Young Adult New Releases June 28th 2022

Happy last Tuesday of the month – I feel like I just welcomed us to June…this month has flown by for me! I hope everyone had a wonderful Pride month of reading and new books! I am not ready with July lists yet, so be patient, check out the whole month of June releases, JIC you missed any!

This Vicious Grace (The Last Finestra, #1)

by Emily Thiede
Published by: Wednesday Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
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Three weddings. Three funerals. Alessa’s gift from the gods is supposed to magnify a partner’s magic, not kill every suitor she touches.

Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island’s only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.

Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante’s dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?

Emily Thiede's exciting fantasy debut, This Vicious Grace, will keep readers turning the pages until the devastating conclusion and leave them primed for more!

The Dream Runners

by Shveta Thakrar
Published by: HarperTeen
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
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A lush tapestry of dreams, myth, and magic--perfect for fans of Holly Black, Roshani Chokshi, and Margaret Rogerson.

Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, who collect mortal dreams for the entertainment of the serpentine, immortal naga court.

But when one of Tanvi's dream harvests goes awry, she begins to remember her life on earth. Panicked and confused, she turns to the one mortal in Nagalok who might be able to help: Venkat, the dreamsmith responsible for collecting the dream runners' wares and shaping them into the kingdom's most tantalizing commodity. And as they search for answers, a terrifying truth begins to take shape--one that could turn the nagas' realm of dreams into a land of waking nightmare.

From the author of the Indie Next selection and Andre Norton Award finalist Star Daughter, this stand-alone contemporary fantasy, inspired by the nagas and garudas of Hindu mythology, is full of slow-burning romance, haunting intrigue, and shimmering magic.

Sometime in Summer

by Katrina Leno
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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From critically acclaimed author Katrina Leno comes a tender love letter to books and summertime, with a touch of magic.

Anna Lucia Bell believes in luck: bad luck. Bad luck made her best friend stop talking to her. Bad luck caused her parents' divorce. Bad luck is forcing her mother, Miriam, to sell the family's beloved bookstore. And it is definitely bad luck that Anna seems to be the only person in the world Miriam is unable to recommend a life-changing book.

When Anna finds out that she and her mom are spending two months in a New England seaside town called Rockport, she expects a summer plagued with bad luck too. But Rockport has surprises in store for Anna, including a comet making its first appearance in over twenty years and two new--but familiar--friends.

In what will prove to be the most important summer of her life so far, Anna learns about love, herself, and the magic that an ordinary summer can bring.

Katzenjammer

by Francesca Zappia
Published by: Greenwillow Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Young Adult
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American Horror Story meets the dark comedy of Kafka's The Metamorphosis as Cat searches for a way to escape her high school. A tale of family, love, tragedy, and masks--the ones others make for us, and the ones we make for ourselves. Katzenjammer will haunt fans of Chelsea Pitcher's This Lie Will Kill You and E. Lockhart's We Were Liars.

Cat lives in her high school. She never leaves, and for a long time her school has provided her with everything she needs. But now things are changing. The hallways contract and expand along with the school's breathing, and the showers in the bathroom run a bloody red. Cat's best friend is slowly turning into cardboard, and instead of a face, Cat has a cat mask made of her own hardened flesh.

Cat doesn't remember why she is trapped in her school or why half of them--Cat included--are slowly transforming. Escaping has always been the one impossibility in her school's upside-down world. But to save herself from the eventual self-destruction all the students face, Cat must find the way out. And to do that, she'll have to remember what put her there in the first place.

Using chapters alternating between the past and the present, acclaimed author Francesca Zappia weaves a spine-tingling, suspenseful, and haunting story about tragedy and the power of memories. Fans of Marieke Nijkamp's This Is Where It Ends and Karen McManus's One of Us Is Lying will lose themselves in the pages of this novel--or maybe in the treacherous hallways of the school.

Includes interior illustrations from the author.

The Song That Moves the Sun

by Anna Bright
Published by: HarperTeen
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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This sweeping YA fantasy romance full of star-crossed love, complex female friendship, and astrological magic is perfect for fans of Laini Taylor, Alexandra Bracken, and V.E. Schwab. From the acclaimed author of The Beholder.

Best friends Rora and Claudia have never felt more like their lives are spiraling out of control. And when they meet Major and Amir--two boys from one of the secret cities of the spheres, ruled by the magic of the astrological signs--they discover they're not alone. There is a disruption in the harmony between the spheres, and its chaos is spreading.

To find the source of the disharmony, Rora and Claudia will embark on a whirlwind journey of secrets, romance, and powerful truths--about themselves, each other, and two long-ago explorers named Dante and Beatrice, who were among the first to chart this course toward the stars.

Inspired partly by the classic works of Dante Alighieri, this gorgeous stand-alone contemporary fantasy will captivate readers of Lore and Star Daughter.

The Black Girls Left Standing

by Juliana Goodman
Published by: Feiwel Friends
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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In Juliana Goodman's powerful young adult debut The Black Girls Left Standing, Beau Willet will stop at nothing to clear her sister's name.

Sixteen-year-old Beau Willet has dreams of being an artist and one day leaving the Chicago projects she's grown up in. But after her older sister, Katia, is killed by an off-duty police officer, Beau knows she has to clear her sister's name by finding the only witness to the murder; Katia's no-good boyfriend, Jordan, who has gone missing. If she doesn't find him and tell the world what really happened, Katia's death will be ignored, like the deaths of so many other Black women who are wrongfully killed.

With the help of her friend, Sonnet, Beau sets up a Twitter account to gather anonymous tips. But the more that Beau finds out about her sister's death, the more danger she finds herself in. And with a new relationship developing with her childhood friend, Champion, and the struggle to keep her family together, Beau is soon in way over her head. How much is she willing to risk to clear her sister's name and make sure she's not forgotten?

Blood and Moonlight

by Erin Beaty
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
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Rising above the city of Collis is the holy Sanctum. And watching over its spires is Catrin, an orphan girl with unique skills—for she alone can spot the building’s flaws in construction before they turn deadly.

But when Catrin witnesses a murderer escaping the scene of his crime, she’s pulled into the web of a dangerous man who will definitely strike again. Assigned to capture the culprit is the mysterious, brilliant, and enigmatic Simon, whose insights into the mind of a killer are frighteningly accurate.

As the grisly crimes continue, Catrin finds herself caught between murderer and detective while hiding her own secret—a supernatural sight granted by the moon, destined to make her an outcast, and the only thing that might save her and those she loves from becoming the next victims...

In this medieval YA fantasy thriller, an orphan with a secret, magical sight gets caught between a mysterious genius and the serial killer he’s hunting.

Our Crooked Hearts

by Melissa Albert
Published by: Flatiron Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
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The New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood returns with a darkly gripping, contemporary fantasy with dual timelines, family secrets, mystery, and magic.

Secrets. Lies. Super-bad choices. Witchcraft.

THE SUBURBS, RIGHT NOW . . .

Seventeen-year-old Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a secret she’s always known—that there’s more to her mother than meets the eye.

THE CITY, BACK THEN . . .

Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural, set in a city of magical possibilities and secret mystics. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.

Years after it began, Ivy and Dana’s shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.

M Is for Monster

by Talia Dutton
Published by: Harry N. Abrams
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Graphic Novel, LGBTQIA+, Sci-Fi
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A scientist attempts to bring her younger sister back to life with unexpected results in this Frankenstein-inspired graphic novel about ghosts, identity, and family

When Doctor Frances Ai’s younger sister Maura died in a tragic accident six months ago, Frances swore she would bring her back to life. However, the creature that rises from the slab is clearly not Maura. This girl, who chooses the name “M,” doesn’t remember anything about Maura's life and just wants to be her own person. However, Frances expects M to pursue the same path that Maura had been on—applying to college to become a scientist—and continue the plans she and Maura shared. Hoping to trigger Maura’s memories, Frances surrounds M with the trappings of Maura’s past, but M wants nothing to do with Frances’ attempts to change her into something she’s not. In order to face the future, both Frances and M need to learn to listen and let go of Maura once and for all. Talia Dutton’s debut graphic novel, M Is for Monster, takes a hard look at what it means to live up to other people’s expectations—as well as our own.

M Is for Monster is one of the titles on our Surely list which is dedicated to showcasing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual creators and stories.

Bad Things Happen Here

by Rebecca Barrow
Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Thriller, Young Adult
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I Killed Zoe Spanos meets The Cheerleaders in this haunting mystery about an island town with a history of unsolved deaths—and a girl desperate to uncover the mystery behind it all.

Luca Laine Thomas lives on a cursed island. To the outside world, Parris is an exclusive, idyllic escape accessible only to the one percent. There’s nothing idyllic about its history, though, scattered with the unsolved deaths of young women—deaths Parris society happily ignores to maintain its polished veneer. But Luca can’t ignore them. Not when the curse that took them killed her best friend, Polly, three years ago. Not when she feels the curse lingering nearby, ready to take her next.

When Luca comes home to police cars outside her house, she knows the curse has visited once again. Except this time, it came for Whitney, her sister. Luca decides to take the investigation of Whitney’s death into her own hands. But as a shocking betrayal rocks Luca’s world, the identity Whitney’s killer isn’t the only truth Luca seeks. And by the time she finds what she’s looking for, Luca will come face to face with the curse she’s been running from her whole life.

Ride With Me

by Lucy Keating
Published by: Clarion Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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In this charming, contemporary YA novel, neighborhood rideshare driver Charlie Owens embarks on a collision course with love when she crashes into the school’s cute but annoying party boy and wrecks his car and her no-strings-attached attitude toward life.

As a driver for her local ride share app, Charlie Owens loves what the open road gives her: freedom, extra cash for an epic road trip, and a path to getting out of her sleepy town of Chester Falls, Massachusetts. She’s seen her fair share of mysterious passengers and explosive break-ups in the backseat of her car, but Charlie lives a no-strings-attached lifestyle and never gets involved.

But when a routine post-party pick-up ends with Charlie crashing into Andre, her school’s notorious party boy, she’s forced to make a deal to drive him anywhere he needs to go, anytime, until his car can be repaired. Suddenly Charlie and Andre are stuck together, and they couldn’t be more different. But Andre’s charm wins over Charlie’s passengers, and she soon finds herself at risk of breaking her most sacred rule: don’t fall in love.

Blade Breaker (Realm Breaker, #2)

by Victoria Aveyard
Published by: HarperTeen
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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Andry, a former squire, continues to fight for hope amid blood and chaos.
Dom, a grieving immortal, strives to fulfill a broken oath.
Sorasa, an outcast assassin, faces her past when it returns with sharpened teeth.
Valtik, an old sorceress, summons a mighty power.

And Corayne, a pirate’s daughter with an ancient magic in her blood, steps closer to becoming the hero she’s destined to be.

Together they must assemble an army to face Queen Erida and Taristan’s wicked forces. But something deadly waits in the shadows, something that might consume the world before there’s any hope for victory.

In the sequel to Realm Breaker, a divided world must rally, an unstoppable enemy must be defeated, and the fate of the world rests on a blade’s edge.

A Secret Princess

by Margaret Stohl, Melissa de la Cruz
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Retellings, Young Adult
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A surprising and romantic YA retelling-mashup of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden by bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz.

Best friends Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Erroll have each other, and they are the only reason boarding school isn’t completely insufferable.

Tragically, Mary’s father passes away after he’s stripped of his fortune, leaving her orphaned and with just one possession: a ticket to a ship that will bring her to the home of her last living relative, in America. But Cedric can’t bear to say goodbye, and reveals that he’s the son of an earl with endless riches . . . and a huge estate that the three of them can run away to, leaving the boarding school–and thoughts of America–behind.

That’s when Sara and Cedric discover that there’s more to them than friendship, and Mary begins spending time with a handsome local boy–a relationship that quickly blossoms into romance.
It turns out that Maythem Estate is more than just a getaway–it’s a secret garden of budding romance.

Filled with charm, romance, and swoon, and inspired by some of classic literature’s most beloved characters, The Secret Princess is the perfect blend of A Little Princess and The Secret Garden— and the perfect companion to Jo & Laurie.

Stealing Infinity (Stolen Beauty, #1)

by Alyson Noel
Published by: Entangled Publishing LLC (Teen)
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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These days, I’ve been killing it when it comes to letting people down. Now I’ve been kicked out of high school, arrested, and accepted into a remote, off-the-grid school owned and operated by an inscrutable billionaire tech guru.

Gray Wolf Academy is looking for a certain kind of student. Ones that no one will miss. Like me.

Then there’s Braxton. The beautiful, oddly anachronistic guy who showed up right when the trouble started. And he’s a total enigma—which means that I definitely can’t trust him, even if there’s something about him that makes me want to.

They all tell me I have a gift. A very rare gift. And Gray Wolf Academy wants me to learn it. To use it. Because if what they say is true, I have all the time in the world.And that makes me the most dangerous high school student you’ll never know…

My Name Is Jason. Mine Too.: Our Story. Our Way.

by Jason Reynolds, Jason Griffin
Published by: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
on June 28, 2022
Genres: Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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A stunning visual autobiography of two crazy-talented besties, bestselling and award-winning author Jason Reynolds and painter Jason Griffin, who could never be who they are singularly if they weren’t who they were together.

Once upon a time in America, there were two Jasons. Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin. One a poet. One an artist. One Black. One white. Two voices. One journey in mind: to move to New York, the city of dreams, to make their own dreams come true. Willing to have a life not un-hard, so long as it wasn’t unhappy. Willing to let the city swallow them whole, so long as it gives them their chance. They had each other. “What if painting was a sin, and the poetry became taboo. And no one ever clapped for me again. My question is, would you?”

They clapped. Oh, they clapped. And aren’t we glad?

Godslayers (Gearbreakers #2)

by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Published by: Feiwel Friends
on June 28, 2022
Genres: LGBTQIA+, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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Godslayers--Zoe Hana Mikuta's high-octane sequel to Gearbreakers--is perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown's Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu's Legend series.

The only way to kill a god is from the inside...

The Gearbreakers struck a devastating blow against Godolia on Heavensday, but the cost of victory has been steep. Months later, the few rebels who've managed to escape the tyrannical empire's bloody retribution have fled to the mountains, hunted by the last Zenith--Godolia's only surviving leader.

Eris has been held prisoner since the attack on the capital city, which almost killed her. And she begins to wish it had when she discovers Sona--the girl she loves, the girl she would tear down cities for--also survived, only to be captured and Corrupted by the Zenith. The cybernetic brainwashing that Sona has forcibly undergone now has her believing herself a loyal soldier for Godolia, and Eris' mortal enemy.

With the rebellion shattered and Godolia moving forward with an insidious plan to begin inducting Badlands children into a new Windup Pilot program, the odds have never been more stacked against the Gearbreakers. Their last hope for victory will depend on whether Eris and Sona can somehow find their way back to each other from opposite sides of a war...