Category: What’s Up in YA

I grew up south of Chicago, close enough that as kids, we used to climb the tree in the local park and could see the skyline from there. I learned a lot of Chicago history then, as well as in college, when I took an entire class on the city’s history. Though the race riot was addressed, it certainly wasn’t as in-depth or as wide-ranging as Hartfield’s engrossing YA nonfiction about that moment in time.

This is a compelling and essential book about the 5 Black kids who floated onto the “wrong” part of the beach and ignited a period of race-based violence throughout the city. Pair this with Brandy Colbert’s Black Birds in the Sky for another story of race-based violence in the same era (though further south in Tulsa, Oklahoma).

Amity Falls is a remote mountain town, where few come to visit, but it’s where Ellerie calls home. When a supply party goes missing, the town begins to wonder if the monsters which once plagued the town are back — and strange occurrences keep happening. The creatures responsible offer the townspeople a promise to fulfill their desires in exchange for a small favor. And while they agree, the townsfolk are not prepared for the sinister intentions of the creatures.

With horror vibes akin to The Village, Craig’s story is a retelling of the folk classic “Rumpelstiltskin.”

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.

Beau is an artist and dreams of leaving the projects she’s grown up in. But when her older sister Katia is killed by an off duty police officer, everything changes–now she’s determined to clear her sister’s name and to do that, she needs to find her sister’s boyfriend, the only witness to her murder.

Of course, it won’t be that simple, and Beau has to decide how much of her life she needs to put aside for Katia.

This stand alone dark contemporary fantasy is being compared to The Craft, which means it is on my TBR. It’s a story about suburban witches, told in two timelines, mother-daughter relationships, and all of the thriller vibes.

Dana befriends a girl in her teen years that turns out to be A No Good Person and deals with the fallout of that relationship for a long time. Now, 20 years later, her daughter Ivy is tracking down a similar path.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.

If you loved Dear Martin, this’ll be one you need to pick up. 16-year-old Alex tries to be the best person he can be. He’s got a steady part time job, has a girlfriend he adores, and he’s the best big brother he can be to Isaiah. The problem is when Alex touches something, he can see the future. When he sees his little brother’s untimely death coming, it’s up to Alex to do something. Morris’s novel grapples with what it is to be a Black boy in America.

This book originally released quite a while ago (in YA years, that would mean 2016) but now that Lee’s name is even more well known, it’s nice to see it being re-released in a new and gorgeous paperback.

16-year-old Mimosa–Mim–is one of the few remaining aromateurs left in the world, and her ability to mix scents for magical perfume will be useless if she lets herself fall in love. She doesn’t want to miss out on being an ordinary teenager, though, but when she makes a huge mistake and must recruit the help of a (cute, of course) boy to help her fix it, Mim may no longer have the ability to choose what happens to her future.

This brilliant, queer fantasy is in paperback now. It follows Briseis, who has a magical touch when it comes to plants. Her and her mothers decide to leave Brooklyn when her aunt dies leaving her a worn down and dilapidated estate in New York. Though the estate has an inherent darkness— with its odd apothecary and deadly plants— it also allows Bri a chance to strengthen her magic and learn more about her family. Soon, people start showing up for the elixirs Bri’s talent makes, but things get out of hand when a mysterious group appears looking for an immortality elixir. There’s much to love with this one: queer joy, a gothic setting, plant magic, and some Greek mythology.

The island of Parris is seen by outsiders as a paradise only granted to the most privileged, but Luca Laine Thomas knows better. She knows it’s cursed. Beneath its idyllic appearance lies a dark history filled with a curse that brings about unsolved deaths of young women. It took her best friend three years ago, and it came back to claim her sister. She decides to investigate things herself and uncover the ugly truth that the rest of the island wants to ignore.

This takes place in the same world as A Song Below Water and follows super popular and Black siren Naema. Despite once being the It girl, she gets canceled after outing Tavia as a siren in the first book, essentially making her the villain. Things aren’t so cut and dry, though, as Naema’s journey of self-discovery— with its examination of race, gender, and privilege— shows.

**Bonus points for another fire cover**

Lou’s disbelief in magic is shattered once she has to journey to the goblin market to rescue her teenage aunt. The market, which Lou had only read about up until now, is full of every kind of sweet, delectable thing that could tempt humans. She has to learn spells and tricks if she’s to save her aunt and make it out alive. She’s only got three days, though, and then the market disappears– and her aunt along with it.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.

May’s parents put a lot of pressure on her, and she’s still not the Chinese Taiwanese American daughter they want her to be. Her beloved brother Danny is, so his acceptance into Princeton pleases their mom and dad. But Danny’s secretly struggled with depression and when he dies by suicide, the family experiences grief they could never imagine. The only thing making it worse is how the community responds with racism and hatred. May works through these challenges with her writing–the thing her parents didn’t see as valuable–and she’s taking back her and her family’s story.

This book explores mental health, racism, and the challenges of finding your voice and sounds outstanding.

It’s the 17th century and Kiki and Ana are best friends and proper ladies. That is…until night falls. Then the two girls venture out into the crime-ridden streets to fight, gamble, and allow themselves to fall deeply in love with one another.

But when Kiki’s engagement to the Viceroy’s son is announced, her brother murdered. Her brother, heir to the family fortune. Now the girls will don their night personas to find out who is responsible.

This historical Latine novel sounds like so much fun. Teen girl vigilantes in the 17th century? I’m in.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.

If you are looking for a K-Pop inspired rom-com, look no further. Lulu is ready for her final summer before going off to college, but plans are changed when her childhood best friend Kite–who has built a career as a K-Pop artists–is taking a break and heading back home. Now they’ve got the chance to reconnect as friends . . . and maybe more.

(Can we talk about the cats on this cover?)

This book has been on my radar for a while and is pitched as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina meets The Craft.

Dan and Liss are witches, and after a spell gone wrong, they find their friendship in a precarious place when Liss’s boyfriend disappears. Liss assumes he is dead but months later, after the disappearance of another girl, she realizes both of them are being held underground by an evil demon.

To end the predicament, Liss and Dan need to rekindle their friendship. But it won’t be easy to do that OR to harness their power and undo the spell gone wrong.

Something about summer makes a big, sweeping story just what you crave. Tian’s book is just this: it’s a story about two sisters, the racist incident their family is victim of in their small Midwestern town, and the summer in which both girls process their experiences very differently.

Kristina Forest is writing some of the most fun YA romances right now, and this one sounds like no exception. Zyla and Kai could not be any different, and they’ve broken up, as many anticipated they would. Or HAVE they broken up? On a school trip to the Poconos, they run away together, and the story which unravels travels past and present, exploring what went wrong–and what went right–in their unlikely love story.

Miliani, Inez, Natalie, and Jasmine are best friends who love their town of Providence, Rhode Island. To them, it is all things magic. But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the friends are shattered. In an effort to work through their grief, they decide to resurrect Jasmine’s spirit using their combined magic. The problem is it does not go anything as they’d planned. If you love friendship stories and stories about magic (with a little Filipine magic), this debut will be up your alley.

Serene and Lian are two very different teens: Serene is popular, with a hot boyfriend, and she’s the daughter of a famous fashion designer. Lian is a newcomer and his parents push him to take advantage of every studying opportunity possible to ensure he gets top test scores and gets into the best school possible.

So when tragedy strikes Serene’s life and she meets Lian in a very unexpected way, the two of them form a bond that will push both of them to become who they are truly meant to be. This is a tougher read, but it’s one that has a rewarding payoff–content note here for cancer, but this is where I add that no one will die and the very end of the book is feel good.

For a more comprehensive list, check out our New Books newsletter.