Brenna and Joe get a head start on the new year with a slightly tweaked weekly format.

This week we're talking about Karen Cushman's award-winning novel Catherine, Called Birdy (1994) about a headstrong 14 year old Lady in the Middle Ages who refuses to marry.

Plus: the pros and cons of using diary entries as a narrative structure, eel pies, and plenty of women's issues

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected] 

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird” 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our annual holiday episode is on the collaboratively written novel Whiteout (2022). Featuring an all-star line-up that includes Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon, Brenna, Joe and listener Tea, Books & Chocolate are left wondering: why is this so...slight?

Plus: great representation, debating distinct voices, comparisons to Love, Actually, and a tease for what's to come in January.

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe respond to non-binary listener Kai's thoughtful feedback about the nuance we missed in our discussion of I Wish You All The Best, as well Tea, Books & Chocolate's request to cover Heated Rivalry, the new Canadian romance series about queer hockey players

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected] 

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird” 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As promised, Brenna and Joe return to finish the remainder of S01 of Skam.

Obviously we're appreciative of listeners' demands we do so because we *love* Noora and Sana.

Plus: thoughts on Eva's S01 evolution, Vilde's pregnancy vs disordered eating storyline, the tease of Isak's queerness, and wanting more of girl Chris

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for another Twilight saga as guest Jenny Leigh joins Brenna and Joe to once again discuss a Stephenie Meyer text.

This time it's a wedding, an island named after mom, furniture breaking sex, instant Mormon pregnancy and Bella's super gaunt face.

That's right: it's Breaking Dawn: Part 1!

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

> Jenny: @jennyleighx33

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to a recommendation from listener Andrew, we're checking out non-binary author Mason Deaver's 2019 book I Wish You All The Best and transwoman Tommy Dorfman's 2024 film adaptation.

This is an interesting pair: they're each doing things that the other isn't (for better *and* for worse), including a fantasy ending and a welcome focus on therapy in the book and acknowledging queerness more quickly and an intimate ending for the film.

Plus: soliciting feedback from non-binary listeners, shifting genres from book to film, and feeling frustrated by Ben's passivity

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question or a response to Dec's Book Club pick, Whiteout? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe wrap up another scary season with a look at Adam Cesare's YA slasher Clown in a Cornfield (2020) and Eli Craig's 2025 film adaptation.

Joe is a big fan of both texts: they each deftly balance comedy and horror, along with some surprising subversions, such as the killer reveal and the queer relationship between Cole and Rust.

Brenna likes the comedy of the film, including the kills (!), though there are a few issues with performance, the supernatural bent of the adults' motivations, and the ending lacking an old man on a plane. Overall, though: these are solid!

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question or a response to December's Book Club pick, Whiteout (2022)? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird” 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh my gosh, we get it: YOU LIKE SKAM!

We have *never* gotten as much listener mail as we did for episodes 1-2 of Skam S01, so thank you to listeners Reuben, Earl, Charlotte, Anne, and Alex, who touch on everything from the release pattern of the show, other countries' entries, the meaning of the bus, fave characters we haven't met, and why we need to cover more.

Plus: our December Book Club book has been announced and Brenna has selected Whiteout (2022) written by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe kick off scary season with Norman Partridge's 2007 Stoker award winning novel Dark Harvest and David Slade's 2023 adaptation.

The book isn't exactly YA (and intriguingly features a second person narrator), but it mostly works as a Vietnam war allegory.

The film has elements of camp and great practical FX, though its incredibly grim ending doesn't entirely satisfy.

Overall, though, this is a great start to our annual creepy tradition!

While Brenna may be disappointed that the film doesn't exactly feature a pumpkinhead creature

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brenna and Joe unofficially wrap up summer with Sasha Nathani's feature directorial debut Last Swim (2024). The UK film is about Ziba (Deba Hakmat), a girl with an undisclosed terminal disease, who plots one perfect day with her friends.

It's beautiful, intimate, has a great friend group and secretly does a great job of addressing class and race.

Wanna connect with the show? Follow us on Instagram and BlueSky @HKHSPod or use the hashtag #HKHSPod:

> Brenna: @brennacgray

> Joe: @bstolemyremote (Instagram) or @joelipsett (BlueSky)

Have a mail bag question? Email us at [email protected]  

Theme music: Letra “Like A Bird”  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.