Another month, another roundup of the YA debut novels published or soon to be published. As usual, you can check out the debut novels published in prior months by starting on our July post and working back through to January. We’ve been a little lax in updating with our review links in those posts, but you can always search our archives if you’re curious about any of the titles we may have covered here with more depth.
If I’ve missed any traditionally published YA debuts out in August, leave a note in the comments. I’m interested only in actual first-time publications, so first YA books by authors who’ve published in other categories aren’t included. All descriptions are from WorldCat or Goodreads.
August is a slower month in publishing, so there are fewer debuts out. But don’t worry — the fall will bring a huge number more.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke: Violet is in love with River, a mysterious seventeen-year-old stranger renting the guest house behind the rotting seaside mansion where Violet lives, but when eerie, grim events begin to happen, Violet recalls her grandmother’s frequent warnings about the devil and wonders if River is evil.
Taste Test by Kelly Fiore: While attending a New Hampshire culinary academy, North Carolina high schooler Nora suspects someone of sabotaging the academy’s televised cooking competition. This looks like it could be a great read alike for Jennifer E. Smith’s books.
On Little Wings by Regina Sirios: Sixteen-year-old Jennifer travels to Smithport, Maine, to learn about the family her mother has kept a secret.
Canary by Rachele Alpine: In this debut novel, a high school girl tries to understand the world, figure out where she fits in, and learn how to stand up for herself when everything falls apart. With the passing of her mother, Kate Franklin’s life unravels at the seams as she loses the only emotional mooring in her family. Her dad shuts down completely, and her brother enlists in the army. Things start looking better when her dad is hired to coach at Beacon Prep, home of one of the best basketball teams in the state. In a blog of prose and poetry, Kate chronicles her new world, dating a basketball player, being caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, and discovering the perks the inner circle enjoys. Then Kate’s fragile life shatters once again when one of her boyfriend’s teammates assaults her at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad is vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The once welcoming community has betrayed Kate, her family is disintegrating, and she’s on her own to grapple with whether to stay quiet or speak out and expose a town’s hero and destroy her father’s career.
Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy by Elizabeth Kiem: After a harrowing defection to the United States in 1982, Russian teenager Marya and her father settle in Brooklyn, where Marya is drawn into a web of intrigue involving her gift of foresight, her mother’s disappearance, and a boy she cannot bring herself to trust.
If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan: In Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, seventeen-year-olds Sahar and Nasrin love each other in secret until Nasrin’s parents announce their daughter’s arranged marriage and Sahar proposes a drastic solution.
Jumped In by Patrick Flores-Scott: In the two years since his mother left him with his grandparents in Des Moines, Washington, Sam has avoided making friends and perfected the art of being a slacker, but being paired with a frightening new student for a slam poetry unit transforms his life.
Gated by Amy Christine Parker: Seventeen-year-old Lyla feels ambivalent when the charismatic leader of her isolated suburban community is told that the end of the world is near and when it arrives they must all be ready to defend themselves against the unchosen.