Makenzie Halbert Howen Podcasts

We’re back with one of our last episodes of Shelf-Involved (for now). We’re taking a break and will be back in a few months with a new podcast, Hardship & Hemlock: Revisiting the Dear America Series, focusing on a middle grade series that has has a hold on us since age 8. We’re really excited to get into these books and see what has (and has not ) …

This week we’re talking about teen chefs, a title that was meant to never see the light of day, but here we are. Teens who cook, teens who are good at cooking—we don’t know. But we love these books, for reasons both delicious and personal.By Shelf-Involved

We’re back to talk about your favorite hot topic: cancel culture! Does it exist? Is it bad? Does it happen to teens? Let’s get into it.By Shelf-Involved

This week we're talking about the first book in our Season 5 Book Club: Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. This incredible memoir, that reads more like an epic, is unbelievable, and we think everyone should read it.By Shelf-Involved

This week we’re talking about climate change in YA, otherwise known as climate fiction—Cli-Fi, if you will. It’s a cool fun topic! Get excited. But seriously, we actually really enjoy the thoughtful ways these books deal with a reality that’s pretty hard to not think about it.

This week, it’s just Emily! We’re trying something new this week that we’re calling Close Reads. And Emily is talking about one of her favorite books, but not in an effort to get you to read it. We’re getting a bit more personal with this series, opening up about why our favorite books mean so much to us, how our conception of them has changed over…

This week we’re talking about what ifs in YA — sliding doors, alternate timelines, the flip of a coin, we want it all. And the books we talk about do really interesting things with this beloved tropeBy Shelf-Involved

Way back in season 3 we gave you a list of our favorite spooky YA books, and now we have a whole new set of recommendations to get you in the spirit of spooky season. We love these books and even if you're not a horror fan, there are a few lightly-spooky, not too intense options on the list. And one that we both absolutely had to stop reading late …

This week we're talking about grudges and the way this is used as a satisfying (and redemptive) plot device in YA.By Shelf-Involved

This week we’re talking about teens abroad! We’re looking at studying abroad and the interesting fish out of water trope combined with being a teen in decidedly adult situations. How thrilling! We also talk about the delightful ways in which this subgenre has developed and become more grounded in recent years.…

We’re back for season 5 (what? how?). And we’re here, of course, with a list of all the books we read over the break that we’ve been dying to talk to you all about.By Shelf-Involved

It's our last episode of season 4! But before we go on break and read things other than YA (but let's be honest, still lots of YA), we're here to give you a whole list of books to keep you busy this summer. You know how much we love a seasonal read.By Shelf-Involved

This week, we’re catching up again and reading Francesca Lia Block’s cult classic, Weetzie Bat. This book was a wild ride, and some things we loved and others we weren’t too thrilled about.By Shelf-Involved

This week we’re talking about purity culture in YA and barely concealing our rage about how this culture, specifically in the Christian church, harms young people, especially girls and queer kids. It’s bad! We have a lot of thoughts, and we get into a little bit why this is such a personal issue for us. As always, we have some great thought-provoki…

This week we're talking about our favorite Shakespeare retellings in YA. These are stories that have retold for hundreds of years, but our favorites are (unsurprisingly) the ones that put a spin on the narrative and place the marginalized or ignored characters center stage (get it, because Shakespeare was a playwright? I'm so sorry). We love the Ba…

We’re back with our final book club discussion of season 4, and we’re so excited to talk about Nina LaCour’s latest novel, Watch Over Me.By Shelf-Involved

This week we're talking about some of our favorite books where the main character is an athlete. We think this is super interesting, and it inherently plays into all sorts of things like class, privilege, and more. And Kenzie gets in her feelings about the belonging that comes from being a part of a team.…

This week we’re talking about disability representation in YA. Most of these books are own voices stories about disabilities both visible and invisible, and we learned a lot about the harmful effects of casual (and overt) ableism and the importance of this kind of representation. As always, if we missed a big one, send us your recommendations!…

This week we're talking about comedy in YA, and not just hilarious books but books that deal significantly with comedy as an art form. We're talking teen stand-ups and improv summer camps, and Kenzie reveals her deep obsession with comedian memoirs.

This week we’re talking about food in YA and how we love learning about characters, families, and cultures through the food they make. We also talk about why we love this so much and how food in YA has changed over the last ten years and memorable food moments from books when we were kids.By Shelf-Involved

We're talking some of our favorite stories of heartbreak in YA. Almost all YA books have that moment, that chapter near the end of the book where the main character has no friends, no love, real dark night of the soul stuff, but in this episode, we're looking specifically at stories that deal with the aftermath and consequences of real, lasting hea…

This week we’re talking about the American dream, the idea that America is the place where your dreams of success and prosperity will come true if only you work hard enough. We think this idea is only true/accessible for select few Americans, and we look at a few YA books that dismantle this idea.By Shelf-Involved

We're here with a list of some seriously excellent fantasy novels from a diverse group of YA authors. We think there's so much to be gained from fantasy stories that are a departure from the traditions of the genre (we're looking at you, old white men from England), and these are some of our favorites.…

This week we are talking about inclusive romances, just in time for the end of inside season! It’s cold! Stay inside and read these books that we promise will warm your heart. In this episode, we’re looking specifically at books featuring protagonists and love interests that have traditionally been excluded from the romance genre. Of course, they a…

We’re back with another book club episode discussing one of our favorite books of 2020. Sia Martinez is a gorgeously written, genre-bending work of genius. The pitch for this book might seem like there's too much going on, but we promise that Gilliland is a master, who expertly weaves in different genres and plot lines and delivers a complex and un…