April 4th
Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin (Wednesday Books)
The next gut-punching, compulsively readable Kate McLaughlin novel, about a girl finding strength in not being alone.
When
eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t
recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn't know
them – not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is
Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay,
but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s
phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.
Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.
Soon
after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must
grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her
head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out
has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship
with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan
wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?
Kate McLaughlin’s Pieces of Me is raw, intimate, and surprisingly hopeful.
Promposal by RaeChell Garrett (Little, Brown) - moved from April 1st.
Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss—a kiss that meant everything to her and nothing to him—cost Autumn her best friend. He’s the only person with the experience to help her, but how can she possibly trust him?
With her dreams on the line, Autumn’s willing to risk it. After all, Mekhi could be a good business partner without being a guy she would ever let near her heart again.
But when working with Mekhi threatens to ruin her only chance at rekindling a friendship with her ex–best friend and long-buried secrets threaten to ruin Promposal Queen, another broken heart may be the least of her worries—her entire future is on the line.
A Whole Song and Dance by Sarvenaz Tash (Disney-Hyperion)
Nasrin Mahdavi is a Broadway triple threat—but she’s living a double life.
A freshman in NYU’s prestigious musical theater program, Nasrin spends
her days prepping for auditions, sweating through dance classes, and
belting her heart out for the viral streaming show she’s been cast in.
But on calls with her maman and baba, she’s their jigar talah, the
golden child who put her theater dreams aside to follow in their
entrepreneurial footsteps as a business major.
At least her whole life isn’t a lie—she is taking a single business course. Except she’s kind of failing it. Cue jazz hands?
Nasrin needs to bring her grade up fast
if she’s going to keep her parents in the dark, so she grudgingly signs
up for tutoring with the infuriatingly smug and annoyingly attractive
Max. And yet...as the semester rushes by, the sparks of anger that first
flew between them start to turn into a very different kind of spark.
The kind she definitely does not have time for.
Except
when Nasrin’s charming though devious cousin takes an interest in Max
too, Nasrin has to figure out exactly what has been an act—and what’s
for real. Can Nasrin decide what—and who—is truly worth fighting for,
and find a way to step into the spotlight as her full self?
Never Vacation With Your Ex by Emily Wibberly and Austin Siegemund-Broka (Viking) - previously titled Get Over Yourself, title not yet updated on Goodreads.
Seventeen-year-old volleyball star Kaylee Jordan lives a life of player rankings, constant training, and a carefully curated social media full of followers watching to see if she'll go pro out of high school like her famous mom. Her one refuge, and the thing she looks forward to every summer? The vacation her family spends in Malibu with the Freeman-Yus. This year, there’s only one problem: Kaylee and their son, Dean, dated for the past three months, and Kaylee just unceremoniously dumped him. Hoping to spare them the worst summer ever, Kaylee comes to Dean with her unconventional solution: she’s going to walk him through her rules for getting over an ex. When Dean grudgingly cooperates, Kaylee’s got her work cut out for her. But helping Dean follow her own rules starts becoming difficult when the pressures of Kaylee’s family legacy and perfect life start to feel less like a plan and more like a prison…and amid warm California nights and stolen laughs, Kaylee feels herself falling for Dean for the same reasons and some new ones. With their trip coming to an end, Kaylee has to make the complicated choice between doing what’s expected and taking a (second) chance on love.
Not Here to Stay Friends by Kaitlyn Hill (Delacorte)
Sloane McKinney feels like a background character in her own life. But this summer will be different, because she’s spending it with her childhood best friend, Liam Daniels, in her dream city, Los Angeles. Sure, she’s surprised to find that Liam just happens to have had a Hot Guy glow-up since she last saw him, but so what? A little attraction won’t ruin her plans for their fun—and completely platonic—reunion.
What might, however, is that Liam has been roped into working for his producer dad’s new teen reality dating show, Aspen Woods’s Future Leading Lady. Liam figures Sloane can still hang out with him on set while he fetches coffee for the film crew, or whatever it is that production assistants do. Except it turns out the show is one contestant short . . . and Sloane is the perfect last-minute addition.
Once cameras are rolling, the whirlwind of dating teen heartthrob Aspen Woods feels way more real than Sloane expected, and Liam doesn’t exactly enjoy watching it all unfold. But it’s behind the scenes where the drama really picks up. . . .
Because wanting to kiss your best friend? That’s a plot twist neither Sloane nor Liam ever saw coming.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (Wednesday Books)
- previously titled Iris at the Front.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best
bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that
will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
Shadow and Bone meets Lore in this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.
Spell Bound by F. T. Lukens (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Edison Rooker isn’t sure what to expect when he enters the office of Antonia Hex, the powerful sorceress who runs a call center for magical emergencies. He doesn’t have much experience with hexes or curses. Heck, he doesn’t even have magic. But he does have a plan—to regain the access to the magical world he lost when his grandmother passed.
Antonia is…intimidating, but she gives him a job and a new name—Rook—both of which he’s happy to accept. Now all Rook has to do is keep his Spell Binder, an illegal magical detection device, hidden from the Magical Consortium. And contend with Sun, the grumpy and annoyingly cute apprentice to Antonia’s rival colleague, Fable. But dealing with competition isn’t so bad; as Sun seems to pop up more and more, and Rook minds less and less.
But when the Consortium gets wind of Rook’s Spell Binder, they come for Antonia. All alone, Rook runs to the only other magical person he knows: Sun. Except Fable has also been attacked, and now Rook and Sun have no choice but to work together to get their mentors back…or face losing their magic forever.
First-Year Orientation by Various YA Authors (Candlewick) - previously titled Freshman Orientation.
Jilly cannot believe her parents keep showing up at all of her orientation events. (Except, yes, she can totally believe that.) Isaac wants to be known as someone other than the kid who does magic and has an emotional support bunny. Lilly is stuck working at the college bookstore during orientation (but maybe new friends are closer than they appear). Hira, meanwhile, just wants to retire from ghost hunting once and for all, but a spirit in the library’s romance section has other ideas. For their sophomore effort, the contributing editors behind the critically acclaimed Battle of the Bands admit us to opening day at a fictional college, with a collection that makes an ideal high school graduation gift or “summer-before” read. This colorful array of stories spans genres and moods—from humorous to heartfelt to ghostly—tackling with sensitivity, humor, and warmth what it feels like to take those first shaky steps into adulthood.
Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick (Simon and Schuster)
What would you do if you forgot the love of your life ever even existed?
Stevie and Nora had a love. A secret, epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. They also had a plan: to leave their small, ultra-conservative town and families behind after graduation and move to California, where they could finally stop hiding that love.
But then Stevie has a terrible fall. And when she comes to, she can remember nothing of the last two years—not California, not coming to terms with her sexuality, not even Nora. Suddenly, Stevie finds herself in a life she doesn’t quite understand, one where she’s estranged from her parents, drifting away from her friends, lying about the hours she works, dating a boy she can’t remember crushing on, and headed towards a future that isn’t at all what her fifteen-year-old self would have envisioned.
And Nora finds herself…forgotten. Can the two beat the odds a second time and find their way back together when “together” itself is just a lost memory?
Queen Bee by Amalie Howard (Joy Revolution) - moved from September 2022.
Lady Ela Dalvi knows the exact moment her life was forever changed—when her best friend, Poppy, betrayed her without qualm over a boy, the son of a duke. She was sent away in disgrace, her reputation ruined.
Nearly three years later, eighteen-year-old Ela is consumed with bitterness and a desire forevenge. Her enemy is quickly joining the crème de la crème of high society while she withers away in the English countryside.
With an audacious plan to get even, Ela disguises herself as a mysterious heiress and infiltrates London’s elite. But when Ela reunites with the only boy she’s ever loved, she begins to question whether vengeance is still her greatest desire.
Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sodoti (SourcebooksFire)
An influencer, an over achiever, a heartthrob, an outcast, and a conspiracy theorist go into the woods for a camping trip at Salvation Creek.
Sometime around midnight, one of them vanishes.
Now, the four who came back are under suspicion, and they each have a very different story to tell about the events of the night.
With one of them missing, and the clock ticking, why would they lie? Who is hiding what? And what dark truths will their lies reveal?
When You Wish Upon a Star by Elizabeth Lim (Knopf) - moved from 2022, details not yet updated on Goodreads.
Or maybe it’s the fact that long ago, before she was the Blue Fairy, she was a young woman named Chiara from this very village, one with a simple wish: to help others find happiness. Her sister Ilaria always teased her for this, for she had big dreams to leave their sleepy village and become a world-renowned opera singer. The two were close, despite their differences. While Ilaria would give anything to have a fairy grant her wish, Chiara didn’t believe in the lore for which their village was famous.
Forty years later, Chiara, now the Blue Fairy, defies the rules of magic to help an old friend. But she’s discovered by the Scarlet Fairy, formerly Ilaria, who, amid a decades-long grudge, holds the transgression against her sister. They decide to settle things through a good old-fashioned bet, with Pinocchio and Geppetto’s fate hanging in the balance.
Will the sisters find a way back to one another? Or is this, like many matters of the heart, a gamble that comes with strings?
Blood Debts by Terry Benton (Tor Teen)
Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.
Now, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—discover their mother has been cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.
Clement and Cristina’s only hope of discovering who is coming after their family, is to trust each other, to trust their magic, and solve the decades-old murder. If they don't succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.
As Long as We're Together by Brianna Peppins (Scholastic)
Even though she has six siblings, sixteen-year-old Novah still knows what it's like to feel lonely. Her friends never remember to invite her anywhere because they assume Novah will be too busy overseeing dinner, baths, and homework -- tasks that fall to her when her parents are at work. She wouldn't mind it so much if her "perfect" older sister, Ariana, wasn’t always excused from helping out. She's the star of the volleyball team, and their parents don't want anything to jeopardize the scholarships she'll need to become the first member of their family to attend college.
Needless to say, Novah feels like she's been given a raw deal, especially when she's forced to cancel a maybe-date with her crush, Hailee.
Then one terrible night, their parents don't make it back home. A car accident takes their lives and leaves seven heartbroken kids on their own. The Wilkinson siblings have no grandparents, no aunts or uncles. Since Ariana has just turned eighteen, she manages to convince the judge to give her temporary custody. If she can keep her family running smoothly, they'll get to stay in their home. If not, they'll be placed into foster care.
Novah will do whatever it takes to keep her family together but finds herself in a constant power struggle when Ariana refuses to take her advice, even once it becomes clear that they are all in way over their heads. Will Novah find her voice and summon the strength to do the impossible? Or will she be forced to say the hardest goodbyes of all?
An Appetite For Miracles by Laekan Zea Kemp (Little, Brown)
Raul Santos has been lost ever since his mother was wrongly incarcerated two years ago. Playing guitar for the elderly has been his only escape, to help them remember and him forget. But when his mom unexpectedly comes back into his life, what is he supposed to do when she isn’t the same person who left?
When Danna and Raul meet, sparks fly immediately and they embark on a mission to heal her grandfather…and themselves. Because healing is something best done together—even if healing doesn’t always look the way we want it to.
Ay Mija!: My Bilingual Summer by Christine Suggs (Little, Brown) - YA Graphic Novel, release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
Soon Christine settles into life in Mexico, eating pan dulce, drawing
what they see, and growing more comfortable with Spanish. But when Mom
joins their trip, Christine’s two worlds collide. They feel homesick for
Texas, struggle against traditions, and miss being able to speak to
their mom without translating. Eventually, through exploring the impacts
of colonialism in both Mexico and themselves, they find their place in
their family and start to feel comfortable with their mixed identity.
Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken (Random House)
Tamsin Lark didn’t ask to be a Hollower. As a mortal with no magical talent, she was never meant to break into ancient crypts, or compete with sorceresses and Cunningfolk for the treasures inside. But after her thieving foster father disappeared without so much as a goodbye, it was the only way to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive.
Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian vanished with a powerful ring from Arthurian legend. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring.
As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers’ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother...Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu (Roaring Brook Press)
Meet
Winter Young—rookie backup dancer turned global pop phenomenon. His
star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London.
Now he’s bringing his swoon worthy assets to a whole new arena...
Infamous
criminal tycoon Eli Morrison has just one weakness—his daughter,
Penelope. And Penelope has just one wish for her nineteenth birthday—a
private concert with Winter Young. When covert ops organization The
Panacea Group approaches Winter with this once-in-a-lifetime chance to
infiltrate Morrison’s inner circle, Winter must use his fame, cunning,
and charisma to pull it off—only he won’t be on his own.
Posing
as Winter’s bodyguard is the fiery Sydney Cossette, Panacea’s youngest
spy. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter's charms,
but as the mission brings them closer, she's forced to admit there's
more to this A-lister than slick dance moves and a handsome face.
Panacea's unlikeliest partners just might become its biggest heroes—and
maybe even more—if they can survive each other first.
Codex Black by Camilo Moncada Lozano (IDW Publishing) - YA graphic novel.
Donaji is a fearless Zapotec girl who, even though she's only fifteen, is heralded as a hero by her village. In Codex Black, Donaji sets out on an adventure--accompanied by the god that lives inside of her poncho--to find her missing father. Along the way, she meets an 18-year-old winged Mexica warrior named Itzcacalotl, and over time their temporary partnership blooms into an incredible friendship.
The search brings the young pair closer to danger and deeper into mystery than either could have predicted. What exactly was Donaji's father involved with? And how did a simple search for a missing relative lead Donaji and Itzcacalotl into a fight with a terrifying bat monster to defend an entire village?!
April 11th
He Who Breaks the Earth by Caitlin Sangster (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Mateo spent years believing he suffered from a strange wasting sickness, but he’s finally learned the much darker truth. Now he will do whatever it takes to save himself, even if it means betraying Lia, the one girl who’s ever made him care about something more than his research.
It doesn’t help that his father kidnapped the last living member of Lia’s family, and though it means Mateo will get to see her again, it’s only because Lia is already hunting them.
Anwei’s rage can’t be contained after the disaster at the tomb that ended with Knox almost dying. Worse, she learned that the brother she’d been desperate to avenge has been living a life of luxury, raised by the monster of her nightmares. With the power of an ancient, nameless god running in her veins, Anwei vows to end the shapeshifter once and for all.
But the members of her crew each have their own motivations—and their own gods whispering in their ears. Anwei has never put much stock in the divine, but as she gets closer to the shapeshifter she’s chased for so long, she realizes that the gods’ plan and her own might diverge. But Anwei has only one goal: revenge, and she’ll destroy anyone standing in her way.
Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans (Clarion)
Sixteen-year-old Bianca Torre is an avid birder undergoing a gender identity crisis and grappling with an ever-growing list of fears. Some, like Fear #6: Initiating Conversation, keep them constrained, forcing them to watch birds from the telescope in their bedroom. And, occasionally, their neighbors. When their gaze wanders from the birds to one particular window across the street, Bianca witnesses a creepy plague-masked murderer take their neighbor’s life. Worse, the death is ruled a suicide, forcing Bianca to make a choice—succumb to their long list of fears (including #3: Murder and #55: Breaking into a Dead Guy’s Apartment) or investigate what happened.
Bianca enlists the help of their friend Anderson Coleman, but the two have more knowledge of anime than true crime. As Bianca and Anderson dig deeper into the murder with a little help from Bianca’s crush and fellow birding aficionado, Elaine Yee (#13: Beautiful People, #11: Parents Discovering They’re A Raging Lesbian), the trio uncovers a conspiracy much larger—and weirder—than imagined. But when the killer catches wind of the investigation, Bianca’s #1 fear of public speaking doesn’t sound so bad compared to the threat of being silenced for good.
In this absurdist, bizarrely comical YA thriller that is at turns a deceptively deep exploration of anxiety and identity, perhaps the real murder investigation is the friends we make along the way.
Master of Souls by Rena Barron (HarperTeen) - moved from August 2022.
A king with a score to settle.
A demon driven to rebel.
A girl who holds the power of the gods.
Arrah has paid many prices in her battle against the Demon King. Now, forced to give up the gift of magic she’d sought for so long, she must decipher the legacy of her past life as the orisha Dimma—and weave an uneasy alliance with her beloved Rudjek, the Demon King, and the remaining orishas, hoping to restore peace to all their worlds. But as Arrah’s half-demon sister regains her strength and resumes her quest for destruction, peace may require the ultimate sacrifice.…
Set
in a richly imagined world inspired by spine-tingling tales of
voodoo and folk magic, Rena Barron’s Kingdom of Souls series has been
called “masterful” (SLJ) and “sure to please” (ALA Booklist). This epic,
high-stakes finale will captivate readers who loved Namina Forna’s The
Gilded Ones or Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes.
Ab(solutely) Normal by Various YA Authors (Candlewick)
A teen activist wrestles with protest-related anxiety and PTSD. A socially anxious vampire learns he has to save his town by (gulp) working with people. As part of her teshuvah, a girl writes letters to the ex-boyfriend she still loves, revealing that her struggle with angry outbursts is related to PMDD. A boy sheds uncontrollable tears but finds that in doing so he’s helping to enable another’s healing.
In this inspiring, unflinching, and hope-filled mixed-genre collection, sixteen diverse and notable authors draw on their own lived experiences with mental health conditions to create stunning works of fiction that will uplift and empower you, break your heart and stitch it back together stronger than before. Through powerful prose, verse, and graphics, the characters in this anthology defy stereotypes as they remind readers that living with a mental health condition doesn’t mean that you’re defined by it. Each story is followed by a note from its author to the reader, and comprehensive back matter includes bios for the contributors as well as a collection of relevant resources.
The Sharp Edge of Silence by Cameron Kelly Rosenblum (HarperCollins)
WHO WILL YOU BE AT LYCROFT PHELPS?
This is the question all Lycroft applicants want to be asked. It means they’ve been accepted to one of the most elite private high schools in the nation. Over 150 years is plenty of time for traditions to bake into the campus’s bricks and ivy. Ceremonies. Athletic rivalries. Secret societies. Pranks taken too far. But navigating it all will make Charlotte (perfect, straight-A student), Max (scholarship kid and STEM whiz), and Quinn (artist, dreamer, Lycroft legacy) question all they thought they knew about themselves…and the school.
Especially when Quinn’s sexual assault becomes public and implicates one of the top-tier athletes on campus.
Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa (Wednesday Books)
Santiago Garcia is the new waiter at Lupe's, hired by Ander’s grandmother when they're let go (not fired) in order to focus on their art, including a commission for murals to revitalize the décor of the taquería. And Ander is immediately crushing. So much so that they even wiggle their way into a few shifts to help train Santi. Because that’s what good grandchildren do.
A couple nights closing down the restaurant and they’re the last two there. Late night drives to drop Santi off. Dates at the park with easels, paints, and paletas. It all quickly becomes something undeniably romantic for the both of them. And when Ander learns Santi is undocumented, the happiness that they both feel in their blossoming relationship becomes something worth holding onto. Santi becomes the best tie to home Ander has ever known, and Ander becomes Santi’s first tie toward making Santos Vista and the United States feel like home.
But it's hard not to realize how fragile that sense of home is when it starts to seem like the whole world is against them. And when, eventually, the world starts to win.
Promises Greater Than Darkness by Charlie Jane Anders (Tor Teen)
Tina Mains was once just another human stuck on earth--but as the secret clone of a valorous alien leader, she always had expected to grow into greatness.
Now, after a harsh awakening about the fate of the universe and the reality of dangers from a past she can't remember, Tina is on the run with a group of ragtag rebels, including her beloved ex-space-princess-in-training Elza, and is faced with the ultimate test: should she give up her own life to live the one that was meant to be?
The Making of Yolanda La Bruja by Lorraine Avila (Levine Querido) - details not yet updated on Goodreads.
High, her school in the Bronx. She has her best friend Victory, and maybe something
with Jose, a senior boy she's getting to know. She's confident her initiation into her
family’s bruja tradition will happen soon.
But then a white boy, the son of a politician, appears at Julia De Burgos High, and his vibes are off. And Yolanda’s initiation begins with a series of troubling visions of the
violence this boy threatens. How can Yolanda protect her community, in a world that doesn't listen? Only with the wisdom and love of her family, friends, and community ~ and the Brujas Diosas, her ancestors and guides,
The Making of Yolanda La Bruja is the book this country, struggling with the plague of gun violence, so desperately needs.
Throwback by Maurene Goo (Zando) - moved from 2022.
Sam's a solid student, but not a superstar, but she loves where
she is--she's got a great boyfriend and an awesome best friend. Things
with her mother come to a head when Sam gets chosen for homecoming court
and Priscilla wants to run her campaign for homecoming queen. Sam also
learns that her mother was never allowed to go to the homecoming dance,
and Sam begins to realize the racism that her mother faced back in the
90's during her high school days.
After an epic fight with her mother,
Sam uses an unknown ride hailing app to get to school, and finds herself
transported back to the 90's. She arrives at school and finds to her
horror that her mother is also in her high school. Sam is stuck back in
time, and needs to figure things out before the battery on her cell
phone dies, or she'll be stuck there forever...
The Song of Wrath by Sarah Raughley (Simon Pulse) - moved from 2023.
Iris Marlow can’t die. For years, she was tormented by her missing memories and desperate to learn her real identity. So when the mysterious Adam Temple offered to reveal the truth of who she was in exchange for her joining his team in the Tournament of Freaks, a gruesome magical competition, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. But the truth would have been better left buried.
Because Adam is a member of the Enlightenment Committee, an elite secret society built upon one fundamental idea: that the apocalypse known as Hiva had destroyed the world before and would do it again, and soon. But what the Committee—and Iris—never guessed is that Hiva is not an event. Hiva is a person—Iris.
Now, no matter how hard Iris fights for a normal life, the newly awakened power inside her keeps drawing her toward the path of global annihilation. Adam, perversely obsessed with Iris, will stop at nothing to force her to unlock her true potential, while a terrifying newcomer with ties to Hiva’s past is on the hunt for Iris.
All Iris wants is the freedom to choose her own future, but the cost might be everything Iris holds dear—including the world itself.
Take by Jennifer Bradbury (Atheneum)
Cara is on the cusp of adventure. Unlike her best friends, she doesn’t want to go to college, she wants different kinds of challenges. And anyway, home just doesn’t fit anymore. She is growing distant from her friends and hasn’t spoken to her father in eons. To make matters worse, her ex-boyfriend and fellow climber, Nat, has popped back into town after breaking up with her over text. So it’s the perfect time to leave, and she has big plans for a gap year to rock-climb in Patagonia.
But when Cara hears that her father is actually missing, things change. While trying to track him down, she discovers a trail of clues centering around the history and life of the legendary mountaineer, outdoorsman, author, and all around dirtbag, Beckett Friedrichs. And unfortunately, the only person who knows enough about Friedrichs to make sense of any of this is Nat.
Their search for Cara’s father will lead into the Cascade Mountains, up a harrowing rock face, and navigating through time as Nat and Cara explore the history of World War II with the impact of Pearl Harbor and its Japanese Incarceration Camps, Cara’s family, and each other.
Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest (Scholastic)
By the time Effie Galanos starts her senior year, it feels like she’s already been thinking about college applications for an eternity—after all, finding a college that will be the perfect fit and be accessible enough for Effie to navigate in her wheelchair presents a ton of considerations that her friends don’t have to worry about.
What Effie hasn’t told anyone is that she already knows exactly what school she has her heart set on: a college in NYC with a major in Mass Media & Society that will set her up perfectly for her dream job in digital media. She’s never been to New York, but paging through the brochure, she can picture the person she’ll be there, far from the Minneapolis neighborhood where she's lived her entire life. When she finds out that Wilder (her longtime crush) is applying there too, it seems like one more sign from the universe that it’s the right place for her.
But it turns out that the universe is full of surprises. As Effie navigates her way through a year of admissions visits, senior class traditions, internal and external ableism, and a lot of firsts--and lasts--she starts to learn that sometimes growing up means being open to a world of possibilities you never even dreamed of. And maybe being more than just friends with Wilder is one of those dreams...
A Hunger of Thorns by Lili Wilkinson (Delacorte)
Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette, weaving stories of girls who slayed dragons and saved princes. Then Maude grew up and lost her magic--and her best friend.
These days, magic is toothless, reduced to glamour patches and psychic energy drinks found in supermarkets and shopping malls. Odette has always hungered for forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Now she's missing, and everyone says she's dead. Everyone except Maude.
Storytelling has always been Maude's gift, so she knows all about girls who get lost in the woods. She's sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest--a place nobody else seems to remember is there. The danger is, no one knows what remains inside Sicklehurst, either. And every good story is sure to have a monster.
The Cherished by Patricia Ward (HarperTeen)
Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.
Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.
The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?
But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.
With a deadly enemy that cannot be seen, a world that may only be unlocked by a chosen few, and a chilling past that must be unearthed at any cost, The Cherished is an original, hypnotizing contemporary horror—one that will thrill readers of White Smoke, Wilder Girls, and The Hazel Wood.
Alondra by Gina Femia (FSG) - moved from 2022, previously titled Allondra.
Sixteen-year-old Alonda loves professional wrestling. So when she meets a group of teens with aspirations of wrestling fame in her Coney Island neighborhood, she couldn't be happier. So as the ragtag team works to put on a show to remember, Alonda sheds her old self behind and becomes Alondra--the Fearless One. But with her conflicting feelings for King, the handsome leader of their group, and Lexi, the girl with the beautiful smile, Alonda has to ask herself: can she be as fearless outside of the ring as she is inside it?
Snow & Poison by Melissa de la Cruz (Putnam)
Raven-black hair, red lips, and skin as white as snow—Lady Sophie has led a sheltered life... but that tale ends here.
Duchy of Bavaria, 1621. The palace is abuzz with excitement. The widowed Duke Maximilian is marrying a lady named Claudia, and at last, introducing his daughter Sophie to Bavaria’s high society.
At the ball, Sophie charms the dashing Prince Philip, heir to the Spanish throne. But as days pass and Sophie and Philip fall deeply and dangerously in love, the king of Spain orders Philip’s return home and his engagement to a princess.
Heartbroken, Sophie finds comfort in Claudia. But might the rumors of her stepmother's dealings with magic be true? And when conflict between kingdoms puts a target on Sophie’s back, can a vanished witch be the key ally she needs? A new tale begins: one where Sophie must shield her heart, fight for life life, and protect her home.
Wings in the Wild by Margarita Engle (Antheneum)
Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn’t meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested.
Soleida escapes to Central America alone, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose enigmatic music enchants birds and animals—and Soleida.
Together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn’t about falling—it’s about soaring together to new heights. But wings can be fragile, and Soleida and Dariel come from different worlds. They are fighting for a better future—and the chance to be together.
The Headmaster's List by Melissa de la Cruz (Roaring Brook Press)
One of them was high.
One of them screamed.
And one of them died.
When fifteen-year-old Chris Moore is tragically killed in a car crash, Argyle Prep is full of questions. Who was at the wheel? And more importantly, who was at fault?
Eighteen-year-old Spencer Sandoval wishes she knew. As rumors swirl that her ex, Ethan, was the driver that fateful night, she can’t bring herself to defend him. And their messy breakup has nothing to do with it – she can’t remember anything from that night, not even what put her in that car with Ethan, Chris, and Tabby Hill, the new loner in school. Was it just a night out that went very wrong? And is it just a coincidence they were all part of Argyle’s esteemed honor roll, the Headmaster’s List? In a place ruled by pedigree and privilege, the answers can only come at a deadly price.
Set against the glitz and glamour of an elite LA private school, Melissa de la Cruz's first YA thriller is an addictive mystery perfect for fans of Gossip Girl and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder.
If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch (Simon and Schuster)
For some reason, Clark has woken up and relived the same monotonous Monday 309 times. Until Day 310 turns out to be…different. Suddenly, his usual torturous math class is interrupted by an anomaly—a boy he’s never seen before in all his previous Mondays.
When shy, reserved Clark decides to throw caution to the wind and join effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of “errands” across the Windy City, he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. And he definitely doesn’t expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day.
There’s just one problem: how do you build a future with someone if you can never get to tomorrow?
Hot Dutch Daydream by Kristy Boyce (HarperTeen) - release date and cover not yet updated on Goodreads.
No one has ever accused Sage Cunningham of being easily distracted. She has a plan, and she won’t be swayed. She’ll spend the summer interning in her mentor’s lab in Amsterdam, and then she’ll be ready to start her freshman year of college. All she needs to do to pay for the summer abroad is agree to serve as the au pair for Dr. Reese’s three-year-old.
Sage has it all down to a science, but she doesn’t anticipate the surprise arrival of Dr. Reese’s teenage son. Ryland is spontaneous, flirty, and impulsive—everything Sage isn’t. He’s an artist, and he’s not half bad, but he’s desperately in need of someone to keep him focused. And as nannying proves harder than Sage had expected, it turns out she might need help too.
The two strike a deal. Sage will stop Ryland from going out with a different girl every day, and Ryland will pitch in with his little brother. Spending the whole summer stuck together is the perfect way to keep distractions to a minimum. Right?
Reluctant romance lovers will devour this next summer read from Hot British Boyfriend author Kristy Boyce.
I Kick and I Fly by Ruchira Gupta (Scholastic)
On the outskirts of the Red Light District in Bihar, India, fourteen-year-old Heera is living on borrowed time until her father sells her into the sex trade to help feed their family and repay his loans. It is, as she's been told, the fate of the women in her community to end up here. But watching her cousin, Mira Di, live this life day in and day out is hard enough. To live it feels like the worst fate imaginable. And after a run-in with a bully leads to her expulsion from school, it feels closer than ever.
But when a local hostel owner shows up at Heera's home with the money to repay her family's debt, Heera begins to learn that fate can change. Destiny can be disrupted. Heroics can be contagious.
It's at the local hostel for at risk girls that Heera is given a transformative opportunity: learning kung fu with the other girls. Through the practice of martial arts, she starts to understand that her body isn't a an object to be commodified and preyed upon, but a vessel through which she can protect herself and those around her. And when Heera discovers the whereabouts of her missing friend, Rosy, through a kung fu pen pal in the US, she makes the decision to embark on a daring rescue mission to New York in an attempt to save her.
A triumphant, shocking account inspired by Ruchira Gupta's experience making the Emmy-award winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents, this is an unforgettable story of overcoming adversity by a life-long activist who has dedicated her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold.
Pardalita by Joana Estrela (Levine Querido) - YA graphic novel, previously published in Portugese.
Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita, a senior and a gifted artist who's moving to Lisbon to study in the fall. The two girls get to know each other while working on a play. And Raquel falls in love.
From author/artist Joana Estrela comes Pardalita, a beautiful slice-of-life story that is This One Summer meets Ursula K. Le Guin's Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, told in flashbacks and present day action. Using a gorgeous blend of prose poems, illustrations, and graphic novel format, Estrela captures the feeling of being a teenager in a way that feels gentle, joyful, and real.
April 25th
The Other Side of Infinity by Joan F. Smith (Feiwel and Friends) - previously titled It Ends With December.
It was supposed to be an ordinary day at the pool, but when lifeguard Nick hesitates during a save,
seventeen-year-old December uses her gift of foreknowledge to rescue the drowning man instead. The action comes at a cost. Not only will Nick and December fall in love, but also, she envisions that his own life is now at risk. The other problem? They’re basically strangers.
December embarks on a mission to save Nick’s life, and to experience what it feels like to fall in love—something she’d formerly known she’d never do. Nick, battling the shame of screwing up the rescue when he’s heralded as a community hero, resolves to make up for his inaction by doing December a major solid and searching for her mother, who went missing nine years ago.
As they grow closer, December’s gift starts playing tricks, and Nick’s family gets closer to an ugly truth about him. They both must learn what it really means to be a hero before time runs out.
The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst (HarperTeen)
Claire’s grown up triple-checking locks. Counting her steps. Second-guessing every decision. It’s just how she’s wired-her worst-case scenarios never actually come true.
Until she arrives at an off-the-grid summer camp to find a blackened, burned husk instead of a lodge-and no survivors, except her and two other late arrivals: Reyva and Mariana.
When the three girls find a dead body in the woods, they realize none of this is an accident. Someone, something, is hunting them. Something that hides in the shadows. Something that refuses to let them leave.
Irresistible and action-packed until the very final page, The Lake House will have readers glued to their seats as tension builds and danger mounts-and a final, shocking twist is revealed.
Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying (First Second) - YA graphic novel, originally dated Februarty 2023.
Valerie Chu is quiet, studious, and above all, thin. No one, not even her best friend Jordan, knows that she has been binging and purging for years. But when tragedy strikes, Val finds herself taking a good, hard look at her priorities, her choices, and her own body. The path to happiness may lead her away from her hometown and her mother's toxic projections--but first she will have to find the strength to seek help.
Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay (Roaring Brook Press)
If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his boyfriend saw Mark in that dress, everything changed.
And now, fresh on the heels of high school heartbreak, Mark has given up on love. Maybe some people are just too much for this world—too weird, too wild, too feminine, too everything. Thankfully, his older brother Eric always knows what to say to keep Mark from spinning into self-loathing. "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”
But Mark starts to notice signs that his perfect older brother has problems of his own.
When tragedy capsizes the Davis family, the source of Mark’s strength suddenly becomes the source of his greatest pain, and the path back to happiness seems impossible. Searing for a way out, Mark slips into a dress to just, briefly, become someone else, live a different life.
His escape, however, becomes an unexpected outlet for his grief—a path to authentic connection, and a provocation to finally see other people as fully as he wants to be seen.
Beautifully written, heart-wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, Dan Clay's Becoming a Queen is a stunning story about love, loss, and the ineffable power of a purple princess dress.
No Boy Summer by Amy Spalding (Amulet)
Lydia Jones and her younger sister Penny have had it with boy drama. Last year was marred by relationship disasters for both of them, threatening Lydia’s standing with her school’s theater tech club and Penny’s perfect GPA. Penny has, naturally, diagnosed the problem and prescribed a drastic solution: a summer off from boys.
Lydia and Penny decide to stay with their Aunt Grace and her boyfriend Oscar in Los Angeles while their parents are off on a European cruise. Penny follows her future-business-school dreams with an internship at Oscar’s office, and Lydia gets a part-time job at Grace’s neighborhood coffeeshop, Grounds Control.
Even when they spent hours, days, weeks dissecting their various boy drama, Lydia’s never felt this connected to her sister before, and it makes her wonder what else in her life could be different. She finds herself drawn to a group of friends she meets through her Grounds Control coworker, Margaret, as well as an intriguing customer, Fran, an aspiring filmmaker and—while not the first girl Lydia finds herself attracted to—the first girl who has mutual feelings for her. But she’s not breaking her pledge to Penny, right? That was just about boys. Even though in her heart Lydia knows she’s bending the rules, she hasn’t had a connection with anyone as strong as her connection with Fran, so she thinks it can’t be wrong. And Penny won’t mind as long as she’s happy . . . Right?
When We Had Summer by Jennifer Castle (Disney Hyperion)
Best friends Carly, Daniella, Lainie, and Penny – aka the self-proclaimed #SummerSisters – have been coming to the New Jersey shore town of Ocean Park Heights ever since they could remember. And every year, the girls make a bucket list and dedicate their entire summer to completing every item on it, documenting their wacky escapades on FotoSlam for everyone to see. It’s their tradition, and as long as the Summer Sisters had each other, the rocky jetty on the shore, and their bucket list, that would never change. Right?
But then, tragedy strikes after Carly – the mastermind behind the bucket list– unexpectedly passes away. As the remaining Summer Sisters try to wrap their heads around their best friend’s death, life seems determined to throw more curveballs at the girls, threatening to split the Summer Sisters up for good. Daniella is accepted to a prestigious music academy in New York City, Lainie finds out her family is moving to Florida and leaving Ocean Park Heights for good, and Penny struggles to find her footing as she feels ready to leave childhood behind more quickly than either of her friends. What will hold them together with Carly gone and the Summer Sisters seemingly over?
Then, Daniella finds Carly’s final bucket list. And just like that, the Summer Sisters are back! But of course, things don’t always go as planned, and the girls try their hardest to navigate grief, loss, and coming-of-age woes while keeping the Summer Sisters – and Carly’s memory – alive.
Vape by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum)
Sixteen-year-old Elijah is pretty damn sick of his parents always being on his case about vaping. It’s not like he’s shooting up or knocking back pills. Until something changes, so slowly Jacob isn’t even aware it’s happening. Instead of vaping every now and then when he wants to, he’s vaping all the time because he has to.
And soon, Elijah and his friends need even more than vaping and are stumbling their way into the sprawling drug culture of Southern California, where girls sell pictures of themselves for vape and pill money, and the dealers are cutthroat. The more desperate the teens become, the more money they need. And to get that money they’re being blackmailed into an impossible choice—and an end you won’t see coming.
An Improbable Season by Rosalyn Eves (FSG)
Thalia means to make her mark among the intelligentsia and publish her poetry. Her sister, Kalli, aims to take high society by storm, with parties and gowns galore and a proper husband at the end of it all. Their cousin Charis hopes to earn her place among the (nearly exclusively male) scientific elite.
But it doesn’t take long for things to fall apart.
Kalli finds herself embroiled in scandal and reliant upon an arranged marriage to redeem her reputation, Thalia’s dreams of becoming a great poet are threatened by her attraction to a charming rake, and Charis finds herself an unexpected social hit—and the source of a scientific dilemma that her heart might not survive.
Can these young women find their happily ever afters in this turbulent London Season?
That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams (Abrams) - moved from May 2023.
Sixteen-year-old Joan Sands is a gifted craftswoman who creates and upkeeps the stage blades for William Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men. Joan’s skill with her blades comes from a magical ability to control metal—an ability gifted by her Head Orisha, Ogun. Because her whole family is Orisha-blessed, the Sands family have always kept tabs on the Fae presence in London. Usually that doesn’t involve much except noting the faint glow around a Fae’s body as they try to blend in with London society, but lately, there has been an uptick in brutal Fae attacks. After Joan wounds a powerful Fae and saves the son of a cruel Lord, she is drawn into political intrigue in the human and Fae worlds.
Swashbuckling, romantic, and full of the sights and sounds of Shakespeare’s London, this series starter delivers an unforgettable story—and a heroine unlike any other.
This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham (Sourcebooks Fire)
Five years ago, the melting of arctic permafrost released a pathogen of unknown origin into the atmosphere, causing a small percentage of people to undergo a transformation that became known as the Hollowing. Those impacted slowly became intolerant to normal food and were only able to gain sustenance by consuming the flesh of other human beings. Those who went without flesh quickly became feral, turning on their friends and family. However, scientists were able to create a synthetic version of human meat that would satisfy the hunger of those impacted by the Hollowing. As a result, humanity slowly began to return to normal, albeit with lasting fear and distrust for the people they'd pejoratively dubbed ghouls.
Zoey, Celeste, Valeria, and Jasmine are all ghouls living in Southern California. As a last hurrah before their graduation they decided to attend a musical festival in the desert. They have a cooler filled with hard seltzers and syn-flesh and are ready to party.
But on the first night of the festival Val goes feral, and ends up killing and eating a boy. As other festival guests start disappearing around them the girls soon discover someone is drugging ghouls and making them feral. And if they can't figure out how to stop it, and soon, no one at the festival is safe.
Star Splitter by Matthew J. Kirby (Dutton)
For Jessica Mathers, teleportation and planetary colonization in deep space aren't just hypotheticals--they're real. They're also the very real reason her scientist parents left her behind six years ago. Now she is about to be reunited with them, forced to leave behind everyone she knows and loves, to join their research assignment on Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet almost 14 lightyears from Earth.
Teleportation is safe and routine in the year 2198, but something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Jessica wakes up in an empty, and utterly destroyed, landing unit from the DS Theseus, the ship where she was supposed to rendezvous with her parents. But Jessica isn't on the Theseus orbiting Carver 1061c. The lander seems to have crashed on the planet's surface. Its corridors are empty and covered in bloody handprints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, are the carefully, and recently, marked graves of strangers.
Questions of self-determination and survival collide in this expertly crafted science fiction novel from Edgar Award-winning author Matthew J. Kirby. Kirby builds spine-tingling tension page-by-page in this imaginative and haunting story that spans both space and time.
Stealing Snow by Danielle Page was published in 2016, I believe.
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