YA That’s Pretty In Pink

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.

Over the last few years, we’ve finally seen more YA road trip books by and starring people of color. Add this one to that growing list!

Cousins Matt, Ethan, and Oscar are taking their grandfather’s 1988 Ford Thunderbird on a road trip from Portland, Oregon, to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in order to better understand one another and themselves.

When Monique discovers she physically cannot have sex, it’s a little hard for her to find someone to talk to or get help from. She’s the daughter of a preacher in a religion where premarital sex isn’t permitted.

Monique’s boyfriend of two years breaks up with her because of this condition and she’s determined to win him back and find an answer. She has to turn to two other “church kids” to help her out.

I did not think the perfect book cover existed and then this one came along.

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 (heh).

For fans of K-dramas and YA books set outside the US, this one is sure to be a winner. It follows K-drama lover Hana, who lands a role in a forthcoming show. She knows what she has to do in the job, and despite having a cute on-screen boyfriend, she knows better than to fall in love.

But then a new girl arrives on the show to challenge Hana for the boy and . . . maybe neither of them want the boy.

Rom-com + music competition + giant, exuberant Indian wedding? This sounds like an utter delight of a book.

The cover feels like it gives a lot of the finer points of the plot, including a horse??

Mario’s been a loner throughout high school and on prom night, he takes a girl with him as a favor to his mom. But the night goes weird, quick: he’s crowned Prom King, despite being unpopular, and then, when driving his date home, he finds the Prom Queen dead in a ditch. He’s being called the murderer, even though this night has been nothing but a wormy nightmare for him.

This one is pitched as Carry On meets Arthurian legend and features Arek, who has completed the prophecy and saved the Kingdom of Ere from an evil ruler. Now he has no idea what to do as the person in charge, and with his 18th birthday coming, he’s starting to look for a spouse. The search begins with his companions in overthrowing the prophecy but those dates go horribly wrong. Perhaps the one he’s meant to be with is the one who is so painfully obvious to everyone…except Arek.

This morning before writing this newsletter, I got an email that a LiveJournal friend of mine just earned a gift for being on the site for 20 years. If you’re thinking what does that have to do with this book at all, the answer is that this book follows Millie on her search to find her mom which begins with her finding her father’s embarrassingly emotional LiveJournal from 2003 [insert a ton of uncomfortable emoji faces here].

This is not Groundhog Day. It’s the same book title as above, but different authors and a different story.

If you’ve ever wanted a queer road trip book set in Canada about two cousins who want to go to Toronto’s Pride festival, look no further.