Author: Kelly Jensen

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.

Taylor is funny. But comedy is a sore subject in her house, as her mother gave up a career in comedy to raise her and her dad, who is a comedian, left mom for another woman. Taylor wants to make it, though, and sneaks out of her house to perform. So now that she’s got a potential internship as a writer for Saturday Night Live…she’s going to have to be honest about it.

Oh, and there’s a very gay storyline here, too, involving a teen who plays the role of Abigail Williams at the Salem Museum of Witchcraft. Comedy + Salem + Queer Characters? Sign me up!

I know I talked about this one last week and how it’s an excellent look at environmental activism.

Five years ago a hurricane completely ravaged the island Eliza and her family call home. Now, new developers have emerged, eager to create an island paradise for vacationers. Eliza and her friends, though, won’t stand for it — especially as a development threatens to destroy one of their treasured Reserves.

Told in verse, this one is about fighting for what’s right while also untangling trauma and grief.

It’s been a bloody summer across the midwest. Or, rather, it hasn’t been, though there’s been a lot of death. Each of the murders has been bloodless, victims found with a handful of slashes but without blood remaining in their bodies. Now the killer — or killers — has turned to Michael Jensen’s town in Minnesota, killing a mother, father, and high school student, and standing among them pooled in blood is Marie.

All signs point to Marie as the killer, but she refuses to talk to anyone except Michael. He’s an aspiring journalist and sees this as his opportunity to break a huge story. But the longer he talks with Marie, the less he begins to believe what happened to be clear, true, or easy. She’s convinced him that she worked alongside a vampire — nameless, faceless, long-gone from the crime scene — and she can’t help locate him. But the legal system in Nebraska is hot on the case, pressing for more and more details, hoping to extradite Marie back to Nebraska in order to charge her. The law there allows for conviction for accomplices to murder, not just the murderer, and this would bring peace and closure.

But as the truth….or the supposed truth…unravels, it becomes much more complex. Who is Marie? Where did she come from? What happened to her family and what did her stepfather do to her? And is that story or her relationship to her stepfather the narrative she wants in the news?

This is a clever take on vampires, but it’s also based loosely on two separate murder sprees in the midwest during this time. It’s got Midwest Gothic vibes, wrapped in an In Cold Blood style true fictionalized crime narrative.

It is bad enough that Jake isn’t as popular as his older brother, especially when both of them are among the only Black kids at their prep high school. But worse is that Jake sees dead people. They are mosssstly not harmful. But now, that’s about to change.

Sawyer begins to haunt Jake, and Sawyer’s backstory isn’t a pleasant one. He killed six kids at a high school the previous year, and now he’s out to tell his story. Jake, whether he likes it or not, will be the one to hear it.

This one is for those who like scary stories, and it features a queer Black boy main character.

Want a story based on a series of lies? This is it.

Maya is the daughter of garlic farmers in small town California. Her life’s trajectory includes finishing up school, inheriting the business, earning an MBA, and marrying a nice Sikh boy. It’s a huge deal when she lands a spot in a summer camp for future farmers in New Jersey. But……then she gets kicked out. She can’t let her parents find out, and now she owes the camp a lot of money. It makes perfect sense she’d take an assistant job at a magazine in New York stealth-like.

The magazine, though, thinks she’s in her 20s, and now they can’t find out her truth, and neither can her parents. Oops.

This newsletter’s theme is small towns (and figures on covers with their arms above their heads).

After dropping out of college, Laurel heads back to her family’s farm and hopes to just resume work as a tobacco hand and a taxidermist. Too bad a devil has shown up from her past and threatens to court her in the same way he did her mother before she died.

This is a stand alone horror about family secrets and doomed love.