January 2025 New Releases

 

 

Release date not known
Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim (Sweet July Books)
Tiffany Liao at Zando Young Readers/Sweet July Books has won, at auction, Roselle Lim's (Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune) YA debut Celestial Banquet, pitched as Iron Chef meets Lore, set in a Chinese folklore-inspired world in which minor deities walk among us, following a hotheaded noodle chef who competes to create a feast for the gods while battling monsters, cutthroat gourmands, and her own heart. Publication is slated for January 2025; Jenny Bent at the Bent Agency brokered the deal for world rights.

The Losting Fountain by Lora Senf (Union Square Kids)
Ardi Alspach at Union Square Kids has acquired Bram Stoker-nominated author Lora Senf's (The Clackity) YA horror debut The Losting Fountain. Pitched as Wayward Children meets The Ocean at the End of the Lane, it follows three children who travel across time to reach a mysterious and often horrific fountain where lost things go to be found and where seekers are punished nearly as often as they are rewarded. Publication is set for January 2025; Ali Herring at Spencerhill Associates did the deal for world rights.

A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson (HarperTeen) - not yet added to Goodreads.
Erica Sussman at HarperTeen has acquired at auction A Language of Dragons by debut author S.F. Williamson, a dark academia YA fantasy set in an alternate 1920s about language, loyalty, love and redemption, pitched as Bletchley Park… with dragons. HarperCollins UK will publish simultaneously in January 2025, with a sequel to follow in January 2026. Lydia Silver and Becca Langton at Darley Anderson negotiated the deal for world English rights.

January 1st
Stone Field by Christy Lenzi (Square Fish) - re-release of a previously published YA novel.
A stunning debut novel that offers a new look at a classic love story about soul mates torn apart by the circumstances of their time.

Catrina Dickinson is haunted by her past and feels caged in by life in small town Missouri. When she discovers a strange man in Stone Field where her family grows their sorghum crop, her life takes on new meaning. He has no memory of who he is or what brought him to Cat's farm, but they fall passionately in love. Meanwhile, the country is on the brink of the Civil War, and the conflict in Missouri demands that everyone take a side before the bloodbath reaches their doorstep.

A passionate and atmospheric reimagining of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, Stone Field by Christy Lenzi explores how violence and vengeance perverts the human spirit, and how hatred can be transcended by love.

The Killing Jar by Jennifer Bosworth (Square Fish) - re-release of a previously published YA novel, release date on Goodreads not accurate.

January 14th
The Scorpion Queen by Mina Fears (Flatiron Books) - moved from June 2023, then from January 2024, April 2024 and September 2024. Variable release dates, but the publisher's website lists this as the release date.
Sarah Barley at Flatiron Books has bought, in a preempt, Mina Fears's The Scorpion Queen, inspired by a Malian fairy tale and steeped in West African traditions, pitched as Uprooted meets Children of Blood and Bone. The crossover fantasy fairy tale is about a disgraced merchant's daughter who is forced to become a chambermaid to an emperor's daughter, a princess whose suitors are challenged to gruesome and impossible trials to win her hand, and who makes a choice between escaping Timbuktu and ending the trials forever. Publication is tentatively scheduled for 2023; Jenny Bent at the Bent Agency acquired North American rights.