Today’s post is sponsored by Cordelia Jensen and Lilac and the Switchback!
Title Lilac and the Switchback
Author Cordelia Jensen
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Publication Date August 19th 2025 by Holiday House
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A riveting middle grade novel in verse for any kid who has ever felt unwanted, uncomfortable, or unsure of where they fit in.
Lilac has lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousin ever since her mom died. She already feels like an “extra” member of a family that doesn’t have enough money or space.
Then she finds out her aunt is pregnant with twins, due soon after Lilac turns thirteen. How could they possibly want her around when they’ll have two more kids in their crowded home? As she struggles to process her feelings about the pregnancy, Lilac drifts apart from her best friend Callie, leaving Lilac lonelier than ever.
In a timely twist of fate, Lilac discovers a check sent by her estranged father. Maybe he is the family she’s been looking for… and maybe it’s worth risking everything to find him. After all, how much does the “extra” kid really have to lose?
Poignant, and full of both growing pains and healing, this sensitive story told in lyrical verse is just right for fans of Jacqueline Woodson and Andrea Beatriz Arango.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
With books covering a wide variety of genres and subject matter – from fantastical adventures to historical reflection, survival stories to realistic fiction that explores contemporary issues faced by the youth of today – 2025 was another wonderful year for readers who love novels-in-verse! In today’s post, I’ve compiled a list of 42 books written for middle grade and young adult readers written in verse and published in 2025.
Did you find this post helpful? Over on Pop! Goes The Reader’s Patreon, I share two Hot Off The Press posts detailing over 300 middle grade and adult fiction and non-fiction books being published each month along with other exclusive posts and rewards including downloadable wallpapers for your desktop and devices and book lists on a specific theme or genre, like this one, for a pledge of $5!
Publication Date January 7th 2025 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A historical middle-grade novel in verse from multiple Coretta Scott King winner Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.
As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh. Set against the historic backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel in verse about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world.
Cooper’s primary concern is navigating fifth grade, where she faces both an extra-strict teacher and the bullying of Wade Carter, the only child of a well-to-do white family, whose home Cooper’s mother cleans for extra income. How can she shine when her mother works for the meanest boy in school? To make matters worse, Cooper quietly wishes she could be someone else.
It’s not all bad, though. Cooper and her beloved older sister have fallen for the Beatles, and Cooper is thrilled to have something special they can share. And what she learns about her British idols adds new complexity to Cooper’s feelings about race.
Publication Date January 21st 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
An uplifting novel in verse about an immigrant girl adjusting to life in the US through her love of nature, music, and poetry, by the award-winning author of The Bridge Home.
When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind — her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US — or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach.
But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things — careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.
Publication Date January 21st 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Combining the gentleness of Miyazaki, the wintry wonderland of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and the whimsicality of Newbery winner The Girl Who Drank The Moon, Nicole M. Hewitt’s debut middle-grade novel, The Song of Orphan’s Garden, is an enchanting fantasy tale with all the makings of a new classic.
In an arctic world that’s getting colder every day, Lyriana’s only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan’s Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.
Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.
When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it ― but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.
Publication Date February 4th 2025 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
#1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant novel in verse and vignettes.
Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life-and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is a story of a girl’s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.
Publication Date February 11th 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A poignant novel in verse in which, after a life-changing accident, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion. From the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.
All these months of staring at the wall?
All these months of feeling weak?
It’s ending —
I’m going back to fencing.
And then it’ll be
like nothing ever happened.No one knows hard work and dedication like Valentina Camacho. And Vale’s thing is fencing. She’s the top athlete at her fencing gym. Or she was…until the accident.
After months away, Vale is finally cleared to fence again, but it’s much harder than before. Her body doesn’t move the way it used to, and worst of all is the new number one: Myrka. When she sweeps Vale aside with her perfect form and easy smile, Vale just can’t accept that. But the harder Vale fights to catch up, the more she realizes her injury isn’t the only thing holding her back. If she can’t leave her accident in the past, then what does she have to look forward to?
In this moving novel from the Newbery Honor-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All, one girl finds her way back to her life’s passion and discovers that the sum of a person’s achievements doesn’t amount to the whole of them.
Publication Date February 11th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A group of children investigate the threat that prompted large-scale evacuations in this powerful and dramatic companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Alone told in multiple POVs.
After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat.
And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?
Publication Date March 11th 2025 by Kokila
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A middle grade novel in verse about a young trans girl who uses a computer game to process an ADHD diagnosis, isolation, and her relationship to gender for fans of Too Bright To See by Kyle Lukoff.
J—’s life is consumed by the roller coaster video game Coaster Boss, and by the power she exerts over the pixelated theme park attendees. Her life outside the game, however, is less controllable.
Me.
I’m such a big space. I break the universe, a glitch.She’s navigating ADHD, the loneliness of middle school, and an overwhelming crush on a girl named Junie. J— is convinced that Junie sees her as who she really is, a person who isn’t “bad” just because she doesn’t stay quiet and sit still in class. As a person who is realizing that the name she’s been given doesn’t really fit her. And that maybe boy doesn’t either.
Glitch Girl! follows J— from fifth to seventh grade, from the beginning to the end of her obsession with Coaster Boss, and to the start of a new friendship. When J— meets Sam, a nonbinary classmate, she begins to realize that it’s okay to not fit into neat, pixelated boxes.
Publication Date March 18th 2025 by HarperCollins
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A novel-in-verse about life after loss, 13 Ways To Say Goodbye beautifully renders the power of sibling bonds, the depth of grief, and the strength of learning to love again, perfect for fans of Everywhere Blue and The Distance To Home, from the author of The Song of Us.
Nina always followed her older sister, Lily. But just before her thirteenth birthday, Lily died, leaving Nina behind forever.
In the three years since she lost her sister, Nina has completed Lily’s secret Before Birthday lists to continue in her footsteps. But now Nina is catching up. When Nina flies to Paris, France, and completes tasks that Lily never finished, Nina finds herself magically transported inside of her own memories, face-to-face with the ghosts of her past.
With her birthday looming and the last list running out, Nina is torn between visiting her sister in her memories and adventuring in the present, including crushing hard on her art classmate, Sylvie. Should she follow Lily’s instructions or try something new? And what happens when she finishes the list?
Publication Date March 25th 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A deeply moving middle grade novel in verse about a girl struggling with depression when she starts fifth grade amidst a sea of changes.
Pearl loves watching the majestic loggerhead turtles and octopuses glide through the water at the aquarium. Pearl finds it especially easy to identify with the octopuses, who have millions of touch receptors all over their bodies. They feel everything. Sometimes, Pearl wishes she was more like a turtle, with a hard outer shell — it hurts too much to feel everything.
And the changes at the start of fifth grade don’t feel good to Pearl at all. New teachers, lockers, and being in different classes than her friends is unsettling. Pearl tries her best to pretend she’s fine, but she starts to struggle with things that used to come easy, like schoolwork, laughing and skateboarding with her best friend, Rosie, running and even sleeping.
After a disastrous parent-teacher conference, her parents decide to bring Pearl to Dr. Jill, who diagnoses her with depression. At first Pearl is resistant to Dr. Jill’s help; she doesn’t like feeling different, but she also doesn’t want to continue feeling so bad all the time. When Dr. Jill asks Pearl to try one Impossible Thing each day, like running, skateboarding, or walking her dog Tuck, she decides to try. For each impossible thing she attempts, Pearl puts a bead on a string. Bead by bead, and with the support of family and friends, Pearl finds her way back to herself. She discovers just like the moon is always there in the sky, even if it isn’t full, she’ll always be herself even when she doesn’t feel whole.
In this tender novel-in-verse, critically acclaimed author Bobbie Pyron draws from her own experiences to tell the story of a brave girl learning to take care of and love herself.
Publication Date April 15th 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A girl with cerebral palsy navigates loss, grief, and the aftermath of trauma following a school shooting in a world that wasn’t built for her in this deeply affecting novel in verse from Jamie Sumner, the acclaimed author of Roll With It.
There is a Before and an After for sixth grader Bea Coughlin. Before the shooting at her school that took the lives of her classmates and teacher and After, when she must figure out how to grieve, live, and keep rolling forward. But as her community rallies in a tidal wave of marches and speeches and protests, Bea can’t get past the helplessness she felt in her wheelchair as others around her took cover.
Through the help of therapeutic horseback riding, Bea finally begins to feel like herself again. And as she heals, she finds her voice and the bravery to demand change.
Publication Date April 29th 2025 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Bestselling and award-winning author Kate Messner takes readers on a heart-filling journey as a boy finds his path to healing.
One summer.
46 mountain peaks.
A second chance to make things right.Finn Connelly is nothing like his dad, a star athlete and firefighter hero who always ran toward danger until he died two years ago. Finn is about to fail seventh grade and has never made headlines…until now.
Caught on camera vandalizing a cemetery, he’s in big trouble for knocking down some dead old lady’s headstone. Turns out that grave belongs to a legendary local mountain climber, and her daughter makes Finn an unusual offer: she’ll drop all the charges if he agrees to climb all forty-six Adirondack High Peaks in a single summer. And there’s just one more thing – he has to bring along the dead woman’s dog.
In a wild three months of misadventures, mountain mud, and unexpected mentors, Finn begins to find his way on the trails. At the top of each peak, he can see for miles and slowly begins to understand more about himself and his dad. But the mountains don’t care about any of that, and as the clock ticks down to September, they have more surprises in store. Finn’s final summit challenge may be more than even a hero can face.
Publication Date May 13th 2025 by Candlewick
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A bullied girl who communicates with ghosts finds her inner strength in this haunting novel in verse that will resonate with anyone who has felt themselves to be different.
Anna sees ghosts. The spirits of her ancestors call to her from the shadows, and no matter where she is, Anna always answers. Kids in her middle school tease her. Teachers and parents are worried by her strange behavior. The only one who seems to understand is Anna’s beloved grandmother, Bubbe, who has always treasured Anna’s shayna neshama, her beautiful soul. Spending Shabbos with Bubbe is the only thing that gives Anna the sense of love and belonging that she needs.
But when a ghost named Ruthie appears at Bubbe’s house by the sea, Anna begins to uncover long-hidden secrets that reveal the mystery of her family’s troubled past. As Anna and Ruthie get closer, Anna must decide for herself whether being connected to a restless ghost is worth the risk. When it becomes clear that Bubbe’s life is in danger, Anna must face the horrible truth: She alone has the ability to save her family and heal the wounds that follow them from one generation to the next.
National Book Award long-listed author Marcella Pixley brings her Jewish faith and her acclaimed sense of lyricism to this powerful story of bravery, forgiveness, and healing.
Publication Date May 13th 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this riveting coming-of-age survival story in verse perfect for fans of Alan Gratz, a fire lookout-in-training must find her courage when a wildfire breaks out on her watch.
Twelve-year-old Opal has a secret: she’s deathly afraid of fire. Still Opal is preparing to become a fourth-generation lookout on Wolf Mountain, deep in the New Mexico wilderness. She, Mom, and Gran live at ten thousand feet in a single room at the top of a fire tower. They are responsible for spotting any hint of smoke before it becomes an uncontrollable blaze.
Instead of training for the lonely life of a lookout, Opal wishes she could be starting seventh grade in Silver City, attending real classes with kids her own age and even going to afterschool clubs like FFA. But Wolf Mountain has other ideas. When Mom makes the long trek to town for supplies and Gran goes missing, Opal is the only one to spot a tell-tale spiral of smoke moving up the mountainside. She’ll have to be braver than she’s ever been as she heads into the woods, beyond Wolf Ridge’s old blackened burn scar, to face down a fire on her own. But when a fire is what took her father away, and Opal herself knows the sting of smoke and lick of flames, how can she be brave enough when it really counts?
Publication Date May 20th 2025 by Scholastic Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
There’s a ghost in the walls, and V must decide if it is an ally or an enemy. The wrong decision could destroy her and her family.
From Schneider Honor Award winning author Meg Eden Kuyatt comes a chilling and insightful novel-in-verse.
After a hard school year, V has been sent to her Grandma Jojo’s house for the summer in order to get away from it all. But unlike neurodivergent, artistic, sock-collecting V, Jojo is uptight, critical, and obsessed with her spotless house. She doesn’t get V at all. V is sure she’s doomed to have the worst summer ever.
Then V starts hearing noises from inside the walls of the house… Knocks, the sounds of a girl crying, and voices echoing in the night.
When V finds a ghostly girl hiding in the walls, they seem to have an immediate connection. This might be V’s chance to get back at her perfect grandmother by messing with her just a little bit.
But the buried secrets go much deeper – and are much more dangerous – than V even suspects. And they threaten to swallow her and her family whole if she can’t find a way to uncover the truth of the girl before it’s too late.
A contemporary novel-in-verse with a ghostly twist by the author of Good Different, this book is about the power – and danger – of secrets. The Girl in the Walls will grab you and not let go until the very last page.
Publication Date May 20th 2025 by HarperCollins
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From the award-winning author of Unsettled, Reem Faruqi, comes a stirring coming-of-age story about a Muslim girl who, during the Partition of India, must learn to cope with loss, guilt, and change in order to grow. Perfect for fans of Amil and The After and The Partition Project and inspired by real-life events.
You can notice differences
if you look really close,
which lately everyone
seems to be doing.Zarina loves her life in Poona, India. She spends her days happily hanging out with her best friends, Geeta and Jahana, and playing with her three brothers. However, Zarina and her family are given unsettling news: Muslims and Hindus are to separate by religion. Hindus are expected to stay in India, while Muslims are expected to move to a new land, Pakistan.
Zarina is heartbroken at having to move away from all she knows and loves, and after the frightening journey to Pakistan, she feels unsure that the unfamiliar country will ever feel like home. When an accident happens that leaves Zarina grappling with extreme guilt, she decides it’s best to attend boarding school far away, much to the protest of her mom. Will a fresh start at a new school give Zarina the chance to thrive in Pakistan, or will the divisions within herself and her family continue to widen?
From award-winning author Reem Faruqi comes a heartening coming-of-age story, inspired by her grandmother’s life, that reminds us that through overwhelming change can come the most beautiful growth.
Publication Date June 3rd 2025 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A powerful debut novel in verse about a neurodivergent seventh grader who dreams of traveling to the stars one day.
Seventh grader Alex’s favorite things to do are watching YouTube videos of rocket launches with his Papi and spending hours on the NASA website reading about astronauts and planets. He even dreams of going to space one day himself, and knows he’ll have to study hard in order to get there.
But Alex is in his grade’s SC (self-contained) classroom, which means doing the same dull worksheets every day and reading books his sister read back in the third grade. Worst of all, being in SC means nobody thinks he’s ready to join Ms. Rosef’s mainstream science class — the class Alex knows will be the first step on his path to NASA.
When his teacher says “not yet” for the millionth time, Alex decides it’s time to make a change. Now he’s ready to try everything he can to get the people in his life — his teachers, his parents, and the kids at school — to understand that he, Alex Ramirez, is capable of the extraordinary.
Publication Date July 15th 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
As a community recovers from a devastating wildfire, two friends find their way back to each other and their homes, by award-winning author Chris Baron.
Perfect for fans of Alan Gratz and Lauren Tarshis.
Finn and his friend, nicknamed Rabbit, live in a rural area that’s been hit hard by wildfires. Families were displaced and school was interrupted. Moreover, their beloved forest is suffering – animals and plants haven’t been able to come back, and the two friends wonder if there’s anything they can do to help. Rabbit’s uncle, a science teacher, is part of a study that may help bring the forest back to life, but Finn and Rabbit wonder if the forest can wait. And what if another fire comes in the meantime? They believe a small part of the forest – the forest heart – that survived the wildfire may hold the key to regrowth, but first, they have to find it and then convince the adults around them to listen.
For any young person who’s ever felt powerless against the world, here is a story about two kids doing all they can to understand their natural world and preserve it.
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A cricket-loving Pakistani girl stifled by patriarchal expectations disguises herself as a boy to get a job to pay her sister’s medical bills in this “lyrical action-packed debut full of determination and grit” (Reem Faruqi, award-winning author of Golden Girl).
Living with her aunt and patriarchal uncle in Karachi, Pakistan, recently orphaned twelve-year-old Aarzu detests the way she and her younger sister get treated like extras and excluded from all the fun stuff. Aarzu dreams of playing cricket, just like her male cousins and the neighborhood boys in the streets, but her uncle will hear nothing of it. According to him, girls ought to master the art of making round rotis, not play sports.
When her sister requires urgent medical treatment but finances are tight, Aarzu decides to earn money herself. She hears of a part-time job at a bungalow near her school—but it’s only open to boys. Aarzu has no choice but to disguise herself as a turban-wearing boy to get the gig.
Now, Aarzu must find a way to balance school, work, chores, and secret cricket practices — all without burning out or getting caught by her uncle — or else her dreams of making the girls cricket team and her quest to save her sister will crumble around her.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date August 19th 2025 by Holiday House
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A riveting middle grade novel in verse for any kid who has ever felt unwanted, uncomfortable, or unsure of where they fit in.
Lilac has lived with her aunt, uncle, and cousin ever since her mom died. She already feels like an “extra” member of a family that doesn’t have enough money or space.
Then she finds out her aunt is pregnant with twins, due soon after Lilac turns thirteen. How could they possibly want her around when they’ll have two more kids in their crowded home? As she struggles to process her feelings about the pregnancy, Lilac drifts apart from her best friend Callie, leaving Lilac lonelier than ever.
In a timely twist of fate, Lilac discovers a check sent by her estranged father. Maybe he is the family she’s been looking for…and maybe it’s worth risking everything to find him. After all, how much does the “extra” kid really have to lose?
Poignant, and full of both growing pains and healing, this sensitive story told in lyrical verse is just right for fans of Jacqueline Woodson and Andrea Beatriz Arango.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date September 16th 2025 by Roaring Brook Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Based on the true story of Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident, this vivid and uplifting middle grade debut novel in verse about one young child’s courage to stand up for what is right, and the determination of the Mexican community is perfect for fans of Esperanza Rising and Inside Out & Back Again.
Twelve-year-old Roberto Alvarez is the youngest of his siblings, born on United States soil. He’s el futuro, their dream for a life away from the fire of the Mexican Revolution.
Moved by anti-immigrant and anti-Mexican propaganda, the Lemon Grove school board and chamber of commerce create a separate “Americanization” school for the Mexican children attending the Lemon Grove Grammar School. But the new Olive Street School is an old barn retrofitted for the children forced to attend a segregated school.
Amid threats of deportation, the Comité de Vecinos risk everything to stand their ground and, with the support of the Mexican Consulate, choose Roberto as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the school board in this vivid and uplifting novel in verse based on true events.
From critically-acclaimed author María Dolores Águila (Barrio Rising) comes an inspiring novel in verse set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and Mexican Repatriation, based on the true story of the United States’ first successful school desegregation case, two decades before Brown v. Board of Education ruled that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
Publication Date October 7th 2025 by Versify
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Olive thinks in words. Mattie thinks in pictures. Can they find a way to speak the same language?
Beautifully told in words and comic panels, Mattie and Olive’s story will stay with you.
Olive collects words. Rare words, common words, fancy words, funny words. She expresses herself by writing poetry, making crossword puzzles, and creating dictionary definitions for what she refers to as “neologisms.”
Her sister, Mattie, could not be more different. Mattie struggles with words and so instead prefers pictures, expressing herself through cartoons and sketches.
Despite their differences, the two girls are inseparable. Or at least, they were. After their dad moves away and Olive develops her first crush, the sisters’ dynamic changes. Olive wants to spend more time with people who aren’t related to her, but Mattie doesn’t want anything to change. When their dad starts acting suspiciously and Mattie’s grades begin to fall, the sisters’ relationship fractures. Olive and Mattie must discover that love isn’t always how we envision it.
Aimee Lucido’s latest novel in verse is a heartfelt and inventive story of what happens when the people we love change — and we do, too.
Publication Date January 7th 2025 by Holiday House
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
This dazzling YA cli-fi written in prose and verse will speak to any reader struggling with the state of our world and how to understand their place in it.
“In outer space, no one will know me as the girl with the dead sister.”
Seventeen-year-old self-proclaimed Goth and aspiring writer Julieta Villarreal is drowning. She’s grieving her twin sister who died in a hit-and-run, her Florida home is crumbling under the weight of climate disaster, and she isn’t sure how much longer she can stand to stay in a place that doesn’t seem to have room for her.
Then, Juli is recruited by Cometa, a private space program enlisting high-aptitude New American teens for a high-stakes mission to establish humanity’s first extraterrestrial settlement. Cometa pitches this as an opportunity for Juli to give back to her adopted country; Juli sees it as her only chance to do something big with her life.
Juli begins her training, convinced Cometa is her path to freedom. But her senior year is full of surprises, including new friendships, roller skating, and first love. And through her small but poignant acts of environmentalism, Juli begins to find hope in unexpected places. As her world collapses from the ramifications of the climate crisis, Juli must decide if she’ll carry her loss together with her community or leave it all behind.
Told in gripping prose interspersed with poems from Juli’s writing journal, this genre-bending novel explores themes of immigration, climate justice, grief, and the power of communities.
Publication Date January 14th 2025 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
This historical novel in prose and verse tells the story of a deadly secret hiding in plain sight and of the women who risk everything to provide care for those with nowhere else to turn, perfect for fans of Blood Water Paint and The Lost Apothecary.
Early Seventeenth-Century Rome
For as long as she can remember, Carmela Tofana has desperately wanted one thing: to be allowed behind the counter of her mother’s apothecary in Campo Marzio, Rome. When she turns sixteen, she’s finally allowed into the inner sanctum: the workroom where her mother, Giulia Tofana, and two assistants craft renowned remedies for their customers. But for every sweet-smelling flower extract in the workroom, there’s another potion requiring darker ingredients. And then there’s Aqua Tofana, the apothecary’s remedy of last resort for husbands who are just as deadly as any disease. In all Carmela’s years of wishing to follow in her mother’s footsteps, she never realized one tiny vial could be the death of them all.
Publication Date January 14th 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Twelve short stories in verse by bestselling and award-winning authors that explore the highs and lows of love – romantic, platonic, familial, and self-love.
Love can be many things – all-consuming, fleeting, vengeful, selfless, toxic, uplifting, and always, a core part of the teen experience that leaves an indelible mark. This enchanting, genre-crossing anthology delivers something for every reader with unique characters, global settings, and a dazzling mixture of myth, historical, speculative, and contemporary fiction.
With the turn of a page, get swept away by unexpected love blooming between two princes from enemy Mesoamerican nations in the 15th century, who’d rather make music rather than war; cheer for a timid bearded lady who was shunned by her family and runs away to find belonging and safety at the circus during the 1800s experience the heartbreak of saying goodbye to a beloved pet; breathlessly watch a myth unfold as a siren bound to the water falls in love with a winged forest spirit, their love seemingly impossible from the start. Root for a girl who emerges from grief and battles with chronic pain to discover how to love herself and life again.
Love is complicated, and this anthology embraces the messiness and the joy of all kinds of love. Contributors include Alexandra Alessandri, David Bowles, Melanie Crowder, Margarita Engle, Eric Gansworth, Robin Gow, Mariama J. Lockington, Laura Ruby, Padma Venkatraman, Jasmine Warga, Charles Waters and Kip Wilson
Publication Date January 21st 2025 by Greenwillow Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In 1847, everything in Ireland was falling apart — but sixteen-year-old Nell was falling in love. Carnegie Medal winner Sarah Crossan’s first historical novel-in-verse is a suspenseful and heartbreaking story of love, family, and the forces that can destroy us or bind us forever. For fans of Joy McCullough, Elizabeth Acevedo, Malinda Lo, and Ruta Sepetys.
Ireland is starving, and a poor Irish scullery maid falls in love with the British heir to the land. Can their romance stay hidden during the devastating famine? The potatoes are black, people are dying, and in the midst of it all, Nell must do everything she can to keep her family together and everyone she loves alive.
It is hard to tell a love story
and also the story of a people
being torn apart.
Publication Date February 11th 2025 by Versify
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut — a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore — about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for.
“Our new home with its
thick walls and locked doors
wants me to stay trapped in my skin —
but I am fury and flame.”Fifteen-year-old Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant. Every new moon, she sheds her skin like the many women before her, shifting into a fireball witch who must fly into the night and slowly sip from the lives of others to sustain her own. But Brooklyn is no place for fireball witches with all its bright lights, shut windows, and bolt-locked doors.… While Marisol hoped they would leave their old traditions behind when they emigrated from the islands, she knows this will never happen while she remains ensnared by the one person who keeps her chained to her magical past — her mother.
Seventeen-year-old Genevieve is the daughter of a college professor and a newly minted older half sister of twins. Her worsening skin condition and the babies’ constant wailing keep her up at night, when she stares at the dark sky with a deep longing to inhale it all. She hopes to quench the hunger that gnaws at her, one that seems to reach for some memory of her estranged mother. When a new nanny arrives to help with the twins, a family secret connecting her to Marisol is revealed, and Gen begins to find answers to questions she hasn’t even thought to ask.
But the girls soon discover that the very skin keeping their flames locked beneath the surface may be more explosive to the relationships around them than any ancient magic.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date March 4th 2025 by Versify
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
One Step Forward is a compelling debut YA historical fiction novel in verse about Matilda Young — the youngest American suffragist imprisoned for picketing the White House to demand women’s right to vote.
Raised in a politically divided family, Matilda wondered if she could be as courageous as her older sister who fought for suffrage. Joining the radical protest movement came with plenty of risk. Women were routinely scorned, harassed, arrested — and worse. And taking a stand for her rights could tear her family apart.
Told in powerful verse, One Step Forward follows Matilda’s coming-of-age journey as she takes her first step into action. Amid the backdrop of World War I, Matilda’s story vividly highlights the extreme mental, physical, and emotional battles faced by the protestors leading up to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. It also reveals the bravery, hard work, and spirit of the women who paved the way for future generations to use their voices and votes.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date March 11th 2025 by Crown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this poignant mixed voice, mixed form collection of interconnected prose, poems and stories, teen characters, their families, and their communities grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst fear and loss, these New York City teens prevail with love, resilience and hope. From the award-winning author of Chlorine Sky and Vinyl Moon.
Grief, pain, hope, and love collide in this short story collection.
In New York City, teens, their families, and their communities feel the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the fear and loss, these teens and the adults around them persevere with love and hope while living in difficult circumstances:
● Malachi writes an Armageddon short story inspired by his pandemic reality.
● Tariq helps their ailing grandmother survive during quarantine.
● Zamira struggles with depression and loneliness after losing her parents.
● Mohamed tries to help keep his community spirit alive.
● A social worker reflects on the ways the foster system fails their children.From award-winning author Mahogany L. Browne comes a poignant collection of interconnected prose, poems, and lists about the humanity and resilience of New Yorkers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Publication Date March 18th 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Penelope Ross has always felt like a passenger in her mother’s fairytale – until the night of her 17th birthday, when she is forced to enter her own.
After a text from her estranged mother rips her away from a night with friends, Penny is forced into a kaleidoscope of memories locked inside the dark labyrinth of her childhood home. As Penny wanders between present and past ― prose and verse ― she must confront her mother’s opioid addiction to mend her fractured past. But the house is tricky. The house is impossible. It wants her to dig up the dead to escape. And as Penny walks through herself to find herself, she is not sure she has the courage to free the light she trapped inside.
Publication Date March 25th 2025 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A propulsive YA novel in verse that blends the contemporary magic of Jandy Nelson with the simmering feminist rage of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Shout.
As far back as anyone can remember, the women of the Strand family have been magical.
Their gifts manifest when they each turn fifteen, always in different ways. But Nell Strand knows that her family’s magic is a curse. Her mother’s age changes every day; she’s often too young to be the mother Nell needs. Her older sister bleeds music and will do anything to release the songs inside her. Nell sees the way magic rips her family apart again and again.
When Nell’s own magic arrives in the form of ladybugs alighting on the keys of her beloved piano, the first thing she feels is joy. The ladybugs are a piece of her, a harmless and delicate manifestation of her creativity. But soon enough, the rest come. Thick-shelled glossy beetles that creep along her collarbone when her piano teacher stares at her. Soft gray moths that appear and die alongside a rush of disappointment. Worst of all are the wasps. It doesn’t matter how deep she buries her rage, the wasps always come. Nell will have to decide just how much of herself she’s willing to lock away to stop them — or if she can find the strength to feel, no matter the consequences.
An intense, emotional read simmering with rage and magic, I Am The Swarm is a captivating YA novel in verse that beautifully speaks to the complicated nature of growing up as a girl.
Publication Date March 25th 2025 by Norton Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Rex Ogle explores bonds of loyalty and friendship and how they’re tested by drugs and violence in this propulsive novel-in-verse.
Diego Benevides works hard. His single mother encourages him to stay focused on school, on getting into college, on getting out of their crumbling neighborhood. That’s why she gave him her car.
Diego’s best friend, Lawson, needs a ride ― because Lawson is dealing. As long as Diego’s not carrying, not selling, it’s cool. It’s just weed.
But when Lawson starts carrying powder and pills and worse, their friendship is tested and their lives are threatened. As the lines between dealer and driver blur, everything Diego has worked for is jeopardized, and he faces a deadly reckoning with the choices he and his best friend have made.
Award-winning memoirist and poet Rex Ogle’s searing first novel-in-verse is an unforgettable story of the power and price of loyalty.
Publication Date May 6th 2025 by Quill Tree Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this emotional novel in verse by the Stonewall Award–winning author of The Black Flamingo, a queer biracial teen confronts issues of race, privilege, class, and sexuality on his journey to falling in love.
Kai knows who he is to others: The good grandson, the reliable best friend, the romantic backup. But he doesn’t quite know who he is to himself.
Kai wants to come out at school, but his best friend there, Matt, stays closeted for fear of getting kicked out by his conservative parents — and wants Kai to do the same. Kai unhappily agrees, but when a rumor goes around that Kai and Matt are dating, Matt starts acting differently anyway.
Kai’s other best friend, Vass, is proudly nonbinary and thinks Matt is a negative influence — though maybe that’s just their crush on Kai talking. Kai has always turned to writing to express his emotions, but when his on-page emotions erupt into the real world, he might just be putting the delicate balance of his life at risk.
Told with Dean Atta’s signature lyricism and candor, this deeply feeling story explores the complexities of crushes, navigating identity, and coming out.
Publication Date June 3rd 2025 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this sparkling and heartfelt debut YA novel in verse by a Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellow, a young Black girl discovers first love, self-worth, and the power of a good skate. Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Joya Goffney.
Sixteen-year-old Jaelyn Coleman lives for Saturdays at WestSide Roll, the iconic neighborhood roller rink. On these magical nights, Jae can lose herself in the music of DJ Sunny, the smell of nachos from the concession, and the crowd of some of her favorite people — old heads, dance crews, and other regulars like herself. Here, Jae and other Black teens can fully be themselves.
One Saturday, as Jae skates away her worries, she crashes into the cutest boy she’s ever seen. Trey’s dimples, rich brown skin, and warm smile make it impossible for her to be mad at him though. Best of all, he can’t stop finding excuses to be around her. A nice change for once, in contrast with her best friend’s cold distance of late or her estranged father creeping back into her life.
Just as Jae thinks her summer might change for the better, devastating news hits: Westside Roll is shutting down. The gentrification rapidly taking over her predominantly Black Indianapolis neighborhood, filling it with luxury apartments and fancy boutiques, has come for her safe-haven. And this is just one trouble Jae can’t skate away from.
Debut author Arriel Vinson’s lyrical and contemplative story of young Black love and coming of age in Indianapolis ushers in an exciting new voice in YA literature.
Publication Date June 10th 2025 by Holiday House
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
This heart-stopping debut novel in verse about a talented dancer struggling to give herself grace in the wake of an assault is a gut-wrenching masterpiece.
Fifteen-year-old Esme lives and breathes dance. Alongside her best friend, Mia, she is happiest when in the studio…sweating, stretching, soaring. And after a summer of nonstop practice, Esme and Mia earn coveted spots on the Elite dance team. Now that they’ve proven themselves to Miss Regina and the senior girls, it should be smooth sailing.
Except that Esme and Mia took the spots of two popular, well-liked dancers. Except that Esme’s dad hasn’t been able to work for months, and there’s hardly enough money for groceries, never mind dance tuition and recital costumes. Except that a stranger touches Esme during a night out, touches the breasts that have always felt like giant targets.
After years of being oversexualized for her large chest, this is the violation that pushes Esme over the edge. Was it her fault? Could she have stopped it? Why can’t she just be different? Esme stumbles, off kilter and adrift from her loved ones, struggling to find the strong, central cord that will pull her up and allow her to soar again.
This dazzling, tour-de-force debut tackles friendship, first love, and sexual assault, along with the full emotional range of life as a teenage girl. Esme musters strength she didn’t know she had — and learns to lean on others to find the right support. An unforgettable read.
Publication Date July 8th 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From award-winning author Margarita Engle comes an inspiring and luminous love story told in verse about childhood friends, once lost and now reconnected, and their fight to protect endangered animals.
Every day, Vida reads to the creatures at the wildlife rescue center and dreams of her childhood in Cuba, where she and her best friend Adán adventured through the island rescuing animals from harm. Unbeknownst to her, Adán has also moved to Florida and is feeling trapped in his new home, buffeted by the stormy fights between his abuelo and papi. When a chance encounter with a captive fox leads to their reunion, Vida and Adán are able to find refuge from the cruelty that surrounds them in their soaring, rekindled romance.
Their love reaches new heights as they work together at the zoo that rescues rare species, but soon they realize that this peace is only temporary. Much like the wildlife they want to protect, Vida and Adán are caught in a cycle of distrust and heartlessness. As old family grudges and painful memories come to light, can they and their families learn to heal and forgive each other for a brighter, kinder future?
Publication Date September 16th 2025 by Dial Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The Pura Belpré Honor Award winning author of Aniana del Mar Jumps In makes her YA debut with a powerful novel-in-verse about a Texas teen who is battling racism in her theatre program and book banning efforts by her town’s school board.
Yulieta Lopez is angry. Angry at her racist drama teacher who refuses to cast Black students in lead roles. Angry at the school board threatening her favorite teacher for teaching works of literature that they deem “controversial.” Angry that she has to keep quiet until she can head to college and leave Texas forever.
Yuli is accustomed to playing various roles: the diligent daughter, the honorable hija, the good girl who serves everyone else before serving herself. But as the fire of Yuli’s rage spreads and lights her up, she can no longer be silent. Determined to find a way to fight back, Yuli and her friends start a guerilla theatre club which stirs things up and gets people talking, and finally, Yuli steps into the role she was always meant to play.
Publication Date September 16th 2025 by Yellow Jacket
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Perfect for fans of One Piece, this is an epic Black queer pirate fantasy that you won’t be able to put down!
A long time ago, a witch burst into flames. A pirate and a mermaid fell in love. A map was marked with a glowing X. And a republic was born.
Levi and Vega are the children of the fearsome pirate captain of The Sea Dragon. They have been raised on tales of daring feats and seafaring adventures, but there are stories they haven’t been told – stories about witches and mermaids and magical maps. When tragedy strikes, the siblings land on the Pirate Republic, a self-governed island of freedom and adventure. Levi uncovers the secrets of his past as he works with his sister, a sea nymph, the pirates, and witches to protect the island from the conquering Empire. But he must learn to accept himself before he can even begin to help his friends.
In the present day, two girls are given a history assignment: to try and piece together the rise and fall of the famous and corrupt Pirate Republic, which once formed their island home. As Reggie and Maeve’s tentative friendship deepens into something more, they realize that a magical world could be on their very doorstep – if only they can find the map.
Published in partnership with GLAAD, this novel is an intoxicatingly rich fantasy that blends high seas, swashbuckling adventure and lyrical poetry.
Publication Date September 16th 2025 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In a stunning reimagining of Greek myth for fans of Circe and Lore, Nikita Gill showcases the underworld and its chthonic deities in all their glory in this first book in an exciting trilogy, weaving a gripping story about the young goddess coming of age within their midst.
Hekate sings the story of its eponymous heroine. Born into a world on fire and at war, she and her mother are left behind by the menfolk of their Titan family as the battle against the new Gods – the Olympians – begins. Soon, Hekate and her mother are forced to flee their home as the Olympians overpower and enslave the Titans, including Hekate’s father, Perses, and gain dominion over the universe. In a bid to protect Hekate from the clutches of Zeus and Poseidon, her mother leaves her in the underworld with the goddess Styx and king of the underworld, Hades, where she must make a life for herself and discover her divine purpose.
Here begins Nikita Gill’s beautiful and propulsive reimagining of Hekate’s myth which unfolds into a coming-of-age adventure story and quest in which our young protagonist – not yet a goddess – sets out to discover what has happened to her parents, heal from the trauma of her separation from them, make a new home for herself in the underworld, and, eventually, step into her true power as a woman and goddess, before it’s too late.
Publication Date September 23rd 2025 by Amulet Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From the critically acclaimed author of All The Fighting Parts comes an empowering and defiant novel in verse in which a teen poet grapples with an unplanned pregnancy and determines what happens to her body in a world that wants to take the choice away from her.
Seventeen-year-old Truth Bangura wants nothing more than to know a life beyond her hometown. Writing and performing is her only solace in a life overwhelmed by a drifting relationship with her best friend, an emotionally turbulent home environment, and the reality that her below average grades make her true dream — escaping her mother’s grasp after graduation — uncertain.
When Truth learns she’s pregnant by her ex-boyfriend, she makes one decision she’s finally sure about: an abortion.
Determined to move forward, Truth turns to the pages in her notebook with the support of her slam poetry team — including the poet with a voice smooth as summer jazz, who’s been catching her eye during practice.
At an open mic night, Truth finally gains the courage to perform a piece that dives into her rocky relationship with her mother – and reveals the choice she never told her. But when a video of Truth’s performance is posted online and starts going viral, her decision quickly becomes everyone’s business – including her mother’s.
Told through searing free-verse, journal entries, and interspersed fill-in-the-blank poetry prompts, Hannah V. Sawyerr’s Truth Is reminds us there is always a choice. There is always hope. And there is always a way forward.
Publication Date October 14th 2025 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
When snow falls, sparks fly in this irresistible queer romance from Schneider Family Book Award and Stonewall Honor winner Mariama J. Lockington, for fans of She Gets The Girl and Jennifer Dugan.
High school senior Lyric has always found Christmas to be the hardest season. While other kids got presents and family time by the fire, she was in and out of foster care. An up-and-coming make-up influencer and aspiring cosmetology student who loves a bold lip, Lyric definitely isn’t looking for romance ― not when opening up to someone feels a lot like asking to get hurt.
Christmas is Juniper’s favorite time of year. At least, it was, until her moms’ separation. They’re back together now, and Juniper hopes they’ll stay that way. Because if they’re happy, that means Juniper can leave for her gap-year trip after graduation (the one she has yet to tell her parents about, and can’t really afford without their help).
When a chance meeting brings these two opposite personalities together, they should clash…only they don’t. Instead Lyric strikes a deal with Juniper: pose as her fake girlfriend in a series of holiday-themed social media posts and they can split the money from her beauty sponsorships. But soon the lines between what’s real and what’s not start to blur. Could it be that sparks are flying both in front of the camera and behind it?
Told from dual perspectives, one in prose and one in verse, I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm is a cozy and modern love story from acclaimed author Mariama J. Lockington that’s perfect for the winter holidays or all year round.
Publication Date October 14th 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
For fans of You’ve Reached Sam and If I Stay, a hauntingly beautiful, ultimately hopeful novel-in-verse about a girl in between life and death, by National Book Award Finalist Amber McBride.
Gospel is the Keeper of the Leaving Room ― a place all young people must phase through when they die. The young are never ready to leave; they need a moment to remember and a Keeper to help their wispy souls along.
When a random door opens and a Keeper named Melody arrives, their souls become entangled. Gospel’s seriousness melts and Melody’s fear of connection fades, but still ― are Keepers allowed to fall in love? Now they must find a way out of the Leaving Room and be unafraid of their love. In a novel that takes place over four minutes, National Book Award finalist Amber McBride explores connection, memory, and hope in ways that are unforgettable and poignant.
Publication Date October 14th 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A powerful, joyful novel in verse about a Black teen with ADHD who finds self-expression and first love during one epic summer school season, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and On The Come Up.
For the third summer in a row, Pernell is back in the classroom, facing the same struggles that have always made school seem more like a battlefield than a place of learning. This summer is different, though: he’s battling to become the Cypher King, leader of the lunchroom’s impromptu rap circles. Here, the rhythm flows and the words fly, creating a space where the wittiest and most rhythmically inclined reign supreme. Here, Pernell’s ADHD gives him an edge.
But life outside the cypher isn’t as forgiving. Pernell’s English teacher has it out for him. His parents are pressuring him to see a doctor for his lack of focus. And Electra, his friend-slash-crush and the only one who truly gets him, is too busy chasing her dream internship to give him the time of day.
If Pernell doesn’t pull himself together, he won’t just lose the title of Cypher King – he’ll lose his chance to graduate high school. In a world where the systems are turned against kids like him, Pernell needs to find a way to succeed with his ADHD, rather than in spite of it.
Publication Date October 28th 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A promising young singer recovers from a traumatic experience by traveling to Venice and connecting with the work of a 17th-century female composer in this gorgeous and sensual novel-in-verse from the acclaimed author of Call Me Athena.
Introverted and homeschooled, vocal prodigy Luciana “Lula” Gabroni is ready to become the star she’s trained all her life to be. After entering the New England Conservatory of Music, she is immediately chosen to join an elite ensemble of peers who will compete in a prestigious music festival in modern-day Venice, Italy.
Barbara Strozzi is a poor young woman living in 17th-century Venice who dreams of making her mark on the world through her gift of song. She is determined to fight against the prescribed path of an illegitimate servant girl, daring to envision a life filled with intellect, pleasure, and independence — even as the restrictions of her gender and status threaten to silence her forever.
When Lula comes across Barbara’s bold and seductive music in the Conservatory library, she immediately feels a striking kinship with the mysterious female composer. After an incident at school sends Lula searching to reclaim her voice, she soon realizes she must connect with the ghosts of the past to find her heart’s true song once again.
