Category: What’s Up in YA

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.

Coconino, Arizona, is sinking, and the rain isn’t stopping. Ever since her dad died in a diving accident, Jin has been unable to bring in enough money to support her and her little sister, Thara.

When a drifter named Bhlil offers Jin and her sister the opportunity to change their fortunes, she’s tentative, even though she’s also desperate for the help. All they need to do is dive beneath the sunken city of Las Vegas for the sunken treasure.

Jin doesn’t want to. It brings up too many memories of losing her father. But when her sister is dead set on the challenge, Jin joins her. Together, they assemble a crew to find the treasure and save their lives.

This is a twist on Treasure Island.

Charlotte is a car crash survivor. Her boyfriend Jerry didn’t make it, though. She wants so badly to get back to whatever semblance of normal is possible as she deals with the trauma of the accident and the grief over losing someone she cared so much about.

It looks like she’s on the right track, but then she begins getting messages from someone claiming to be Jerry. The messages are clearly not from Jerry, but they contain information only Jerry would know.

Charlotte knows there aren’t such things as ghosts…right?

This thriller is an exploration of trauma, grief, and loss.

One of the most moving YA memoirs also happens to be one of the most banned in the country. This is Johnson’s story of growing up at the intersections of queerness and Blackness. It’s a story of complicated families, of toxic masculinity, Black joy, and so much more.

It might be too late for Mahalia to have the Sweet Sixteen party of her dreams. The kind that would be like her best friend’s and maybe help her get closer to her crush, Siobhan. But Mahalia has another idea—she’s going to throw herself a coming-out party. She’ll take on extra work and use that money to throw a spectacular event.

In theory, it’s good. In practice, it’s turning into a mess. Will Mahalia even get to have her party, or will she throw in the towel before it even happens?

This is a unique take on the memoir, following Echo as she enters her first year at Dartmouth College. She’s been sold a promise about the Ivy League school, but she soon finds herself struggling to keep up with the class, the dating scene isn’t great, and the campus isn’t as diverse as she was led to believe.

Echo realizes in order to succeed, she needs to become her own Chosen One. This will require healing her past to understand her present, including her experiences of grief, racism, difficult friendships, and more.

This is a memoir with a fabulism twist (and that cover is out of this world good!).

This one is being pitched as Circe for YA readers, and it is a feminist retelling of Medusa from Rick Riordan’s rad imprint.

Manisha, 16, runs from monsters. It was monsters (and men) that caused the dispersal of her people. She should be safe as a Priestess in the floating temples, but she’s not.

Pratyush is a monster slayer and favored by the King. Every kill he makes adds a year to his life. But he doesn’t want to have this duty anymore.

When Manisha and Pratyush connect, they see a possibility to change the trajectory of each of their lives. Their plans go awry, though. But in the rebirth of both, they reclaim power and their respective futures.

This one has in the description that there is a sexual assault that happens, so heads up for folks who like to know.

Alix Leclaire and her best friend Jeanne are going to graduate and land incredible work in the arts in Paris. Alix as a feather artist, and Jeanne, a record contract. But then Jeanne dies, and Alix is at a complete loss.

Alix then feels the spirit of Jeanne pushing her to take risks. To behave as Jeanne would, were she still around. This leads Alix to step out of her comfort zone….though perhaps into the hands of challenges she could never anticipate.

This is a story about art, grief, and defining your own future.

This paperback original is one for fans of rom-coms and nerdery.

Riley loves musicals, and her goal is to become a director on Broadway. She knows getting a role in the school’s spring musical is crucial. But when Riley doesn’t get permission before borrowing her mom’s car, she’s grounded. She’ll be forced to work at her dad’s game shop as a punishment.

Riley doesn’t have time for this, of course. She’s got the musical. So she’ll convince one of the other employees to cover her shifts in exchange for flirting with him. This will help him get the attention of his crush…maybe.

Maybe because it may be that Riley starts to catch some real feelings for Nathan, thanks to some intense games of Dungeons & Dragons.

Sonia Patil hopes she’ll be able to catch the attention of her crush at the local comic-con. But in a weird twist of fate, Sonia ends up saving her crush after he faints into a canal. No one knows it was her, though, since she was dressed up, and now, everyone wants to know who the masked heroine was.

Problem? Sonia’s sister is undocumented, and her mother was deported; they’ve been trying to stay under the radar. So, as people work to uncover the do-gooder, Sonia worries that all of the positive attention might lead to some very negative consequences for her, for her family, and for her future with her crush.

This book is set up like a Bollywood movie and follows Arya during her senior year in shaadi season. Arya is excited her sister is home, though she herself is juggling a million challenging emotions after watching her best friends break up, her rival for student council become more intense, and being unable to suppress flutters for the irresistibly cute Dean.

A fun slice-of-life family story that’s been compared to Save The Date and Never Have I Ever.

A rom-com by two of the best illustrators working in kid lit? Count me in!

Val is convinced she is cursed when it comes to love. It’s generational. No one in her family has had luck with a little thing called love.

Then, she meets a pair of lion dancers. It’s chance, but something in it rekindles hope in Val. Might she be able to break the family’s curse and find true love?