Young Adult New Releases April 18th 2023
Welcome to another New Release Tuesday – time to celebrate most of today’s YA New Releases! If you missed any of April’s YA releases check them all out in one place on our Bookshop page. If you like signed books be sure to check in to the Signed Books & Preorder Incentives page!
Alondra
by Gina FemiaGenres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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A contemporary YA debut from award-winning playwright Gina Femia, Alondra is a coming-of-age story of friendship and romance, about a bisexual teen girl and her friends wrestle their way through the summer--sometimes on the playgrounds of Coney Island, sometimes with their feelings and at home.
Sixteen-year-old Alonda loves professional wrestling. So when she meets a group of teens with aspirations of wrestling fame in her Coney Island neighborhood, she couldn’t be happier. So as the ragtag team works to put on a show to remember, Alonda sheds her old self behind and becomes Alondra—the Fearless One. But with her conflicting feelings for King, the handsome leader of their group, and Lexi, the girl with the beautiful smile, Alonda has to ask herself: can she be as fearless outside of the ring as she is inside it?
Snow & Poison
by Melissa de la CruzPublished by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Retellings, Young Adult
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Love is stronger than poison in this lush retelling of "Snow White" by #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz.
Raven-black hair, red lips, and skin as white as snow—Lady Sophie has led a sheltered life. . . . But that tale ends here.
Duchy of Bavaria, 1621. The palace is abuzz with excitement. The widowed Duke Maximilian is marrying a lady named Claudia, and at last, introducing his daughter Sophie to Bavaria’s high society.
At the ball, Sophie charms the dashing Prince Philip, heir to the Spanish throne. But as days pass and Sophie and Philip fall deeply and dangerously in love, the king of Spain orders Philip’s return home and his engagement to a princess.
Heartbroken, Sophie finds comfort in Claudia. But might the rumors of her stepmother's dealings with magic be true? And when conflict between kingdoms puts a target on Sophie’s back, can a vanished witch be the key ally she needs? A new tale begins: one where Sophie must shield her heart, fight for life life, and protect her home.
If I See You Again Tomorrow
by Robbie CouchPublished by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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From the author of The Sky Blues and Blaine for the Win comes a speculative young adult romance about a teen stuck in a time loop that’s endlessly monotonous until he meets the boy of his dreams.
For some reason, Clark has woken up and relived the same monotonous Monday 309 times. Until Day 310 turns out to be…different. Suddenly, his usual torturous math class is interrupted by an anomaly—a boy he’s never seen before in all his previous Mondays.
When shy, reserved Clark decides to throw caution to the wind and join effusive and effervescent Beau on a series of “errands” across the Windy City, he never imagines that anything will really change, because nothing has in such a long time. And he definitely doesn’t expect to fall this hard or this fast for someone in just one day.
There’s just one problem: how do you build a future with someone if you can never get to tomorrow?
The Cherished
by Patricia WardPublished by: HarperCollins US
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Young Adult
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For fans of Claire Legrand, Rory Power, and Danielle Vega comes a visceral horror thriller in the vein of Midsommar, as one girl inherits a mysterious house from her estranged grandmother—and a letter with sinister instructions.
Jo never expected to be placed in her absent grandmother’s will—let alone be left her house, her land, and a letter with mysterious demands.
Upon arriving at the inherited property, things are even more strange.The tenants mentioned in the letter are odd, just slightly…off. Jo feels something dark and decrepit in the old shack behind the house. And the things that her father used to talk about, his delusions… Why is Jo starting to believe they might be real?
But what Jo fears most is the letter from her grandmother. Because if it’s true, then Jo belongs here, in this strange place. And she has no choice but to stay.
With a deadly enemy that cannot be seen, a world that may only be unlocked by a chosen few, and a chilling past that must be unearthed at any cost, The Cherished is an original, hypnotizing contemporary horror—one that will thrill readers of White Smoke, Wilder Girls, and The Hazel Wood.
Pieces of Me
by Kate McLaughlinPublished by: Wednesday Books
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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The next gut-punching, compulsively readable Kate McLaughlin novel, about a girl finding strength in not being alone.
When eighteen-year-old Dylan wakes up, she’s in an apartment she doesn’t recognize. The other people there seem to know her, but she doesn't know them – not even the pretty, chiseled boy who tells her his name is Connor. A voice inside her head keeps saying that everything is okay, but Dylan can’t help but freak out. Especially when she borrows Connor’s phone to call home and realizes she’s been missing for three days.
Dylan has lost time before, but never like this.
Soon after, Dylan is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and must grapple not only with the many people currently crammed inside her head, but that a secret from her past so terrible she’s blocked it out has put them there. Her only distraction is a budding new relationship with Connor. But as she gets closer to finding out the truth, Dylan wonders: will it heal her or fracture her further?
Hot Dutch Daydream
by Kristy BoycePublished by: HarperCollins US
on August 2, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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Rom-com lovers and fans of Elise Bryant and Jenna Evans Welch will adore this next summer read from Hot British Boyfriend author Kristy Boyce.
No one has ever accused Sage Cunningham of being easily distracted. She has a plan, and she won't be swayed. She'll spend the summer interning in her mentor's lab in Amsterdam, and then she'll be ready for college. All she needs to do to pay for the summer abroad is agree to serve as the au pair for Dr. Reese's three-year-old.
Sage has it all down to a science, but she doesn't anticipate the surprise arrival of Dr. Reese's teenage son. Ryland is spontaneous, flirty, and impulsive--everything Sage isn't. He's a talented artist, but he's desperately in need of someone to keep him focused. And as nannying proves harder than Sage had expected, it turns out she might need help too.
The two strike a deal. Sage will stop Ryland from going out with a different girl every day, and Ryland will pitch in with his little brother.
Spending the summer stuck together is the perfect way to keep distractions to a minimum. Right?
The Song of Wrath (The Bones of Ruin, #2)
by Sarah RaughleyPublished by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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Penny Dreadful meets The Gilded Wolves in this captivating sequel to young adult historical fantasy The Bones of Ruin that follows immortal Iris as she desperately tries to thwart her destructive destiny.
Iris Marlow can’t die. For years, she was tormented by her missing memories and desperate to learn her real identity. So when the mysterious Adam Temple offered to reveal the truth of who she was in exchange for her joining his team in the Tournament of Freaks, a gruesome magical competition, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse. But the truth would have been better left buried.
Because Adam is a member of the Enlightenment Committee, an elite secret society built upon one fundamental idea: that the apocalypse known as Hiva had destroyed the world before and would do it again, and soon. But what the Committee—and Iris—never guessed is that Hiva is not an event. Hiva is a person—Iris.
Now, no matter how hard Iris fights for a normal life, the newly awakened power inside her keeps drawing her toward the path of global annihilation. Adam, perversely obsessed with Iris, will stop at nothing to force her to unlock her true potential, while a terrifying newcomer with ties to Hiva’s past is on the hunt for Iris.
All Iris wants is the freedom to choose her own future, but the cost might be everything Iris holds dear—including the world itself.
A Hunger of Thorns
by Lili WilkinsonPublished by: Delacorte Press
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Be swept away by a lush, witchy tale about forbidden magic and missing girls who don't need handsome princes to rescue them. Perfect for fans of The Hazel Wood.
Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette, weaving stories of girls who slayed dragons and saved princes. Then Maude grew up and lost her magic--and her best friend.
These days, magic is toothless, reduced to glamour patches and psychic energy drinks found in supermarkets and shopping malls. Odette has always hungered for forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Now she's missing, and everyone says she's dead. Everyone except Maude.
Storytelling has always been Maude's gift, so she knows all about girls who get lost in the woods. She's sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest--a place nobody else seems to remember is there. The danger is, no one knows what remains inside Sicklehurst, either. And every good story is sure to have a monster.
I Kick and I Fly
by Ruchira GuptaPublished by: Scholastic Press
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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A propulsive social justice adventure by renowned activist and award-winning documentarian Ruchira Gupta, I Kick and I Fly is an inspiring, hopeful story of triumph about a girl in Bihar, India, who escapes being sold into the sex trade when a local hostel owner helps her to understand the value of her body through kung fu.
On the outskirts of the Red Light District in Bihar, India, fourteen-year-old Heera is living on borrowed time until her father sells her into the sex trade to help feed their family and repay his loans. It is, as she's been told, the fate of the women in her community to end up here. But watching her cousin, Mira Di, live this life day in and day out is hard enough. To live it feels like the worst fate imaginable. And after a run-in with a bully leads to her expulsion from school, it feels closer than ever.
But when a local hostel owner shows up at Heera's home with the money to repay her family's debt, Heera begins to learn that fate can change. Destiny can be disrupted. Heroics can be contagious.
It's at the local hostel for at risk girls that Heera is given a transformative opportunity: learning kung fu with the other girls. Through the practice of martial arts, she starts to understand that her body isn't a an object to be commodified and preyed upon, but a vessel through which she can protect herself and those around her. And when Heera discovers the whereabouts of her missing friend, Rosy, through a kung fu pen pal in the US, she makes the decision to embark on a daring rescue mission to New York in an attempt to save her.
A triumphant, shocking account inspired by Ruchira Gupta's experience making the Emmy-award winning documentary, The Selling of Innocents, this is an unforgettable story of overcoming adversity by a life-long activist who has dedicated her life to creating a world where no child is bought or sold.
Hitting the Crossbar
by Nicole NwosuPublished by: Wattpad Books
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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The sequel to The Bad Boy And the Tomboy continues the love story of Macy Anderson and Sam Cahill as they face new challenges and new opportunities.
Macy Anderson and Sam Cahill are embarking on a new adventure, attending university on soccer scholarships while figuring out what comes next for them both.
Macy's life has always been her group of friends--Jasmine, Andrew, Jon Ming, Austin, Brandon--but now they're all split up. Macy's worried that the world that she's always known, that has helped her become the person she is now, is over, and she's discovering that facing the adult world of college and dating and friendships growing apart is harder than she thought it would be.
Sam is also finding it hard to adjust to this new phase of life. There are the pressures of university as well as some secrets from his past that he wants to keep hidden from Macy, and that's putting a strain on their relationship.
As Macy and Sam begin to question their decisions, they will have to decide if their relationship is worth fighting for or if it's game over.
Pardalita
by Joana Estrela, Lyn Miller-LachmannPublished by: Levine Querido
on November 1, 2021
Genres: Graphic Novel, LGBTQIA+, Poetry, Young Adult
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16-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Her parents are divorced and she’s just been suspended for cursing out a school aide asking about her father’s new marriage. She has two best friends, Luísa and Fred, but wants something more.
Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita, a senior and a gifted artist who’s moving to Lisbon to study in the fall. The two girls get to know each other while working on a play. And Raquel falls in love.
From author/artist Joana Estrela comes Pardalita, a beautiful slice-of-life story that is This One Summer meets Ursula K. Le Guin’s Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, told in flashbacks and present day action. Using a gorgeous blend of prose poems, illustrations, and graphic novel format, Estrela captures the feeling of being a teenager in a way that feels gentle, joyful, and real.
Sunshine: A Graphic Novel
by Jarrett J. KrosoczkaPublished by: Graphix
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Graphic Novel, LGBTQIA+, Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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The extraordinary--and extraordinarily powerful--follow-up to HEY, KIDDO.
When Jarrett J. Krosoczka was in high school, he was part of a program that sent students to be counselors at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families. Going into, Jarrett was worried: Wouldn't it be depressing, to be around kids facing such a serious struggle? Wouldn't it be grim?
But instead of the shadow of death, Jarrett found something else at Camp Sunshine: the hope and determination that gets people through the most troubled of times. Not only was he subject to some of the usual rituals that come with being a camp counselor (wilderness challenges, spooky campfire stories, an extremely stinky mascot costume), but he also got a chance to meet some extraordinary kids facing extraordinary circumstances. He learned about the captivity of illness, for sure . . . but he also learned about the freedom a safe space can bring.
Now, in his follow-up to the National Book Award finalist Hey, Kiddo, Jarrett brings readers back to Camp Sunshine so we can meet the campers and fellow counselors who changed the course of his life.
Wings in the Wild
by Margarita EnglePublished by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, In Verse, Young Adult
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This romantic contemporary novel-in-verse tells the love story of two teens fighting for climate action and human rights.
Winged beings are meant to be free. And so are artists, but the Cuban government has criminalized any art that doesn’t meet their approval. Soleida and her parents protest this injustice with their secret sculpture garden of chained birds. Then a hurricane exposes the illegal art, and her parents are arrested.
Soleida escapes to Central America alone, joining the thousands of Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica while seeking asylum elsewhere. There she meets Dariel, a Cuban American boy whose enigmatic music enchants birds and animals—and Soleida.
Together they work to protect the environment and bring attention to the imprisoned artists in Cuba. Soon they discover that love isn’t about falling—it’s about soaring together to new heights. But wings can be fragile, and Soleida and Dariel come from different worlds. They are fighting for a better future—and the chance to be together.
Queer Power!: Icons, Activists & Game Changers from Across the Rainbow
Published by: Penguin Workshopon April 18, 2023
Genres: LGBTQIA+, Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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An inspiring, expansive anthology that celebrates some of the LGBTQIA+ community's trailblazers, champions, and icons from across the rainbow.
In a follow-up to Free to Be Me, DOM&INK returns with a collection of essays that highlight modern-day LGBTQIA+ pioneers who have changed the world -- from well-known public figures and allies to up-and-comers you'll wish you'd heard of earlier.
Covering topics including coming out, gender, mental health, and activism, this book is packed full of empowering quotes, inspiring life lessons, and helpful advice that will encourage you to embrace your story and find your power.
No Boy Summer
by Amy SpaldingPublished by: Amulet Books
on April 18, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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Lydia and her younger sister Penny make a pact to avoid boy drama for the summer—but Lydia can’t help looking for a loophole when she falls for a cute girl
Lydia Jones and her younger sister Penny have had it with boy drama. Last year was marred by relationship disasters for both of them, threatening Lydia’s standing with her school’s theater tech club and Penny’s perfect GPA. Penny has, naturally, diagnosed the problem and prescribed a drastic solution: a summer off from boys.
Lydia and Penny decide to stay with their Aunt Grace and her boyfriend Oscar in Los Angeles while their parents are off on a European cruise. Penny follows her future-business-school dreams with an internship at Oscar’s office, and Lydia gets a part-time job at Grace’s neighborhood coffeeshop, Grounds Control.
Even when they spent hours, days, weeks dissecting their various boy drama, Lydia’s never felt this connected to her sister before, and it makes her wonder what else in her life could be different. She finds herself drawn to a group of friends she meets through her Grounds Control coworker, Margaret, as well as an intriguing customer, Fran, an aspiring filmmaker and—while not the first girl Lydia finds herself attracted to—the first girl who has mutual feelings for her. But she’s not breaking her pledge to Penny, right? That was just about boys. Even though in her heart Lydia knows she’s bending the rules, she hasn’t had a connection with anyone as strong as her connection with Fran, so she thinks it can’t be wrong. And Penny won’t mind as long as she’s happy . . . Right?
