Like most authors who used to be booksellers, I never shut the fuck up about having been a bookseller, (you can take the bookseller out of the bookstore, but I’ll never stop handselling, etc.) but truly this is the personalized list I was born to make.
Listen. Not all the characters on Yellowjackets seem like big readers. But that doesn’t scare me. I’ve rustled up a recommendation for each of them that I know would be their next favorite book. Or, if not their favorite book, the book they really need to read. I am so confident in this list that I think the teens would like the books I chose for them even when they aren’t stuck in a cabin with no books or music or TV or deli meat.
Teen Shauna should read… These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Teen Shauna is smart. She needs a YA book that’s gonna treat her intellect to some global politics, some economics, some thought on colonialism, yet still deliver the goods on a page-turning, propulsive plot with all the gory death, murder, smooching and swooning that she deserves. I feel like I’d hand Teen Shauna These Violent Delights, and she’d look at me like I was stupid and be like I’ve read Romeo and Juliet you know, but then two days later she’d pull me aside and be like… can I have the sequel, though?
Teen Misty should read… Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol
Anya is desperate for a friend. And so when a ghost finds her and befriends her, she’s totally down. But things are not quite what she might hope for between her and her spooky new pal, and Anya has to make some tough decisions, and also learn to respect herself. Teen Misty would, I think, find a lot to empathize with, both from Anya and her ghost. And maybe it’d help her feel a little less alone, a little less desperate to belong to those who do not love you for you. Maybe.
Teen Taissa should read… Artie and the Wolf Moon by Olivia Stephens
Artie is a kid with wolf-like talents in a family of werewolves, who are too complex and too interesting to be defined by their monstrousness. The emotional pitch of her story is grounded in reality, even as paranormal elements run wild. I think Taissa would be into that. I’d hand her this book and she’d be like, Lady, I read Toni Morrison, I don’t need this. And I’d be like I know, I know, but give this a go. And she’d roll her eyes and refuse to even take it from my hand. But then, later, I’d find her copy dog eared and loved, spine broken.
Teen Natalie should read… Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Teen Natalie thrives when she feels like she’d had purpose. And what better purpose could there be than revenge? This book moves at the kind of clip that even a kid with access to drugs will get into, and enough complexity to honor the vastness of Teen Natalie’s emotional life. Plus, it’s deeply horny. And I feel like Teen Natalie would appreciate that. It wouldn’t be the number one reason she loved the book, but it’d be ONE of the reasons she loved the book.
Teen Lottie should read… Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
“The first step to seeing is seeing that there are things you do not see.” Jam may live in what she’s been told is a utopia, but there are shadows and monsters afoot, and things she’s been told are for good are not what they seem. Maybe Teen Lottie could learn a little from that. Maybe Pet would help her see that not all power is good. Maybe if she could consider her world more from the perspective of restorative justice, she would muster the strength to acknowledge some of the great injustices of her life, and also move past the place where she feels like it’s solely her role to fix all those injustices for everyone else.
Teen Van should read… On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
I would take Teen Van’s hand and be like, look. You deserve better. Than the way you’ve been treated by your family, than what’s happened to you, than being the night guard for the girl you love. You deserve to be rescued for once, instead of doing the rescuing. You deserve to be loved. And you deserve to read books that are fun and will make you feel good, and still speak to this kid who’s had to be so much more than she should have had to. And when that didn’t get a response from her, I’d be like, this is about teen lesbians in space and she’d be sold.
Teen Jackie should read… All of us Villains by Amanda Foody and CL Herman
Oh Teen Jackie. All your life, people have been telling you that you’re special because you’re pretty and popular and good at sports. And I don’t mean to make you feel bad, Teen Jackie, it’s just that there’s more you need to know. That sometimes, that kind of special is hollow. That sometimes life is going to ask so much more of you. And that, in some people’s stories, the YOU character? Isn’t the hero. She’s the villain. I genuinely wonder what Teen Jackie would be like if she didn’t expect herself to be the hero. What she might be like if she understood that likeability isn’t everything. Maybe it would have set her free. I definitely think it would have kept her in the warmth of the cabin that night.
Teen Travis should read… Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith
Travis, bless him, is kind of a ding dong. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an expansive and complex emotional life– it just means he’s got layers. And I think he deserves a book that will honor the experience of a lovable idiot who feels deeply, while also treating him to the giant man-eating bugs that will keep him interested. And listen, if he learns a little bit along the way, about being himself or about being a stupid horny boy who can still manage to be a good person, who are we to stand in his way? UNSTOPPABLE CORN!
Coach should read… Out of the Blue by Jason June
Listen, it’s just a matter of time before the girls eat Coach. We all know it. He may be down a hunk of good leg meat, but there’s still plenty of protein on them bones. And even before crashing in the wilderness, he wasn’t living his best life. So before he dies, he deserves to read something light and fun and deeply, unapologetically gay. And what better book to do that with than Out of the Blue? Coach deserves some wholesome romance, a charming mer, and some very much so on the page sex stuff. He deserves a world entirely populated by LGBTQ characters. And as an added bonus, it starts after a breakup, something Coach has just experienced himself.
Adult Shauna should read… Maw by Jude Ellison S. Doyle and A.L. Kaplan
I have never been more right about anything in my whole life as I am about Adult Shauna needing to read Maw. It’s basically her unauthorized biography, but with a literal monster instead of a figurative one. Traumas of the past being unearthed? Sisterly bonds? A righteous and terrible anger that’s impossible to keep bottled up inside? Can’t imagine anyone who might relate to all those elements! I feel like if I handed this book to Adult Shauna, she might actually attend a real book club instead of having an ill-fated affair. Or, at the very least, she’d make time for both.
Adult Taissa should read… The Devil in Silver by Victor Lavalle
Pepper’s been put in a mental hospital for what he’s told will be 72 hours following his arrest. But the hours turn into weeks, turn into months, and as Pepper begins to understand his new home, we begin to understand Pepper more. He’s the best kind of unreliable narrator, something Adult Taissa can definitely understand. But I think Adult Taissa would also be super down to examine the systemic failures when it comes to the treatment of mental health in our country, especially where they intersect with race. Maybe she could make it part of her next campaign.
Adult Misty should read… Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
I’m not saying Adult Misty and Ivy Gamble are the same person per se. But I am saying that Ivy and Adult Misty both are born detectives who desperately want and need to feel loved and special and like they belong. And they both lie, perhaps a little too easily. Ok sure, Adult Misty is a murderer and Ivy isn’t but you don’t need the protagonist to be a one-to-one in order to feel empathy with them. It might be nice for Adult Misty to read about someone with some of the same faults but who is, at her core, actually a good person.
Adult Natalie should read… Shutter by Ramona Emerson
Adult Natalie has seen some shit, and so has our protagonist, Rita Todacheene, a police crime scene reporter. Shutter is part thriller, part horror, and part coming of age story. It’s packed full of ghosts and real life monsters and the echoes that reverberate from our childhoods into our adult lives. I think Adult Natalie will empathize with Rita, enjoy the spooky bits, cackle when the plot gets particularly gory, and ultimately feel marginally less alone. Because, actually? She’s not the only one who’s seen some shit.
Adult Van should read… My Heart is a Chainsaw and Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones
Jade Daniels is Adult Van’s final girl. She hasn’t said that on the show, but it’s my head canon. Because Adult Van was raised by VHS tapes and real life horror. Because Adult Van would love to see a young woman who thinks she isn’t shit be the hero we all know she is. Because just like Jade, Adult Van has a big heart and a smart mouth. And listen, I know Yellowjackets isn’t a slasher, I know we’re not in a final girl situation here. But if we were? I’d be rooting for Adult Van, just like I did for Jade Daniels.
Adult Charlotte should read… First, Become Ashes by KM Szpara
What do you recommend to the cult leader who (is telling everyone) she has it all? Welp, you hand her a copy of First, Become Ashes by KM Sparza, and you say listen here my good bitch, it’s dangerous to be like, too committed. It’s necessary to question. And maybe like, I don’t know, go the GOOP route instead with your seemingly endless inherited wealth. I think this book would make her angry, might even hurt her feelings, which isn’t usually my goal in gift giving books. But in this case, I’d make an exception.
Jeff — THERE’S NO BOOKCLUB???
Oh Jeff. Jeffy-Poo. My sweet little cream puff cursed with sentience. You have. So much homework to do. Like, I know you’d probably LIKE to read something like The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, about a guy who’s improbably good at everything and saves the day– it’s a fun book and you’d like it. But that’s not what you need, baby. You need to be reminded of your own irrelevance, of your smallness in the world. You need to read The Road to Nowhere series by Meg Elison. You need to read Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder and The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey so you can even start to see the vast emotional and monstrous life your wife contains inside her, and her unending disappointment in you. You need to read The Girls Are All So Nice Here by LE Flynn, and you know what fuck it, you need to read mine and Lisa Sterle’s book, Squad, to look full in the face the incredible power and cruelty that can define a teen girl’s life, and the awful effects of rape culture. Oh you thought I forgot that you told Jackie you’d dump her if she didn’t put out? I NEVER FORGET JEFF. You need to read We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, you need to read Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz, and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. You need to read Parable of the Sower and then, even though you’re still reeling, you have to read Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler right after. And while you’re at it, read every single one of the books I recommended to each of the other characters in this list. Yeah Jeff, I get it, your book stack is tall, I don’t give a shit, Jeff! ‘Oh you’re just using me as a proxy for every cishetero white dude who’s even let you down,’ WHATEVER JEFF. Now go get a library card because we all know you don’t have one already.
Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from USF. She is the author of the 2017 Parent’s Choice Gold Medal winning picture book, Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is her debut young adult novel, which was an NPR, Kirkus, School Library Journal and Book Page Best Book of 2020. Its sequel, The Siren, The Song and The Spy comes out September 2023. Her graphic novel, Squad, is an Ignyte and Locus Award nominated comic book, and her newest picture book, Love in the Library, has been named a Best Picture Book of 2022 by Book Page, School Library Journal, Booklist, and Publisher’s Weekly. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, children, and objectively perfect dog.
