20 upcoming YA books we can’t wait to read in 2020
By Lacy Baugher
My Calamity Jane – Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows
The third installment in the “Lady Janies” series from the superfriends team-up of YA authors that is Brodie Ashton, Cynthia Hand and Jodie Meadows is vaguely based on the life of infamous Wild West frontierswoman Martha Jane Canary, otherwise known as Calamity Jane. Readers familiar with the other two novels in this series, however, will already know that “vaguely based on” covers a lot of ground. My Lady Jane told the story of the historical Lady Jane Grey, but made her husband a magical being that turned into a horse every night. And while My Plain Jane offers up a new take on Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, it also works some ghosts and scares that were most definitely not in the original.
We can pretty much expect the same here, as My Calamity Jane will not just base its tale on the life of the real-life woman, but…throw in some werewolves at the same time. I mean…who among us hasn’t wondered what the Wild West might have looked like with werewolves.
The official synopsis has a few more details about what the story involves.
"Welcome to 1876 and a rootin’-tootin’ America bursting with gunslingers, outlaws, and garou. JANE (a genuine hero-eene). Calamity’s her name, and garou hunting’s her game—when she’s not starring in Wild Bill’s Traveling Show, that is. She reckons that if a girl wants to be a legend, she should just go ahead and be one. FRANK (*wolf whistle*). Frank “the Pistol Prince” Butler is the Wild West’s #1 bachelor. He’s also the best sharpshooter on both sides of the Mississippi, but he’s about to meet his match. . . . ANNIE (get your gun!). Annie Oakley (yep, that Annie) is lookin’ for a job, not a romance, but she can’t deny there’s something about Frank she likes. Really likes. Still, she’s pretty sure that anything he can do, she can do better. A HAIRY SITUATION. After a garou hunt goes south and Jane finds a suspicious-like bite on her arm, she turns tail for Deadwood, where there’s been talk of a garou cure. But things ain’t always what they seem—meaning the gang better hightail it after her before they’re a day late and a Jane short."
My Calamity Jane is available on June 2.