Recent Links Recap 26th April - 2nd May

Tickets are on sale for YA Shot! I'll be there, along with my amazing friend Grace - will you be joining us? And as well as a lot of amazing authors announced, the blogging/vlogging workshops this year look superb! Also you should check out Grace's #AskGracie blog post as it is AWESOME.

Speaking of bloggers, the UKYA Book Blogger awards are back, with the lovely Luna of Luna's Little Library taking over from fabulous Faye, who did an amazing job hosting last year!

It was a huge week for YA event announcements, with YA Shot's box office opening and YALC announcing their final authors - hugely excited that Alice Oseman, Lauren James, Lucy Ivison, Tom Ellen, Sophia Bennett, Keren David and Keris Stainton, amongst others, have been added to a stunning line-up! Also, the Harry Potter Party in conjunction with MuggleNet - definitely a highlight of last year! - will return.

Con or Bust, who help POC/nonwhite/BAME fans get to conventions, are holding an awesome auction at the moment.

Also, it was amazing to see the YA community rally around Vee to get them to BEA! Vee, a non-binary teen who tweets as @findmereading and founded the exceptional Gay YA, set up a GoFundMe to try and raise money to get to the convention after circumstances changed. Vee is a carer for their mother which has made it difficult for them to get a job, but the work they've put into Gay YA is absolutely incredible and I'm so glad that people have seen how important they, and the site, are to the community and responded by donating so much. Check out Vee's thank you post here.

There's a fantastic Guardian piece by Holly Smale on why children's and YA books need darkness AND light. And a superb piece on whether it's normal to have sex when you don't want to on the Mail website from Holly Bourne. Plus, I loved this Non Pratt post on Author Allsorts talking about 'show don't tell'. Plus a fabulous author spotlight/interview with Meredith Russo, author of the WONDERFUL If I Was Your Girl, on Dahlia Adler's LGBTQ Reads.  Also on LGBTQ Reads, the first Around The Blogosqueer, with the wonderful Lauren James! And loving Dahlia's Storify of her 'editing without much time' tips. Plus really awesome contemporary recommendations here from Lying About Last Summer author Sue Wallman on my friend Debbie's brilliant Snuggling on the Sofa blog!

The Pride and Prejudice colouring book from Little Tiger looks gorgeous! Do you want to win it? Check out fabulous competitions hosted by Stacey at Pretty Books, and by Maximum Pop

There's still time to sign up for the TommyvsCancer blog tour in June, to support Tommy Donbavand.

I love this Bustle piece on Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda, (rightly!) calling it the one YA novel every Hufflepuff should read.

I was SO THRILLED to interview Maggie Stiefvater to hear about The Raven King, released last week!

Sci-fi fans, don't miss Jeff Norton's Star Pressed! I haven't read yet, but it sounds very cool, and is on Wattpad in its entirety.

Away from books, a brilliant Frankie Boyle piece on the importance of the NHS in the Guardian. Also on health, a must-read Safe Space post by Laura on antidepressants and how much they've helped her. As well, on Safe Space, a really stunning post from Jess on reclaiming herself, one strand at a time - about her new haircut, and recovering from an abusive relationship.

I don't tend to watch videos that often on YouTube, but this from Jen Campbell on ableism and minority representation is hugely important.

And a final reminder, we'll be packing up Illumicrate soon ready to send out! If you want a May box, subscribe now - don't wait - there weren't many left last time I checked! (And that was a couple of days ago.)

Any other fantastic posts over the last week or so that I've missed? Let me know in the comments!