YA

Rising Thunder

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by Neal Shusterman
First sentence: “The Mona Lisa was dead.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: December 1, 2026
Others in the series: Scythe, Thunderhead, The Toll
Content: There is talk of assisted suicide and of murder – including mass events. There is also some mild swearing. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore.

In this prequel to the Scythe series, we follow a diverse group of (mostly) young people in the world as it struggles to figure things out. There’s Aziz, who programs a couple of AIs that are given competing directives (not by Aziz). There’s Renz, who was an eco-nihilist until he destroyed the Mona Lisa. There’s Lizzie, who has taken it upon herself to release people who are put into stasis (there’s a place called Twi-Life where, when someone gets too close to death, they can choose to go there to “wait” for a cure) against their will. There are a lot more characters – almost too many – to relate here. The book takes place over several years, as the world comes closer to immortality, and this group of people – who don’t know that they are the ones in this online message board (for lack of a better term) talking about the problems of immortality – becomes more and more invested in what the future will hold.

Much like the Scythe series, in this one Shusterman tackles the ethics of immortality and curing all disease, as well as the ethics of creating AI. I know in those books, the Thunderhead is an all-knowing, wise creation, but in this one, the competing AI – Overcast and Securis – are not that. And I found it fascinating to see the process of how the Thunderhead became what it is in the books. In fact, this is one of those prequels that’s best if you read the original series first. It gives background and worldbuilding that deepens and expands the story, which is always a good thing. I’m pretty sure this is going to be at least a duology (if not a trilogy), because the story doesn’t end; it just stops, which is a little frustrating. That said, this is as good as any in the original series, and I’m happy to be back in this fascinating world.

Radio Free Texas

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by Libba Bray
First sentence: “Years from now, when my screaming fans ask, Hey Bowie, how’d you get to be such a superstar, I’ll say: It all started with a stolen radio station.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 6, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing (I don’t remember any f-bombs), as well as talk of teenage sex and drinking. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore. (I will have to put it in the Historical Fiction area, which kind of makes me cringe. I’m old.)

Bowie James Jones (Boo-ie, not BOW-ie) is a high school senior in a small North Texas town, but he really doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. His mom wants him to go to college, he knows, but he’s not sure he’s ready. Then, on the first day of school, the girl Bowie has a crush on sets off a firecracker, and Bowie decides to take the fall for her. From there, he’s sentenced to 100 hours of community service, and he chooses to do it at KEYN, a small, struggling radio station run by one Marlon Mardell, an eccentric Vietnam Vet with a huge knowledge of music. This changes Bowie’s trajectory: he discovers not only his love for music, but a talent for talking on the radio.

But it’s about more, too. Bowie ropes in his friends – both new and old – and they discover, together, what it means to be friends, to fall in love for the first time, and how to grow up.

I loved this. It was very Breakfast Club – a group of kids who wouldn’t normally hang out, being together and finding things to like about each other – but with awesome music. Bray pulls out all the stops when it comes to songs: there are lots I’ve heard of, but many I haven’t. And she leans into the importance of music in one’s life, the idea of lying down in the dark with a record playing and just letting the music wash over you. I don’t think people experience music like that much anymore, and there is something life-changing about it. I also appreciated reading a well-written YA book! I don’t know if it’s just me, or if the quality of prose has gotten worse, but I didn’t ever feel like Bray was simplifying things or talking down to her readers. She knows her audience; she is comfortable writing for YA, and she’s good at it. All of which came through.

Now you’re going to have to excuse me while I go put on a record, turn off the lights, and enjoy the magic that is music.

Wondrous

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by Heather Fawcett
First sentence: “I was late running away, of course.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: October 6, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There are some intense moments that may be scary for younger readers. It will be in the Young Adult Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Alice has been wanting to get back to Wonderland ever since she went there as a young teen. Now she’s 18, and her parents are threatening to marry her off to an older baron, and she wants none of it. So she runs off to Wonderland for good. Once there, she discovers that there are holes – hollows – in the world and the Queen of Hearts has gathered all the Alices from across time and the world to kill the mock dragons and heal Wonderland. Whoever does so will be considered The Alice and everyone else will be banished. So, Alice decides that what she needs to do is just that: become The Alice.

In any less capable hands, this story would have been trite and silly. But Fawcett brings a depth and charm to it that makes it work for me. It’s not a retelling – Fawcett makes references to both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass – but an expansion of the story. And I thought it was clever and fun. It wasn’t deep, though Alice learns about the wider Upland – and how her situation is quite privledged compared to some of the other Alices. It gives the story a depth and makes it stand on its own. There is a small romance, of sorts, but it’s really not worth mentioning. This is Alice’s story, and she figures out how to make friends, solve problems, and be her own person.

It was a delight to read.

Death in the Jungle

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by Candace Fleming
First sentence: “On Friday evening, November 24, 1978, CBS broadcast a special hour-long report: ‘The Horrors of Jonestown.'”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is murder, gaslighting, drug use, drinking, and adultery. It’s in the kids’ history section of the bookstore, though I’d be careful about giving it to young kids.

This is, ostensibly, a biography of Jim Jones, and how he founded the People’s Temple, moved the bulk of the members to Guyana, and then murdered them all. Fleming – who is a remarkable non-fiction writer – follows Jones from his early childhood through the tragedy in Jonestown in 1978. She isn’t unkind to Jones, but she also doesn’t whitewash his life, his paranoias, and later his narcissism and his drug use. She talked to survivors of the tragedy and got perspectives from former insiders about what life was like in the Temple community.

I found this one a hard book to read. Not because it was poorly written – quite the contrary. It was hard because the subject matter was a difficult one. Jones wasn’t a good person, and yet he had ideals that I agree with: the idea that the poor should be helped, or that all races should be treated equally. And yet, he took those good ideals and warped them into something oppressive. I can’t imagine what an adult biography would be like if this one for kids was so difficult for me to get through. I did finish it, though, and I appreciated Fleming’s frankness and her willingness to write about difficult subjects.

When We Ride

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by Rex Ogle
First sentence: “I’m waiting to die”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is drug use (and dealing) by teenagers, swearing including multiple f-bombs, talk of alcoholism, and death. It’s in the Contemporary YA section of the bookstore.

Diego is trying to find his way out of his town. His mom is a recovering alcoholic, and after his dad left, all she wants is for Diego to make something of himself. Study hard, go to college, live a better life than she has been able to provide. His best friend, Lawson, is also being raised by his mom, but doesn’t have the drive that Diego has, and has taken the easy way out: he’s selling drugs for easy cash. As the book goes over their senior year of high school, with the ups and downs of their friendship – Diego has a car and Lawson always needs rides places – we find out what drives Diego and what might keep him back.

I liked this one well enough, but I think I wanted more in the end. I was hoping for something similar to Long Way Down, something powerful and deep, and maybe it is that to some readers. I know there will be many who see themselves in Diego and Lawson, and I hope it starts conversations. But, honestly? It left me wanting more. The big climax wasn’t emotionally moving, and I felt like the book went in circles for much of it. That said, I’m glad it’s out there, and I hope it’s a good mirror for some readers.

A Prince Among Pirates

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by Katie Abdou
First sentence: “Canon fire before breakfast is obscene – and waking up to it an atrocity.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: June 16, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some violence, and lots of drinking (well, they are pirates). There are inferences to sex, but none actual. It will be in the Young Adult section of the bookstore.

Kit – otherwise known as Christopher-Henry – has spent his whole life living under his father’s thumb and in his shadow. The last thing he wants to do is marry the woman his father has picked out, even if she’s of a higher station than he is, and would increase his status in the English upper crust of the 1700s. So, he does the only thing he can think of: he runs away to the port and picks the first ship he sees to board. He charms (of sorts) his way on and convinces the crew that he can be of use. Two problems, though: 1 – the ship is captained by the charming and desirable Reggie Swan, and Kit finds himself smitten. And 2 – it’s a pirate ship. Kit finds a home and friends on the ship there, and will do anything to help and protect his shipmates, especially when his past catches up with him.

I picked this one up because the markup notes mentioned Our Flag Means Death, and oh, this scratched that itch. It’s not deep, it’s not historically accurate (it’s accurate-ish), it’s mostly just a lot of fun, which is exactly what I wanted out of it. I liked Kit’s growth arc, and the characters of all the pirates on the ship. I’m also here for any book that has me sailing around the Caribbean, experiencing the open air and the sea. It’s a delight of a book, and one that will make a perfect summer romance read.

An Expanse of Blue

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by Kauakanilehua Mahoe Adams 
First sentence: “Mass begins at 10:00 a.m. on the dot, but we are late because I walked out of my room this morning in leggings and a sweatshirt and Dad lost his shit.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date May 19, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, sexual assault, and talk of sex. It will be in the YA section of the bookstore.

Aouli Smith is struggling. She’s unheard at home and school, she fights constantly with her “perfect” sister – it’s no fun being the younger, less perfect one – and she’s losing her best friend. The only safe place, her refuge is her Auntie Ehu’s house with the Native Hawai’ian community in Western Washington. But then, her life starts unraveling. She finds out a secret about her father, she is assaulted by a boy at church, she can’t hold in the secrets any more. But then, another Hawai’ian boy, Nalu, moves in, and maybe there is hope in the world again.

I’m doing the children’s buying at the bookstore again, and I stumbled on this one while going through the Harper frontlist. I was attracted by the cover and by the premise – I do love Hawai’i – so I downloaded the DRC, and started reading. But once I began, I fell in love with Adams’ storytelling and her way with words. The poems are beautiful, and I love the way Adams talks about faith, family, and tradition. It’s a gorgeous debut YA novel, and I hope I can find readers for it.

Audiobook: All the Crooked Saints

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by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Thom Rivera
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There’s some swearing, including a couple of f-bombs. It is in the Young Adult Science Fiction section of the bookstore, but younger kids might be interested in it.

I’m not really going to sum up the plot, since I did that when I first read this book eight years ago. I did enjoy Rivera’s narration, though. And maybe I enjoyed this better as an audiobook. It felt like Rivera was sitting there telling me this tall tale about family and love and miracles. It’s the least Stiefvater-y book of all the ones I’ve read this year, but I still loved it. And yeah, while I see it’s problematic that Stiefvater is exploring a culture that isn’t hers, I still liked the way she wove religion and myth with Latinx culture and 1960s. It was a delightful audiobook to listen to.

Highly recommended on audio, especially.

Audiobook: The Scorpio Races

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by Maggie Stiefvater
Read by Steve West & Fiona Hardingham
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: It’s violent. But, if there’s a kid, say, 11 years old or so, who is interested in dark fairy-type tales, I’d give it to them. It’s in the Young Adult Bestsellers section of the bookstore.

Because this story isn’t this story without the first sentence: “It is the first day of November, and so, today, someone will die.”

I haven’t reread this in a handful of years, but I seem to be on a Stiefvater kick this year (seven of her books and counting!) and I couldn’t pass up the chance to listen to this one. And, like it always is, it’s an excellent story. The narrators did a wonderful job with the story, and I loved being back on Thisby in the thick of things again.

I adore Stiefvater’s work, and this is absolutely no exception.

Joy to the Girls

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by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
First sentence: “I push through the heavy wooden doors out of the Cathedral of Learning, my last exam of the term finally complete.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: Sept 30, 2025
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and some fade-to-black sex. It’s in the YA Romance/Holiday section of the bookstore.

Alex and Molly are nearly done with college, and they both have plans for the future. The problem is that neither one of them has talked to the other about said plans. Alex wants to move in together; Molly wants to go to King’s College in London for an MFA. On top of that, it’s winter holiday, and their friend May has invited them and their other mutual friend, Cora (who has a crush on May), to her hometown, which happens to be all-in on Christmas. Can Alex and Molly make it through the trip with their secrets and their relationship intact (while also setting Cora and May up).

I’ll admit up front that I haven’t read the book that this novella is a spin-off of, and so maybe I’m missing something when it comes to character development. Because while this was cute, it was lacking. I was constantly annoyed that Alex and Molly just DIDN’T TALK TO EACH OTHER, and I felt not quite enough was spent on Cora and May getting together. (Also, there was a definite lack of figure skating.) It was cute, but not cute enough to make me really love it. Maybe if I were the intended audience (read: a fan of the first book) it would have sat differently.