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October Debut YA Novels

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Ready for another round-up of debut YA novels? As always, debut is defined as first published novel, rather than an author’s first YA novel or their first novel under a pen name. All of these books are available this month, and all descriptions come from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. 

If I’ve missed any from traditional publishers, let me know in the comments. 

Damsel Distressed by Kelsey Macke: Imogen Keegen has never had a happily ever after–in fact, she doesn’t think they are possible. Ever since her mother’s death seven years ago, Imogen has pulled herself in and out of therapy, struggled with an “emotionally disturbed” special ed. label, and loathed her perma-plus-sized status. When Imogen’s new stepsister, the evil and gorgeous Ella Cinder, moves in down the hall, Imogen begins losing grip on the pieces she’s been trying to hold together. The only things that gave her solace–the theatre, cheese fries, and her best friend, Grant–aren’t enough to save her from her pain this time. While Imogen is enjoying her moment in the spotlight after the high school musical, the journal pages containing her darkest thoughts get put on display. Now, Imogen must resign herself to be crushed under the ever-increasing weight of her pain, or finally accept the starring role in her own life story. And maybe even find herself a happily ever after. (Description from Goodreads) 

Stray by Elissa Sussman: Princess Aislynn’s magical ability is powerful and uncontrollable, so she is “redirected” into the order of Fairy Godmothers, where her heart is removed and stored in a hidden cabinet, and she must spend the rest of her life devoted to serving another royal family–but her growing friendship with a palace gardener causes Aislynn to question the vows she has taken, and the motives of those who would prevent her from “straying” from the path.

Sweet Unrest by Lisa Maxwell: When seventeen-year-old Lucy Aimes moves to New Orleans and meets Alex, a boy who behaves as if they’ve known each other forever, she becomes caught up in a centuries-old vendetta. 

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch: Orphaned Meira, a fierce chakram-wielding warrior from the Kingdom of Winter, must struggle to free her people from the tyranny of an opposing kingdom while also protecting her own destiny.

Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis: A futuristic retelling of Snow White in which seventeen-year-old Essie, a master at repairing robots and drones on the frozen mining planet Thanda, is pulled into a war by handsome and mysterious Dane after his shuttle crash-lands near her home.

Trust Me, I’m Lying by Mary Elizabeth Summer: Having learned to be a master con artist from her father, Julep Dupree pays expenses at her exclusive high school by fixing things for fellow students, but she will need their help when her father disappears.

Beware The Wild by Natalie C. Parker: A teenaged girl and her boyfriend must find her older brother after he wanders into their town’s swamp and a mysterious girl appears in his place.

Compulsion by Martina Boone: After the death of her disfigured, shut-in mother, Barrie Watson moves to her aunt’s South Carolina plantation, which is guarded by an ancient spirit who cursed one of the island’s three founding families and gave the others magical gifts that become compulsions.

Crazy by Linda Vigen Phillips: While growing up in the 1960s, Laura uses art to cope with her mother’s mental illness.

 

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero: Sixteen-year-old Gabi Hernandez chronicles her senior year in high school as she copes with her friend Cindy’s pregnancy, friend Sebastian’s coming out, her father’s meth habit, her own cravings for food and cute boys, and especially, the poetry that helps forge her identity.

Lailah by Nikki Kelly: While struggling to understand her own identity, Lailah is torn between an injured vampire and a rogue angel who appears in her dreams.

Of Scars and Stardust by Andrea Hannah: When Claire Graham returns to Amble, Ohio, to search for her missing younger sister, Ella, she must keep her wolf hallucinations at bay and face the mystery of what really happened two years ago, and whether it is happening again now.

September Debut YA Novels

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September is my favorite month. It’s also a really busy and full month for YA books, and there are a ton of debut novels that are out or coming out before this month ends. As usual, all of these debuts are first novels written by the author — I don’t include books by authors who have published under other names or who have published in another category. There are a ton of great-sounding contemporary titles this month in particular. 
All descriptions are from WorldCat. If I’ve missed any titles from traditional publishers, feel free to let me know in the comments. Links go to relevant reviews here at STACKED.

Don’t Touch by Rachel M. Wilson: 16-year-old Caddie struggles with OCD, anxiety, and a powerful fear of touching another person’s skin, which threatens her dreams of being an actress–until the boy playing Hamlet opposite her Ophelia gives her a reason to overcome her fears.

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang: One cold fall day, high school junior Liz Emerson steers her car into a tree. This haunting and heartbreaking story is told by a surprising and unexpected narrator and unfolds in nonlinear flashbacks even as Liz’s friends, foes, and family gather at the hospital and Liz clings to life. 

Falls The Shadow by Stefanie Gaither: When her sister Violet dies, Cate’s wealthy family brings home Violet’s clone who fits in perfectly until Cate uncovers something sinister about the cloning movement.

Feuds by Avery Hastings: In 2135 Ohio, Davis Morrow, a fiercely ambitious ballerina, has been primed to be smarter, stronger, and more graceful than the lowly Imperfects but when a deadly virus, the Narxis, begins killing Davis’s friends she turns to Cole, a mysterious boy with his own agenda, and their love may be the only thing that can save her world.

Kiss of Broken Glass by Madeleine Kuderick: A tale told through evocative verse chronicles a mandatory seventy-two-hour psychiatric evaluation of a teen who has been caught cutting herself in an effort to feel alive.

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley: In 1959 Virginia, the lives of two girls on opposite sides of the battle for civil rights will be changed forever. Sarah Dunbar is one of the first black students to attend the previously all-white Jefferson High School. An honors student at her old school, she is put into remedial classes, spit on and tormented daily. Linda Hairston is the daughter of one of the town’s most vocal opponents of school integration. She has been taught all her life that the races should be kept “separate but equal.” Forced to work together on a school project, Sarah and Linda must confront harsh truths about race, power and how they really feel about one another. (Description via Goodreads).

Mary: The Summoning by Hillary Monahan: Teens Jess, Shauna, Kitty, and Anna follow all the rules, but when their summoning circle is broken the vengeful spirit of Bloody Mary slips through, and as the girls struggle to escape Mary’s wrath, loyalties are questioned, friendships torn apart, and lives changed forever.

Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley: Sixteen-year-old Sam McKenna discovers that becoming one of the first girls to attend the revered Denmark Military Academy means living with a target on her back. 

Salt & Storm by Kendall Kulper: Sixteen-year-old Avery Roe wants to take her rightful place as the sea witch of Prince Island. When she foresees her own murder, a harpoon boy named Tane promises to help her change her fate and keep her island safe and prosperous, but salvation will require an unexpected sacrifice.

Survival Colony 9 by Joshua David Bellin: Querry Gen, a member of one of the last human survivor groups following global war, is targeted by the monstrous Skaldi, although Querry has no memory of why.

Sway by Kat Spears: High school senior Sway could sell hell to a bishop. When Ken, captain of the football team, hires Jesse to help him win the heart of Bridget, Jesse agrees. While learning about Bridget, he falls helplessly in love. A Cyrano De Bergerac story with a modern twist, it’s Jesse’s point of view, his observations about the world around him unimpeded by empathy or compassion; until Bridget forces him to confront his devastation over a crushing event a year ago and just maybe feel something again. 



Tabula Rasa by Kristen Lippert-Martin: A girl who has been held in an experimental medical facility to remove the memories that gave her post-traumatic stress disorder begins to recover her memory after fleeing mercenaries sent to eliminate her.

The Dolls by Kiki Sullivan: Eveny Cheval returns to Louisiana after growing up in New York and discovers she’s a voodoo queen.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing: Violet, a poor girl from the outer city, finds forbidden romance and uncovers brutal secrets when, after three years of training, she is purchased by a royal family as a surrogate mother for royal children.

The Only Thing to Fear by Caroline Tung Richmond: It has been nearly seventy years since Hitler’s armies won the war, and sixteen-year-old Zara St. James lives in the Shenandoah hills, part of the Eastern American Territories, under the rule of the Nazis–but a resistance movement is growing, and Zara, who dreams of freedom, may be the key to its success.

Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman: When the revered leader of her settlement, a dark, isolated land with merciless winters and puritanical rulers, asks Emmeline for her hand it is a rare opportunity, but not only does she love another man, she cannot ignore dreams that urge her into the dangerous and forbidden woods that took her grandmother’s life and her family’s reputation.

Words and Their Meanings by Kate Bassett: Seventeen-year-old Anna O’Mally is a gifted writer but for the past year, since her beloved uncle Joe died, she has been wrapped in grief that seems impenetrable until a strange email suggests she did not know Joe as well as she thought–and he was not the saint she believed he was.

August Debut YA Novels

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The summer tends to be a slower time in the book world, and that’s reflected in the fewer number of debut novels there seem to be to talk about these last few months. But there are some in August, and it’s a great time to catch up on the titles out earlier this year before the fall season brings them out in abundance. 
As always, I define debut novel as the author’s first book within any category, not just YA. If I’ve missed anything from a mainstream publisher, let me know in the comments. All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. 
Gates of Thread and Stone by Lori M. Lee: To save Reev, Kai must unravel the threads of her past and face shocking truths about her brother, her friendship with Avan, and her unique power. She will leave the only home she’s ever known and risk getting caught up in a revolution centuries in the making.
The Girl From The Well by Rin Chupeco: Okiku has wandered the world for centuries, freeing the innocent ghosts of the murdered-dead and taking the lives of killers with the vengeance they are due, but when she meets Tark she knows the moody teen with the series of intricate tattoos is not a monster and needs to be freed from the demonic malevolence that clings to him.

Wordless by Adrianne Strickland: After helping Khaya, the Word of Life, escape from her prison, seventeen-year-old trash collector Tavin Barnes joins her on the run, attempting to prevent Khaya’s captors from using the Words for world domination.
The Islands At The End of The World by Austin Aslan: Stranded in Honolulu when a strange cloud causes a worldwide electronics failure, sixteen-year-old Leilani and her father must make their way home to Hilo amid escalating perils, including her severe epilepsy.
Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid: During her cross-country adventures following the tragic death of her family, Leila touches the lives of four strangers — Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia. While forever changing the lives of these four, Leila also discovers an important truth about herself.
The Revelation of Gabriel Adam by S. L. Duncan: Seventeen-year-old Gabriel Adam is used to moving a lot. When a mysterious assassin burns his home to the ground Gabriel’s father reveals the truth of why they are always on the move: Gabriel is one of four Archangels, born human and sent to stop Armageddon. Now, Gabe must set aside dreams of attending NYU to try to fulfill his newly discovered role as protector of mankind.

Defining “Debut” in Young Adult Novels

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A couple of years ago, Rachel Hartman was a Morris Award finalist, and she went on to win the award in early 2013. The Morris award, for those unfamiliar, is given annually by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), which is a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The award, which started in 2009, honors “a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature” (from the award’s webpage).

When Hartman’s novel was named on the short list, I wrote about how it raised some questions about what the word “debut” really means. Hartman had self-published a book a couple years prior, meaning that in the purest sense of the word, Seraphina wasn’t really a debut novel. For the purposes of the Morris, that self-published book didn’t infringe on the eligibility of Hartman’s novel being recognized. Since self-publishing is still relatively new — relative the key word there — these sorts of technicalities were still being considered when it came to award eligibility, and now it’s made much clearer in the official policies for the Morris. A debut novel is the first book by an author that’s been available in print or made available through a US publishing house.

Over the last few years, it’s impossible not to take note of how the word “debut” has been applied liberally to books in the YA world. It’s become a marketing tool, as a way to sell a book to an audience. In many ways, this makes sense: it can be hard for a new author to gain any sort of traction in a market where there are huge, well-known names that are exceptionally popular, that dominate bestseller lists, that are seen in airport bookstores and on big displays in bookshops, and which show up in co-ops in online retail spaces. To be a new author without a huge, guaranteed audience is to look at the bottom of a huge mountain without much climbing gear and with little or no experience.

But it’s also an opportunity.

That label of debut has become currency in a way. In many ways, it’s a sort of salve to those readers who are tired of the same old same old in YA. This debut novel is a new opportunity, a change from everything that’s already out there. Rather than debut being a thing that maybe you shouldn’t know about a book, it’s instead become a means of promoting the book. It’s not a pejorative term; it’s the exact opposite.

I’m a sucker for debut novels personally. I love seeing someone’s first story on the page. I love thinking about what and how that story did and did not succeed, and if it’s been a good reading experience, I look forward to seeing what their sophomore and subsequent efforts will look like. There are authors who I feel I’ve been reading their entire careers, and there’s something exceptionally fun about watching them go from debuts to seasoned authors. To see how their styles have grown, how their ability to weave a story has become more masterful, to see themes and trends that emerge, whether they’re intentional or not (some authors write certain things in all their books even they’re unaware of it — I’ve noticed, for example, an author who always wove hand or finger imagery into her work and another who always seemed to have something with mothers in hers, even if the mother wasn’t the thrust of the story). The label “debut” to me is exciting — that’s part of why I keep track of them each month. It’s a way for me to keep track of these new voices and make note of what I should be picking up.

“Debut” has become a full-force marketing tool, and the ways in which the word has become stretched makes it near meaningless for me anymore when I see it in a catalog description or an author bio. What should mean first novel — the first book that author has ever written — has instead morphed into something more meaningless. “Debut” has been frequently put in front of the words “young adult novel” in recent years, which means that no, the book isn’t actually the author’s first, but it is his or her first novel written for young adults (and whatever that means, too, since “for young adults” is essentially meaningless as well — young adult may be a category of books, but did that author whose book is being marketed as young adult really write for that audience or did that decision get made on another level?).

In some ways, the word feels apologetic when applied like that. We’ve all read the villainization and the apologia for young adult fiction too many times for me to reiterate here.

In other ways, it feels like it’s a too-easy way to garner some buzz for the book. The author’s written other books, but this one, it’s different because it’s a YA book. They’ve done exceptionally well in other areas, so this debut into a new category of fiction is exciting since it’s their first.

The story — what the book is about — can get lost in those conversations. The story is, of course, what most readers care about. Sure, they’ll care about Big Name authors making a YA foray, but that’s double edged: sometimes that YA foray can be met with scoffs by readers who are devoted to a particular author.

Sometimes, an author changes his or her name when writing that debut young adult novel. Perhaps they’ve published prolifically within a genre and now that they have a YA story in mind, they want to build a new brand around it. That’s the case in one “debut young adult novel” that will be out later this year.

Or perhaps they did write a young adult novel but they published it under a pseudonym and now they’re publishing their “debut young adult novel” under their real name. That’s the case in one or two “debut young adult novels” I’ve seen pop up in recent years, too. Do those who have written young adult novels initially who go on to publish an adult novel have their books sold as “debut adult novels?” I’m not sure I’ve seen that. Then again, I’ve seen that sort of move happen less frequently than I have seen adult novelists becoming young adult novelists (by choice or by luck).

In one case this year, I’ve seen a novel marketed as a “young adult debut thriller,” published with the author’s initials as the first name, rather than her full name. This not only redefined what debut meant by including the word “thriller,” but it also served the purpose of looking like an actual debut novel because the author’s name changed. So while she may be trying to build a different brand around a new writing style — one the fans she’s already grown may not necessarily be into (think Nora Roberts / J. D. Robb) — the marketing of the book pulls a sleight of hand, making it look like something that it’s really not.

I’ve been tricked before, and that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. “Debut” to me means one thing, and it means only one thing. But do I maybe care too much about the purity of the word? Then again, I wonder why it’s necessary to use unless there’s a meaning behind it.

For me, the word “debut” doesn’t skew the reading experience unless it’s been qualified. Then I judge it a little tougher. I want to know why it was important enough for that word to be a selling point or a feature, over what other things could have been played up instead. There’s a story to the story, rather than a story of the story.

So why all of the insistence on the word “debut” if it’s being used with a load of qualifiers?  Does the word really move copies of the book? Does the word “debut” offer a certain leeway with readers? What about with reviewers?

What makes “debut” a word with such sex appeal and do readers — those without any interest or knowledge of the bigger book world — even care?

June Debut YA Novels

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If you’re keeping track of this year’s debut young adult novels, here’s a roundup of what’s out in the month of June. As usual, the titles included here are actual debut novels, meaning that these aren’t books that are first YA novels or first YA novels by authors who have published elsewhere under different names. 

All descriptions are from WorldCat, unless otherwise noted. It’s possible I’ve missed titles out this month — and it’s a pretty packed month for debuts — so if there’s something I’ve missed, let me know in the comments. 

17 First Kisses by Rachael Allen: Claire Jenkins has finally found a boy worth kissing, but when she discovers that her best friend Megan also has feeling for him, Claire must decide what she is willing to risk to get what she wants.

Drift by M. K. Hutchins: To raise his family out of poverty, seventeen-year-old Tenjat joins a dangerous defense against the naga monsters that gnaw at his drifting island’s foundation.

Otherbound by Corinne Duyvis: A seventeen-year-old boy finds that every time he closes his eyes, he is drawn into the body of a mute servant girl from another world–a world that is growing increasingly more dangerous, and where many things are not as they seem.

Hexed by Michelle Krys: Popular cheerleader Indigo Blackwood, sixteen, finds her perfect life threatened when Bishop, a tattooed, leather-clad stranger, tells her the family Bible just stolen from the attic of her mother’s occult shop could mean the end to all witches, including, he says, Indigo herself.

I Become Shadow by Joe Shine: Abducted at age fourteen and trained by the F.A.T.E. Center to become a Shadow, guardian of a future leader, Ren Sharpe, now eighteen, is assigned to protect college science student Gareth Young, but with help from her secret love and fellow Shadow, Junie, she learns that F.A.T.E. itself is behind an attack on Gareth.

My Last Kiss by Bethany Neal: When a seventeen-year-old girl dies and can appear to her boyfriend, she learns that her death may not have been an accident, and must delve into her past to face all the decisions she made that led to her last kiss. 

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings: In a world where the murder rate is higher than the birth rate, fifteen-year-old Meadow, trained by her father to kill and survive in any situation, falls in love with Zephyr, a government assassin

Trouble by Non Pratt: When Aaron willingly signs on to be the pretend father of Hannah’s unborn baby, he is looking for redemption from a past that has a stranglehold on him. Hannah, more simply, needs support in the absence of the real father, but she’ll discover so much more. 

Vivian Divine is Dead by Lauren Sabel: Teen celebrity Vivian Divine’s movie-star mom has been murdered, her famous-director dad tried to kill himself, and her boyfriend is cheating on her. When a death threat arrives with her fan mail, Vivian has no choice but to go on the run to Mexico. She soon discovers, through, that her Oscar-nominated performance killing villains on-screen did nothing to prepare her for escaping a madman in real life. Vivian finds an ally in Nick. He is everything Hollywood boys are not-genuine, kind, and determined to see Vivian for who she really is. But even he, seems like he can’t be trusted. Beat up, hungry, and more confused than ever about who she’s running from, Vivian realizes this isn’t the stuff bad TV movies are made of; this is material for a full-on blockbuster horror flick.  

My Faire Lady by Laura Wettersten: After breaking up with her boyfriend, seventeen-year-old Rowena takes an out-of-town summer job at a Renaissance fair, but romantic entanglements soon follow.

Take Back the Skies by Lucy Saxon: To escape from a planned arranged marriage, teenaged Cat Hunter disguises herself as a boy and stows away on a smuggler’s airship where she discovers a world of excitement and adventure.

The Truth About Alice by Jennifer Matthieu: When ugly rumors and lies about Alice Franklin start after one of the guys she allegedly slept with at a party dies in a car accident, questions about truth arise in her small town. 

Cinderella’s Dress by Shonna Slayton: Being seventeen during World War II is tough. Finding out you’re the next keeper of the real Cinderella’s dress is even tougher. Kate simply wants to create window displays at the department store where she’s working, trying to help out with the war effort. But when long-lost relatives from Poland arrive with a steamer trunk they claim holds the Cinderella’s dress, life gets complicated. Now, with a father missing in action, her new sweetheart shipped off to boot camp, and her great aunt losing her wits, Kate has to unravel the mystery before it’s too late. After all, the descendants of the wicked stepsisters will stop at nothing to get what they think they deserve.

Push Girl by Chelsie Hill and Jessica Love: Kara, a high school junior, is popular with a great group of friends, an amazing boyfriend, and expectations of being Homecoming Queen until she leaves a party angry and wakes up in a hospital bed, paralized from the waist down, but as she is forced to adjust to her new physical reality, she also learns that her friends are not who they seemed to be.

Behind The Scenes by Dahlia Adler: High school senior Ally Duncan’s best friend may be the Vanessa Park – star of TV’s hottest new teen drama – but Ally’s not interested in following in her BFF’s Hollywood footsteps. In fact, the only thing Ally’s ever really wanted is to go to Columbia and study abroad in Paris. But when her father’s mounting medical bills threaten to stop her dream in its tracks, Ally nabs a position as Van’s on-set assistant to get the cash she needs.  Spending the extra time with Van turns out to be fun, and getting to know her sexy co-star Liam is an added bonus. But when the actors’ publicist arranges for Van and Liam to “date” for the tabloids just after he and Ally share their first kiss, Ally will have to decide exactly what role she’s capable of playing in their world of make believe. If she can’t play by Hollywood’s rules, she may lose her best friend, her dream future, and her first shot at love. (Description via Goodreads). 

Essence by Lisa Ann O’Kane: Neutrality is the key to longevity. This motto has governed 17 year-old Autumn’s life in the mid-21st century Centrist cult, which believes that expressing emotions leads to Essence drain and premature death. But Autumn’s younger brother’s death casts her faith into question. While sprinting through a park in violation of Centrist teachings, she encounters Ryder Stone, an Outsider who claims Essence drain is nothing more than a Centrist scare tactic. She agrees to join his Community, a utopia of adrenaline junkies living in the abandoned remains of Yosemite National Park. Autumn learns about sex, drugs, and living life to the fullest. But as she discovers dark secrets beneath the Community’s perfect exterior, she realises that this illusion of paradise could be shattered.
The Girl Who Never Was by Skylar Dorset: On her seventeenth birthday, Selkie discovers that she is a half-faerie princess and that the mother she never knew wants to kill her.