12, 2017

Tahereh Mafi Announced Her Next Novel!

Well we are pretty much freaking out about this. Shatter Me author Tahereh Mafi announced that her next book, WHICHWOOD will be out this September! The description? A dark Persian fantasy about a girl who washes dead bodies for a living. Chilling.

my next novel, WHICHWOOD, a dark persian fantasy about a girl who washes dead bodies for a living, will be out THIS SEPTEMBER (!!), 2017. 🎉🎉

— Tahereh Mafi (@TaherehMafi) January 12, 2017

Amy Poehler Bought The Rights to Moxie!

Jennifer Mathieu’s upcoming book, Moxie, follows a 16-year-old who starts a feminist revolution at her high school. Amy Poehler’s production company, Paper Kite has acquired the film rights to Jennifer Mathieu’s upcoming feminist YA book Moxie.

Moxie, which will hit shelves via Roaring Brook Press on Sept. 19, follows a 16-year-old girl from a small Texas town who is inspired by her mother’s Riot Grrrl past and starts a feminist revolution at her high school.

A Series Of Unfortunate Events

The Series Of Unfortunate Events is officially out today on Netflix! We’ve watched the first episode and it’s good….REALLY. GOOD. Looks like we know what you’re binge watching this weekend.

We regret to inform you that #ASOUE is now streaming.

Soon, the very false documents in our credits will be the least of your worries. pic.twitter.com/fFwHuPaoU1

— Unfortunate Events (@Unfortunate) January 13, 2017

That’s it for this week! Did we miss any YA news? Tell us what other newsworthy YA events happened this week in the comments below!