Archives de catégorie : Young Adult

WE CAN NEVER LEAVE de H.E. Edgmon

Sweet Tooth meets The Raven Boys in this queer young adult contemporary fantasy about what it means to belong.

WE CAN NEVER LEAVE
by H.E. Edgmon
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Publishing Group, June 2025

You can never go home…

Every day, all across the world, inhuman creatures are waking up with no memory of who they are or where they came from–and the Caravan exists to help them. The traveling community is made up of these very creatures and their families who’ve acclimated to this new existence by finding refuge in each other. That is, until the morning five teenage travelers wake to find their community has disappeared around them overnight.

Those left: a half-human who only just ran back to the Caravan with their tail between their legs, two brothers–one who can’t seem to stay out of trouble and the other who’s never been brave enough to get in it, a venomous girl with blood on her hands and a heart of gold, and the Caravan’s newest addition, a disquieting shadow in the shape of a boy. They’ll have to work together to figure out what happened the night of the disappearance, but each one of the forsaken five is white-knuckling their own secrets. And with each truth forced to light, it becomes clear this isn’t really about what happened to their people–it’s about what happened to them.

H.E. Edgmon did not sleep for several years and is now the author of copious novels and short works for tweens, teens, and adults. Their line-up includes The Witch King duology, the Ouroboros duology, and The Flicker, and their writing has been described as “monstrously thrilling, deeply emotional” by School Library Journal. Across genres, H.E. hopes to find readers in their darkest moments and help them start a fire. In their laughably limited free time, they’re likely hosting themed parties for no reason or trying to predict the future. They live in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by chosen family and giant dogs.

SALVAGE de Renee Nault

A beautifully illustrated graphic romance about finding love in the unlikeliest of places and people, and embracing who you are, even when it’s hard.

SALVAGE
by Renee Nault
Ten Speed Graphic/Crown Publishing Group, July 2026

Paolo only knows life in The Flats, where people live on stilt houses under constant threat of sinking into the ocean below. His family makes a living salvaging materials from the skyscrapers just underneath the water, remnants of a world before sea levels rose. It’s a dangerous job, diving down so deep, but one day Paolo scores big: He finds a suitcase of undamaged clothes, and they just so happen to be in his size. Instead of selling them at the weekly market, he decides to fulfill a dream of his—spending one night in the Uplands, where everyone who’s someone lives.

Getting off the subway in the Uplands, Paolo immediately gets lost and is about to end up in a bad situation when a girl named Jules and her friends usher him away. It turns out they’re living the life he’s always dreamed of. They spend their nights at the most exclusive clubs, have access to all sorts of entertainment, and have no real responsibilities. One night with them—and with Jules—just isn’t enough. Soon, Paolo finds himself sneaking to the Uplands as much as possible and leading a double life. The closer he gets to Jules, the more he has to lie to her and risk the new life and friends he’s made.

Renee Nault began her art career as an illustrator, and her vivid watercolors have appeared in books, magazine and advertising around the world. Renee works traditionally in ink and watercolor preferring the tactile qualities of paint and paper to digital tools. She is best known for her acclaimed graphic novel version of The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, which she both adapted and illustrated. SALVAGE is her first original graphic novel.

THE BEST OF ALL WORDS de Kenneth Oppel

Master storyteller Ken Oppel delivers a new novel blending science fiction with social commentary, in an emotionally engaging, coming-of-age YA drama.

THE BEST OF ALL WORDS
by Kenneth Oppel
Scholastic, June 2025
(via Writers House)

No warning. No explanation. No escape.

Xavier Oaks doesn’t particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad’s pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it’s only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and the rest of his life behind for a week in the woods. Except . . . on the first morning he wakes up and the house isn’t where it was before. It’s like it’s been lifted and placed somewhere else. When Xavier, his dad, and Nia go explore, they find they are inside a dome, trapped. And there’s no one else around . . .

Until, three years later, another family arrives. Is there any escape? Is there a reason for them to be stuck where they are? Different people have different answers – and those different answers inevitably lead to tension, strife, and sacrifice.

In this masterpiece, award-winning author Kenneth Oppel has created a heart-stopping, can’t-wait-to-talk-about-it story, showing how our very human choices collectively lead to humanity’s eventual fate.

Kenneth Oppel is the author of numerous books for young readers. His award-winning Silverwing trilogy has sold over a million copies worldwide and been adapted as an animated TV series and stage play. Airborn won a Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award and the Canadian Governor General’s Literary Award for children’s literature; its sequel, Skybreaker, was a New York Times bestseller and was named Children’s Novel of the Year by the London Times. He is also the author of Half Brother (which won both the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award, as well as their Young Adult Book Award – the first time in the awards’ history the same title has won both honours), This Dark Endeavor, Such Wicked Intent, and The Boundless. His latest books are Inkling and The Nest (which won the 2016 CLA Book of the Year for Children Award). Born on Canada’s Vancouver Island, he has lived in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, Canada; in England and Ireland; and now resides in Toronto with his wife and children.

NOBODY IN PARTICULAR de Sophie Gonzales

Young Royals meets The Prince and Me when a disgraced princess falls for a new student at their all-girls boarding school, but the two must hide their forbidden love at all costs.

NOBODY IN PARTICULAR
by Sophie Gonzales
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, June 2025

Princess Rosemary of Henland can’t afford distractions. She’s working tirelessly to repair her image following a scandal that lost the trust of both her country and her best friend. Unfortunately, when a beautiful and funny new student joins her boarding school, Rose finds herself quite distracted indeed.

Attending Bramppath College on a music scholarship, talented pianist Danni expects to be an outcast amongst the wealthy children of the elite, but she is pleasantly surprised to be taken in by the ex-best friend of the princess. The more Danni gets to know her new classmates, the more intrigued she becomes by Rose.

When somebody sees something they shouldn’t and rumors circulate throughout Henland, Rose and Danni must either find a way to deflect the ever-increasing eyes on their relationship, or end it altogether. Because one thing is clear: if Rose’s fragile reputation takes any more hits, the palace will do whatever they must to separate Rose and Danni. Forever.

Sophie Gonzales is a young adult contemporary author. She graduated from the University of Adelaide and lives in Adelaide, Australia, where she can be found ice skating, painting, and practicing the piano. She is also the author of Perfect on Paper, Only Mostly Devastated, and The Law of Inertia, and If This Gets Out with Cale Dietrich.

WOVEN FROM CLAY de Jenny Birch

In this fresh and imaginative contemporary fantasy, a golem must master the magic that binds her together and finds an unexpected ally in the mysterious boy sent to ensure her demise.

WOVEN FROM CLAY
by Jenny Birch
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, August 2025

Terra Slater might not know anything about her birth family or where she comes from, but that’s never stopped her, and she fully intends her senior year to be her best yet. Until the dark and mysterious Thorne Wilder—a magical bounty hunter—moves to town, bringing revelations that wreck all of her plans.

When Terra learns she is a golem, not born but crafted from mud and magic by a warlock, her world is upended. Worse, Cyrus Quill, the warlock who made her, is a fugitive, on the run from the witches who want to hold him accountable for his past crimes. But Quill’s sentence is death, which would unravel the threads of magic that hold Terra—and all of the other golems that he crafted—together.

Desperate to save herself and her friends, Terra strikes a deal with Thorne and his coven to preserve the warlock’s life and his magic. If she can prove her worth to the coven by mastering the magic within her, the golems will survive. If she can’t, they’ll perish along with Cyrus. As Thorne helps her to see and manipulate the tapestry of magic that surrounds them, their unexpected alliance evolves into something more and Terra comes to understand the depths of her magic, her humanity, and her love for the people most important to her.

Jenny Birch is a middle school teacher of English, French, and history, and serves as a youth theater director for students in grades 7-12. She lives in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, PA with her husband, two sons, and foster baby. Jenny holds a BA in French and an MEd in Instruction & Learning and as an adoptee herself, she is a passionate advocate for children, particularly those in the foster care and adoption communities. When she’s not in her classroom or on stage with her students, you can find her either dancing in the kitchen with her family or flexing her overactive imagination. You can find Jenny on Twitter @TheRealMrsBirch.