Archives de catégorie : Young Adult

THE NIGHT FOX d’Ashley Wilda

This luminous, haunting debut, alternating between now and then, reality and magic, tells the story of a girl confronting heartbreak while at a mysterious recovery program in the wilderness.

THE NIGHT FOX
by Ashley Wilda
Rocky Pond Books/Penguin BYR, October 2023

When seventeen-year-old Eli arrives at Raeth, a remote mountain retreat for teens with mental health issues, her mind is made up—she is not interested in participating, and she doesn’t need to “heal.” Still reeling from a breakup that left both her heart and faith shattered, she is determined to fake being “fine” so that the program’s warden will clear her to return home.
But the retreat itself has other ideas. The valley’s magical surroundings transform each time she ventures out, playing with her mind and dredging up her grief-laden memories. Despite the warning signs, Eli explores more of the area than she had ever planned, even venturing into the dangerous night realm.
This spellbinding novel mixes prose and poetry into an exquisite and evocative portrait of love, grief, depression, and the slow path toward healing.

Ashley Wilda has an MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. In addition to writing, she loves painting, making ceramics, playing music, rock climbing, and hiking with her husband, Ethan, and rescue pup, Phoenix.

FORTY WORDS FOR LOVE d’Aisha Saeed

In this luminous young adult novel by New York Times bestselling author Aisha Saeed, two teen protagonists grow from friends to something more in the aftermath of a tragedy in their magical town.

FORTY WORDS FOR LOVE
by Aisha Saeed
Kokila/Penguin BYR, August 2023

Moonlight Bay is a magical place—or it was once. After a tragic death mars the town, the pink and lavender waters in the bay turn gray, and the forest that was a refuge for newcomers becomes a scourge to the townspeople. Almost overnight, the entire town seems devoid of life and energy. The tourists have stopped coming. And the people in the town are struggling.
This includes the two teens at the heart of our story: Yasmine and Rafay. Yasmine is a child of the town, and her parents are trying and failing to make ends meet. Rafay is an immigrant, a child of Willow Forest. The forest of Moonlight Bay was where people from Rafay’s community relocated when their home was destroyed. Except Moonlight Bay is no longer a welcoming refuge, and tensions between the townspeople and his people are growing
Yasmine and Rafay have been friends since Rafay first arrived, nearly ten years ago. As they’ve gotten older, their friendship has blossomed. Not that they would ever act on these feelings. The forest elders have long warned that falling in love with « outsiders » will lead to devastating consequences for anyone from Willow Forest. But is this actually true? Can Yasmine and Rafay find a way to be together despite it all?

Aisha Saeed (aishasaeed.com) is the author of the New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound, Written in the Stars, Yes No Maybe So (with Becky Albertalli), and Diana and the Island of No Return, and is a Pakistani American writer, teacher, and attorney. She has been featured on MTV, the Huffington Post, NBC and the BBC. As one of the founding members of the We Need Diverse Books Campaign, she is helping change the conversation about representation in literature. Aisha lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and sons.

NOT DEAD ENOUGH de Tyffany Neiheiser

A thriller in the vein of Pretty Little Liars that deftly balances a heart-pounding mystery with an emotional, empowering story about confronting the complicated aftermath of an abusive relationship.

NOT DEAD ENOUGH
by Tyffany Neiheiser
Philomel, Spring 2024
(via JABberwocky)

Jerry always told Charlotte that he’d never let her go. Now, four months after his death, Charlotte worries this wasn’t just a threat that Jerry made when he was angry.
As she puts up the facade of the grieving girlfriend at school, Charlotte secretly struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, fearful of being labeled as “crazy,” especially since no one knew that Jerry was abusive.
Just as Charlotte tentatively begins a new romance with a cute guy from class, she starts receiving mysterious text messages from someone claiming to be Jerry. Someone claiming that, like him, they will never let her go.
As the texts get more sinister, they are accompanied by increasingly violent attacks on Charlotte. Charlotte realizes that whether it’s a stalker from school or Jerry haunting her from beyond the grave, someone wants her dead.
And if she wants to stay alive, she will have to speak up about her abuse before it’s too late.

Tyffany Neiheiser writes speculative YA thrillers and short stories. She is passionate about mental health and self-acceptance, so those themes tend to find their way into her stories. She has a Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling, and she has worked as a counselor for people with both mental health and substance abuse challenges. She has also spent three years as a crisis counselor helping people struggling with suicidal or homicidal ideation. Her internship was with a hospice, providing grief counseling to people who were dying and people who experienced a loss. These experiences have shaped her stories. Her favorite things in life are her dogs, her cats, reading, writing, and hiking.

SECRET OF MCKINLEY MANSION de K.F. Breene

In the vein of Stephanie Perkins’ There’s Someone Inside Your House, a teenage girl with supernatural abilities must help her friends survive the night in a haunted mansion filled with malevolent spirits.

SECRET OF MCKINLEY MANSION
by K.F. Breene
Hazy Dawn Press, March 2018
(via JABberwocky)

It was a dark and stormy night… It’s no easy job being the town nutcase. Ella knows from experience. She’s grown up in a quaint little place with people that pretend the extraordinary isn’t happening around them. That ignore the bumps in the night, and won’t talk about doors closing by themselves or items moving mysteriously.
They also won’t talk about the old woman who haunts the streets, long in her grave but for the nights when a particularly bad storm blows through. Those who do are fibbers, begging for attention.
But Ella knows it is no lie – when the lightning cracks and the rain thrashes, someone goes missing. A child, lost to the night. There is no breaking and entering. No foul play. No clue as to where they’ve gone.
Urban legend says that if the old woman stops in front of your house, you’re next.
Well Ella has been next for years. She’s resisted the urge to run out into the darkness with everything she has. Resisted that old mansion up on the hill, beckoning her. Resisted giving into people saying she’s crazy.
Until a handsome new boy with a troubled past moves across the street. Suddenly Ella isn’t the only one haunted by the old woman. Except, it’s not clear if the new boy is here to help Ella…or help the woman drag Ella up to the mansion.
You’ll want to turn on your nightlight for this one.

K.F. Breene is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, Amazon Most Sold Charts, and #1 Kindle Store bestselling author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and fantasy novels who has sold over three million books. When she’s not penning stories about magic and what goes bump in the night, she’s sipping wine and planning shenanigans. She currently resides with her husband, two children, and an out-of-work treadmill in northern California.

SOMEONE YOU LOVED de Robin Constantine

A deeply emotional and highly romantic tale of two teens who fall in love while grieving the one person who makes their love impossible, in the vein of You’ve Reached Sam and The Sky Is Everywhere.

SOMEONE YOU LOVED
by Robin Constantine
Balzer + Bray, June 2023
(via Context)

Sarah feels unmoored following her boyfriend’s sudden and tragic death. Their love story was cut short after just two sweet months together, and now all Sarah can think about are the moments she and Alex should be sharing. Sarah distracts herself by consoling Ash—her best friend and Alex’s sister—and by rehearsing for the school play and working at her aunt’s café. But none of this is as comforting as her nightly talks with Jake.
Jake is not ready to move on. Unable to sleep at night and “mopey”— according to his girlfriend, who doesn’t understand why he isn’t ready to jump back into partying—Jake is wracked with guilt as a witness to Alex’s death. His one source of joy is talking to Sarah. But between their growing closeness and taking over as captain of the basketball team, Jake worries he is co-opting Alex’s life.
Both can’t help but wonder if they’re betraying Alex—and Ash—by acting on the feelings they can no longer deny. Given all that stands in the way, is their relationship worth fighting for?

Robin Constantine is the author of The Promise of Amazing and The Secrets of Attraction. A born-and-raised Jersey girl who moved south so she could wear flip-flops year round, she spends her days dreaming up stories where love conquers all, eventually, but not without a lot of peril, angst, and the occasional kissing scene.