Hazel & Katniss & Harry & Starr

When we said we wanted more female stories in YA, this isn't *exactly* what we meant. Sadly Gloeckner's autobiographical comic/memoir is a misfire for us from both a storytelling and content perspective. Heller's film is a stronger, more streamlined approach but it features a distractingly beautiful Alexander Skarsgård in what is meant to be a frumpy, middle-aged man role.

Up for discussion: why is this book praised for being daring (primarily by men)? Is the film's use of animation a success? 

Plus: praise for Bel Powley in her big break through performance and lots of Brenna sighing!

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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After bringing this bizarre oddity to our attention, we invite returning guest Lucia Lorenzi to chat with us about just what creators Keetgi Kogan and David H. Steinberg are trying to do with the series (spoiler: they think they're making ground breaking television). 

Nothing about this makes sense, and yet the series is compulsively watchable thanks to performances by Siena Agudong, Melissa Joan Hart and Sean Astin (alas they're all performing in completely different shows!). Throw in hugely problematic portrayals of child abuse, horrible foster care, jailhouse beat-downs, upper/middle class privilege, and the show's performative us of "Italian" as a tactic to avoid addressing race and No Good Nick is quite possibly the weirdest text we've ever covered!

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote
• Lucia: @empathywarrior

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

Perhaps the second time is the charm? After a *not great* experience  with Yoon's first book Everything, Everything (see previous episode), Brenna and Joe tackle her most recent text, which balances a timely discussion and racism, immigration and deportation with a falling-in-love-in-one-day perfect date. 

Brenna is much more in favour of the book, especially Natasha's Jamaican background and Yoon's playful side-story telling. Joe is less enthused with Daniel's Korean storyline, which he argues feels too familiar, as well as the narrative confines of the single day premise. 

What we can both agree upon is that the film, particularly Tracy Oliver's screenplay, fundamentally misunderstands the book. Despite Russo-Young (previous episode Before I Fall)'s gorgeous lensing of New York, the film proves to be a misfire due to a lack of chemistry between leads Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton, its issues with colourism casting and the fumbling of the book's key Karaoke scene.

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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In addition to checking out the New YA film, which apparently has no idea how universities work, Brenna forgets our most covered actress Theresa Palmer, but did read a German poem (all 14 stanzas).

In other news, we address some more reader mail, address our plans to include an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement (coming in two weeks) and review some homework:

• Brenna: The new Apple TV Ghostwriter and Marieke Nijkamp's This Is Where It Ends
• Joe: Angie Thomas' On The Come Up

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

Are you a Claudia, a Kristy, a Mary Anne, a Stacey, or a Dawn? Brenna certainly has her dream answer (and her reality) as we nostalgically revisit one of the most enduring YA series of the 90s. As a novice to the series, Brenna walks Joe through the format of each book, why these characters played such a significant role in her life and why Logan is so dreadful!

Questions for discussion include whether the Netflix revival should have wrapped after 8 episodes instead of 10 and why Alicia Silverstone is such an asset as Kristy's mom. Plus: which episodes/plot lines made us cry? Why the series is libel to be called "woke" and why that's not a bad thing and the unexpected queerness of the text.

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!  

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

Thanks to Covid, the typically hopping summer book release schedule has shifted to September, but we've still come up with some great picks to occupy your time.

After some feedback on racial stereotypes in Never Have I Ever, we tackle Indigenous and lesbian book recommendations:

Indigenous:

• Rhymes for Young Ghouls (dir: Jeff Barnaby, 2013)
• #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women, Edited by Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale
• Honourable mentions: A Girl Called Echo // The Marrow Thieves // Surviving the City

Lesbian:

• You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson
• The Henna Wars by Abida Jaigirdar
• Honourable mentions:  Dark & Deepest Red // Hot Dog Girl

Then it's time for the main event, our anticipated July/August 2020 books.

Brenna:

• The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert (July 7)
• Loveless by Alice Oseman (July 9 - UK/Canada)
• Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner (August 18)
• Reminders: Faith by Julie Murphy (July 7) // Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson (Sept 15)

Joe:

• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron (July 7)
• Now That I’ve Found You by Kristina Forest (Aug 25)
• Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (Sept 1)
• Honourable mention: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (Aug 25)

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

In a freewheeling discussion that can't help but address J.K. Rowling's recent transphobic comments, we also tackle the need for critical fandom, as well as Chamber of Secrets’ fat phobia and obsession with blood purity. 

Also on the table: Why Gilderoy Lockhart is an obvious villain in the Rowling tradition and speculation about his real reason for joining Hogwart’s as the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher.

Plus: how to define Easter Eggs (they're not synonymous with retconning!), how magic resembles close readings and  and why we should appreciate the film's set design - and Jason Isaacs - more.

Here is a brief (incomplete list) of trans and non-binary authors to support:

• Ronnie Mandias: Runebound
• Sara Codair: The Evanstar Chronicles
• Everett Maroon: The Unintentional Time Traveler
• April Daniels: Dreadnought
• Aiden Thomas: Cemetery Boys
• Kai Cheng Thom: Fierce Femmes
• Ivan Coyote: Rebent Sinner
• Mason Deaver: I Wish You All The Best
• Fox Benwell: Kaleidoscope Song; and finally
• The Gayly Prophet Podcast

And search #BlackTransLivesMatter #BlackTransCrowdfund #BlackDisabledLivesMatter hashtags and donate to CanadaHelps.org

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote
• Hannah: @hkpmcgregor

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

Brenna and Joe - with special returning guest star Terry Mesnard (of Gayly Dreadful) - check out the first season of Disney+...er...Hulu's Love, Victor. 

We're primarily discussing the first five episodes (with helpful hints from Brenna, who watched the whole series) which follows new transfer student Victor (cutie Michael Cimino) who immediately falls into a love triangle with uber-popular Mia (Rachel Hilson) and  publicly-out barista Benji (George Sear).

Oh if only the series were just about them! Alas, there's another half dozen characters, each of whom has their own storyline and arc, including Victor's parents (James Martinez and Ana Ortiz) and Mia's dad (Mekhi Phifer)!  This is a series that's doing plenty of good things, but it's also overstuffed, surprisingly tame considering Disney+'s weirdly conservative decision to move it to Hulu and sadly averse to featuring predominantly queer musicians.

In short: we have THOUGHTS!

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote
• Terry: @gaylydreadful

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

Oh for the love of Judi Dench, what is going on here?! Brenna and Joe tackle the character-lite, action-heavy world of villainous child genius Artemis Fowl as he kidnaps, blackmails and holds for ransom the Fairies. It's a tale as old as time...but one we struggle to connect to.

Of course, our *shrug* for the book pales in comparison to the WOOF of the film, which may just be one of the worst films we've covered on the Pod!

Which brings us to a complicated discussion (involving our first bad review, no less!) as we work through the need to distinguish "hating" books we dislike and "critically" addressing them.  

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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

At the behest of critics (and a few listeners), we dive into Never Have I Ever, which has a great lead performance by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as a grief-stricken teen who directs her energy into becoming popular and having sex.

We discuss the cultural comedy, the show's nuanced treatment of female agency, and debate the mother/daughter relationship. We also have some strong thoughts about what's not working, including the best friends playing stock caricatures and that voice over by famed tennis star, John McEnroe.

In homework: Joe checks out "Spanish Gossip Girl" series Elite (also on Netflix) and Brenna reads through listener emails, including a call for resources for a UK Librarian.

Links: 

• We Need Diverse Books
• American Indians in Children's Literature
• The Festival of Literary Diversity (The Fold)

Wanna connect with the show? Use #HKHSPod on Twitter:

• Brenna: @brennacgray
• Joe: @bstolemyremote

Have something longer to say or a minisode topic? Email us at [email protected]. See you on the page and on the screen!

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