Dante’s Inferno meets the mythic atmosphere of Hadestown, when an inventor goes to hell to kill the devil and save her best friend.
TO A DARKER SHORE
by Leanne Schwartz
Page Street YA, April 2024
Plain, poor, plus-size, and autistic, Alesta grew up trying to convince her kingdom that she’s too useful to be sacrificed—like so many of their country’s poor—to appease the infernal monster across the poison sea in hell. When Alesta’s attempt to prove herself with inventions goes awry, her best friend and heir to the throne, Kyrian, takes the blame expecting leniency—and ends up tithed in her place. To end the sacrifices forever, Alesta plans to kill the monster that killed her friend. She travels to the depths of hell only to find Kyrian, alive, but monstrously transformed. There’s no escaping hell or their deeper feelings for one another, and the farther they go, the closer they come to uncovering a truth about the tithings that threatens to invoke the wrath of not only monsters but the gods as well.
Leanne Schwartz teaches English, poetry, drama, and history in San Diego. She believes in hard work, actively dismantling systems of oppression, and the power of singing along to show tunes.
Wren Nightingale isn’t supposed to have any powers. Born of magickal parents but not under a moon sign, she was destined for life as a Mundane—right up until she starts glowing on her eighteenth birthday. In a heartbeat, Wren’s life is turned upside down, and she’s suddenly leaving her home for the mystical Academia de la Luna—a secret magickal school on a hidden island off the Seattle coast. Lee Young has always known about his future at the Academia. He has one goal: pass the trials, impress the Moon Council, and uphold his family’s reputation. But he wasn’t expecting to be attending alongside the girl he’s been secretly in love with for as long as he can remember. As Wren and Lee are thrown into the Academia’s grueling trials, they quickly learn there’s something different—and dangerous—about the school this year. Wren will have to navigate a web of secrets, prophecies—and murder. And Lee will have to decide who to protect—his family’s legacy or the girl he loves.
Remy Kobata has always wished she was destined to be with her best friend, Cam Yasuda. From growing up neighbors to mixing up magical prank potions together, nothing’s a secret between Remy and Cam—except for how much she is in love with him. Remy is trying to work up the courage to confess her feelings during their senior high school winter break trip to Japan when they stumble upon a secret magical apothecary in the back alleys of Tokyo. Remy and Cam are offered an ancient soulmate elixir, created before all love potions were banned by the magical government. They each have their reasons for wanting to take it, and what could go wrong with finding your soulmate? Except, after they drink up, their trip flips into the worst vacation ever: Cam has forgotten who she is. Cam’s got a feeling that this girl who’s a stranger is important to him—they have thousands of photos together—but he doesn’t have a single memory. If Remy can’t help Cam remember her by midnight on New Year’s Eve, they’ll both be cursed to forget each other. To unravel their past and rewrite the future, Remy and Cam must travel through Tokyo to rediscover Cam’s memories and make new ones—and maybe even fall in love all over again.
The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: one, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List—a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away—will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self and pave the road to a new future. Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.
Shaadi preparations are in full swing, which means lehenga shopping, taste testing, dance rehearsals, and best of all, Arya’s sister, Alina, is home. The Khannas are together again, finally, and Arya wants to enjoy it. So, she stifles her lingering resentment towards Alina, plays mediator during her sister’s fights with their mother, and welcomes her sister’s fiancé with open arms. (Okay, maybe enjoy it is the wrong word.)