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What's Up in YA

New YA Books Out This Week, September 23, 2024

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Kelly Jensen

Editor

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.

Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll get to enjoy the voices and perspectives of my colleagues here at Book Riot. I’ll be taking a couple of weeks off to celebrate a milestone birthday, to talk about book censorship, and to read as much as humanly possible in my downtime. You’ll be in great hands as you learn about the new releases hitting shelves, and you’ll get to enjoy some great book talk, too. I’m also dropping a small spoiler here that you’ll soon learn about some (exciting!) changes coming to this here newsletter—you’ll be getting these sends on a little bit of a different timeline come October. Not more or fewer newsletters, just different days of the week.

Let’s dive into this week’s new YA hardcover and paperback releases. We’ve got something for everyone as this is the season of delicious new books. Grab your favorite drinks and get cozy for the first releases of autumn.

YA Hardcover Releases

a constellation of minor bears book cover

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson

Whew, if you’re looking for a book about resentment—an all-consuming experience that’s not covered a ton in YA—as well as about friendship, this’ll be up your alley.

Molly, her brother Hank, and Hank’s best friend Tray were inseparable, but then a climbing accident left Hank with a traumatic brain injury. Molly knows it wasn’t Tray’s fault, even if he was there when it happened and didn’t try to stop it. Molly also knows it’s not her fault, but she can’t help but feel some responsibility.

As graduation closes in, Molly wants to make good on the trip the three of them had planned before the accident. They were going to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Now that trip will be just Molly and Tray, with plenty of resentment and anger flaring up from Molly, especially as her parents put Tray in charge of keeping an eye on her.

aisle nine book cover

Aisle Nine by Ian X. Cho

This very weird, unique little book features a talking cat, and I know for some readers, that’s enough to make it an instant TBR title.

Jasper is working a dead end job as a cashier at Here For You discount mart. There is a portal to hell in aisle nine, part of the realities of life now, where demons may emerge at any minute.

Jasper doesn’t mind the job. He has no friends or family anyway (except that talking cat) and he also has no memories from the before. Plus the job allows him to be close to Kyle Kuan, a monster fighter he has a crush on but who hates him for reasons he cannot remember.

So when Jasper and Kyle realize they’re experiencing the same haunting visions of the end of the world, the two must team up to fight the demons around them and understand what the heck is actually going on. This story hits so many big, meaty issues about resistance and fighting back in a world that feels hopeless in a way that’s also a little, err, funny? Humorous? Bizarre? In other words, it feels fresh.

everything glittered book cover

Everything Glittered by Robin Talley

A queer historical thriller? Yes, yes, and yes.

It’s 1927 in Washington, D.C., and sure, prohibition is in place, but it’s not if you’re wealthy and powerful enough. Gertrude, as well as besties Clara and Milly, are students at Washington Female Seminary, and they’re also not above going out to have a little fun.

So when they sneak out to visit a speakeasy, they aren’t anticipating that they will return to learn the headmistress, Ms. Rose, would be found murdered.

Now the trio are on the hunt to find out who committed the crime. Ms. Rose was one of Gertrude’s mentors and not without plenty of controversy.  

faeries never lie book cover

Faeries Never Lie edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker

Let’s keep this one short and sweet. This is the third paranormal fantasy anthology of short stories edited by knockout duo Córdova and Parker. This time, they’re going deep into the lore of faeries. The collection features authors like Holly Black, Dhonielle Clayton, Chloe Gong, Ryan La Sala, and more.

payal mehta's romance revenge plot book cover

Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber

Payal Mehta fell head over heels for Jonathan Slate her freshman year and has pined for him since. It’s spring break now of her junior year and she’s finally worked up the courage to talk with him. At a party, she goes to talk with him and he pukes on her. Not once. But twice.

As an apology, he offers to take her out to lunch and Payal is certain this is the start of their forever love. Lunch goes really well, but then Jon asks if Payal has a boyfriend. Her “no” leads to him offering to set her up with his friend who is Indian American.

Flashing red lights all around.

Payal won’t be giving up though. She’s going to enlist her arch-nemesis, Philip Kim, to help her get revenge on Jon for that microaggression by…making him fall in love with her. The plan is working well until Payal starts to catch feelings for Philip.

pick the lock book cover

Pick the Lock by A.S. King

Jane Vandermaker-Cook is desperate to get her mother back. Living at home with her father means she and her little brother are subject to brutal verbal and emotional abuse and his weird, unhinged rules. Jane’s mom travels the world to make ends meet for the family because she is a rockstar. Literally. But even if things are a little easier for Jane and her brother when mom is home, Jane’s dad confines her mom to a series of pneumatic tubes. The family is also joined by a rat named Brutus, a gardener, and a whole bunch of security cameras.

When Jane gets access to the footage of those cameras, what they reveal is a family that is anything but simply weird or quirky. This discovery, though, is key to helping save her mother—and as a bonus (if that’s even the right word!), there’ll be a punk opera involved in this story because when she’s able to, Jane is in a band and loves making music like her mom.

Throughout the book, there are interludes from Brutus the rat, who can also shapeshift. There are also interstitials written as a play and as a rock concert. This character-driven novel is a big boy at 400 pages and explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, as well as the way girls and women are subjected to the systems of the patriarchy, whether they want to be or not.

A few more big titles for your attention include:

Want even more? Check out the full slate of YA hardcover releases this week.

YA Paperback Releases

As always, you might need to toggle your view when you click the link to see the paperback edition.

this dark descent book cover

This Dark Descent by Kalyn Josephson

This one has all of The Scorpio Races vibes and is perfect for fall fantasy reading.

The citizens of Veradell gather once every decade for the Illinir. The Illinir is a dangerous, high-stakes horse race with a high body count, but the winners walk away with fame and a lot of money.

Mikira Rusel is the last in a line of horse racers who have achieved incredible status. She’s desperate to win this year, but four of her biggest foes are also in the race, and it’s going to be cutthroat.

bittersweet in the hollow book cover

Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall

Appalachian horror/mystery? Let’s goooo.

It’s rural Cabal Hollow, which is surrounded by a giant forest, where we meet the James family who works the Harvest Moon diner. Linden and her sisters were born with abilities that are anything but usual. For Linden, it’s tasting what other people are feeling. That sounds cool but it has certainly not proven to be. It killed her relationship with Cole last year. That night, Linden disappeared into the forest and came out with no memory at all of what happened.

Now, another girl has disappeared into the forest. But unlike Linden, she hasn’t come back out. When her body is found, Linden is convinced it’s murder. Now, she’ll use her magical gift and recruit her sisters to do the same to get an answer to what is hiding in the forest…and what, exactly, it wants.

signed sealed dead book cover

Signed Sealed Dead by Cynthia Murphy

Now for a paperback original mystery! This sounds so much like the paperback mysteries I used to devour when I was a tween and teen.

Paige loves true crime, and it’s unfortunate how useful that is when she and her family move to her father’s former hometown. The place feels sinister, especially as Paige discovers a string of unsolved murders that plagued the community in the ’90s.

That’s when the notes begin to show up at Paige’s new home. Those notes are clues that lead Paige to a diary stashed in the wall. The diary belonged to one of the murdered girls.

Now Paige is stuck: does she pursue this and get caught up in it? Does she ignore the clues and continue on?

If that’s not enough, dive into the entire list of this week’s YA paperback releases.

If you’re reading this “What’s Up in YA?” newsletter on bookriot.com or got it from a friend, consider getting it sent directly to your inbox. You can sign up here.

Thanks as always for hanging out, and one of my colleagues will see you on Thursday.

Until then, happy reading! Enjoy a slice of ice cream cake with your current read for me on Wednesday if you’re feeling up for a little birthday energy. You can show me on Twitter @veronikellymars or Instagram @heykellyjensen.