Category: What’s Up in YA

I read this one when it first came out, and if you’re in the mood for a summer horror book, this is it. I beg you, I implore you, just read the first two pages. This was the most intense start to a book I’ve ever read, and I was convinced it must be a dream sequence, but no. This is about a genderfluid teenager trying to figure out what led to his sister’s death by going to the summer camp she was obsessed with. There, the strict gender roles are just as unsettling as the body horror.

In this oceanic world, Koral and her family are indentured by Landers to capture the monstrous maristags to be used in their Glory Race. When the last maristag escapes, Koral has to find another way to afford her little sister’s medication, so she decides to cheat her way into the deadly Glory Race. But there are a lot of people who will do anything to stop a low-caste girl from winning the gold, and she might just spark a rebellion. This one promises to be a great match for fans of The Hunger Games and These Violent Delights.

Are you looking for a book pitched as queer Buffy meets Filipino folklore? Of course you are.

Cordelia is your typical high schooler who stage manages the school play, has a not-so-small crush on her bestie, and whose abusive father left her seven years ago. She’s not actually sad about the last thing, but she has always thought something has been off. Missing, even.

Fred is Cordelia’s guidance counselor at school, and during a session, he tells her he is a demon. Indeed, what Cordelia is missing is part of her soul — she had made a deal with Fred all those years ago to make her dad disappear and then had the memory erased.

Now Fred wants a deal with Cordelia. Of course, it’s not so much a deal when he tells her she’ll need to take down a rival demon, and if she doesn’t, then she’ll spend eternity in hell with her dad.

There are no magicians in the land of Morning Realms, as they were blamed for monsters who tore apart the land 20 years ago.

Jin Zhara is struggling under the weight of so much responsibility put on her by her family. The last thing she wants is to humor rumors of monsters coming back to Morning Realms. Especially because she’s had to keep her magic hidden for fear of being banished herself. When Zhara accidentally encounters Han, she is brought into a secret organization called Guardians of the Dawn. Their work? Magical liberation.

The rumors of the monsters seem more and more true, and the Guardians of the Dawn believe it to be the work of a demon. It might be up to Zhara to tap into her forbidden magic and help restore the balance of the universe.

Lush fantasy? Check. A little Sailor Moon vibe? Check. This is the first in a forthcoming series.

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 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

We’re going way back here, pals, as this book was first published in 2005. It’s getting a rerelease and bright new cover now because it has been adapted starring Adam Sandler. It’ll hit Netflix on August 25. Bonus: this is one of those “younger” YA books folks seem to forget about.

Stacy Friedman is preparing for her bat mitzvah, and she’s excited about the fancy dress, time with her friends, and maybe the chance to sneak a kiss with her crush on the dance floor. Things are not turning out as she hoped, though, and not only is Mom buying her the ugliest dress imaginable, but her mitzvahs are not going well.

But bad turns worse when a riff in Stacy’s friendship threatens to ruin the celebration — and her entire life.

In 1880 Bavaria, Hilde and her five sisters were given coats by their creator Odin. These coats transform them into swans and each comes with a gift unique to them. Hilde is not interested in her gift, which would allow her to help transport souls of dying creators into the afterlife. She uses it anyway, and when helping a hawk cross over, she meets Baron Maximilian von Richter. Hilde is taken with him immediately and makes a deal with the inheritance-less boy: she’ll make him rich if he can take her to the human world.

Hilde does not fit in the human world though, and the story follows what happens as she tries and when she finds herself in the center of a potential love triangle. Then her coat goes missing…

This one is described as Swan Lake meets The Last Unicorn by way of the Brothers Grimm.

Adina Walker knows she’s got to work twice as hard to get half as much, especially at her elite New England school, where she attends on scholarship. She makes one slip, though, and she finds herself on the blacklist of her top Ivy League college.

She is disappointed but plans to see if she can redeem herself. The opportunity to do so lies in Finish, a high-intensity contest held by the founders of her high school. The three-part challenge asks 12 women to compete, and the winner is able to become part of the institution’s family. This recognition? It’ll be the key to anything the winner wants.

Just as Adina prepares for the Finish, she feels something is off. The deeper she is into the games, the more off they become, and soon this is no longer about getting into her dream school. It’s about staying alive.

This debut has already been options for potential adaptation and has been pitched as Ace of Spades meets Squid Games with hints of The Batchelor (sounds like I am describing a fancy dinner, doesn’t it?).

Someone is out there to get Devon — a talented musician who keeps to himself — and Chiamaka — head girl at the prestigious Niveus Private Academy. In this dark academia thriller, an anonymous text sender named Ace is threatening to share both of their deepest, darkest secrets. Think Gossip Girl meets Get Out.

This one is pitched as The Atlas Six meets Orphan Black and it sounds intense (in a good way).

There have always been two Earths, which include two sets of identical cities, identical buildings, and identical people. But the people who occupy the second Earth recognize that two of the same things cannot exist. In order for them to be alive, they need to kill and take over their Earth one doppelganger.

This mission is why Lirael was sent to Earth one as a child. She’s there to kill her original and take over. It’s a mission she’s been set up for, but as she’s there, as she’s going through the motions, she begins to wonder: why?

Mira and Layla are on a road trip visiting colleges when they find themselves stranded. They get a room at the Wildwood Motel and nothing seems out of the ordinary for room 9. Layla’s actually kind of charmed with its weirdness and thinks it’ll be great for photographs.

Except this is no ordinary hotel room. It’s watching them. And when the girls — who are struggling with their own feelings for one another — learn that eight people have died in the room before, they want to learn what is connecting those deaths with the weird things happening around them.

Will they survive long enough to do that, though?

St. Iago’s walls are armored as a means of protecting people from the Union of Upper Cities from a dangerous environment outside. This is where Rumi Sabzwari grew up. But now Rumi’s father has been infected with a virus by rebels, and he’s got to escape in order to hope to find a cure for his dad.

Paraíso is the ruined city where Rumi lands, and he finds himself in the care of a guide named Paz. She might be from a tough place, but they’re connecting with one another.

Except Paz is not letting on all that she might know about Rumi’s father and his illness. Their cities do not get along, and now Rumi wonders if they can ever truly be together or be truthful with each other.

This one gets comps to Lovecraft Country and Candyman and features a badass Black witch front and center.

Katrell has the ability to talk to the dead. It’s a cool skill but it doesn’t pay the bills, and that’s desperately what she and her family need to have happen. It does, however, rouse something from the other side, and that something tells her she needs to stop. Or else.

She’s going to test that challenge. So when Katrell does rouse someone from the dead, she’s put herself in a tough spot again. Does she use this power and newfound special ability to make a little cash? CAN she?

Theo Mori and Gabriel Moreno do not get along, thanks to the fact their parents own warring businesses. Theo’s folks own an Asian American café and Gabi’s, a Puerto Rican bakery. Also, Gabi sucks at soccer and that’s hurt the team more than enough to build some resentment for Theo.

Both want better for their lives, though Gabi is in the closet and doesn’t think he can do more than take over his parents’ business and Theo knows he has a lot to live up to, thanks to his parents, and in order to move on, he’ll need to make sure his parents’ business is financially secure.

It should not surprise readers who know the angles of a romance what’s going to happen when a rival bakery is ready to set up shop in town. Gabi and Theo realize they have more in common than not.

I’ve not gotten the chance to read this one yet, but it sounds fun and delicious.

Deaf pride is at the heart of this one, which follows Lilah, who always feels she’s not “enough.” She’s not deaf enough to be part of the Deaf community, but she has hearing loss.

She decides to spend the summer as a camp counselor at a place for those who are Deaf and/or blind. Here, she finally finds a world where she not only fits in, but where she can thrive…and fall head over heels for some of the cute campers. Along the way, she’s able to learn ASL, too.

Lilah might be falling hard for a Deaf counselor, which was never on her agenda. And yet, he might be just who she needs to help her become fully who she wants to be.

YA does not have a whole lot of space operas and certainly does not have many featuring characters of color. If you’ve felt that hole, well, this is going to be on you want to TBR ASAP.

Zaira Citlali is the reborn god Indigo and is supposed to die. Why? Because Indigo’s song managed to create the universe AND encourage people to connect with one another in order to banish Ozvios, who is the god of destruction. Zaira has failed to really step into her power as Indigo reborn and now the Ilori Emperor is set to sacrifice her in Ozvios’s honor.

The only way out is for Zaira to find Wesley, the prophet meant to destroy Ozvios and his supporting empire.

Wesley doesn’t want to be the chosen one. He’s working as a smuggler, helping transport people across the universe for cash. Now he’s taking a celebrity to a place called Earth. So when he and Zaira cross paths…he’s not exactly thrilled to be pulled into a massive intergalactic war. The thing is, now he is, and he, Zaira, and the celebrity are going to fight and work to make their way to Earth to unleash the biggest powers.

Get to know more about disability activism and the reality of being disabled in today’s world through this young adult edition of Wong’s anthology of essays. There are 17 different pieces in the collection covering everything from ableism to inequality to pivotal moments in disability activism in the past and the present. It is a powerful and empowering book.

This one is tailor-made for readers who love Moxie and Watch Us Rise.

Neither Malena nor Ruby plan to launch a campaign against their school’s dress code, but what begins as discipline from the school administration because Malena goes braless in order to avoid the pain wearing one would cause her sunburn turns into a full-blown rebellion. The book explores sexism, double standards, and also allows both Ruby and Malena to explore who they are socially and culturally. Both bring a lot of history with them to this moment, and it’s through their history they’re able to step forward to demand better, more equitable rules for every gender in their Florida school.

This one doesn’t have easy answers, as Ruby is a white girl and Malenaa is a girl of color. White saviorism is called out here in a way that helps their commitment to change become much more real and impactful.

Olivia is 17 and she’s at her fourth school in seven years; she wants to keep flying under the radar, but when the popular girl at her new high school makes a racist statement in her direction, Olivia has to speak up. She does, and now she’s joining forces with a group called Nerd Net at the school, who have been trying to stop the popular girl’s racism for months.

So much for flying under the radar.

This is described as a little bit of Moxie with a little bit of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks with a little bit of Mary HK Choi.

Kerry does not want to go to a party, but her bestie, the outgoing and mystery-loving Annie, convinces her it is a prime opportunity to figure out who has been cyberbullying the most popular girl in school, Heather.

Things don’t get better when Kerry discovers the dead body of Heather’s best friend Selena just as she’s about to kiss her crush.

Murder story? Suffocation by menstrual cup.

So when a second student turns up dead, period pad plastered across their eyes, the ragtag duo of Kerry and Annie need to get to the bottom of this bloody trail of murder.

This one sounds like a romp, with comps to Fleabag and Truly Devious.