New Release Tuesday: YA New Releases May 12th 2026

Young Adult New Releases May 12th 2026

May releases are still coming in strong. Let’s wish a happiest of book birthdays to most of the YA books hitting the shelves today! If you plan to purchase any ebooks, physical, or audiobooks, we hope you check out our indie bookseller affiliates Bookshop or Libro.fm – all sales help indie bookstores!

Smash or Pass

by Birdie Schae
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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For 16-year-old Ellie, beach volleyball camp is a disaster until she's paired with Sierra, an athletic prodigy who teaches her that volleyball...and love are about taking the right shot in this sporty sapphic romance.

Ellie dates the Right Guy, says all the Right Things, and acts the Right Way to avoid being ridiculed for her autism. When that Right Guy unceremoniously dumps her right before they're supposed to go to beach volleyball camp together, Ellie's perfectly curated world comes crashing down and she's labeled the boring, weird girl.

Desperate to regain her good reputation (and yeah, sure, the boy...), Ellie goes to Camp SMASH, which is nothing like she expected. There, she's paired with Sierra, a mysterious, standoffish volleyball legacy who makes Ellie's quest to get her boyfriend back even more complicated...

Dive into this sporty summer romance full of the classics: a ragtag group of friends, a tense game of capture the flag, and a swoon-worthy sapphic love story.

You're Dead to Me, Reed Walker

by Gwenyth Reitz
Published by: Roaring Brook Press
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult
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A swoonworthy YA supernatural romcom where two academic rivals are trapped as ghosts to haunt the same house.

They'd kill each other... if they weren't already dead.

Tessa Sinclair is a winner. Winner of spelling bees, science fairs, and scholarships. So when she finds herself unexpectedly dead after a graduation party in an abandoned mansion, she's none too pleased. What's worse, her academic rival—the Harvard-bound, Mr. Perfect Reed Walker—is there too, deceased, smug, and annoying as hell.

Being a ghost is hard enough, but it's a thousand times worse having to haunt the same house with your nemesis. But as Tessa and Reed retreat to R.I.P in their respective corners of the mansion, a mystery unfurls about the exact cause of their deaths.

Though they'd rather die (again) than work together, they'll need to find a way to overcome their differences to hunt down a murderer on the loose. And should they happen to fall for each other along the way... who ever said you can't find love after death?

Seconds to Spare

by Rachel Reiss
Published by: Wednesday Books
Genres: Sci-Fi, Speculative Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
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Buckle up for a wild ride with this airborne locked-door thriller. Previously a Wattpad WEBTOON Watty Award winning story.

Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Werth is trapped in what feels like a never-ending nightmare. She's the only person onboard Aloha Airways Flight 1333 who’s stuck in a 28-minute time loop, one that repeats over and over again.

During each loop, four things always happen:
1. The Internet goes out and the pilot warns of upcoming turbulence.
2. There are five minutes of moderate shaking.
3. A woman in the very last row collapses.
4. The plane tilts forward and begins to nosedive.

When Orion James –the cute boy who's been asleep the entirety of each cycle– wakes, it triggers an alarming change in the events Evelyn has come to count on. As the two grow closer and learn to trust each other, they discover there’s more to the loop than they initially realized. They must discover the hidden clues, piece together the moving puzzle, and save everyone onboard –before it’s too late.

Under a Carnivore Sky

by Brianna Jett
Published by: Page Street YA
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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PREORDER NOW to receive an exclusive first edition copy featuring stunning sprayed edges! Limited edition available while supplies last.

I’m the only one left hunting the monster, the only one left with a chance of saving us all.

Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it.

The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in.

Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.

Together, they chart the swamp’s shifting terrain. Sharing in the danger and the beauty of the landscape sparks a friendship between them—and then something more. However, what they discover disrupts everything Lili thought she knew about the town, her father, the monster—even herself. The truth at the root of the curse could devour them all. And Lili must decide if risking her life to be the town’s savior is worth sacrificing her own chance of escape.

In the Blood

by April Henry
Published by: Christy Ottaviano Books
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Contemporary, Thriller, Young Adult
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When an adopted teen takes a DNA test to find her biological parents, she unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of a serial killer.

Adopted as a newborn, Tessa has always wondered who her biological parents are. After turning eighteen, she takes a DNA test in hopes of finding the answers. With best friend El and lab partner Victor, Tessa uses the results to start building her family tree. But they find more dead ends than answers. Her biological mother, who was raised in a religious cult, has cut all ties with her controlling family. And her biological father remains a complete mystery, at least until the police show up. For fifteen years, they've been trying to identify a serial killer known as the Portland Phantom. Tessa may be the link they've been waiting for.

April Henry delivers a twisty thriller about the families who choose us--and the ones we're born into. Biology does not have to dictate one's destiny.

And don't miss these other chilling thrillers from April Henry including:
Stay Dead
Girl Forgotten
Two Truths and a Lie
When We Go Missing

In Between Days

by Camryn Garrett
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
on May 12, 2026
Genres: LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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A stunning and uplifting contemporary YA about a young teen who explores her queerness and navigates her grief through an unlikely friendship with her deceased father’s boyfriend.

When her mother refuses entry to a stranger named Richard at her father’s funeral, 17-year-old Mira Howard doesn’t understand why. But snooping through her father’s things reveals that Richard was her father’s boyfriend—a boyfriend she never knew about. In fact, Mira never even knew for sure that her dad was gay. Hoping to feel more connected to her late father, Mira reaches out to Richard without telling her mom, who is still angry from the divorce. As Mira and Richard become closer, Mira gains more and more insight into the side of her father that she never got to see.

Grieving that she never got to connect with her dad about their shared queerness, Mira asks that Richard teach her “how to be queer” while she navigates a new crush on her co-worker, which brings her out of her diary and into the real world.

But as Mira grows more confident in herself, she finds it hard to keep her relationship with Richard a secret, questioning why her family never talked about her father’s sexuality in the first place. Soon Mira has to decide if she wants to keep the peace or honor her father’s memory by being her truest self.

An epistolary novel told through diary entries, text messages, and book reviews, IN BETWEEN DAYS is a story about queerness, grief, and families—both ones we are born into and ones we create.

My Wonderful Disgrace

by Angourie Rice, Kate Rice
Published by: Candlewick
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
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What really happened on the night of the Senior Year Ball? Expect the unexpected in this uproarious, edgy, and much-anticipated second novel from the celebrated team behind Stuck Up and Stupid.

Amy Middleton isn’t in love with Leo Prince. Not yet. The Senior Year Ball is days away, and he still hasn’t agreed to be her date. But Amy can imagine it all in advance: a night of supreme perfection. She’ll bask in the spotlight in her silver stilettos and designer dress—rose quartz fabric, mermaid skirt, illusion bodice with beaded lace—and when the music starts, Leo will lead her onto the dance floor and into their shining adult lives. When he finally says yes, success seems assured, and the night belongs to Amy, arriving on Leo’s tuxedoed arm as planned. But with the buzz of an unexpected text, nothing that happens next will be as it seems—least of all Amy’s carefully choreographed love story. In their second novel, acclaimed mother-daughter duo Angourie Rice and Kate Rice draw on pacy journal entries, interviews, texts, and school newsletters to reconstruct a night gone terribly and hilariously wrong. Touching on themes of privacy, social media, and predatory relationships, Operation: School Ball is a deliciously dark comedy of errors about unrequited love, manipulation, misunderstandings, student protests, and the tragic fate of one innocent bystander of a goat.

The Hanging Bones

by Elle Tesch
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology/Folklore, Young Adult
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From the author of What Wakes the Bells comes a rich, gothic fantasy about a girl who enters a dangerous, magical hunt with the goal of winning the death of her predatory overlord. Perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Maggie Stiefvater, and V.E. Schwab.

Some monsters are born. Some are made. All can be killed.

Once every few years, the Scavenge Moon rises. From beyond its pale glow steps the Breimar Stag, an otherworldly creature with eyes of burning gold. Any reckless adventurer who chooses to join the hunt for the stag only has until the Scavenge Moon sets to claim their prize—if they catch it, they are granted the death of any person of their choice. And if no one catches it, the stag will claim one of the hunters' souls instead.

Katrin has lived on the border of the forest her whole life, raised on tales of the Folk that dwell within. As a gamekeeper for the baron who rules over the region, she is saddled with the onerous task of escorting the entitled nobles who descend upon her home for the Breimar Hunt. None of them respect the forest or its legends, and Katrin is only too happy to let them risk their foolish necks for what they see as a cheap thrill.

When her beloved cousin becomes the latest target of the baron's lecherous appetites, Katrin knows only his death will keep her family safe, and the only way she can claim his life is to win the hunt herself. But something hungry has begun to stir in the woods, something even older and more powerful than the stag. As the horrifying, mutilated bodies pile up, Katrin begins to question where the true danger lies.

The Saw Mouth

by Cale Plett
Published by: Delacorte Press
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Speculative Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult
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For fans of The Last Bookstore on Earth and Compound Fracture, a heart-pounding rural horror following a genderqueer teen who survives a near-apocalypse, only to be hunted by a mysterious monster whose very existence is entwined with their own.

From a breathtaking new voice in YA, this story is for anyone haunted by the sins of past generations—and fighting to right them.

When Cedar was a child, fragmented, tortured souls woke up in the world's most complex machines, destroying them and pushing technology back decades. A fall. The Fall, some said, and they called it Autumn.

Ten years later, following a family tragedy, Cedar moves to the nowhere town of Sawblade Lake only to find something hunting them. A long, bent shadow that reeks like rot and has the mouth of a deep crevice. It's after Cedar, and it’s willing to go to any lengths to break them, including preying on Cedar’s new queer family.

The closer it circles, the more it seems to weave through Cedar’s whole life. It might stretch back to their mother’s gruesome, inexplicable death, to the murk of their missing family, to the house they grew up in. Back and back and back to the first day of Autumn.

Cedar thought they understood how their world had changed, but they’re far from dredging the bottom.

Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light

by Michael Earp, Helena Fox, Alison Evans, Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner, Will Kostakis, Jes Layton, Gary Lonesborough, Amber McBride, Abdi Nazemian, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Alexandra Villasante, Lili Wilkinson, Kit Fox
Published by: Affirm Press
on October 10, 2023
Genres: Anthology, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Mythology/Folklore, Retellings, Young Adult
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Some damsels don't want to be rescued. Some curses don't need to be broken. And some of the best happy ever afters won't be found in storybooks.

Think you know fairy tales?

Think again.

These twelve fairy tales have been spun through a queered lens to reflect our world in stories as old as time. From the furthest reaches of space and the darkest depths of the forest to the street just around the corner, this anthology will excite, challenge and move you.

Featuring stories from some of the biggest names in young adult fiction, Everything Under The Moon is an illuminating celebration of queer love and identity.

Lushly illustrated by up-and-coming talent Kit Fox, this collection includes stories by Michael Earp, Alison Evans, Helena Fox, Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner, Will Kostakis, Jes Layton, Gary Lonesborough, Amber McBride, Abdi Nazemian, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, Alexandra Villasante and Lili Wilkinson.

Queer and How We Got Here: A (Personal) History

by Hazel Newlevant
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Graphic Novel, LGBTQIA+, Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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"Honest, informative, and stylish, this book made me grateful for the activism of the past and gave me courage for the fights to come!” —Maia Kobabe, author of Gender A Memoir

"This book belongs in every bookstore, library, and educational establishment, and in the hands of every queer kid." —Mo B. Dick, Drag King legend and executive director of Drag King History

More than a historical narrative, this story of queer identity interweaves the author's personal history, showing queerness as both a community endeavor and deeply personal journey.

When Hazel was twelve years old, they came out as bisexual to their parents. At the time, they couldn’t have imagined who they are a nonbinary, transmasculine person in a loving queer relationship.

In seeking to understand their own history, Hazel takes readers on a parallel journey through queer history—from the origins of Western concepts of sexual orientation, to the synthesis of hormones, to the evolution of trans health care. They unpack the economic underpinnings of gender roles. They dive into the origins behind our concept of “coming out,” the history of "female husbands," neopronouns, and the emergence of drag kings.

As Hazel grows and changes, so does their understanding of those who came before them, and the interweaving of both narratives gives the reader a powerful entryway into not just Hazel's journey of self-actualization, but the queer community at large.

Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights

by Celeste Dador
Published by: Delacorte
on May 12, 2026
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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Named one of Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Reads of 2026, Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights is a swoony debut YA romance about First Daughter Abby Cary-Alzona’s summer of self-discovery, small-town charm, and unexpected love.

All Abby wants is one normal summer before college. No headlines. No drama. Just a chance to breathe.

But when a run-in at the White House with Gabriel Calabrese—a maddeningly carefree small-town photographer—spirals into a pizza delivery scandal that makes front-page news, Abby’s plans disappear overnight. To escape the fallout, she’s sent to a charming country inn run by Gabriel’s family.

Now she’s stuck with the last person she wants to see.

As Abby and Gabriel team up to save his family’s Fourth of July festival—and tackle Abby’s secret summer bucket list—sparks begin to fly. Especially when he helps her experience all the “real” teen moments she’s missed: parties, picnics… and maybe even a first kiss.

Perfect for readers who love:• Forced proximity• Opposites attract• Reluctant royalty• Small-town charm reminiscent of Gilmore Girls
A cozy, heartfelt story that explores familial expectations and what it means to choose a life—and love—on your own terms.