Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

DUFFs unite!Brenna and Joe are diving back into YA written by teenagers and it's another rocky property as we struggle with Kody Keplinger's 2011 book, The DUFF, as well as its 2015 film adaptation by feature novices Ari Sandel (director) and Josh A. Cagan (screenwriter).Part of the problem? That title! Despite the book's best attempts to reduce the stigma of the term, Brenna can't overcome the cruelty and judgment of the moniker. While the book at least attempts to explore challenging topics (shame is handled well; alcoholism less so), at least it's more interesting than the film. Joe and Brenna can't help but wonder if Cagan simply watched other (better) YA films and read the back of the book before sitting down to write the screenplay, because the film is uninspired!  Thankfully we have Mae Whitman and Robbie Amell, who may just have the best chemistry of ANY couple we've seen thus far. That's right, we said what we said!Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolem

Under threat of duress, Joe manages to wrangle Brenna into recording a minisode and, given the current state of the world, what better subject to tackle than S-E-X in young adult literature.Prompted by Joe's polarizing reactions to  books that are graphic (Lev AC Rosen's Jack Of Hearts), pre-occupied (Camryn Garrett's Full Disclosure) or tepid "fade to black" fantasy (Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue), we tackle the shift from provocative, even risque sexuality in the 70s to the response to AIDS in the 80s and 90s, with a brief bit of blame on the chastity of franchise trend-setters Harry Potter and Twilight. For reference:Chambers, Aiden. The Toll Bridge. 1992Skurnick, Lizzie. "In Y.A., Where Has All the Good Sex Gone?" The New York Times.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave a book that prompted your sexuality maturity as a teen? Send us your story at hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for p

Brenna and Joe are joined by Terry Mesnard to discuss Charles Forsman's stark and nihilistic 2017 comic I Am Not Okay With This and Jonathan Entwistle's 2020 Netflix adaptation, starring Sophia Lillis.Up for discussion: Forsman's depiction of young women, why the bleak ending is unearned and one thing the comic actually does well (if we're being charitable). This is in stark contrast with the series, which avoids Netflix bloat, casts talented actors and expands on characterizations to humanize the drama into something compelling and watchable. There are still quibbles with the end (and possibly The Breakfast Club-inspired episode), but overall, we're pretty enthusiastic about the series.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteTerry: @gaylydreadful / @ScarredPodcastHave something longer (or a minisode suggestion)? Send an email to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brenna and Joe check out a new Netflix YA series, The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia, using its under-the-radar status to pose some questions about Netflix's changing priorities and the relevancy of its algorithms. Broad discussion: how Netflix Originals have altered the streamer's original  niche programming angle (the "made for Brenna" channel), why everyone winds up watching Love Is Blind, and how little (read: diverse) shows get buried.Narrow discussion: with special help with listener Max, Brenna and Joe discuss Ashley Garcia's appeal, its connection to a burgeoning movement of smart Latina girls and why a hot young actor like Jencarlos Canela was cast to play Uncle Victor.Reference: Castillo, Monica. "TV has a new kind of heroine: The Latina genius. Here’s why it matters." LA Times, Feb 26, 2020.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer or a minisode topic? Send  us an email: hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the s

Ugh.Brenna and Joe jump back into sick lit for Jesse Andrews' atrocious 2012 novel Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and its (better) 2015 Sundance award winning film adaptation by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke and a stunt cast of adults.We dedicate A LOT of time up front addressing our issues with the book, which is racist, misogynistic and features one of the most excruciating mediocre white boy protagonists since I Love You, Beth Cooper.  We find it hilarious that Andrews believes he's subverting (or avoiding) YA tropes; instead he's simply produced an unreadable book. Our advice: do not read this "book"!The film - ironically adapted by Andrews - smooths out some of the books more egregious issues, but it comes at a cost. Earl is diminished to a non-character and Greg's selfish behaviour can't be redeemed. The actors and  Gomez-Rejon's vibrant, experimental direction save this film.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremote

With so little precious podcast time to spare, Brenna and Joe are scaling back the forecasts. Presented for your enjoyment is a double dose for March and April, along with two important pieces of correspondence about our recent episode on Sex Education, which demanded we dig in (and problematize) both our reactions and word choice a little more deeply. Brenna's Picks:We Are Totally Normal by Rahul KanakiaAvocado Bliss by Candace Robinson and Gerardo DelgadilloCheck Please Book 2: Sticks and Scones by Ngozi UkaduJoe's Picks:Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. LatimerFight like a Girl by Sheena KamalThe Lucky Ones by Liz LawsonWanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteOr send us something longer (like minisode topics!) to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In a Uni miracle, Brenna and Joe are joined by their YA Lit classmate and bestie Jen Crocker to discuss Jenny Han's super cute 2015 realist romance sequel, PS I Still Love You and its (awkwardly titled) 2020 Netflix  film, which reunites Lana Condor and Noah Centineo and introduces Jordan Fisher as fan favourite John Ambrose McClaren.The changes between source and adaptation are significantly impacted by events from the first film, which retroactively affects the readability of the second book. Also switching things up: new director Michael Fimognari, who brings a "big screen" visual aesthetic that works for some, but not others. Plus: why the new film isn't as re-watchable, why it's probably good that the book's game of Assassins wasn't adapted and the film's issues with female agency and *gasp* class.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteJen:  @jencrocker / @crocksy23 (Instagram)Have something longer? Send us an email at hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on th

Minisode or regularsode? You be the judge as Brenna and Joe check back in on the British Netflix series Sex Education, which released its second season back in January.How does the series avoid traditional (read: North American) depictions of trauma and abuse? How are new (potentially tokenistic) characters introduced? What aspect does Brenna think the show handles best? And why character has quickly become Joe's favourite?Also, we're getting back to homework basics! Brenna provides an update on her Bingeworthy promise to check out the ridiculously-named High School Musical: The Musical, which Joe catches up on Jan 2020 Forecast entry Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore (not Macklemore, the rapper).Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteOr send us something longer (like minisode topics!) to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's time for a Nuclear dystopia, so Brenna and Joe hunker down in a Garden of Eden...er...valley of plenty in the hopes that a man of science never comes to threaten the peace. Or is it two men? This week, we're traveling back to 1974 to discuss Robert C. O'Brien's Z For Zachariah, a compelling, female-centric YA account of the end of the world. We're also talking about Craig Zobel's 2015 not-YA film adaptation, which is...a romantic triangle with sexy adults?Both texts are solid in their own right, but we're primarily attracted to the excellent tension and incredibly gripping gender dynamics of the book. The film is decent, although the more on-the-nose religious elements, romance and poorly constructed racial stereotype doesn't work nearly as well. Bottom line: if you only check out one of these texts, make sure it's the book!Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer to say or a minisode suggestion? Send us an email at hkhspod@gmail.c

Feb 2020 is a slighter month than January, so there are still great books to add to your library hold lists! Brenna and Joe have poured over the month and selected their top 3-4 picks, along with a few honourable mentions.JoeAlice by Heart by Steven SaterNo True Believers by Rabiah York LumbardRed Hood by Elana K. ArnoldWhat I Want You To See by Catherine LinkaPlus: Solstice by Lorence Alison and Below by Alexandria WarwickBrennaYes No Maybe So by Becky Albertelli and Aisha SaeedThe New David Espinoza by Frank AcevesTurtle Under Ice by Juleah del RosarioPlus: To All The Boys I've Loved Before 2 on Netflix and a new adaptation of EmmaWant to connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer to say or a minisode idea? Send us an email to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

At the request of listener Emily, Brenna and Joe travel Down Under to Sydney to check in on Italian-Australian Josephine Alibrandi, the sassy/spunky heroine of of Melina Marchetta's 1992 Aussie YA Classic, Looking for Alibrandi and its 2000 film adaptation by Kate Woods.The pair are hardly surprised that the book is a staple of the high school curriculum, given its myriad of relevant YA themes focusing on the immigrant experience, class issues, societal pressures and sex & relationships.  Brenna and Joe dedicate a lot of time discussing the novel's handling of John Barton and his suicide, how it doesn't work nearly as well in the film, and the need for happy endings. Plus: speculation about John Green's Looking For Alaska (see earlier episode), ties to Canadian play/film, Mambo Italiano and a really successful round of BINGO!Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteOr send us something longer (like minisodes topics!) to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the

More than a year into the podcast, Brenna and Joe decide to tackle the definition of Young Adult literature (better late than never, right?)Thanks to a prompt from listener Garrett, in the first (true) minisode of the new year, we delve into the specifics:YA as a category, not a genreUsing content and age ranges to distinguish Middle-Grade from YA from New AdultThe appeal of YA for adult readersA bit of history, including the term "adolescent" and its ties to capitalism, particularly in North America; andWhy YA exploded in the mid-to-late 90s and beyond (hint: think wizards and sparkly vampires)In homework: Brenna champions How I Made It To 18 by Tracy White and Joe compares #MurderTrending to One of Us is Lying.Next week: full length ep on Looking For Alibrandi, so get reading & watching!Want to connect? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgray / Goodreads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/107851618-brennaJoe: @bstolemyremoteOr email us something longer or a minisode topic: hkhspod@gmail.c

The wait is over! We're back for 2020 with a brand new full length episode that delves deep into Brenna's childhood love: Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908). This is easily the most popular Canadian YA text of all time, especially when we're considering its adaptations, including the 1985 miniseries and Moira Walley-Beckett's recently cancelled CBC/Netflix co-production, Anne with an E (2017-2019).Join Brenna and Joe for a SUPER sized episode as we discuss the timelessness of this text, why it continues to resonate with audiences worldwide, and how Montgomery's own dark history informs the book series. Plus: all of the brilliant Marillas, the perfect chemistry between Megan Follows and Jonathan Crombie in the '85 miniseries and where Anne with an E both succeeds and completely fails its source material. And we debut a new BINGO superboard!Extra Reading: Hoy, Helen. "Too Heedless and Impulsive’: Re-reading Anne of Green Gables through a Clinical Approach" in Anne's World: A New Century of Anne

Jan 2020 is now firmly underway, so it's time to update those library hold lists! Brenna and Joe have poured over the month and selected their top 3 picks, along with a few honourable mentions, to start the year off strong. Joe Deep and Darkest Red by Anna-Marie McLemoreWe Used To Be Friends by Amy SpaldingYou Too? Edited by Judith GurtlerPlus: Spellhacker by M.K. England,Tweet Cute by Emma Lord and Freeform's Party of Five rebootBrennaThe Hand on the Wall by Maureen JohnsonNot So Pure and Simple by Lamar GilesThe Gravity of Us by Phil StamperPlus:  What I Carry by Jennifer Longo and Rogue Princess by B.R. MeyersWant to connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer to say or a minisode idea? Send us an email to hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In our second minisode wrapping up 2019, we're going all in on binge mode!It's the holidays, so hopefully you have a little more free time on your hands. Brenna and Joe walk through the films, TV and books that they plan to binge over the break, in addition to teasing a few TV shows that will drop in and around the New Year.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer to say or a minisode topic? Send us an email at hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brenna and Joe are wrapping 2019 with a double dose of minisodes! First up: a look back on the year that was, including books that Brenna finally caught up on, our favourite serious, not-so-serious and least successful episodes (sorry CC - we did you wrong with Ghost World!). Also, the two biggest news stories that we think encapsulate YA at this moment, including Heartprint, an Indigenous Imprint from Harper Collins and a biased think piece about censorship and OWN voices from Refinery29.Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer to say or a minisode topic? Send us an email at hkhspod@gmail.com. See you on the page and on the screen!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

For the final regular...er...full length episode of the year, Brenna and Joe embrace the festivities of the season with a trip to Starbucks and a dip into 2008's Let It Snow, the trio of novellas by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle. We're also checking out the 2019 adaptation by Luke Snellin, which coincidentally stars every teen actor under contract on a Netflix series.Up for discussion: which of the three novellas does Brenna *strongly* dislike and what makes it far less successful than the other two (A: Addie & Starbucks)? A debate whether this is the most slight book we've ever covered and why the film fails in its ambition to be a YA Love, Actually.  Also: the laughable snow, the logistics of animal adoption and a serious discussion on ableism.  STARBUCKS. In homework: Brenna asks for some holiday cheer in the form of reviews, while Joe circles back around to explain why Greta Gerwig's 2019 adaptation of Little Women  may be the best interpretation yet.Wanna connect with the show? Use

On the eve of a brand new interpretation by Greta Gerwig, Brenna and Joe travel back 151 years to discuss Louisa May Alcott's defining American text Little Women, as well as Gillian Armstrong's 1994 adaptation and the excruciating 2018 modern take by Clare Niederpreum.Comparisons to Jane Austen abound as we try and identify the source of the text's popularity, which prospers in the first half and fumbles the second half by betraying its lead protagonist, Jo March. Up for discussion: May Alcott's erasure of the Civil War, how the heat between Winona Ryder's Jo and Christian Bale's Laurie actually harms the '94 adaptation and why someone needed to tell Sarah Davenport to stop yelling in the '18 version. Also: Brenna makes a very salient point about the depiction of armed forces in the modern version and how what is seen (or excluded) ties into readings of the political moment. Worth keeping in mind!In homework: Brenna introduces the Lumberjanes graphic novel "The Shape of Friendship" while Joe teases the premie

Brenna and Joe are feeling a little "Under Pressure" so we're taking a mental health break with Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel It's Kind of a Funny Story and Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck's 2010 adaptation, starring Keir Gilchrist (Brenna's favourite!), as well as Zach Galifianakis and Emma Roberts.Brenna struggles to grapple with the disconnect between the hopefulness of the book and the real life circumstances of Vizzini's passing as we discuss the way readings of a book change due to context. There's also discussion of how the film acts as both a faithful adaptation and simultaneously changes the fundamental purpose and tone of its source material by becoming a "wacky, feel good" film about mental health.In homework: Brenna laments the cancellation of Anne with an E, which spirals into a conversation about the state of Canadian television and - more specifically - co-productions with Netflix.Want to connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:Brenna: @brennacgrayJoe: @bstolemyremoteHave something longer or mini

For the first time in ages, Brenna and Joe venture outside of North America and the UK to tackle a foreign text: German author Wolfgang Herrndorf's bestselling 2010 novel Tschick (published in English in 2014 as Why We Took The Car), as well as Fatih Akin's 2016 film adaptation (English title: Goodbye Berlin).Brenna and Joe discover that this deceptively complicated road trip narrative is the anti-thesis of I Love You, Beth Cooper (see Book 1, Episode 28). Maik's journey of self-discovery addresses both class and race, as well as lessons about trusting strangers and not judging people by their appearances. There's also one of the worst YA fathers we've ever met, the film's completely abbreviated third act that still somehow works and a delightful musicality that we neglect to mention until halfway through BINGO.In homework: Joe reads back mail on the Watership Down episode while Brenna praises the CBC's "100 young adult books that make you proud to be Canadian".Want to connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on T