Young Adult New Releases November 15th 2022

Happy New Release Tuesday! Check out most of today’s Young Adult releases below! If you want to see other November releases check out our Bookshop page, and if you are getting into the holiday spirit, check out of Holiday Reads Recommendations post!

Margot Mertz for the Win

by Carrie McCrossen, Ian McWethy
Published by: Viking Books for Young Readers
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Humor, Young Adult
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Veronica Mars meets Moxie in the hilarious and thought-provoking sequel to Margot Mertz Takes it Down.

Margot faces senior year working on a campaign for local election while helping a fellow student run for class president—but when a mysterious blackmail plot emerges, and a loathesome opponent rises in the class race, Margot might have to return to the cleanup job she thought she’d left behind.

It’s senior year. And Margot’s on a mission to be a better Margot. Which means saying goodbye to her old cleanup ways— and their inherent moral ambiguities— and saying hello to… more yoga maybe? (Probably not, Margot hates exercise.)

To fill her time and round out her college application, Margot volunteers for Shep Green’s state senate campaign and in a twist, finds she actually enjoys being part of a team. She loves her new boss/mentor Priya. And of course it doesn’t hurt that the candidate is Avery Green’s dad. Yes, Avery and Margot are just friends, but it’s still nice to see his too perfect face from time to time.

Meanwhile at Roosevelt High, Margot finds herself roped into a second election, this one for school president. Melanie Jenkins is running against one of the monsters who created the revenge porn site Margot took down last year. Needless to say, Margot is #teamMelanie.

With Margot rocking both campaigns and maybe even making friends, it seems like she’s well on her way to being a better person. But when Priya asks her to look into an anonymous email threatening Shep Green, one that could potentially torpedo his entire election, Margot finds herself slipping back into her old habits.

She’s tried to keep her hands clean. But politics is a dirty job.

The Do-Over

by Lynn Painter
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Sci-Fi, Young Adult
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In this riotous young adult romp for fans of Recommended for You and A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, a teen girl has the worst Valentine’s Day ever—only to relive it over and over again.

After living through a dumpster fire of a Valentine’s Day, Emilie Hornby escapes to her grandmother’s house for some comfort and a consolation pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She passes out on the couch, but when she wakes up, she’s back home in her own bed—and it’s Valentine’s Day all over again. And the next day? Another nightmare V-Day.

Emilie is stuck in some sort of time loop nightmare that she can’t wake up from as she re-watches her boyfriend, Josh, cheat on her day after day. In addition to Josh’s recurring infidelity, Emilie can’t get away from the enigmatic Nick, who she keeps running into—sometimes literally—in unfortunate ways.
How many days can one girl passively watch her life go up in flames? And when something good starts to come out of these terrible days, what happens when the universe stops doling out do-overs?

Heart of the Sun Warrior (The Celestial Kingdom Duology, #2)

by Sue Lynn Tan, Kuri Huang
Published by: Harper Voyager
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Young Adult
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After her perilous quest to free her mother, Xingyin thrives once more in the tranquility of her home. But her fragile peace is threatened by the discovery of a strange magic on the moon and the unsettling changes in the Celestial Kingdom as the emperor tightens his grip on power. While Xingyin is determined to keep clear of the rising danger, the discovery of a shocking truth spurs her into a treacherous confrontation.

Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions venture to unexplored lands of the Immortal Realm, encountering legendary creatures and shrewd monarchs, beloved friends and bitter adversaries. With alliances shifting quicker than the tides, Xingyin has to overcome past grudges and enmities to forge a new path forward, seeking aid where she never imagined she would. As an unspeakable terror sweeps across the realm, Xingyin must uncover the truth of her heart and claw her way through devastation--to rise against this evil before it destroys everything she holds dear, and the worlds she has grown to love... even if doing so demands the greatest price of all.

The stunning sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess delves deeper into beloved Chinese mythology, concluding the epic story of Xingyin--the daughter of Chang'e and the mortal archer, Houyi--as she battles a grave new threat to the realm, in this powerful tale of love, sacrifice, and hope.

Reader, I Murdered Him

by Betsy Cornwell
Published by: Clarion Books
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Mystery, Young Adult
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In this daring tale of female agency and revenge from a New York Times bestselling author, a girl becomes a teenage vigilante who roams Victorian England using her privilege and power to punish her friends' abusive suitors and keep other young women safe.

Adele grew up in the shadows--first watching from backstage at her mother's Parisian dance halls, then wandering around the gloomy, haunted rooms of her father's manor. When she's finally sent away to boarding school in London, she's happy to enter the brightly lit world of society girls and their wealthy suitors.

Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele's new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice. But can Adele save herself from the same fate as those she protects?

With a queer romance at its heart, this lush historical thriller offers readers an irresistible mix of vengeance and empowerment.

Beneath the Burning Wave (The Mu Chronicles, #1)

by Jennifer Hayashi Danns
Published by: One More Chapter
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mythology, Young Adult
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I was incapable of imagining what I had never seen…

Kaori and Kairi are the first twins to survive infancy on the ancient island of Mu, where gender is as fluid as the crashing waves. One was born of fire, the other of water.

But there’s a reason why none have survived before. A prophecy that has haunted the elders since time began. A rivalry destined to sink the entire island beneath a twin catastrophe of volcano and tsunami.

As hatred spills from the forbidden twins like the deadly poison of sacrificed sea snakes, they must decide what matters to them most…

The fight for the island – for tradition and duty.Or the fight for freedom – for love and light.

The Mu Chronicles is a visionary YA fantasy trilogy exploring the origin of gender and desire in an epic queer fusion of Japanese folklore and Egyptian mythology.

The Lies We Tell

by Katie Zhao
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
on November 15, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Thriller, Young Adult
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Anna Xu moving out of her parent's home and into the dorms across town as she starts freshman year at the local, prestigious Brookings University. But her parents and their struggling Chinese bakery, Sweetea, aren't far from campus or from mind, either.

At Brookings, Anna wants to keep up her stellar academic performance and to investigate the unsolved campus murder of her childhood babysitter. While there she also finds a familiar face – her middle-school rival, Chris Lu. The Lus also happen to be the Xu family's business rivals since they opened Sunny's, a trendy new bakery on Sweetea's block. Chris is cute but still someone to be wary of – until a vandal hits Sunny's and Anna matches the racist tag with a clue from her investigation.

Anna grew up in this town, but more and more she feels like maybe she isn't fully at home here -- or maybe it's that there are people here who think she doesn't belong. When a very specific threat is made to Anna, she seeks out help from the only person she can. Anna and Chris team up to find out who is stalking her and take on a dangerous search into the hate crimes happening around campus. Can they root out the ugly history and take on the current threat?

The Lies We Tell is a social activism/we all belong here anthem crossed with a thriller and with a rivals-to-romance relationship set on a college campus.