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Summer-reading season is right around the corner, and it’s time to build up those booklists. You probably have a whole Goodreads shelf full of YA fiction, juicy memoirs, and beach reads that you’re just itching to dive into, but how about expanding that list to include some young adult nonfiction?

If you’re looking to add a little variety to your summer reading list, here’s a handy guide to help you choose some nonfiction titles based on your preestablished reading preferences.

If you like Rick Yancey’s The 5^th Wave try The End: 50 Apocalyptic Visions
from Pop Culture That You Should Know About…Before It’s Too Late

The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey is gearing up to be one of the hottest books of the summer. If you’re a fan of all things dystopian, check out The End, which details fifty pop culture works about the apocalypse, ranging from music to movies, to art pieces, to plays, and more.

 

 
If you like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green try Regine’s Book: A Teen Girl’s Last Words

If you can’t get enough of Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, check out Regine’s Book, the true story of Regine Stokke, a teenage girl battling leukemia. Regine’s blog about her struggle with cancer became the basis for this memoir, and her words are real, urgent, and moving. The book includes Regine’s original art and poetry, as well as her friends’ and family’s comments on her blog posts.

 

 
If you like the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare try Dead Strange: The Bizarre Truths Behind 50 World-Famous Mysteries

Learn more about the phenomena described in your favorite fantasy and paranormal fiction by perusing Dead Strange, which includes entries on everything from angels and demons to Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, Ouija boards, zombies, and more.

 

 
If you like Sarah Dessen’s The Moon and More try Kiss: A Girl’s Guide to Puckering Up

Fans of Sarah Dessen’s romantic novels can get the inside scoop on adding some romance to their own lives with Kiss: A Girl’s Guide to Puckering Up. Kiss features lists of romantic movies and songs, fun kissing facts, and, of course, tips on perfecting your kissing skills.
 

 

 
If you like Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns) try Super Pop: Pop Culture Top Ten Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild,
and Make It Through the Holidays

Mindy Kaling’s hilarious memoir might not be fiction, but it’s still topping a lot of “read for fun” lists. If Kaling’s dry yet genuine style of humor is right up your alley, crack open Super Pop for pop culture lists and commentary that will have you falling off your chair laughing. Super Pop is out June 4, but you can read an ARC on NetGalley now.

If you like  Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos try How to Lose Everything: A Mostly True Story

Jack Gantos’s cautionary tale of drug smuggling and his subsequent prison sentence won the prestigious Printz Honor the year it was published. If you’re in the mood for another tale of bad behavior gone really wrong, pick up How to Lose Everything: A Mostly True Story that chronicles the poor choices of a group of teenage boys and the consequences that affect the rest of their lives. How to Lose Everything goes on sale July 23.

 

Looking for more? Check out our books page for a listing of all our titles. And comment below to let us know which books are topping your “to-be-read” list this summer!

 

 

 

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We would like to wish a very happy book birthday to The How-To Handbook:
Shortcuts and Solutions for the Problems of Everyday Life!

In our everyday lives we’re often confronted with hurdles to jump and obstacles to tackle. Sure, they may be small—a hairy spider here, a bout of hiccups there—but these innocuous issues pile up. Soon these inconveniences have become so daunting that the mere thought of sewing on a button can leave you huddled on the floor in the fetal position…or at least feeling slightly helpless.

The How-To Handbook is here to help with these daily challenges. From ironing pants to tying a tie, to wrapping a gift, to making a delicious omelet, this handy volume has the information you need to upgrade your skills. Need to unjam a jar? You don’t have to panic, just flip to page 53 of The How-To Handbook. Have a mountain of onions to chop? Turn to page 60 for step-by-step instructions. Step on a wad of chewing gum? The tips on page 89 will get you out of that sticky situation.

Here are some more tips from The How-To Handbook, demonstrated by the Zest Books Teen Advisory Board:

How to Tie a Tie

How to Tighten a Screw

Day-to-day life can get complicated, and common sense really isn’t always as common as you might think. Let The How-To Handbook be your guide to the essentials of everyday living. Head over to the book page and order your copy today!

—Caitlin Kennedy, Zest Books’ intern

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Monday, April 22nd is Earth Day, a worldwide celebration to help promote environmental awareness and protection. Ever since the first Earth Day celebration in 1970, people have been working together to help protect and sustain our environment. This Earth Day, take a page from 47 Things You Can Do for the Environment and make some small changes in your life that will make a big impact on our world.

Here are a few tips from 47 Things You Can Do for the Environment to start you on your way to a greener future…

Wash Your Hair Every Other Day: Washing your tresses less not only cuts down water consumption, but also protects the natural oils in your scalp. If you get really greasy, try spritzing some dry shampoo on your locks.

Put Down the Bottle: About 86% of empty water bottles get chucked in the trash instead of recycled. Staying hydrated is important, but ditch the bottles and drink tap water whenever you can.

Cut to the Paper Chase: One of the easiest ways to save resources is by reusing paper before tossing it into the recycling bin. Use the backs of old photocopies as scratch paper, and if you have to print out emails or documents, print on both sides of the paper.

Turn Out the Lights: It seems like a no-brainer, but people often forget to do this when they walk out of a room. Turn off lights when you aren’t using them and you’ll help save the environment and save on your electricity bill.

BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag): Why waste a paper or plastic bag every time you go to the grocery store? Bring your own reusable shopping bag to help protect our environment and conserve resources every time you shop.

Jump in the Pool: Commuting to school or work can be expensive, time-consuming, and boring. Why not start a carpool with friends and make the journey cheaper, more fun, and better for Mother Nature?

Go on a Green Date: Enjoying a picnic in the park, stargazing on a warm, clear night, or going on a long walk around the neighborhood—there are tons of ways to ensure your romantic date will leave a tiny carbon footprint.

Bin There, Do That: Hopefully your school of office already recycles, but if not, get the ball rolling! Click here for info on starting your own recycling program.

How do you plan to celebrate Earth Day? Let us know in the comments section!

–Geri Gallas, Zest Books’ intern

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We recently caught up with Erin Whitehead and Jennipher Walters, co-authors of A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness. These fitness experts have already inspired us to be more active and eat healthier, and we couldn’t wait to hear what they had to say about dangerous diets, group workouts, and fitting fitness into a busy schedule!

Zest Books: Hi ladies! Thanks for taking the time to talk with me. So, tell me about yourselves. How did you both get involved in fitness and writing?

Jennipher Walters: I’ve been writing for just about as long as I can remember. I always loved putting words on paper and really got interested in writing when I joined the yearbook staff in high school. In college, while studying journalism, I also got really into fitness and started teaching group exercise classes. I loved that so much that I got certified as a personal trainer, went to graduate school in health journalism, and then married my two loves into—writing about fitness!

Erin Whitehead: Similarly to Jennipher, I also got started writing when I took a newspaper class in high school, and then ended up majoring in journalism in college. My early writing career was spent writing for construction equipment magazines, so when Jenn got the idea to start a fitness blog, it seemed like it would be a really fun little project. I’ve always been fairly active, so writing about my workout adventures seemed like it would be a lot more fun than writing about cranes! Little did I know how much our project would grow.

Zest Books: You two live in different states, right? How did you meet and how does your collaboration work?

Jennipher Walters: We do! I live in Kansas City, Missouri, and Erin lives in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. Erin and I met when we were both working for a magazine publishing company in the Kansas City area. We quickly noticed the big similarities in our lives: We were both living in Lawrence, Kansas, while our boyfriends were attending graduate school, and we were both enduring a lengthy and boring 50-minute commute. We soon became carpooling buddies, and then realized that not only were we making the commute more fun and saving the planet one tank of gas at time, we were also forming a friendship. While we’d usually talk about reality TV and work, we’d also discuss workouts. I’m more of the “health nut” than Erin is, so I’d convince Erin to walk with me over lunch or try Zumba. Funny enough, it wasn’t until Erin moved states away that we came up with the idea of starting our fitness blog, Fit Bottomed Girls. From there we found out that we just worked super well together. Sometimes it’s like we share a brain! So for us, writing together as a team is easy.

Zest Books: Why was it important to you to write A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness?

Erin Whitehead: The teen years can be hard, and there’s a lot of pressure to fit in. Embracing healthy habits can give girls confidence and set them up for a lifetime of fun fitness! We hope this book gives girls a strong foundation for making healthy decisions and getting away from the notion that being a certain size or weight is what makes you beautiful. We want them to know that strong is beautiful.

Jennipher Walters: Being healthy is a key part of living your best life. Women—and especially teen girls—get so many media messages saying that you have to diet or look a certain way to be found attractive, be loved or even be happy. But that’s just not true. Being healthy isn’t about fitting into a certain size or society’s unrealistic beauty stereotypes. It’s about making a healthy lifestyle really fun and livable. Erin and I both did silly, unhealthy stuff in our younger years because we just didn’t know better. We’ve pretty much written the guide that we wish we had had in our teen years!

Zest Books: How can teen girls fit fitness into their everyday lives?

Jennipher Walters: My number one tip though is to try a bunch of stuff, figure out what you find fun, and then do that most days of the week. Or, grab some of your girlfriend and try to turn a few of your hangouts a week into something active, like doing a workout DVD, checking out a group exercise class, going for a walk/run, dancing to your favorite music, or even doing some lunges and push-ups during commercials breaks of your favorite TV show.

Erin Whitehead: There are so many ways to fit in fitness! Whether it’s participating in sports, taking PE class each year of high school, having a part-time job that keeps you moving, or simply getting friends together for a walk, the possibilities really are endless. We share tons of ideas on little ways to get more activity out of your everyday routines in the book.

Zest Books: What’s the biggest mistake a girl can make when it comes to her health?

Jennipher Walters: Crash dieting. It doesn’t work and can be harmful on your body, your metabolism, and your psyche. Be active, eat nutritious whole foods, listen to your hunger, and always put your health, not your size, first.

Erin Whitehead: Going to extremes is a huge mistake, whether it’s crash dieting, over exercising, or something else. There’s a really happy medium that can be found with good nutritious foods and the right amount of exercise that makes you feel great.

Zest Books: What’s the most important lesson for teen girls to take away from A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness?

Erin Whitehead and Jennipher Walters: You can fit fitness into your life, and getting fit can be totally fun!

Zest Books: What do you do for fun when you aren’t writing or working out?

Jennipher Walters: When not writing or working out (I really do love to walk, run, lift weights, do yoga, etc.), I love listening to music, hanging out with friends and reading. I’m also a bit of a healthy foodie—I’m always coming up with new fun ways to eat kale!

Erin Whitehead: I’ve got two young kids who keep me super busy! I’m currently obsessed with Downton Abbey, so in any free time I have I’m trying to catch up on the show!

Zest Books: What’s next for you after A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness? Any plans to write more? Develop more online resources?

Jennipher Walters: We are always writing tons on our three sites:  FitBottomedGirls, FitBottomedMamas, and FitBottomedEats. And, we’re happy to announce that we are writing a Fit Bottomed Girls book for women on how to create a healthy life they love! Look for it in stores January 2014.

Zest Books: Can’t wait! Thank you ladies so much for talking with us!

Spring is the perfect time to start getting active and eating right, so grab your copy of A Girl’s Guide to Fitting in Fitness today!

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With all the talk of dresses, dates, and hair of late, we know that can only mean one thing: Prom is just around the corner! For the biggest night of many teens’ high school lives, The Prom Book, by Lauren Metz, can help teens keep it together and give guidance on how to have an awesome and stress-free evening.

Zest Books recently partnered with School Library Journal Teen for a Prom Book giveaway, and we asked librarians who entered about their prom night experiences. Everyone’s prom stories are different, for better or worse, and we thought we’d share some of their memories with you!

Rebecca says: “In 1974, my prom was held in the cafeteria of my high school.  I was on the prom committee. We decorated with crepe paper and flowers. I served punch from a punch bowl. My mom had made my dress. I didn’t have a date but I had a great time. Very much different than 30+ years later when my daughters went to prom. Expensive dresses and shoes, limos, dinner at a fancy restaurant, group pictures, etc. The proms were held at the Clinton Presidential Library—a far cry from the school cafeteria. There was no crepe paper in sight!”

Lori says: “My favorite (not) prom memory was what happened at the end of the evening. My date and I were leaving the high school (yes, it was held in the cafeteria – so classy!) and his truck (this was the country!) wouldn’t start. Turns out his old girlfriend had pulled his sparkplugs or some such thing.”

Kim says: “Fondest prom memory was my senior prom in 1984. A good friend of mine had agreed to take me to it even though he was seriously dating and engaged to another girl.  Despite that situation, we had a lot of fun that night, and we even shared just one nice, real kiss, just to make the evening more special. He went home to his fiancé, and that was that, but I will always remember that act of kindness, and the fun evening we had.”

Denise says: “I had the time of my life. I was a huge tomboy so NO ONE at school had ever seen me in a dress.  Everyone was shocked and delighted to see me wearing my prom dress. It made me feel so special.”

Edwin says: “Embarrassing prom: Being peer pressured into singing ‘La Bamba’ by your friends because it was the only Spanish song in the repertoire then watching them as they slowly blended into the crowd instead of joining you as they promised and leaving you there to sing a song you have heard only a few times. Oh yeah, it was fun :/ – at least I only got booed once.”

Thanks to these librarians for their recollections. For those of you still looking forward to your prom—remember: With a copy of The Prom Book, and just a little bit of planning, you can relax and enjoy the perfect prom!

 

—Olivia Ngai, Zest Books’ intern

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