New Books for High School Students
-
The Stricken
"The Stricken will keep you guessing with new twists on every page." --Rosalyn Briar, USA Today bestselling author
What if our spirits walk to another life while our bodies sleep?
Every day in Clara's world, a dark cloud descends upon her town. The storm comes like clockwork, erasing everyone's memories. Everyone except Clara. But after Clara's father mysteriously disappears, things change. The Diviners, captive souls who feed off memories, come for her. With the help of a mysterious figure, Clara escapes the Diviners and flees to Khalom, a city in a parallel world, where she hopes to find refuge. There, Clara discovers that she is a Noble--one of the few people to have knowledge of both worlds, along with the ability to venture between the two.
Forced to live the Noble life, Clara goes to school with peers who want her dead. Meanwhile, a rare and dangerous power begins to stir inside of her. The power of Death. And it grows until she's not sure if she can control it. When the Diviners break through the city's defense and students begin to turn up brain dead, Clara must find a way to harness her newfound power in order to stop the attacks before the city--and her mind--is wiped clean.
For readers who enjoy A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab, Crave by Tracy Wolff, House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, and A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik.
-
Snowglobe
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The gorgeous first edition hardcover of Snowglobe will feature two covers in one (a beautifully illustrated hardcover underneath the stunning jacket) and foil-stamped interior papers at the beginning and end of the book!
In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart. A groundbreaking Korean novel translated into English for the first time!
“The Hunger Games meets Squid Game in Soyoung Park's dystopian thriller Snowglobe” –Entertainment Weekly
Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.
The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.
Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.
Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.
Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean, Snowglobe is a groundbreaking exploration of personal identity, and the future of the world as we know it. It is the winner of the Changbi X Kakaopage Young Adult Novel Award. -
Kill Call
Dreams do come true. It's Jude's job to make sure they don't.
Born with the curse of prophetic nightmares, Jude sees violent murders through the eyes of the killer before they happen. His father, who shares Jude's dark gift, has trained Jude since birth to save the innocent and to kill the killer. A life for a life--it's the only way.
But everything goes awry when Hanna Smith, the young woman he was supposed to save, rescues herself instead, and catches Jude in her home. Fate isn't inescapable, but it demands balance. While Hanna may be safe for now, Jude knows that the killer will strike again, only next time there will be no warning. Jude must now find the killer on his own, without the visions to aid him, in order to carry out the task he's been training for before it's too late.
-
The Atlas of Us
"A complete knockout. Readers will be thinking of this story long after they finish the final page." --Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Belladonna
"Utterly compelling and impossible to put down." --Rachel Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of Bring Me Your Midnight
"I've never read a book that felt so much like picking up pieces of a broken heart--powerful, poignant, and true." --Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and XOXO
Atlas has lost her way.
In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she's working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad's favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is.
Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team--Books, Sugar, Junior, and King--she heads into the wilderness. As she sheds the lies she's built up as walls to protect herself, she realizes that four strangers might know her better than anyone has before. And with the end of the trail racing to meet them, Maps is left counting down the days until she returns to her old life--without her new family, and without King, who's become more than just a friend.
-
Into the Sunken City
"Steal-your-breath adventure." --Marissa Meyer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Lunar Chronicles
Perfect for fans of Fable and House of Salt and Sorrows, this spectacular YA fantasy adventure debut is like nothing else, featuring a unique twist on Treasure Island, a magnetic second chance romance, and a thrilling heist where the reward is great--but the risks are even greater.
In the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops.
For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new--ever since her father died in a diving accident, she's barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara.
Enter Bhili: a drifter who offers Jin and Thara the score of a lifetime--a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas.
Jin knows it's too dangerous. She stopped diving after her father's accident. But when her sister decides to go, Jin's left with only one choice: to go with her.
A ragtag crew is assembled--including Jin's annoyingly hot ex-boyfriend. From there, a high-stakes heist ensues that's beyond even Jin's wildest fears. Crumbling ruins, sea beasts, corsairs, and a mysterious figure named João Silva all lie in wait. To survive, Jin will have to do what she promised herself she'd never do again: dive.
-
The Cursed Rose
The fate of a cursed kingdom rests on ancient secrets, broken promises, and fierce friendships in this gasp-worthy final book of the bestselling twisted fairytale Bone Spindle series.
**Perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson, Holly Black, and Marissa Meyer**
Not all curses should be broken. Not all fairytales end happily ever after.
Fi is a prisoner. Briar, a monster. Shane's a warrior. And Red is a traitor. What was once a formidable group of four fighting to reawaken the kingdom is now ruptured, torn apart by the wicked Spindle Witch.
Confined to a tower with the monstrous Briar Rose, Fi is caught in the Spindle Witch’s ever-tightening web. With the Spindle Witch on the verge of finding the Siphoning Spells and crushing Andar—with Fi’s help, no less—Fi’s only hope lies in decoding the ancient riddle of the Rose Witches before she loses Briar forever.
Shane is desperate to save Andar—and her partner. She’s on the hunt for a weapon left by the mysterious Lord of the Butterflies, which holds the key to the Spindle Witch’s demise. Her love for Red has only fortified. But Red’s betrayal puts her in danger from a new enemy—the Spindle Witch’s executioner, the Wraith, a witch as powerful as he is cruel.
The future of Andar lies in the secrets of its past. Fi and Shane must take on the greatest lost ruin of them all—the Tomb of Queen Aurora.
Filled with vicious bone monsters, new alliances, and surprises at every turn, prepare to be swept away by this taut, clever, and heart-filled series conclusion. -
Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The epic sequel to the book Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, is a fast-paced, riveting YA fantasy inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.
The Demon Gods have risen. Skies’ End has fallen to the colonizers. And Lan and Zen have chosen sides.
But they will not fight together.
Though Lan inherited the power of the Silver Dragon, she understands the path she must take. She believes the Demon Gods to be the cause of war, conflict, and turmoil, and that the future of the Last Kingdom depends on their being eliminated forever. Worse, she knows that if the Elantians manage to bind one of the legendary beings, their army will be unstoppable. To save her kingdom and her people, Lan will need to find the only mythical weapon capable of destroying the Demon Gods: the Godslayer.
Zen is sure that the only way to free the Last Kingdom is to use the power of the Demon Gods. When he bound the Black Tortoise, he paid the ultimate price: to inherit its strength, he will forfeit his body, his mind, and his soul. Yet one Demon God is not enough against the might of the colonizers. In the ruins of the northern Mansorian lands slumbers a magical army of demonic practitioners capable of facing off against the Elantians—but Zen must find the Seal to awaken them to fight by his side.
At the center of both Lan’s and Zen’s journeys is one city: Shaklahira, a former stronghold of the Imperial Court that vanished without a trace when the Elantians invaded. Its location is a mystery, and both are sure that it holds the answers they need, but the past it hides might be more dangerous than anything they’ve faced yet.
The battle for the Last Kingdom rages on. But to win the war, Lan will have to decide: Can she face the boy she loves again? And when she does, can she kill him to free her people? -
The Invocations
From the author of New York Times bestseller House of Hollow comes a darkly seductive witchy thriller where, though both men and demons lurk in shadows, girls refuse to go quietly into the night.
Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it's feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.
Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.
Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara and Jude's predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.
As Zara and Jude enter Emer's orbit, they'll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list. -
Infinity Alchemist
Infinity Alchemist is a spellbinding fantasy novel about a quest that leads three young alchemists toward dangerous truth, legendary love, and extraordinary power.
With their signature "prowess" (FIYAH) and "unbridled creativity" (New York Times Book Review), acclaimed author Kacen Callender turns their formidable skill to young adult fantasy for the first time.
The hardcover edition features a beautiful jacket with gold foil and a foil case stamp, an in-world map, and special illustrated endpaper.
For Ash Woods, practicing alchemy is a crime.
Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic—so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes a job as the school’s groundskeeper instead, forced to learn alchemy in secret.
When he’s discovered by the condescending and brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he's about to be arrested—but instead of calling the reds, Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: Ramsay will keep Ash's secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power.
As Ash and Ramsay work together and their feelings for each other grow, Ash discovers their mission is more dangerous than he imagined, pitting them against influential and powerful alchemists—Ash’s estranged father included. Ash’s journey takes him through the cities and wilds across New Anglia, forcing him to discover his own definition of true power and how far he and other alchemists will go to seize it.
Featuring trans, queer, and polyamorous characters of color, Infinity Alchemist is the hugely anticipated young adult fantasy debut from the extraordinary author of Felix Ever After, King and the Dragonflies, Queen of the Conquered and more.
"Spellbinding." —AIDEN THOMAS • "Thrilling." —ELANA K. ARNOLD • "A blast of heart-racing magic." —ANDREW JOSEPH WHITE • "Expands the possibilities of YA fantasy." —A. R. CAPETTA
Most Anticiptated from Goodreads, Publishers Weekly, Book Riot, Bookpage, The Nerd Daily, and more! -
The Severed Thread
Which threads of fate will hold—and which will break?
Clever, bookish Fi and her brash, ax-wielding partner Shane are back in this action-packed sequel to the bestselling The Bone Spindle, the gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty retelling, perfect for fans of Sorcery of Thorns and The Cruel Prince.
Fi has awakened the sleeping prince, but the battle for Andar is far from over. The Spindle Witch, the Witch Hunters, and Fi’s own Butterfly Curse all stand between them and happily ever after.
Shane has her partner’s back. But she’s in for the fight of her life against Red, the right hand of the Spindle Witch who she’s also, foolishly, hellbent on saving.
Briar Rose would do anything to restore his kingdom. But there’s a darkness creeping inside him—a sinister bond to the Spindle Witch he can’t escape.
All hopes of restoring Andar rest on deciphering a mysterious book code, finding the hidden city of the last Witches, and uncovering a secret lost for centuries—one that just might hold the key to the Spindle Witch’s defeat. If they can all survive that long…
Set in a world of twisted fairytales, The Severed Thread combines lost ruins, ride-or-die friendships, and heart-pounding romance.
New Books for Middle School Students
-
Watership Down
A beautiful and faithful graphic novel adaptation of Richard Adams’s beloved story of a group of rabbits on an epic journey in search of home.
“Every rabbit that stays behind is in great danger. We will welcome any rabbit who joins us.”
Watership Down is a classic tale of survival, hope, courage, and friendship that has delighted and inspired readers around the world for more than fifty years. Masterfully adapted by award-winning author James Sturm and gorgeously illustrated by bestselling artist Joe Sutphin, this spectacular graphic novel will delight old fans and inspire new ones, bringing the joy of Watership Down to a new generation of readers. -
The School for Invisible Boys
What would you do if no one could see you? In this surreal adventure, a boy who is used to being overlooked literally becomes invisible, only to realize there may be far more dangerous threats in his school than bullies.
Sixth grade takes a turn for the weird when Hector Griggs discovers he has the ability to turn invisible. Sure, ever since Hector’s former best friend Blake started bullying him, he’s been feeling like he just wants to disappear…but he never thought he actually would. And then, Hector meets another invisible boy, Orson Wellington, who has an ominous warning: “I’m stuck here. Stuck like this. It’s been years. The gelim’s hunting me and it’ll get you, too.”
It turns out, there is more than meets the eye at St. Lawrence’s Catholic School for Boys, and if Hector is going to save Orson--and himself—from the terrifying creature preying on students’ loneliness and fear, he’ll need to look deeper. With the help of a mysterious new classmate, Sam, can Hector unravel the mysteries haunting his school, and discover that sometimes it takes disappearing to really be seen? -
Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen
A sweeping adventure filled with a hidden island, family secrets, shocking betrayals, amazing music, and girl power, by iconic Spice Girl, songwriter and author Geri Halliwell-Horner.
It's time to find your power.
Suddenly orphaned and alone, Rosie Frost is sent to the mysterious Bloodstone Island—home not only to a school for extraordinary teens, but also a sanctuary for endangered species. There, Rosie confronts a menacing deputy headmaster, a group of mean kids intent on destroying her, and shocking family secrets. She also discovers that history can come to life in ways she never could have imagined.
When the island itself comes under threat, Rosie knows she must enter and win the Falcon Queen games in a desperate bid to save it.
But Rosie can't do it alone. She finds that believing in herself—and her friends—is the first step to finding the power she never knew she had.
*All books contain a QR code with access to original songs by Geri Halliwell-Horner! -
Skip!
Jay often feels that like they are a nobody. Beah, on the other hand, is fierce, charming, athletic--and OBSESSED with the street skipping art, Double Dutch. When the two meet, sparks fly, in this colorful slice-of-life graphic novel about the wonder of platonic friendship and finding your identity.
Jay is always scribbling poetry in their notebook. When they come across Skip, a Double Dutch team, they befriend the members--and decide to join, too. For the first time ever, Jay has a place to belong--and friends to confide in.
But Jay's friendship with their new bestie Beah is intense, both in and out of Double Dutch. As Beah and Jay help each other grow into the people they will become, it challenges their friendship and their own identities.
This charming "slice of life" graphic novel is about accepting yourself, navigating "first love" friendship, and finding your own voice. It's rendered in debut author-illustrator Sarah Burgess's gorgeous art style ribboned with playful humor and sports drama.
"Sequences snake across the page, mimicking the billowing of a jump rope, while sparingly employed structured panels zoom in on emotions or change perspective, complementing the fluid, motion-filled ambiance of Burgess's endearing debut." - Publisher's Weekly
"A journey of self-discovery, creativity, and belonging centers a sweet, uplifting story of friendship and ambition." - Kirkus Reviews
"This is, appropriately, not one to be skipped." - The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books -
Super Boba Café (Book 1)
First in a series,Nidhi Chanani's Super Boba Café isa sweet and magical middle-grade, full-color graphic novel about a secret teashop, an earthquake-causing monster, and an unforgettable summer.
In the fog-laden hills of San Francisco sits a sleepy independent boba café. Run by Jing Li and guarded by her kitty, Bao, it comfortably fades into the background. But inside the boba café, there's a secret. Jing is the keeper of the monster of San Francisco. Each day she prepares one giant boba for nine hours to feed it.
When Jing's granddaughter, Aria, comes to stay with her for the summer, she makes it her mission to turn the café around. Aria is quickly aided by Bao, who gives birth to eight perfect kittens. Aria spreads the news of the boba cat café on social media and overnight it is overrun with excited customers. Each day Nainai Li (Grandma Li) finds reasons to close the café, but the demand only increases.
When she opens, the hill monster is left hungry and small earthquakes begin to plague the city. When Aria secretly follows her nainai to the hill monster's cave, she isn't sure what awaits. Will Aria be able to reason with the monster, or will she become its new favorite meal? Or might she disturb its underground existence and cause the Big One? -
Treasure Island: Runaway Gold
Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes reimagines the classic novel Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in this thrilling adventure set in modern-day Manhattan, in which three children must navigate the city's hidden history, dodge a threatening crew of skater kids, and decide who they can really trust in order to hunt down a long-buried treasure.
Three kids. One dog. And the island of Manhattan, laid out in an old treasure map.
Zane is itching for an adventure that will take him away from his family's boarding house in Rockaway, Queens. So when he is entrusted with a real treasure map, leading to a spot somewhere in Manhattan, Zane wastes no time in riding the ferry over to the city to start the search with his friends Kiko and Jack and his dog, Hip-Hop.
Through strange coincidence, they meet a man who is eager to help them find the treasure: John, a sailor who knows all about the buried history of Black New Yorkers of centuries past--and the gold that is hidden somewhere in those stories.
As a vicious rival skateboard crew follows them around the city, Zane and his friends begin to wonder who they can really trust. And soon it becomes clear that treasure hunting is a dangerous business...
Jewell Parker Rhodes has written a version of Treasure Island like none you've never seen--one that takes the reader through little-known Black history, and under the city of Manhattan itself.
-
Just Lizzie
In this beautifully written contemporary middle grade debut, an eighth grader's study of asexuality in science class leads her to understand her own asexual identity as she embarks on a journey toward self-discovery and self-advocacy. For readers of Alex Gino and Ashley Herring Blake.
There's the part of me that doesn't understand kissing or cuteness or attraction, and then there's the part of me that feels so lonely. How do I make sense of those two parts? Maybe I'll never make sense of them.
What do you do when there's a question inside you that feels so big, you don't know how to put words to it? How do you even begin to ask it?
Fourteen-year-old Lizzie is experiencing a lot of change: her family had to move after the incident with their neighbor, leaving behind not only her beloved apple tree, but what feels like her childhood along with it. Lizzie's brother is too busy for her in his first semester of college and her friends are more interested in dating than dolls. It's hard not to feel left behind, especially as she tries to explain the fact that she still has zero interest in boys, girls, or the baffling behavior known as "flirting."
But just as Lizzie's world feels like it's closing in, a class lesson on asexual reproduction in plants piques her curiosity, leading her to look up whether people can be asexual too--and suddenly, her world opens up. Lizzie finally finds an identity, a word for all her messy, unnamable feelings that feels like it fits, although she quickly realizes that a label isn't enough if no one believes it's real.
Accessible, moving, and compassionate, Just Lizzie effortlessly braids a nuanced individual journey of identity with the bittersweet angst of growing up, growing apart, and learning there are many ways to live and love.