Podcasts and Young Adult Literature

Meet Our Contributor; Rebekah Buchanan

Rebekah Buchanan (she/her) is a Professor of English and Director of English Education at Western Illinois University and a former Roving Scholar Fulbrighter to Norway (2018-2019). Her research focuses on literacy practices and activism in youth culture, specifically through zines and music and rural teacher education. She has written extensively on popular culture in the classroom, youth’s out of school literacy practices, music-based pedagogy, and punk. She is currently the Vice Chair of NCTE’s The Rural Assembly on English Literacy and Language Education (TRAELLE). She is a host on New Books Network and contributes regularly to School Library Journal and Library Journal.

Podcasts and Young Adult Literature by Rebekah Buchanan

Podcasts are a great way to learn about new books and authors—both for yourself and your students. After a slight dip in 2022, the number of podcast listeners—and viewers—has steadily been on the rise. 58% of American’s have listened to at least one podcast a month so far in 2026—an all-time high. With the weekly podcast consumers at 130 million people, podcasts are becoming one of the fastest growing ways Americans consume their information and learn about the world. Even more interesting is that research shows that 64% of 12–34-year-olds are monthly podcast consumers. (Edison Research, 2026). Introducing students to podcasts about books allows them to hear from authors and explore genres and texts they might not have thought about reading before. It’s a platform they may already be using making it even easier for buy-in. 

There are many different podcasts that focus on talking with young adult authors and combining podcasts with audiobooks, whole class novels, choice reading, and even writing assignments like podcast reviews are great ways to bring podcasts about young adult books into the classroom. Penguin Teen has a well-established podcast, We Are YA. Book Riot’s podcast Hey YA brings news about things happening in the YA world. 88 Cups of Tea talks with writers about craft and has a series focused on young adult authors.
 
I wanted to also introduce you to a new podcast channel I host on New Books Network. “The New Books Network is a consortium of author-interview podcast channels dedicated to public education. Covering 100+ subjects, disciplines, and genres, we publish 70 to 100 episodes every week. The NBN reaches about half a million people every month; NBN listeners download close to 1 million episodes a month.”
 
Recently, New Books Network launched a channel for Young Adult Literature. On the channel I talk with authors about their books, writing process, and inspirations. The channel just started in April, but I’ve had the chance to talk with some great debut authors as well as more established young adult writers. Since many of us are getting ready to return to the classroom and share summer reads and books we hope will inspire readers, I want to highlight some of my favorite debuts that might interest you and your students and some favorite interviews you might enjoy. 

A Few Debuts

Brianna Jett’s Under a Carnivore Sky is a beautiful novel in verse. Sixteen-year-old Lili is a hunter in search of the monster who lives in the carnivorous swamp bordering her town. As long as the monster lives, it steals pieces of flesh from the adults of her town and until it can be stopped the town remains cursed by the monster. Lili meets Caleb who is desperate to escape the town and who will map the swamp for her as long as she helps him find a way out. Jett tackles themes of forgiveness, fear, and the price of hiding secrets. I especially enjoyed talking with Brianna about how much I loved the monster. 

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Inspired by a Moroccan folktale, Loretta Chefchaouni’s The Lustrous Dark introduces readers to Shay, they young protagonist training to be a midwife’s apprentice. In search of learning more about her past, Shay discovers her mother did not die but is instead addicted to the magical drug Snow. Betrayed by her birth mother, Shay must rely on a band of misfit ghouls to lead her to safety as she learns more about those in power in her world who control the magic and the revolution who want to eliminate it. As she finds her way through the forest with her new friends, she discovers herself and her newfound beliefs about her world and those in power. Chefchaouni uses this engaging fantasy novel to address addiction, family dynamics, political injustices and oppression, and feminism. We chatted about using fantasy to address these topics as well as the Moroccan inspirations in the novel. 

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L.L. Madrid’s My Lips, Her Voice is a dual voice novel where small town ghost stories and rumors of serial killers haunt a community. Cousins Audrey and Mara are not close Audrey wants to stay in the small town of Copper City while Mara can’t wait to leave. But, when Mara’s body is discovered in the town’s old mine and Mara’s spirit returns with the ability to hijack Audrey’s body at will, the two must learn to “live” together in Audrey to find out the town’s secrets. Audrey and Mara must work together to find the latest missing girl before it’s too late. Madrid brings readers into the world of the twins, Mara struggling to reclaim some of the life she once had and Audrey fighting for her own bodily autonomy. The novel combines horror and mystery with themes of generational trauma, LGBTQ love, town secrets, and supernatural abilities. Leigh and I talked about rural communities and writing horror. 

Some Favorites from Established Authors

There are so many fabulous authors out there. I loved talking with Jason Reynolds about Soundtrack. We might have gone down a bit of a music rabbit hole if you want to hear us geek out about it.
 
I’m a sucker for a good mystery. Plus, my love for Lois Duncan novels draws me to anything involving high school and murder. Lish McBride’s Most Likely to Murder has the best high school yearbook superlatives ever. 
 
Two books that I loved that brought art and art history to the classroom are Sayantani DasGupta’s latest middle grades Theft of the Ruby Lotus that is a love letter to New York, museums, and immigrant families and Elana K. Arnold’s haunting Holloway with an autistic protagonist who travels to France during World War II and learns of art, love, and acceptance.
 
Jilanne Hoffman and I talked about her middle grades Heartland and writing about the rural Midwest, environmental justice, family farming, and alternating timelines. We have a shared appreciation for how the farm crisis of the 1980s has made a lasting impact on current farming and our love for the Chicago Cubs.
 
Author and illustrator LeUyen Pham talked with me about the process of illustrating graphic novels with writing by Jennifer Lee and Gene Yang. Students interested in illustrating and graphic novel and picture books are structured will love this conversation. 

There are many podcasts out there. The Young Adult channel on New Books Network is just one. Find one you enjoy, subscribe to it, and find more books to add to that ever-growing TBR shelf. 

Citations

Edison Research. The Podcast Consumer 2026. (June 4, 2026). https://www.edisonresearch.com/the-podcast-consumer-2026/.