We’ve officially entered summer, and if you’re like me, your free time looks like a stack of books with a nice cold drink next to you. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll always Reading Those books, and in fact, you may be adding more books to the pile, but the dream and the goal are right there in front of you. Hopefully these longer days will help make room for a little more reading.
This week, we’ve got a nice collection of new releases. As we’ve seen over the past year, some titles will be released simultaneously in hardcover and paperback. This trend is very welcome, and I hope it continues—giving readers a choice in how they buy their books is helpful for people with different needs and budgets. I may be lucky enough to buy hardcovers, but I just prefer paperbacks. They are more portable and easier for me to hold while reading.
This week’s new releases include a spooky title featuring a terrifying deer-like creature, a Sapphic twist on the Wizard of Oz, a love triangle in Jamaica, and more.
New hardcover YA releases this week
a great and powerful tyrant By Victoria Carbol
If the words “sapphic reimagining of the Wizard of Oz” get you excited, put this on your TBR ASAP.
Thea was orphaned at a young age, but always felt pressure to carry on her mother’s legacy. Her mother was a doctor and Thea is now a successful and promising medical student. But Thea feels like something is missing from her life, no matter how “perfect” it is. When she learns that her grandmother has been lying to her about her mother, Thea learns that her mother was quite successful as a supernatural scholar. Among the artifacts Thea finds is a mirror of her mother’s which her grandmother is convinced is dangerous.
Angered at her grandmother, Thea stomps her foot and falls through the mirror into another world. She didn’t fall just like that. Thea kills a witch and soon learns that a cruel Sorcerer King rules the land.
Along with three companions, Thea and her crew set out to find the Mage King. He is the only person who has the power to get her home and grant her fellow travelers their wishes. Along the way, Thea learns that her mother’s true legacy was trying to overthrow the Mage King. As she struggles with her family’s history and legacy, Thea slowly falls under the spell of one of her traveling companions. Amidst all this she is also struggling to figure out where she belongs.
What’s happening in YA?
Sign up for What’s Happening in YA? To get your hands on all things young adult literature.
we are hungry for all by Anna Mercier
Elara Rousseau is from the slums of Enesperre. This is a world where magic comes through artistic skill, and Elara wants to be selected for the highly competitive Objet d’Art-baking competition—she doesn’t think she has a chance. The contest elects one Sovereign each year to join the ruling council. Luckily for Elara, a person from her past offers to join her in the competition. He just has to keep it all a secret.
Nicholas Dupont’s father is a powerful Sovereign, and he wants nothing more than to impress his father. Nicholas’s father does not even recognize him as a son, so he hatches a plan: make sure the person who wins the Objet d’Art is a person who will be his father’s right hand and carry out all his commands. Nicholas had no hope for Elara.
The two of them are at loggerheads and emotions are running high between them. Elara is becoming a hero and symbol of rebellion for her lower-class community. Meanwhile, Nick begins to question why he wants his father’s approval so badly. Does he try to win his father’s heart or has he discovered that it is better to listen to his heart?
deer By Rebecca Barrow
Maris Larson is her high school’s cheer captain, and it has given her life meaning in a way she never felt before. Being captain means he doesn’t have to think about his home life or the girlfriend who doesn’t treat him well. So when Genevieve Ray joins the team and becomes the coach’s gold girl, a fierce rivalry develops between them. Maris can’t let go of the things that hold her together.
Maris is going to take Genevieve down. All it takes is a dream and Maris now has the key to getting the job done.
In her dreams, Maris is visited by a hideous, decaying creature the size of a deer. Doe has been stuck in her current form for a long time, unable to die or live in the same form. The trick is that to free him he needs a girl who has blood ties to the people who murdered him. However, those girls are long dead.
However, Maris is the link and she has the power to free Doe. The two form a unique bond in Maris’s dreams, even though Maris has no idea that Doe is real. very real. Maris has no idea that she is in great danger, especially since Doe has promised to give her the very thing she wants: the end of Genevieve.
lovers, liars, and me By Deandra Davis
Despite being valedictorian, Jalia always faded into the background. He never had a relationship, never kissed, never had any adventures. So he’s bound and determined to do so this summer after graduation.
She is going to Jamaica to visit her aunt and uncle. Of course, his goal is entertainment, but also to understand who his mother is – the mother has been estranged and is an untold secret to him. It has been seven years since Jalia last visited Jamaica and a lot has changed in that time. His family is different. Her cousin has less interest in hanging out with her. Then there is Bharat, a girl who is making Jaliya feel and experience things that she has never felt or experienced before.
This is the summer of solving family secrets and mysteries and realizing how important it is to listen to your heart.
Hardcover YA Series Releases This Week:
More hardcover YA releases this week:
New paperback YA releases this week
you are going by jennifer chen
This is the first of two simultaneous paperback/hardcover releases this week. It follows Lizzie Wei, a huge book connoisseur, who begins to notice that her favorite library books are being checked out by someone else. It’s giving her crush-like feelings, even though she’s never met the mysterious borrower. Lizzie’s friends come up with a plan to track down the man to bring them together.
Dylan Lynn is fond of books, but no one knows this except him. He is new to school after a bullying incident last year, and has been chosen to use this fresh start to become not a reader, but an athlete. He also begins volunteering at a local kitten nursery and lies to his sweet co-volunteer Lizzie when she asks if he likes reading (“No”). She’s disappointed, and he reads it immediately on her face.
Lizzie learns that her secret crush can’t be Dylan. Her crush is a reader. But when Dylan accidentally leaves out an extremely stupid joke from Lizzie’s favorite book, she begins to wonder if her instincts are wrong. So now she has to wonder: Does she trust someone who has lied to her? Can Dylan admit his obsession with books and explain why he’s not telling Lizzie the truth?
This is for book lovers.
good luck, babe by Erin Baldwin
Noel and Yumi were best friends for 10 years, and the biggest thing they had in common was reality TV. However, their junior year is derailed when a bad night and a bad kissing attempt end their friendship.
Now, a year later, both of them have been offered a place in their favorite reality show. The problem is that this season is only for couples, and filming starts in two days. Noelle is in desperate need of money, and realizes the need is so great that she fakes a date with Yumi for the possibility of a cash-out.
Of course, real feelings may be on their way before long—and in front of a national TV audience.
holiday shift by Lily Chu
Ivy Yu’s parents divorced six months ago, and it seems as if her whole life is falling apart. His mother decided to do something: She booked them a bus tour to Japan. Ivy is somewhat good with the first part, and less good with the second. It was believed that this summer she and Connor would find out whether or not they were going to have a real relationship.
When Ivy and her mother arrive in Japan, they discover that the only people on the bus trip are those who are not seniors. Well. kinda. Also on the trip are father-son duo, Keith and Matteo.
Ivy’s mother is growing closer to Keith, and Ivy and Mateo have feelings about it. They make a pact to keep their parents apart as much as possible. But as Ivy discovers that Connor is pursuing a new relationship at home and that she’s spending more time with the only man her age, Ivy and Mateo sparks that neither of them could have imagined.
It is being presented as Gilmore Girls get an inversion parent trap. It sounds like fun, and it could definitely fit on this year’s list of international road trips microtrends. You can get it in hardcover or paperback.
Paperback YA series releasing this week:
More paperback YA releases this week:
Don’t miss our picks for the best books of the century so far: YA versions.
This content contains affiliate links. When you purchase through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
