What’s New In YA?
The Week of January 4, 2022
Salaam, with Love (Sara Sharaf Beg)
- Publisher: Underlined (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age : 12 – 17 years
- Lexile measure: HL710L
- Grade level: 7 – 9
This heartfelt and humorous YA contemporary follows Dua, who spends the month of Ramadan making unexpected discoveries about family, faith, and first love.
Being crammed into a house in Queens with her cousins is not how Dua envisions her trip to New York City. But here she is, spending the holy month of Ramadan with extended family she hasn’t seen in years.
Dua struggles to find her place in the conservative household and to connect with her aloof, engaged-to-be-married cousin, Mahnoor. And as if fasting the whole day wasn’t tiring enough, she must battle her hormones whenever she sees Hassan, the cute drummer in a Muslim band who has a habit of showing up at her most awkward moments.
After just a month, Dua is surprised to find that she’s learning a lot more than she bargained for about her faith, relationships, her place in the world—and cute drummers. . . .
Underlined is a line of totally addictive romance, thriller, and horror paperback original titles coming to you fast and furious each month. Enjoy everything you want to read the way you want to read it.
Adaline and the Sphere (The Sphere Chronicles #1 The Crystal and the Curse) (Beady Vries)
Adaline has suppressed the mysterious man in her mirror for years, but when her best friend Violet is abducted, Adaline’s parents must reveal the truth – she must rescue both Violet and a world they were banished from before Adaline was born. A world where the warlock has lost control, wyverns await the return of their masters, and immortal forevermores remain slaves to a corrupt queen who is cursed by the undertakers of the Sphere – the Night Vapours. Adaline must learn to use her wings and wit wisely to reverse the fortunes of the realm, but with only one day before Violet’s execution, she must seek alliances quickly and avoid detection at all costs – she is the Marchment heir after all…
But who is the real enemy in Bodhiasphere? The Queen’s bitter twin, who plots to develop a potent form of the forevermore elixir that will ensure his army is invincible? Or the hideous Night Vapours, whose drudgery creates the dangerous by-product threatening the realm’s existence? Or is it Queen Doria herself, hell-bent on destruction, whose ultimate power relies on the cursed crystal embedded in her forehead?
Adaline’s quest to stop Doria and save her friend leaves her mother’s lies and secrets exposed back on Earth. Why is her mother so ill, and how long before Adaline discovers the devastating truth?
The Crystal and the Curse is the first novel in The Sphere Chronicles series.
One True Loves (Happily Ever Afters #2) (Elise Bryant)
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 14 – 17 years
- Grade level: 9 – 12
From the author of Happily Ever Afters, comes the highly anticipated companion novel, One True Loves, another irresistible YA romantic comedy full of self-discovery, Black love, and a dreamy European cruise.
Lenore Bennett has always been a force. A star artist and style icon at her high school, she’s a master in the subtle art of not giving a . . . well, you know what. But now that graduation is here, she’s a little less sure.
She’s heading to NYU in the fall with a scarlet U (for “undeclared”) written across her chest. Her parents always remind her that Black kids don’t have the luxury of figuring it out as they go—they have to be 110 percent prepared. But it’s a lot of pressure to be her ancestors’ wildest dreams when Lenore’s not even sure what her dreams are yet.
When her family embarks on a post-graduation Mediterranean cruise, her friend Tessa is sure Lenore’s in for a whirlwind romance. But Lenore knows that doesn’t happen in real life. At least not to girls like her.
Then she meets Alex Lee. After their parents bond over the Cupid Shuffle, she ends up stuck with him for the remainder of the cruise. He’s a hopeless romantic and a golden boy with a ten-year plan. In short, he’s irritating as hell.
But as they get to know each other during the picturesque stops across Europe, he may be able to help her find something else she’s been looking for, even if she doesn’t want to admit it to herself: love.
The Girl Who Knew Too Much (Tiffany Brooks)
- Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire; Reprint edition (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 14 – 18 years
- Grade level: 8 – 12
Survivor meets Lord of the Flies in this fast-paced reality-TV style mystery about twenty teens dropped on a deserted island to compete for a cash prize…but the hidden treasure is the one they will stop at nothing to find.
You think it’s a game. Think again.
Survivor meets Lord of the Flies in this fast-paced adventure with fascinating characters and pulse-pounding tension. Twenty teens are dropped off on a deserted island to compete for a cash prize. But Riley is looking for a vast treasure rumored to be hidden on the island. Only it turns out others also want the cache of riches and will stop at nothing to find it.
The Crossing Gate (A Waltz of Sin and Fire #1) (Asiel R. Lavie)
- Publisher: Absolute Author Publishing House (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 16 – 18 years
She can’t grow up. Literally.
In the kingdom of Elpax, juveniles must walk through the mysterious Crossing Gate to become adults—and seventeen-year-old Lenora is determined that her third attempt at crossing to adulthood will be successful. Even though adulthood means facing horrible realities, such as sin-spots appearing on her body whenever she commits a sin, it also means being able to have a job. And Lenora needs to work to support her struggling family.
But Lenora’s Crossing Day goes horribly wrong.
Accused of trying to start a revolution, Lenora must obey the kingdom’s laws to the letter if she wants to take suspicion off herself. But following the rules isn’t as easy as it sounds. Especially when she meets a mysterious and handsome stranger who makes her feel emotions she’s never experienced before—even though juveniles in Elpax aren’t supposed to be capable of falling in love.
With the long arm of the law looming over her and her family, Lenora must walk a tightrope between following the rules and investigating why she’s unable to cross. Not to mention discovering where her new adult emotions are coming from. But as Lenora uncovers more of Elpax’s terrible secrets, she realizes that fighting the system might be the only way to save her family, her country, and her first love.
The first in an epic series perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen and Lauren Oliver’s Delirium, The Crossing Gate combines the tropes of classic YA dystopia with a Greek-inspired setting and fantasy elements that will whisk readers away on a journey like no other.
It Will End Like This (Kyra Leigh)
- Publisher: Delacorte Press (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 14 – 17 years
- Lexile measure: HL480L
- Grade level: 9 – 12
For fans of The Cheerleaders and Sadie comes a psychological thriller that reminds us that in real life, endings are rarely as neat as happily ever after. A contemporay take on the Lizzie Borden story that explores how grief can cut deep.
Charlotte lost her mother six months ago, and still no one will tell her exactly what happened the day she mysteriously died. They say her heart stopped, but Charlotte knows deep down that there’s more to the story.
The only person who gets it is Charlotte’s sister, Maddi. Maddi agrees—people’s hearts don’t just stop. There are too many questions left unanswered for the girls to move on.
But their father is moving on. With their mother’s personal assistant. And both girls are sure that she’s determined to take everything that’s theirs away for herself.
Now the only way to get their lives back is for Charlotte and Maddi to decide how this story ends, themselves.
Waking Romeo (Kathryn Barker)
- Publisher: Flatiron Books (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 12 – 18 years
- Grade level : 7 – 9
What if Juliet Capulet met someone who made her doubt true love? What if Wuthering Heights was a message to a time traveller? A cosmic reimagining of Romeo and Juliet and homage to two literary classics in a compelling novel about fate, love and time travel from an award-winning author.
YEAR: 2083. LOCATION: LONDON. MISSION: WAKE ROMEO.
It’s the end of the world. Literally. Time travel is possible, but only forwards. And only a handful of families choose to remain in the ‘now’, living off the scraps that were left behind. Among these are eighteen-year-old Juliet and the love of her life, Romeo. But things are far from rosy for Jules. Romeo is in a coma and she’s estranged from her friends and family, dealing with the very real fallout of their wild romance. Then a handsome time traveller, Ellis, arrives with an important mission that makes Jules question everything she knows about life and love. Can Jules wake Romeo and rewrite her future?
A highly original mashup that delights as it disorients … and asks what would have happened if two great literary love stories were somehow intertwined.
Serendipity (Marissa Meyer, Editor)
- Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 13 – 18 years
- Grade level: 7 – 9
Love is in the air in this is a collection of stories inspired by romantic tropes and edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer.
The secret admirer.
The fake relationship.
The matchmaker.
From stories of first love, unrequited love, love that surprises, love that’s been there all along, ten of the brightest and award-winning authors writing YA have taken on some of your favorite romantic tropes, embracing them and turning them on their heads. Readers will swoon for this collection of stories that celebrate love at its most humorous, inclusive, heart-expanding, and serendipitous.
Contributors include Elise Bryant, Elizabeth Eulberg, Leah Johnson, Anna-Marie McLemore, Marissa Meyer, Sandhya Menon, Julie Murphy, Caleb Roehrig, Sarah Winifred Searle, and Abigail Hing Wen.
When You Get the Chance (Emma Lord)
- Publisher: Wednesday Books (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 12 – 18 years
- Grade level: 7 – 9
Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.
There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?
In Every Generation (Kendare Blake)
- Publisher: Disney-Hyperion (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 12 – 18 years
- Grade level: 7 – 12
A new Slayer for a new generation…
Frankie Rosenberg is passionate about the environment, a sophomore at New Sunnydale High School, and the daughter of the most powerful witch in Sunnydale history. Her mom, Willow, is slowly teaching her magic on the condition that she use it to better the world. But Frankie’s happily quiet life is upended when new girl Hailey shows up with news that the annual Slayer convention has been the target of an attack, and all the Slayers—including Buffy, Faith, and Hailey’s older sister Vi—might be dead. That means it’s time for this generation’s Slayer to be born.
But being the first ever Slayer-Witch means learning how to wield a stake while trying to control her budding powers. With the help of Hailey, a werewolf named Jake, and a hot but nerdy sage demon, Frankie must become the Slayer, prevent the Hellmouth from opening again, and find out what happened to her Aunt Buffy, before she’s next.
Get ready for a whole new story within the world of Buffy!
The first in an all-new series by New York Times best-selling author Kendare Blake continues the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer featuring the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil.
Echoes and Empires (Echoes and Empires #1) (Morgan Rhodes)
- Publisher: Razorbill (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 12 – 17 years
- Grade level: 7 – 9
A snarky seventeen-year-old must team up with an enigmatic criminal to cure herself of dangerous forbidden magic in the first book of a new fantasy duology from Morgan Rhodes, the New York Times bestselling author of the Falling Kingdoms series.
Josslyn Drake knows only three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal, and always deadly. So when she’s caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s Gala and infected by a dangerous piece of magic—one that allows her to step into the memories of an infamously evil warlock—she finds herself living her worst nightmare. Joss needs the magic removed before it corrupts her soul and kills her. But in Ironport, the cost of doing magic is death, and seeking help might mean scheduling her own execution. There’s nobody she can trust.
Nobody, that is, except wanted criminal Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself. And though she’s not thrilled to be working with a thief, especially one as infuriating (and infuriatingly handsome) as Jericho, Joss is desperate enough to accept.
But Jericho is nothing like Joss expects. The closer she grows with Jericho and the more she sees of the world outside her pampered life in the city, the more Joss begins to question the beliefs she’s always taken for granted—beliefs about right and wrong, about power and magic, and even about herself.
In an empire built on lies, the truth may be her greatest weapon.
The Ivory Key (The Ivory Key Duology #1) (Akshaya Raman)
- Publisher: Clarion Books (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age: 12 years and up
- Grade level: 7 – 9
Magic, a prized resource, is the only thing between peace and war. When magic runs out, four estranged royal siblings must find a new source before their country is swallowed by invading forces. The first in an Indian-inspired duology.
Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic–a precious resource that has kept Ashoka safe from conflict–she can barely protect her citizens from the looming threat of war. And if her enemies discover this, they’ll stop at nothing to seize the last of the magic.
Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumored to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by the different paths their lives have taken. Each of them has something to gain from finding the Ivory Key–and even more to lose if they fail. Ronak plans to sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for escape from his impending political marriage. Kaleb, falsely accused of assassinating the former maharani needs it to clear his name. And Riya, a runaway who cut all family ties, wants the Key to prove her loyalty to the rebels who want to strip the nobility of its power.
They must work together to survive the treacherous journey. But with each sibling harboring secrets and their own agendas, the very thing that brought them together could tear apart their family–and their world–for good.
THE KINDRED (Alechia Dow)
- Publisher: Inkyard Press; Original edition (January 4, 2022)
- Reading age : 13 – 17 years
- Grade level: 7 – 9
“Utterly swoony…an endearing reminder that true love can change the world”
—J. Elle, New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Ebony
To save a galactic kingdom from revolution, Kindred mind-pairings were created to ensure each and every person would be seen and heard, no matter how rich or poor…
Joy Abara knows her place. A commoner from the lowly planet Hali, she lives a simple life—apart from the notoriety that being Kindred to the nobility’s most infamous playboy brings.
Duke Felix Hamdi has a plan. He will exasperate his noble family to the point that they agree to let him choose his own future and finally meet his Kindred face-to-face.
Then the royal family is assassinated, putting Felix next in line for the throne…and accused of the murders. Someone will stop at nothing until he’s dead, which means they’ll target Joy, too. Meeting in person for the first time as they steal a spacecraft and flee amid chaos might not be ideal…and neither is crash-landing on the strange backward planet called Earth. But hiding might just be the perfect way to discover the true strength of the Kindred bond and expose a scandal—and a love—that may decide the future of a galaxy.
