September 7th
Never Saw You Coming by Erin Hahn (Wednesday Books)
While there, she meets Micah Allen, a former pastor’s kid whose dad ended up in prison, leaving Micah with his own complicated relationship about the church. The clock is ticking on Pastor Allen’s probation hearing and Micah, now 19, feels the pressure to forgive - even when he can’t possibly forget.
As Meg and Micah grow closer, they are confronted with the heavy flutterings of first love and all the complications it brings. Together, they must navigate the sometimes-painful process of cutting ties with childhood beliefs as they build toward something truer and straight from the heart.
In Erin Hahn’s Never Saw You Coming, sometimes it takes a leap of faith to find yourself.
The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
As an African tightrope dancer in Victorian London, Iris is used to being strange. She is certainly a strange sight for leering British audiences always eager for the spectacle of colonial curiosity. But Iris also has a secret that even “strange” doesn’t capture…
She cannot die.
Haunted by her unnatural power and with no memories of her past, Iris is obsessed with discovering who she is. But that mission gets more complicated when she meets the dark and alluring Adam Temple, a member of a mysterious order called the Enlightenment Committee. Adam seems to know much more about her than he lets on, and he shares with her a terrifying revelation: the world is ending, and the Committee will decide who lives…and who doesn’t.
To help them choose a leader for the upcoming apocalypse, the Committee is holding the Tournament of Freaks, a macabre competition made up of vicious fighters with fantastical abilities. Adam wants Iris to be his champion, and in return he promises her the one thing she wants most: the truth about who she really is.
If Iris wants to learn about her shadowy past, she has no choice but to fight. But the further she gets in the grisly tournament, the more she begins to remember—and the more she wonders if the truth is something best left forgotten.
Mary, Will I Die? by Shaun Sarles (Scholastic)
It starts innocently enough. Four kids - three girls, one boy - are at one of their houses, playing games. One of them has read about "Bloody Mary" and the idea that if you look into a mirror and say her name thirteen times, she will show you the future. Some legends say she'll show you your one true love or a skull to mark your death within five years. Others say that conjuring Bloody Mary will bring her into your world.
Both sets of legends are true. The kids go through with the act, saying her name thirteen times. One girl looks in the mirror and sees her longtime crush. One girl looks in the mirror and sees the boy in the group. But she pretends to see something else. One girl looks in the mirror and sees a girl she's never seen before but can't get out of her mind. And the boy... he sees a skull. But he pretends to see something else. They try to laugh it off. And mostly they forget about it. Or at least they don't talk about it. Yes, over the next few years, whenever they look into a mirror, it's like there's always another figure standing in the background, getting closer.
Just short of five years later, the four of them are no longer friends, having gone on separate paths. The girl whose house it was has always tried to avoid the mirror they used - because she always sensed someone in the background. One morning as she's passing by, she sees much more than her own reflection - it's a scary figure taunting her. She startles and breaks the mirror. When the pieces are put back together (barely), the figure is gone.
That day in school, a new girl arrives. Her name is Mary...
So Many Beginnings : A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow (Feiwel and Friends)
Four young Black sisters
come of age during the American Civil War in this warm and powerful ode
to Black joy and sisterhood, a YA remix of the classic novel Little
Women.
1863. As the American Civil War rages on, the Freedmen's
Colony of Roanoke Island is blossoming, a haven for the recently
emancipated. Black folk have begun building a community of their own, a
refuge from the shadow of the "old life." It is where the March family
has finally been able to safely put down roots with four young
daughters:
Meg, a teacher who longs to find love and start a family of her own.
Jo, a writer whose words are too powerful to be contained.
Beth, a talented seamstress searching for a higher purpose.
Amy, a dancer eager to explore life outside her family's home.
As
the four March sisters come into their own as independent young women,
they will face first love, health struggles, heartbreak, and new
horizons. But they will face it all together.
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain (Razorbill) - moved from August 31st.
La Cachette, Louisiana, is the worst place to be if you have something to hide.
This tiny town, where seventeen-year-old Grey spends her summers, is the self-proclaimed Psychic Capital of the World--and the place where Elora Pellerin, Grey's best friend, disappeared six months earlier.
Grey can't believe that Elora vanished into thin air any more than she can believe that nobody in a town full of psychics knows what happened. But as she digs into the night that Elora went missing, she begins to realize that everybody in town is hiding something--her grandmother Honey; her childhood crush Hart; and even her late mother, whose secrets continue to call to Grey from beyond the grave.
When a mysterious stranger emerges from the bayou--a stormy-eyed boy with links to Elora and the town's bloody history--Grey realizes that La Cachette's past is far more present and dangerous than she'd ever understood. Suddenly, she doesn't know who she can trust. In a town where secrets lurk just below the surface, and where a murderer is on the loose, nobody can be presumed innocent--and La Cachette's dark and shallow lies may just rip the town apart.
A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix by C.B. Lee (Fiewel and Friends)
Two intrepid girls hunt
for a legendary treasure on the deadly high seas in this YA remix of the
classic adventure novel Treasure Island.
1826. The sun is
setting on the golden age of piracy, and the legendary Dragon Fleet, the
scourge of the South China Sea, is no more. Xiang has grown up with
stories about the Dragon Fleet and its ruthless leader, a woman known
only as the Dragon Queen, all her life. Xiang desperately wants to set
sail and explore—mainly to find her father, a presumed dead crew member
of the Dragon Fleet. Her only memento of him is a pendant she always
wears, a simple but plain piece of gold jewelry.
But the
pendant's true nature is revealed when a mysterious girl named Anh
steals it, only to return it to Xiang in exchange for her help in
decoding the tiny map scroll hidden inside. Rumor has it that the
legendary Dragon Queen had one last treasure—the plunder of a thousand
ports—hidden away on an island shrouded in mist that only can be seen
once in a blue moon.
Xiang is convinced this map could lead to
the fabled treasure. Captivated with the thrill of adventure, she joins
Anh and her motley crew off in pursuit of the island. But the girls soon
find that the sea—and especially those who sail it—are far more
dangerous than the legends led them to believe.
Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle Mason (Bloomsbury)
Jenny Waters boards her flight in 1995, but when she lands, she and the other passengers are told they disappeared . . . 25 years ago. Everyone thought they were dead.
Now contending with her family and friends fast-forwarding decades, Jenny must quickly adjust to smartphones and social media while being the biggest story to hit the internet. She feels betrayed by her once-best friend and fights her attraction to a cute boy with an uncomfortable connection to her past. Meanwhile, there’s a growing group of conspiracy theorists determined to prove the whole situation is a hoax. Will Jenny figure out how to move forward, or will she
always be stuck in the past?
For fans of Julie Buxbaum, Michelle Mason offers a smart and funny debut about big life changes...and the parts that, surprisingly, always stay...
Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty (Wednesday Books) - Re-issue edition.
Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she's more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he's at a Buddhist college in California?); and she's making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, Hope.
But Jessica soon realizes that her bliss might not last. She lands an internship at a snarky Brooklyn-based magazine, but will she fit in with the uberhip staff (and will she even want to)?
As she and Marcus hit the rocks, will she end up falling for her GOPunk, neoconservative RA . . . or the hot (and married!) Spanish grad student she's assisting on a summer project . . . or the oh-so-sensitive emo boy down the hall? Will she even make it through college now that her parents have cut her off financially? And what do the cryptic one-word postcards from Marcus really mean?
With hilarious insight, the hyperobservant Jessica Darling struggles through her college years--and the summers in between--while maintaining her usual mix of wit, cynicism, and candor.
The Violent Season by Sara Walters (Sourcebooks Fire)
Every November, the people in Wolf Ridge are overwhelmed with a hunger for violence—at least that's the town rumor. Last fall Wyatt Green's mother was brutally murdered, convincing Wyatt that this yearning isn't morbid urban legend. but rather a palpable force infecting her neighbors.
This year, Wyatt fears the call of violence has spread to her best friend Cash—who also happens to be the guy she can't stop wanting no matter how much he hurts her. At the same time, she's drawn to Cash's nemesis Porter, now that they're partners on an ambitious project for lit class. When Wyatt pulls away from Cash, and spends more time with Porter, she learns secrets about both of them she can't forget.
And as the truth about her mother's death begins to emerge from the shadows, Wyatt is faced with a series of hard realities about the people she trusts the most, rethinking everything she believes about what makes people decide to hurt each other.
Tides of Mutiny by Rebecca Rode (Little, Brown)
Lane Garrow has a secret—one that could get her killed.
In
a world where female sailors are executed, sixteen-year-old Lane’s
dream of being a ship’s captain seems impossible. Sea life is all she
knows, and she wouldn’t give it up for anything, even if it means she
has to hide as a captain’s boy to avoid being killed. But Lane’s
carefully constructed world begins to crumble when an old pirate enemy
comes after her father. And she begins hearing rumors that her father
was once a pirate as well.
Lane doesn’t want to believe her
father could have a dark past, but she can’t help questioning everything
she’s known. After all, Lane’s life at sea is built on lies—why
couldn’t her father’s be, too?
Then a mysterious prince shows
up, and Lane finds her very survival tied to a boy who could destroy
everything. With pirates, betrayal, and death threatening Lane and those
she loves, she must now decide between the future she always expected
and a prince with an unknown agenda who she finds herself falling for.
Lane must either protect herself and find a way to live her dream, or
risk everything for a world where her very existence is a death
sentence.
Maybe there’s a third option. After all, she’s never played by the rules before. Why start now?
Major Detours by Zackary Sergi (Running Press Kids)
It's the summer before college and four best friends—Amelia, Chase, Cleo, and Logan—are on the first leg of their road trip inspired by the unique tarot deck that Amelia inherited from her grandmother. However, their trip full of visiting occult shops, bonding and sightseeing, takes a major detour as the friends discover that their tarot deck is more valuable—and coveted—than they could've ever imagined. As the friends race to finish this mystical scavenger-hunt across the West coast and uncover the mysteries of their tarot deck, it is you who will decide where to go next and how the story will end. With four possible final and romantic endings, you will get to make actual choices to further the friends’ road trip adventure in this unique interactive novel.
Will you uncover the mysteries of the tarot deck and the legacy left behind? Will you help Amelia and Chase learn and grow? And will you unravel the secrets these friends keep from each other—and from themselves?
Lies Like Wildfire by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez (Delacorte) - previously titled Gap Mountain.
In Gap Mountain, California, everyone knows about fire season. And no one is more vigilant than 18-year-old Hannah Warner, the sheriff's daughter and aspiring FBI agent. That is until this summer. When Hannah and her best friends accidentally spark an enormous and deadly wildfire, their instinct is to lie to the police and the fire investigators.
But as the blaze roars through their rural town and towards Yosemite National Park, Hannah's friends begin to crack and she finds herself going to extreme lengths to protect their secret. Because sometimes good people do bad things. And if there’s one thing people hate, it’s liars.
The Splendor by Breena Shields (Page Street Kids)
The Splendor isn’t just
a glamorous hotel, it’s a magical experience that gives its guests the
fantasy fulfillment of their dreams. But The Splendor didn’t make
Juliette’s dreams come true. It ruined her life.
After a weeklong
stay, Juliette’s sister, Clare, returns from the hotel changed. Her
connection to Juliette―the special bond they once shared―has vanished.
In a moment of hurt and frustration, Juliette steals their meager
savings and visits The Splendor herself.
When she arrives, she’s
taken in by the lush and sumptuous hotel. But as she delves more deeply
into the mystery of the place, and how they make their illusions work,
she grows more and more uneasy. The Splendor has a seedy underbelly, but
every time she gets close to discovering something real, she seems to
hit a wall.
Meanwhile, Juliette meets Henri, an illusionist who
lives and works at the hotel. Henri’s job is to provide Juliette with
the same Signature Experience he gives all the guests―one tailored
fantasy that will make her stay unforgettable. As he gets to know her,
he realizes that not only is he ill-equipped to make her dreams come
true, he’s the cause of her heartache.
The Pick-Up by Miranda Kenneally (Sourcebooks Fire)
TJ wants to study art in college, but his family's expectations cast a long shadow over his dreams. When he meets Mari in the back of a rideshare, he feels alive for the first time in a long time.
Mari and TJ enter the festival together and share an electric moment but get separated in a crowd with seemingly no way to find each other. When fate reunites them (with a little help from a viral hashtag), they'll have to decide: was it love at first sight, or the start of nothing more than a weekend fling?
The Buried by Melissa Grey (Scholastic)
Ten years ago, disaster struck the remote town of Indigo Falls. A horrific event drove the residents underground, into shelters that keep them safe from the danger on the surface. No one speaks about what happened that fateful day, but even the youngest still remember the fear and, most of all, the searing pain when sunlight touched their skin.
Now, a handfull of families inhabit this bunker together, guided by a charismatic leader named Dr. Imogen Moran. There are many rules Dr. Moran has instilled to govern life belowground. You must always tell the truth. You must avoid the light of the sun. You must never touch skin to skin.
But the most important rule, the one that was drilled into their heads from the moment the hatch slammed shut all those years ago, was at the very end of the list. It rattled around in their skulls when all was silent, echoing in the quiet, lonely dark.
You must never go outside.
The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young (Wednesday Books)
When a letter from her uncle Henrick arrives on Bryn Roth's eighteenth birthday, summoning her back to Bastian, Bryn is eager to prove herself and finally take her place in her long-lost family.
Henrik has plans for Bryn, but she must win everyone’s trust if she wants to hold any power in the delicate architecture of the family. It doesn’t take long for her to see that the Roths are entangled in shadows. Despite their growing influence in upscale Bastian, their hands are still in the kind of dirty business that got Bryn’s parents killed years ago. With a forbidden romance to contend with and dangerous work ahead, the cost of being accepted into the Roths may be more than Bryn can pay.
The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Little, Brown)
Intrigue,
riches, and romance abound in this thrilling sequel to the New York
Times bestselling The Inheritance Games perfect for fans of Karen
McManus and Holly Jackson.
The Inheritance Games
ended with a bombshell, and now heiress Avery Grambs has to pick up the
pieces and find the man who might hold the answers to all of her
questions - including why Tobias Hawthorne left his entire fortune to
Avery, a virtual stranger, rather than to his own daughters or
grandsons.
Thanks to a DNA test, Avery knows that she's not a
Hawthorne by blood, but clues pile up hinting at a deeper connection to
the family than she had ever imagined. As the mystery grows and the plot
thickens, Grayson and Jameson, the enigmatic and magnetic Hawthorne
grandsons, continue to pull Avery in different directions. And there are
threats lurking around every corner, as adversaries emerge who will
stop at nothing to see Avery out of the picture - by any means
necessary.
With nonstop action, aspirational jet-setting,
family intrigue, swoonworthy romance, and billions of dollars hanging in
the balance, The Hawthorne Legacy will thrill Jennifer Lynn Barnes fans and new readers alike.
The Jasmine Project by Meredith Ireland (Simon Pulse)
Jenny Han meets The Bachelorette
in this effervescent romantic comedy about a teen Korean American
adoptee who unwittingly finds herself at the center of a competition for
her heart, as orchestrated by her overbearing, loving family.
Jasmine
Yap’s life is great. Well, it’s okay. She’s about to move in with her
long-time boyfriend, Paul, before starting a nursing program at
community college—all of which mostly wants. But her stable world is
turned upside down when she catches Paul cheating. To her giant,
overprotective family, Paul’s loss is their golden ticket to showing
Jasmine that she deserves much more. The only problem is, Jasmine
refuses to meet anyone new.
But…what if the family set up a situation where she wouldn’t have to know? A secret Jasmine Project.
The
plan is simple: use Jasmine’s graduation party as an opportunity for
her to meet the most eligible teen bachelors in Orlando. There’s no
pressure for Jasmine to choose anyone, of course, but the family hopes
their meticulously curated choices will show Jasmine how she should be
treated. And maybe one will win her heart.
But with the family
fighting for their favorites, bachelors going rogue, and Paul wanting
her back, the Jasmine Project mind not end in love but total,
heartbreaking disaster.
We Are Not Broken by George M. Johnson (Little, Brown) - YA non-fiction
This is the vibrant story of George, Garrett, Rall, and Rasul—four children raised by Nanny, their fiercely devoted grandmother. The boys hold one another close through early brushes with racism, memorable experiences at the family barbershop, and first loves and losses. And with Nanny at their center, they are never broken.
George M. Johnson capture the unique experience of growing up as a Black boy in America, and their rich family stories—exploring themes of vulnerability, sacrifice, and culture—are interspersed with touching letters from the grandchildren to their beloved matriarch. By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this personal account is destined to become a modern classic of emerging adulthood.
Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach (Underlined)
Vera Martinez wants nothing more than to escape Roaring Creek and her parents' reputation as demonologists. Not to mention she's the family outcast, lacking her parents' innate abilities, and is terrified of the occult things lurking in their basement.
Maxwell Oliver is supposed to be enjoying the summer before his senior year, spending his days thinking about parties and friends. Instead he's taking care of his little sister while his mom slowly becomes someone he doesn't recognize. Soon he suspects that what he thought was grief over his father's death might be something more...sinister.
When Maxwell and Vera join forces, they come face to face with deeply disturbing true stories of cults, death worship, and the very nature that drives people to evil.
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros (Inkyard Press)
Chicago, 1893. For Alter Rosen, this is the land of opportunity. Despite the unbearable summer heat, his threadbare clothes, and his constantly empty stomach, Alter still dreams of the day he’ll have enough money to bring his mother and sisters to America, freeing them from the oppression they face in his native Romania.
But when Alter’s best friend, Yakov, becomes the latest victim in a long line of murdered Jewish boys, his dream begins to slip away. While the rest of the city is busy celebrating the World’s Fair, Alter is now living a nightmare: possessed by Yakov’s dybbuk, he is plunged into a world of corruption and deceit, and thrown back into the arms of a dangerous boy from his past. A boy who means more to Alter than anyone knows.
Now, with only days to spare until the dybbuk takes over Alter’s body completely, the two boys must race to track down the killer—before the killer claims them next.
Codename: Badass by Heather Demetrios (Atheneum) - YA biography.
When James Bond was still in diapers, Virginia Hall was behind enemy lines, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with Hitler’s henchmen. Did this shero have second thoughts after a terrible accident left her needing a wooden leg? Please. Virginia Hall was the baddest broad in any room she walked into. When the State Department proved to be a sexist boys’ club that wouldn’t allow her in, she gave the finger to society’s expectations of women and became a spy for the British. This boss lady helped arm and train the French Resistance and organized sabotage missions. There was just one problem: The Butcher of Lyon, a notorious Gestapo commander, was after her. But, hey—Virginia’s classmates didn’t call her the Fighting Blade for nothing.
So how does a girl who was a pirate in the school play, spent her childhood summers milking goats, and rocked it on the hockey field end up becoming the Gestapo’s most wanted spy? Audacious, irreverent, and fiercely feminist, Code Name Badass is for anyone who doesn’t take no for an answer.
We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley (Katherine Tegan Books)
But they're keeping secrets, like the 3rd passenger riding around town with them: Cassie's ghost.
The three of them, one only mostly dead, face off with grief, love, and the currency of vengeance, in a world that tells girls they shouldn't be angry.
We can be angry.
We can be vengeful.
WE CAN BE HEROES.
Act Cool by Tolby McSmith (Harpercollins/Quill Tree)
Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition.
August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.
But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?
The Problem with the Other Side by Kwame Ivery (Soho Teen)
Uly would rather watch old Westerns with his new girlfriend, Sallie, than get involved in his school's messy politics—why focus on the “bad” and “ugly” when his days with Sallie are so good? His older sister Regina feels differently. She is fed up with the way white school-body presidential candidate Leona Walls talks about black students. Regina decides to run against Leona . . . and convinces Uly to be her campaign manager.
Sallie has no interest in managing her sister's campaign, but how could she say no? After their parents' death, Leona is practically her only family. Even after Leona is accused of running a racist campaign that targets the school's students of color—including Sallie's boyfriend, Uly—Sallie wants to give her sister the benefit of the doubt. But how long can she ignore the ugly truth behind Leona's actions?
Together and apart, Uly and Sallie must navigate sibling loyalty and romantic love as the campaign spirals toward a devastating conclusion.
CW: Acts of racism and bigotry, racist language, and gun violence are portrayed in this novel.
Hello (From Here) by Chandler Baker and Wesley King (Dial)
Maxine and Jonah bump into each other in the canned goods
aisle of the grocery store just as the state of California is going into
lockdown, when everything changes completely. Could there be a worse
time to meet? Max's part-time job at a supermarket is about to transform
into a hellish gauntlet. Jonah's preexisting anxiety is about to become
an epic daily struggle. As Max, Jonah, and their friends live together
but apart through hijinks, humanity, and heartbreak, Hello (From Here) cuts
across urgent matters much bigger than a teenage crush. Differences of
class, privilege, mental health, and sacrifice are thrown into stark
relief by the profound and personal stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As thoughtful, probing, and informed as it is buoyant, romantic, and
funny, Hello (From Here) looks at the first two months of the quarantine and adds falling hopelessly in love to the mess.
The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh (Razorbill)
Dare Chase doesn’t believe in ghosts.
Privately, she’s a supernatural skeptic. But publicly, she’s keeping her doubts to herself—because she’s the voice of Attachments, her brand-new paranormal investigation podcast, and she needs her ghost-loving listeners to tune in.
That’s what brings her to Arrington Estate. Thirty years ago, teenager Atheleen Bell drowned in Arrington’s lake, and legend says her spirit haunts the estate. Dare’s more interested in the suspicious circumstances surrounding her death—circumstances that she believes point to a living culprit, not the supernatural. Still, she’s vowed to keep an open mind as she investigates, even if she’s pretty sure what she’ll find.
But Arrington is full of surprises. Good ones like Quinn, the cute daughter of the house’s new owner. And baffling ones like the threatening messages left scrawled in paint on Quinn’s walls, the ghastly face that appears behind Dare’s own in the mirror, and the unnatural current that nearly drowns their friend Holly in the lake. As Dare is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Arrington, she’ll have to rethink the boundaries of what is possible. Because if something is lurking in the lake…it might not be willing to let her go.
Where I Belong by Marcia Argueta Mickelson (Carolrhoda)
Then Mr. Wheeler, a U.S. Senate candidate, mentions Millie's achievements in a campaign speech about "deserving" immigrants. It doesn't take long for people to identify Millie's family and place them at the center of a statewide immigration debate. Faced with journalists, trolls, anonymous threats, and the Wheelers' good intentions--especially those of Mr. Wheeler's son, Charlie--Millie must confront the complexity of her past, the uncertainty of her future, and her place in the country that she believed was home.
What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell (Disney Hyperion)
Desperate to save the life of their queen and her unborn child, the good people of Corona search for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure her—but mistakenly acquire the shimmering Moondrop flower instead. Nonetheless it heals the queen, and she delivers a healthy baby girl with hair as silver and gray as the moon. With it comes dangerous magical powers: the power to hurt, not heal. For her safety and the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is locked in a tower and put under the care of powerful goodwife, Mother Gothel.
For eighteen years Rapunzel stays locked away, knowing she must protect others from her magical hair. But when she leaves the only home she's ever known, wanting only to see the floating lights that appear on her birthday, she gets caught up in an adventure across the kingdom with two thieves—a young woman named Gina, and Flynn Rider, a rogue on the run. Before she can reach her happy ending, Rapunzel learns that there may be more to her story, and her magical tresses, than she ever knew.
Understanding Coronaviruses: SARS, MERS, and the Covid-19 Pandemic by Connie Goldsmith (Twenty-First Century Books) - YA Non-fiction, orginally authored by Shaina Olmanson.
September 14th
The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski (FSG)
At the end of The Midnight Lie, Nirrim offered up her heart to the God of Thieves in order to restore her people’s memories of their city’s history. The Half Kith who once lived imprisoned behind the city’s wall now realize that many among them are powerful. Meanwhile, the person Nirrim once loved most, Sid, has returned to her home country of Herran, where she must navigate the politics of being a rogue princess who has finally agreed to do her duty.
In the Herrani court, rumors begin to grow of a new threat rising across the sea, of magic unleashed on the world, and of a cruel, black-haired queen who can push false memories into your mind, so that you believe your dearest friends to be your enemies.
Sid doesn’t know that this queen is Nirrim, who seeks her revenge against a world that has wronged her. Can Sid save Nirrim from herself? Does Nirrim even want to be saved? As blood is shed and war begins, Sid and Nirrim find that it might not matter what they want…for the gods have their own plans.
Wild Tongues Can't Be Tamed by Various YA Authors (Flatiron Books)
In Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed, writers from across the Latinx diaspora interrogate the different myths and stereotypes about this rich and diverse community. From immigration to sexuality, music to language, and more, these personal essays and poems are essential additions to the cultural conversation, sure to inspire hope and spark dialogue.
The bestselling and award-winning contributors include Elizabeth Acevedo, Cristina Arreola, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Naima Coster, Natasha Diaz, Kahlil Haywood, Zakiya Jamal, Janel Martinez, Jasminne Mendez, Meg Medina, Mark Oshiro, Julian Randall, Lilliam Rivera, and Ibi Zoboi.
Idol Gossip by Alexandra Leigh Young (Walker Books US)
Every Friday after school, dressed in their new South Korean prep-school uniforms — sweater vests, knee-highs, pleated skirts, and blazers — seventeen-year old Alice Choy and her little sister, Olivia, head to Myeongdong, brave a dank, basement-level stairwell full of graffiti, and slip into a noreabang. Back in San Francisco, when she still had friends and earthly possessions, Alice took regular singing lessons. But since their diplomat mom moved them to Seoul, she pours herself into karaoke, vamping it up in their booth to Lady Gaga while loyal Olivia applauds and howls with laughter. Alice lives for Fridays, but when an older woman stops her on their way out one day, handing Alice a business card with a bow, singing turns serious. Could the chance encounter really be her ticket to elite status at Top10 Entertainment’s Star Academy? With a little sisterly support, backed by one of the world’s top talent agencies, can Alice lead her group on stage before a stadium of 50,000 chanting fans — and just maybe strike K-pop gold? Not if a certain influential blogger and the anti-fans get their way.
Delicious gossip squares off with genuine heart in a debut about standing out and fitting in, dreaming big and staying true — for avid K-pop fans and those just discovering the worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Not Here to Be Liked by Michelle Quach (Katherine Tegan) - moved from October 2021.
Eliza Quan doesn’t need you to like her. She puts in more hours than anyone else and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, which makes her the perfect candidate for editor in chief of her high school paper. At least until ex-jock Len DiMartile decides on a whim to run against her. Suddenly, her vast qualifications mean squat. Eliza tries too hard (and somehow also not hard enough), while the inexperienced Len, who is tall, handsome, and male, just seems more like a leader.
When Eliza’s frustration about the sexism spills out in an essay gone viral, she finds herself at the helm of a feminist movement she never meant to start, caught between two camps at school: those who believe she’s a gender-rights champion, and others who think she’s simply the girl who cried misogyny.
Amid this growing tension, the administration asks Eliza and Len to work side by side to demonstrate civility. But as they get to know one another, Eliza feels increasingly trapped by a horrifying realization—she just might be falling for the face of the patriarchy himself.
Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin (Amulet Books)
Seventeen-year-old Marie mixes perfumes to sell on market day in her small eighteenth-century French town. She wants to make enough to save a dowry for her sister, Ama, in hopes of Ama marrying well and Marie living in the level of freedom afforded only to spinster aunts. But her perfumes are more than sweet scents in cheap, cut-glass bottles: A certain few are laced with death. Marie laces the perfume delicately—not with poison but with a hint of honeysuckle she’s trained her sister to respond to. Marie marks her victim, and Ama attacks. But she doesn’t attack as a girl. She kills as a beast.
Marking Ama’s victims controls the damage to keep suspicion at bay. But when a young boy turns up dead one morning, Marie is forced to acknowledge she might be losing control of Ama. And if she can’t control her, she’ll have to cure her. Marie knows the only place she’ll find the cure is in the mansion where Ama was cursed in the first place, home of Lord Sebastien LeClaire. But once she gets into the mansion, she discovers dark secrets hidden away—secrets of the curse, of Lord Sebastien . . . and of herself.
Walking In Two Worlds by Wab Kinew (Penguin Teen)
Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma.
But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.
The Corpse Queen by Heather Hermann (Putnam)
Soon after her best friend Kitty mysteriously dies, orphaned seventeen-year-old Molly Green is sent away to live with her "aunt." With no relations that she knows of, Molly assumes she has been sold as free domestic labor for the price of an extra donation in the church orphanage's coffers. Such a thing is not unheard of. There are only so many options for an unmarried girl in 1850s Philadelphia. Only, when Molly arrives, she discovers her aunt is very much real, exceedingly wealthy, and with secrets of her own. Secrets and wealth she intends to share--for a price.
Molly's estranged aunt Ava, has built her empire by robbing graves and selling the corpses to medical students who need bodies to practice surgical procedures. And she wants Molly to help her procure the corpses. As Molly learns her aunt's trade in the dead of night and explores the mansion by day, she is both horrified and deeply intrigued by the anatomy lessons held at the old church on her aunt's property. Enigmatic Doctor LaSalle's lessons are a heady mixture of knowledge and power and Molly has never wanted anything more than to join his male-only group of students. But the cost of inclusion is steep and with a murderer loose in the city, the pursuit of power and opportunity becomes a deadly dance.
Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie (Del Ray Books)
Gal’s destiny has always been clear: complete his training at the military academy, prove his worth as a royal successor, and ascend to the galactic throne. When a failed assassination plot against Gal sends him and Ettian—his infuriatingly enticing roommate—on a mad dash through the stars, Gal’s plans are momentarily disrupted. But he was born to rule the Umber Empire, and with Ettian by his side, nothing will stop him from returning home and crushing the growing insurgency threatening his family’s power.
But nothing is ever that simple in war—or in love. Gal is captured by the rebellion during a skirmish and faces public execution, his grand fate cut short. To save Gal’s life, Ettian does the unthinkable: he reveals himself as the secret heir to the fallen Archon Empire and rightful leader of the rebellion . . . and, therefore, Gal’s sworn enemy. Now a political hostage in this newly-reignited conflict, Gal must use his limited resources to sabotage the rebellion from within, concoct an escape plan, and return to the empire he’s destined to lead. And if that means taking down the man he thought he loved?
All the better.
Witch Rising by Paige McKenzie and Nancy Ohlin (Little, Brown) - YA graphic novel.
Two rival covens, led by frenemies Greta and Div, are investigating a radical anti-magic faction—the New Order—for the murder of a sister witch. In fact, Div and her coven mate Mira are pretend-dating a couple of New Order members to infiltrate it and bring it down for good. But when the president of the United States aligns himself with the dangerous group and local police ramp up their search for suspected witches, the covens must be more careful than ever.
Even outside of politics, complications abound as Iris and the new witch, Torrence, fight for Greta's affections...and Ridley can't get over her crush on a dead girl...and Binx's own crush turns out to be harboring deadly secrets.
If the covens wish to solve their friend's murder and protect their kind, they'll have to rise above their problems, big and small. But as they grow closer to the truth, one thing becomes certain—trust no witch.
Before We Were Blue by E.J. Schwartz (Flux)
At Recovery and Relief, a treatment center for girls with eating disorders, the first thing Shoshana Winnick does is attach herself to vibrant but troubled Rowan Parish. Shoshana—a cheerleader on a hit reality TV show—was admitted for starving herself to ensure her growth spurt didn’t ruin her infamous tumbling skills. Rowan, on the other hand, has known anorexia her entire life, thanks to her mother’s “chew and spit” guidance. Through the drudgery and drama of treatment life, Shoshana and Rowan develop a fierce intimacy—and for Rowan, a budding infatuation, that neither girl expects.
As “Gray Girls,” patients in the center’s Gray plan, Shoshana and Rowan are constantly under the nurses’ watchful eyes. They dream of being Blue, when they will enjoy more freedom and the knowledge that their days at the center are numbered. But going home means separating and returning to all the challenges they left behind. The closer Shoshana and Rowan become, the more they cling to each other—and their destructive patterns. Ultimately, the girls will have to choose: their recovery or their relationship.
Himawari House by Harmony Becker (First Second) - previously titled Himawari Share.
Living in a new country is no walk in the park—Nao, Hyejung, and Tina can all attest to that. The three of them became fast friends through living together in the Himawari House in Tokyo and attending the same Japanese cram school. Nao came to Japan to reconnect with her Japanese heritage, while Hyejung and Tina came to find freedom and their own paths. Though each of them has her own motivations and challanges, they all deal with language barriers, being a fish out of water, self discovery, love, and family.
Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff (St Martins Press) - This
one is not YA, but I know Jay Kristoff has a huge YA audience, so I
thought I should include it here for completeness. But it is an ADULT
title.
Twenty-seven years have passed since the last sunrise,
and for almost three decades, the creatures of the night have walked
the day without fear. Once, humanity fought bravely against the
coldblood legions, but now, we exist only in a few scattered
settlements—tiny sparks of light in a growing sea of darkness.
Gabriel
de León is the last of the Silversaints, a holy order dedicated to
defending realm and church, now utterly destroyed. Imprisoned for the
murder of the vampiric king, Gabriel is charged with telling the story
of his life.
His tale spans years, from his youth in the
monastery of San Michel, to the forbidden love that spelled his undoing,
and the betrayal that saw his order annihilated. Most importantly,
Gabriel will tell of his discovery of the Grail—the legendary cup
prophesied to bring an end to the eternal night.
But the Grail
was no simple chalice; it was a smart-mouthed teenage urchin named Dior.
Their journey with a band of unlikely allies would see Dior and Gabriel
forge an unbreakable bond, and set the broken paragon on a road to
redemption.
But now, the Grail is shattered. And with the cup of
the Savior destroyed and the last Silversaint awaiting execution, what
can bring an end to this unholy empire?
Deen Malik is thrilled that his older brother, Faisal, has found a great girlfriend, even if it's getting serious quickly. Maybe now their parents' focus will shift off Deen, who feels intense pressure to be the perfect son.
When Deen and Kiran come fact to face, they silently agree to keep their past a secret. Four years ago--before Amira and Faisal met--Kiran and Deen dated. Burt Deen ghosted Kiran with no explanation. Kiran will stop at nothing to find out what happened, and Deen will do anything, even if it means sabotaging his brother's relationship, to keep her from reaching the truth. Though the chemistry between Kiran and Deen is undeniable, can either of them take down their walls?
Kneel by Candace Buford (Inkyard Press)
The system is rigged.
For guys like Russell Boudreaux, football is the only way out of their small town. As the team’s varsity tight end, Rus has a singular goal: to get a scholarship and play on the national stage. But when his best friend is unfairly arrested and kicked off the team, Rus faces an impossible choice: speak up or live in fear.
“Please rise for the national anthem.”
Desperate for change, Rus kneels during the national anthem. In one instant, he falls from local stardom and becomes a target for hatred. But he’s not alone. With the help of his best friend and an unlikely ally, Rus will fight for his dreams, and for justice.
Alma Presses Play by Tina Cane (Make Me a World)
Alma's life is a series of halfways: She's half-Chinese, half-Jewish; her parents spend half the time fighting, and the other half silent; and she's halfway through becoming a woman. But as long as she can listen to her Walkman, hang out with her friends on the stoops of the Village, and ride her bike around the streets of New York, it feels like everything will be all right. Then comes the year when everything changes, and her life is overtaken by constant endings: friends move away, romances bloom and wither, her parents divorce and--just like that--her life as she knew it is over. In this world of confusing beginnings, middles, and endings, is Alma ready to press play on the soundtrack of her life?
White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (Katherine Tegan Books) - originally titled Smoke.
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.
The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.
But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?
As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.
The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl: A Vampire Revenge Story (Page Street) - moved from September 7th.
Holly’s afterlife takes an interesting turn when, she meets Rose McKay and Ida Ripley. Having also been turned and discarded by Ezra—Rose in 1954, and Ida, his ex-fiancée, in 1921—they want to help her, and ask for her help in return.
Rose and Ida are going to kill Ezra before he turns another girl. Though Holly is hurt and angry with Ezra for tossing her aside, she’s reluctant to kill her ex, until Holly meets Parker Kincaid—the new girl Ezra has set his sights on—and feels a quick, and nerve-wracking attraction to her.
The Battle of the Bands by Various YA Authors (Candlewick)
A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell (HMH)
When her siblings start to go
missing, a girl must confront the dark thing that lives in the
forest--and the growing darkness in herself--in this debut YA
contemporary fantasy for fans of Wilder Girls. Derry and her eight siblings live in an isolated house by the lake, separated from the rest of the world by an eerie and menacing forest. Frank, the man who raised them after their families abandoned them, says it's for their own good. After all, the world isn't safe for people with magic. And Derry feels safe--most of the time.
Until the night her eldest sister disappears. Jane and Derry swore to each other that they'd never go into the forest, not after their last trip ended in blood, but Derry is sure she saw Jane walk into the trees. When another sibling goes missing and Frank's true colors start to show, feeling safe is no longer an option. Derry will risk anything to protect the family she has left. Even if that means returning to the forest that has started calling to Derry in her missing siblings' voices.
As Derry spends more time amidst the trees, her magic grows more powerful . . . and so does the darkness inside her, the viciousness she wants to pretend doesn't exist. But saving her siblings from the forest and from Frank might mean embracing the darkness. And that just might be the most dangerous thing of all.
Tessa Cade is a masked outlaw marked for death, but she likes it that way. At night, she and her best friend Weston Lark ride through the streets of the poorest towns, distributing food, money, and medicine they’ve stolen from the elite ruling class. Tessa has reason to hate the king: her parents were publicly executed after they were caught selling medicine on the black market. She has reason to love Weston: he saved her life when she nearly followed her parents to the same fate. She’s come to hate the dawn, which signals that it’s time for Weston to return to his home on the other side of the city, where he spends his days working in the grueling iron forge.
Lately, rumors have been spreading that the cure no longer works, and people are starting to act on their worst impulses. Tessa knows that the only way to save her people--the poor--is to assassinate King Harristan. It’s a mission that is more likely to kill her than save anyone, but if her parents were willing to risk their lives, then so is she. What Tessa doesn’t expect to find is that everything she believed about her kingdom is a lie, and that tipping the balance of power will require her to work with the very people she intended to destroy. . .
Set in a fantasy world startlingly similar to our own, Brigid Kemmerer's newest series illuminates the divide between those with power and those without. . . and what happens when someone is brave enough to flip the system upside down.
September 21st
The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi (Wednesday Books)
In love they breathed. In destiny they believed. In the end, will divinity be their demise?
After Séverin's seeming betrayal, the crew is fractured. Armed with only a handful of hints, Enrique, Laila, Hypnos and Zofia must find their way through the snarled, haunted waterways of Venice, Italy to locate Séverin.
Meanwhile, Séverin must balance the deranged whims of the Patriarch of the Fallen House and discover the location of a temple beneath a plague island where the Divine Lyre can be played and all that he desires will come to pass.
With only ten days until Laila expires, the crew will face plague pits and deadly masquerades, unearthly songs and the shining steps of a temple whose powers might offer divinity itself...but at a price they may not be willing to pay.
Into the Dying Light by Katy Rose Pool (Henry Holt)
Following the destruction of the City of Mercy, an ancient god has been resurrected and sealed inside Beru's body. Both are at the mercy of the Prophet Pallas, who wields the god’s powers to subjugate the Six Prophetic Cities. But every day, the god grows stronger, threatening to break free and sow untold destruction.
Meanwhile, far away from Pallas Athos, Anton learns to harness his full powers as a Prophet. Armed with the truth about how the original Prophets killed the god, Anton leads Jude, Hassan, and Ephyra on a desperate quest to the edge of the world. With time running out, the group’s tenuous alliance is beset by mounting danger, tumultuous romance, and most of all by a secret that Anton is hiding: a way to destroy the god at the price of an unbearable sacrifice. But the cost of keeping that secret might be their lives—and the lives of everyone in the Six Prophetic Cities.
The Age of Darkness trilogy is perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Children of Blood and Bone, and An Ember in the Ashes.
Daughters of a Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O' Neil (Roaring Brook Press)
Seventeen-year-old Anna
is running for her life. She barely escaped the massacre that killed
her family, and now a relentless Red commander is after her to finish
the job. If she can just reach the Tsarist army, she’ll be safe. But
first she must convince a peasant girl to smuggle her across communist
territory. And when the peasant turns out to be a communist herself,
Anna must hide her true identity at all costs.
Sixteen-year-old
Evgenia is poor and pissed off about it. Her Red soldier brother badly
needs a doctor. Evgenia will do anything to raise the money – even
selling a wagon ride to a spoiled bourgeois girl. Only it’s the worst
mistake Evgenia’s ever made. A rogue commander is following them, and
he’s out to kill the wealthy girl and anyone who helps her.
As
the girls flee across the war-torn Russian countryside, they find that
they have more in common than their prejudices led them to expect. To
survive, Anna must trust a revolutionary who wants to destroy her world.
And Evgenia must decide whether the life of her new friend is worth
more than the change she so passionately believes in.
Sidelined by Kara Bietz (Little, Brown)
Julian Jackson has a short to-do list for his senior year at Crenshaw County High School in Meridian, Texas: football, football, and more football. He knows he's only got one chance to earn a college scholarship and make it out of his small town, and keeping his head down, his grades up, and his cleats on the field is that one chance. And then Elijah Vance walks back into his life, throwing all of his carefully-laid plans into a tailspin.
Elijah and Julian used to be best friends, maybe even on their way to something more than just friends. But three years ago, Elijah broke into the school to steal money from the coach's office, and Julian was the one who turned him in. After that, Elijah and his family disappeared without a trace. And now he's back, sitting at Julian's grandmother's kitchen table.
But time and distance haven't erased all of their feelings, and Elijah knows that he finally has a chance to prove to Julian that he's not the same person he was three years ago. But with secrets still growing between them and an uncertain future barreling towards them, it may be harder to lean on each other than they thought.
She Who Rides the Storm by Caitllin Sangster (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
Long ago, shapeshifting monsters ruled the Commonwealth using blasphemous magic that fed on the souls of their subjects. Now, hundreds of years later, a new tomb has been uncovered, and despite the legends that disturbing a shapeshifter’s final resting place will wake them once again, the Warlord is determined to dig it up.
But it isn’t just the Warlord who means to brave the traps and pitfalls guarding the crypt.
A healer obsessed with tracking down the man who murdered her twin brother.
A runaway member of the Warlord’s Devoted order, haunted by his sister’s ghost.
A snotty archaeologist bent on finding the cure to his magical wasting disease.
A girl desperate to escape the cloistered life she didn’t choose.
All four are out to steal the same cursed sword rumored to be at the very bottom of the tomb. But of course, some treasures should never see the light of day, and some secrets are best left buried…
Bend in the Road by Sara Biren (Abrams)
Seventeen-year-old Gabe’s life is a mess. His debut album—produced by his rock star dad—made him an overnight sensation, but his second album tanked, he just got dumped by his on-again, off-again girlfriend, and he’s desperate to come up with the money he needs to fix a major screwup. The only place he can be free from the paparazzi and rumors is the family farm—the farm that seventeen-year-old Juniper’s family has managed since before she was born. When Juniper learns that Gabe’s about to inherit the farm, she worries that he’ll sell it. She comes up with a plan to get close to him and stop that from happening. At first, Juniper and Gabe couldn’t be more at odds, but the more time they spend with each other, the more they grow to like each other. Can they set aside their differences to do what’s best for the farm—and each other? Or will all the drama and secrets tear them apart?
Things We Couldn't Say by Jay Coles (Scholastic) - originally titled Until We Came Back.
There's always been a hole in Gio's life. Not because he's into both guys and girls. Not because his father has some drinking issues. Not because his friends are always bringing him their drama. No, the hole in Gio's life takes the shape of his birth mom, who left Gio, his brother, and his father when Gio was nine years old. For eight years, he never heard a word from her . . . and now, just as he's started to get his life together, she's back.
It's hard for Gio to know what to do. Can he forgive her like she wants to be forgiven? Or should he tell her she lost her chance to be in his life? Complicating things further, Gio's started to hang out with David, a new guy on the basketball team. Are they friends? More than friends? At first, Gio's not sure . . . especially because he's not sure what he wants from anyone right now.
There are no easy answers to love -- whether it's family love or friend love or romantic love. In Things We Couldn't Say, Jay Coles, acclaimed author of Tyler Johnson Was Here, shows us a guy trying to navigate love in all its ambiguity -- hoping at the other end he'll be able to figure out who is and who he should be.
Big Boned by Jo Watson (Wattpad Books)
Lori Palmer is the new girl at Bay Water High, where students prize glossy hair, beach bodies, and school spirit above all else. She misses her old school―where her talent as an artist carried more weight than she does―and longs for her old family life, before her parents got divorced and her mom reinvented herself.
So Lori decides that the only way to survive the rest of the year is to blend into the background, but her plans go awry when she discovers that the most popular (and hottest) guy at Bay Water High, Jake, is a volunteer at her brother’s school. When her brother befriends Jake’s sister, Lori is suddenly thrust into his unfamiliar and exhilarating world of water polo, parties, and stargazing.
But with her relationship with her mother deteriorating, old anxieties resurface and Lori finds a new artistic release that unknowingly ignites a powerful movement. When the authorities start asking questions, Lori realizes that finding her voice might have gotten her into a world of trouble…but sometimes standing up for what you believe in is as important as standing up for yourself.
Smells Like Teen Spirit by Kate Williams (Delacorte)
Ever since Esme met Cassandra Heaven and discovered the truth about their shared legacy–that they’re Sitters, supernaturally-gifted teens tasked with protecting the innocent from evil–her life has been moving at 90 mph. During the day, she chases wild toddlers, and at night, she employs a different skill set for a different kind of demon. Like, literal ones. And sometimes, it’s almost fun. Her spells are getting better, her telekinesis is on point, and now that Esme’s dad and her best friend Janis know the truth, she’s no longer lying to the people she loves. She’s also learned that there’s a way to undo her mother’s curse, and with the Synod out of the picture, she might even have a chance to do it.
If she could just figure out how. But she can’t, and even with her mom living at home again, Esme can’t shake the feeling that she’s failing. Throw in the fact that Pig is still gone, Esme’s crush is also MIA, and that it’s cold, slushy February, and she’s in bummer city.
Esme needs a serious pick-me-up, and Janis has a plan: a Galentine’s stay-cation, with the Sitter friends Esme and Cassandra made at the Summit for a serious girls weekend. Except, things are getting weird in Spring River again. Esme and Cassandra just discovered a new band, and not in a good way: these guys reek of Red Magic, and their music sucks too. Trouble is brewing, and if Esme’s not careful, this show might be her last–and no one likes a one-hit wonder.
Maybe We're Electric by Val Emmich (Little, Brown) - delayed from June 2020.
Tegan Everly is painfully shy. She’s sure her malformed hand—a condition she’s had since birth—is all anyone can see. Mac Durant seems to have it all. He’s the star of the soccer team and top of his class. But his life is far from perfect; when a snowstorm traps the two of them in the Thomas Edison museum overnight, Mac’s struggles with his depressive, alcoholic father come to light.
Even as the pair continue to bond, Tegan remains desperate to hide her own secret: she’s the author of the Handbook for Havoc, a guide to cyberbullying, and is the anonymous source behind the horrible rumors circulating online about Mac.
The truth gets harder and harder to hide as the night wears on, and social media starts blowing up with the leaked document from Tegan’s computer. She knows the fragile trust they’re slowly building could be shattered at any moment, but she can’t help hoping that she might still be able to save their new friendship—she just has to do as much damage control as she can before Mac gets his phone turned back on.
Through it all, the light coming from the giant incandescent bulb at the top of the museum above them remains steady, providing a beacon in the darkness even through a blackout. It might be just enough light for them to find their way to each other—and eventually, to forgiveness. MAYBE WE’RE ELECTRIC is part We Are Okay and part One of Us Is Lying, and will establish Emmich as a must-read voice in young adult literature.
As If On Cue by Maria Kanter (Simon and Schuster)
Lifelong rivals Natalie and Reid have never been on the same team. So when their school’s art budget faces cutbacks, of course Natalie finds herself up against her nemesis once more. She’s fighting to direct the school’s first ever student-written play, but for her small production to get funding, the school’s award-winning band will have to lose it. Reid’s band. And he’s got no intention of letting the show go on.
But when their rivalry turns into an all-out prank war that goes too far, Natalie and Reid have to face the music, resulting in the worst compromise: writing and directing a musical. Together. At least if they deliver a sold-out show, the school board will reconsider next year’s band and theater budget. Everyone could win.
Except Natalie and Reid.
Because after spending their entire lives in competition, they have absolutely no idea how to be co-anything. And they certainly don’t know how to deal with the feelings that are inexplicably, weirdly, definitely developing between them…
The Hill We Climb by Amanda Jensen (Viking) - poetry.
Including “The Hill We Climb,” the stirring poem read at the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, this debut collection of the same name reveals an energizing and unforgettable new voice in America poetry.
All These Bodies by Kendare Blake (HarperTeen)
Sixteen bloodless bodies. Two teenagers. One impossible explanation.
It starts with a lone victim, found on his front porch with his throat cut and his body drained of blood. By the time it’s over, the Bloodless Murders leave a trail of sixteen bodies littered across the Midwest, with no suspects and no witnesses. Only questions: how were the victims chosen? Why didn’t they fight? And where, where is all the blood?
Michael Jensen yearns to become a journalist and escape his small-town life. He never imagined that the Bloodless Murders would come to sleepy Black Deer Falls, not until the night in September when the Carlson family is murdered in their farmhouse. The only suspect in the case is found with them in the house that night: fifteen-year-old Marie Catherine Hale, unharmed but covered in blood. She claims the murderer abandoned her at the scene, and though her story is suspicious, no one believes her capable of committing the crimes on her own.
When Marie refuses to talk to anyone but Michael, he agrees to record her side of the story. But how can he trust her confession when it calls into question everything that he holds to be true?
Marie knows that her time is running out. But she chose Michael for a reason, and his search for answers gives her one last chance to tell her truth.
This Is Why We Lie by Gabriella Lepore (Inkyard Press)
When Jenna Dallas and Adam Cole find Colleen O’Dell’s body floating off the shore of their coastal town, the community of Gardiners Bay is shaken. But even more shocking is the fact that her drowning was no accident.
Once Jenna’s best friend becomes a key suspect, Jenna starts to look for answers on her own. As she uncovers scandals inside Preston Prep School leading back to Rookwood reform school, she knows she needs Adam on her side.
As a student at Rookwood, Adam is used to getting judgmental looks, but now his friends are being investigated by the police. Adam will do whatever he can to keep them safe, even if that means trusting Jenna.
As lies unravel, the truth starts to blur. Only one thing is certain: somebody must take the fall.
To Break A Covenant by Alison Ames (Page Street Kids) - previously titled The Haunting of Moon Basin. Pushed from June 2021, some editions also dated September 7th.
Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.
Clem and Nina form a perfect loop—best friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Penguin Teen)
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
For as long as she could remember, all Emry wanted was to be a great magician like her father, the magnificent Merlin. As a kid, she fought to be included in his magic lessons for her twin brother, Emmet, and easily outshone him with each spell she cast. But after her father's disappearance several years ago, Emry has been feeling a little lost. Fate soon appears in the form of a royal messenger, summoning Emmet to court to serve as Prince Arthur's right-hand wizard. With Emmett indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry has to disguise herself as a teen boy and pretend to be her brother at the castle until they're able to switch.
Training as a wizard is everything Emry hoped it would be, except working so closely with the unbearably hot Arthur is a growing danger. They soon share adventures and a connection that can't be denied, but Emry's secret is a crime punishable by death. When royal scandals involving Lancelot, Guinevere, and Gawain threaten to reveal her truth, Emry must decide whether to stay and risk everything for a love borne out of deceit, or leave and never fulfill her potential to be Camelot's greatest magician.
When We Make It by Elizabet Velasquez (Dial)
Sarai is an eighth grader who can see with clarity the truth, pain, and beauty of the world both inside and outside her New York City apartment. Together with her older sister Estrella, she is navigating housing and food insecurity, an abusive mother, sexual violence, a changing neighborhood, and the stolen moments of joy and childhood in between.
When We Make It is a love letter to a rapidly gentrifying Bushwick, Brooklyn, and the verse is evocative, insightful, and super accessible a la Ellen Hopkins, Elisabeth Acevedo and Sonya Sones. After just a few poems, readers are sure to be swept into Sarai and Estrella's world, and they will be thinking about them long after they close the book.
Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu (Levine Querido) - YA graphic novel.
Where delivered?
By the moon, next to the sun
Among the stars of the plough
Sent to Earth in a golden cradle
With silvery chains.
Poorling is a little bear. She's a bit different from her brothers.
Mother keeps their family safe. For the Forest is full of dangers. It is there that Mana lives, with her Shadow children.
And above them all, Emuu, the great Grandma in the Sky.
From the heart of Finnish folklore comes a breathtaking tale of mothers, daughters, stars and legends, and the old gods and the new.
It Doesn't Have to Be Awkward: Dealing with Relationships, Consent, and Other Hard-to-Talk-About Stuff by Dr. Drew Pinsky and Paulina Pinsky (HMH) - YA Non-fiction, originally dated April 2021.
For All Time by Shanna Miles (Simon and Schuster) - previously titled For All We Know.
Tamar is a headstrong slave in Mali, a high school junior with a terminal illness on a last-chance trip, a young woman struggling for independence in a segregated train car steaming her toward an arranged marriage. She is a musician, a warrior, a survivor.
Fayard is a soldier that must obey all the rules set before him, a charming high school senior who wishes to give his high school sweetheart a promise ring, a lost young man who runs numbers for King Fats in Chicago. He is a con man, a pioneer, a hopeless romantic.
Together, Tamar and Fayard have lived a thousand lives, seen the world go through revolutions and civil wars, and have even watched humanity take to the stars. But in each life one thing remains the same: Tamar and Fayard fall in love. Tamar and Fayard fight to be with each other. Tamar and Fayard die. Over and over again until, perhaps at last, they learn what it will take to break the cycle.
Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone (Wednesday Books) - moved from October 2021.
There are monsters in the world.
When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.
There are monsters in the woods.
As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…
There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.
Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.
As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson (Delacorte)
Pip Fitz-Amobi is haunted by the way her last investigation ended. Soon she’ll be leaving for Cambridge University but then another case finds her . . . and this time it’s all about Pip.
Pip is used to online death threats, but there’s one that catches her eye, someone who keeps asking: who will look for you when you’re the one who disappears? And it’s not just online. Pip has a stalker who knows where she lives. The police refuse to act and then Pip finds connections between her stalker and a local serial killer. The killer has been in prison for six years, but Pip suspects that the wrong man is behind bars. As the deadly game plays out, Pip realises that everything in Little Kilton is finally coming full circle. If Pip doesn’t find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears...
Time Will Tell by Barry Lyga (Little, Brown)
Four teens have dug up the time capsule that their parents buried in 1986 and never bothered to recover. But in addition to the expected ephemera of mixtapes, Walkmans, photographs, letters, toys, and assorted junk, Elayah, Liam, Marcie, and Jorja discover something sinister: a hunting knife stained with blood and wrapped with a note. “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean to kill anyone."
As the action dramatically alternates between the present day and 1986, the mystery unfolds and the sins of the past echo into today. The teens haven't just unearthed a time capsule: they’ve also dug up pain and secrets that someone—maybe one of their own parents—is willing to kill for.
Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchison (HarperTeen)
Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it.
But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on the scene. Performing tricks that defy the imagination, Laszlo’s act threatens to overshadow the Enchantress and co-opt her audience. Jack has no choice but to hunt for the secrets behind Laszlo’s otherworldly illusions—but what he uncovers isn’t at all what he expected.
What makes Laszlo’s tricks possible is, unbelievably, a boy that can seemingly perform real
magic. Wilhelm’s abilities defy all the laws of physics. His talents
are no clever sleights-of-hand. But even though Laszlo and Wilhelm’s act
threatens to destroy the life Jack and the Enchantress have built, Jack
and Wilhelm have near-instant connection. As the rivalry between the
Enchantress and Laszlo grows increasingly dangerous and dire, Jack finds
he has to choose between the woman who gave him a life and the boy who
is offering him love.
Some Faraway Place by Lauren Shippen (Tor Teen)
Rose Atkinson’s mother can see the future. Her father can move things he doesn't touch. Her brother Aaron can read minds. And Rose, well, she makes a mean spaghetti bolognese.
Everyone else in her family is Atypical, which means they manifested an ability that defies the limits of the human experience. At nineteen, well past the average age of manifestation, Rose is stuck defending her decision not to go to college and instead working in the kitchen of a local restaurant, hoping to gain the experience she needs to become a chef.
When a rollerblading accident sends her to the hospital, she meets a girl she can't forget and she starts to feel like maybe her life isn't quite so small. But when she starts falling asleep mid-conversation, she thinks, then again maybe I’m doomed to never have good things.
Rose should be happy to learn that she’s Atypical after all—that diving into dreams makes her a part of her family in the way she always wanted. But the more time she spends in the dreamworld, the more complicated her ability becomes. Trying to balance her work, her power, and a girlfriend who doesn’t know about Atypicals, Rose seeks help. But she soon discovers that being Atypical comes with dangers she never could have imagined. Even her carefully constructed dreamworld isn’t safe.
This is the story of Atypical Rose, who discovers that your dreams coming true isn’t always a good thing.
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (Margaret K. McElderry Books)
The dead of Loraille do not rest.
Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past.
When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic. It is a revenant, a malevolent being that threatens to possess her the moment she drops her guard. Wielding its extraordinary power almost consumes her—but death has come to Loraille, and only a vespertine, a priestess trained to wield a high relic, has any chance of stopping it. With all knowledge of vespertines lost to time, Artemisia turns to the last remaining expert for help: the revenant itself.
As she unravels a sinister mystery of saints, secrets, and dark magic, her bond with the revenant grows. And when a hidden evil begins to surface, she discovers that facing this enemy might require her to betray everything she has been taught to believe—if the revenant doesn’t betray her first.
You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow (Delacorte) - some editions dated September 1st.
For all of Emory's life she's been told who she is. In town she's the rich one--the great-great granddaughter of the Mill's founder. At school she's hot Maddie Ward's younger sister. And at home, she's the good one, her stoner older brother Joey's babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey's drug habit was.
Four months later--Emmy's junior year is starting, Joey's home from rehab, and the entire town of Mill Haven is still reeling from the aftermath of the accident. Everyone's still telling Emmy who she is, but so much has changed, how can she be the same person? Or was she ever that person at all?
Mill Haven wants everyone to live one story, but Emmy's beginning to see that people are more than they appear. Her brother, who might not be cured, the popular guy who lives next door, and most of all, many ghostie addicts who haunt the edges of the town. Emmy's beginning to see that people spend so much time telling you who you are--it might be time to decide that for herself.
Inspired by the American classic Our Town, You'd Be Home Now is Kathleen's Glasgow's glorious modern story of a town and all the secret lives people live there. And the story of a girl, figuring out life in all its pain and beauty and struggle and joy.
Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (Putnam)
Magic doesn't exist in the broken city of Lkossa anymore,
especially for girls like sixteen-year-old Koffi. Indentured to the
notorious Night Zoo, she cares for its fearsome and magical creatures to
pay off her family's debts and secure their eventual freedom. But the
night her loved ones' own safety is threatened by the Zoo's cruel
master, Koffi unleashes a power she doesn't fully understand—and the
consequences are dire.
As the second son of a decorated hero,
Ekon is all but destined to become a Son of the Six—an elite warrior—and
uphold a family legacy. But on the night of his final rite of passage, a
fire upends his plans. In its midst, Ekon not only encounters the
Shetani—a vicious monster that has plagued the city and his nightmares
for nearly a century—but a curious girl who seems to have the power to
ward off the beast. Koffi's power ultimately saves Ekon's life, but his
choice to let her flee dooms his hopes of becoming a warrior.
Desperate
to redeem himself, Ekon vows to hunt the Shetani down and end its reign
of terror, but he can't do it alone. Meanwhile, Koffi believes finding
the Shetani and selling it for a profit could be the key to solving her
own problems. Koffi and Ekon—each keeping their true motives secret from
the other—form a tentative alliance and enter into the unknowns of the
Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild magic and untold dangers. The
hunt begins. But it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters
or the hunted.
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber (Flatiron Books)
But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…
Drawn That Way by Elisa Sussman (Simon and Schuster)
Hayley Saffitz is confident, ambitious, and intent on following in the footsteps of her hero, renowned animation director, Bryan Beckett. When she’s given a spot in his once-in-a-lifetime summer program, Hayley devises a plan: snag one of the internship’s coveted directing opportunities. Dazzle Bryan with her talent. Secure a job post-graduation. Live her dream.
Except she doesn’t land one of the director positions. All of those go to boys. And one of them is Bryan’s son, Bear.
Despite Bear’s obvious apathy for the internship, Hayley soon realizes that there’s more to him than she expected. As they work together, the animosity between them thaws into undeniable chemistry and maybe something… more.
But Hayley can’t stop thinking about the chance she was refused.
Determined to make a name for herself, Hayley recruits the five other young women in the program to develop their own short to sneak into the film festival at the end of the summer. As the internship winds down, however, one question remains: Will Hayley conform to the expectations of her idol, or will she risk her blossoming relationship with Bear—and her future—to prove that she’s exactly as talented as she thinks she is?
Dark Rise by C. S. Pacat (HarperCollins)
Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. When an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, Will is ushered into a world of magic, where he must train to play a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark.
As London is threatened by the Dark King’s return, the reborn heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war begin to draw battle lines. But as the young descendants of Light and Dark step into their destined roles, old allegiances, old enmities and old flames are awakened. Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.
Steelstriker by Marie Lu (Roaring Brook Press)
As a Striker, Talin was taught loyalty is life. Loyalty to the Shield who watches your back, to the Strikers who risk their lives on the battlefield, and most of all, to Mara, which was once the last nation free from the Karensa Federation’s tyranny.
But Mara has fallen. And its destruction has unleashed Talin’s worst nightmare.
With her friends scattered by combat and her mother held captive by the Premier, Talin is forced to betray her fellow Strikers and her adopted homeland. She has no choice but to become the Federation’s most deadly war machine as their newest Skyhunter.
Red is no stranger to the cruelty of the Federation or the torture within its Skyhunter labs, but he knows this isn’t the end for Mara – or Talin. The link between them may be weak, but it could be Talin and Red's only hope to salvage their past and safeguard their future.
While the fate of a broken world hangs in the balance, Talin and Red must reunite the Strikers and find their way back to each other in this smoldering sequel to Marie Lu’s Skyhunter.
Revolution In Our Time by Kekla Magoon: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon (Candlewick) - YA non-fiction, previously titled Until All Are Free.
With passion and precision, Kekla
Magoon relays an essential account of the Black Panthers—as militant
revolutionaries and as human rights advocates working to defend and
protect their community.
In this comprehensive,
inspiring, and all-too-relevant history of the Black Panther Party,
Kekla Magoon introduces readers to the Panthers’ community activism,
grounded in the concept of self-defense, which taught Black Americans
how to protect and support themselves in a country that treated them
like second-class citizens. For too long the Panthers’ story has been a
footnote to the civil rights movement rather than what it was: a
revolutionary socialist movement that drew thousands of members—mostly
women—and became the target of one of the most sustained repression
efforts ever made by the U.S. government against its own citizens.
Revolution in Our Time
puts the Panthers in the proper context of Black American history, from
the first arrival of enslaved people to the Black Lives Matter movement
of today. Kekla Magoon’s eye-opening work invites a new generation of
readers grappling with injustices in the United States to learn from the
Panthers’ history and courage, inspiring them to take their own place
in the ongoing fight for justice.
the Demon Tide release has been pushed to December
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Court by Tracey Wolff will be released February 2, 2022
ReplyDelete