Release date not yet known
Untitled by Sarah Underwood (HarperTeen)
April 2nd
Otherworldy by F.T. Lukens (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer (Razorbill)
Perfect for fans of Krystal Sutherland, Adam Silvera, and the darkly human side of the HBOMax horror-drama, The Last of Us.
Seventeen-year-old Mara is dead—mostly.
Infected with a virus that brought the dead back to life and the world to its knees, she wakes up in a facility to learn a treatment for the disease has been found. No longer a Tick, Mara is placed in an experimental resettlement program. But her recovery is complicated by her destination: she’s sent to live with the best friend she hasn’t seen since the world ended—and since their first and only kiss.
Seventeen-year-old Rory is alive—barely.
With impaired mobility from an injury and a dead sister, Rory’s nightmares are just as monstrous as the Ticks that turned her former best friend. Even after the Island—one of a handful of surviving communities—rebuilds itself, Rory is prepared for the Ticks to return at any time. She never expected them to come in the form of the only girl she’s ever loved.
As the girls struggle with their pasts and the people they’ve become, the Island’s soldiers go rogue and come after the Ticks and anyone harboring them. With the Island’s fragile peace in the balance, Rory and Mara must lean on each other to survive—or risk losing the girl they love all over again.
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (Delacorte)
Lights. Camera. Lies.
18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.
But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.
Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .
From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.
Misdirection of Fault Lines by Anna Gracia (Peachtree Teen) - details not yet updated on Goodreads.
Violetta is Bastille’s darling. Social media influencer, coach’s pet, and daughter of a former tennis star who fell from grace. Bastille is her chance to reclaim the future her mother gave up to raise her. But is that the future she wants for herself?
Leylah has to win. After a forced two-year hiatus, Bastille is her last chance to prove professional tennis isn’t just a viable career, it’s what she was built for. She can’t afford distractions. Not in the form of her ex-best friend, and especially not by getting DQ-ed for her “attitude” before she sets foot on the court. If she doesn’t win, what future does she have left?
One week at the Bastille Invitational Tennis Tournament will decide their fates. If only the competition between them stayed on the court.
To A Darker Shore by Leanne Schwartz (Page Street) - moved from January 2024, release date confirmed by publisher but not yet updated on Goodreads.
When Alesta’s attempt to prove herself with inventions goes awry, her best friend and heir to the throne, Kyrian, takes the blame expecting leniency—and ends up tithed in her place.
To end the sacrifices forever, Alesta plans to kill the monster that killed her friend. She travels to the depths of hell only to find Kyrian, alive, but monstrously transformed.
There’s no escaping hell or their deeper feelings for one another, and the farther they go, the closer they come to uncovering a truth about the tithings that threatens to invoke the wrath of not only monsters but the gods as well.
The Black Girl Survives in This One by Various YA Authors (Flatiron Books)
Celebrating a new generation of bestselling and acclaimed Black writers, The Black Girl Survives in This One makes space for Black girls in horror. Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.
The bestselling and acclaimed authors include Erin E. Adams, Monica Brashears, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Desiree S. Evans, Saraciea J. Fennell, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Daka Hermon, Justina Ireland, L. L. McKinney, Brittney Morris, Maritza & Maika Moulite, Eden Royce, and Vincent Tirado, with a foreword by Tananarive Due.
Homebody by Theo Parrish (HarperAlley) - YA graphic memior, release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
In their comics debut, Theo Parish masterfully weaves an intimate and defiantly hopeful memoir about the journey one nonbinary person takes to find a home within themself. Combining traditional comics with organic journal-like interludes, Theo takes us through their experiences with the hundred arbitrary and unspoken gender binary rules of high school, to harrowing haircuts and finally the right haircut, to the intersection of gender identity and sexuality—and through tiny everyday moments that all led up to Theo finding the term “nonbinary”, which finally struck a chord.
“Have you ever had one of those moments when all of a sudden things become clear…like someone just turned on a light?”
A whole spectrum of people who will be drawn to Theo’s storytelling, from trans or questioning teens to adults, to folks who devoured Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe or The Fire Never Goes Out by ND Stevenson, to any person looking to dive a little deeper into the way gender can shape identity. Throughout the book, Theo’s crystal-clear voice reminds the reader that it’s OK not to know, it’s OK to change your mind, and it’s OK to take your time finding your way home.
Your Blood, My Bones by Kelly Andrew (Scholastic Press)
Wyatt Westlock has one plan for the farmhouse she's just inherited -- to burn it to the ground. But during her final walkthrough of her childhood home, she makes a shocking discovery in the basement -- Peter, the boy she once considered her best friend, strung up in chains and left for dead.
Unbeknownst to Wyatt, Peter has suffered hundreds of ritualistic deaths on her family's property. Semi-immortal, Peter never remains dead for long, but he can't really live, either. Not while he's bound to the farm, locked in a cycle of grisly deaths and painful rebirths. There's only one way for him to break free. He needs to end the Westlock line.
He needs to kill Wyatt.
With Wyatt's parents gone, the spells protecting the property have begun to unravel, and dark, ancient forces gather in the nearby forest. The only way for Wyatt to repair the wards is to work with Peter -- the one person who knows how to harness her volatile magic. But how can she trust a boy who's sworn an oath to destroy her? When the past turns up to haunt them in the most unexpected way, they are forced to rely on one another to survive, or else tear each other apart.
The Breakup Lists by Adib Khorram (Dial)
As a techie--a stage manager, a lighting guy, a jack-of-all-theatrical-trades-- Jackson Ghasnavi is not a fan of the spotlight. And he isn’t too fond of romance, either, ever since his actor ex-boyfriend decided he was too cool to date a techie freshman year.
Jackson’s sister Jasmine, on the other hand, loves love. It just doesn’t love her back. But luckily for her, Jackson is always waiting in wings when she gets her heart broken, ready to cheer her up with a breakup list cataloging of all her ex’s faults.
Enter Liam senior, swim captain, hot white boy—and the surprise lead in the fall musical. Even more surprising than how incredible Liam is on the stage is how much Jackson likes spending time with him off it.(Not that Jackson is falling for him. Liam is probably --no, definitely --straight.) So why is Jackson crushed when Jasmine sets her sights on him? And why does the idea of eventually drafting breakup list for Liam feel impossible?
The Numbers Girl by Cambria Gordon (Scholastic) - previously titled The Numbers Girl, and moved from 2023.
Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is nothing like her hero Eleanor Roosevelt. She is timid and all together uncertain that she has much to offer the world. And as World War II rages overseas, Eleanor is consumed with worry for her Jewish relatives in Europe. When a chance encounter proves her to be a one-in-a-generation math whiz--a fact she has worked hard all her life to hide--Eleanor gets recruited by the US Army and entrusted with the ultimate challenge: to fine-tune a top-secret weapon that will help America defeat its enemies in World War II and secure the world's freedom. This could be her chance to help save her family in Poland.
Soon, she's swept from the basement of an Ivy League engineering school, to the desert of California, to an Army Air Corps base at Pearl Harbor, and finally she takes to the skies above the South Pacific.
But before she can solve this complicated problem, she must learn to unlock a bigger mystery: herself.
Critically acclaimed author of The Poetry of Secrets, Cambria Gordon weaves an extraordinary story of remarkable courage and the will to unearth our deepest secrets, based on previously undiscovered true events.
Darker By Four by June CL Tan (HarperTeen)
A vengeful girl. A hollow boy. A missing god.
Rui has one goal in mind—honing her magic to avenge her mother’s death.
Yiran is the black sheep of an illustrious family. The world would be at his feet—had he been born with magic.
Nikai is a Reaper, serving the Fourth King of Hell. When his master disappears, the underworld begins to crumble…and the human world will be next if the King is not found.
When an accident causes Rui’s power to transfer to Yiran, everything turns upside down. Without her magic, Rui has no tool for vengeance. With it, Yiran finally feels like he belongs. That is, until Rui discovers she might hold the key to the missing death god and strikes a dangerous bargain with another King.
As darkness takes over, three paths intersect in the shadows. And three lives bound by fate must rise against destiny before the barrier between worlds falls and all Hell breaks loose—literally.
Perfect for fans of This Savage Song and Only a Monster, Darker by Four will pull readers into a world of love and desperation and revenge—a world where every deal has a catch, no secret stays buried, and no one is exactly who they say they are.
Wrath of the Talon by Sophie Kim (Entangled Teen)
Now, with the potent Imugi venom surging in her veins, Lina’s returned to right all wrongs. Already her body is changing, growing stronger, stealthier, and more agile, with serpentine scales she can call at will. She is living vengeance, seeking retribution for the massacre of the Talons. She’ll become the sword who cuts down the rival Blackbloods gang, along with their ruthless crime-lord leader. And when she is through, she will take the kingdom as her own.
But there is a mysterious side to Lina’s growing power, a dark voice inside her that whispers and guides her as she slips through the shadows of Sunpo’s streets. One that warns her not to trust the Dokkaebi, especially Rui.
Because if her destiny isn’t to love him…it must be to destroy him.
Draw Down the Moon by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (Wednesday Books)
Wren Nightingale isn't supposed to have any powers. Born of magickal parents but not under a moon sign, she was destined for life as a Mundane--right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren's life is turned upside down, and she's suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna--a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast.
Lee Young has always known about his future at the Academia. He has one goal: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family's reputation. But he wasn't expecting to be attending alongside the girl he's been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember.
As Wren and Lee are thrown into the Academie's gruelling trials, they quickly learn there's something different--and dangerous--about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies--and murder. And Lee will have to decide who to protect--his family's legacy, or the girl he loves.
Something Kindred by Ciera Burch (FSG) - previously titled The Inevitability of Home, moved from Winter 2023, then from August 2024.
Jericka Walker had planned to spend the summer before senior year soaking up the sun with her best friend on the Jersey Shore. Instead she finds herself in Coldwater, Maryland, a small town where her estranged grandmother lives—a grandmother she knows only two things about: her name and the fact that she left Jericka’s mother and uncle when they were children. But now Jericka's grandmother is dying, and her mother has dragged Jericka along to say goodbye.
As Jericka attempts to form a connection with a woman she's never known, and adjusts to life in a town where everything closes before dinner, she meets Kat, a girl eager to leave Coldwater and more exciting than a person has any right to be. But Coldwater has a few secrets of its own. As Jericka wrestles with the ghosts of her family’s past, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her mother, her childhood, and the lines between the living and the dead.
No Going Back by Patrick Flores-Scott (Little, Brown/Ottaviano) - moved from 2023.
It’s Friday morning, and seventeen-year-old Antonio Sullivan is on the verge of earning his early release from Zephyr Woods Youth Detention Center. Having been incarcerated for the last year and a half for a crime he didn’t directly commit, he’s now dedicating himself to his education and his sobriety program. What’s more, Antonio is driven by a deep need to make amends to the two people he hurt the his mom and his lifelong best friend, Maya. The conditions of his early release are clear—Antonio can’t have any contact with his father or miss his first meeting with his parole officer Monday morning. But a lot can happen between Friday and Monday, especially when the odds are against you.
Told through time-stamped chapters that race at a fever pitch over the course of a weekend, this absorbing coming-of-age novel explores what it means to right past wrongs in the face of adversity.
Fate Be Changed: A Twisted Tale by Farrah Rochon (Disney Hyperion) - moved from 2023.
If you could change your fate, would you? Merida understands that as princess of Clan DunBroch, she has certain obligations—but that doesn’t mean she has to like it. Especially when one of those obligations means losing her freedom by becoming betrothed to a man she has never met. Merida balks at this tradition, but her mother Queen Elinor insists that Merida must do this to embrace her role as future queen.
Determined to chart her own path, Merida follows magical wisps to a witch’s cottage, where she is given a magic pastry and promised it will incite “a great transformation” in her mother. But instead of feeding Elinor the pastry, Merida eats it herself.
Merida awakens in the past, a now-teenage Elinor holding a knife to her throat and accusing her of espionage. She’s been transported to a time when the Clans MacCameron and DunBroch are bitter enemies. And it just so happens that the timing of Merida’s arrival has kept Elinor and Fergus from meeting.
Will Merida be able to bridge the rival clans, help her parents fall in love, and change her own fate?
Call Forth a Fox by Markelle Grabo (Page Street YA) - moved from April 16th.
And the red fox is actually a girl―the same girl from the village who Ro has fallen for.
Between the bear and the fox only one is meant to survive, but Ro and her sister are determined to break the curse before tragedy strikes, and their fight forever alters their ties to the western wood and to each other.
April 9th
Teenage Dirtbag by James Acker (Inkyard Press)
All’s fair in love and revenge…
Phil Reyno is a “troublemaker.” With a punk aesthetic and a quick temper, Phil knows that it’s surprising to see him dating universally beloved Cameron Ellis, whose viral coming out video made him an internet darling.
Jackson Pasternak is a “good guy.” Junior class president, star rower, and Ivy bound, Jackson is burnt out and misses the only person who ever truly knew him—his ex-best friend, Phil.
When Cameron dumps Phil and torpedoes his already-iffy reputation in the process, Phil hatches a plot to expose Cameron as the two-faced liar he truly is. And he finds the perfect weapon in his old pal Jackson, who agrees to infiltrate Cameron’s circle and uncover dirt.
But as Phil and Jackson rediscover their friendship—and more—they start to wonder… Will knocking Cameron off his pedestal really solve their problems?
Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books) - release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
Now eight months later, Rafie’s (mostly) fine and ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey, showing in moments like their afternoon cleaning brass instruments as punishment; or during vocal training classes when Rafie can’t stop thinking about that December night; or—worst of all—during their duet when Rafie can’t deny how good they sound.
But with residual grief over his abuelo’s death, his old crew pointing out his change, and his new friends challenging what Mariachi should be, Rafie struggles to decide who he’d want to disappoint less: the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him.
Every Time You Hear That Song by Jenna Voris (Viking)
They say to never meet your idols. But they never said anything about upending your life for a quest designed by one.
Seventeen-year-old aspiring journalist Darren Purchase has been a lifelong fan of country music legend Decklee Cassel, who’s as famous for her classic hits as she is for her partnership with songwriter Mickenlee Hooper. The same Mickenlee who mysteriously backed out of the limelight at the height of their careers, never to be heard from again. Now, Decklee’s televised funeral marks the unveiling of her long-awaited time capsule. But when it’s revealed to be empty, a long trail of scavenger hunt clues unfolds, leading to a whopping cash prize for whoever finds the real capsule. Darren knows there’s a story there—and she’s going to be the one to break it. Even if it means a spontaneous road trip with her coworker, Kendall.
Flashback to 1963, where a young, runaway Decklee has her sights set on fame and glory. As she claws her way to the top over the years that follow, it’s Mickenlee’s lyrics that help rocket her to stardom. But as their relationship evolves beyond the professional, it threatens everything Decklee has worked for. What else will she sacrifice to hold on to her dreams?
Told in alternating perspectives, Every Time You Hear That Song is a queer coming-of-age story celebrating country music, complicated women, and living authentically. There’s more to Decklee’s story than Darren ever could have guessed, but the real story she has to tell is her own.
The Darkness Rises by Stacy Stokes (Viking)
Whitney knows what death looks like. Since she was seven, she’s seen it hovering over strangers’ heads, rippling in thick black clouds. Sometimes she can save people from their impending doom. Sometimes she can’t. But she's never once questioned whether or not it is her place to try. Until the unthinkable happens—and the person she saves is the perpetrator of a horrific school shooting.
Now Whitney will do anything to escape the memory of last year’s tragedy and the guilt that gnaws at her for her role in it. Even if that means quitting dance—the thing she’s loved most—and hiding her secret ability from her family and her BFF.
But when Whitney finds an ominous message in her locker she realizes someone knows her secret, and they want to pay her back for what she did. If she's going to survive the year, she must track down whoever is after her, before it's too late.
The Darkness Rises is a twisty-turny speculative mystery about grief, the secrets we keep, and what it really means to save a life.
The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray by Christine Calella (Page Street)
When their father falls ill, Ophelia’s half-sister Betsy asks the navy recall her sister, but in doing so reveals Ophelia’s fraudulent enlistment. To save her sister from the naval authorities, she must overcome her anxieties and find her sea legs in a race to find Ophelia before the navy can.
Between duels, unexpected romance, and lost treasures, the sisters realize that piracy runs in the family after all.
Right Here, Right Now by Shannon Dunlap (Little, Brown)
Worlds turn. Particles spin. Love endures.
There are infinite universes in which Elise never dies. Her best friend, Anna, never has to mourn her or choose between the weight of her grief and the weight of her ambition. Her cousin, Liam, never has to lose another loved one or fight to find purpose in a life that already doesn’t feel like his own.
But Liam and Anna do not get to choose the universe in which they live. Across multiple worlds, their paths collide as they wrestle with what it takes to save someone else and how to face love and loss on a quantum scale.
This moving, lyrical novel introduces two teens on the cusp of finding out who they are while finding each other again and again.
The Last Love Song by Kalie Holford (Blackstone Publishing)
After high school graduation, Mia Peters faces a summer full of painful goodbyes. Songwriting is her only solace. Everyone she knows is moving on, including Britt, her biggest supporter … and kind-of-sort-of girlfriend. Britt keeps pushing Mia to go bigger and do better than their small town, but Mia can’t imagine a life beyond Sunset Cove. Besides, she refuses to follow in the footsteps of her late mother—country music star Tori Rose—who abandoned her family to pursue her dream, leaving Mia and her two grandmothers alone.
Desperate for a sign of what might lie ahead, Mia finds the opposite—a mysterious letter from the past, addressed to her in her mother’s handwriting. It turns out to be the first of many. One by one they lead Mia on a wild scavenger hunt through a Sunset Cove she never knew, buried under the memorializing that has frozen her mother in time. Each new discovery brings Mia closer to the real Tori Rose, but with the clock ticking on Britt’s departure, Mia knows she is running out of time.
With the summer winding down, Mia must decide if she is ready to face the present, confront her feelings, and forge the destiny she truly wants. A dazzlingly soulful debut, The Last Love Song is perfect for anyone who’s ever tried to decode the clues in the lead-up to a new Taylor Swift album.
April 16th
Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao (Feiwel and Friends)
Dear Wendy's Sophie and Jo, two aromantic and asexual
students at Wellesley College, engage in an online feud while
unknowingly becoming friends in real life, in this dual POV Young Adult
contemporary debut from Ann Zhao
Sophie Chi is in her
first year at Wellesley College (despite her parents’ wishes that she
attends a “real” university) and has long accepted her aromantic and
asexual identities. Despite knowing she’ll never fall in love, she
enjoys learning about relationships and putting that research to use to
help people. And what better way to do that than by running an Instagram
account that offers advice to the students at her college, somewhere in
between classes, morning runs, and extracurriculars? No one except her
roommate knows that she’s behind the incredibly popular "Dear Wendy"
account.
Meanwhile, Joanna “Jo” Ephron is also a first-year
student at Wellesley but when they create the account “Sincerely Wanda”
to show one of their roommates why she needs to dump her boyfriend, they
don’t expect it to amount to anything more. After all, Jo’s account
isn’t meant to be serious—not like Dear Wendy’s. But it seems more and
more students appreciate her humorous answers to followers’ dilemmas,
and she may end up encroaching on Wendy’s territory a little. And now
the two accounts might have a rivalry of sorts? Oops. As if
Jo’s not busy enough having existential crises over the fact that she’ll
never truly be loved or be enough, gender, and her few friends finding
The One and forgetting her!
Tensions are rising online, but
Sophie and Jo start getting closer in real life, especially after they
realize their shared aroace identity. As their friendship develops and
they work together to start a campus organization for other a-spec
students, can their growing bond survive if they learn just who’s behind
the Wendy and Wanda accounts?
With its exploration of a-spec identities, college life, and more, this platonic comedy perfect for fans of Netflix’s The Half of It and Alice Osman’s Loveless, is ultimately a love story about two people who are not—and will not—be in love!
We're Never Getting Home by Tracy Badua (Quill Tree Books) - moved from January 2024.
Jana Rubio and her best friend, Maddy Parsons, have an epic senior year finale queued up: catching their favorite band at the Orchards, an outdoor music festival a two-hour drive away. When a blow-up over Maddy’s time-sucking boyfriend exposes a rift that may have been already growing between them, Jana calls off their joint trip and gets a lift to the festival from her church friend Nathan…only to realize Maddy and her boyfriend are along for the ride, too.
All Jana wants is to enjoy the concert and get home as soon as possible. But then Nathan loses his car keys crowd-surfing, and it’s up to Jana and Maddy to find them. As they navigate stolen phones and missing friends, scale Ferris wheels and crash parties, the two of them are forced to reckon with the biggest obstacle of all: repairing their friendship.
Will Jana and Maddy find their way home, and also back to each other?
The Lady of Rapture by Sarah Raughley (Simon and Schuster)
For years, the elite secret society called the Enlightenment Committee has waited for the apocalyptic force known as Hiva to destroy the world as it has so many times before. What the Committee didn’t know, however, was that Hiva wasn’t an event—it was a person.
Iris Marlow. An African tightrope dancer with no memories of her past. A girl who cannot die.
At least, she couldn’t die. Until her own friends discovered her one weakness and murdered her once and for all. The world-ending threat she posed should be gone too, but there’s one more Hiva out there, and unlike Iris, this one has no love for humanity. In her absence, this Hiva has taken it upon himself to judge if humanity deserves to live.
But when it comes to Hivas, the judgment is always the same. The ending is always total destruction. And while Iris is dead, she’s not gone—and after the betrayal that ended her life as Iris, she is now out for revenge.
The world’s days are numbered. The Cataclysm has begun.
This Is Me Trying by Racquel Marie (Feiwel and Friends)
Growing up, Bryce, Beatriz, and Santiago were inseparable. But when Santiago moved away before high school, their friendship crumbled. Three years later, Bryce is gone, Beatriz is known as the dead boy's girlfriend, and Santiago is back.
The last thing Beatriz wants is to reunite with Santiago, who left all her messages unanswered while she drowned alone in grief over Bryce's death by suicide. Even if she wasn't angry, Santiago's attempts to make amends are jeopardizing her plan to keep the world at arm's length--equal parts protection and punishment--and she swore to never let anyone try that again. Santiago is surprised to find the once happy-go-lucky Bea is now the gothic town loner, though he's unsurprised she wants nothing to do with him. But he can't fix what he broke between them while still hiding what led him to cut her off in the first place, and it's harder to run from his past when he isn't states away anymore.
Inevitably drawn back together by circumstance and history, Beatriz and Santiago navigate grief, love, mental illness, forgiveness, and what it means to try to build a future after unfathomable loss.
Merciless Saviors by H.E. Edgemon (Wednesday Books) - moved from 2025.
While for any other god things might work out okay, the Magician—whose role within the pantheon is to keep the balance—having the power of another god has thrown everything into chaos. The Goddess of Death can now reanimate corpses; the God of Art’s powers are now corrupted and twisted, giving life to his macabre creations; and, while the God of Land has always been able to communicate with creatures of the Earth, now everyone can hear their cries.
As Gem, Rory, and Enzo search for a way to restore the balance without sacrificing themselves, new horrors make them question how far they're willing to go. In the end, Gem may be forced to fully embrace their merciless nature and kill off their own humanity—if it ever really existed in the first place.
The Night Is Ours by Ronni Davis (Little, Brown) - moved from Summer 2023.
The thing is, Brandy wants to be an artist. Brandy knows all the risks of chasing her dream. She’s heard them from her mother over and over.
On top of that, Brandy’s annoying classmate from high school, startlingly handsome Ben Nolan, is catching his far-fetched dreams of being an actor. Why does he get to be fearless while she has to be practical? Ben is the last thing Brandy wants on her mind, so of course today is the day he decides to glue himself to her hip. Now, his perfect face is right there in the cacophony crashing through her head.
Spinning in too many directions, Brandy’s emotions clash with the flashing lights at the town’s summer carnival. Can she have one extraordinary night before everything changes?
The One That Got Away With Murder by Trish Lundy (Henry Holt)
Robbie and Trevor Cresmont have a body count—the killer kind. Handsome and popular, the Crestmont brothers' have enough wealth and privilege to ensure they’ll never be found guilty of any wrongdoing, even if all of Happy Valley believes they're behind the deaths of their ex-girlfriends. First there was soccer star Victoria Moreno, Robbie’s ex, who mysteriously drowned at the family lake house. Then, a year later, Trevor’s girlfriend died of a suspicious overdose.
But the Crestmonts aren’t the only ones with secrets. Lauren O'Brian might be the new girl at school, but she's never been a good girl. With a dark past of her own, she's desperate for a fresh start. Except when she starts a no-strings-attached relationship with Robbie, her chance is put in jeopardy. During what’s meant to be their last weekend together, Lauren stumbles across shocking evidence that just might implicate Robbie.
With danger closing in, Lauren doesn't know who to trust. And after a third death rocks the town, she must decide whether to end things with Robbie or risk becoming another cautionary tale.
This is an edge-of-your-seat debut YA thriller about a teen who is forced to confront her past in order to catch a murderer before she ends up the next victim. Perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.
Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier (Clarion Books) - moved from March 2023, then from May 2024.
In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. But as with all things that offer hope when hope had gone, the tale came with a warning.
Every wish demands a price.
Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong.
Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time-hope.
But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.
Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido)
Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back.
Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time.
Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.
Deep is the Fen by Lili Wilkinson (Delacorte)
But Merry’s best friend, Teddy, is joining the Toadmen—a secret society who specialize in backward thinking and suspiciously supernatural traditions—and Merry is determined to stop him. Even if it means teaming up with the person she hates most: her academic archnemesis, Caraway Boswell, an ice-cold snob who hides his true face under a glamour.
An ancient Toad ritual is being held in the sinister Deeping Fen, and if Merry doesn’t rescue Teddy before it’s finished, she’ll lose him forever. But the Toadmen have been keeping dangerous secrets, and so has Caraway. The farther Merry travels into Deeping Fen’s foul waters, the more she wonders if she’s truly come to save her friend . . . or if she’s walking straight into a trap.
There’s nothing the Toadmen love more than a damsel in distress.
Pretty Furious by E.K. Johnston (Dutton) - previously titled The Good Girls and Pretty/Furious.
In the farm town of Edmundville, Ontario, five high school friends have had enough. They've experienced the worst abuse, bullying, and gaslighting their small community has to offer. But it hasn't been all bad. They now know they can count on each other, and surviving their high school years has taught them a few things. One might even say they've learned some useful tactics. And senior year is going to be all about using them.
The Harrowing by Jen Hickman and Kristen Kiesling (Abrams) - YA graphic novel.
Rowan Sterling should be worrying about normal teenage things like attending college and whether her best friend, Lucas, is maybe more than a friend. . . . Instead, she’s having terrifying visions of blood and violence. As the premonitions increase in number and intensity, Rowan seeks her father’s help, but instead finds herself drugged, kidnapped, and sent to a mysterious facility called Rosewood. It isn’t long before Rowan discovers Rosewood isn’t a boarding school or an it’s a training center for teens with special abilities who are known as Harrows.
Harrows can view the actions of would-be murderers before they commit crimes, and the scientists at Rosewood believe it is their duty to use the Harrows’ powers to make the world a safer place. Rowan is immediately drawn to Rosewood’s mission; after all, she lost her mother to a random act of violence two years prior. Empowered by the skills she’s acquired and ready to change the world, Rowan returns home, but when a series of visions lead the Harrows to pursue Lucas, Rowan starts questioning everything she learned at Rosewood—and sets out to protect him at all costs.
April 23rd
Whisper in the Walls by Scott Reitgen (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Ren Monroe is a wolf among lions. After infiltrating one of the greatest Houses in Kathor through her successful bond with Theo Brood, she finds Theo’s father is two steps ahead. He exiles Theo and isolates Ren, strategically working to break her unwelcome grasp on his son—and foiling Ren’s first step to enacting the revenge she’s been planning her whole life.
Ren might have more resources than she’d ever imagined growing up, but she’ll still get nowhere without allies. Enter House Tin’Vori. Years ago, House Brood led an unprecedented raid to destroy a fellow House of Kathor. But a few siblings survived, and they haven’t forgotten the horrors waged against their family. Quietly, they’ve plotted their own revenge, waiting for the right moment to strike. And Ren Monroe might be their best chance.
Like fire, the Tin’Vori siblings are as dangerous as they are useful, both gifted in rare magics. Ren must decide how to unleash them against House Brood without hurting Theo in the process. Her feelings for Theo are growing past the boundaries of their bond, and Ren finds herself balanced on a knife’s edge, a breath away from immense power or utter ruin.
Dark Parts of the Universe by Samuel Miller (Katherine Tegan Books) - previously titled Manifest Atlas, moved from 2023, details not yet updated on Goodreads.
In the small town of Calico Springs, Willie’s life has been defined by two powerful forces: God and the river. The “Miracle Boy” died for five minutes as a young child and ever since, Willie is certain he survived for a reason, but that purpose didn’t become clear until he found the Game.
The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is simple: enter an intention, and the Game provides a target, a blinking blue dot on the map. Willie’s second time playing Manifest Atlas, his intention takes him to an ominous target: three empty graves. Willie is sure the Game is telling him he’s going to die.
Willie’s older brother Bones doesn’t believe him, but their friends are intrigued. Sarai, a girl from across the river, sets the next intention: something bloody. The group follows the Game’s coordinates, and they discover something even more unsettling than the graves. A dead body. Sarai’s stepfather’s body. The Game is suddenly personal.
Willie is dedicated to proving the Game works while Sarai is set on finding out what happened to her stepdad. Bones just wants to enjoy his last summer before real life begins. As the group digs deeper into Manifest Atlas, stranger and wilder things begin to appear, unlocking a much deeper mystery running like an undercurrent in the small town.
Finally Fitz by Marisa Kanter (Simon and Schuster)
Ava “Fitz” Fitzgerald has worked hard to create the picture-perfect life she’s always wanted. She spent her junior year transforming her passion for sustainable fashion and upcycling into a viral online platform, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, and spending every free second with her soon-to-graduate girlfriend, Danica. And this summer she plans to take it all to the next level by attending a prestigious summer fashion program in New York City and convincing Dani that they can survive a year of long distance.
But when Dani dumps her before classes even start, accusing Fitz of being more invested in growing her online persona than deepening their relationship, she’s left not only heartbroken, but also creatively blocked.
Fitz will do anything to win Dani back, even if that means taking a break from the platform that she’s worked so hard to build. But just as she decides to go all-in on a hiatus, a chance encounter reunites her with Levi Berkowitz, her childhood best friend that she hasn’t seen since elementary school. Levi is struggling with heartbreak of his own, and this cosmic coincidence sparks a new use for her social media savvy. Fitz offers to help Levi craft a fake relationship online to make his person jealous…if in return he can pretend to be her boyfriend in front of Dani to make her jealous. If all goes according to plan, by the end of the summer they’ll both be reunited with their perfect partners and get to rekindle their friendship in the process.
Sometimes even the most carefully designed plans can come apart at the seams, though. And when real history leads to not-so-fake feelings, Fitz will have to decide if she’s finally willing to let go of what she thought was picture-perfect and choose what might actually be right for her.
Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee (Putnam)
Los Angeles, 1932: Lulu Wong, star of the silver screen and the pride of Chinatown, has a face known to practically anyone, especially to the Chow sisters—May, Gemma, and Peony—Lulu's former classmates and neighbors. So the girls instantly know it's Lulu whose body they discover one morning in an out-of-the-way stable, far from the Beverly Hills mansion where she moved once her fame skyrocketed.
The sisters suspect Lulu's death is the result of foul play, but the LAPD—known for being corrupt to the core—doesn't seem motivated to investigate. Even worse, there are signs that point to the possibility of a police cover-up, and powerful forces in the city want to frame the killing as evidence that Chinatown is a den of iniquity and crime, even more reason it should be demolished to make room for the construction of a new railway depot, Union Station.
Worried that neither the police nor the papers will treat a Chinese girl fairly—no matter how famous and wealthy—the sisters set out to solve their friend’s murder themselves, and maybe save their neighborhood in the bargain. But with Lulu’s killer still on the loose, the girls’ investigation just might put them square in the crosshairs of a coldblooded murderer.
King of Dead Things by Nevin Holness (Atheneum)
Raising the dead is easy. Living is harder.
Eli doesn’t know who he is or who he came from. Three years ago, he was found by his now-best friends, Sunny and Max, who gave him a home in a magical sanctuary doubling as a Caribbean restaurant. What Eli does know is that he can heal a wound with just a touch and pluck magic from a soul like a petal from a flower—and there is nothing he wouldn’t do to survive and keep his new family together.
Malcolm would do anything to forget where he comes from. Desperate to escape his estranged father’s shadow and plagued with an inherited death magic he doesn’t fully understand, Malcolm has just one save his mother, no matter the cost.
Malcolm and Eli’s paths collide when Eli and his friends are sent to track down the fang of the leopard god Osebo, a deadly weapon that can eat magic. In a job filled with enigmatic nine nights and Caribbean legends, the teens must face their own demons as they race through the magical underbelly of London to retrieve the fang…before an ancient and malevolent power comes back to life.
Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin (Feiwel and Friends) - moved from May 2024.
Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom. She doesn’t remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.
With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. The young man is strangely kind and awkward for nobility, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he’ll set her free of her indenture.
But the Duke’s motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he’s not just some country He’s the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.
The Duke needs Xue’s help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war… but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.
The Vanishing Station by Andrea Ellickson (Abrams) - moved from 2023.
Eighteen-year-old Filipino American Ruby Santos has been unmoored since her mother’s death. She can’t apply to art school like she’s always dreamed, and she and her father have had to move into the basement of their home and rent out the top floor while they work to pay back her mother’s hospital bills.
Then Ruby finds out her father has been living a secret life as a delivery person for a magical underworld—he “jumps” train lines to help deliver packages for a powerful family. Recently, he’s fallen behind on deliveries (and deeper into alcoholism), and if his debts aren’t satisfied, they’re going to take her mother’s house. In an effort to protect her father and save all that remains of her mother, Ruby volunteers to take over her dad’s station and start jumping train lines.
But this is no ordinary job. Ruby soon realizes that the trains are much more than doors to romance and they’re also doors to trafficking illicit goods and fierce rivalries. As she becomes more entangled with the magical underworld and the mysterious boy who’s helped her to learn magic, she realizes too late that she may be in over her head. Can she free her father and save her mother’s house? Or has she only managed to get herself pulled into the dangerous web her father was trapped in?
Wild Dreamers by Margarita Engle (Simon and Schuster)
Ana and her mother have been living out of their car ever since her militant father became one of the FBI’s most wanted. Leandro has struggled with debilitating anxiety since his family fled Cuba on a perilous raft.
One moonlit night, in a wilderness park in California, Ana and Leandro meet. Their connection is instant—a shared radiance that feels both scientific and magical. Then they discover they are not a huge mountain lion stalks through the trees, one of many wild animals whose habitat has been threatened by humans.
Determined to make a difference, Ana and Leandro start a rewilding club at their school, working with scientists to build wildlife crossings that can help mountain lions find one another. If pumas can find their way to a better tomorrow, surely Ana and Leandro can too.
Punk Rock Karaoke by Bianca Xunise (Viking) - YA graphic novel, moved from Summer 2023.
When life gives you guitars, smash them!
School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jones is determined to make it one for the books! Together with their bestie bandmates, Michele and Gael, Ariel believes they’re destined to break into the music industry and out of Chicago’s Southside by singing lead in their garage punk band, Baby Hares.
But before Baby Hares can officially get into the groove, the realities of post grad life start to weigh on this crew of misfits. Ari begins to worry that it’s time to pull the plug on their dreams of making it big.
Just when all hope feels lost, a fellow punk and local icon takes an interest in their talent. It seems like he might be the only one Ariel can rely on as frustrations between bandmates reach at an all-time high.
Punk Rock Karaoke is a coming-of-age tale that draws upon the explosive joy of the underground scene, while raising questions about authenticity, the importance of community and what it means to succeed on your own terms.
Off with Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta (Disney Hyperion) - date not yet updated on Goodreads.
In a world where Saints are monsters and Wonderland is the dark forest where they lurk, it’s been five years since young witches and lovers Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle were both sentenced to that forest for a crime they didn’t commit—and four years since they shattered one another’s hearts, each willing to sacrifice the other for a chance at freedom.
Now, Caro is a successful royal Saint-harvester, living the high life in the glittering capital and pretending not to know of the twisted monster experiments that her beloved Red Queen hides deep in the bowels of the palace. But for Icca, the memory of Caro’s betrayal has hardened her from timid girl to ruthless hunter. A hunter who will stop at nothing to exact her On Caro. On the queen. On the throne itself.
But there’s a secret about the Saints the Queen’s been guarding, and a volatile magic at play even more dangerous to Icca and Caro than they are to each other…
Lush, terrifying, and uncanny, Zoe Hana Mikuta—author of Gearbreakers and Godslayers —takes a delicate knife straight through the heart of this beloved surrealist fairytale.
Out of Blue Comes Green by M.E. Corey (Page Street YA)
In between dates and classroom flirting, Kay discovers more of who he is and who he wants to be. From working on his setlist to win the competition to become the prom band to posing as a different male volunteer at the local animal shelter, Kay keeps finding ways to be seen and make space for himself in his small town. And as his confidence grows, he works up the courage and support to confront his bullies and his unsupportive mother.
But it's going to be harder than he thought to play the show, get the girl, and keep everyone from telling her what Kay is short for.
The Merciless King of Moore High by Lily Sparks (Flux)
Kay has no poker face and can't keep her mouth shut when she knows she's right, so when she accidentally learns a secret that threatens the delicate power balance at Jefferson, she's dragged out of the school in the dead of night and dumped in the middle of town in a secret assassination attempt. But when a raiding party of cheerleaders from crosstown rival Moore High comes to her rescue, Kay finds herself among ruthless, hard-partying road warriors who have adopted the feudal trappings of a once-popular video game.
Life at Moore is violent and cliquish, but everyone is thriving - everyone, that is, who survives the kingdom's periodic monster hunts. For Moore's beloved King Max demands only two absolute fealty and that everyone at Moore help kill the dragons.
If Kay wants to survive, she must be granted asylum at Moore; which means slaying dragons, not asking the wrong questions, and navigating the rival factions, love triangles, and political intrigues at court. But when Kay discovers a deadly secret that reaches all the way to Jefferson, her inability to hide the truth might spark the revolution that burns both schools to the ground.
Blood Justice by Terry J. Benton-Walker (Tor Teen)
April 30th
Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather (Simon and Schuster) - moved from 2022.
Karmen is about to start her last year of high school, but it’s only been six weeks since her brother, Julian, died by suicide. How is she supposed to focus on school when huge questions Why is Julian gone? How could she have missed seeing his pain? Could she have helped him?
When a blowup at school gets Karmen sent home for a few weeks, life gets more things between her parents are tenser than ever, her best friend’s acting like a stranger, and her search to understand why Julian died keeps coming up empty.
New friend Pru both baffles and comforts Karmen, and there might finally be something happening with her crush, Isaiah, but does she have time for either, or are they just more distractions? Will she ever understand Julian’s struggle and tragedy? If not, can she love—and live—again?
I'll Be Waiting For You by Mariko Turk (Little, Brown)
Natalie and Imogen are inseparable, and wildly different—Imogen is infuriatingly humble and incredibly intelligent, while Natalie is brave, jumping into danger and new adventures. Still, one thing ties them together: their love of the supernatural. Every summer, they vacation with their parents at the famously haunted Harlow Hotel. Imogen is a true believer, while Natalie sees ghost stories as nothing but pure fun.
Then, Imogen suddenly passes away from an undiagnosed heart condition that no one saw coming, and Natalie is left to take on the summer before senior year alone.
Without Imogen, Natalie throws herself into her senior project. Her passion is still horror, so she plans to spend her summer back at The Harlow Hotel recording fun fake footage that will get her on the teen ghost hunting show of her dreams. And her plans would be a lot less complicated if Leander, her irritatingly attractive arch rival from school, wasn’t working on his senior project at the very same hotel.
The longer Natalie stays at the Harlow Hotel, the more she realizes that Leander might be helpful for her project. After all, she could use an extra hand to help record her fake footage.
But, when strange things start happening at the Harlow, Natalie wonders, could there really be something to these ghosts after all?
Readers of Emily X.R. Pan, Nina LaCour, and Dustin Thao will fall for this story that explores what it means to believe—in ghosts, in the people you love, and in yourself.
Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (Tundra Books) - moved from 2022, then from August 2023.
“The false ruler
Lady Wu has an unpleasant personality and a lowly birthright. She has
the heart of a snake or lizard and the nature of a wolf. She is hated by
both men and gods, and heaven and earth cannot allow her to exist.”
After
suffering devastating loss and making drastic decisions, Zetian finds
herself at the seat of power in Huaxia. But her world is not as it
seems, and revelations about an enemy more daunting than she imagined
forces her to share her power with a dangerous man she can no longer
simply remove from her way.
Despite having vastly different
ideas than him on what they are to each other and how the world should
change, Zetian must join him in a dance of truth and lies and perform
their roles to perfection in order to take down their common enemy and
get back the loved one she lost.
Sound the Gong by Joan He (Roaring Brook Press) - moved from October 2023.
All her life, Zephyr has tried to rise above her humble origins as a no-name orphan. Now she is a god in a warrior’s body, and never has she felt more powerless. Her lordess Xin Ren holds the Westlands, but her position is tenuous. In the north, the empress remains under Miasma’s thumb. In the south, the alliance with Cicada is in pieces.
Fate also seems to have a different winner in mind for the three kingdoms, but Zephyr has no intentions of respecting it. She will pay any price to see Ren succeed—and she will make her enemies pay, especially one dark-haired, dark-eyed Crow. What she’ll do when she finds out the truth—that he worked for the South all along…
Playing For Keeps by Jennifer Dugan (Putnam)
June is the star pitcher of her elite club baseball team—with an ego to match—and she's a shoo-in to be recruited at the college level, like her parents have always envisioned. That is, if she can play through an overuse injury that has recently gone from bad to worse.
Ivy isn't just reffing to pay off her athletic fees or make some extra cash on the side. She wants to someday officiate at the professional level, even if her parents would rather she go to college instead.
The first time they cross paths, Ivy throws June out of a game for grandstanding. Still, they quickly grow from enemies to begrudging friends... and then something more. But the rules state that players and umpires are prohibited from dating.
As June's shoulder worsens, and a rival discovers the girls' secret and threatens to expose them, everything the two have worked so hard for is at risk. Now both must follow their dreams... or follow their hearts?
Saint-Seducing Gold by Brittany N. Williams (Abrams)
There’s danger in the court of James I. Magical metal-worker Joan Sands must reforge the Pact between humanity and the Fae to stop the looming war. As violence erupts across London and the murderous spymaster Robert Cecil closes in, the Fae queen Titanea coerces Joan into joining the royal court while holding her godfather prisoner in the infamous Tower of London. Now Joan will have to survive deadly machinations both magical and mortal all while balancing the magnetic pull of her two loves—Rose and Nick—before the world as she knows it is destroyed forever.
The Last Boyfriends Rules For Revenge by Matthew Hubbard (Delacorte) - previously titled Last Boyfriends.
Ezra Hayes has always felt like a background character compared to BFFs Lucas and Finley. He would do anything to be seen as a romantic lead, even if it means keeping a secret summer boyfriend, Presley. But when he discovers that Presley is a lying cheater, and his best friends are having boy problems of their own, they want revenge.
Their plans to get even involve sabotaging the largest party of the year, entering a drag competition, and even having Ezra run against his ex for Winter Formal King. Then the school district starts to actively censor queer voices with their Watch What You Say initiative. Taking to TikTok to vent frustrations, Ezra begins “The Last Boyfriends Student Rebellion.”
Between ex-boyfriend drama and navigating viral TikTok fame, Ezra realizes this rebellion is about something more important than revenge. It’s a battle cry to fight back against outdated opinions and redefine what it means to be queer in small town Alabama.
The Notes by Catherine Con Morse (Crown)
Claire Wu isn’t sure that she has what it takes to become a successful concert pianist.
It’s the fear of every student at Greenwood School of Performing becoming a washed-out performer who couldn't make it big. And Claire's no Rocky Wong, the ace pianist at their boarding school.
Then Dr. Li shows up. She’s like no other teacher at mysterious, sophisticated, fascinating. Under Dr. Li’s tutelage, Claire works harder and dreams bigger than ever. And her crush Rocky finally seems interested. Maybe she’ll even be "Chinese enough" to join the elusive Asian Student Society.
Everything is falling into place until eerily personal notes about Claire’s bond with Dr. Li appear. Claire starts to feel the pressure. But she isn't the only one. Everyone is feeling the strain. Especially Rocky, whose extreme perfectionism hides something more troubling.
As the Showcase tension crescendos, Claire must decide if she’s ready to sink or swim. She may discover who she really is as a Chinese American and learn if she’s ready to give her all for a shot at greatness.
The Notes is a powerful and poignant debut YA novel from award-winning writer Catherine Con Morse about dealing with academic pressures, falling in love for the first time, and finding yourself.
Not Like Other Girls by Meredith Adamo (Bloomsbury)
Jo-Lynn Kirby used to be that girl—cool, effortless, smart, and one of the guys. Now Jo is one of those girls—difficult, reckless, flunking out, and an outcast after her nudes were sent to the entire school.
Jo is the girl who deserved it.
When her former best friend—pretty, nice Maddie Price—comes to Jo claiming she's in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. But then Maddie is gone. Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo knows there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind—and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling with his own reasons for finding Maddie, Hudson proposes a fake dating scheme to reintegrate Jo in the clique. And it works. But as the truth about Maddie's disappearance comes to light, so do long-hidden secrets from Jo's past.
And Jo is left to wonder: Who is she really searching for—Maddie, or the girl she used to be?
Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut that is both mystery and romance, enveloping a breathtaking story about trauma and healing.
Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke and Mel Valentine Vargas (HMH/Etch) - YA graphic novel, moved from 2023, then from March 2023.
For fans of Check, Please and Bloom. When college freshman Grace Mendes reluctantly attends her first pillow fight match, she falls in love with the surprisingly gritty sport. Despite her usually shy, introverted, and reserved nature, Grace decides to try out for the Pillow Fight Federation (PFF), a locally famous league of fighters with larger-than-life personas like Pain Eyre, Miss Fortune, and champion Kat Atonic. They may battle with pillows, but there is nothing soft about these fighters. The first and only rule to pillow fighting is that the pillow needs to be the first point of contact; after that, everything else goes.
Grace struggles with deep-seated body image issues, so she is especially shocked when she makes the competitive league and is welcomed into the fold of close knit, confident fighters. As her first official fight performing as newly crafted alter-ego/ring persona Cinderhella looms on the horizon, the real battle taking place is between Grace and her growing insecurities. What if people laugh or make fun of her? Why did she think she could pillow fight in the first place when she doesn’t look like your “typical” athlete? Turns out, no one is laughing when Cinderhella dominates her first match in the ring. And as her alter-ego rises through the ranks of the PFF, gaining traction and online fame (and online trolls), can Grace use the spotlight to become an icon for not just others, but most importantly, for herself?
Pillow Talk is an inclusive, high-octane, outrageously fun graphic novel that aims a punch at the impossibly high standards set for women in sports (and otherwise) and champions the power of finding a team that will, quite literally, fight for you. A knock-out!
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