New Release Tuesday: YA New Releases August 29th 2023

Young Adult New Releases August 29th 2023

Today there are lots of books releasing, the fall book season is truly upon us with more than 15 YA books hitting shelves! We share most of the YA books hitting shelves today below – if you want to see other August YA New Releases hit up our Bookshop page for more! Hope you find something exciting for your Fall TBRs!

The Reunion

by Kit Frick
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult
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From the author of I Killed Zoe Spanos comes a YA thriller in the vein of The White Lotus and Karen M. McManus’s The Cousins following a doomed family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort, where old grudges and dangerous secrets culminate in murder.

Eleven Mayweathers went on vacation. Ten came home.

It’s been years since the fragmented Mayweather clan was all in one place, but the engagement of Addison and Mason’s mom to the dad of their future stepbrother, Theo, brings the whole family to sunny Cancún, Mexico, for winter break. Add cousin Natalia to the mix, and it doesn’t take long for tempers to fray and tensions to rise. A week of forced family “fun” reveals that everyone has something to hide, and as secrets bubble to the surface, no one is safe from the fallout. By the end of the week, one member of the reunion party will be dead—and everyone’s a The Addison needs a better hiding place.The Theo just wants to mend fences.The Natalia doesn’t want to talk about the past.The Mason needs to keep his temper under control.

It started as a week in paradise meant to bring them together. But the Mayweathers are about to learn the hard way that family bonding can be deadly.

What Happened on Hicks Road

by Hannah Jayne
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
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Those eyes. Wide. Ice blue. A swath of blond hair illuminated in headlights. Then, blackness.

Thump!

"We hit something."

Lennox Oliver is loving her new life in California. For the first time, she feels normal. She has friends, and a maybe boyfriend and best of all no one knows the truth about her past and what happened to her mom.

But everything changes the night after a party when a drive on the supposedly haunted Hicks Road turns deadly and Lennox hits something...or someone.

Her friends say it was nothing, at worst, a deer in the road. But Lennox can't shake the vision of the girl in the headlights: bloody hair, wide, terrified eyes, lips parted in a scream. When she goes out to investigate, there's a slight dent in the car, but that's it: no body, no blood.

Lennox wants to go to the police--but how can she? She shouldn't have been driving, and as her friends remind her, there's no evidence that she actually hit anything. All Lennox wants to do is go back to her boring, normal life. But when a note saying FIND ME is slipped through her window, she fears that there was a girl she hit on Hicks Road that night ...or she's slipping deeper into the illness that took her mother.

House of Marionne

by J. Elle
Published by: Razorbill
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Rich is the blood of the chosen

17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins.
Until someone discovers her dark secret.

To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever.

If caught, she will be killed.

But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training.

When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.

Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.

The Brothers Hawthorne (The Inheritance Games, #4)

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
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Four brothers. Two missions. One explosive read. Jennifer Lynn Barnes returns to the world of her #1 bestselling Inheritance Games trilogy, and the stakes have never been higher.

Grayson Hawthorne was raised as the heir apparent to his billionaire grandfather, taught from the cradle to put family first. Now the great Tobias Hawthorne is dead and his family disinherited, but some lessons linger. When Grayson’s half-sisters find themselves in trouble, he swoops in to do what he does best: take care of the problem—efficiently, effectively, mercilessly. And without getting bogged down in emotional entanglements.

Jameson Hawthorne is a risk-taker, a sensation-seeker, a player of games. When his mysterious father appears and asks for a favor, Jameson can’t resist the challenge. Now he must infiltrate London’s most exclusive underground gambling club, which caters to the rich, the powerful, and the aristocratic, and win an impossible game of greatest stakes. Luckily, Jameson Hawthorne lives for impossible.

Drawn into twisted games on opposite sides of the globe, Grayson and Jameson—with the help of their brothers and the girl who inherited their grandfather’s fortune—must dig deep to decide who they want to be and what each of them will sacrifice to win.

Reign

by Katharine McGee
Published by: Random House Books for Young Readers
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Romance, Young Adult
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A queen's life hangs in the balance, and her siblings’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power...only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America's royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it's exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it's the ultimate dream come true. 

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.

Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight

by Shelly Page, Alex Brown
Published by: Wednesday Books
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Anthology, Horror, LGBTQIA+, Thriller, Young Adult
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Night of the Living Queers is a YA horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible exclusively featuring queer authors of color putting fresh spins on classic horror tropes and tales.

All Hallows’ Eve. Samhain. Dia De Los Muertos. Fiesta de Los Aguizotes. No matter its name or occasion, Halloween is more than a Hallmark holiday, it’s a symbol of transformation. NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is a YA horror anthology that explores how Halloween can be more than just candies and frights, but a night where anything is possible. Each short story will be told through the lens of a different BIPOC teen and the Halloween night that changes their lives forever. Creative, creepy, and queer, this collection will bring fresh terror, heart, and humor to young adult literature.

Contributors include editors Alex Brown and Shelly Page, Kalynn Bayron, Ryan Douglass, Sara Farizan, Maya Gittelman, Kosoko Jackson, Em Liu, Vanessa Montalban, Ayida Shonibar, Tara Sim, Trang Thanh Tran, and Rebecca Kim Wells.

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh

by Rachael Lippincott
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Genres: Contemporary, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Romance, Young Adult
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From the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Feet Apart and She Gets the Girl comes a fresh and inventive sapphic romantic comedy that's What If It's Us meets Bridgerton.

What if you found a once-in-a-lifetime love...just not in your lifetime?

Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. But after getting dumped by her first love and waitlisted at her dream art school all in one week, she has no intention of putting her heart on the line again to get it back. So when local curmudgeon Mr. Montgomery walks into her family's Pittsburgh convenience store saying he can help her, Audrey doesn't know what she's expecting...but it's definitely not that she'll be transported back to 1812 to become a Regency romance heroine.

Lucy Sinclair isn't expecting to find an oddly dressed girl claiming to be from two hundred years in the future on her family's estate. But she has to admit it's a welcome distraction from being courted by a man her father expects her to marry--who offers a future she couldn't be less interested in. Not that anyone has cared about what or who she's interested in since her mother died, taking Lucy's spark with her.

While the two girls try to understand what's happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way. Because as they both try over and over to fall for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they find instead they don't have to try at all to fall for each other.
But can a most unexpected love story survive even more impossible circumstances?

Her Radiant Curse

by Elizabeth Lim
Published by: Knopf
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Young Adult
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One sister must fall for the other to rise.

Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts.

Now seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point.

Weaving together elements of The Selection and Ember in the Ashes with classic tales like Beauty and the Beast, Helen of Troy, and Asian folklore, Elizabeth Lim is at the absolute top of her game in this thrilling yet heart-wrenching fantasy that explores the dark side of beauty and the deepest bonds of sisterhood.

Barely Floating

by Lilliam Rivera
Published by: Kokila
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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A dazzling story full of heart about how one twelve-year-old channels her rage into synchronized swimming dreams, from the author of The Education of Margot Sanchez and Never Look Back, Lilliam Rivera.

Natalia de la Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was swimming neighborhood kids out of their money at the local Boyle Heights pool when her life changed. The LA Mermaids performed, emerging out of the water with matching sequined swimsuits, and it was then that synchronized swimming stole her heart.

The problem? Her activist mom and professor dad think it's a sport with too much emphasis on looks--on being thin and white. Nat grew up the youngest in a house full of boys, so she knows how to fight for what she wants, often using her anger to fuel her. People often underestimate her swimming skills when they see her stomach rolls, but she knows better than to worry about what people think. Sometimes, she feels more like a submarine than a mermaid, but she wonders if she could be both.

Barely Floating explores what it means to sparkle in your skin, build community with those who lift you up, and keep floating when waters get rough.

All the Lovely Bad Ones Graphic Novel: A Ghost Story Graphic Novel

by Mary Downing Hahn, Naomi Franquiz, Brittany Peer, Joamette Gil
Published by: Clarion Books
on August 29 2023
Genres: Graphic Novel, Paranormal, Young Adult
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In this eerie full-color graphic novel adaptation of one of award-winning author Mary Downing Hahn's most popular ghost stories, mischievous siblings pretend their grandmother's Vermont inn is haunted and awaken the real spirits who dwell there.

Travis and his sister, Corey, can't resist a good trick. When they learn that their grandmother's quiet Vermont inn, where they're spending the summer, has a history of ghost sightings, they decide to do a little haunting of their own. Before long, their supernatural pranks have tourists flocking to the inn, and business booms.

But Travis and Corey soon find out that theirs aren't the only ghosts at Fox Hill Inn. Their thoughtless games have awakened something dangerous, something that should have stayed asleep. Can these siblings lay to rest the restless spirits they've disturbed?

A Tall Dark Trouble

by Vanessa Montalban
Published by: Zando
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
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Practical Magic meets Erika L. Sanchez in this dazzling YA fantasy about a Cuban American family of brujas who get entangled in love, magic, and murder, alternating between 1980s Cuba and present-day Miami.

Twin sisters Ofelia and Delfi know better than to get involved with magic. Their Mami has seen to that. After all, it was magic that cursed their family, turning love into a poison. Romance is off the table for the Sanchez women. They’ve seen the curse take hold enough times to know how that road ends. And yet. Sometimes a girl catches feelings and just can’t help herself.

When Ofelia and Delfi begin having premonitions of a series of murders, the sisters know it is time to embrace their magical inheritance to get to the bottom of the mystery and save innocent lives. Teaming up with their best friend Ethan and with brooding detective-in-training Andres, the sisters set out to learn the truth. They just need to make sure Mami doesn’t find out what they’re up to.

Meanwhile, in 1980 Cuba, Anita struggles with a different magical conflict. Her mother, Mama Orti, is a bruja who belongs to a secret coven of elders and Anita knows she will be forced to join the coven herself one day. She sees no escape, though the thought of staying and letting this future claim her is terrifying. Ofelia, Delfi, and Anita’s stories collide as each woman steps into her power and embraces who she truly is, refusing to be subdued by any person, coven, or curse.

In this stunning YA contemporary fantasy, debut author Vanessa Montalban explores the interlocking struggles of three generations of women in one family. An unputdownable debut for anyone who roots for magic, sisterhood, and love.

Frenemies with Benefits

by Lydia Sharp
Published by: Entangled Teen
on August 29 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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A playful and sexy contemporary rom-com perfect for fans of The Kissing Booth and Tweet Cute

If there was an award for Least Able To Function Around Cute Boys, Jess Webster would clean up. She can barely talk to a guy, let alone engage in naked things. But now that high school is over, Jess resolves to put her big-girl pants on and at last bang--sorry, bag--the longtime object of her desire, Andrew. All she needs is someone to practice on first.

Enter Benjamin Oliver. Jock hot, nerd hot (which is just greedy, really), star quarterback, and all-around pain in Jess's ass. While Jess would rather nap on a nest of fire ants than be his girlfriend, there's still something about him that sends a jolt through her stomach, making him her best (and only) candidate for her guy game glow-up.

With summer in full swing and not one but two cute boys on the horizon, Jess is pretty sure she's on the winning side of the bargain. But can her deal with Benjamin stay purely business-with-pleasure? And, the question that Jess soon can't ignore: does she want it to?

After You Vanished

by E.A. Neeves
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller, Young Adult
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SADIE meets WE WERE LIARS in this heartfelt mystery, in which one girl desperately searches to find out what happened to her missing sister.

Teddy’s favorite place is Bottomrock Lake, where sunfish swim in their little saucer nests and lilypads edge the shore. She’s worked there as a lifeguard every summer, including last year, when her twin sister Izzy waded into the lake for a midnight swim and never came out. Now, Teddy can’t stop scripting stories for where she went. Izzy was an accomplished swimmer, so she couldn’t possibly have drowned. And if she did somehow drown, where’s her body and why is her passport missing?

When Toby, the gorgeous jerk who was with Izzy on the night she vanished, comes to Bottomrock to work as a lifeguard alongside Teddy, she can’t help but be suspicious. How many of her sister’s secrets does he hold? And how can Teddy unearth them—without falling for the boy who watched her sister disappear?

Told from Teddy’s point of view directly to Izzy, AFTER YOU VANISHED is a mystery that will have readers trying to piece together the secret life of a sister who’s gone.

Never a Hero (Monster, #2)

by Vanessa Len
Published by: HarperTeen
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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This sequel to the contemporary fantasy Only a Monster will take Joan deeper into the monster world, where treacherous secrets and even more danger await.

Despite all of the odds, Joan achieved the impossible. She reset the timeline, saved her family – and destroyed the hero, Nick.

But her success has come at a terrible cost.

She alone remembers what happened. Now, Aaron, her hard-won friend – and maybe more – is an enemy, trying to kill her. And Nick, the boy she loved, is a stranger who doesn’t even know her name. Only Joan remembers that there is a ruthless and dangerous enemy still out there.

When a deadly attack forces Joan back into the monster world as a fugitive, she finds herself on the run with Nick – as Aaron closes in.

As the danger rises – and Nick gets perilously closer to discovering the truth of what Joan did to him – Joan discovers a secret of her own. One that threatens everyone she loves.

Torn between love and family and monstrous choices, Joan must find a way to re-gather her old allies to face down the deadliest of enemies, and to save the timeline itself.

Vanessa Len’s stunning Only a Monster trilogy continues with this second instalment, a thrilling journey where a secret past threatens to unravel everyone's future.

The Infinity Particle

by Wendy Xu
Published by: Quill Tree Books
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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In this gorgeous graphic novel by Wendy Xu, co-creator of the award-winning Mooncakes, a young inventor falls for a lifelike AI and confronts questions of freedom and autonomy.

Clementine Chang moves from Earth to Mars for a new start and is lucky enough to land her dream job with Dr. Marcella Lin, an Artificial Intelligence pioneer. On her first day of work, Clem meets Dr. Lin’s assistant, a humanoid AI named Kye. Clem is no stranger to robots—she built herself a cute moth-shaped companion named SENA. Still, there’s something about Kye that feels almost too human.

When Clem and Kye begin to collaborate, their chemistry sets off sparks. The only downside? Dr. Lin is enraged by Kye’s growing independence and won’t allow him more freedom. Plus, their relationship throws into question everything Clem thought she knew about AI. After all, if Kye is sentient enough to have feelings, shouldn’t he be able to control his own actions? Where is the line between AI and human?

As her past and Kye’s future weigh down on her, Clem becomes determined to help him break free—even if it means risking everything she came to Mars for.

From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (From a Certain Point of View, #3)

by Saladin Ahmed, Charlie Jane Anders, Tom Angleberger, Kristin Baver, Olivie Blake, Akemi Dawn Bowman, Emma Mieko Candon, Olivia Chadha, Gloria Chao, Mike Chen, Adam Christopher, Paul Crilley, Amal El-Mohtar, M.K. England, Jason Fry, Adam Lance Garcia, Lamar Giles, Max Gladstone, Thea Guanzon, Ali Hazelwood, Patricia A. Jackson, Alex Jennings, Mary Kenney, Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Sarah Kuhn, Danny Lore, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Kwame Mbalia, Marieke Nijkamp, Danielle Paige, Laura Pohl, K. Arsenault Rivera, Dana Schwartz, Tara Sim, Phil Szostak, Suzanne Walker, Hannah Whitten, Fran Wilde, Sean Williams, Alyssa Wong
Published by: Random House Worlds
on August 29, 2023
Genres: Anthology, Retellings, Sci-Fi
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Celebrate the lasting impact of Return of the Jedi with this exciting reimagining of the timeless Star Wars film featuring new perspectives from forty contributors.

On May 25, 1983, Star Wars cemented its legacy as the greatest movie franchise of all time with the release of Return of the Jedi. In honor of the fortieth anniversary, forty storytellers re-create an iconic scene from Return of the Jedi through the eyes of a supporting character, from heroes and villains, to droids and creatures. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by bestselling authors and trendsetting artists:
Olivie Blake provides a chilling glimpse into the mind of Emperor Palpatine.Saladin Ahmed recounts the tragic history of the rancor trainer.Charlie Jane Anders explores the life and times of the Sarlacc.Fran Wilde reveals Mon Mothma’s secret mission to save the Rebel Alliance.Mary Kenney chronicles Wicket the Ewok’s quest for one quiet day on the forest moon of Endor.Anakin Skywalker becomes one with the Force in a gripping tale by Mike Chen.

Plus more hilarious, heartbreaking, and astonishing tales from:Tom Angleberger, K. Arsenault Rivera, Kristin Baver, Akemi Dawn Bowman, Emma Mieko Candon, Olivia Chadha, Gloria Chao, Adam Christopher, Paul Crilley, Amal El-Mohtar, M. K. England, Jason Fry, Adam Lance Garcia, Lamar Giles, Max Gladstone, Thea Guanzon, Ali Hazelwood, Patricia A. Jackson, Alex Jennings, Jarrett Krosoczka, Sarah Kuhn, Danny Lore, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Kwame Mbalia, Marieke Nijkamp, Danielle Paige, Laura Pohl, Dana Schwartz, Tara Sim, Phil Szostak, Suzanne Walker, Hannah Whitten, Sean Williams, Alyssa Wong