My True Love

Matt’s story “Angels in the Snow” is included in this anthology.

Book description:
If you love holiday stories, holiday movies, made-for-TV-holiday specials, holiday episodes of your favorite sitcoms and, especially, if you love holiday anthologies, you’re going to fall in love with My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories by twelve bestselling young adult writers (Holly Black, Ally Carter, Matt de La Peña, Gayle Forman, Jenny Han, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Myra McEntire, Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, Laini Tayler and Kiersten White), edited by the international bestselling Stephanie Perkins.  Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa, there’s something here for everyone.  So curl up by the fireplace and get cozy.  You have twelve reasons this season to stay indoors and fall in love.

One Teen Story

“The story follows the course of one loopy night in Los Angeles, as the narrator and his friend P.J. prowl the streets and the clubs, talking tough but feeling vulnerable,” writes Patrick Ryan, editor of One Teen Story, in his introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading. “[Matt de la Peña]’s narrator is—perhaps secretly—into vulnerability. He’s an aspiring poet; a keenly observant, wanna-be tough guy; a romantic who still isn’t confident in his kissing abilities.

“When he and P.J. stumble upon a group of girls and ‘join forces’ for the evening—palling around, flirting with one another—it’s because that’s what young people are supposed to do. When the group falls into the tracking beam of a spoiled, semi-rich kid named Lawrence, and ends up at the house of his dying great-aunt, and commences partying only to discover that Lawrence is a Class-A jerk and his great-aunt wants to have the lot of them arrested for trespassing, it’s because that’s the kind of muck young people barreling toward adulthood can expect to find on a rambling, adventurous, and possibly ill-conceived night on the town.

“Matt de la Peña writes with a forward lean that sends us, as readers, right from the beginning to the end—but with the crazy, zigzag path of a Magic Bullet. His dialogue is pitch-perfect…The result is that, upon finishing this story, you’ll want to go back and read it again just to see how he does it.”

Guy’s Read

Matt’s story “Believing in Brooklyn” is included in this anthology.

Book description:
A body on the tracks

A teenage terrorist

A mysterious wish-granting machine

The world’s worst private detective

The second volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading is chock-full of mystery, intrigue, and nefarious activity. Featuring some of the best writers around, and compiled by certified guy Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: Thriller is a pulse-pounding collection of brand-new short stories, each one guaranteed to keep you riveted until the final page.

Prophecy

Matt’s story “The Mind is a Powerful Thing” is included in this anthology.

Book description:
Richelle Mead, Lisa McMann, Michael Grant, Meg Cabot, Laini Taylor, and nine more of the hottest YA authors to hit the shelves explore the concepts of prophecy and prediction in this story collection edited by NYT bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan.

Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It’s human nature to wonder about life’s twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life’s unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction’s brightest stars.

Does this Book Make Me Look Fat

Matt’s story “Last Red Light Before We’re There” is included in this anthology.

Book description:
How often do you find yourself looking in the mirror? And smiling at what you see?

More likely, you’re thinking what you see is: Fat, Ugly, Skinny, Round, Stacked or Flat, Bad or Good. From reality television to tabloid headlines, we’re all surrounded by weight and discussion of weight. In this collection, a stellar lineup of YA writers sound off on body image., self-esteem, diets, eating disorders, boys, fashion magazines, and why trying on jeans is a bad experience for everyone.

There are eight powerful short stories and six moving personal essays from authors whose works include two New York Times bestsellers, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and a Printz Honor; an appendix offers book, movie, and music recommendations. (And in case you’re still wondering, No this book does not make you look fat.)

Because of Shoe

Matt’s story “Things People Can’t See” is included in this anthology.

Description of book”
For young readers who have ever wanted, known or loved a dog, the short stories in this anthology evoke the full spectrum of endearing doggy traits! With stories ordered from easiest to most difficult to read, Because of Shoe and Other Dog Stories is a book for young readers of varying levels to enjoy.