September 2022 New Releases

 
Undated
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah (Sourcebooks Fire) - previously dated July 2022.

Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their live each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve.

In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers - the ruling elite, have indentured her family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. The winning contender receives gold and glory. The others - if they’re lucky - survive.

When the last maristag of the year escapes, and Koral has no new maristag to sell, her family’s financial situation takes a turn for the worse, and they can’t afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral decides her only choice is to do what no one in the world has ever dared: she cheats her way into the Glory Race.

But every step of the way is unpredictable, as Koral races against contenders who have trained for this their whole lives and have no intention of letting a low-caste girl steal their glory. When riots break out and rogues attack Koral to try to force her to drop out, she must choose—her life or her sister’s—before the whole island burns.

Queen Bee by Amalie Howard (Joy Revolution)
Bria Ragin at Joy Revolution has acquired Queen Bee by bestselling romance author Amalie Howard. Pitched as a YA Bridgerton meets The Count of Monte Cristo, this historical romance with anti-historical elements features a teen girl who returns to London, under a fake identity, at the start of the glittering social season to exact revenge on the childhood best friend who betrayed her over a boy—a handsome marquess—now considered to be the town's most eligible bachelor. Publication is set for fall 2022; Thao Le at Sandra Dijkstra Literary negotiated the deal for world rights.

Don't Let In the Cold by Keely Parrack (Sourcebooks Fire) - previously titled The Darkness of Snow.
Wendy McClure at Sourcebooks Fire has acquired, in a two-book deal, The Darkness of Snow by Keely Parrack, a debut YA survival thriller. After a solar flare leaves Lottie and new stepsister Jade without power or cell service in a ski cabin, they are joined by cute, fast-talking Alex, who claims to be lost in the woods. A deadly blizzard, fire, and bears aren't the girls' only concerns as they realize Alex isn't who he claims to be, and that he has dangerous friends. Publication is set for fall 2022; Tara Gonzalez at Erin Murphy Literary Agency brokered the deal for world English rights.

Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto (Delacorte) - some editions dated December 1st.
Wendy Loggia at Delacorte has acquired, in a preempt, world English rights to Well, That Was Unexpected by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This YA rom-com debut is about a girl whisked from L.A. to her mother's native Indonesia in order to "get back to her roots," who—through a comedy of errors and overzealous parents—finds herself fake-dating the son of one of the wealthiest families in Indonesia, and is surprised when she actually starts to fall in love—with the boy, the country, and the big family she never knew before now. Publication is set for fall 2022; Katelyn Detweiler at Jill Grinberg Literary Management brokered the two-book deal.

September 1st
The Princess in the Piazza by Ben Hatke (Roaring Brook Press)
Roaring Brook has bought The Princess in the Piazza, a YA novel from Ben Hatke. The book follows Sebastian, an American teenager spending the summer in Italy, who falls in love with a Renaissance princess who has been dead for 500 years, and finds himself swept up in her ages-old conflict with a sinister wizard.

September 2nd
Unraveller by Frances Hardinge (Amulet) - originally published in the UK, not clear if this release date is for the US edition.
Kellen and Nettle live in a world where anyone can create a life-destroying curse, but only one person has the power to unravel them. But not everyone is happy he can do so and, suddenly, he’s in a race to save both himself and all those who have been touched by magic…

A spell-binding new tale from the master of speculative fiction.

September 6th
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra (Wednesday Books)
To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is.

A stunning and immersive debut set in an alternate medieval India infested with monsters, where a young guardswoman struggles with her unwitting role as a major pawn in the deadly games between two kingdoms. With incredible characters, a vivid setting and heartrending emotion, Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove will enthrall you until the very last page.

September 8th
The One that Got Away by Sophie Gonzales (Wednesday Books)
Bisexual eighteen-year-old Maya dumped her cheating ex, Jordy, two years ago—and good riddance. But when Jordy's sister marries the crowned prince of a small European country and he shoots to fame, Pippa Middleton style, reality show producers approach her to appear on a Bachelor meets second-chance-romance show, along with all his other exes.

Maya agrees, but she’s nursing a secret agenda: use the show to make sure the world knows what kind of person Jordy is. When her manufactured "enemy" on the show, Skye—who happens to be the girl Jordy cheated on her with—finds out about Maya's plan, the two make a pact; they’ll help each other make it to the finale by any means necessary, and whoever wins will expose Jordy on national television.

But as Maya’s relationship with Skye start to change from co-conspirators to something more, she discovers just how hard it is to watch the girl you’re falling for seduce the guy who broke your heart.

Even if it is just for show.

September 13th
The Pledge by Cale Dietrich (Feiwel and Friends)

Scream meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this young adult horror novel by Cale Dietrich featuring a masked killer who targets frat boys.

Freshman Alex believes that joining a fraternity is the best way to form a friend group as he begins his college journey. The frat he’s pledging seems welcoming and fun, and accepting of his identity as queer. It would feel better if Gray, the other queer frat boy was friendlier, but Alex can deal with that if it means being part of this popular group.

And then… one of the frat boys is killed by a masked, knife-wielding murderer. The police and the university believe it’s random – a case of a drunk kid being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But when another frat boy is murdered, Alex and Gray start to wonder if they might be the next targets, and if the pledge/hazing rituals have gone too far.

Elements of horror, mystery, and a gay hate-to-love romance make this a story readers won't want to miss.

September 20th
Seoulmates by Susan Lee (Inkyard)

The last person Hannah wants to see is her former best friend, Jacob. Until blackmail and a bucket list, along with two meddling mamas, push them together for a summer worthy of a K-drama…

Hannah Cho had the next year all planned out—the perfect summer with her boyfriend, Nate, and then a fun senior year with all of their friends.

But then Nate does what everyone else in Hannah’s life seems to do—he leaves her, claiming they have nothing in common. He and all her friends are newly obsessed with K-pop and K-dramas, and Hannah is not. After years of trying to embrace the American part and shunning the Korean side of her Korean American identity to fit in, Hannah finds that's exactly what now has her on the outs. 

But someone who does know K-dramas—so well that he’s actually starring in one—is Jacob Kim, Hannah’s former best friend, whom she hasn’t seen in years. He’s desperate for a break from the fame and someone to trust, so a family trip back to San Diego might be just what he needs…that is, if he and Hannah can figure out what went wrong when they last parted and navigate the new feelings developing between them.

Stolen City by Elisa A Bonnin (Swoon Reads) - previously titled Kingfisher and Crown, release date announced on social media but not yet announced on Goodreads.

Arian Athensor, also known as Crow, is one of the few people in Leithon whose circumstances have improved after Imperial occupation, although she would never admit it. Before, she was faced with constant pressure to return home and continue studying magic. Now, there is no home, no more magic. Her mother is dead, her brother changed forever, and her city irreparably scarred, but for the first time in her life, she is free.

But when a man comes to town looking to hire her and her brother to retrieve a magical artifact that used to be in her mother’s care, Arian finds that she can't run away from her past. Her destiny is intimately tied to the destiny of her city, and one way or another, she will have to fight for it. Arian will have to steal back not just the artifact, but the city itself.

Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros (Inkyard Press) - title and description from author's twitter.
From the author of The City Beautiful comes a haunting fantasy following Toma, adopted daughter of the benevolent undead, as she crosses paths with the incognito Tsar in an empire on the verge of civil war between the lower class and the magical elite.

The Kosa empire roils in tension, on the verge of being torn apart by a proletarian revolution between magic-endowed elites and the superstitious lower-class, but seventeen-year-old Toma lives blissfully disconnected from the conflict in the empire with her adoptive family of benevolent undead.

When she crosses paths with Vanya, a charming commoner with awe-inspiring powers, and the usurped Tsar Mikhail himself, the unlikely trio bonds over trying to restore Mikhail’s magic and protect the empire from the revolutionary leader, Koschei, whose forces have stolen the castle. Vanya has his magic, and Mikhail has his title, but if Toma can’t dig deep and find her power in time, all of their lives will be at Koschei’s mercy.

What the Fact?! by Dr. Seema Yasmin (Simon and Schuster) - YA Non-fiction, moved from January 2021.
From acclaimed writer, journalist, and physician Dr. Seema Yasmin comes a much-needed, timely book about the importance of media literacy, fact-based reporting, and the ability to discern truth from lies.

What is a fact? What are reliable sources? What is news? What is fake news? How can anyone make sense of it anymore? Well, we have to. As conspiracy theories and online hoaxes increasingly become a part of our national discourse and “truth” itself is being questioned, it has never been more vital to build the discernment necessary to tell fact from fiction, and media literacy has never been more vital.

In this accessibly-written guide, Dr. Seema Yasmin, an award-winning journalist, scientist, medical professional, and professor, traces the spread of misinformation and disinformation through our fast-moving media landscape and teaches young readers the skills that will help them identify and counter poorly-sourced clickbait and misleading headlines.

My Second Impression of You by Michelle I. Mason (Bloomsbury) - previously titled Best Day Of My Life, previously dated August 2022.

September 27th
Forestfall by Lyndall Clipstone (Henry Holt) - some editions dated October 2022.
Some oaths can never be broken...

The curse that haunted Lakesedge Estate has been broken, but at great cost. Violeta Graceling has sacrificed herself to end the Corruption. To escape death, Leta makes a desperate bargain with the Lord Under, one that sees her living at his side in the land of the dead.

But this world of souls and mist hides many secrets. And when Leta realizes she is still connected to Rowan by a tethering spell, she will risk everything— even her soul— to try and reach him.

Torn between power and love, life and death, Leta struggles to keep hold of her humanity as she falls further and further under the spell of the world Below… and the Lord Under.




Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo (Feiwel and Friends)
From the author of To Kill a Kingdom comes Princess of Souls, a Rapunzel-inspired YA fantasy romance about a teen witch groomed to steal souls for an immortal king and the reckless, rebellious boy to whom her fate is tied.

For sixteen years, Selestra Somniatis has been trapped in a castle on the Floating Mountain, preparing to take her mother’s place as King Seryth’s right hand. Tied by blood to steal souls for the immortal King of the Six Isles, the Somniatis Witch foretells the deaths of participants in the Festival of Predictions. To outrun your fate is to save your soul and steal the King’s immortality. But if you die, your soul is forfeit. And though thousands have tried, nobody has ever beaten death.

As a soldier in King Seryth’s army, Nox Laederic is an unlikely candidate for the Festival, but he has no plans to die at the hands of the King or his witches. His plan is more akin to violent revenge: steal the King’s immortality and kill the entirety of his court, starting with Selestra herself.

But when Selestra touches Nox in her very first prediction, she sees her own death alongside his--their fates are unmistakably intertwined, and Selestra is no longer safe in the only home she’s ever known. Nox and Selestra will have to enter a turbulent alliance in order to survive long enough to free the Six Isles from King Seryth’s clutches and escape the new fate that hunts them.