A socialite lives a high-stakes double life as a burglar. A teenage rapper struggles to fill the huge shoes of her father. These are the jumping-off points for some of this season’s most highly-anticipated YA novels. Here are ten to buy now (or preorder for later).
10 New YA Books to Get Excited About This Season
let's Go Swimming On Doomsday By Natalie C. Anderson
When 16-year-old Abdi's family is kidnapped, he's forced to become a child soldier with a ruthless jihadi group. To earn his family’s freedom, he agrees to be embedded as a spy within the militia's ranks, understanding that if his duplicity is discovered, he’ll be killed.
two Can Keep A Secret By Karen M. Mcmanus
Ellery’s aunt went missing as a teenager in the small town of Echo Ridge. Years later, the town’s homecoming queen was killed. After Ellery moves there to live with a grandmother she barely knows, there’s another disappearance, calling into question the town’s picturesque façade and launching Ellery on a mission to uncover its secrets.
on The Come Up By Angie Thomas
The highly anticipated second novel from the author of 2017’s best-selling The Hate U Give focuses on Bri, a 16-year-old longing to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. As the daughter of an underground hip-hop legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s forced to fight, against all odds, to honor his legacy and achieve her dreams.
death Prefers Blondes By Caleb Roehrig
By day, teen socialite Margo leads a glamorous life in California. By night, she pulls off high-stakes burglaries with a gang of dazzling drag queens. But when Margo’s personal life takes a sudden, dark turn, her crew is put in deadly peril.
what We Buried By Kate A. Boorman (february 26)
Liv and Jory Brewer have grown up resenting each other. Liv is a former pageant queen and reality TV star, while her older brother, born with a partial facial paralysis, was left in the shadows. The only thing they share is contempt for their parents. After Liv sues her parents for emancipation, they mysteriously vanish, forcing the siblings to embark on a thrilling adventure to uncover the truth.
rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee By Jeff Zentner (february 26)
Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, the hosts of a campy creature-feature show on a local cable station. But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures, testing the bonds of their friendship.
shout By Laurie Halse Anderson (march 12)
Enraged by how little our culture has changed in relation to sexual assault in the decades since her best-selling book Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson is back with a vulnerable poetry memoir complete with reflections, rants and calls to action.
carmilla By Kim Turrisi (may 7)
An adaptation of the award-winning queer vampire web series of the same name, Carmilla follows college freshman Laura as she embarks on her first year at Silas University. But when her roommate vanishes and a sarcastic, nocturnal philosophy student named Carmilla moves into her dorm, Laura is determined to uncover the mystery.
again, But Better By Christine Riccio (may 9)
Shane is a pre-med student with near-perfect grades, but she’s made zero friends in college and goes home every weekend. Hoping to be forced out of her shell, she signs up for a semester abroad in London, where she’ll surely right all her college mistakes, right? As she soon learns, living outside of her bubble is easier said than done.
i Love You So Mochi By Sarah Kuhn (may 28)
Kimi is obsessed with fashion, but her mother disapproves. So when her estranged grandparents invite her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to escape. In Japan, she loses herself in the city's beauty, meets a cute aspiring med student and learns more about her mom and family.