Author: Kelly Jensen

Rosy is a bone familiar, living in the Bone Forest. Her magic is being able to shift into different animals with exposed bones. She keeps this power hidden, though, as she does not want to be drafted into the Witch King’s army. When Princess Shaw enters the forest and Rosy saves her life, Rosy is given an offer she’s nervous about but also cannot refuse: an opportunity to attend a prestigious school. She knows it’ll help her find a solution to a problem plaguing her grandmother.

As soon as she’s at Witch Hall, though, Rosy finds herself pulled into Shaw’s world and magnetism. Rosy does not want to get involved in the coming war, but she cannot stop following in what Shaw wants and does.

How does she navigate her desire to keep her head down to help her grandmother with the feelings she cannot shake?

This book sounds so good and I am itching to get to it on my TBR!

Snowglobe is beneath a dome, and it is the only place that is warm anymore. The less fortunate don’t get to live there, and instead, they face the brutal, unrelenting cold every day to get to their jobs, which help supply to power to keep Snowglobe warm. Reprieve comes to them via the 24-hour feed constantly showing the lavish lives being lived inside the dome.

Chobahm’s life is about watching what’s happening in the globe. One of her favorite shows stars Goh Haeri. When Haeri dies and Chobahm is selected to replace her on the show, Chobahm thinks this is the key to a better life.

Except what is happening in the dome is not the dream. Not even close.

This one is pitched as part Squid Game and part Hunger Games. It’s a big title in Korea and is finally being released in English.

Imagine Bonnie and Clyde but set in space, and you’d have this thrill ride. Shane and Ava work together: he steals the aircraft, and she distracts so they can take what they need. It’s going well, even though there are a lot of feelings between them. That is, until Shane is caught and sent to a prison moon. When he escapes, he’s out for revenge.

Cyrus is a new space patrol recruit. He’s ready to do well on his first assignment, but then his partner, Lark, gets tricked by Ava.

When Shane uncovers a plot that will end his and Ava’s planet forever, he knows they need to do more than ever to save their future. Cyrus finds himself quickly caught in the middle of doing his job and battling his conscience.

Lady Sophia—aka Snow White—has been sheltered her whole life. But now, thanks to her father, Duke Maximilian’s remarriage, she is making her debut in high society.

It doesn’t take long before Prince Philip and Sophia hit it off at the ball. He’s heir to the Spanish throne, and his father is…not exactly excited about this pairing as the two grow closer. The Prince is now calling for an end to it, which puts Sophia’s life in danger.

Sophia needs to stay safe. She does so by meeting up with seven dwarves, a helpful witch, and by making sure she has protection beside her. But how does her love play into the forthcoming war? Can she stand up for her feelings, or must she accept Prince Phillip’s decree and prepare for her life to end?

Four people disappeared in a small town on one winter’s night. Among them is Becca, Nora’s best friend. Nora wants to get to the bottom of the disappearances and know what really happened to Becca. But as she explores a series of coded messages Becca left behind, Nora starts to unravel a dark secret from her town’s history. It’s about local lore and a legendary goddess who seemed like an innocent part of a childhood game…but who may be the one making the last move.

Dami wants to become human again and get away from their existence as a demon. To do that, they’ll need to end every deal they’ve ever made. The problem? Silas. Silas is a cute boy who is cursed to die young; the only reason he’s still alive is the deal made with Silas. Getting to be human again means that Silas will die, but perhaps there is a way Dami and Silas can work together to free them both.

Arthie Casimir collects secrets and is nothing short of a criminal mastermind. She’s been in charge of a fancy tea house that, at night, becomes an illegal bloodhouse and serves a misunderstood and outcast vampire clientele. When Arthie’s establishment is threatened, she’ll need to do everything she can to save it—even if it means making some alliances that aren’t the best.

Now, she’s set to infiltrate vampire society, but it might not go the way she anticipates. Will her experience and skills be enough?

The description of this book is giving me The VVitch vibes.

Leah and her little brother Owen live in the small town of Winston, Pennsylvania. There, Leah does everything she’s told to be good, pure, and avoid the attention of the Lord of the Wood. Unfortunately, when Leah finds herself struggling to help Owen stop crying one night, she wishes him away. The Lord of the Wood listens, and Owen disappears.

Now Leah needs to not only make a deal with the scary legend but she’ll unearth a chilling history of her small town that will change it forever.

This one is for the K-drama fans out there!

High school senior Chloe Chang got a 23andMe test as a gag gift from her friends. Chloe has always just lived with her mom in Oklahoma following the death of her dad in Seoul before she was even born. Even though she knows the test is a gag and doesn’t believe anything will come from it, Chloe takes it anyway.

She’s shocked to learn that she is part of a wealthy family in Seoul, thanks to her father. Chloe wants to meet them, and even though her mom is hesitant to let her teen daughter go meet the family she never knew about, Chloe goes.

But what she discovers about the Nohs will change her life in ways she could have never suspected.

This anthology got a fresh cover in paperback, and even though illustrated covers are not my favorite, this one is more eye-catching than the hardcover.

Looking for a collection of short stories by some rad YA authors that explore your favorite romance tropes? Grab this book ASAP. Some of the tropes include the fake relationship, the secret admirer, and more. Stories in the collection include work by Elise Bryant, Elizabeth Eulberg, Leah Johnson, Anna-Marie McLemore, Marissa Meyer, Sandhya Menon, Julie Murphy, Caleb Roehrig, Sarah Winifred Searle, and Abigail Hing Wen.

Renée Watson is back, and this time, she’s written a collection of poetry that is semi-autobiographical. It explores coming of age as a Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender. The poetry includes all kinds of formats and is not only Watson’s story but a call for Black girls today to take the time to know themselves, love themselves, and champion themselves.

Zara is a fan of all things love and hopes for her own swoony romance. Adnan has been her best friend since childhood, and while everyone has told them they are the perfect couple, Zara knows they’re meant to be friends.

That is until Adnan asks Zara to do him a huge favor: pretend to be his girlfriend so he can cover up his real secret relationship. Zara is on board, but those fake feelings might start to get a little bit too real and, worse, get confusing when a new boy enters her life. Who does she choose? Does she get to choose at all?

Wildfires are raging in Oregon, and Lily’s train home to California was canceled. Fortunately—or not—for her, Lily’s ex-best friend Natasha is driving through and offers her a ride. Lily’s desperate and agrees, not knowing that Elke Aziz is also along for the ride.

Elke is the girl Lily got expelled from school several years ago.

It is not a pleasant car ride, but things go from bad to worse when Natasha decides to get off the main road home when smoke starts to grow. That detour seemed okay, until it suddenly Was Not Okay. The three are now trapped in the woods, and Lily’s survival now literally depends on two people who may not especially like her.

Miuko is an innkeeper in a world where monsters, gods, and humans all coexist—she, though, is just a normal, average girl.

But then Miuko is cursed. That curse is slowly turning her into the kind of demon whose touch can kill. She needs to rid herself of the curse and that’s not going to be easy.

Despite the challenges, this curse is showing Miuko a type of freedom and magic she could never have imagined before.

This verse novel follows Samira, whose reputation proceeds her…and it’s not a reputation she wants, but it is one she’s trying to shake. Samira is determined to have a good summer, but when a rumor gets her grounded, she turns to poetry. In a poetry forum, she grows close with an older poet named Horace.

As Samira begins to find her own voice and footing in the slam poetry community, she’s worried that the biggest secret she’s been keeping could be the end of everything she’s worked for.

Ash was not admitted into the Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, which would allow him to be among the few legally permitted to study magic; he decides to study in secret by becoming a groundskeeper for the school. So when Ash is discovered by Ramsay Thorne, one of the chosen ones at the school, he’s convinced it is over and he’ll be finding himself in big trouble.

But Ramsay doesn’t turn Ash in. Instead, Ramsay decides to enlist Ash in an entirely different scheme: locating one of the most powerful sacred texts of alchemy.

This anthology retells classic stories across different genres and gives them all a fresh Latinx spin. Some of the stories include taking Pride and Prejudice into space, star-crossed lovers finding love amid the planet’s ruins, and more. It has a blockbuster roster of contributors, including Olivia Abtahi, David Bowles, Zoraida Córdova, Saraciea J. Fennell, Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Torrey Maldonado, Jasminne Mendez, Anna Meriano, Amparo Ortiz, Laura Pohl, Sandra Proudman, NoNieqa Ramos, Monica Sanz, Eric Smith, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante

Eva, 14, is spending the summer at an English manor with the grandmother she’s never met. Pretty quickly, she notices odd things happening at night in the gardens and cannot help herself but to explore. What she finds is that the manor staff believe the gardens hold hidden portals to other worlds and that Eva’s grandmother used to be queen in one of them.

Now, Eva wants to try to get her grandmother to talk and share her story—even though it is painful. Does Eva have a royal lineage she should know about?

Whimsy is back in inpatient care after an attempted suicide. This time, she meets Faery, a boy who, too, is in treatment. She is instantly drawn to him for reasons she can’t quite put her finger on. So when she’s released and learns that Faery and his family have moved to her town and they’ll be attending school together, she’s glad to have someone who “gets” her.

What the two of them share, though, beyond their mental challenges, is a fear of the Forest near town. But when they enter and realize there is no way out but through, they encounter a host of Sorrows, as well as characters from global fairy and folk tales, who give them guidance on the path toward understanding Sorrow and trauma. 

This is a complex and magical fantasy in verse about mental illness and trauma. 

Beginning with the knockout cover, this book promises to be nothing short of the kind of collection of Black poetry—both contemporary and historical—that YA readers deserve. Among some of the contributors are Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, and the poems dive into the Black experience.

Tabatha Zeng is the apprentice to one of the world’s most well-known sorcerers. Though it’s been an interesting job, she definitely wasn’t anticipating how much crime-solving the role would require. So when her boss predicts his own death and that prediction comes true, Tabitha is one of the prime suspects, along with the sorcerer’s youngest son, Callum.

Tabitha and Callum want to prove their innocence and team up to get to the bottom of the murder. But can Tabitha actually trust this guy?

What happens when the daughter of the Queen of Grift is held hostage during a bank heist? The answer is she knows how to get her and everyone else out safely while scaring the ever-living shit out of the two hostage-takers.

Old primarily in a single day, the story begins as Nora, ex-boyfriend Wes, and current girlfriend Iris are in line at the bank when two men begin a robbery and take everyone inside hostage. They want keys to the vaults downstairs, and they can only get those through the manager. The manager, though, has been in a car accident on his way to the bank and won’t be able to make it. From there, we see Nora start to figure out how she can use her knowledge of deceit to get everyone out safely.

A twisty, super satisfying thriller/heist story with a side of grifting.

Mar, a nonbinary transmasc Latinx pirate, can manipulate fire and ice. Unfortunately, as magical as that power is, they’re not strong enough to reverse a bargain made by their father. El Diablo is out for revenge, hoping to collect Mar’s father’s soul and the rest of those on the ship.

By miracle, there’s hope. But not for long: now El Diablo wants to make a bargain with Mar.