Y’all! There are so many great books coming out this week! Like soooo many! A plethora of books that might finally cause my bookshelf to collapse in exhaustion.
Let us know which ones are headed to the top of your TBR pile.
Happy Reading,
Jocelyn, Halli, Martina, and Elizabeth
YOUNG ADULT NOVELS NEW IN STORES NEXT WEEK
American Royals II: Majesty
by Katharine McGee
Hardcover
Random House Books for Young R
Released 9/1/2020
Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we’re looking at you Daphne Deighton.
As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her “party princess” persona…and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace–and Prince Jefferson–at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne’s carefully laid “marry Prince Jefferson” plans.
A new reign has begun….
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As the Shadow Rises
by Katy Rose Pool
Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Released 9/1/2020
The Last Prophet has been found, yet he sees destruction ahead.
In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed There Will Come a Darkness, kingdoms have begun to fall to a doomsday cult, the magical Graced are being persecuted, and an ancient power threatens to break free. But with the world hurtling toward its prophesized end, Anton’s haunting vision reveals the dangerous beginnings of a plan to stop the Age of Darkness.
As Jude, Keeper of the Order of the Last Light, returns home in disgrace, his quest to aid the Prophet is complicated by his growing feelings for Anton. Meanwhile, the assassin known as the Pale Hand will stop at nothing to find her undead sister before she dies for good, even if it means letting the world burn. And in Nazirah, Hassan, the kingdom-less Prince, forms a risky pact to try to regain his throne. When the forces of light and darkness collide in the City of Mercy, old wounds are reopened, new alliances are tested, and the end of the world begins.
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Blood & Honey
by Shelby Mahurin
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/1/2020
The stakes are higher. The witches are deadlier. And the romance is red-hot. The eagerly anticipated sequel to the New York Times and Indiebound bestseller Serpent & Dove is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.
Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.
To survive, they need allies. Strong ones. But as Lou becomes increasingly desperate to save those she loves, she turns to a darker side of magic that may cost Reid the one thing he can’t bear to lose. Bound to her always, his vows were clear: where Lou goes, he will go; and where she stays, he will stay.
Until death do they part.
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Cemetery Boys
by Aiden Thomas
Hardcover
Swoon Reads
Released 9/1/2020
A trans boy determined to prove his gender to his traditional Latinx family summons a ghost who refuses to leave in Aiden Thomas’s paranormal YA debut Cemetery Boys.
Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.
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Dark Blade : Whispers of the Gods
by Steve Feasey
Paperback
Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Released 9/1/2020
WHEN GODS FAIL, WHO WILL KEEP THE DARKNESS OUT?
Lann knows nothing of his mysterious past, but by his fifteenth birthday he will come face to face with destiny. For Lann must wield the Dreadblade, an ancient sword forged to defeat terrible monsters.
Across the mountains a King has been murdered. His daughter, Astrid, is a warrior with no desire to bear the crown. Only she can uncover her father’s killer before her brother is framed for the crime.
Evil is stirring. Lann and Astrid are the kingdom’s last defence. Together, they must face the greatest darkness their world has ever known.
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Fable
by Adrienne Young
Hardcover
Wednesday Books
Released 9/1/2020
Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.
As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.
But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.
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Flamer
by Mike Curato
Hardcover
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Released 9/1/2020
Kiddo
I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.
I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.
It’s the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone’s going through changes―but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can’t stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.
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Fright Night
by Maren Stoffels
Paperback
Random House
Released 9/1/2020
Sofia isn’t so sure about Fright Night. When she suggested it to her friends, she was only thinking of it as an excuse to get closer to Dylan. Now that it’s happening, she’s worried that spending the night in a deserted forest is a bad idea.
But it’s totally safe–there’s even a safe word if things get too intense. And they do. Sofia and her friends are forced to face their greatest fears, and suddenly? It’s too late to turn back.
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Gold Wings Rising
by Alex London
Hardcover
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR
Released 9/1/2020
The war on the ground has ended, but the war with the sky has just begun. After the Siege of the Six Villages, the ghost eagles have trapped Uztaris on both sides of the conflict. The villagers and Kartami alike hide in caves, huddled in terror as they await nightly attacks. Kylee aims to plunge her arrows into each and every ghost eagle; in her mind, killing the birds is the only way to unshackle the city’s chains. But Brysen has other plans.
While the humans fly familiar circles around each other, the ghost eagles create schemes far greater and more terrible than either Kylee or Brysen could have imagined. Now, the tug-of-war between love and power begins to fray, threatening bonds of siblinghood and humanity alike.
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Lux: The New Girl
by Ashley Woodfolk
Hardcover
Penguin Workshop
Released 9/1/2020
Lux Lawson is on a spree. Ever since her dad left, she’s been kicked out of every school that would take her, and this is her last chance: Harlem’s Augusta Savage School of the Arts. If this doesn’t work, Lux is off to military school, no questions asked. That means no more acting out, no more fights, and definitely no boyfriends. Focus on her photography, and make nice friends. That’s the deal.
Enter the Flyy Girls, three students who have it all together. The type of girls Lux needs to be friends with to stay out of trouble. And after charming her way into the group, Lux feels she’s on the right track. But every group has their secrets, including Lux. And when the past starts catching up with her, can she keep her place as a Flyy Girl?
In this searing series opener, Lux takes center stage as she figures out just how hard it can be to start over.
With simply stated text and compelling characters, Flyy Girls is a series that’s perfect for readers of any level.
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Micah: The Good Girl
by Ashley Woodfolk
Hardcover
Penguin Workshop
Released 9/1/2020
Micah Dupree had always liked being the “good girl.” She was happy painting, going to church, and acing her school projects. After all, she had a perfect older brother to live up to. But when he unexpectedly dies, Micah’s world is turned upside-down. With her anxiety growing, a serious boyfriend in the picture, and new feelings emerging, Micah begins to question what being the “good girl” really means…and if it’s worth it, anyway.
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Never Look Back
by Lilliam Rivera
Hardcover
Bloomsbury YA
Released 9/1/2020
Eury comes to the Bronx as a girl haunted. Haunted by losing everything in Hurricane Maria–and by an evil spirit, Ato. She fully expects the tragedy that befell her and her family in Puerto Rico to catch up with her in New York. Yet, for a time, she can almost set this fear aside, because there’s this boy . . .
Pheus is a golden-voiced, bachata-singing charmer, ready to spend the summer on the beach with his friends, serenading his on-again, off-again flame. That changes when he meets Eury. All he wants is to put a smile on her face and fight off her demons. But some dangers are too powerful for even the strongest love, and as the world threatens to tear them apart, Eury and Pheus must fight for each other and their lives.
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None Shall Sleep
by Ellie Marney
Hardcover
Little, Brown Books for Young
Released 9/1/2020
The Silence of the Lambs meets Sadie in this riveting psychological thriller about two teenagers teaming up with the FBI to track down juvenile serial killers.
In 1982, two teenagers–serial killer survivor Emma Lewis and US Marshal candidate Travis Bell–are recruited by the FBI to interview convicted juvenile killers and provide insight and advice on cold cases. From the start, Emma and Travis develop a quick friendship, gaining information from juvenile murderers that even the FBI can’t crack. But when the team is called in to give advice on an active case — a serial killer who exclusively hunts teenagers — things begin to unravel. Working against the clock, they must turn to one of the country’s most notorious incarcerated murderers for help: teenage sociopath Simon Gutmunsson.
Despite Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between Simon and the FBI team. But while Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s an expert manipulator playing a very long game…and he has his sights set on Emma.
Captivating, harrowing, and chilling, None Shall Sleep is an all-too-timely exploration of not only the monsters that live among us, but also the monsters that live inside us.
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Not Your #Lovestory
by Sonia Hartl
Hardcover
MacMillan
Released 9/1/2020
#PlaneBae meets Gilmore Girls in this hilarious and heartfelt story about the addictiveness of Internet fame and the harsh realities of going viral.
Macy Evans dreams of earning enough income from her YouTube channel, R3ntal Wor1d, to leave her small, Midwestern town. But when she meets a boy named Eric at a baseball game, and accidently dumps her hotdog in his lap, her disastrous “meet-cute” becomes the topic of a viral thread. Now it’s not loyal subscribers flocking to her channel, it’s Internet trolls. And they aren’t interested in her reviews of VHS tapes―they only care about her relationship with Eric.
Eric is overly eager to stretch out his fifteen minutes of fame, but Macy fears this unwanted attention could sabotage her “real-life” relationships―namely with the shy boy-next-door, Paxton, who she’s actually developing feelings for. Macy knows she should shut the lie down, though she can’t ignore the advertising money, or the spark she gets in her chest whenever someone clicks on her videos. Eric shouldn’t be the only one allowed to reap the viral benefits. But is faking a relationship for clicks and subscribers worth hurting actual people?
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Punching the Air
by Ibi Zoboi
Hardcover
Balzer + Bray
Released 9/1/2020
The story that I thought
was my life
didn’t start on the day
I was born
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.
The story that I think
will be my life
starts today
Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?
With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.
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Queen of Volts
by Amanda Foody
Hardcover
Harper Collins
Released 9/1/2020
GAME OF THRONES meets THE DIVINERS in this thrilling fantasy — the highly anticipated final book in Amanda Foody’s THE SHADOW GAME series.
Return to the City of Sin, where the perilous final game is about to begin…The players? Twenty-two of the most powerful, most notorious people in New Reynes.
With no choice but to play, Enne and Levi are desperate to forge new alliances and bargain for their safety. But any misstep could turn deadly when a far more dangerous opponent appears on the board — one plucked straight from the city’s most gruesome legends. While Levi hides behind a mask of false promises, Enne is finally forced out from behind hers and as the game takes its final, vicious turn, these two must decide once and for all whether to be partners or enemies.
Because in a game for survival, there are no winners…
There are only monsters.
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Sanctuary
by Paola Mendoza, Abby Sher
Hardcover
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Y
Released 9/1/2020
It’s 2032, and in this near-future America, all citizens are chipped and everyone is tracked–from buses to grocery stores. It’s almost impossible to survive as an undocumented immigrant, but that’s exactly what sixteen-year-old Vali is doing. She and her family have carved out a stable, happy life in small-town Vermont, but when Vali’s mother’s counterfeit chip starts malfunctioning and the Deportation Forces raid their town, they are forced to flee.
Now on the run, Vali and her family are desperately trying to make it to her tía Luna’s in California, a sanctuary state that is currently being walled off from the rest of the country. But when Vali’s mother is detained before their journey even really begins, Vali must carry on with her younger brother across the country to make it to safety before it’s too late.
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Save Steve
by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan
Hardcover
HarperTeen
Released 9/1/2020
Steve Stevenson is a jerk. That might not be a cool thing to say about someone with cancer, but it’s true. Yeah, he throws legendary parties and is the most popular guy in school, but he also loves humiliating pranks and Cardi B, and he doesn’t recycle. Worst of all, he’s dating Kaia—the girl of nice guy Cam’s dreams.
But when a desperate Kaia asks Cam to help her raise money to pay for Steve’s experimental treatment, Cam offers to organize the biggest, most viral fundraising campaign. Maybe then Kaia will finally see Cam as the perfect, thoughtful, altruistic, good guy for her.
But Steve’s no fool. He’s totally on to Cam’s plan. And to stop him from stealing his girlfriend, he’s going to do whatever it takes to make Cam’s life as miserable as his own.
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The Bridge
by Bill Konigsberg
Hardcover
Scholastic Press
Released 9/1/2020
Aaron and Tillie don’t know each other, but they are both feeling suicidal, and arrive at the George Washington Bridge at the same time, intending to jump. Aaron is a gay misfit struggling with depression and loneliness. Tillie isn’t sure what her problem is — only that she will never be good enough.
On the bridge, there are four things that could happen:
Aaron jumps and Tillie doesn’t.
Tillie jumps and Aaron doesn’t.
They both jump.
Neither of them jumps.
Or maybe all four things happen, in this astonishing and insightful novel from Bill Konigsberg.
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The Cycle of the Red Moon Volume 1: The Harvest of Samhein
by José Antonio Cotrina
Paperback
Random House
Released 9/1/2020
Twelve teenagers from around the world fall under the spell of a demigod and journey to a mystical realm of devastation and cruelty where they must survive until the Red Moon returns. Despite the perils, these kids do not intend to surrender–they have magic on their side, and the time has come to take initiative! But an evil older than the kingdom itself awakens among the ruins, and the Red Moon approaches…
Welcome to Rocavarancolia
Welcome to the Kingdom of wonder and fright, of monsters and nightmares. Welcome to the Kingdom at death’s door.
After a long, hard-fought war, Rocavarancolia languishes, a city in ruins. There are no more dragons in the skies; vampires are dying of thirst; and magic is no longer strong enough to hold the Kingdom together.
There is a sliver of hope, however. This year, same as every year, Rocavarancolia’s demiurge plans his Harvest. He travels to Earth, where he masterfully cons a group of teenagers to return with him to his world, where they are then left to fend for themselves. They are told they must survive the many dangers of Rocavarancolia until the Red Moon appears in the sky. And that, for the last thirty years, no one has ever made it that far.
Why was this group chosen? What makes them special? Why are they so important? And should they survive, what will happen once the Red Moon arrives? Hector, Alex, Marina, Bruno and the others search for answers while fighting for their lives in the crumbling city. Soon they will realize they are so much more than they seem: Natalia sees hidden creatures in the shadows; Marina glimpses into the future; Bruno wields magic with astounding talent… The old inhabitants of the city watch anxiously from a distance. This Harvest is Rocavarancolia’s only chance.
But one by one they fall. Death awaits in every shadow and Rocavarancolia has no mercy, no place for the weak. The city is made of darkness and, slowly but surely, its nature infects the survivors. Rocavarancolia poisons them, transforms them and tears away all remnants of humanity.
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The Insomniacs
by Marit Weisenberg
Hardcover
Flatiron Books
Released 9/1/2020
Ingrid can’t sleep.
She can’t remember, either.
A competitive diver, seventeen-year-old Ingrid is haunted by what she saw at the pool at a routine meet, before falling off the high dive and waking up concussed. The only thing she remembers about the moment before her dive is locking eyes with Van―her neighbor, former best friend, and forever crush―kissing his girlfriend on the sidelines. But that can’t be all.
Then one sleepless night, she sees Van out her window…looking right back at her. They begin not sleeping together by night, still ignoring each other at school by day.
Ingrid tells herself this is just temporary, but soon, she and Van are up every night piecing her memory back together. As Van works through his own reasons for not being able to sleep, they’re both pulled into a mystery that threatens to turn their quiet neighborhood into a darker place than they realized.
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The Last Confessions of Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw
by Michelle Hodkin
Hardcover
Simon & Schuster Books for You
Released 8/31/2020
In this apocalyptic finale to the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and no one will be left unscarred. Noah’s confessions end here.
Noah Shaw wants to start over without being haunted by his past.
He can’t.
Despite his recent losses, he’s sure he knows who he can trust.
He doesn’t.
He thinks he’s finally found his happy ending.
He’s wrong.
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The Lost Book of the White
by Cassandra Clare
Hardcover
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Released 9/1/2020
Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.
Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.
Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.
Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—the realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom?
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Wayward Witch
by Zoraida Córdova
Hardcover
Sourcebooks Fire
Released 9/1/2020
Infused with Latin American tradition―the Brooklyn Brujas series follows three sisters―and witches―as they develop their powers and battle magic in their hometown and worlds beyond.
Rose Mortiz has always been a fixer, but lately she’s been feeling lost. She has brand new powers that she doesn’t understand, and her family is still trying to figure out how to function in the wake of her amnesiac father’s return home. Then, on the night of her Death Day party, Rose discovers her father’s memory loss has been a lie.
As she rushes to his side, the two are ambushed and pulled through a portal to the land of Adas, a fairy realm hidden in the Caribbean Sea. There Rose is forced to work with a group of others to save Adas. Soon, she begins to discover the scope of her powers, the troubling truth about her father’s past, and the sacrifices he made to save her sisters. But if Rose wants to return home so that she can repair her broken family, she must figure out how to heal Adas first.
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Where We Are
by Alison McGhee
Hardcover
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Released 9/1/2020
Micah and Sesame are true best friends. They safeguard each other’s secrets and share their dreams. Micah wants to save his parents from the cult leader who calls himself “the Prophet.” Sesame recently lost the last of her own family—her grandmother—and plans to keep a low profile until she turns eighteen to avoid foster care. Together, they never doubt they can build the futures they want.
Until Micah disappears. The Prophet has taken Micah, his parents, and the rest of his followers underground. And trying to take on the Prophet in isolation, surrounded by his followers, proves to be a dangerous mistake that leaves Micah hopeless and at the Prophet’s mercy.
Sesame, left alone, is wracked with fear over what could be happening to Micah. Never before have the two of them been so far apart—or needed each other more. But their faith in each other never wavers, and that may just be enough to save them both.
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