February Debut YA Novels

February 22, 2016 |

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month. Like always, this round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past.

All descriptions are from Goodreads, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in February from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie presses are okay — let me know in the comments.

As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles.

The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie: Cassandra Leung–a seventeen-year-old trainer of Reckoners, sea beasts bred to defend ships–is kidnapped by the pirate queen Santa Elena and ordered to train a Reckoner pup to defend Santa Elena’s ship.

After The Woods by Kim Savage: On the eve of the year anniversary of the Shiverton Abduction, two former best friends grapple with the consequences of that event.

Ascending The Boneyard by CG Watson: Overwhelmed by a series of losses, including an accident that left his brother in a wheelchair, his father’s abuse, and his mother’s departure, sixteen-year-old Tosh escapes into a video game but soon, the game becomes much more real than his life.

Assassin’s Heart by Sarah Ahiers: Seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana, a trained assassin, falls in love with Val Da Via, a boy from a rival clan, until tragedy intervenes and sets her on a course of revenge against the Da Vias family.

Blackhearts by Nicole Castroman: A reimagining of the origin story of Blackbeard the pirate and his forbidden love affair with a maid in his father’s house.

The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig: Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City, to nineteenth-century Hawaii, to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, blends fantasy, history, and a modern sensibility. Its witty, fast-paced dialogue, breathless adventure, multicultural cast, and enchanting romance will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman. Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought–1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life–her entire existence–is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures. her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

Kill The Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky: Four fan-girls of The Ruperts, sneak away to a hotel in Manhattan to see their favorite boy band, but when one of them literally drags Rupert Pierpont to their room and they tie him up, things get complicated–and when Rupert is killed things go from bad to worse.

Revenge and The Wild by Michelle Modesto: Seventeen-year-old foul-mouthed Westie, the notorious adopted daughter of local inventor Nigel Butler, lives in the lawless western town of Rogue City where she sets out to prove the wealthy investors in a magical technology that will save her city are the cannibals that killed her family and took her arm when she was a child.

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock: Growing up in Alaska in the 1970s isn’t like growing up anywhere else: Don’t think life is going to be easy. Know your place. And never talk about yourself. Four vivid voices tell intertwining stories of hardship, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation.

Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin: A gender-fluid teenager who struggles with identity creates a blog on the topic that goes viral, and faces ridicule at the hands of fellow students.

January 2016 Debut Young Adult Novels

January 18, 2016 |

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month. It’s a new year, so there’s a whole new batch of titles hitting shelves. January always excites me since it also means a whole new year of brand new writers to explore.

Like always, this round-up includes debut novels, where “debut” is in its purest definition. These are first-time books by first-time authors. I’m not including books by authors who are using or have used a pseudonym in the past or those who have written in other categories (adult, middle grade, etc.) in the past.

All descriptions are from Goodreads, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in January from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie presses are okay — let me know in the comments. As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles.

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.

Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.

When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process.

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

10:00 a.m. The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.

10:02 a.m. The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.

10:03 The auditorium doors won’t open.

10:05 Someone starts shooting.

Told over the span of 54 harrowing minutes from four different perspectives, terror reigns as one student’s calculated revenge turns into the ultimate game of survival.

Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandiera

In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably a YA novel with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary. But when Phoebe finds out that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her, she turns to her favorite books for advice. Phoebe overhauls her personality to become as awesome as her favorite heroines and win Dev’s heart. But if her plan fails, can she go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing?

Underwater by Marisa Reichardt

Morgan didn’t mean to do anything wrong that day. Actually, she meant to do something right. But her kind act inadvertently played a role in a deadly tragedy. In order to move on, Morgan must learn to forgive—first someone who did something that might be unforgivable, and then, herself.

But Morgan can’t move on. She can’t even move beyond the front door of the apartment she shares with her mother and little brother. Morgan feels like she’s underwater, unable to surface. Unable to see her friends. Unable to go to school.

When it seems Morgan can’t hold her breath any longer, a new boy moves in next door. Evan reminds her of the salty ocean air and the rush she used to get from swimming. He might be just what she needs to help her reconnect with the world outside.

Zero Day by Jan Gangsei

Eight years ago, Addie Webster was the victim of the most notorious kidnapping case of the decade. Addie vanished—and her high-profile parents were forced to move on.

Mark Webster is now president of the United States, fighting to keep the oval office after a tumultuous first term. Then, the unthinkable happens: the president’s daughter resurfaces. Addie is brought back into her family’s fold, but who is this sixteen-year-old girl with a quiet, burning intelligence now living in the White House? There are those in the president’s political circle who find her timely return suspicious.

When the NSA approaches Darrow Fergusson, Addie’s childhood best friend and the son of the president’s chief of staff, he doesn’t know what to think. How could this slip of a girl be a threat to national security? But at the risk of having his own secrets exposed by the powerful government agency, Darrow agrees to spy on Addie.

It soon becomes apparent that Addie is much more than the traumatized victim of a sick political fringe group. Addie has come with a mission. Will she choose to complete it? And what will happen if she does?

The Heir and the Spare by Emily Albright

In this modern day fairytale, Evie is on a path to figure out who her mom really was, while discovering for herself what the future will hold. Charged with her late mother’s letters, Evie embarks on a quest into her past. The first item on the list is to attend Oxford, her mom’s alma mater. There, Evie stumbles upon a real life prince charming, Edmund Stuart the second Prince of England, who is all too happy to be the counterpart to her damsel in distress.

Evie can’t resist her growing attraction to Edmund as they spend more time together trying to unravel the clues her mother left behind. But, when doubts arise as to whether or not Edmund could ever be with an untitled American, what really ends up unraveling is Evie’s heart. When Evie uncovers all the facts about her mom’s former life, she realizes her mom’s past can open doors she never dreamed possible, doors that can help her be with Edmund. But, with everything now unveiled, Evie starts to crack under the pressure of new family responsibilities and the realization that her perfect prince may want her for all the wrong reasons.

My Second Life by Faye Bird

Fifteen-year-old Ana has a good life–she has friends and a boy she likes and a kind mother–but still, she’s haunted by her past; she knows that she lived once before as a girl named Emma, and she still misses her old family. When, by chance in her life now, Ana meets a woman she knew in her previous life, a terrifying memory flashes through her mind of a young girl drowning. Was Emma responsible? And should Ana pay the price? Consumed by guilt, Ana sets out to find out as much as possible about the person she was before and what she had done, only to discover that the family she misses so deeply had dark secrets of its own. To come to terms with her life now, Ana must figure out how to let go of the past.

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

Kraków, 1939. A million marching soldiers and a thousand barking dogs. This is no place to grow up. Anna Łania is just seven years old when the Germans take her father, a linguistics professor, during their purge of intellectuals in Poland. She’s alone.

And then Anna meets the Swallow Man. He is a mystery, strange and tall, a skilled deceiver with more than a little magic up his sleeve. And when the soldiers in the streets look at him, they see what he wants them to see.

The Swallow Man is not Anna’s father—she knows that very well—but she also knows that, like her father, he’s in danger of being taken, and like her father, he has a gift for languages: Polish, Russian, German, Yiddish, even Bird. When he summons a bright, beautiful swallow down to his hand to stop her from crying, Anna is entranced. She follows him into the wilderness.

Over the course of their travels together, Anna and the Swallow Man will dodge bombs, tame soldiers, and even, despite their better judgment, make a friend. But in a world gone mad, everything can prove dangerous. Even the Swallow Man.

Arrows by Melissa Gorzelanczyk

People don’t understand love. If they did, they’d get why dance prodigy Karma Clark just can’t say goodbye to her boyfriend, Danny. No matter what he says or does or how he hurts her, she can’t stay angry with him . . . and can’t stop loving him. But there’s a reason why Karma is helpless to break things off: she’s been shot with a love arrow.

Aaryn, son of Cupid, was supposed to shoot both Karma andDanny but found out too late that the other arrow in his pack was useless. And with that, Karma’s life changed forever. One pregnancy confirmed. One ballet scholarship lost. And dream after dream tossed to the wind.

A clueless Karma doesn’t know that her toxic relationship is Aaryn’s fault . . . but he’s going to get a chance to make things right. He’s here to convince Danny to man up and be there for Karma. But what if this god from Mount Olympus finds himself falling in love with a beautiful dancer from Wisconsin who can never love him in return?

The Love That Split The World by Emily Henry

Natalie Cleary must risk her future and leap blindly into a vast unknown for the chance to build a new world with the boy she loves.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start… until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos

All Imogene Scott knows of her mother is the bedtime story her father told her as a child. It’s the story of how her parents met: he, a forensic pathologist, she, a mysterious woman who came to identify a body. A woman who left Imogene and her father when she was a baby, a woman who was always possessed by a powerful loneliness, a woman who many referred to as troubled waters.

When Imogene is seventeen, her father, now a famous author of medical mysteries, strikes out in the middle of the night and doesn’t come back. Neither Imogene’s stepmother nor the police know where he could’ve gone, but Imogene is convinced he’s looking for her mother. She decides to put to use the skills she’s gleaned from a lifetime of her father’s books to track down a woman she’s never known, in order to find him and, perhaps, the answer to the question she’s carried with her for her entire life.

The Year We Fell Apart by Emily Martin

Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High’s easiest hook-up, and officially became the black sheep of her family. But her worst mistake was destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan.

Now, after two semesters of silence, Declan is home from boarding school for the summer. Everything about him is different—he’s taller, stronger…more handsome. Harper has changed, too, especially in the wake of her mom’s cancer diagnosis.

While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he’s still Declan, her Declan, and the only person she wants to talk to about what’s really going on. But he’s also the one person she’s lost the right to seek comfort from.

As their mutual friends and shared histories draw them together again, Harper and Declan must decide which parts of their past are still salvageable, and which parts they’ll have to let go of once and for all.

All Things Debut YA: Morris Awards & November/December Releases

December 14, 2015 |

Did you catch the latest round of Morris Nominees? These are the top debut YA novels as selected by librarians, and when the ALA awards happen in mid-January, one of the five books from this list will be named the winner. Out of the five books on the short list, I’ve read three of the titles: The Weight of Feathers, Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda, and The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly — the last one perhaps being one of my favorite reads of 2015 and the one I’d love to see walk away with the ultimate win.

What I love about the Morris every year is how it’s such a nice mix of titles. These are books that have teen appeal, and these are also books that are imperfect. Unlike the Printz, which rewards the greatest of literary achievement in a book in a given year, the Morris is about potential. What authors are we eager to see more from in the future, based on the potential they show in their first book?

This year’s slate of five short list authors is all female. What’s fascinating is that they’re not all girls’ stories though. In fact, of the five books, only one is told entirely through a female point of view; that would be Minnow Bly. Every other story is entirely from a male point of view or, as is the case with The Weight of Feathers, split points of view.

It’s not a criticism of the committee nor their work — this list is really thoughtful, diverse, and features so many interesting stories — but it’s another example of what I mean by how some stories are privileged over others, even if it’s not in any way intentional. The bias is so deep that we are unable to see it until we step back and see it happening again and again and again.

I’m excited to see what title walks away with the gold sticker next month.

Because November and December tend to be lighter when it comes to new book releases, they also tend to be slower months for debut YA novels. I’m including both last month and this month’s titles in this round up.

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in these last two months of 2015 from traditional publishers — and indie presses are okay — let me know in the comments. As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles.

All the Major Constellations by Pratima Cranse: After Andrew’s best friend is hit by a drunk driver and ends up in a coma, his enigmatic crush invites him to find comfort with her fundamentalist Christian group.

For the Record by Charlotte Huang: Gaining instant celebrity after being discovered on a TV talent show, rock singer Chelsea endures the disdain of her bandmates and ambivalently pursues a relationship with a teen heartthrob during a summer tour that could make or break her career.

Forget Tomorrow by Pintip Dunn: On Callie’s seventeenth birthday, she receives her vision of the future–a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they’re meant to be. But Callie’s vision shows her murdering her younger sister, and she is arrested and sent to a prison for those destined to break the law. Callie escapes and, on the run from the government and from her future, hoping to change her fate and protect her sister.

How to Be Brave by E. Katherine Kottaras: Georgia has always lived life on the sidelines: uncomfortable with her weight, awkward, never been kissed, terrified of failing. Then her mom dies and her world is turned upside down. But instead of getting lost in her pain, she decides to enjoy life while she still can by truly living for the first time. She makes a list of ways to be brave–all the things she’s always wanted to do but has been too afraid to try: learn to draw, try out for cheerleading, cut class, ask him out, kiss him, see what happens from there.

Rules for 50/50 Chances by Kate McGovern: Seventeen-year-old Rose Levenson must decide whether or not she wants to take the test to find out if she has Huntington’s disease, the degenerative disease that is slowly killing her mother.

The Sister Pact by Stacie Ramey: Allie is devastated when her sister Leah commits suicide–and not just because she misses her. The two teens made a suicide pact so that they’d always be together, and Allie can’t understand why she was left behind.

All We Left Behind by Ingrid Sundberg: Marion is hiding a secret from her past and Kurt is trying to figure out how to recover from his mother’s death as they both find solace in each other.

Did I Mention I Love You? by Estelle Maskame: Eden Munro spends the summer with her father and his new family in Santa Monica and quickly finds herself thrust into a world full of new experiences and the more time she spends breaking the rules with them, the more she finds herself falling for the one person she should not–her stepbrother, Tyler.

Gateway to Fourline by Pam Brondos: Strapped for cash, college student Natalie Barns agrees to take a job at a costume shop. Sure, Estos—her classmate who works in the shop—is a little odd, but Nat needs the money for her tuition.

Then she stumbles through the mysterious door behind the shop—and her entire universe transforms.

Discovering there’s far more to Estos than she ever imagined, Nat gets swept up in an adventure to save his homeland, an incredible world filled with decaying magic, deadly creatures, and a noble resistance of exiled warriors battling dark forces. As she struggles with her role in an epic conflict and wrestles with her growing affection for a young rebel, Soris, Nat quickly learns that nothing may go as planned…and her biggest challenge may be surviving long enough to make it home. (Description via Goodreads).

Inherit the Stars by Tessa Elwood: Three royal houses ruling three interplanetary systems are on the brink of collapse, and they must either ally together or tear each other apart in order for their people to survive.

Asa is the youngest daughter of the house of Fane, which has been fighting a devastating food and energy crisis for far too long. She thinks she can save her family’s livelihood by posing as her oldest sister in an arranged marriage with Eagle, the heir to the throne of the house of Westlet. The appearance of her mother, a traitor who defected to the house of Galton, adds fuel to the fire, while Asa also tries to save her sister Wren’s life . . . possibly from the hands of their own father.

But as Asa and Eagle forge a genuine bond, will secrets from the past and the urgent needs of their people in the present keep them divided? (Descriptions via Goodreads).

Not If I See You First by Eric Lindstrom: Blind sixteen-year-old Parker Grant navigates friendships and romantic relationships, including a run-in with a boy who previously broke her heart, while coping with her father’s recent death.

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure: Seventeen-year-old Lucille is struggling to get through each day, paying bills and looking after her little sister, Wren, while her father is institutionalized after a breakdown and her mother is “on vacation,” but nothing else seems to matter when she is with Digby Jones, her best friend’s twin brother.

October Debut YA Novels

October 22, 2015 |

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month.

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. If I’m missing any debuts out in September from traditional publishers — and I should clarify that indie presses are okay — let me know in the comments. As always, not all noted titles included here are necessarily endorsements for those titles.

The Distance From Me to You by Marina Gessner: McKenna and her best friend planned for over a year to defer their freshman year of college to hike the Appalachian Trail all the way from Maine to Georgia, so when her friend backs out McKenna embarks alone on a physical and emotional journey that will change her life forever.

First & Then by Emma Mills: Devon is a high school senior, wondering if she really wants to go to college, what to do with her cousin Foster (a freshman) who has moved in with her family in Florida, and whether she likes Ezra, the stuck-up football star at her school, or cannot stand him.

An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes by Randy Ribay: As their senior year approaches, four diverse friends joined by their weekly Dungeons & Dragons game struggle to figure out real life. Archie’s trying to cope with the lingering effects of his parents’ divorce, Mari’s considering an opportunity to contact her biological mother, Dante’s working up the courage to come out to his friends, and Sam’s clinging to a failing relationship. The four eventually embark on a cross-country road trip in an attempt to solve–or to avoid–their problems

It’s A Wonderful Death by Sarah J. Schmitt: Seventeen-year-old RJ always gets what she wants. So when her soul is accidentally collected by a distracted Grim Reaper, somebody in the afterlife better figure out a way to send her back from the dead or heads will roll

Romancing the Dark in the City of Light by Ann Jacobus: A troubled American teen, living in Paris, is torn between two boys, one of whom encourages her to embrace life, while the other–dark, dangerous, and attractive–urges her to embrace her fatal flaws.

Underneath Everything by Marcy Beller Paul: Mattie discovers surprising things about herself and her long-term best friends when she decides she has had enough of her self-imposed isolation from most of the school and two of her three friends, reconnects with her ex-boyfriend, and enjoys all the parties senior year has to offer.

We’ll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean: Haunted by memories of the fire that killed her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Alice Monroe is in a mental ward when, with support from fellow patient Chase, she begins to confront hidden truths in a journal, including that the only person she trusts may be telling her only half of the story.

Willful Machines by Tim Floreen: In a near-future America, a sentient computer program named Charlotte has turned terrorist, but Lee Fisher, the closeted son of an ultraconservative President, is more concerned with keeping his Secret Service detail from finding out about his developing romance with Nico, the new guy at school, but when the spider-like robots that roam the school halls begin acting even stranger than usual, Lee realizes he is Charlotte’s next target.

September Debut YA Novels

September 14, 2015 |

It’s time for another round-up of debut YA novels of the month.

A 52-Hertz Whale by Bill Sommer and Natalie Tilghman: Reveals, through emails from various people, the growing connection between sixteen-year-old James, who is obsessed with the fate of a juvenile humpback whale he adopted, and Darren, a would-be filmmaker who once did community service in James’s Special Education classroom.

Becoming Darkness by Lindsay Francis Brambles: Toward the end of World War Two Hitler unleashed the Gomorrah virus, which wiped out most of humanity and turned the rest into vampires, except for those like seventeen-year-old Sophie Harkness, who carry a genetic mutation that makes them immune–but when her best friend is murdered and attempts are made on her life, Sophie sets out to discover the dark secrets that lie at the heart of Haven, the last refuge of the immunes.

Blood and Salt by Kim Liggett: Seventeen-year-old Ash Larkin finds out her family is involved in a centuries-old saga of love and murder, alchemy and immortality when she follows her mother to an isolated settlement in the cornfields of Kansas. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

The Body Institute by Carol Riggs: To help out with her family’s financial situation, seventeen-year-old Morgan Dey begins working for the Body Institute, an organization that uses new technology to allow one person to take over another person’s body temporarily to return that body to the proper weight and physical condition. (Worth noting: the description of this one doesn’t pass much muster with Size Acceptance in YA)

Burn Girl by Mandy Mikulencak: When her mother dies of a drug overdose, sixteen-year-old Arlie must adjust to living with an uncle she has never met and going to school on a regular basis.

The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich: Told through journal entries, a psychotherapist’s notes, court records, and more, relates the tale of Carly, a teen who was institutionalized after her parents’ death but released to Elmbrige High School, where she is believed to have a second personality or soul named Kaitlyn, and/or be possessed by a demon. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt: Evan, the nephew of a conservative southern senator, and Alma, who lives with her large, warm Mexican family, fall in love, but when Immigration and Customs Enforcement begins raids on their town, Alma knows she needs to tell Evan her secrets, but how can she tell her country-club boyfriend that she is an undocumented immigrant?

Drowning is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley: After seventeen-year-old Olivia and her friend Jamie accidentally kill Jamie’s abusive father, two other friends, Max and Maggie, join them in running away from St. Francisville, Louisiana, to hide out in New Orleans while they try to figure out what to do next.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon: The story of a teenage girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.

Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa: At Saint Francis Prep school in Mountain View, New Jersey, Mira, Jeremy, and Sebby come together as they struggle with romance, bullying, foster home and family problems, and mental health issues.

The Fix by Natasha Sinel: After becoming friends with Sebastian Ruiz, a recovering addict, seventeen-year-old Macy Lyons is forced to come to terms with her own secret.

Jillian Cade, Fake Paranormal Investigator by Jen Klein: A seventeen-year-old girl runs a fake paranormal detection agency, but when she takes a case involving a non-paranormal missing person, things start to get strange and her feelings for partner Sky Ramsey start to grow.

The One Thing by Marci Lyn Curtis: After losing her sight–and the future she dreamed of–seventeen-year-old Maggie meets the one person with the ability to help her see all the possibilities life still holds.

Lock & Mori by Heather W. Petty: In modern-day London, sixteen-year-old Miss James “Mori” Moriarty is looking for an escape from her recent past and spiraling home life when she takes classmate Sherlock Holmes up on his challenge to solve a murder mystery. Included in “3 On A YA Theme: Takes on Sherlock.”

Sanctuary by Jennifer McKissack: After the sudden death of her aunt, Cecilia Cross is forced to return to the old mansion on a remote island off the coast of Maine, ironically named Sanctuary, the place where her father and sister died, and from which her mother was committed to an insane asylum soon after–and it is also a place of dark secrets, haunted by the ghosts of its original owners, and inhabited by her vicious uncle. Included in our big round-up of YA horror.

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee: When a talented mechanic in 1818 Geneva brings his brother back from the dead using clockwork parts, the citizens of Geneva think they may have inspired the recently published novel Frankenstein.

Truest by Jackie Lea Sommers: Westlin Beck’s summer is turned upside down when the Hart twins move to town: aggravating, intriguing, and quirky Silas and his mysteriously ill sister, Laurel.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: Although Lace Paloma knows all about the feud between the Palomas and the Corbeaus, she finds herself falling for Cluck Corbeau when he saves her life while both families are performing in the same town.

The Unquiet by Mikaela Everett: For most of her life, Lirael has been training to kill–and replace–a duplicate version of herself on a parallel Earth. She is the perfect sleeper-soldier. But she’s beginning to suspect she is not a good person