Author: Kelly Jensen

This book is going to hit close to home.

Phoebe is a girl everyone sees as straight-laced, as an ideal, in her small town. She’s an editor for the high school newspaper and a stellar student.

By night, though, she’s Pom and she keeps a blog and social media dedicated to all things sex education. Though she’s not ashamed of sex or her interest in sharing information, she’s kept herself anonymous — but then a local mayoral candidate makes her go viral, and now her work is being called an “assault on morality.”

Things are about to get ugly . . . and maybe not anonymous anymore.

Pair this with Jack of Hearts (and Other Parts) and your weekly reading on censorship.

Want a humorous read? This’ll do!

Quique wants to get over his crush by trying to court another person to be his partner. The problem? He’s not actually out to anyone except his best friend. The solution? A roster of great candidates and a desire for getting over Saleem.

Too bad you can’t just get over a crush by pursuing other interests.

This one’s been compared to What If It’s Us and Never Have I Ever on Netflix.

As senior year begins, Hayley wants everyone to forget her breakdown and instead, remember her as the overachiever. Lewis is hoping this is his year to be a main character and get the girl. When the two are paired up in their TV Production class, they aren’t thrilled. But they begin making documentaries about their classmates’ hidden talents and realize they have a lot more in common than they think.

This one is for readers who like a coming of age story with humor.

For fans of twisty mysteries, Rodden’s novel is up your alley.

After her first year in college, Catherine is home and hopes to begin healing from an event that rocked her world–and that she won’t talk about. But just days into her break, there’s a murder and and illusions that this summer would involve quiet and calm are shattered. Now Catherine and her best friend are teaming up to find an answer.

Things take another twist when Andrew, one of Catherine’s college classmates, shows up with her missing license and coat and details from the night she wishes she could forget. Can she trust him though?

This is a queer grumpy-sunshine romance, wherein a date drafted for a wedding on the other side of a country ends up falling apart before it begins, and when Neil drafts a new date last-minute, it may be more than simply a date to the wedding. It might be something much more fiery.

The lineup for this anthology is out of this world good, which doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the theme: Latin American monster stories! The collection is cross-genre and features something for every kind of reader, exploring the different shapes and stories behind monsters we know — and ones that may be new to us.

Looking for a dark academia-meets-Gossip Girl read but with a cast of characters of color? This one will be up your alley.

Nancy’s former best friend Jamie–ranked at the top of Sinclair Prep’s class–disappears and then is found missing. Nancy, alongside several of her friends, are considered prime suspects, thanks to “The Protector,” an anonymous account on the school’s social network account.

Slowly, the group’s secrets are exposed thanks to The Protector and now, everyone has to slowly come to terms with what they’re hiding in order to prove they didn’t kill Jamie … and to find out who did.

This week’s paperback theme is dark academic and Lee’s book will further scratch that itch.

Set at Dalloway School in the remote Catskill Mountains–quietly known for witchcraft–Felicity is back for her final year after the tragic death of her girlfriend. The dorm she’s living in is reported to be haunted by the ghosts of five girls who died mysteriously on its grounds. Felicity is trying to ignore it all and finish this year so she can graduate but the school, as well as a new student named Ellis, may not let the occult history of the school hide so easily.

Okay, the cover got me on this one, as did the title, and frankly, a modern take on Marie Antoinette? This sounds like a romp with exploration of contemporary/near-future culture and politics.

It’s 3070 and Marie is an influencer with millions of followers. She’s moving to Versailles to marry the prince, secure an alliance, and, of course, continue her reign on social media. But Versailles is a palace of pointless rules and Louis is more into horses and computer hacking than creating an heir.

So when the two of them become King and Queen before they’re ready and want to to help their people — both inside and outside the palace — they’re challenged by Mega Corporations. But with her social media prowess and his hacking skills, can they save their kingdom before the end of an era?

Set in contemporary Nigeria, Onoseta’s debut follows the lives of sisters Zam and Cheta who, despite having grown up in the same house, have had very different experiences with their parents. Zam gets the opportunity to leave home and live with relatives and her life expands in ways she hadn’t anticipated. Cheta, still at home, is desperate for a way out and chooses several options that put her in danger.

This well-written, character-driven novel is a fascinating read about sisterhood, about racism and colorism, as well as abuse and mental health. It’s a slower and quieter one, but the journey of each sister is immersive, and their journeys toward and away from each other challenging, honest, and compelling.

Moon Fuentes’s twin sister is a social media influencer, so Moon accepts she’ll never be the cool girl, the seen girl, the girl who gets the attention. But Moon takes a job as a merch girl on a tour full of beauty influencers and is bunking with Santiago–a guy she is convinced hates her and who is both grumpy and very, very attractive.

Moon is convinced Santiago hates her, but the longer they’re together on this job, the more and more she’s falling for him–and the more she sees she’s the apple of his eye and, perhaps, not the background scenery she thinks herself to be.

Does power inevitable corrupt? That’s what is at the heart of this award-winning novel about Claudia, who has been put in charge of Imperial Day Academy in Senate and Honor Council. While she wants to keep her power in check and do good by her fellow students, as she learns more about the scandals and politics at play in the school, she may not be able to keep that power suppressed.

If you’re looking at this cover and wondering–yes, it got a redesign from its original hardback. Clever how the rat is putting a paw on the Printz sticker.

First: swoon at that gorgeous cover. Second: first love, vodou, and the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.

Cecily loves the West Indian Day Parade and this year’s no exception. She’s especially excited to catch eyes with Kwame and spend time with her aunt, who is a big of an influencer for fashion and known for Haitian Vodou. When Cecily’s aunt is possessed by a mischievous spirit before the parade, she must enlist the help of her best friend . . . and Kwame . . . to collect the items needed to perform the ceremony to un-possess her aunt.

14-year-old Ayo’s mother has been a vocal, engaged civil rights activist for See Us in New York City. See Us focuses on police brutality and racial profiling in Harlem.

Ayo wants out. She’s been involved forever because of her mom, but all she wants are the “normal” teenage things.

When her mom is shot by police and put into a coma, protesters want Ayo to become the face of their movement.

This book about social justice and activism explores grief and the complexities of standing up for what you believe is right while also wondering if that activism can only look one way.

Simi serves the gods she once prayed to, and her work as a Mami Wata (mermaid) includes collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a boy who is still alive is thrown overboard, she saves his life, going against ancient decrees which lead to swift punishment.

She knows she needs to make amends in order to protect the other Mami Wata, but the boy she saved knows far more than he lets on, and now, her life is on the line not just because of her actions but because of the shadow following her.

This is a West African twist on “The Little Mermaid,” and LOOK at that cover!

Coming out for Nishat would mean being disowned by her family. But when Flávia, a former childhood friend, comes back into her life, it gets harder for her to resist her feelings.

A school project invites students to create their own businesses and now, both Nishat and Flávia are running their own henna companies. They’re rivals, but they’re finding it near impossible not to have some sweeter feelings toward one another, too. Is Nishat willing to risk it? Can she?

When Santi accidentally leaked Memo’s song and it became an overnight hit, Memo — Santi’s best friend and romantic interest who he only knows from the internet — disappears. Santi’s heart is broken.

Three years and a new high school later, it’s possible Santi has found Memo, but in a way he never anticipated nor dreamed.

This one’s for fans of enemies-to-lovers stories and features a significant trans character.

This is the first book in a series about Violet, a morally gray witch who has a lot of power within the royal court. She doesn’t mind lying. Prince Cyrus hopes to get Violet out of her role when he takes the crown at the end of summer, but when Violet launches a false prophecy on behalf of the king — one meant to show Cyrus his “one true love” for the royal ball — she accidentally unleashes a a curse…and she may be falling for the one person she can’t stand to fall for, too.

This one is described as perfect for fans of The Cursed Prince and Serpent and Dove and it sounds like a lot of fun. I love a good lying main character.

Alina was a talented dancer and wanted a professional career in ballet. But a fall breaks her leg and her dreams.

She’s now transitioned to a normal high school, since her dance school days are gone, and she decides to get involved in the school musical. But now there’s Jude, who is so annoying…and for whom she is obviously falling.

This is a book about changing one’s dreams, as well as about racism and prejudice in elite sports and performance. It’s a romantic read with plenty of humor, too, and adds a peppering of what perfectionism looks like . . . and why it might not be a useful trait. The comps on this one are Sarah Dessen and Mary H.K. Choi.

Looking for a contemporary with a historical element? Reynold’s book follows 17-year-old Abby who is spending her final summer before senior year heartbroken following the end of her relationship with her first boyfriend. Her friends are all on adventures, so she’s feeling lonely and sad.

But when a box of letters arrives with the rest of her grandmother’s possessions, she begins to unravel a love story involving her grandmother, a man named Edward, and the history of her grandmother’s life after escaping the Holocaust. Abby ends up on a whirlwind adventure in Nantucket, where she might just find love, too, in an unexpected place.

This one is comped to Morgan Matson and Ruta Sepetys.