Ten Upcoming YA Releases to Put on Hold!

Jessi

1. All Alone With You by Amelia Diane Coombs: Eloise Deane is the worst and doesn't care who knows it. She's grumpy, prefers to be alone, and is just slogging through senior year with one goal: get accepted to USC and move to California. So when her guidance counselor drops the bombshell that to score a scholarship she'll desperately need, her applications require volunteer hours, Eloise is up for the challenge. Until she's paired with LifeCare, a volunteer agency that offers social support to lonely seniors through phone calls and visits. Basically, it's a total nightmare for Eloise's anxiety. Eloise realizes she's made a huge mistake-especially when she's paired with Austin, the fellow volunteer who's the sunshine to her cloudy day. But as Eloise and Austin work together to keep Marianne Landis-the mysterious former frontwoman of the 1970s band the Laundromats-company, something strange happens. She actually...likes Marianne and Austin? Eloise isn't sure what to do with that, especially when her feelings toward Austin begin to blur into more-than-friends territory. And when ex-girlfriends, long-buried wounds, and insecurities reappear, Eloise will have a choice to make: go all in with Marianne and Austin or get out before she gets hurt.

2. Damned if You Do by Alex Brown: Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes. She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is...missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear – then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father. The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.

3. Foul Heart Huntman by Chloe Gong: Winter is drawing thick in 1932 Shanghai, as is the ever-nearing threat of a Japanese invasion.
Rosalind Lang has suffered the worst possible fate for a national spy: she’s been exposed. With the media storm camped outside her apartment for the infamous Lady Fortune, she’s barely left her bedroom in weeks, plotting her next course of action after Orion was taken and his memories of Rosalind wiped. Though their marriage might have been a sham, his absence hurts her more than any physical wound. She won’t rest until she gets him back. But with her identity in the open, the task is near impossible. The only way to leave the city and rescue Orion is under the guise of a national tour. It’s easy to convince her superiors that the countryside needs unity more than ever, and who better than an immortal girl to stir pride and strength into the people? When the tour goes wrong, however, everything Rosalind once knew is thrown up in the air. Taking refuge outside Shanghai, old ghosts come into the open and adversaries turn to allies. To save Orion, they must find a cure to his mother’s traitorous invention and take this dangerous chemical weapon away from impending foreign invasion—but the clock is ticking, and if Rosalind fails, it’s not only Orion she loses, but her nation itself. 

4. Foxglove by Adalyn Grace: A duke has been murdered. The lord of Thorn Grove has been framed. And Fate, the elusive brother of Death, has taken up residence in a sumptuous palace nearby. He's hell-bent on revenge after Death took the life of the woman he loved many years ago...and now he's determined to have Signa for himself, no matter the cost. Signa and her cousin Blythe are certain that Fate can save Elijah Hawthorne from wrongful imprisonment if the girls will entertain Fate's presence. But the more time they spend with him, the more frightening their reality becomes as Signa exhibits dramatic new powers that link her to Fate's past. With mysteries and danger around every corner, the cousins must decide whom they can trust as they navigate their futures in high society, unravel the murders that haunt their family, and play Fate's unexpected games-all with their destinies hanging in the balance. This is the sequel to Belladonna. 

5. I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Shea Jamison: Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood. The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she's dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom. But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice: continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is-monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn't catch her first.

6. The Boy You Always Wanted by Michelle Quach: Francine loves her grandfather, but their time together is running out. He has one final wish: to see a male heir carry on the family traditions. Francine knows his ideas are outdated, but she would do anything for him. Her solution? Ask Ollie Tran, a family friend (and former crush, not that it matters), to pretend to be ceremonially adopted and act like the grandson her A Gung never had. Ollie has always made a point of avoiding the odd, too blunt (and fine, sort of cute) Francine, whose intensity has always made him uncomfortable. So when she asks him to help deceive her dying A Gung, Ollie's definitely not down. He doesn't get why anyone would go to such lengths, even for family. Especially with a backwards (and sexist, Ollie keeps stressing) scheme like this. Francine, however, is determined to make it work, and soon Ollie finds himself more invested in her plan-and in her-than he ever thought possible. But as the tangled lies and feelings pile up, Francine will have to discover what exactly she needs for herself-and from Ollie. Because sometimes the boy you always wanted isn't what you expected.

7. The Last Girls Standing by Jennifer Dugan: Sloan and Cherry. Cherry and Sloan. They met only a few days before masked men with machetes attacked the summer camp where they worked, a massacre that left the rest of their fellow counselors dead. Now, months later, the two are inseparable, their traumatic experience bonding them in ways no one else can understand. But as new evidence comes to light and Sloan learns more about the motives behind the ritual killing that brought them together, she begins to suspect that her girlfriend may be more than just a survivor-she may actually have been a part of it. Cherry tries to reassure her, but Sloan only becomes more distraught. Is this gaslighting or reality? Is Cherry a victim or a perpetrator? Is Sloan confused, or is she seeing things clearly for the very first time? Against all odds, Sloan survived that hot summer night. But will she survive what comes next?

8. The Reunion by Kit Frick: Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home. It's been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason's mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn't take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family "fun" reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead-and everyone's a suspect: The peacekeeper: Addison needs a better hiding place. The outsider: Theo just wants to mend fences. The romantic: Natalia doesn't want to talk about the past. The hothead: Mason needs to keep his temper under control. It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

9. The Siren, the Song, and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall: By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors' rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve-lavishly dressed but washed up, half-dead, on the Wariuta island shore-turn out to be? Is warrior Koa's kindness toward her admirable, or is his sister Kaia's sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better? Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. This is the sequel to The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

10. Unnecessary Drama by Nina Kenwood: Eighteen-year-old Brooke is the kind of friend who not only remembers everyone's birthdays, but also organizes the group present, pays for it, and politely chases others for their share. She's the helper, the doer, the maker-of spreadsheets. She's the responsible one who always follows the rules-and she plans to keep it that way during her first year of college. Her student housing only has one rule: "no unnecessary drama." Which means no fights, tension, or romance between roommates. When one of them turns out to be Jesse, her high-school nemesis, Brooke is determined she can handle it. They'll simply silently endure living together and stay out of each other's way. But it turns out Jesse isn't so easy to ignore. 

 

This blog post reflects the opinions of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Brooklyn Public Library.

 

Post a Comment

While BPL encourages an open forum, posts and comments are moderated by library staff. BPL reserves the right, within its sole discretion, not to post and to remove submissions or comments that are unlawful or violate this policy. While comments will not be edited by BPL personnel, a comment may be deleted if it violates our comment policy.

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
eNews Signup

Get the latest updates from BPL and be the first to know about new programs, author talks, exciting events and opportunities to support your local library.

Sign Up