Release date not yet known
The Escape Game by Marissa Meyer and Tamara Moss (G.P. Putnam and Sons) - not yet added to Goodreads.
"In a competitive six-house auction, Putnam Books for Young Readers has acquired The Escape Game, a YA mystery thriller co-authored by Lunar Chronicles author Marissa Meyer and Lintang series author Tamara Moss. Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management sold North American rights for the two-book deal to Putnam senior executive editor and publishing director Ruta Rimas and editor Gretchen Durning. Publication is scheduled for April 2026."
We Kill the Flame by Tamara Cole (Quill Tree Books) - moved from June 2025.
Karen Chaplin at HarperCollins/Quill Tree has acquired, at auction, Tamara Cole's debut novel We Kill the Flame, pitched as We Were Liars meets Euphoria in the vein of Gillian Flynn for Gen Z, a YA psychological thriller about a Black girl from a wealthy family built on a legacy of lies who must unravel the dark truths leading up to and after the night of her debutante ball where she was almost murdered, before the killer strikes again. Publication is set for 2025; Natalie Lakosil at Looking Glass Literary & Media negotiated the deal for North American rights.
April 7th
The Bloody and the Damned by Rebecca Coffindafer (Roaring Brook Press) - moved from 2025, description not yet updated on Goodreads.
On Trinity, a metal world where the privileged live in the skies and the rest fight for water below, you do what you can to survive.
18-year-old Val knows this better than anyone. They’ve sacrificed everything to provide for their younger sisters. Using their outlawed teleportation powers, they've become the most infamous assassin-for-hire on Trinity, known as the Butcher.
No one should be able to trace the Butcher to Val. But when things go horribly wrong on a routine mission and Val’s sisters are kidnapped by a gang in retaliation, it means that someone has to know the truth.
Desperate and friendless, Val has no one to turn to but their ex-childhood best friend turned vigilante thief. He broke their heart, but he owes them.
But as Val fights for the return of their sisters, they start to realize there might be something much bigger at play... something that could upend everything they’ve ever known about Trinity.
Val’s journey will take them from a maximum security prison transport to the headquarters of the most powerful gang on Trinity, and all the way to the Gate of Heaven. Each more heavily guarded than the last.
Good thing the Butcher has never blinked at an extra casualty. Why start now?
The Gravewood by Kelly Andrew (Scholastic)
Mallory Kass at Scholastic has acquired, in an exclusive submission, North American rights to The Gravewood, first in a YA duology by Kelly Andrew (I Am Made of Death), in a six-figure deal. A supernatural romance with dystopian elements, the novel features a Deaf girl living in post-climate collapse New England who offers up her blood to the cunning young leader of a local vampire cartel in exchange for desperately needed supplies—but when her secret gets out, the stakes turn deadly. Publication will begin in spring 2026; Josh Adams at Adams Literary handled the deal.
Sarah Barley at Flatiron has bought Love Me Tomorrow, a new two-book series by Tokyo Ever After author Emiko Jean. Pitched as To All the Boys I've Loved Before with a How I Met Your Mother speculative twist, it follows a 17-year-old girl who doesn't believe in love until she starts receiving letters from the love of her life—writing to her from years in the future. Publication is tentatively slated for winter 2025; Erin Harris at Folio Literary Management and Joelle Hobeika and Sara Shandler at Alloy Entertainment sold North American rights in an exclusive submission.
Untitled by Sujin Witherspoon (Union Square & Co.) - moved from September 2025, then from February 2026.
April 14th
Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai (Wednesday Books) - description not yet updated on Goodreads.
A sweeping debut inspired by the Chinese folk practice of necromancy, Deathly Fates is perfect for fans of Descendant of the Crane, The Bone Shard Daughter, and A Magic Steeped in Poison.
As a corpse-driving priestess, a holy servant paid to guide the deceased home, Kang Siying has never feared death. But when her beloved father collapses due to his declining health, Siying realizes that even she is not free from the cruel grasp of mortality. Desperate to provide her father with the medical aid he needs, Siying accepts a dangerous job that promises a generous commission, and travels to a hostile state to retrieve the corpse of a missing prince.
But the moment Siying places her reanimation talisman on the dead prince's head, rather than make the corpse obedient to Siying's commands, the talisman brings the prince back to life. Worse, he won't stay alive for long—not unless he absorbs enough qi, or life force, to keep his soul anchored to his body.
In return for a reward worth twice her original commission, Siying agrees to aid the frustratingly handsome prince in finding and purifying evil spirits for their qi. But as they journey across the countryside, encountering vengeful ghosts and enemy spies alike, they gradually uncover dark secrets about the prince's death—secrets that could endanger both Siying's father and their entire kingdom.
April 21st
Morbid Curiosities by S. Hati (Feiwel and Friends) - description not yet updated on Goodreads.
An ambitious teen enrolls at an elite science institute in Morbid Curiosities, a young adult thriller from author S. Hati.
When the Institute’s invitation arrived at my doorstep, it felt like it had been inked in my blood, sweat, and tears.
Aarya’s life plan has been set for as long as she can remember: finish high school with a bang, attend the best college she can get into, then land a prestigious biology research job. Her ticket to this dream is a one-year program at the Elizabethan Institute, the preeminent organization for life sciences in the United States, currently on the cusp of revealing a major project that could transform the worlds of biology and medicine.
But as Aarya tries to settle in to a school with sky-high academic expectations and research cloaked in mystery, it becomes clear that someone doesn’t want her there. As the scholarship student surrounded by rich, cutthroat peers who seem all too willing to torment her, she never expected to make friends, but the notes warning her to run rattle her to her core. She finds an ally in Sofia, a mysterious girl who claims to be the subject of closed-door experiments at the Institute and begs for Aarya’s help in figuring out what the Institute is really working on.
As rumors of mutated flora and fauna in the nearby city circulate and a murder investigation rocks the Institute, Aarya will have to navigate Sofia’s growing paranoia and her own increasingly unreliable memory to determine which classmates she can trust—and which would rather see her dead.
Flirting With Murder by Amanda Sellet (Wednesday Books) - description not yet updated on Goodreads.
The Agathas meets Thursday Murder Club in Amanda Sellet’s latest YA novel, a cozy mystery with a splash of romance.
Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand lotion: every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.
But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building's beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.
Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.
In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they've always loved.
Goldenborn by Ama Ofosua Lieb (Scholastic)
Jennifer Thompson at Scholastic has preempted world rights to Ama Ofosua Lieb's debut YA novel, Goldenborn, in which 17-year-old Akoma Addo, who investigates supernatural crimes in near-future San Francisco, gets swooped into a magical world of West African gods and goddesses with shocking ties to both her family and her agency's latest serial killer case. Publication is scheduled for spring 2026; Ammi-Joan Paquette at Erin Murphy Literary Agency did the two-book deal.
The River She Became by Emily Varga (Wednesday Books) - moved from 2025.
April 22nd
Everything Needs to Change by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Charlesbridge) - release date not yet updated on Goodreads.
Julie Bliven at Charlesbridge has acquired Everything Needs to Change, a YA climate fiction anthology aimed to ignite hope and activism in teens, edited by 2024 Green Earth Book Award-winning author Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Fault Lines ; Rural Voices). Contributors include Erin Entrada Kelly, Jeff Zentner, Kim Johnson, Padma Venkatraman, and Xelena Gonzalez. Publication is scheduled for Earth Day 2026; Victoria Wells Arms at HG Literary sold world rights.
April 28th
The Spell for Unraveling by Rochelle Hassan (Roaring Brook Press) - moved from August 2025, then from January 2026.
They Want Us Dead by CL Montblanc (Wednesday Books) - description not yet updated on Goodreads.
In this new mystery from CL Montblanc, the author of Pride or Die, two internet enemies are forced to work together after a true crime meetup turns into a deadly case of its own.
Seventeen-year-old Sam Tombs hopes to get more eyes on the videos they make to raise awareness of crimes against LGBTQ+ teens. A true crime content creator event seems like the perfect opportunity to grow their channel—until the group becomes stranded at an eerie Victorian mansion, and one of them is killed in the night.
Sam’s alibi, and the only person they can trust, happens to be their mean, dorky internet nemesis Dylan. But the two must now put aside their rivalry and use their investigative skills to figure out who among the remaining teens is the killer, before their own deaths become tomorrow’s trending content.
Salt Water Blood by Manuia Heinrich (Sarah Barley Books)
Sarah Barley at S&S/Sarah Barley Books has acquired, in a seven-imprint auction, Salt Water Blood by We Need Diverse Books mentee and Pacific Islanders in Publishing co-founder Manuia Heinrich. Pitched for fans of Firekeeper's Daughter and Moana, Salt Water Blood is a speculative YA thriller following an older sister who is able to hear the sea's prophetic thoughts and must race against time to clear her brother's name before he's blamed for his girlfriend's disappearance and eventual murder . The mystery is set against the backdrop of mounting tension over the impact of France's nuclear testing on the people of Mā'ohi Nui (French Polynesia). Publication is set for spring/summer 2026; Marin Takikawa at the Friedrich Agency sold North American rights in the two-book deal.
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