Today’s post is sponsored by Robert W. Adams in honor of the release of Tabitha Unleashed, a queer YA speculative novel about sisterhood, first love, identity, and surviving long enough to believe you deserve to be saved.
Tabitha Griffin is a suicide-attempt survivor hiding a secret: she can move objects with her mind.
When her twin sister’s cancer returns, Tabitha enters the country’s biggest televised talent competition for one reason: the prize money could pay for the only treatment that might save Kayla’s life.
Her act? Using her telekinetic power disguised as stage illusion.
With every round, the internet wants to learn more about this mysterious girl.
But the competition is changing Tabitha, too. She finds unexpected friendships, falls for a girl who gives her another reason to keep fighting, and discovers that being seen isn’t always something to fear.
Then a presidential candidate’s anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric puts a target on her back, turning the girl who never wanted the spotlight into an unwilling symbol of resistance.
Winning means keeping her secret. And keeping secrets is killing her.
Buy it: Author Website | Amazon US | Amazon Can
***
Middle Grade
Realmsweep by H.E. Edgmon
In a fantastical version of the United States filled to the brim with magic and dragons, the tween prince of Texas must compete in a notoriously dangerous scavenger hunt.
Rowdy Buckner, the twelve-year-old prince of Texas, has a problem. More than anything, he wants access to the transfiguration tonics that will transform him from head to toe into the prince he is, in a body that feels more his down. His parents are skeptical–not because they aren’t supportive, but because they don’t believe that self-absorbed, spoiled Rowdy is responsible enough to be trusted with such powerful magic just yet.
In order prove himself, Rowdy signs up to compete in Realmsweep, a notoriously dangerous scavenger hunt held across the Allied Lands every five years, and sends his personal guard to assemble a team. The resulting ragtag crew of preteens isn’t exactly impressive at first glance, but they’re all Rowdy has. With them, he’ll face off against everything from monstrous creatures to the monstrosity of humans, and maybe, if he’s lucky, become the person he so desperately wants to be.
Continue reading New Releases: October 13, 2026
Rebecca Bendheim is the author of When You’re Brave Enough and a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. She types poems around the country with the Typewriter Rodeo poetry troupe and lives in Maine with her wife. She has bungee jumped, skydived, and swum with sharks, but the biggest risk she’s ever taken is putting her deepest emotions into books. Rebecca can be found on social media @RebeccaBendheim and on her website at 
“
Larger-than-life Olly is back at the UK’s most prestigious competition for teen performers to prove he has what it takes to be a leading man. After being sabotaged last year, he is determined to stand out ahead of his drama school auditions.
Calla Quick has no future. At least, that’s how it feels. Her parents disowned her via text message, and now she can’t afford to go to an all-women’s college with her girlfriend Ramona like they planned. But Calla wonders if maybe that’s for the best-because even though Calla told Ramona her parents disowned her because they found out she’s gay, the truth is, Calla has been questioning whether she’s a girl at all.