WHAT TO READ NEXT IN YOUNG ADULT
JULY 2026
by Sydney Spell
Welcome to Texas Reads YA! As a teen who loves to read YA, I sometimes have a hard time finding quality YA novels.
Both of these novels draw on Native storytelling and culture to write beautifully, rich stories. One contains stories and poems from many authors and the other uses traditional storytelling structure to write a story about family and magic.
The road to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In slips through every rez and alongside every urban Native hangout. The menu offers a rotating feast, including traditional eats and tasty snacks. But Sandy June’s serves up more than it hosts live music, movie nights, unexpected family reunions, love long lost, and love found again.
That big green-and-gold neon sign beckons to teens of every tribal Nation, often when they need it most.
Featuring stories and poems Kaua Mahoe Adams, Marcella Bell, Angeline Boulley, K. A. Cobell, A. J. Eversole, Jen Ferguson, Eric Gansworth, Byron Graves, Kate Hart, Christine Hartman Derr, Karina Iceberg, Cheryl Isaacs, Darcie Little Badger, David A. Robertson, Andrea L. Rogers, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Brian Young.
Legendary Frybread Drive-In, is a beautifully written anthology with thoughtful structure and blending of the authors to create a story that is intricately intertwined. The stories and poems are relatable, powerful, and warm.
Cynthia Leitich Smith is a bestselling, acclaimed author of books for all ages. Cynthia has received the American Library Association’s Children’s Literature Lecture Award, been named the NSK Neustadt Laureate, and is the author-curator of Heartdrum, a Native-focused imprint at HarperCollins Children’s Books. She is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation and lives in Denton, Texas.
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.
Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.
Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.
And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.
Darcie Little Badger introduced herself to the world with Elatsoe. In A Snake Falls to Earth, she draws on traditional Lipan Apache storytelling structure to weave another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family. It is not to be missed.
A Snake Falls to Earth is a story that weaves traditional Lipan Apache culture and storytelling into a masterful narrative full of magic, relationships, and intriguing characters.
Darcie Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer with a PhD in oceanography. Her second fantasy novel, A Snake Falls to Earth, received a Nebula Award, an Ignyte Award, and a Newbery Honor and is on the National Book Awards longlist. Darcie is married to a veterinarian named Taran.
Sydney Spell is a college freshman at UT Austin. She has enjoyed reading through adolescence and is a big fan of YA novels specifically.