Young Adult New Releases April 12th 2022

Happy New Release Tuesday! Today is a bit of a reprieve from last week’s ginormous release day, but still we get to have new books to read & add to our TBRs! Personally, I am absolutely excited ready for Emily X.R. Pan to make me cry with her beautiful stories again!

If you want to see more of April’s releases check out our Bookshop page, or visit our Signed Books & Preorder Incentives page!

An Arrow to the Moon

by Emily X.R. Pan
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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Romeo and Juliet meets Chinese mythology in this magical novel by the New York Times bestselling author of The Astonishing Color of After

Hunter Yee has perfect aim with a bow and arrow, but all else in his life veers wrong. He’s sick of being haunted by his family’s past mistakes. The only things keeping him from running away are his little brother, a supernatural wind, and the bewitching girl at his new high school.

Luna Chang dreads the future. Graduation looms ahead, and her parents’ expectations are stifling. When she begins to break the rules, she finds her life upended by the strange new boy in her class, the arrival of unearthly fireflies, and an ominous crack spreading across the town of Fairbridge.

As Hunter and Luna navigate their families’ enmity and secrets, everything around them begins to fall apart. All they can depend on is their love…but time is running out, and fate will have its way.

Blaine for the Win

by Robbie Couch
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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After being dumped so his boyfriend can pursue more “serious” guys, a teen boy decides to prove he can be serious, too, by running for senior class president in this joyful romp from the author of The Sky Blues.

High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—​senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.

Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.

Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.

Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.

But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?

Boys of the Beast

by Monica Zepeda
Published by: Tu Books
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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Three cousins. Four days. One car. This smart and fearless road-trip novel is perfect for fans of David Levithan, Benjamin Alire Saenz, or Meg Medina.

THE ROUTE.
Seventeen hundred miles from Portland, Oregon, to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

THE BEAST.
Grandma Lupe's 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.

THE BOYS.
Three strangers who also happen to be cousins:
Matt.Evangelical Christian. Earnest. Film nerd. Carrying a dream to make movies--despite the future his father has planned for him.
Ethan.Jewish. Gay. Sci-fi nerd. Carrying a phone that contains his entire relationship with Levi--unless they finally get to meet IRL on this trip.
Oscar.Stoner. Smartass. Too cool to be a nerd. Carrying a letter that haunts him--no matter how hard he tries to escape it.

THE END ...
just might be a new beginning.
This powerful voyage in three voices marks the brilliant debut of Monica Zepeda.

This May End Badly

by Samantha Markum
Published by: Wednesday Books
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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Pranking mastermind Doe and her motley band of Weston girls are determined to win the century-long war against Winfield Academy before the clock ticks down on their senior year. But when their headmistress announces that The Weston School will merge with its rival the following year, their longtime feud spirals into chaos.

To protect the school that has been her safe haven since her parents’ divorce, Doe puts together a plan to prove once and for all that Winfield boys and Weston girls just don’t mix, starting with a direct hit at Three, Winfield’s boy king and her nemesis. In a desperate move to win, Doe strikes a bargain with Three’s cousin, Wells: If he fake dates her to get under Three’s skin, she’ll help him get back his rightful family heirloom from Three.

As the pranks escalate, so do her feelings for her fake boyfriend, and Doe spins lie after lie to keep up her end of the deal. But when a teacher long suspected of inappropriate behavior messes with a younger Weston girl, Doe has to decide what’s more important: winning a rivalry, or joining forces to protect something far more critical than a prank war legacy.

This May End Badly is a story about friendship, falling in love, and crossing pretty much every line presented to you—and how to atone when you do.

Gone Dark

by Amanda Panitch
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Dystopian, Thriller, Young Adult
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Dry meets Hatchet in this thrilling tale of survival following a teen girl who must lead her friends across country to the safety of her estranged father’s survivalist compound after a mass power failure leaves the country in chaos.

When seventeen-year-old Zara escaped her father’s backwoods survivalist compound five years ago, she traded crossbows and skinning hides for electricity and video games…and tried to forget the tragedy that drove her away.
Until a malware attack on the United States electrical grids cuts off the entire country’s power.

In the wake of the disaster and the chaos that ensues, Zara is forced to call upon skills she thought she’d never use again—and her best bet to survive is to go back to the home she left behind. Drawing upon a resilience she didn’t know she had, Zara leads a growing group of friends on an epic journey across a crumbling country back to her father’s compound, where their only hope for salvation lies.

But with every step she takes, Zara wonders if she truly has what it takes to face her father and the secrets of her past, or if she’d be better off hiding in the dark.

You Should Have Seen This Coming

by Shani Michelle
Published by: Swoon Reads
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
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A teen girl who sees visions of the past must use her gift to save a kidnapped classmate in Shani Michelle's high-stakes YA thriller You Should Have Seen This Coming!

Hayden sees the past. Just touching an object will occasionally give her flashes of the previous owner's memories. And if that memory happens to be a deeply hidden secret, then she has no problem making you pay for your crime, in cash.

Cassie sees the future, and it sucks. She will randomly wake up from dreams filled with disasters that she feels compelled to stop, and she would really like to stop watching her boyfriend fall in love with someone else!

But when Cassie tries to warn Hayden that her latest blackmailing scheme is a trap, she knows she's really in trouble. All her visions warn her of the upcoming kidnapping, nothing she does stops it. And it's all Hayden's fault!
Can Hayden's gift help her find Cassie before it's too late?

Ebonwilde

by Crystal Smith
Published by: Clarion Books
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, Young Adult
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A bitter prince keeps lonely vigil in a darkened tomb,
A wounded knight fights for his life in a gladiatorial arena,
And a fledgling king wanders the streets of a dangerous city
While the errant princess who sealed their fates drifts in spell-cast slumber within a coffin made of glass.

THEIR JOURNEYS WILL BEGIN AT THE FIRST STROKE OF TWELVE ON MIDWINTER NIGHT . . .. . . AND END AT THE LAST.
Welcome to the Ebonwilde.

When Aurelia awakens from her magic-induced sleep, it is to the face of a rescuer she didn’t expect, in a body she doesn’t understand, and into a world she no longer recognizes. Desperate to know what happened to Conrad, Zan, and Kellan after the events at Greythorne Manor, Aurelia follows the threads they left behind straight into the forest, where she finds herself caught in a web of magic, intrigue, passion, and betrayal that stretches across centuries and ultimately reveals that Aurelia is the final piece of a deadly apocalyptic plan that is only days away.

All Aurelia wants is to reclaim her life and reunite with those she loved and lost; but with the end of the world looming, she’s forced to unravel the dark secrets of the distant past before she can get that chance.

With the fate of mankind on her shoulders, Aurelia must venture into the heart of the Ebonwilde and face the darkest parts of the forest—and of herself.

Ebonwilde is the thrilling conclusion to the epic Bloodleaf series, which Laura Sebastian called “a phantasmagorical wonder” and Sara Holland described as an “eerie, immersive, and fascinating” read.

High Spirits

by Camille Gomera-Tavarez
Published by: Levine Querido
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Anthology, Young Adult
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High Spirits is a collection of eleven interconnected short stories from the Dominican diaspora, from debut author Camille Gomera-Tavarez.

It is a book centered on one extended family - the Beléns - across multiple generations.

It is set in the fictional small town of Hidalpa - and Santo Domingo and Paterson and San Juan and Washington Heights too.

It is told in a style both utterly real and distinctly magical - and its stories explore machismo, mental health, family, and identity.

But most of all, High Spirits represents the first book from Camille Gomera-Tavarez, who takes her place as one of the most extraordinary new voices to emerge in years.

The Greatest Stories Ever Played: Video Games and the Evolution of Storytelling

by Dustin Hansen
Published by: Feiwel Friends
on April 12, 2022
Genres: Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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In this fun and informative YA Non-fiction title, Dustin Hansen, author of Game On!, a self-confessed video game addict with over 20-years experience in the gaming industry, examines the storytelling skills shown in some of the most beloved and moving games of all time.

We all know that video games are fun, but can a video game make you cry? Can it tell you a powerful love story? Can a video game make you think differently about war? About the environment? About the choices you make?

Whether it's playing through blockbuster-esque adventures (Uncharted, God of War, The Last of Us), diving deep into hidden bits of story and lore (Red Dead Redemption II, Bioshock, Journey) or building relationships that change the fate of the world itself (Persona 5, Undertale), video games are bringing stories to life in ways that are immediate, interactive and immersive.

Focusing on some of the best, most memorable, experiences in gaming, The Greatest Stories Ever Played, examines the relationship between gaming and storytelling in a new way.