David and Nicola Yoon launch YA imprint for people of colour

NEW YORK — Bestselling authors David and Nicola Yoon are launching a Random House Children’s Books imprint for young adult romance novels by and about people of colour. They are calling the imprint Joy Revolution and plan to release the first books in 2022.

“I loved romantic comedies and romance novels when I was younger. Loved the meet-cutes, the breakups, the make-ups, and the final chase scene followed by the big speech declaring one person’s love for the other,” Nicola Yoon said in a statement Thursday, citing such films as “Moonstruck” and “The Princess Bride,” along with Harlequin romances.

“But as much as I loved those titles, they always left me with nagging questions: Where were the girls who looked like me? Didn’t Black girls ever fall in love?”

Joy Revolution continues the publishing industry’s efforts to diversify an historically white business, whether hiring Dana Canedy to run Simon & Schuster’s flagship imprint or the announcement earlier this week that Jamia Wilson would next year join Random House’s adult trade division as vice-president and executive editor.

“All readers deserve to see themselves represented in the books they read,” Barbara Marcus, president and publisher of Random House Children’s Books, said in a statement.

David Yoon is known for such novels as “Frankly In Love” and “Super Fake Love Song.” Books by Nicola Yoon, his wife, include “The Sun Is Also a Star” and “Everything, Everything.”

Hillel Italie, The Associated Press