August 6th
Dance of the Starlit Sea by Kiana Krystle (Peachtree Teen) - moved from April 2022, then from June 2023, June 2024 and July 2024.
Lila Rose Li’s mother always called her an ocean of a girl. For years, she pushed herself to become the ballerina her parents would approve of. But when she collapses on stage and her parents reproach her, she snaps. Sent away for losing her temper, Lila arrives at her aunt’s cottage on Luna Island with dashed dreams, but she’s quickly buoyed by the island’s charm. Perhaps here among the cobblestone streets, ivy-covered boutiques, and whispered myths of angels, she can finally curb the tempest inside her that’s made unworthy of love?
Damien Drake’s father always said he was too soft to carry on the family tradition. As Angel of the Night, it’s his duty to select a new bride for the Devil every seven years—a sacrifice which guarantees life on Luna Island will continue to thrive. During the last Tithe, Damien brought shame upon the family for trying to rescue his first love from sacrifice. This time, he’s determined to fulfill his duty with utmost obedience and earn back his family’s trust.
When Damien spots Lila on a yacht at sea, he knows he’s found the Devil’s perfect match. Her anger is powerful, and when she dances, flowers spring from her step. What he doesn’t expect is to find someone whose trauma reflects his own, who understands what it’s like to be a disappointment to one’s family, and whose power may actually be enough to end the Tithe once and for all.
Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan (Feiwel and Friends)
Sharp-witted seventeen-year-old con-woman Rosa Cellini has plans for the Pope and the Medicis - and, more specifically, the mountain of indulgence money they've been extorting from the people of Tuscany. To pull off the Renaissance's greatest robbery, she'll recruit a team of capable Sarra the tinkerer, Khalid the fighter, and Giacomo, the irrepressible master of disguise. To top it all off, and to smooth their entrance into the fortress-like Palazzo Medici, Rosa even enlists the reluctant help of famed artist and local misanthrope, Michelangelo.
Old secrets resurface and tensions in the gang flare as the authorities draw closer and the Medicis' noose pulls tighter around Tuscany itself. What began as a robbery becomes a bid to save Florence from certain destruction - if Rosa and company don't destroy each other first.
Get ready for an absolute swashbuckling riot, beginning with a 'mud' pie to the Pope's face, and ending with a climatic heist that would give Danny Ocean a run for his money. Bursting with snark, innuendo and action, Medici Heist is your next un-put-downable obsession.
This Is Not a Dead Girl Story by Kate Sweeney (Viking)
Remy Green is missing. Eight days after the death of her boyfriend, River O’Dell, the magnetic, golden-haired girl disappeared in the dead of night.
Jules Green, Remy’s cousin, is her opposite in every way: awkward, shy, and a bit strange, never feeling at home in the small town of Black Falls, NY. The only place she has ever belonged is with River and Remy. Now she’s on her own—and everyone around her believes that Remy is dead.
But Jules can still hear Remy’s voice in her head, urging her to keep looking. With the help of River’s cousin Sam, a troubled and mysterious boy, Jules starts untangling the truth of what exactly happened. Through her search, Jules must delve into the dark corners of her hometown—unearthing family secrets and hidden truths about the two people she thought she knew most.
Who was Remy, really, behind the popular-girl façade she wore? What trouble was she involved in? And can Jules find a way to save her from it? Or is this a dead girl story after all?
Loving, Ohio by Matthew Erman and Sam Beck (Dark Horse) - YA graphic novel.
After
the mysterious suicide of their friend, Sloane, Elliott, Cameron, and
Ana are just trying to get through the rest of high school. They live in
Loving, Ohio—a town built around The Chorus, a new age cult with
members firmly planted in positions of power and influence throughout
the community.
Through their grief a series of murders
throw these friends into a mystery connected to everything around them.
Sloane and her friends have to escape a roaming murderer, figure out
their place in the world, and deal with loss all in the looming shadow
of The Chorus. But through it they will find the true cost of friendship
and the adulthood they seek.
Gut punching emotion drives the
mystery of Loving, Ohio. This beautifully drawn coming of age story will
stay on the mind for days after reading. An expertly crafted tale about
what happens when something infects every institution and structure
within a community.
One week earlier, Maddy—rejected for the college scholarship of her dreams, abandoned by her only friend on her birthday—was tired of living in Grace’s shadow. She was ready to be someone new, which was exactly what was promised by an exclusive senior trip at their expensive private school.
But eighteen years' worth of awkwardness didn't evaporate just because Maddy was holed up in a mountain lodge with thirty classmates, playing games and learning so-called life lessons. She quickly learned that breaking out of her shell came with a cost: her shady roommate had her taking risks that could get her expelled and ruin her relationship with her sister.
Now, without her memories of the trip, Grace must piece together how her sister disappeared. Rumors of a shouting match and brutally honest journal entries leave Grace worried she might be digging for a truth better left buried. But Maddy is in the forest somewhere, and unless Grace can find her, she'll never clear her conscience — or her name.
Girls Who Burn by MK Pagano (Delacorte)
The summer before her senior year, Addie hurled the worst words she could think of at her sister—and hours later, Fiona was found dead at the bottom of a ravine. The police ruled her death an accident, but Addie has never bought it. Her ballet-prodigy sister didn’t slip and fall; she was pushed. And Addie’s number one suspect: Thatcher Montgomery, the rich boy down the street who always had a thing for Fiona. No one believes her—least of all Thatcher’s cousin Seth, Addie’s childhood rival and the boy she’s always loved to hate. Arguing with Seth is easy; living with her own questionable choices involving Seth the night Fiona died . . . much harder.
But when one year later Thatcher is found dead at the bottom of the same ravine, Addie is forced to admit she was wrong. To catch the real killer, she’ll have to seek help from the only one she can trust—the boy she was with during both murders. As Addie and Seth dodge corrupt police and his even more corrupt family, Addie will have to decide if her growing bond with Seth is stronger than familial ties, and if their link will keep her safe—or turn her into the next victim.
Better Left Buried by Mary E. Roach (Disney Hyperion) - moved from April 2024.
But being the daughter of a famous private detective means that sometimes, your beach vacay goes off the rails a bit. Because the first thing Lucy’s mom does? Takes her to the abandoned amusement park for a clandestine meeting—except instead of a meeting, they find a body.
Because of course they do.
As Lucy’s mom is swept into top-secret private-detective stuff, Lucy sets out on her own to investigate her mom’s mysterious connection with this town. Lucy’s snooping sets her on a collision course with Audrey Nelson, the mysterious girl on the motorcycle who Lucy could swear she saw near the amusement park the night the body was found.
If Lucy and Audrey can’t work together to uncover secrets that go back generations, there will likely be another body found at the base of the old vine-covered roller coaster outside of town. And this time it might just be Lucy’s.
Guardians of Dawn: Ami by S. Jae-Jones (Wednesday Books)
When the Pillar blooms, the end of the world is not far behind.
Li Ami was always on the outside—outside of family, outside of friendships, outside of ordinary magic. The odd and eccentric daughter of a former imperial magician, she has devoted her life to books because she finds them easier to read than people. Exiled to the outermost west of the Morning Realms, Ami has become the sole caretaker of her mentally ill father, whose rantings and ravings may be more than mere ramblings; they may be part of a dire prophecy. When her father is arrested for trespassing and stealing a branch from the sacred tree of the local monastery, Ami offers herself to the mysterious Beast in the castle, who is in need of someone who can translate a forbidden magical text and find a cure for the mysterious blight that is affecting the harvest of the land.
Meanwhile, as signs of magical corruption arise throughout the Morning Realms, Jin Zhara begins to realize that she might be out of her element. She may have defeated a demon lord and uncovered her identity as the Guardian of Fire, but she’ll be more than outmatched in the coming elemental battle against the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons…unless she can find the other Guardians of Dawn. Her magic is no match for the growing tide of undead, and she needs the Guardian of Wood with power over life and death in order to defeat the revenants razing the countryside.
The threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons looms larger by the day, and the tenuous peace holding the Morning Realms together is beginning to unravel. Ami and Zhara must journey to the Root of the World in order to seal the demon portal that may have opened there and restore balance to an increasingly chaotic world.
The House Where Death Lives by Various YA Authors (Page Street YA) - YA anthology, previously titled This House Is Haunted.
Following in the footsteps of dark/horror-filled YA anthologies like His Hideous Heart and Slasher Girls and Monster Boys , and Netflix’s ground-breaking adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House , this YA speculative fiction anthology explores how the permanence of a home can become a space of transition and change for both the inhabitants and the creatures who haunt them.
Each story in the anthology will focus on a different room in the house and feature unique takes on monsters from a wide array of cultural traditions. Whether it’s a demonic Trickster, a water-loving Rusalka, or a horrifying, baby-imitating Tiyanak, there’s bound to be something sinister lurking in the shadows.
The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow (Delacorte)
She isn’t. The truth is, she’s inadvertently opened a gateway through the mirrors—conduits to another world. In the mirror realm, she finds love in the arms of the prince’s reflection. Their love transcends universes, as though the mirrors themselves opened just to unite them. But the mirrors also house an army of reflections that, wanting freedom from eternal mimicry, have waited centuries for the chance to emerge. And now?
Now they’re preparing for war.
Instead of opening the gateways, Ying must learn to hold them shut. Shutting them means cutting off her one chance at love. But leaving them open means destroying the world. Meanwhile, Ying is forced to question whether there really are monsters in the mirrors… Or whether they’re just reflections of ourselves.
This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings (Sourcebooks Fire) - previously titled Bittersweet Poison.
It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise's mind than her family the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead. Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago.
The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her. But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can't to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.
Death at Morning House by Maureen Johnson (Katherine Tegen Books)
The fire wasn’t Marlowe Wexler’s fault. Dates should be hot, but not hot enough to warrant literal firefighters. Akilah, the girl Marlowe has been in love with for years, will never go out with her again. No one dates an accidental arsonist.
With her house-sitting career up in flames, it seems the universe owes Marlowe a new summer job, and that’s how she ends up at Morning House, a mansion built on an island in the 1920s and abandoned shortly thereafter. It’s easy enough, giving tours. Low risk of fire. High chance of getting bored talking about stained glass and nut cutlets and Prohibition.
Oh, and the deaths. Did anyone mention the deaths?
Here Lies a Vengeful Bitch by Codie Crowley (Disney Hyperion)
Murdered bad girl Annie Lane is back from the grave and hellbent on revenge... she just has to figure out who killed her.Witty in Pink by Erica George (Entangled Teen) - moved from March 2024, then from May 2024.
August 13th
Ghostsmith by Nicki Pau Preto (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Wren is still reeling from the revelation that the mother she thought was dead is actually the Corpse Queen, a ghostsmith with the terrifying power to control the undead. It was Wren’s own mother who created the iron revenants—an army of near unbeatable undead soldiers. When the iron revenants attack, no one in the Dominions will have the strength to stand in their way.
Now Wren, Leo, and Julian find themselves once more in the Breach, this time on the run from Wren’s father, who is determined to secure more power for himself and the House of Bone. The three are desperate to stop the upcoming war, but working together is easier said than done with Julian still furious about Wren double-crossing him. And to make matters worse, Wren is plagued by powerful new abilities that force her to reassess everything she knows about being a bonesmith.
When Wren’s long-lost twin brother shows up and vows to help her destroy the well of magic that feeds the iron revenants, she must decide if trusting him is worth potentially playing right into their mother’s hands.
After all, the dead might be dangerous, but it’s the living who can betray you.
Hemlock House by Katie Cotugno (Delacorte)
They did some bad things.
More than a year after childhood friends Michael Linden and Holiday Poirot solved a headline-making murder on Martha’s Vineyard, Lindenis ready to start over as a freshman at Harvard—and, he hopes, to reunite with his old girlfriend, Greer. But just as things start to heat up between them, a friend is found dead in Greer’s dorm, Hemlock House.The police believe the death is the result of an overdose, but Linden suspects there’s more to the story. The victim was wearing Greer’s clothes and sleeping in Greer’s bed when she died . . . and Greer has a long list of enemies.
Was this a case of mistaken identity? Was someone trying to kill Greer? Is she in danger? Is he? Nearly everyone on campus has something to hide—and some mysteries are better left buried...
Return to Sender by Lauren Draper (HarperTeen)
Brodie McKellon didn’t leave town in handcuffs, not exactly. But all the same, in only one night, she lost her best friends and her home. And that same night, the town of Warwick lost the Adder Stone, a supposedly magical ring of local legend.
The events, Brodie maintains, were not related.
Four years later, Brodie’s returned to Warwick, ready to get back everything she lost by solving the mystery of who actually stole the Adder Stone. She can clear her name, win back her friends Elliott and Levi, and save Gran’s house from the bank.
But as Brodie starts investigating, she gets pulled into a different mystery, of three friends and their “dead letters”—mail that’s been lost over the years. And soon she finds that there are times when the things you find aren’t the things you even knew you had lost. A house becomes a home. Some friends become family. And other friends, well, they might become something more. As long as Brodie can be brave enough to find herself.
Kisses, Codes and Conspiracies by Abigail Hing Wen (Feiwel and Friends) - previously titled The Safe Side of Tomorrow.
After a magical kiss at Prom, best friends Tan Lee and Winter Woo agree to cool it off, a plan that goes awry when their parents jointly head off to Hawaii and leave Tan and Winter to babysit Tan's sister Sana together. If that isn't complicated enough, Tan's ex-girlfriend from Shanghai arrives on his doorstep with money stolen from her billionaire father and thugs on her heels.
Tan soon finds himself on the run, trying to out-manuever international hackers and protect his friends, family and sister - and his own heart.
Holly Horror: The Longest Night by Michelle Jabes Corpora (Penguin Workshop) - details not yet updated on Goodreads.
Find him, find me.
It’s
been two weeks since Evie escaped the mines after solving the mystery
of Holly’s disappearance only to discover that Desmond followed her but
never came back. Evie knows he’s alive, lost wherever the Patchwork Girl
resides. When Evie tries to reach out to Holly again for help, she
realizes that her connection to the Lost Girl—and the shadow world
itself—has been severed. Desmond is gone, and it’s all her fault.
Ravenglass
slowly begins to move on from the tragedy of losing Desmond, but as
winter creeps closer and the days grow shorter, a sinister being begins
to threaten the lives of Ravenglass residents, stealing them away and
bringing them back different. Wrong.
Evie knows that the only way
to stop it is to connect to Holly again. With the help of her friend
Tina, and the troubled newcomer Sai, Evie begins to follow the clues
Holly left behind, determined to find the Lost Girl once more, at any
cost.
Death Is My Ride or Die by Katarina E. Tonks (Wattpad Books)
It’s Halloween and Faith’s entire life has changed. She’s discovered that her soul is light incarnate. That she might be in love with Death himself. And that she’s got these powers she doesn’t quite know what to do with. In fact, Faith’s life over the last few weeks has been rocky to say the least, and it’s not going to slow down . . . there’s nothing like the threat of the world as she knows it ending to kick her into high gear.
Meanwhile, Death is in purgatory . . . where he’s trying to get back to Faith before anything worse can happen to her. With the Book of the Dead empowering Faith, and Death’s nemesis Ahrimad wielding Death’s scythe, it’s more imperative than ever that he finds his way out of this mess.
When the warlock Ace has a vision of a portal to the underworld opening, Faith and Death must work together to stop the demons from coming through–and hopefully save both their lives.
Ash's Cabin by Jen Wang (First Second) - YA graphic novel.
They love natural spaces and the feeling of wind wooshing around their bicycle, but their heart constantly breaks by their family and classmates, who all seem hellbent on destroying the planet through uncaring consumption.
Growing up, Ash remembers hearing a story that Grandpa Edwin had built a secret cabin deep in the California forests. These days, Ash has started thinking that Edwin's maybe-mythical cabin sounds like the perfect place to start a new life...and escape the miserable alienation of teen life.
But wilderness survival isn’t easy. And as much as Ash disdains other people... they’re human too. Can Ash be happy alone? Can Ash survive alone?
The Dark We Know by Wen-yi Lee (Gillian Flynn Books)
Stephen King’s IT meets Rory Power’s Wilder Girls in Wen-yi Lee’s gorgeously gruesome YA horror debut. After escaping her abusive father, eighteen-year-old Isadora Chung swore never to return to her dead-end hometown of Slater. The town has already claimed the lives of her two best friends, who died by suicide during their senior year.
But when Isa’s father dies, she can’t resist the chance to claim an inheritance that will pay her art student loans, even if that means going home one last time. Except it’s not that simple. Because according to Isa’s last living childhood friend, Mason Kane, the ones they've lost are still there, and their deaths were not accidents or suicides.
Something is waiting in the shadows of Slater, something that feeds on the pain and heartbreak of its children—and whatever it is, it knows Isa’s back and it won’t let her escape twice.
The Empire Wars by Akure Phénix (Blackstone Publishing) - moved from July 2024.
A wildly popular hunting sport known as the Great Hunt occurs as a celebration of war. In the brutal, arctic Allied Force, victory means capturing war victims and allowing them to earn the right to live by hunting each other for sport. May the greatest survivors win.
16-year-old Zharā is orphaned by war. She's a hundred pounds. She struggles at running, hiding, climbing. Yet she understands the Great Hunt’s prize: Anyone who wins frees their captive family.
She has all of her siblings counting on her now.
In a heart-pounding thriller where Get Out meets Hunger Games, survivors from all over the world will get one last chance to see their families again. Or die trying.
August 20th
My Salty Mary by Brodie Ashton, Jodie Meadows and Cynthia Hand (HarperTeen) - moved from 2023.
Don’t call this mermaid “little”—call her “captain,” unless you want to walk the plank.
Mary is in love with the so-called prince of Charles Town, except he doesn’t love her back. Which is inconvenient. Since she’s a mermaid, being brokenhearted means she’ll—poof!—turn into sea-foam.
But instead, Mary finds herself pulled out of the sea and up onto a pirate ship. To survive, she joins them. But Mary isn’t willing to just sing the yo-ho-hos. She wants the pirate life, all of it, and she’s ready to make a splash . . . by becoming captain. But when Blackbeard dies suddenly, Mary has a chance to become so much more: Pirate King . . . or Queen. She won’t let anyone stop her—not Blackbeard’s cute son, not her best friend from back under the sea who’s having a bit too much fun with his new legs, and certainly not everyone who says she can’t be a pirate just because she’s a girl. She may not be the best man for the job, but she’ll definitely prove that she’s worth her salt.
With lively wit and a royally clever sense of humor, Cynthia Hand,
Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows continue their campaign to turn history
on its head in this YA fantasy that’s perfect for fans of The Princess Bride and A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.
Wisteria by Adalyn Grace (Little, Brown)
Blythe Hawthorn has never let anyone tell her what to do—not society, not her overprotective father, and certainly not the man she’s bound herself to, no matter how rude and insufferable he is. In fact, she’s determined to be a thorn in his side for the rest of her days, even as he ensures that her life in his palace is anything but a fairytale. But as Blythe discovers a new side of herself linked to his past, she’ll have to decide if she’s willing to let an unexpected spark ignite…and to discover the truth about who she really is.
Something Like Right by H.D. Hunter (FSG) - moved from 2023.
Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s only hope for redemption is to transfer to Broadlawn Alternative School and complete the year.
Zay isn’t thrilled about the disgusting school lunch and classroom trailers at Broadlawn, and boarding with his aunt Mel and her live-in boyfriend isn’t the greatest. But he’d rather be there than in the city dealing with his estranged father, his overbearing mother, and the fallout from his fight. Besides, Broadlawn has Feven, the beautiful new student Zay is starting to get to know—and fall for.
Still, first love is rarely a fairy tale, and as Zay’s time in Broadlawn comes to an end, he learns that shaping yourself within a new place is a lot harder than letting it shape you. But worth it, nonetheless.
A tender contemplation of first love, broken families, and healing generational trauma.
Clown in a Cornfield Three: The Church of Frendo by Adam Cesare (HarperCollins)
Quinn has just survived yet another bloody run-in with Frendo, and somehow still she knows this won’t be the last. Tired of being hunted and seeing innocent people hurt, Quinn believes the only way to beat the horror is to take justice into her own hands and stop the Frendo followers herself. Little does she know that this path will take her across cornfields and states to where she will have to face the most dangerous menace yet: True believers.
It’s an all-new tale about the villains inside us all from the Bram Stoker Award–winning author, the master of slashers and suspense, Bram Stoker Award-winning author Adam Cesare.
House of Thorns by Isabel Strychacz (Simon and Schuster) - previously titled Withering of Brier Hall.
Lia Peartree is haunted—by memories, by her past, by secrets, by the ones she left behind. Five years ago, the Peartrees fled their home—the infamous ancestral Brier Hall—and never looked back. But her oldest sister went missing that night, and there’s been no sign of her since.
In the aftermath, the Peartrees are traumatized and get by however they can. Lia’s remaining sister Ali says yes to any bad idea, and Lia tries so desperately to be the perfect daughter that it’s tearing her apart. But as the five year anniversary of the night they left nears, Lia begins seeing her missing sister everywhere, and memories of Brier Hall won’t leave her alone.
When Ali disappears with no warning except a cryptic phone call—“don’t follow me when I’m gone”—Lia is sure she’s gone back to Brier Hall. Lia must go home one final time and face what haunts her in an effort to find her sisters and uncover the truth of her past.
Helga by Catherine Yu (Page Street)
Bursting with curiosity, Helga quickly escapes from the well-meaning Penny and heads into Amaris City. There Helga finds she is as untamable as the invasive blackberry vines overtaking the island. And because of the misdeeds of her father’s scientific community, the natural world grows more volatile.
Helga soon discovers the night market, rowdy clubs, delicious food, and cute boys. Enamored with city life, she’ll do anything to find love―but she has only two weeks until her father gets back, and besides there are ominous rumblings from the volcanic island that could put her dating schemes, and even her own life, in grave peril.
Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield (Joy Revolution) - details not yet added to Goodreads.
Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfect itinerary and many, many
to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France.
Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques,
her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure
to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!
But all is
not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new
Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle
schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily,
she lives for the drama. Literally.
Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a
grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney
the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on
the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?
Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters (Viking)
When
roguish Prince Jadon of Îles de la Rêverie travels to America to clean
up his image after a horribly public break up gone viral, romance is
absolutely NOT on the agenda. Carefully planned photo ops with puppies?
Yes. Public appearances at a Santa Monica art gallery? Absolutely. A
pink-haired, film-obsessed hottie from the private school where he’s
currently enrolled? Uhhhh...
Together with his entourage—a
bitingly witty royal guard, Rêverie’s future Queen and Jadon’s sarcastic
and supportive older sister, and a quirky Royal Liaison—Jadon’s on a
mission to turn things around and show his parents, and his country,
that he’s more than just a royal screw-up.
But falling for a
not-so-royal American boy? Well, it might be a fairytale romance come
true... or it could be another disaster headline in the making. Stick
around and find out.
Sixteen-year-old Millie Novak is stuck in an “if only” rut. If only she were stronger and faster, maybe her roller derby teammates would take her seriously. If only she had the guts to go back to in-person learning, maybe she’d have a social life. If only she wasn’t such an awkward mess, maybe she could get the attention of that cute girl on the all-star derby team. And don’t get her started on her family!
After the one-two punch of her beloved older brother’s departure for college and her parents’ overdue split, leaving her lonelier than ever, Millie decides it's time to reinvent herself. With the help of her new friend Pumpkin and a little bit of deceit, Millie crafts a plan to cement her status on the team and get her crush to fall for her.
But reinvention isn't easy. Millie's constantly shown up by show-off teammate Stork, and the only way she can get her crush’s attention is through increasingly elaborate lies. Worse, she begins to suspect Pumpkin is not the supportive friend she’d imagined. Toughest to handle? Realizing the person she’s in love with might not be her longtime crush, after all.
Eat Your Heart Out by Terry Blas, Matty Newton and Lydia Anslow (Oni Press) - YA graphic novel, moved from 2022.
Blanca is running away. Away from her mother—the overbearing and strict Riena—and her mother's narrow idea of what shape Blanca's life should take. While Riena finds Blanca's dream of pursuing fashion design a wasteful flight of fancy, Blanca sees possibility . . . and she knows if she doesn't leave now, she might never. Of course, following your passion isn't easy, and when Blanca arrives in New York City without a job or a roof over her head, she's rescued by a kindly baker named Emile, who takes her in. With Emile comes their eclectic group of six friends, all living in the same brownstone, who welcome Blanca into their weird, wonderful family. With them, Blanca learns that her fairy-tale journey can't begin until she stops running away from her problems and starts running toward her dream.
Drown Me With Dreams by Gabi Burton (Bloomsbury) - moved from June 2024.
Saoirse Sorkova is on the run. Accused of several murders, her siren identity compromised, even the newly crowned King Hayes can't protect her if she's caught. The only way to save her life is to send her on a dangerous mission across the magical barrier that surrounds the kingdom.
Forced to travel with Carrick - once her best friend, now her greatest betrayer - she begins to unravel multiple plots that threaten the safety of her family, the livelihood of the entire kingdom, and her future with Hayes. And the more time she spends with Carrick, the harder it is to keep hating him...
Soon, Saoirse is forced to what if Hayes isn't the right ruler for the kingdom? And if he's not, is she willing to betray her king - and her heart?
Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy series is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.
August 27th
The Sticky Note Manifesto of Aisha Agarwal by Ambika Vohra (Quill Tree Books)
“How have you gotten out of your comfort zone?”
That’s the Stanford University essay prompt keeping senior Aisha Agarwal up at night. As a daughter of immigrant parents, a scholarship student at a competitive private school, and a shoo-in for valedictorian, Aisha’s straight-and-narrow path has always guaranteed safety and success. But after her longtime crush, fellow brain Brian, stands her up at winter formal, Aisha decides that playing it safe just isn’t worth it anymore. As if on cue, a banged-up Volkswagen arrives at the dance; the driver—a boy—profusely apologizing for being late to pick her up. Does Aisha know him or what he’s talking about? No. Does the Stanford essay convince her to take him up on the ride? Maybe…
Soon Aisha is unloading all to her would-be chauffeur, seventeen-year-old Quentin. To her surprise, her easygoing confidante opens up too, leading to a deal: if Aisha helps Quentin pass math, he’ll help push her out of her comfort zone, using a series of sticky note to-dos—dares—that will not only give Aisha something to write about for her Stanford essay, but will create a version of herself that Brian can’t resist.
As the weeks go by, so do the dares. From New Year’s Eve kisses to
high school parties, Aisha’s sticky note manifesto is finally putting
her in the driver’s seat of her life. But when she ends up falling for
the wrong guy, has a falling-out with her best friend, and still can’t quite finish her essay, victory feels far from reach. But is winning worth it if you end up losing yourself in the end?
A Banh Mi for Two by Trinity Nguyen (Henry Holt)
In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.
When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.
Don't Let It Break Your Heart by Maggie Horne (Feiwel and Friends) - previously titled Stay Here With Me.
You only get one soulmate, and I'm not throwing mine away.
Alana and Gray have been the perfect couple ever since they got together before high school – and neither of them think that should have to change just because Alana came out as a lesbian.
Sure, things are a little different now: their romantic relationship is over, but their best-friends-since-forever relationship is stronger than ever. And yeah, Alana sees the way her other friends now exclude her in tiny, almost unnoticeable ways, but she still has Gray, and that’s all that’s ever mattered to her. Really, the only difference is that instead of kissing Gray herself, Alana sets him up with other girls to do that.
But when new girl Tal arrives, she stops Alana and Gray in their tracks.
Suddenly, Gray’s all-in on his plan to get Tal to fall in love with him, and, for the first time, Alana’s reluctant to help. As Alana and Tal grow closer, and Alana begins to think Tal might share her feelings, she has to decide whether to embrace her queerness and risk losing the life she thought she was building, or continue to hide parts of herself and maintain the status quo.
Don’t Let it Break Your Heart is a tender and romantic exploration of identity, love, and friendship that turns the friends to lovers romance trope on its head.
The New Camelot by Robyn Schneider (Viking)
Everything
is finally going right for Emry Merlin. Now that Arthur is the king and
her wayward magic is under control, she’s enjoying life as Camelot’s
official court wizard—and as Arthur’s girlfriend.
But when an
unexpected visitor arrives at court, Emry finds her hard-won position
threatened. And Arthur is torn between listening to his advisors and
following his heart. Even more troubling, war is on the horizon, with
King Yurien’s access to dark magic ensuring Camelot’s doom. That is,
unless Emry, Arthur, and Lance can find a way to defeat the evil
sorceress Bellicent with magic from her own world. But undertaking a
quest to Anwen is perilous business, and our young heroes will face many
obstacles on their journey—from dangerous beasts to suspicious nobles
to cursed maidens determined to find someone to marry.
Can Emry
and Arthur save their kingdom and fix their relationship, or will they
have to choose between their future and Camelot’s?
Come Out, Come Out by Natalie C. Parker (Putnam) - moved from 2023.
It’s never been safe for Fern, Jaq, or Mallory to come out to their families. As kids their emerging identities drove them into friendship but also forced them into the woods to hide in an old, abandoned house when they needed safety. But one night when the girls sought refuge, Mallory never made it back home. Fern and Jaq did, but neither survivor remembered what happened or the secrets they were so desperate to keep.
Five years later, Fern and Jaq are seniors on the verge of graduation, seemingly happy in their straight, cisgender lives—until a spirit who looks like Mallory begins to appear, seeking revenge for her death, and the part Fern and Jaq played in it. As they’re haunted, something begins to shift inside them.
They remember who they are.
Who they want to love.
And the truth about the vicious secrets hiding in their woods.
This delightfully dark and pointed novel calls out the systems that erase gay and queer and trans identity, giving space to embrace queerness and to unleash the power of friendship and found family against the real monsters in the world.
Libertad by Bessie Flores Zaldívar (Dial)
As the contentious 2017 presidential election looms and protests rage across every corner of the city, life in Tegucigalpa, Honduras churns louder and faster. For her part, high school senior Libertad (Libi) Morazán takes heart in writing political poetry for her anonymous Instagram account and a budding romance someone new. But things come to a head when Mami sees texts on her phone mentioning a kiss with a girl and Libi discovers her beloved older brother, Maynor, playing a major role in the protests.
As Libertad faces the political and social corruption around her, stifling homophobia at home and school, and ramped up threats to her poetry online, she begins dreaming of a future in which she doesn’t have to hide who she is or worry about someone she loves losing their life just for speaking up. Then the ultimate tragedy strikes, and leaving her family and friends—plus the only home she’s ever known—might be her only option.
Bridge Across the Sky by Freeman Ng (Simon and Schuster) - YA novel in verse. Details not updated on Goodreads.
Tai Go and his family have crossed an ocean wider than a thousand rivers, joining countless other Chinese immigrants in search of a better life in the United States. Instead, they’re met with hostility and racism. Empowered by the Chinese Exclusion Act, the government detains the immigrants on Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay while evaluating their claims.
Held there indefinitely, Tai Go experiences the prison-like conditions, humiliating medical exams, and interrogations designed to trick detainees into failure. Yet amid the anger and sorrow, Tai Go also finds hope—in the poems carved into the walls of the barracks by others who have been detained there, in the actions of a group of fellow detainees who are ready to fight for their rights, in the friends he makes, and in a perceived enemy whose otherness he must come to terms with.
Unhappy at first with his father’s decision to come to the United States, Tai Go must overcome the racism he discovers in both others and himself and forge his own version of the American Dream.
Sync by Ellen Hopkins (Nancy Paulsen Books) - details not yet updated on Goodreads.
Seventeen-year-old twins Storm and Lake have always been in perfect sync. They faced the worst a parent could do and survived it together. In the wake of their mother’s rejection, they’ve spent the last five years moving from foster home to foster home—sometimes placed together, sometimes apart.
After being separated from his sister once again, Storm is devastated. He’s the older brother and promised to always take care of Lake. But after a stint in juvie, his newest placement has him feeling almost hopeful. His foster dad is kind, and his girlfriend, Jaidyn, is the first person other than Lake he feels he can trust. But when Jaidyn is sexually assaulted by a violent ex, it pushes Storm over the edge. He retaliates and lands back in lockup—and he fears this time it will be for good. He wishes he could talk to Lake, but he doesn’t know where she is, and he’ s now feeling more alone and out of sync than ever before.
Lake, like Storm, has found her own happiness in a relationship with someone new—her fellow foster, Parker. Life with Parker is never boring, but Parker has her own scars. She can be withdrawn and unpredictable, and that can be dangerous, especially after Parker convinces Lake to run away from their Bible-thumping fosters after they are caught in a compromising position. With no money, shelter, or ID, they’re living on the streets. Lake thinks of Storm and his promise to take care of her, and wonders where he could be now.
Told in dual perspectives through unsent letters, at turns heartbreaking and always honest, this latest novel in verse from #1 New York Times bestselling author Ellen Hopkins is a searing and unforgettable account of two teens caught in the teeth of the foster care system, fighting their way out and back to each other.
Love Is in the Hair by Gemma Cary (Delacorte)
Fifteen-year-old Evia Birtwhistle can’t seem to catch a break. At home, she must deal with her free-spirited mom, and at school she’s the target of ridicule for stating basic truths: like that girls have body hair!
When her BFF Frankie—who has facial hair due to her PCOS—becomes the target of school bullies, Evia decides that enough is enough and creates the ‘Hairy Girls’ Club.’
Leading a feminist movement at school is not easy. Boys often look at Evia like she’s a total weirdo, and the self-proclaimed ‘smoothalicious’ girls start their own campaign in retaliation. As Evia struggles with feeling strong enough to lead, and questions how to be a good friend to Frankie, she falls back on the best thing she has—hope. Her message is simple: We CAN make this world a more accepting, less judgmental place for girls to live in…one hairy leg at a time!
Our Shouts Echo by Jade Aida (Disney Hyperion)
Sixteen-year old Niarah Holloway’s only goal in life is to get through it unnoticed. That, and to spend her first summer in LA building a doomsday bunker in her backyard. Because if the past few years have taught Niarah anything, it’s that the ocean levels are rising, minimum wage is a scam, and the people who are supposed to protect you will hurt you. Now the only thing that helps Niarah stay afloat amidst the constant waves of anxiety and dread that threaten to drag her under is her new mantra: Be prepared.
But Niarah wasn’t prepared for Mac Torres. Not for his disarmingly cute face, or for his surfer lifestyle, or for the way his smile resuscitates her heart. Mac is a bomb that blows Niarah’s world to pieces, but instead of disaster, he fills it with sunset bonfires, breakfast burritos, and new friends.
For years, Niarah’s life has revolved around ignoring the demons of her past, avoiding the problems of her present, and preparing for the catastrophes of the future. Now Mac—with his sunshine laugh and infectious optimism— is determined to show her another way to be. But in a world where the worst feels inevitable, can one summer be enough to light the way to a hopeful future? Can one summer be enough to fall in love?
Fyrebirds by Kate J. Armstrong (Nancy Paulsen Books)
As the new leader of Eudea works to lift the prohibition on magic, the churchmen who do not support it—and the gang lords who profit from it—whisper rebellion. The secret resistance who once sheltered the Nightbirds is rallying, too. Smelling blood in the water, an ambitious Farlands king threatens to take Eudea. As war looms, and the empire’s fate hangs from a knife’s edge, the Nightbirds have to decide if becoming more than that are—Fyrebirds—to protect Simta is worth losing themselves entirely and the lives and loves they might have had.
Jupiter Rising by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books)
But then Jack realizes that Jay is grieving too—the loss of his cousin Maddie, Jupiter’s mom. As Jack's relationships with both Jay and Jupiter grow and his running improves, he starts to feel more like himself than he has since Joseph died. He's finding his stride . . . until Maddie’s parents, who have never shown interest in their granddaughter before, decide to claim Jupiter as their own, blocking Jack’s family from adopting her. And suddenly Jack’s past and present smash together, threatening to dissolve both his newfound confidence and his friendships.
This poignant, powerful companion to Orbiting Jupiter is Gary D. Schmidt at his best. He is the author of the Printz Honor and Newbery Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy ; Okay for Now, a National Book Award finalist; and The Wednesday Wars, a Newbery Honor Book, among many acclaimed novels for young readers.
Practical Rules for Cursed Witches by Kayla Cottingham (Delacorte) - moved from October 2024.
Magic is in Delilah Bea’s blood. Her absentee father is the world’s most famous cursebreaker, while all the women in her family are fated to never find true love. So when Delilah graduates her magical training and must complete her Calling, she has the perfect task in mind—to break the Bea family curse.
But Delilah’s Calling is hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, a member of the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country, and breaking his curse suddenly becomes her official assignment. Every generation, a pair of Pelumbra twins are doomed, with one twin draining the other of their life and magic. Each day, Kieran grows weaker while Briar gets closer to…something monstrous.
As Delilah and the twins set out on their quest, they quickly realize that breaking the Pelumbra curse isn’t going to be simple. For one, the Pelumbra family doesn’t actually want their curse broken—and they’ve sent hunters after them to ensure they fail. Secondly…it’s Briar. There’s just something about her that gets under Delilah’s skin and makes her want to kiss the perpetually grumpy look off her face. But with time running out for the twins and Delilah’s own curse getting in the way, they may not stand a chance of finding their Happily Ever After.
With Love, Echo Park by Laura Taylor Namey (Atheneum) - previously titled Echo Park, release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
left, and the heir to the other seems determined to flee.
Emilio has always been expected to take over Avalos Bicycle Works but he wants to discover who he could be outside Echo Park. Why should an eighteen-year-old have etch his future with indelible ink?
Others might find Emilio charming, but to Clary, he's an aggravating flight risk. And to Emilio, Clary is a dependable irritant who never fails to note that one more Echo Park business
will fade without him.
But this summer, things shift. An unexpected visitor delivers a message from Clary's estranged mother that shakes Clary to her core. Meanwhile, Emilio realizes leaving hom
won't be so easy and Clary, who has always been next door and who he confides in.
Soon, they find there's something stronger than local history tying them together.
Full Shift by Jennifer Dugan and Kristen Seaton (G.P. Putnam and Sons) - YA graphic novel.
Tessa
feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. Not at school, where she can’t
figure out how to confess the feelings she has for her friend Maddie.
And definitely not at home, where the other werewolves in her family
make her feel like an outcast because she can’t even shift into her full
wolf form yet. Sometimes she thinks her whole life would be easier if
she wasn’t a werewolf at all.
When word gets out that a group of
werewolf hunters has infiltrated her pack’s territory and that they’ve
developed a cure that can make werewolves human, Tessa thinks she’s
found the answer to her problems. But when she discovers there might be
more to the hunters’ plans than anyone knows, it’s up to Tessa to put
herself on the line to protect the lives of those she loves most. And
the only way to save them is to embrace the wolf inside her that is
howling to get out.
Twin Flames by Olivia Abtahi (Lee and Low) - release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
Twins Bianca and Leila could not be more different from each other. Being both Argentinian and Iranian in a small town has always been hard, but with Leila shunning her heritage and Bianca embracing it, the two walk very different paths. They run in different circles of friends, and barely talk anymore. Leila's a homebody who loves to craft and plans on marrying her high school sweetheart. Bianca's more anti-establishment and plans to get out of Dodge as soon as humanly possible.
But on their eighteenth birthday, the neighbor's barn mysteriously burns down. When Leila encounters a monster—a djinn—arising from the fire, suddenly she gains strange powers and can no longer touch iron.
What do these djinn want with Leila—or other people in town, for that matter? Can the twins learn to rely on each other—and their cultures—to banish them? It'll take a sisterly reconciliation for the girls to find out and to save their hometown in this New Visions Award-winning fantasy adventure.
One House Left by Vincent Ralph (Wednesday Books)
“Ready or not. Whatever you do. The Hiding Boy is coming for you.”
Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell grew up in the shadow of Murder Road – a street cursed by the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy.
Every few years, for nearly six decades, a different house on that street has been the scene of a tragedy.
Nate and his family move to a new town as they try to outrun the curse once and for all. But, when he is pulled into his new friends’ urban legend club, new ghost stories merge with old until there is nowhere left to run.
A sharp and hilarious coming-of-age novel about a girl who quite literally knows everything, from award-winning author Wendy Wunder.
Seventeen-year-old
Maya knows things. When she looks at someone, she instantly knows
everything about them: their history, their private thoughts, their
secret desires, their most tragic failures. She walks around with the
weight of the world on her shoulders.
Which is why she was sent
to the Whispering Pines Psychiatric Facility, and also why starting at a
new school is going to be such a challenge. Especially when Maya meets a
guy she actually wants to be around, and must grapple with whether
there’s such a thing as knowing too much.
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay (Kolkila)
Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.
Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of microaggression from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his farm labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.
Denver, 1983. Whether it’s tanking his grades or joining the football team, Chris is determined to prove his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father insists they’re just American.
Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves into Enzo’s bedroom. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.
Told in multiple perspectives, over four generations of a single family, Everything We Never Had is a story about father-son relationships and of forging your own path within a family or society that urges you to follow theirs.
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