New Release Tuesday: YA New Releases September 16th 2025

Young Adult New Releases September 16th 2025

Happiest of Book Birthdays to the YA New Releases coming out today. Check out most of them below. If you appreciate our work you can support us by using our affiliate links to Bookshop or Libro.fm – two of the best alternatives to the massive corporations and they both support indie bookstores with every purchase!

The Dead of Summer (The Dead of Summer, #1)

by Ryan La Sala
Published by: Push
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Horror, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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Stephen King meets Holly Jackson by way of We Were Liars in this action-packed story of queer horror from the acclaimed author of The Honeys!

Two days before...

Ollie Veltman is finally coming home to the quaint island of Anchor's Mercy after a year away while his mom battled cancer. It should be a celebration -- his mom is cancer free, and she's determined to have the best summer ever -- but Ollie's (now ex) best friends think he abandoned them, and he's returning with a lot questions. Because for a place that's perfect on the outside, a secret rots inside. A secret that could explain his mom's illness, and the illness of so many other locals.

Ollie's desperate search for the truth turns life or death when a storm descends upon the island. In its wake, a long-sunken horror rises . . .

Three weeks after...

Ollie is being held in isolation aboard a military hospital ship in the harbor. They say he's a survivor, but they only know half the story. The truth is more dangerous than Ollie ever believed, and he suspects his saviors aren't here to save anyone. Only Ollie can stop what comes next, but that means getting back to Anchor's Mercy before it vanishes below the waves, taking with it everyone he has ever loved.

Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld, #1)

by Nikita Gill
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Mythology/Folklore, Young Adult
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In a stunning reimagining of Greek myth for fans of Circe and Lore, Nikita Gill showcases the underworld and its chthonic deities in all their glory in this first book in an exciting trilogy, weaving a gripping story about the young goddess coming of age within their midst.

This gorgeous DELUXE LIMITED EDITION is available while supplies last
--featuring gold foil, sprayed edges, printed endpapers and foil stamped case. This must-have special edition is only available on a limited first print run in the US and Canada.

Hekate sings the story of its eponymous heroine. Born into a world on fire and at war, she and her mother are left behind by the menfolk of their Titan family as the battle against the new Gods-the Olympians-begins. Soon, Hekate and her mother are forced to flee their home as the Olympians overpower and enslave the Titans, including Hekate's father, Perses, and gain dominion over the universe. In a bid to protect Hekate from the clutches of Zeus and Poseidon, her mother leaves her in the underworld with the goddess Styx and king of the underworld, Hades, where she must make a life for herself and discover her divine purpose.

Here begins Nikita Gill's beautiful and propulsive reimagining of Hekate's myth which unfolds into a coming-of-age adventure story and quest in which our young protagonist - not yet a goddess - sets out to discover what has happened to her parents, heal from the trauma of her separation from them, make a new home for herself in the underworld, and, eventually, step into her true power as a woman and goddess, before it's too late.

Deluxe Limited Edition includes:
★ Foil and embossing ★ Designed edges ★ Special endpapers ★ Printed case

The Golden Boy's Guide to Bipolar

by Sonora Reyes
Published by: HarperTeen
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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From bestselling author Sonora Reyes comes a poignant and searingly honest companion novel to the multi-award-winning The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, following beloved character Cesar Flores as he comes to terms with his sexuality, his new bipolar diagnosis, and more mistakes than he can count.

Seventeen-year-old Cesar Flores is finally ready to win back his ex-boyfriend. Since breaking up with Jamal in a last-ditch effort to stay in the closet, he’s come out to Mami, his sister, Yami, and their friends, taken his meds faithfully, and gotten his therapist’s blessing to reunite with Jamal.
Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for The Thoughts—the ones that won’t let all his Catholic guilt and internalizations stay buried where he wants them. The louder they become, the more Cesar is once again convinced that he doesn't deserve someone like Jamal—or anyone really.

Cesar can hide a fair amount of shame behind jokes and his “gifted” reputation, but when a manic episode makes his inner turmoil impossible to hide, he’s faced with a stark choice—burn every bridge he has left or, worse—ask for help. But is the mortifying vulnerability of being loved by the people he’s hurt the most a risk he’s willing to take?

If Looks Could Kill

by Julie Berry
Published by: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mythology/Folklore, Retellings, Young Adult
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From Printz Honor–winning and New York Times bestselling author Julie Berry, a true-crime-nail-biter-turned-mythic-odyssey pitting Jack the Ripper against Medusa. A defiant love song to sisterhood, a survivors’ battle cry, and a romantic literary tour de force laced with humor.

It’s autumn 1888, and Jack the Ripper is on the run. As London police close in, he flees England for New York City seeking new victims. But a primal force of female vengeance has had enough. With serpents for hair and a fearsome gaze, an awakened Medusa is hunting for one thing: Jack.

And other dangers lurk in Manhattan’s Bowery. Salvation Army volunteers Tabitha and Pearl discover that a girl they once helped has been forced to work in a local brothel. Tabitha’s an upstate city girl with a wry humor and a thirst for adventure, while farmgirl Pearl takes everything with stone-cold seriousness. Their brittle partnership is tested as they team up with an aspiring girl reporter and a handsome Irish bartender to mount a rescue effort, only to find their fates entwine with Medusa’s and Jack’s.

Lemons and Lies

by Alexis Castellanos
Published by: Bloomsbury YA
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Young Adult
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A sweet meet-cute or a scheme destined to turn sour? Fake dating, family drama, and foodie fun combine in this YA paperback original.

Valeria Morales' senior year is not off to a great start. Her twin brother Adrian isn't talking to her, she's realizing all of her friends were actually his friends, and now she's failing math. Enter Gage Magnussen. Gage isn't looking to take on any tutoring gigs now that his standing as valedictorian is at risk after letting a catastrophic breakup distract him--not to mention his demanding parents expect Gage to coordinate their yearly charity auction alongside his cheating ex. So Valeria offers him a deal: If he helps her pass, she'll take over event planning AND pretend to be his girlfriend. A win-win-win!

But as their study sessions move to deep conversations and their fake dates begin feeling realer and realer, is it possible the lemons they've been dealt will turn to lemonade? Or will this arrangement only sting?

I Wish I Didn't Have to Tell You This: A Graphic Memoir

by Eugene Yelchin
Published by: Candlewick Press
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Graphic Novel, Non-Fiction, Young Adult
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In a stunning sequel to The Genius Under the Table, Eugene Yelchin’s graphic memoir depicts his harrowing journey from Leningrad’s underground art scene to a state-run Siberian asylum—and to eventual safety in the US.

No longer the creative little boy under his grandmother’s table, Yevgeny is now a young adult, pursuing his artistic dreams under the constant threat of the KGB’s stranglehold on Russia’s creative scene. When a chance encounter with an American woman opens him up to a world of romance and possibility, Yevgeny believes he has found his path to the future—and freedom overseas. But the threat of being drafted into the military and sent to fight in Afghanistan changes everything in a terrible instant, and he takes drastic measures to decide his fate, leading to unthinkable consequences in a mental hospital. With bold art bringing a vivid reality to life, National Book Award Finalist and Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin’s sequel to the acclaimed memoir The Genius Under the Table returns to Yevgeny’s saga, balancing the terror and oppression of Soviet Russia with the author’s signature charm and dark wit.

I Wish I Didn't Have to Tell You This shines a stark spotlight on history while offering a poignant, nuanced, and powerfully resonant look at growing up in—and ultimately leaving—Cold War Russia in the early 1980s.

I Killed the King

by Rebecca Mix, Andrea Hannah
Published by: Storytide
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
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One of Us Is Lying meets Knives Out—with beasts, murder, and magic—in this first book in a thrilling locked-room whodunnit YA fantasy duology by Andrea Hannah and New York Times bestseller Rebecca Mix.

After a decade of war, the kingdoms of Avendell and Istellia have finally agreed to peace. As nobles and magic wielders from both countries arrive at remote Castle Avendell for a historic all-night masquerade to celebrate, King Costis summons an unlikely group to his chambers: the crown prince, his Istellian bride-to-be, his personal guard, a wild beast tamer, and the palace’s questionable new healer. But before Costis can reveal why he has gathered them, the castle goes dark.

When the lights come back, the king is dead—murdered with the princess’s knife, in a weak spot only his guard knew of, and with venom from one of the beast tamer’s monsters lacing the blade.

With no clear killer—and everyone a suspect—they make a risky pact: Tell no one until the treaty is signed. But when a winter storm seals everyone inside and someone aware of the king's untimely death begins to pick off guests one by one, the six suspects must work together to discover who killed the king . . . before one of them is next.

Ban This!: How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won (and How You Can Too)

by Christina Ellis, Renee Ellis, Edha Gupta, Ben Hodge, Patricia Jackson, Olivia Pituch
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction
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"Each demand to ban a book is a demand to deny each person's constitutionally protected right to choose and read books that raise important issues and lift up the voices of those who are often silenced."
--Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom

In September 2021, the school board in York, Pennsylvania, voted to remove a record-breaking number of books from school libraries in its community. The Panther Anti-Racist Union (PARU) at Central York High School, comprised of four students and two advisors, successfully fought the ban by organizing protests, speaking at school board meetings, and participating in media interviews to raise awareness.

In Ban This!: How One School Fought Two Book Bans and Won (and How You Can Too), the members of PARU--Christina Ellis, Renee Ellis, Edha Gupta, Ben Hodge, Patricia A. Jackson, Olivia Pituch--give actionable advice on how to respond to book challenges that happen in your school and community. Learn how to push back against book bans with arguments against the common reasons given to ban books in schools and public libraries, speak out against censorship, and win the right to intellectual freedom.

This Is How We Roll

by Rosiee Thor, Akemi Dawn Bowman, DeAndra Davis, M.K. England, Jonny Garza Villa, Anna Meriano, Linsey Miller, Margaret Owen, Marieke Nijkamp, Jamie Pacton, Rebecca Podos, Tara Sim, Andrew Joseph White
Published by: Page Street YA
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Anthology, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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Your friends gather around the table, character sheets at the ready. You dive into the fantasy: a dark dungeon crawling with enemies, the journey promising wealth or ruin, victory or defeat. Your party forges onward: roll Perception. . . . roll Stealth. . . . But not every question can be answered by the dice.

Decisions like when to trust, how to love, and who we are can’t be outsourced to a D20. We don’t get skill modifiers in real life—and we definitely don’t get fireball—but that doesn’t mean we can’t still find ways to access magic in our day-to-day.

From exploring gender identity with an oath-bound paladin to playing out an in-game romance with your best friend, tabletop gaming paves the way for new relationships and shows us the richness of the worlds we inhabit, both fictional and real.

Within these pages, adventure awaits—but first, it’s time to roll for Initiative.

Teenage Girls Can Be Demons

by Hailey Piper
Published by: Titan Books
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Anthology, Horror, New Adult, Paranormal
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13 terrifying coming-of-rage stories from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth, perfect for fans of Clive Barker, Mariana Enriquez and Eric LaRocca

13 coming-of-rage stories the way only Bram Stoker Award-winning author Hailey Piper can tell them—wildly inventive, brilliantly imaginative, and completely and utterly enthralling.

A vicious group of college upperclassmen prey on the freshman girls in “Why We Keep Exploding”; across the world, something is mutating adolescents into bizarre creatures in "The Turning"; a girl on a night out realizes a bizarre cop is hunting her in “The Long Flesh of the Law”; and in the acclaimed novella “Benny Rose, the Cannibal King”, a Halloween prank goes horribly wrong when a murderous ghost steps out of an urban legend and into the real world.

These stories take our most difficult years of transformation and twist them into new and terrifying shapes, where the monsters are real and you'll do whatever it takes to get away, or get even.

Love and Video Games

by Zachary Sergi
Published by: Running Press Kids
on September 16, 2025
Genres: Contemporary, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
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Ready Player One meets Heartstopper in this "fun, fast, and fabulous read" (M. K. England) as a myth-loving video game player competing in a tournament with his gamer friends and handsome crush discovers there isn't a cheat code to life--or love.

In the real world, Keegan Thomas is a gay, eighteen-year-old mythology nerd with undiagnosed chronic pain. But in the myth-inspired, online video game world of Pantheonic, he is the glorious and powerful K.Odyssia, slaying legions of enemies and completing quests for honor and glory along with his team, the Epic Hearts. Despite his closeness to his gamer friends--and the secret crush he has on his teammate, Alix--no one knows that he is struggling with the sudden onset of chronic pain in his lower back and fears it will hinder his ability to move to NYU in the fall.

When a quest in Pantheonic turns out to be a secret invitation to an in-person tournament in New York City, Keegan has to battle his fears of concealing and managing his pain so that his team can attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. Competing against six other teams, members of the Epic Hearts must work together to outwit and outplay the others to win the tournament and the hefty cash prize. But can Keegan as K.Odyssia be one of the heroes that Pantheonic needs while he's laser-focused on his own epic battle? Will he be able to level up his relationship with Alix and lead his team to victory? It's time for the games to begin!