This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Whatever feelings you’re carrying right now are valid, and whatever you’re choosing to do with them—channeling them into hobbies, finding peace within the pages of a book, sleeping a lot more than normal, and worrying—you’re doing precisely what you need to be doing right now. It is really important that following a huge event we take the time to be with our feelings, rather than run from them. This will eventually change shape, and everyone’s time to start rolling up their sleeves to do something differs. Some folks are ready in a day; others may need months and months. Be kind to yourself wherever you are.
One thing I offer as a way of kindness is a look at the new books hitting shelves this week. What a month and what a time of year to have a new release on shelf. I hope these gems will find their perfect reader now and as we move forward.
This week’s slate of new books has a dearth of books by people of color, so know that going in. More, it’s a week with a lot of sequels/series titles being released and because I like to avoid spoilers with books that don’t start a new series, I’m going to simply list them in the appropriate area. Then you can choose your adventure, spoilers or not!
New YA Hardcover Releases
Dead Below Deck by Jan Gangsei
If you like stories of rich kids and murder, then you’ll be all aboard this one. Four best friends are spending five days together on a luxury yacht together. But on the last night, Giselle, an 18-year-old heiress, has gone missing. She cannot be found the next morning but security footage shows Maggie pushing Giselle overboard. Despite some good reasons to want to take Giselle out, Maggie does not have any memory of pushing her friend and has no memory of how she ended up with thousands of dollars in cash in her room safe. Oh, and Giselle’s diary.
So what happened that night? Did Maggie kill Giselle? Was she framed for it? If so, who is responsible and why now?
This one is told in reverse chronological order, so that’s a special treat for readers who like unconventional storytelling methods.
If You Can Hear This by Faith Gardner
Posey Spade just moved to small town Wild Pines. It’s boring, especially for someone like her who dreams of becoming a journalist. Instead of working for the school paper, though, Posey has taken up the effort of reviving the sad, lacking AV Club.
When the AV Club’s sponsor and teacher at the school disappears, well, it wasn’t on Posey’s radar that she’d be forced to use her investigative skills. As she and the club try to figure out what happened to Ms. Moses, it turns out Wild Pines has a whole lot of secrets to unravel.
Perfect Girl by Tracy Banghart
Reflective covers like this one have been popping up a lot and I like it. By the sounds of this book, the cover is also perfectly fitting.
Jessa is the typical perfect girl and she likes it that way. She doesn’t want to be known for anything less than just being good. So when a storm knocks out power at a sleepover at Jessa’s house, perfection is no longer an option. It’s not just her annoying brother being silly, either: there’s someone who has shown up in the dark with Jessa as their target.
But in order to survive, Jessa’s going to have to let go of being perfect. Can she do it?
When Mimi Went Missing by Suja Sukumar
Tanvi was raised by her cousin Mimi’s parents, and Tanvi has always felt like Mimi is her sister. Mimi was especially helpful as Tanvi navigated school—at least she was before she befriended Beth, Tanvi’s biggest bully.
Worried that this school year will be awful, Tanvi decides she’s going to try to get some light revenge. She gets a photo of Mimi and Beth at a party that she’s sure is pretty incriminating, only to wake up the next day and no memory of what caused the injuries now on her body. Plus, Mimi is gone.
Tanvi wants to find out what happened to her cousin, and as she works to try to piece together the memories of that night, she’s worried that she herself might be who the police believe is the prime suspect for Mimi’s murder.
Series releases in hardcover this week include:
New YA Paperback Releases
There are no paperbacks hitting shelves this week that aren’t part of a series! We’ll be seeing this happen a bit more frequently through the end of the year. That said, there are several series releases in paperback this week:
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.
