Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

Joe is joined by Justin Nordell to discuss Peter S. Beagle's 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn , as well as Rankin and Bass' 1982 animated film, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. We talk about the kindertrauma of both texts, particularly the Harpy and the Red Bull characters, as well as the universality of searching for self-identity and losing yourself pretending to be something you're...

With Brenna taking a breather, Joe recruits former guest Jenn Adams to tackle director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's Netflix's '90s throw-back, Do Revenge. The Camila Mendes/Maya Hawke film is perfectly cast and feels extremely timely in its discussion about female friendship and the patriarchy, with plenty of commentary on race, class and queerness. Plus: spotting all of the YA homages, costume desi...

We hopping on the Lana Condor train for one last Spooky Season entry with Netflix's Boo, Bitch! Spoiler: the first half of the season is silly fun...then the back half happens. We're *extremely* annoyed at the "twist" (not a twist) that the creative team isn't really interested in exploring, how heavily prom and the idea of a high school legacy figure into the narrative and how grating Condor's Er...

Spooky season continues as Brenna and Joe tackle 2002's gothic vampire lesbian boarding school text The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein and its 2011 adaptation by Mary Harron. While we're intrigued by the unreliable unnamed narrator and the teen girl drama, Brenna is very frustrated by the book's Afterword, which eliminates all ambiguity. Joe is more receptive because of his familiarity with Carmilla...

We're back for another Banned Book discussion about Roald Dahl's The Witches (1963) which we've partnered with Nicolas Roeg's 1990 adaptation, as well as tangential conversation about Robert Zemeckis' 2020 film. Thanks to listener Miriam for contributing! Yes, this book was banned...for promoting witchcraft, not Dahl's anti-semitism, which we have to discuss <sigh>. It's such a shame because...

It's not often we get to a show just after it's been cancelled, but that's the sad situation here as we tackle Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's excellent feminist sci-fi comic series Paper Girls and Stephany Folsom's 2022 Amazon adaptation. We discuss how Vaughan has grown since Y: The Last Man (see previous episode), the perfectly 80s art, and the effortless representation. Then we praise the s...

It's week 2 of our coverage of Vampire Academy and we're ending with a whimper! The 2022 Peacock series by The Vampire Diaries co-creator Julie Plec and actress Marguerite MacIntyre is confusing, boring and poorly paced. Sure the people are pretty, but that isn't getting us through 50+ minute episodes of some of the worst world-building we've ever seen on a YA series. References: Joe's Bloody Disg...

With Brenna away one more week, Joe recruits recurring guest Jenny Nulf to gush over Zoey Deutch's star-making turn in Mark Waters' 2014 Vampire Academy . The film wisely eschews a ton of the mythology in author Richelle Mead's novel, though the mix of comedy, YA and horror don't always mesh well (looking at you, Claire Foy). Plus: the book's oh-so-2000s depiction of self-harm and slut shaming, th...

In Brenna's absence, Joe recruits Nichole Goble for a return to Sick Lit with Justin Baldoni's directorial debut, Five Feet Apart (2019) and its novelization by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis. This free flowing discussion tackles the depiction of CF in the film and the criticisms lobbied at both texts, which acknowledging that they did help to raise awareness of the disease. Plus...

Brenna's back! Eschewing our usual approach, Brenna catches Joe up about her tumultuous summer and her decision to make her Portfolio for Tenure & Promotion open to the public, which leads to a discussion about why transparency and failure is so important. Then we run down some significant YA texts to keep on your radar, including a few that we're very excited about! Wanna connect with the sho...

We're wrapping up Book Four with a very special guest: Dr. Debbie Reese joins us to discuss Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian . Since this is Banned Book Club, we're also pulling in responses from listeners Miriam and Victoria. Expects LOTS of discuss about Alexie as a problematic figure, whose writing is marketable to white settler audiences but whose personal and p...

It's time for a trans rom com...or is it? Joe is joined by guest Terry Mesnard to discuss Billy Porter's directorial debut, 'Anything's Possible' (2022) which tries to awkwardly marry fantasy and reality to mixed results. We really appreciate that the leads with great chemistry (we're swooning for Abubakr Ali) and that the film doesn't redeem its villains, but it feels like screenwriter Ximena Gar...

With Brenna taking a breather, Joe recruits former guest Jessica Scott to launch into space with Chris Winterbauer's old school rom-com 'Moonshot' (2022) starring Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor. The film is both funnier and more clever than we anticipated considering the title makes no sense and HBO Max film has no budget for Mars effects. Carried by the charm of its leads (albeit with no romantic c...

We're head over heels in love...with King Pun! This week we're talking Sammi Cohen's lesbian/bi romance film Crush (2022) which features tons of representation, but not enough kissing. The film isn't perfect, but it is very enjoyable and that's enough for us. Plus: loving the adult actors, Brenna's track and field experience, bad art, and the challenges of casting queer actors to play straight. Wa...

In advance of its fortieth anniversary, Brenna and Joe check out Amy Heckerling's 1982 film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High . We discuss Cameron Crowe's investigative reporting, what has - and hasn't - changed in YA in 40 years, why sex and abortion don't seem like a big deal in the early 80s, and the cast that almost was. Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Twitter @HKHSPod or use the hashtag...

Mind your Noise because we're headed to New World for a discussion of Patrick Ness' famed first novel in the Chaos Walking series, The Knife of Never Letting Go (2008), as well as Doug Liman's long-delayed 2021 adaptation. This one is a struggle: not only is there plenty of walking, but the repetitive writing, the whimper of a climax and the disinterest in exploring colonialism (despite introducin...

It's embiggen time as we tackle many volumes of G. Willow Wilson's Ms. Marvel , as well as the entire six episodes of Bisha K. Ali's Disney+ TV series. We're both BIG Kamala Khan fans, so we were psyched to discuss the Brown girl from Jersey City who saves the world. Talking points: why Kamala is such a great character and why Iman Vellani is perfect to play her, the series' focus on her family, B...

We're delighted to be tackling a new queer Canadian Indigenous film with Bretten Hannam's Wildhood (2021). Featuring great teen performances and picturesque Nova Scotia landscapes, this road trip movie about a pair of two-spirited Mi'kmaw boys is beautifully shot by cinematographer Guy Godfree (Giant Little Ones). We have some quibbles with the leisurely pacing, the sex scene and the arbitrary use...

It's time for a Brenna pick as we tackle Jandy Nelson's 2010 story of sibling grief, as well as Josephine Decker's 2022 adaptation. It's a bit magical, a bit too busy and filled with extremely messy characters who are grieving. The film is visually exciting, but sometimes feels at odds with its emotional resonance (and features no chemistry between either love pair). Overall: Brenna teared up and...

Wanna read/watch something gross? Well we have you covered! This month's Banned Book Club is tackling Charlotte Roche's notorious, controversial German bestseller Wetlands (2008) and David Wnendt's 2013 film adaptation. Using insights from Laura (who originally brought this to our attention), as well as Miriam, Juha, Victoria and Tea, Books & Chocolate, we tackle the gross out factor, ponder t...

It's the end of the road for Disney+ & Hulu's Love, Victor , which is sad and disappointing. Sad because Brenna, Joe and special guest Terry Mesnard still love these characters, and disappointing because this final season...isn't very good. Whether it was always designed to end here, these last eight episodes seem to forget basic plot and character beats from earlier seasons, particularly issu...

We're late to the party, but it's time to talk about the exceedingly cute Heartstopper , which has taken the world by storm! The family friendly queer Netflix juggernaut is adorkable in both comic and TV form, and while we take issue with the suggestion that this is an "ideal" for queer media depiction, the inclusion of a trans girl, male bisexuality and male eating disorders is important. Plus: T...

For the first time in the show's history, we travel to South America to discuss Netflix's Brazilian series Back To 15. The time travel series features likeable actors and a fun, Being Erica -esque premise about fixing the mistakes of the past, though it maintains too tight a focus on Anita at the expense of its more interesting supporting cast. We talk about the odd North American critiques of the...

Ohhh we're nervous for this one! We know that RJ Palacio's 2012 book Wonder and Stephen Chbosky's 2017 film adaptation have a lot of devoted fans and while we're able to acknowledge the light it has shone on disability, we have some pretty major reservations about the storytelling (in the book) and the casting (in the film). From Palacio's inspiration for the story (and the creation of her Wonder...

Write this in your diary: this month's Banned Book Club entry is Go Ask Alice , the 1970s "true story" and runaway bestseller that is completely and utterly ridiculous. We're not only making fun of Beatrice Sparks' lousy writing, but also how profiteering scheme. Listeners getting in on the fun and exasperation include Victoria, Miriam, Sophie, Gavin and Tea, Books & Chocolate who take note of...