Today’s post is sponsored by Candlewick and Gather!
Title Gather
Author Kenneth M. Cadow
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Candlewick
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A 2023 National Book Award Long List Selection
A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction in this striking debut novel.
Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?
Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice that meanders like a dog circling to be sure it’s safe to lie down, Kenneth M. Cadow’s resonant debut brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen’s resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.
Hot Off The Press is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I share a selection of new books being published in the forthcoming month.
Another new month has begun, and you know what they say: New month, new books! And by ‘they’, I mean me, because it’s time for another edition of Hot Off The Press! With 65 new YA releases in today’s post, there’s no shortage of choices from a variety of different genres, and I sincerely hope you can discover at least one new title that’s right for you!
While Hot Off The Press will continued to be shared each month on Pop! Goes The Reader, these posts will now only include young adult novels. If you’re interested in a more complete list of 200+ new releases each month, including books for middle grade and adult audiences as well, this can now be found on Pop! Goes The Reader’s Patreon, along with a number of other exciting rewards, for a monthly pledge of $5! The Hot Off The Press posts take hours, if not days, to create, and I sincerely hope you can understand why I feel this change is necessary. Happy reading!
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
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In this piercing follow up to Barely Missing Everything, JD and Danny, still reeling from the gutting death of their best friend by police gunfire, grapple with life-changing decisions and the kind of people they want to be, for Juan.
A year after losing their best friend, JD and Danny are still brokenhearted. JD’s impetuous decision to join the Air Force only makes him yearn for “before” more than ever. Danny, who’d rather paint murals than open a book and certainly never thought of himself as college material, makes the equally impulsive choice to do what Juan will never be able to and enrolls in a community college.
Danny’s father, The Sarge, is proud of him for the first time ever for living out Sarge’s own dream of being a first-generation college student, but Danny can’t shake the thought that it should be Juan, not him. And studying hasn’t gotten any easier for him despite his new academic goals. When Danny is on the verge of flunking out and JD gets notified of imminent deployment, the two are forced to confront their shared grief that led them to these paths. Can they learn to live lives that are their own in honor of Juan, rather than for him?
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Balzer + Bray
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From Boston Globe/Horn Book Award–winning author Brandy Colbert comes the story of four generations of a Hollywood family — an unforgettable tale of ambition, fame, struggle, loss, and love in America.
The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name.
Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything.
Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided — and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford.
Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone — especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world.
Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells an unforgettable story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
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Cerulean Gene is free everywhere except school, where they’re known for repeatedly challenging authority. Raised in a free-spirited home by two loving parents who encourage Cerulean to be their full self, they’ve got big dreams of moving cross-country to live off the grid with their friends after graduation. But a fight with a teacher spirals out of control, and Cerulean impulsively drops out to avoid the punishment they fear is coming. Why wait for graduation to leave an oppressive capitalist system and live their dreams?
Cerulean is truly brilliant, but their sheltered upbringing hasn’t prepared them for the consequences of their choice — especially not when it’s compounded by a family emergency that puts a parent out of work. Suddenly the money they’d been stacking with their friends is a resource that the family needs to stay afloat.
Salt The Water is a book about dreaming in a world that has other plans for your time, your youth, and your future. It asks, what does it look like when a bunch of queer Black kids are allowed to dream? And what does it look like for them to confront the present circumstances of the people they love while still pursuing a wildly different future of their own?
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
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Gorgeous, wealthy, and entitled, Ruby has just one single worry in her life — scheming to get the boy next door to finally realize they’re meant to be together. But when the California wildfires cause her privileged world to go up in flames, Ruby must struggle to find the grit and compassion to help her family and those less fortunate to rise from the ashes.
At eighteen, Ruby Ortega is an unapologetic flirt who balances her natural aptitude for economics with her skill in partying hard. But she couldn’t care less about those messy college boys — it’s her intense, brooding neighbor Ashton who she wants, and even followed to school. Even the fact that he has a girlfriend doesn’t deter her…whatever Ruby wants, she eventually gets.
Her ruthless determination is tested when wildfires devastate her California hometown, destroying her parents’ business and causing an unspeakable tragedy that shatters her to her core. Suddenly, Ruby is the head of the family and responsible for its survival, with no income or experience to rely on. Rebuilding seems hopeless, but with the help of unexpected allies — including a beguiling, dark-eyed boy who seems to understand her better than anyone — Ruby has to try. When she discovers that the fires also displaced many undocumented people in her town, it becomes even more imperative to help. And if she has to make hard choices along the way, can anyone blame her?
In her powerful debut novel, Mexican American author Hailey Alcaraz chronicles a riveting portrait of transformation, resilience, and love with an unlikely heroine who, when faced with unforeseen disaster, surprises everyone, especially herself.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Soho Teen
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The Sun Is Also A Star meets You’ve Got Mail in this YA Christmas love story set in a London Black-owned bookshop.
Charming, handsome Trey Anderson balances the pressures of school popularity with a job at his family’s beloved local bookshop, Wonderland.
Quirky, creative Ariel Spencer needs tuition for the prestigious art program of her dreams, and an opening at Wonderland is the answer. When Trey and Ariel learn that Wonderland is on the brink of being shut down by a neighborhood gentrifier, they team up to stop the doors from closing before the Christmas Eve deadline — and embark on a hate-to-love journey that will change them forever.
Heartwarming and romantic, this read is the gift that keeps on giving, no matter the season.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by First Second
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New York Times bestseller Faith Erin Hicks is back with a young adult graphic novel romance about a hotheaded hockey player who asks for temper management lessons from the cool, calm boy in drama club.
It should have been a night of triumph for Alix’s hockey team. But her mean teammate Lindsay decided to start up with her usual rude comments and today Alix, who usually tries to control her anger, let it finally run free. Alix lashes out and before she knows it, her coach is dragging her off Lindsay, and the invitation to the Canada National Women’s U18 Team’s summer camp is on the line.
She needs to learn how to control this anger, and she is sure Ezra, the popular and poised theater kid from her grade is the answer. So she asks for his help. But as they hang out and start get closer, Alix learns that there is more to Ezra than the cool front he puts on. And that maybe this friendship could become something more….
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Annick Press
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A laugh-out-loud YA debut that examines the realities of small-town queer life and celebrates the transformative power of drag — perfect for fans of RuPaul’s Drag Race and Pumpkin.
Peter Thompkins needs a public image overhaul. After a tense confrontation with one of the few other queer kids in his small-town high school, rumors about him are becoming more elaborate by the day. Meanwhile, his best friend Alan (aka teen drag queen Aggie Culture) is throwing Mason County’s debut Drag Extravaganza. Although Peter is a self-described “dragnostic,” he decides to help produce the show, hoping to prove that he isn’t a self-hating gay. In the process, he finds himself facing down angry guard dogs, angrier bigots, and a very high-strung church lady. As backlash grows, Peter begins to wonder whether he’s setting fire to his already damaged reputation and if his friendship with Alan will survive past curtain call.
At turns touching, sharply funny, and a little absurd, Dragging Mason County explores the pains and pleasures of queer community through one teen’s journey to self-acceptance.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Marvel Press
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New York Times bestselling author Ashley Poston shows Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye still figuring out how to be a Super Hero — and a functioning human being — in this thrilling YA mystery adventure.
When Kate Bishop, the young Hawkeye, solves a minor crime and saves the surprisingly cute Milo in the process, she counts it as a rare win. But a mix-up of their bags means that nope, Kate’s life is still refusing to run smoothly. In that bag is a mysterious book that holds powerful, dangerous secrets — ones that New York City’s most powerful super villain, the Kingpin, would kill to uncover.
Kate finds herself on the run, searching for Milo and what he knows, texting her Super Hero besties for moral support, and trying to solve the mystery she’s blundered into before she becomes the victim of her own story.
Just like its main character, Kate Bishop, New York Times bestselling author Ashley Poston’s Super Hero adventure doesn’t miss a single shot in one of the funniest, twistiest Marvel stories ever told.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Margaret Ferguson Books
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Seventeen-year-old Christine keeps a journal of an eventful year in her life in the mid-90s, while juggling troubled friendships and looking for love.
It’s January 1, 1996, and high school junior Christine wants more than anything to be that cool girl everyone notices, like her gorgeous best friend, Landry. She usually hates New Year’s resolutions, but this year she vows to be that shiny kind of girl — and record it all in her diary through prose, illustration, and comics.
When Landry drops her, Christine is surprised to discover just how much she doesn’t miss her and her drama. But a misguided kiss with film-obsessed Paul, her only other close friend, also causes a rift, and she finds herself facing a long, lonely summer.
With nothing to lose, Christine finds a new sense of courage. She gets a job at her neighborhood video store, experiments with her art, and becomes romantically entangled with her next-door neighbor Whit, who’s either the coolest guy ever or a total jerk. In spite of all this, she doesn’t quite feel shiny — until a shocking betrayal shows her the value of the words and drawings she hides in her diary, and she finally understands that she doesn’t need to be cool to be noticed — she only needs to be herself.
Eisner-award winning author and illustrator, Hope Larson, has created a powerful coming-of-age story set in a time before the Internet that explores themes of betrayal, first love, self-expression, and the power of art.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Razorbill
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The gothic worlds of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and more collide in this graphic novel series about buried secrets, mad science, and misunderstood monsters. For fans of stylish reimaginings like Lore Olympus and gaslamp fantasies like The Night Circus!
London isn’t the safest place for mad scientists these days. After that whole ordeal with Frankenstein, angry mobs have gotten awfully good at hunting down monsters and wiping out anything they don’t understand. In fact, if it weren’t for one extraordinary young man, every out-of-the-box thinker would have been locked up…or worse.
That young man is none other than Dr. Henry Jekyll. He believes mad scientists would thrive if they could just fix their public image, which is why he founded the Society for Arcane Sciences, a place where like-minded eccentrics could come together to defy the laws of nature in peace.
But everything changes when a mysterious stranger arrives, bent on taking the Society in a radical new direction. With everyone turning against him, Jekyll’s life starts to spiral out of control, shattering all his carefully laid plans and threatening to expose his darkest secret — one that could destroy everything he has built from the inside out.
Volume One collects Chapters 1-7 of this thrilling, humorous, beloved webcomic, which is available in print for the first time ever. It also features a brand-new side story, a behind-the-scenes look at artwork, and more exclusive bonus content!
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Quill Tree Books
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A searing, joyful YA debut about a queer Cambodian American teen’s journey to find her voice and step into her legacy, perfect for fans of Ibi Zoboi and Elizabeth Acevedo.
Soma Kear’s verses have gone viral. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think her slam poetry video through. All she knew was that her rhymes were urgent. On fire. An expression of where she was, and that place…was a hot mess.
Following her Ba’s deportation back to Cambodia, everything’s changed. Her Ma is away trying to help Ba adjust to his new life, and her older sister has taken charge with a new authoritarian tone. Meanwhile, Soma’s trending video pushes her to ask if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit that things may never be the same?
With every line she spits, Soma searches for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.
From debut author Vichet Chum comes a celebration of Khmer identity, queerness, and embracing the complicated histories that shape who we are and want to be.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
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In 1920s England, a working-class girl who can see spirits works with a lord’s son to solve mysterious deaths at the local manor home in this eerie historical mystery perfect for fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor and Downton Abbey.
Wilhelmina Price has a dubious reputation in the village of Thrush’s Green. Ever since her mother’s untimely death, she has been able to see a person’s spirit leaving their body days or hours before they die. Wil has never been able to prevent these deaths, so her unusual skill has made her an outsider to most except her lifelong friend, Edison, the youngest son of Lord Summerfield. But when a maid at the Summerfield’s estate dies in the same mysterious way as Wil’s own mother, Wil takes on a housemaid’s position to investigate whether these women might, in fact, have been murdered.
There is nothing Ed Summerfield values more than his friendship with Wil, which is why he’s desperate to disguise how hopelessly in love with her he’s become — and his belief that he may be haunted by the ghost of his older brother, Peter. Because if Wil, with her supernatural powers, can’t see the same evidence of hauntings that Ed does, he worries he may actually be losing his mind.
Together, Wil and Ed must dig deeper into the Summerfields’ hoard of secrets, though the truth won’t give itself up without a fight that could prove deadly to the both of them, as they face cunning adversaries among the living and the dead.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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The sequel to Erin Beaty’s buzzworthy YA medieval fantasy-thriller Blood and Moonlight, Silence and Shadow is full of swoony romance, dangerous magick, and murder ― perfect for fans of Kerri Maniscalco and Mary E. Pearson.
After confronting a killer and fleeing her home to be with each other, Cat and Simon ― renown for his uncanny insights into the minds of criminals ― arrive in the sprawling city of Londunium. They are pretending to be a newly married couple, but don’t expect to keep up the ruse for long. Cat looks forward to honing her healing magick at the local Selanae university, but instead finds a council of ruthless leaders threatening to erase her non-Selanae “husband’s” memories to protect their secrets.
Terrified to lose him, Cat takes desperate steps to keep him safe. But when a string of mutilated bodies turns up in the woods outside the city, and Simon is recruited to profile the killer, Cat is pulled back into a world of murder, mayhem, and magick―one that threatens to consume her, and everything she loves.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Disney Press
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For fans of Disney Twisted Tales and Serena Valentino’s Villains comes the next book of the Disney Prince young adult series.
Prince Phillip tells his side of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty where once upon a dream was just the beginning…
Prince Phillip’s known from a young age that his destiny has already been decided for him by his father, King Hubert. His job is to smile and wave for the crowd and ride off into the sunset with his predetermined fiancé, Princess Aurora, after her curse is lifted on her sixteenth birthday. But just days before Aurora’s birthday party, Phillip experiences a strange burst of magic, and three fairies tell him that he is part of a prophecy set to defeat Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil. Suddenly Phillip feels as if he has a choice — maybe magic can be the freedom he has been looking for.
Although, having magic and working with fairies to retrieve powerful ancient artifacts would be much more enjoyable if he didn’t have to deal with her every night, a girl named Briar Rose who appears in his dreams on the other side of a mystical thorn maze. Phillip doesn’t know how he can be so annoyed by a person he can’t even see but having to hear the mysterious maiden’s laughs and jabs at him every time he goes to sleep is worse than any nightmare. But Phillip is starting to realize that Briar Rose isn’t so different from himself, and maybe they can change both of their fates one dream at a time.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Page Street YA
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Haunting of Hill House meets found-footage horror in this edge-of-your-seat thriller that explores the power of family ties and the trauma that lurks there.
When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast ― Cashore House.
In the years after the film’s release, Sophia’s relationship with her sister became more strained, while her memories of the now-infamous house fueled her nightmares. Vermillion amassed an army of fanatical fans who speculated about the film’s hidden messages, and it was rumored that Layla made a pact with the devil ― her soul in exchange for fame and arcane knowledge. Sophia dismissed this as gossip…until Layla disappeared.
Now, Sophia must study the trail of clues Layla has left behind, returning to the very place where it all began. As she gets closer and closer to Cashore House’s haunted heart, she must once again confront the ghosts of her childhood. But the house won’t reveal its secrets without a fight.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Quill Tree Books
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A Lesson In Vengeance meets The Taking of Jake Livingston in this page-turning YA horror/fantasy set in dark academia about a queer Black teen who discovers the sinister history of his boarding school and the corrupt powers behind it all.
Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious.
Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent’s king-making; he’s just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers him having ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper’s son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than 300 years in the making — or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness.
And for the first time in his life, Douglas might have a chance to grasp the one thing he’s always felt was missing: power. But if he’s not careful, he will find out that power has a tendency to corrupt absolutely everything.
A high-octane mystery of murder and magic for fans of Ace of Spades, House of Hollow, and Get Out!
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Candlewick
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A 2023 National Book Award Long List Selection
A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction in this striking debut novel.
Ian Gray isn’t supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn’t happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian’s adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?
Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice that meanders like a dog circling to be sure it’s safe to lie down, Kenneth M. Cadow’s resonant debut brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen’s resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
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After her mother’s death, a teen pieces together the truth of her family’s past and what her mom was hiding from in this thriller that’s perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Tiffany D. Jackson.
Harlow Ford has spent her entire life running, caught in her mother’s wake as they flit from town to town, hiding from a presence that Harlow isn’t even sure is real. In each new place, Harlow takes on a new name and personality, and each time they run, she leaves another piece of herself behind.
When Harlow and her mom set off on yet another 3 a.m. escape, they are involved in a car accident that leaves Harlow’s mother fatally wounded. Before she dies, she tells Harlow two things: where to find the key to a safety deposit box and to never stop running. In the box, Harlow finds thirty grand in cash, life insurance documents, and several fake IDs for both herself and her mom — an on-the-run essentials kit. But Harlow also finds a photograph of her mom as a teenager with two other girls, the deed to a house in a town she’s never heard of, and a handful of newspaper clippings discussing the disappearance of a woman named Eve Kennedy, Harlow’s grandmother…relics of a part of Harlow’s life she never knew existed.
With these tantalizing clues about her mother’s secrets and the power to choose her own future for the first time, Harlow realizes she has two choices: keep fleeing her mom’s ghosts or face down the nebulous threat that’s been hanging over her for her entire life.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Melissa de la Cruz Studio
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From New York Times best-selling author Jason June, a story of spell-slinging, lasso-swinging, and star-crossed love perfect for fans of Cemetery Boys and Carry On.
Nigel Barrett has spent his whole life preparing for the Culling, a spell-casting competition that determines which of the world’s teenage magicians will be stripped of their powers to preserve magical balance. But nothing could have prepared him to face Ori Olson, a broody rival whose caustic wit cloaks a painful past.
From the moment Nigel and Ori meet, sparks fly. Their powers are stronger, more thrilling, the closer they get — not that they can risk becoming attached. Because as the field narrows and the Culling grows more dangerous, Nigel and Ori realize there’s more at stake than just their powers. The greatest threat to magic, their future, and all of humanity might be the connection growing between them…
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
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Ninth House meets A Deadly Education in this gorgeous dark academia fantasy following a teen mage who must unravel the truth behind the secret society that may have been involved in her classmates’ deaths.
Emory might be a student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magics, but her healing abilities have always been mediocre at best — until a treacherous night in the Dovermere sea caves leaves a group of her classmates dead and her as the only survivor. Now Emory is plagued by strange, impossible powers that no healer should possess.
Powers that would ruin her life if the wrong person were to discover them.
To gain control of these new abilities, Emory enlists the help of the school’s most reclusive student, Baz—a boy already well-versed in the deadly nature of darker magic, whose sister happened to be one of the drowned students and Emory’s best friend. Determined to find the truth behind the drownings and the cult-like secret society she’s convinced her classmates were involved in, Emory is faced with even more questions when the supposedly drowned students start washing ashore — alive — only for them each immediately to die horrible, magical deaths.
And Emory is not the only one seeking answers. When her new magic captures the society’s attention, she finds herself drawn into their world of privilege and power, all while wondering if the truth she’s searching for might lead her right back to Dovermere…to face the fate she was never meant to escape.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Sungrazer Publishing
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The much-anticipated continuation to Scions, the prequel to the Starcrossed series, the #1 international bestseller. This Greek mythology series is ideal for fans of Alexandra Bracken and Chloe Gong.
Presumed dead, Daphne and Ajax try to steal away what happiness they can while living as Outcasts, when they discover that the Fates aren’t done with them yet. Ajax may have escaped death, but his fate is sealed.
Like mice in a maze, both are led back to New York City, where Daphne must find a way to keep the Fates from killing Ajax. But returning to the city puts them both in grave danger, and they are forced to seek help in the unlikeliest of places – from a reluctant Heir to the House of Athens, and from a Prince of the House of Rome.
But their biggest challenge will come from Tantalus, Heir to the House of Thebes, who has been busy plotting to start the war he knows he is destined to win, but who tragically finds himself caught between his devotion to his brother, and his obsession with Daphne.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Peachtree Teen
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Part dark gothic fantasy, part journey into the bizarre, this delicious blending of tall tales and Latin American surrealism will haunt you as you devour it!
1836, Wisconsin. Catalina lives with her pa and brother in a ramshackle cabin on the edge of the wilderness. Harsh winters have brought the family to the brink of starvation, and Catalina has replaced her poet’s soul with an unyielding determination to keep Pa and her brother alive.
When a sudden illness claims Pa, a strange man appears — a man covered in bark, leaves growing from his head, and sap dripping from his eyes. He scoops up her brother and disappears, leaving behind a bird with crimson wings. Catalina can’t let this man — if that’s what he is — have her brother. So, she grabs Pa’s knife and follows the bird.
Along the way, she finds help from a young lumberjack, who has his own reasons for hunting the Man of Sap. As their journey takes them deeper into the woods, they encounter strange beasts and tormented spirits. The more they uncover about the Man of Sap, the more they learn how deeply Catalina’s fate is entwined with his, planted long ago in cursed seeds.
An enchanting mixture of American tall tales and Faustian elements, Before The Devil Knows You’re Here centers a fierce Mexican American poet on a quest to save her brother. Autumn Krause’s vivid, haunting prose and rich symbolism make this a must-read for fans of Maggie Stiefvater and Erin Craig.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Inkyard Press
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New from the author of The Keeper of Night comes a YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family.
Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table — resurrecting the dead, for a price.
When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.
The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they — and secrets of Zilan’s past — catch up with her.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by Sourcebooks Fire
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New York Times bestselling authors Sara Raasch and Beth Revis weave a tale of romance, vengeance, and magic in this start to the Witch and Hunter duology, an epic enemies to lovers fantasy romance.
Fritzi is a witch. The lone survivor of a brutal attack on her coven, she’s determined to find her only remaining family member and bring the hexenjägers ― zealot witch hunters ― to justice for the lives they ended. To do this, she will need to take down their leader, the merciless and enigmatic Kommandant Dieter Kirch.
Otto is a hexenjäger ― but that’s just his cover. Years ago, the hexenjägers burned his innocent mother alive, and he has been plotting his revenge against the people who tore apart his family ever since. And now the time has come for them to pay for what they’ve done.
When Fritzi and Otto are unexpectedly thrown together, neither is sure they can trust the other. The reluctant truce fueled by their common enemy takes them from the city at the heart of the hexenjägers’ power to the wild and mysterious Black Forest. As old truths come to light and new dangers are revealed, Fritzi and Otto uncover a horrifying magical plot at the center of the hexenjäger attacks that leads back to Kommandant Kirch…but their own growing feelings for each other may be the most powerful magic of all.
Publication Date October 3rd 2023 by PUSH
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From Ryan La Sala, author of the tantalizingly twisted The Honeys and riotously imaginative Reverie, comes a chilling new contemporary fable about art, aesthetic obsession, and the gaze that peers back at us from behind our reflections.
No one survived the party at the penthouse. Except Athan.
Athanasios “Athan” Bakirtzis has made it far in life relying on his charm and good looks, even securing an invitation to a mysterious penthouse soiree for New York City’s artsy elite. But when he sneaks off to the bathroom, he hears a slam, followed by a scream. Athan peers outside, only to be pushed back in by a boy his age. The boy gravely tells him not to open the door, then closes Athan in.
Outside the door, the party descends into chaos. Through hours of howls, laughter, and sobs, Athan stays hidden. When he finally emerges, he discovers a massacre where the corpses appear to have arranged themselves into a disturbingly elegant sculpture ― and Athan’s mysterious savior is nowhere to be found. Athan ― the only known survivor ― is now the primary suspect.
In a race to prove his innocence, Athan is swept up in a supernatural mystery, one of secret occult societies and deadly eldritch horrors with rather distinctive taste. Something evil is waking up in the walls of New York City, and it’s compelling victims toward violence, chaos, and self-destruction. Bound to him by a mysterious hereditary power, Athan has felt this evil hiding behind his reflection his entire life, watching him. Waiting. Now, it’s taking over.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by
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A down-on-his-luck actor and an English lord reluctantly team up to solve the murder of Christopher Marlowe in this Shakespearean-era young adult romp perfect for fans of F.T. Lukens and Mackenzi Lee.
London, 1593. Sixteen-year-old Will Hughes is busy working on Shakespeare’s stage, stuffing his corsets with straw and pretending to be someone else. Offstage, he’s playing a part, too. The son of traitors, Will is desperate to keep his identity secret — or risk being killed in the bloody queen’s imperial schemes. All he wants is to lay low until he earns enough coin to return to his family.
But when his mentor, the famous playwright Christopher Marlowe, is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Will’s plans are hopelessly dashed. What’s worse, Marlowe was a spy for the queen, tasked with stalking a killer rumored to be part of an elusive order of assassins, and his secrets and untimely death have put Will under a harsh spotlight. And so, when Will unwittingly foils an attempt on the queen’s life, she names him her next spymaster.
Now, to avoid uncomfortable questions, prison, or an even more terrible fate, Will reluctantly starts his new career, which — yes — will secure him the resources to help his family…but at what cost? Adding insult to injury is the young Lord James Bloomsbury, Will’s new comrade in arms, whose entitled demeanor and unfairly handsome looks get under Will’s skin immediately.
Together, the two hunt the cunning assassin, defend the queen’s life, and pray to keep their own…all while an unexpected connection blossoms between them.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Holiday House
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Could you plan the Fall Formal with your (hot) nemesis? Whit Rivera is about to find out.
Frenemies Whit and Zay have been at odds for years (ever since he broke up with her in, like, the most embarrassing way imaginable), so when they’re forced to organize the fall formal together, it’s a literal disaster. Sparks fly as Whitney — type-A, passionate, a perfectionist, and a certified sweater-weather fanatic — butts heads with Zay, a dry, relaxed skater boy who takes everything in stride. But not all of those sparks are bad…
Has their feud been a big misunderstanding all along?
Blisteringly funny and profoundly well-observed, The Fall of Whit Rivera is a snug and cozy autumn romcom that also tackles weightier topics like PCOS, chronic illness, sexuality, fatphobia, Latine identity, and class. Funny, honest, insightful, romantic, and poignant, it is classic Crystal Maldonado — and it will have her legion of fans absolutely swooning.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Europa Editions
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The new novel from the million-copy bestselling author of The Mirror Visitor quartet.
Welcome to the School of Here, an unsettling and peculiar place that is nonetheless familiar to us all. A place full of codes and unspoken rules that are passed down from year to year.
At Here, society is highly stratified, the pairs, friend groups, and outcasts are all ruled by a godlike prince. This year — as all other years — things are not at all as they seem. A self-effacing first-year student vanishes into thin air. A persecuted outsider delivers himself into permanent exile. A tyrannical upperclassman meets his match. A newly-minted prophetess tests her powers. And, behind the scenes, a cabal of students conducts a top-secret investigation into the unexplained phenomenon at the heart of it all. Back to school season marks the start of a time-honored cycle of revolution and rebirth in which each must play their part.
With Here, and Only Here, Christelle Dabos – author of the international sensation The Mirror Visitor quartet – gives readers an intriguing and penetrating novel that explores the difficulties of fitting in and the private, individual choices that make up the sometimes abhorrent, always unpredictable Collective.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
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New York Times bestseller David Arnold returns with a poignant love story about two teens whose souls come together time and again through the ages — for fans of Nina LaCour and Matt Haig.
Evan Taft has plans. Take a gap year in Alaska, make sure his little brother and single mother are taken care of, and continue therapy to process his father’s departure. But after his mom’s unexpected diagnosis, as Evan’s plans begin to fade, he hears something: a song no one else can hear, the voice of a mysterious singer…
Shosh Bell has dreams. A high school theater legend, she’s headed to performing arts college in LA, a star on the rise. But when a drunk driver takes her sister’s life, that star fades to black. All that remains is a void — and a soft voice singing in her ear…
Over it all, transcending time and space, a celestial bird brings strangers together: from an escaped murderer in 19th century Paris, to a Norwegian kosmonaut in low-earth orbit, something is happening that began long ago, and will long outlast Evan and Shosh. With lyrical prose and original songs (written and recorded by the author), I Loved You In Another Life explores the history of love, and how some souls are meant for each other — yesterday, today, forever.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Levine Querido
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It’s 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills…it’s there to be found.
Meet Billie Mae, captain of the Night Storms racing team, and Loretta, her best friend and second-in-command. They’re determined to make enough money to move out west to a state that allows Black folks to legally use magic and take part in national races.
Cheng-Kwan – doing her best to handle the delicate and dangerous double act of being the perfect “son” to her parents, and being true to herself while racing.
Mattie and Emma – Choctaw and Black – the youngest of the group and trying to dodge government officials who want to send them and their newly-surfaced powers away to boarding school.
And Luella, in love with Billie Mae. Her powers were sealed away years ago after she fought back against the government. She’ll do anything to prevent the same fate for her cousins.
Brooms is a queer, witchy Fast and The Furious that shines light on history not often told – it’s everything you’d ever want to read in a graphic novel.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Page Street YA
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Discover the infinite realms of asexual love across sci-fi, fantasy, and contemporary stories.
From a wheelchair user racing to save her kidnapped girlfriend and a little mermaid who loves her sisters more than suitors, to a slayer whose virgin blood keeps attracting monsters, the stories of this anthology are anything but conventional. Whether adventuring through space, outsmarting a vengeful water spirit, or surviving haunted cemeteries, no two aces are the same in these 14 unique works that highlight asexual romance, aromantic love, and identities across the asexual spectrum.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Katherine Tegen Books
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From New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer comes an exuberant YA historical coming-of-age novel about a rising star French pianist, navigating his way into high society as he explores his sexuality. Perfect for fans of Last Night At The Telegraph Club and The Gentleman’s Gide to Vice and Virtue.
They say Léon Delafosse will be France’s next great pianist. But despite his being the youngest student ever accepted into the prestigious Paris Conservatory, there’s no way an impoverished musician can make his way in 1890s Paris without an outside patron.
Young gossip columnist Marcel Proust takes Léon under his wing, and the boys game their way through an extravagant new world. When the larger-than-life Count Robert de Montesquiou-Fézensac offers his patronage, Léon’s dreams are made real. But the closer he gets to becoming France’s next great thing, the further he strays from his old country life he shared with his family and his best friend Félix…a boy he might love.
With each choice Léon makes, he must navigate a fine line between two worlds — or risk losing them both.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Clarion Books
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A gripping nonfiction graphic novel that follows the stories of Jewish children, separated from their parents, who escaped the horrors of the Holocaust. From the Sibert Honor and YALSA Award–winning creator behind The Unwanted, Drowned City, and others.
In the tightening grip of Hitler’s power, towns, cities, and ghettoes were emptied of Jews. Unless they could escape, Jewish children would not be spared their deadly fate in the Holocaust, a tragedy of unfathomable depth. Only 11% of the Jewish children living in Europe before 1939 survived the Second World War.
Run and Hide tells the stories of these children, forced to leave their homes and families, as they escaped certain horror. Some children flee to England by train. Others are hidden from Nazis, sometimes in plain sight. Some are secreted away in attics and farmhouses. Still others make miraculous escapes, cresting over the snow-covered Pyrenees mountains to safety.
Acclaimed nonfiction storyteller Don Brown brings his expertise for journalistic reporting to the deeply felt personal narratives of Jewish children who survived against overwhelming odds.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Thomas Nelson
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Blood holds all kinds of curses.
Seven generations of women in Susana Prather’s family have been lost to the Georgia swamp behind her house. The morning after her eighteenth birthday, she awakens soaked with water, with no memory of sleepwalking. No matter how she tries to stop it, she’s pulled from her safe bed night after night, haunted by her own family history and legacy. Now, the truth feels unavoidable: it’s only a matter of time before she loses her mind and the swamp becomes her grave.
Unless she can figure out how to break the curse.
When she isn’t sleepwalking, she’s dreaming of her great-great-great-great-grandmother, Suzanna Yawn, who set the curse in motion in 1855. Her ancestor’s life bears such similarity to her own that it might hold the key she seeks. Or it might only foretell tragedy.
As Susana seeks solutions in the past and the present, family members hold secrets tighter to their chests, friends grow distant, and old flames threaten to sputter and die. But Susana has something no one else has been able to seize: the unflagging belief that all curses can be broken and that love can help a new future begin.
Based on her own family history, award-winning novelist Caroline George’s latest novel is a staggeringly beautiful work of hope.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
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In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!
In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.
Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago…A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions — and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.
Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.
As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest…before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth — about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family — she must question if some secrets are best left buried.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Feiwel & Friends
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From Alexandra Christo, the author of To Kill A Kingdom, comes The Night Hunt, a dark fantasy romance about a monstrous girl who feeds on fear and the Gods-cursed boy who falls in love with her.
Atia is a monster who feeds on fear. As the last of her kind, she hides in the shadows of the world to escape the wrath of the unpredictable Gods. Silas is a Herald, carrying messages and ferrying the dead as punishment for a past he can’t remember. Stripped of his true name, he yearns to recover his identity.
Atia would never dream of allying with someone like him, but when she breaks a sacred law and the Gods send monsters to hunt her, Silas offers an irresistible deal: he’ll help avenge her family and take on the Gods who now hunt her, if she helps him break his curse and restore his humanity. All they need to do is kill three powerful creatures: a vampire, a banshee, and one of the very Gods who destroyed both their lives. Only together can they finally rewrite their destinies.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Wednesday Books
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Perfect for fans of The Black Kids, Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel from Asha Bromfield about a budding romance struggling to survive amidst the Jamaican civil unrest of the 1970s.
It’s 1976 and Jamaica is on fire. The country is on the eve of important elections and the warring political parties have made the divisions between the poor and the wealthy even wider. And Irie and Jilly come from very different backgrounds: Irie is from the heart of Kingston, where fighting in the streets is common. Jilly is from the hills, where mansions nestled within lush gardens remain safe behind gates. But the two bond through a shared love of Reggae music, spending time together at Irie’s father’s record store, listening to so-called rebel music that opens Jilly’s mind to a sound and a way of thinking she’s never heard before.
As tensions build in the streets, so do tensions between the two girls. A budding romance between them complicates things further as the push and pull between their two lives becomes impossible to bear. For Irie, fighting ― with her words and her voice ― is her only option. Blood is shed on the streets in front of her every day. She has no choice. But Jilly can always choose to escape.
Can their bond survive this impossible divide?
Asha Bromfield has written a compelling, emotional and heart-rending story of a friendship during wartime and what it means to fight for your words, your life, and the love of your life.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Clarion Books
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From debut author Andrew Duplessie, a terrifying collection of teen short horror stories — and accompanying videos — that will keep you up long into the night! Perfect for fans of Five Nights At Freddy’s.
A garbage disposal that feeds on flesh…
A beloved stuffed rabbit that cooks up your parents…
Roses that require human blood to bloom…
From blood-chilling horror to supernatural scares, this collection of short stories from debut author Andrew Duplessie offers something to stoke anyone’s fear factor. But that’s only the beginning. In a first-ever twist, each story also comes with a pulse-pounding video that deepens the horror. Point your phone at the QR code and be prepared to scream! Maybe even share it with your friends, if you dare.
Ready or not, Too Scared To Sleep will answer the question: How brave are you, really?
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Inkyard Press
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Frankenstein meets Inglourious Basterds in this stunning Jewish historical horror novel from the award-winning author of The City Beautiful.
Vera was made for vengeance.
Lithuania, 1943. A father drowns in the all-consuming grief of a daughter killed by the Nazis. He can’t bring Chaya back from the dead, but he can use kishuf — an ancient and profane magic — to create a golem in her image. A Nazi killer, to avenge her death.
When Vera awakens, she can feel her violent purpose thrumming within her. But she can also feel glimpses of a human life lived, of stolen kisses amidst the tragedy, and of a grisly death. And when she meets Akiva, she recognizes the boy with soft lips that gave warm kisses. But these memories aren’t hers, and Vera doesn’t know if she gets — or deserves — to have a life beyond what she was made for.
Vera’s strength feels limitless — until she learns that there are others who would channel kishuf for means far less noble than avenging a daughter’s death. As she confronts the very basest of humanity, Vera will need more than what her creator gave her: Not just a reason to fight, but a reason to live.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Disney Hyperion
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In this sweeping YA fantasy series, Disney’s Princesses grow up — and learn to rule — guided by the magical Queen’s Council. Now, Jasmine must prove that she is the rightful heir to the throne of Agrabah.
Jasmine thought that she had earned her happily ever after when she and Aladdin defeated Jafar. Then her beloved father dies and, overnight, all her plans for the future change. Instead of her wedding, she’s now planning a funeral and a coronation — her coronation, to become the first woman to rule Agrabah. But before the sultan’s crown is placed on her head, her claim to the throne is called into question.
Jasmine has always been headstrong, but for the first time in her life, she finds herself faltering. Agrabah’s ministers decree that the way to determine the true ruler is through a tournament — a series of challenges meant to test not just her ability to rule, but everything she holds dear. As the chasm between Aladdin’s world and Jasmine’s grows wider, their future together becomes even more uncertain.
Meanwhile, dark forces appear to be descending on Agrabah: A gray mist swirls across the land, shadows lurk within the palace, and voices whisper to Jasmine in the night. A message warns from beyond the grave: You must find the book.
Jasmine’s quest to decipher the message, win the tournament, and secure the throne leads her deep into the reality of her own story, and those of women who have ruled other lands before her. With the aid of the mysterious Queen’s Council, she must uncover the truth and step into her rightful role as sultana of Agrabah.
This magical reimagining of a princess determined to write her own tale blends fantasy and legend with a Disney twist.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Balzer + Bray
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From Michael L. Printz honoree & National Book Award finalist Elana K. Arnold comes the harrowing story of a young girl’s struggle to survive the Holocaust in Romania.
Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He’s done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from her, Rieke wonders if there’s anything in her life she can count on — and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it.
Then — war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invade Czernowitz. Almost overnight, Rieke and Astra’s world changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather’s business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Rieke has long known that she exists in a world defined by those who have power and those who do not, and as those powers close in around her, she must decide whether holding on to her life might mean letting go of everything that has ever mattered to her — and if that’s a choice she will even have the chance to make.
Based on the true experiences of her grandmother’s childhood in Holocaust-era Romania, award-winning author Elana K. Arnold weaves an unforgettable tale of love and loss in the darkest days of the twentieth century — and one young woman’s will to survive them.
Publication Date October 10th 2023 by Delacorte Press
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Set more than one hundred years after the Borden murders, this propulsive, supernatural thriller imagines what might happen if history were to repeat itself today. Perfect for fans of Kara Thomas and Courtney Summers!
When Mariella Morse accuses her boyfriend, Vik Gomez, of murdering her wealthy parents with an axe, the town is quick to believe her. It doesn’t help that Vik is caught standing over her parents’ bodies with blood on his hands, unable to remember anything about the night in question.
But Vik’s sister, Tessa, knows that Vik would never be capable of such a gruesome crime. Haunted by the mistakes she made that led her family to move to Fall River, MA in the first place, she sets out to prove her brother’s innocence.
Tessa’s search for answers will lead her into a sprawling, notoriously cursed forest, where she and Mariella must face a darkness that has lurked within their town since before the days of Lizzie Borden — the original axe murderess of Fall River.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
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Momo Gardner is the kind of friend who’s always ready to lend a helping hand. She’s introverted, sensitive, and maybe a little too trusting, but she likes to believe the best in people. PG, on the other hand, is a bit of a lone wolf, despite her reputation for being a flirt and a player. Underneath all that cool mystery, she’s actually quick to smile, and when she falls for someone, she falls hard. An unexpected meet-cute brings the two together, kicking off the beginning of an awkward yet endearing courtship — but with their drastically different personalities, Momo’s overprotective friend, and PG’s past coming back to haunt her, Momo and PG’s romance is put to the test.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Wednesday Books
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A young flower hunter gets embroiled in the succession politics of the Sultanate when she must retrieve the rarest and most powerful magical flower after giving it to the wrong hands, in Rati Mehrotra’s Flower and Thorn.
Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily ― said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat entire armies ― Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.
Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive impostor.
Irinya’s fight to recover the priceless flower and fix what she’s done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she’s not sure she’ll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she’s left behind.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Disney Hyperion
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How much can change in a day? Nidhi, Avani, Sirisha, and Rani are about to find out in this follow-up to Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, a Children’s Book Council Young Adult Favorite of 2023.
The Songbird Inn has always been the perfect home. No one knows that better than the Singh sisters. Nidhi, Avani, Sirisha, and Rani have been lovestruck and heartbroken and everything in between, all at their dad’s cozy bed-and-breakfast. And today the whole Singh family will support aspiring filmmaker Rani in her first film festival — if only they can make it through the windstorm ravaging the Pacific Northwest.
After spending the last few months in India, Nidhi is coming back to Orcas Island, and she can’t wait to see her sisters again! But thanks to a series of weather-induced travel delays, she finds herself struggling to make her way home — beside none other than her sort-of ex, Grayson. Will an old flame spark to life once again?
Avani can’t decide what she wants from her future. What college, what major, what career — it’s all so stressful! The only thing she’s sure about is Fernando, but lately, things between them have been anything but smooth. Will they manage to save their relationship? And how will she ever decide what to do with her life?
Sirisha is trying to overcome her first heartbreak after her romance with Brie has fizzled out. But it’s not easy — especially when your ex wants to be friends and everyone acts like they’ve got you all figured out. Sirisha’s ready for a change. Will she be able to break out of her shell?
Rani has the perfect relationship with her boyfriend, Raj. And she won’t let anyone forget it! That’s why her short film for the festival is all about their epic love story, one that transcends time and space. But when filmmaking stress reveals cracks beneath the surface, how will Rani respond?
Relationships fall apart and come together. But through it all, there’s one thing the Singhs can count on: Their family will always be there for one another.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Amulet Books
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“Excellent, evocative, and thoughtful with genuine depth” (New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon), Catfish Rolling is a wholly original and mind-bending debut YA novel by Clara Kumagai about memory, family, and an earthquake that breaks apart time.
There’s a catfish under Japan, and when it rolls the land rises and falls. At least that’s what Sora was told after she lost her mother to an earthquake so powerful that it cracked time itself. Sora and her father are some of the few who still live near one of these “zones” — the places where time has been irrevocably sped up or slowed down.
Sora’s father leads a research team studying the zones, and even as his colleagues begin to fall ill, he refuses to stop entering the zones himself. Sora finds herself stuck and increasingly alone as her father starts behaving strangely — he’s disoriented and his memory seems to be deteriorating. Sora, meanwhile, has been secretly conducting her own research on the zones, tracking down a time expert in Tokyo and surprising herself with a crush on a strikingly confident girl named Maya, another hafu girl with whom she forms an instant bond.
But when Sora’s father disappears, she has no choice but to return home, with Maya in tow, and venture deep into the abandoned time zones to find him and perhaps the catfish itself…
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Union Square & Co.
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What if you could avenge your own murder? A brilliant young woman gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance, inspired by classic Chinese tropes.
Mingshin outsmarted three princes to help the man she loved become king. But she doesn’t see Ren’s betrayal coming, not until she’s lying in a pool of her own blood on the palace steps.
As she’s dying, Mingshin makes a desperate plea to the gods to turn back time and give her a chance to make things right.
Mingshin wakes up two years earlier, her prayer granted, and swears two things: Ren will never become king, and she will never fall in love again.
But the timeline in this life has changed: a dignitary gifted with dark magic is threatening her kingdom’s peace, and Ren’s thirst for power runs deeper than Mingshin could have imagined.
She finds herself allying with Jieh, another contender for the throne. Mingshin knows better than anyone not to give her heart to a prince. But in the viper’s nest of the royal court, she and Jieh prove a phenomenal team. Can Mingshin avert the catastrophe of her past by once again learning to trust…and maybe even love?
Master storyteller Kate Chenli introduces a singular YA heroine in this vividly rendered and utterly original new fantasy series.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Blink
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A sweeping YA fantasy inspired by Scottish history and folklore, Our Divine Mischief takes readers on a journey told in three voices: a determined heroine, an outcast young man, and a wish-granting canine. Their adventure spans an island fishing village to the king’s court in a story about identity, belonging, and the love between a human and her dog.
The Goddess Trial is designed to push young people to their edge and mark their coming of age, but Áila LacInis is ready for whatever it brings. She sets sail from her small fishing village to the island of the goddess Yslet, fully expecting a divine encounter, but what she finds is…nothing at all. The goddess is completely absent, and the only thing on the island is a dirty, mangy dog. Suddenly, everything Áila has ever known and believed is upended and her future becomes shrouded in uncertainty.
Hew already completed the Goddess Trial and received the designation of Unblessed. He is an outcast in the village, until he is tasked with assisting Áila through a series of Ordeals the town elders designed to compensate for her failed Trial. For the first time, he has hope he can make something of his life.
Orail isn’t quite sure who or what she is. She remembers little before Áila’s arrival on the island, and now all she knows is that she’ll never leave Áila’s side. But as she begins to realize and remember, she discovers powers — and an identity — she never could have imagined.
Told from three perspectives, Our Divine Mischief is an epic fantasy inspired by Scottish history and mythology that includes political intrigue, a sweeping love story, and an exploration of the powerful bond between dogs and humans.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
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Everline Blackthorn has devoted her life to the wardens ― a sect of holy warriors who guard against monsters known as the vespertine.
When a series of strange omens occur, Everline disobeys orders to investigate, and uncovers a startling truth in the form of Ravel Severin: a rogue vespertine who reveals the monsters have secrets of their own.
Ravel promises the help she needs ― for a price. Vespertine magic requires blood, and if Everline wants Ravel to guide across the dangerous moorland, she will have to allow him to feed from her.
It’s a sin for a warden to feed a vespertine ― let alone love one ― and as Everline and Ravel travel further across the moorland, she realizes the question isn’t whether she will survive the journey, but if she will return unchanged. Or if she wants to.
Critically acclaimed author of monstrous romances Lyndall Clipstone weaves a bloodstained tale of a girl torn between her vows and her heart, where falling in love may be the deepest sin of all…
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by HarperTeen
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Ninth House meets The Dead and The Dark in this gothic dark academia novel that delves into the human capacity for great love, great art, and great evil.
Magni animi numquam moriuntur. Great minds never die.
The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all — free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.
Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.
And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri — one that just might turn her nightmares into reality; one that might destroy her before she has a chance to escape.
All That Consumes Us will pull readers into a hypnotizing, dark reverie that blurs the lines of reality and shows that the addictive nature of ambition — and its inevitable price — always claims its due.
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Amberjack Publishing
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Welcome to the Dark.
We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren’t sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country, and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love — and a lot of what they fear — through a twisted blend of horror lenses, from the thoughtful to the terrifying.
From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster–infested asylums, and ravaging zombie apocalypses, to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, All These Sunken Souls features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents.
With stories by Kalynn Bayron, Ashia Monet, Liselle Sambury, Sami Ellis, Joel Rochester, Joelle Wellington, Brent C. Lambert, Donyae Coles, Ryan Douglass, Circe Moskowitz
Publication Date October 17th 2023 by Razorbill
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Eight hours. Twelve contestants. A flight none of them might survive. A flight to Paris full of teenagers seeking opportunity turns deadly in this suspenseful, locked-door YA thriller. Perfect for fans of Diana Urban, Karen McManus, and Jessica Goodman.
Seventeen-year-old boarding school student Emily Walters is selected for an opportunity of a lifetime — she’ll compete abroad for a cash prize that will cover not only tuition to the college of her choice, but will lift her mother and her out of poverty.
But almost from the moment she and 11 other contestants board a private jet to Europe, Emily realizes somebody is willing to do anything to win. Between keeping an eye on her best friend’s flirty boyfriend and hiding her own dark secrets, she’s not sure how she’ll survive the contest, much less the flight. Especially when people start dying…
As loyalties shift and secrets are revealed, Emily must figure out who to trust, and who’s trying to kill them all, before she becomes the next victim.
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by Wednesday Books
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Two half-siblings who have never met embark on a search together for the Iranian immigrant and U.S. Army veteran father they never knew.
Samira Murphy will do anything to keep her fractured family from falling apart, including caring for her widowed grandmother and getting her older brother into recovery for alcohol addiction. With attendance at her dream college on the line, she takes a long shot DNA test to find the support she so desperately needs from a father she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.
Henry Owen is torn between his well-meaning but unreliable bio-mom and his overly strict aunt and uncle, who stepped in to raise him but don’t seem to see him for who he is. Looking to forge a stronger connection to his own identity, he takes a DNA test to find the one person who might love him for exactly who he is ― the biological father he never knew.
Instead of a DNA match with their father, Samira and Henry are matched with each other. They begin to search for their father together and slowly unravel the difficult truth of their shared past, forming a connection that only siblings can have and recovering precious parts of their past that have been lost. Brimming with emotional resonance, Susan Azim Boyer’s The Search For Us beautifully renders what it means to find your place in the world through the deep and abiding power of family.
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by HarperTeen
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Two teens take the stage and find their voice…
A girl learns about her heritage and begins to find her community…
A sister is haunted by the ghosts of loved ones lost…
There is no universal adoption experience, and no two adoptees have the same story. This anthology for teens edited by Shannon Gibney and Nicole Chung contains a wide range of powerful, poignant, and evocative stories in a variety of genres.
These tales from fifteen bestselling, acclaimed, and emerging adoptee authors genuinely and authentically reflect the complexity, breadth, and depth of adoptee experiences.
This groundbreaking collection centers what it’s like growing up as an adoptee. These are stories by adoptees, for adoptees, reclaiming their own narratives.
With stories by: Kelley Baker, Nicole Chung, Shannon Gibney, Mark Oshiro, MeMe Collier, Susan Harness, Meredith Ireland, Mariama J. Lockington, Lisa Nopachai, Stefany Valentine, Matthew Salesses, Lisa Wool-Rim Sjöblom, Eric Smith, Jenny Heijun Wills, Sun Yung Shin, Foreword by Rebecca Carroll, Afterword by JaeRan Kim, MSW, PhD
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by CamCat Books
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Does doing one bad thing make you a bad person?
Sixteen-year-old Emily Keller, known by the media as Keller the Killer, is accused of causing the deaths of four family members, including young children. Emily is one of the youngest females to be accused of a crime so heinous, making this the nation’s biggest trial of the year. But what really happened that fateful night ― and who’s responsible ― is anything but straightforward.
Living in a trailer park in Baltimore with her twin brother and alcoholic mother, Emily’s life hasn’t been easy. She’s had to grow up fast, and like any teen, has made questionable decisions in a desperate attempt to fit in with her peers. Will her mistakes amount to a guilty verdict and a life in prison? It’s up to the jury to decide.
For readers who enjoy Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus.
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by Amulet Books
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From Sajni Patel, the author of My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding, comes this hilarious, smart, and swoon-worthy rom-com about two teens traveling to Dubai for Diwali.
In this hate-to-love teen rom-com, Nikki, an aspiring photographer, accompanies her family on a trip to Dubai to celebrate the five days of Diwali in style. It would be the trip of a lifetime, if Yash, the boy next door — with whom Nikki has a rocky history — wasn’t also on the flight.
Oblivious to the tension, Nikki’s matchmaking family encourages Nikki to get better acquainted with Yash. It turns out a lot can change on a 12-hour flight beyond just continents. But can betrayals and conflicting ambitions be set aside long enough for the two teens to discover the true meaning of the Festival of Lights?
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by HarperCollins
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In the companion novel to the critically acclaimed Rain Rising, Rain must once again find the strength to rise above.
The start of the school year is bringing a lot of changes for Rain: New school. No Circle Group. No Dr. McCalla. No Miss Walia. No step team. And Xander, her older brother and superhero, is away at college.
Although everyone else seems okay with change, Rain struggles to open up to her new counselor, her mom, Umi, Alyssa, and even Xander, who seems to have forgotten all about her while away at college. But when an older boy starts giving Rain more attention than she asked for—will she be able to open up again before things go too far?
As Kirkus Reviews said of Rain Rising: “A gorgeous debut: a necessary, cathartic, immersive healing experience.” Readers will be eager to follow Rain in this companion novel. Like the rain, she is both gentle and a force, finding strength to rise again.
Publication Date October 24th 2023 by Flatiron Books
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Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse For True Love, the breathtaking conclusion to Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy
Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.
Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out…but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Astra Young Readers
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Will, an agender teen, struggles with the haunting aftermath of parental abuse as they forge a new life and love in this novel that is perfect for fans of If These Wings Could Fly and Last Night At The Telegraph Club.
Will is a 17-year-old on the cusp of freedom: freedom from providing and caring for their abusive, addicted mother, freedom from their small town with an even smaller mindset, and the freedom from having to hide who they truly are. When their drug dealer mother dies months before their 18th birthday, Will is granted their freedom earlier than expected. But their mother’s last words haunt Will: She cursed them with her dying breath, claiming her death was their fault. Soon their mother’s drug-dealing past threatens Will’s new shiny future, leaving Will scrambling to find their beloved former foster mother Raz before Child Protective Services or local drug dealers find them first. But how do you reconnect with family and embark on a new love when you’re convinced you destroy everything you touch?
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Quill Tree Books
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Perfect for fans of They Both Die At The End and You’ve Reached Sam, this gripping, atmospheric YA novel follows a teen with a mysterious condition that transports her to the past when she smells certain scents linked to specific memories.
Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life.
When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom — a moment Aimee has never remembered before — she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest disappearance yet, but the memory doesn’t match up with the story of how her mom left — at least, not the version she’s always heard from her dad.
Desperate for answers, Aimee travels to Korea, where she unravels the mystery of her memories, the truth about her mother, and the reason she keeps returning to certain moments in her life. Along the way, she realizes she’ll need to reconcile her past in order to save her present.
From acclaimed author Sarah Suk comes an aching, powerful exploration of memory, grief, and the painful silences we must overcome to discover our truest selves.
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Wednesday Books
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In Olivia Worley’s pitch-perfect debut, People To Follow, ten teen influencers come to a remote island to star in a reality show, but when one of them winds up dead, they realize that this time, the price of getting “cancelled” could be their lives.
A reality show on a remote Caribbean island. Ten teen influencers. One dead body.
Welcome to “In Real Life,” the hot new reality show that forces social media’s reigning kings and queens to unplug for three weeks and “go live” without any filters. IRL is supposed to be the opportunity of a lifetime, watched closely by legions of loyal followers. But for these rising stars – including Elody, an Instagram model with an impulsive streak; Kira, a child star turned fitness influencer; Logan, a disgraced TikTok celeb with a secret; and Max, a YouTuber famous for exposés on his fellow creators – it’s about to turn into a nightmare.
When the production crew fails to show up and one of their own meets a violent end, these social media moguls find themselves stranded with a dead body and no way to reach the outside world. When they start receiving messages from a mysterious Sponsor threatening to expose their darkest secrets, they realize that they’ve been lured into a deadly game…and one of them might be pulling the strings.
With the body count rising and cameras tracking their every move, the creators must figure out who is trying to get them canceled – like, literally – before their #1 follower strikes again.
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Dark Horse Books
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Queer adventure, humor, and heartfelt friendships star in this fantastical comics tale that truly feels like it’s for everyone.
After being stranded in a forgotten military outpost, grumpy Dobrinia sets out on a quest to marry a princess. But in the vast Tzardom of Glas, where magic has been outlawed, troubled histories can catch up with even a flying ship.
The Flying Ship by Jem Milton makes its first foray into print comics! Their fan-favorite story, originally released digitally, is part of the new collaboration between Dark Horse and Tapas.
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Scholastic Press
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Small town murders.
Big time thrills.
The second installment in the suspenseful, modern update of the classic mystery TV series. Perfect for fans of One Of Us Is Lying, Sadie, and Gossip Girl.
“Someone knows where you live. And whoever they are, they want you to know…you’re next.”
Bea Fletcher never met a cold case she didn’t want to solve. So when she finds herself staying with family near Lake Paloma, she’s torn. Sure, she’s not thrilled to be bunking with her moody, taciturn uncle and his wife while her father’s out of town. Being away from Cabot Cove means less time for Bea to work on her true crime blog, visit her great-aunt Jessica, and spend time with new friends Leisl, Leif, and Carlos and the mysterious underground treasure hunting game they’ve been playing.
But Lake Paloma has mysteries of its own, including the unsolved drowning of teenaged Eden Vicente the year before. And when Bea starts to ask questions about Eden’s death, the answers lead her closer to home than she ever imagined. If Bea isn’t careful, she could be the next girl to end up at the bottom of the lake.
And underwater, no one can hear you scream…
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by Wednesday Books
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The Mummy meets Death On The Nile in What The River Knows, Isabel Ibañez’s lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt and filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.
Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns the most: her globetrotting parents ― who frequently leave her behind.
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and a golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.
With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance ― or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.
What The River Knows is the first book in the thrilling Secrets of the Nile duology.
Publication Date October 31st 2023 by HarperTeen
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Irresistible intrigue, captivating suspense, a swoony friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance, and heartbreaking betrayal drive this thrilling debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and Knives Out.
Lily Rosewood has lived with her grandmother since her dad’s death a year ago. She and Gram have always been close — Gram’s role as chair of their family’s luxury coat business has inspired Lily’s love of fashion, and Lily hopes to follow in Gram’s footsteps one day.
Then Gram dies suddenly, and Lily’s world is upended. Gram’s quarter of a billion dollar fortune is missing, and Lily has been banned from the manor she and Gram shared.
But Gram has always loved games, and even in death, she still has a few tricks up her couture sleeve. When Lily and three other seemingly random teens get letters from Gram sending them on a treasure hunt around Rosetown, they hope the fortune will be the reward. But they’re not the only ones hunting for Gram’s treasure, and soon the hunt becomes more dangerous than they ever could have imagined.
