Local YA Novels Tell San Francisco Stories

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KQED

News Commentary, News, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 6 March 2026

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

First-time YA novelists René Peña-Govea and Susie Nadler are both school librarians living in the Bay Area. Thus, it is no surprise that in their publishing debuts, San Francisco serves as both a setting and a character. Peña-Govea’s book, “Estela, Undrowning” follows the novel’s namesake as she navigates the pressures of an elite public high school, college admissions, and her family’s pending eviction. And in “Lies We Tell About the Stars,” Nadler tells the story of a young woman living in the aftermath of a major earthquake and the loss of her best friend. We talk to the authors about writing for young adults, how the Bay Area influences their work and how to keep young people reading. Guests: René Peña-Govea, teacher librarian; author, "Estela, Undrowning" Susie Nadler, school librarian; author, "Lies We Tell About the Stars" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:18.1	Introducing Young Sherlock, a new Guy Ritchie series.
0:21.8	What game I would claim today?
0:23.3	Discover the origins.
0:24.6	It's cleaving.
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0:26.8	Of crime's most iconic mind.
0:29.0	There has been a break-in.
0:31.3	Astoned.
0:32.1	You should be a detective.
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0:45.7	From KQED.
0:48.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:50.9	We're talking with two first-time Y-A novelists who take up San Francisco
0:57.0	as setting and character. Renee Pena Govea's book, Estella Undrowning, follows the novel's
	...

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