Author: Kelly Jensen

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.

Delta of Dead River needs to save herself and her family from the hellscape of the Wastes where they live as a vicious dictator takes over. She’s got a secret though, and that secret is one that could get them all killed: on her back is a branding with a map to Verdant, aka paradise. Given the miserable conditions where they live, getting to Verdant would be life changing.

But the General, sent by raiders, is after her and her family, and she’s unsure whether or not she can even trust her long-long, former best friend. As much as she’s scared to trust anyone, things get even more unsettling once Delta and her family arrive in what they believe to be Verdant.

This one is a standalone western fantasy, described as a little bit Mad Max and a little bit Gunslinger Girl.

Sharlot’s mother has caught her in a “compromising position” and decides the best solution is for them to head to her mother’s native Indonesia.

Meanwhile, George Clooney Tanuwijaya’s father – yes, he’s obsessed with American celebrities – is also trying to rein in his son. They are some of the wealthiest people in Indonesia and no way can anything mar the family’s reputation.

So when Sharlot’s mother and George’s father strike up conversation online, each pretending to be one another’s children, they think it’ll be so their children find the “right” kind of partner. But when the real Sharlot and George find out about what their parents are doing, they are horrified…and then maybe begin to actually fall for one another.

This one’s got fake dating, ridiculous parents, a romantic island adventure, and loads of humor.

I’ve been around YA long enough to know how rare adoption stories were — and still are — and then to remember discussion of how few transracial adoption stories exist — and how few still exist. But we have gotten better, and we’re seeing more representation on this front from those who experienced transracial adoption.

Myer’s work is a graphic memoir about growing up as a Korean adoptee to white parents. It’s a story of feeling like never fitting in and always being stared at, but through a passion for fandom and art, found a community and understanding of herself.

This looks fantastic!

Saoirse Sorkova is a liar, and it’s how she survives. To her kingdom, where she’s a soldier-in-training, she claims to be a siren; this helps her avoid being executed. To the group of assassins she works for at night, she lies about identity. To her family, she claims her siren powers are perfectly under control and she never feels the urge to kill.

She’s a great trainee, but her lies mean she can’t let herself get into the spotlight. But when her sister is in trouble, Saoirse needs to become a personal bodyguard to the prince and will now be fully at the center of her kingdom’s attention.

Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. But she actually can’t resist him, as he’s nothing like his segregationist father. She begins to fall for him, in fact, even as they team up to strike down the deadliest threat in their kingdom together.

What he doesn’t know is she is the one they’re after.

This is the first in a series and while it’s certainly darker than The Little Mermaid, readers itching for those under-the-sea tales led by characters of color will want to grab this one ASAP.

Vesper Vale’s city lives in the center of a violent storm, and Vesper’s life has been anything but easy. She’s the child of failed revolutionaries. Her mother was taken by the queen’s soldiers and chose to die by the storm when given the option. Now, after 12 years on the run, the queen’s soldiers have caught up with Vesper’s father. She refuses to let her father have the same fate as her mother and will do anything to stop it.

She’ll use illegal magic. She’ll try to capture the attention of the prince.

Vesper will have to decide if, after learning more about the truth of her mother’s death, she wants to even save her city at all.

This is the first in a duology, with the second book hitting shelves soon.

This one is being comped to Fear Street, so if that’s your flavor of horror delight, you’ll want to TBR this one.

Audre and her family have moved to rural Pennsylvania, and from the moment she steps foot into town, she knows she’s not going to fit in. Everyone in town believes there is a Satanic cult in the woods around town, and Audre is much less into really believing those things than she is enjoying them via horror films.

She does begin to make a friend — maybe more than a friend — in Elle. So when Elle, daughter of a preacher, goes missing Halloween weekend, everyone in town is convinced not only that she’s been taken by the cult but that Audre is to blame.