Author: Kelly Jensen

Nikki is a budding photographer and is looking forward to spending five days with her father in Dubai to celebrate Diwali. However, she soon discovers that her neighbor and rival, Yash is also on the flight to Dubai.

Nikki’s family doesn’t know about the tension between the two and, with their sights on matchmaking, encourage Nikki to get cozy with Yash. But can they? Is their history too heavy?

Perhaps the celebration of light will change everything in this enemies-to-lovers rom-com.

If you’re looking for an anthology of stories by and from adoptees, look no further. The stories represent a wide range of experiences being adopted, and the author list is a knockout: Kelley Baker, Nicole Chung, Shannon Gibney, Mark Oshiro, MeMe Collier, Susan Harness, Meredith Ireland, Mariama J. Lockington, Lisa Nopachai, Stefany Valentine, Matthew Salesses, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Eric Smith, Jenny Heijun Wills, and Sun Yung Shin.

If you’re into magical stories in line with Holly Black’s style, look no further for your next read.

Croi is what is known as a brownie, made up and invisible to humans. She lives in the Wilde Forest, and even though she has magic powers, they are weak. When her guardian gives her a book of magick from the Otherworld of Higher Fae, Croi realizes she’s been put under a spell that begs her to come to the Otherworld.

As she leaves on her adventure, though, it’s not just the movement that will change Croi. She will discover she’s no brownie at all, but may be something else entirely. How can she learn the truth, especially as it seems she continues to fall under spells?

This remix of the classic Wuthering Heights is set in Yorkshire in 1786. Heathcliff is the abandoned son of a sailor from India, and Catherine is the youngest daughter of an estate owner who is preparing her for a life in high society. They connect with one another as they escape to the moors, working to build not only their budding romance but their connection to their cultural heritage. If you like broody, reclaimed classics with Gothic undertones, you’ll be into this one.

Sora lost her mother to a powerful earthquake, and the strength of that quake changed the way time works in her Japanese community. Time can speed up or slow down in these zones without any rhyme or reason.

Sora’s father is a researcher trying to understand what is happening in these zones. But the longer he is gone from home doing work, the lonelier Sora becomes. She has begun her own research into the phenomenon as well, and through that work and travel to Tokyo, she finds herself meeting Maya. They bond quickly over both being hafu, and that friendship starts to feel like something more.

Then, Sora’s father disappears. Now she must go back to her town to find out what happened and where he is. Maya is joining her, and together, they might solve the mystery not only of her father but of time itself.

Irinya began feeling the need to become a flower hunter after her mother disappeared into the mist encapsulating the Rann flats one night. She uses her knowledge to keep everyone safe in the desert, and now, one of her partners has discovered a princess silver spider lily. This flower has the power to ruin kingdoms and take down armies–now Irinya sees a way for everyone to have a better life.

That’s when a smooth impostor manages to trick Irinya, and the flower is gone. Now, she must do everything she can to recover it in order to save herself, her community, and the boy she cannot stop thinking about.

There have been a number of excellent YA books that explore plant magic over the last few years, and this sounds like one worthy of sitting on that shelf, too.

Adele did not grow up in the spotlight but rather behind it. Her mom worked in Paris dance halls, and her father owned a lavish manor. When she’s forced to move to London for boarding school, Adele isn’t sad–now is the time for her own adventure.

The men in London, though, are dangerous, and their attempts to seduce Adele and her new friends are not welcome. In a bid to protect herself and others, Adele teams up with a young con woman, and the two of them become vigilantes for justice across the city.

Not only does this sound like a fun historical thriller, but it’s got queer romance, too.

This book should be required reading for all, as it delves deep into where and how we identify information and decode mis-, dis-, and mal- information that pervades all of our lives.

Dr. Yasmin’s book is a guide to information, digital, and media literacy, and breaks down how to differentiate fact from fiction in what you read. The history of how newspapers shifted between being sensational to “objective”—if objectivity is even the goal—grounds the book, and Dr. Yasmin does a stellar job exploring how we become media savvy in a culture that makes it as challenging as possible to do just that.

Dr. Yasmin won’t tell you what to think or how to think. That line, which she delivers repeatedly, is what will cause many of the purveyors of fake and misleading news to absolutely hate this book.

But really and truly, she doesn’t.

Are you looking for a diverse collection of mermaid stories? Look no further. The editor duo of Córdova and Parker, who brought you Vampires Never Get Old are back with a host of fresh tales about all things mermaid. The contributor list is out of this world, too: Darcie Little Badger, Kalynn Bayron, Preeti Chhibber, Rebecca Coffindaffer, Julie C. Dao, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Adriana Herrera, June Hur, Katherine Locke, Kerri Maniscalco, Julie Murphy, Gretchen Schreiber, and Julian Winters.

Omid feels like he can’t form the words he needs, either when it comes to talking to the girl he has feelings for, the grandfather he’s just met, his Iranian heritage, and even to explain that he does belong in Tucson, Arizona, the only place he has ever called home. All of this, despite the fact he knows Farsi, knows Shakespearean English, knows how to write those words.

It’s not until he discovers rap music that he truly finds his voice–but that voice will be rattled when a terrorist attack changes his entire world.

This one is being compared to The Poet X and A Very Large Expanse of Sea, and it’s written in verse.

Ross is 17…and she’s a master thief. She’s really good at escape plans in particular. At least she was until she tried to escape her family of thieves, and her mom’s life is at stake.

Desperate to save her mother, she decides to enter the Thieves’ Gambit, which requires her to undertake a series of international heists. She could die, and her competition is stiff. But winning the Thieves’ Gambit means getting any wish she wants granted, and she wants to save her mom’s life.

How can she win when she’s also fighting off feelings she might be developing for one of her competitors?

This is a high-stakes heist adventure being compared to Oceans Eleven and The Inheritance Games.

This is a book of 11 interconnected, cross-generational stories about the Beléns family. They are a part of the Dominican diaspora, and the stories explore topics like mental health, identity, family, and more. The book won a Pura Belpré Honor and has been compared to Elizabeth Acevedo and Sandra Cisneros, among others.

If you’re looking for a book that’s a bit thriller, a horror, and a whole lot of apocalyptic, this one’s for you.

When Joel wakes up, he finds that a massive power outage has completely changed the world around him. There’s a siren that will not stop blaring, and it seems to be changing everyone who hears it. Desperate to find his mom and sister, as well as save himself, Joel needs to figure out how to protect themselves from the sirens.

Amina Conteh is a loud, proud 16-year-old who is not afraid to say what she needs to say. This…gets her in trouble, as she’s sent to volunteer at her family’s church with Pastor Johnson after cursing out a classmate.

But that pastor is not who people think he is, and when he sexually assaults Amina, she begins to shut down. Her grades fall, her once outspoken nature disappears, and she worries no one would support her if she told the truth. So when that pastor is arrested for another crime, can Amina find her voice and share what happened to her?

This debut novel written in verse takes on a huge, meaty contemporary topic. It’s being compared to Tiffany D. Jackson and to Elizabeth Acevedo.

Welcome to the first book in a new duology by bestselling author Kendare Blake!

Aristene, the legendary order of mythical hero makers, are women warriors. Sure, the men may get credit for their heroics, but it is the Aristene who get them to that place.

Reed was orphaned as a child and was raised by the order. She’s now on the path to becoming initiated. All she needs to do is show her skills by helping her first hero succeed on the battlefield. Winning grants her entry. Losing will mean being kicked out of the only place she has ever known.

Reed’s hero-in-training is Hestion. He’s annoying, but also intriguing. As they prepare for their battle alliance, though, Reed and Hestion might be feeling something more than a strategic partnership. How can they navigate the roles they’re working toward with the feelings they cannot deny?

(Also, did you know it has been TEN YEARS since Blake’s debut, Anna Dressed in Blood? It feels like a blink of an eye – if you haven’t read it, you should!)

Anne is the following things: an ABBA lover, a performer and creator of disco-operas, queer, Japanese American, and now, plopped into small town Greenville where she is starting at a new school. She’s hoping that, despite the small town, people will see her for who she is and appreciate every element of her character.

That…does not happen. In fact, she’s booed by the soccer team for one of her performances. It’s not fun, but it does introduce her to her new best friend and a new crush, too.

It becomes complicated, though, as Anne ignores her new friend in pursuit of romance, only to realize she might have feelings for *both* of them.

This is a fun, queer take on Anne of Green Gables.

This paperback original is being compared to both Supernatural and Lovecraft Country and sounds so good.

Latavia is living in small town Sanctum, Alabama, for the summer. Her aunt with whom she is living has a LOT of rules for her, including that she cannot go out after dark and cannot, under any circumstances, go into Red Wood. Latavia is not thrilled with the rules, but she’s found herself crushing on the cute girl at the local ice cream shop, so she’s got a way to keep herself occupied.

But the longer Latavia is in Sanctum, the more she begins to suspect there is something going on with the town. That there are secrets in the Red Wood that everyone is keeping from her. That those secrets might mean she’ll never, ever leave again.

Eleanor’s acceptance into The Meadows is her ticket out of a community ravaged by climate change. Those who attend elite institutions like it are primed for great lives when they’re done.

But The Meadows is not what it seems. It is instead a reform institution, meant to erase the passions and urges of its students and groom them into a singular mindset and way of living. Eleanor is ready to believe the lessons of The Meadows, until she meets Rose.

As Eleanor and her friends embark on their post-Meadows life, though, everything she thought she knew about herself and her life unravels. Now she puts her life – and Rose’s – at stake.

This one is being called a modern take on The Handmaid’s Tale and Never Let Me Go.

Tre Brun is a great basketball player with dreams of making it to the NBA. He’s happy now playing for his Red Lake Reservation team, even as he struggles with the feelings he has surrounding the death of his brother Jaxon.

When Tre is invited to the varsity team and Jaxon’s friends offer to be guides in his transition, the pressure is on. He’s got to be on his game and work hard to bring his team to the state. But can he focus enough to do so? Can he live up to what his brother would want for him?

If you want Native sports story, look no further than this engaging story of an Ojibwe teen and community.

At the top of the newsletter, I mentioned my current reading spree and this is one of the first books in a long time I sat down and read cover to cover in a day.

Set over the course of a short time frame – one week – and mostly in the Pink Mountain Pizza shop, the story follows three teens who work there and their array of concerns, especially as the shop’s owner announces the place has been sold. There’s Berlin, an overachieving Native teen; Cameron, whose cousin Kiki went missing and is among the numerous Native women and girls whose stories go untold; and there’s Jessie, a rich girl who doesn’t need the job but wants to prove she is more than what her family tells her that she is. The story begins with Berlin seeing who she believes to be Kiki and involves an array of big, meaty topics, including anti-Blackness, the challenges of progress vs. that of embracing change, the realities of missing Native girls, women, and Two-Spirit people, and so much more.

All three characters are rich and engaging, and honestly…read this one with a pizza.

I’m not going to offer a big description for this one because it’s an easy, hooky premise: this is a retelling of The Secret Garden but with an Indigenous cast of characters.

Este Logano enrolls in Radcliffe Prep, knowing it is the third most haunted school in the country. Knowing that it is a place students disappear. Knowing it’s a place where she may encounter ghosts.

This is actually the draw for her.

Este’s father was a student, and she hopes that by attending, she can get to know him a little better now that he’s dead.

Then Este meets Mateo, a ghost who haunts the library. When he frames her for the theft of a rare book, Este’s plan to learn about her father may come more quickly and unexpectedly than she could have ever known. She’s got to clear her name, and doing so will involve time in the haunted library.

Mixing fact and fiction, this illustrated, diary-style book about being a teenage girl is the kind of book I would 100000% eat up as a teen myself. I’m eager to dive into my copy — it looks fun and fresh.

In 1883 London, 16-year-old trans autistic Silas Bell does not want to become a Speaker Wife. When he attempts to escape an arranged marriage, he’s caught and diagnosed with something called Veil Sickness, which those in charge claim will turn him mad.

Silas is shipped to Braxton’s Finishing School and Sanitorium and begins to hear from the ghosts of missing students. Silas is determined to expose the school and the truth behind it, but he’ll have to ensure he’s kept safe enough to do so.

 Izzy Morales, her best friend Kassidy, and five more of their friends are going to celebrate the end of high school by attending a 1920s-themed party at a fancy manor called Ashwood. All seems well until Kassidy’s boyfriend is found dead, and now the police are saying that he was murdered at the event.

Every one of the attendees is now a suspect. None can leave the Manor until the killer is found.

Will any of them get out alive?

Black horror continues to be amazing in the world of YA, and this addition is one packed with humor and appeal for horror buffs.

Noelle, 17, loves horror. It is her personality. Her brand. She’s going to throw the biggest Halloween bash this year, and she invites all of the popular classmates she can. It’ll help bolster her popularity, super useful for brand opportunities as an influencer.

But as the party begins, her low-budget It impersonator begins his rampage and suddenly, Noelle may find herself in the role of the Final Girl.