What better way to round out this week’s contemporary YA celebration than with a booklist of what’s to come in 2015? This is an incomplete list, in part because it would be impossible to find everything and in part because the fall publisher catalogs aren’t available yet. This is primarily a guide to the contemporary YA hitting shelves in the first half of the year.
I’ve pulled from my own knowledge, from publisher catalogs, and from reviews I’ve seen of upcoming titles to put this list together. Aside from being incomplete, I know it’s possible a title or two included here end up not being contemporary — I can only pull so much from short descriptions — but I do know for sure most of these are. Like last year, the biggest trend in realistic YA is, without doubt, romance. This is a very romance-heavy list. I’ve also not included crime thrillers in this list, even though many could be seen as contemporary.
If you know of other contemporary YA titles publishing in 2015 through traditional publishers, feel free to let me know in the comments. Because not all of these books have WorldCat descriptions nor do they all have covers yet, I’m linking directly to Goodreads entries. Most, if not all titles, should have a description there.
Grab your pens and paper and hop on Goodreads because your to-be-read list is about to grow. As a head’s up, know this is a very long post. Contemporary YA was never dead, and it still isn’t.
Read Between The Lines by Jo Knowles (March 10)
Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen (May 5)
Zero Day by Jan Gangsei (January 1)
Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert (May 19)
Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone (June 16)
My Best Everything by Sarah Tomp (March 3)
Kissing Ted Callahan (And Other Guys) by Amy Spalding (April 14)
Love, Lucy by April Lindner (January 27)
Scarlett Undercover by Jen Latham (May 19)
A Million Miles Away by Lara Avery (July 7)
The Road to You by Alecia Whitaker (July 14, book two in the “Wildflower” series)
Those Girls by Lauren Saft (June 9)
Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff (January 27)
Twisted Fate by Norah Olson (January 20)
Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood (August 11)
Better Than Perfect by Melissa Kantor (February 17)
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (February 10)
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand (February 10)
Geek Girl by Holly Smale (January 27)
The Distance Between Lost and Found by Kathryn Holmes (February 17)
Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver (March 10)
How to Win at High School by Owen Matthews (March 3)
Solitaire by Alice Oseman
Little Peach by Peggy Kern (March 10)
Liars, Inc by Paula Stokes (March 24)
The Pretty App by Katie Sise (April 14, second in the “App” series)
Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (April 7)
99 Days by Katie Contugno (April 21)
City Love by Susane Colasanti (April 21)
No Parking at the End Times by Bryan Bliss (February 24)
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (April 21)
Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby (April 21)
Tonight the Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales (September 15)
Endangered by Lamar Giles (April 21)
Invincible by Amy Reed (April 28)
The Secrets of Attraction by Robin Constantine (April 28)
Endangered by Lamar Giles
Finding Paris by Joy Preble (April 21)
None of the Above by I. W. Gregorio (April 28)
Encore to an Empty Room by Kevin Emerson (April 28, second in the “Exile” series)
Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider (May 26)
Kissing in America by Margo Rabb (May 26)
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton (May 26)
Emancipated by M. G. Reyes (May 26)
Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher (May 19)
Making Pretty by Corey Ann Haydu (May 12)
A Sense of the Infinite by Hilary T. Smith (May 19)
Between Us and the Moon by Rebecca Maizel (June 30)
The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi (June 16)
Between The Notes by Sharon Huss Roat (June 16)
Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway (June 23)
Paperweight by Meg Haston (July 7)
Every Last Promise by Kristin Halbrook (April 21)
The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (March 3)
The Fill in Boyfriend by Kasie West (May 5)
The Revenge Playbook by Rachel Allen (June 16)
Don’t Ever Change by M. Beth Bloom (July 1)
How to Drop A Class (And Fall In Love) by Lisa Brown Roberts (February 3)
Infandous by Elana K. Arnold (March 1)
Paper or Plastic by Vivi Barnes (February 3)
All The Rage by Courtney Summers (April 14)
This Side of Home by Renee Watson (February 3)
When Reason Breaks by Cindy Rodriguez (February 10)
Positively Beautiful by Wendy Mills (March 3)
The Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver (April 28)
The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord (March 31)
Boys Don’t Knit by T. S. Easton (March 24)
Flirty Dancing by Jenny McLachlan (April 28)
The Queen of Bright and Shiny Things by Ann Aguirre (April 7)
Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman (January 20)
Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark (March 24)
I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios (February 3)
Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn (June 9)
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan (May 12)
Wild Hearts by Jessica Burkhart (May 5, from the “If Only” series)
Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas (June 2)
Hello, I Love You by Katie Stout (June 9)
Forever For A Year by B. T. Gottfred (July 7)
Joyride by Anna Banks (June 2)
The Devil You Know by Trish Doller (June 2)
Bright Lights, Dark Nights by Steven Emond (August 11)
Devoted by Jennifer Mathieu (June 2)
Naked by Stacey Trombley (July 7)
Modern Monsters by Kelley York (June 2)
I Was Here by Gayle Forman (January 27)
Law of Loving Others by Kate Axelrod (January 8)
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed (March 24)
Everybody Knows Your Name by Andrea Siegel and Brent Bradshaw (March 10)
Mosquitoland by David Arnold (March 3)
The Truth Commission by Susan Juby (April 14)
First There Was Forever by Juliana Romano (April 14)
Still Waters by Ash Parsons (April 21)
The Wrong Side of Right by Jenn Marie Thorne (March 17)
Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash (March 10)
Sophomore Year is Greek to Me by Meredith Zeitlin (April 21)
Tracers by JJ Howard (January 8)
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella (June 9)
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (January 6)
Breakout by Kevin Emerson (February 24)
We Are All Made of Molecules by Susan Nielsen (May 12)
A Matter of Heart by Amy Fellner Dominy (May 12)
Even When You Lie to Me by Jessica Alcott (June 9)
Unlikely Hero of Room 13B by Teresa Toten (March 10)
From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan (August 4)
Rusty Summer by Mary McKinley (May 26)
The Rise and Fall of a Theater Geek by Seth Rudetsky (June 23)
Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman (March 31)
Playing A Part by Daria Wilke (March 31)
The Kidney Hypothetical by Lisa Yee (March 31)
Anything Could Happen by Will Walton (May 26)
The Porcupine of Truth by Bill Konigsberg (May 26)
We Can Work it Out by Elizabeth Eulberg (January 27, sequel to The Lonely Hearts Club)
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (January 6)
Killing Time in Crystal City by Chris Lynch (January 13)
Perfect Couple by Jennifer Echols (January 13, part of the “Superlatives” series)
Galgorithm by Aaron Karo (May 5)
Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moskowitz (March 3)
Promposal by Rhonda Helms (February 13)
The Brilliant Light of Amber Sunrise by Matthew Crow (March 10)
Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz (April 7)
Me Being Me is Exactly As Insane As You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowry (March 24)
The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell (May 5)
PS, I Still Love You by Jenny Han (April 21)
After Hours by Claire Kennedy (June 6)
Dime by E. R. Frank (May 26)
Last Year’s Mistake by Gina Ciocca (June 9)
Dancing with Molly by Lena Horowitz (June 2)
Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten (July 7)
Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler (June 2)
Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards
Most Likely to Succeed by Jennifer Echols (August 4, part of the “Superlatives” series)
Shackled by Tom Leveen (August 18)
Halfway Perfect by Julie Cross and Mark Perini (January 6)
Dating Down by Stefanie Lyons (April 8)
Hit Count by Chris Lynch (May 19)
What Remains by Helene Dunbar (May 15)
Where You End by Anna Pellicioli (June 1)
Blues for Zoey by Robert Paul Weston (February 8)
The View from Who I Was by Heather Sappenfield (January 8)
Violent Ends edited by Shaun Hutchinson (Fall)
Joli @ Actin' Up with Books says
It is safe to say that I want to read EVERY BOOK featured here.
Gabrielle says
Thanks so much for this list
Janet Gurtler says
And one more!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21793116-the-truth-about-us
SEMS Library Lady says
Did you hear that? The sound of my library budget exploding? There's so much on this list that I have to buy I want to cry–partly because I'll never be able to get it all, and partly because there are so many great authors writing for my students!
Thanks for the list!
admin says
From Sara Megibow, three more contemporary titles for 2015: BIGGIE by Derek Sullivan, JESSE'S GIRL by Miranda Kenneally and SOME KIND OF NORMAL by Juliana Stone
hellskitchen says
HOLD ME CLOSER by David Levithan (big love in my heart for this novel in the form of a play)
Dahlia Adler says
I have UNDER THE LIGHTS releasing June 30; Jessica Verdi has WHAT YOU LEFT BEHIND releasing August 4; and Lisa Aldin has ONE OF THE GUYS, releasing February 10. That's all I can think of for books that already have covers…
mclicious.org says
Well, if that is not A LOT of covers that I have seen before. But also, lots of excellent-sounding books!
amiallenvath says
Thanks for this great list! I have another for your list. My book, PROM BITCH will be releasing in the Fall. Here's the GR link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23556537-prom-bitch
Melissa Sarno says
Oh wow, I love this list. Thank you so much for compiling everything. And here's another one I'm looking forward to. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22042751-one-thing-stolen
Sue Holmes says
This is a fantastic list! Thank you – now I know what I'm waiting for in my favourite genre 🙂
jackieleasommers.com says
Ooooh, pick me, pick me! My book Truest comes out from HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books in September! http://www.jackieleasommers.com/truest
Shannon Grogan says
Thanks for listing mine here, Kelly! First time I've seen it. I've just learned how to Google my book the right way 🙂
Heather Sappenfield says
Missed this earlier. Thanks for including The View From Who I was!!