Middle Grade
A Little Too Haunted by Justine Pucella Winans
The only thing worse than having ghost hunters for parents is having fake ghost hunters for parents. Luna Catalano would know. Her moms are haunted house flippers who use their home reno skills and pretend psychic powers to turn spooky old houses into ghost-free modern homes. Not only does their job require the family to move all the time–meaning Luna is completely friendless–but the only thing haunting any of those houses is bad decor. For once Luna wishes there was an actual, for-real ghost.
When they move yet again, Luna isn’t expecting much. But this house feels…different. Things start out innocent enough–items not where they should be, strange noises–but soon things turn sinister. Her moms are waking up with cuts and bruises, and disturbing drawings showing them with even worse injuries are being left in Luna’s room. With the help of her next-door neighbors and a mysterious woman who seems to know a lot about the home, Luna starts to piece together what exactly happened in that house before she moved in. But not everything is as it seems. In order to save her moms, Luna will have to get the story right before everything goes completely wrong.
Young Adult
Fireblooms by Alexandra Villasante
When seventeen-year-old Sebastian agrees to come to New Gault to care for his absent and abusive mother after her cancer diagnosis, he is not prepared for the strange new community that awaits him or the distressing state he finds his mother in. He tries to help, but despite being ill, her tongue is as sharp as ever, finding all Sebas’s tender places. But he promised his Abuela he’d try to make this work.
Unfortunately trying also means attending TECH, New Gault’s high school. His first day, he’s assigned to enthusiastic TECH student ambassador, Lu, who introduces him to all TECH can offer—a safe space, free from bullying. But all this safety and technology comes with a catch—not only do you have to watch what you say, but you have to stay within a strict word limit. Sebas declines. To him New Gault feels more like the Stepford Wives than freedom.
For Lu, who suffers from anxiety and has a history of being bullied, TECH is a lifeline somewhere they can be safe. They can’t understand why Sebas would refuse. When Sebas rejects TECH, it feels as if he’s rejecting Lu.
But when Sebas learns if he doesn’t accept the TECH phone and abide by the rules, his mother will be denied cancer treatment, he changes his tune. Slowly, Lu and Sebas form a friendship that morphs into something more, but the closer they get, the more Sebas challenges Lu’s beliefs about TECH and what it means to be safe. Meanwhile, Sebas contemplates how to forgive his dying mother for being no mother at all.
Seven for a Secret by Mary E. Roach
Sadie meets The Female of the Species in this YA thriller starring Nev, one of eight missing girls from a group home called Sister’s Place—and the only one who returned.
In the town of Avan Island, there was a group home called Sister’s Place. It housed girls no one cared about, girls who had nothing and no one but each other. Over the course of six months, eight girls from the home seemingly disappeared, never to return.
But one girl did.
Nev is the girl who returned. The girl who survived. She’s done her best to leave what happened in the forest on Avan Island behind her, but now, five years later, the men in charge of Sister’s Place, the men who brushed the missing girls off as “runaways,” are turning up dead. And Nev realizes that confronting the town that was all too happy to forget her may be her only chance to get answers about what happened to her sisters.
As Nev is pulled deeper into Avan’s secrets—and as more bodies pile up—she must unravel the mysteries locked in her own mind as she hunts down a killer who is willing to do anything to make sure the past stays buried.
Lost sisters, female rage, and the determination to survive drive Nev on her propulsive journey to find answers and peace—and maybe revenge.
You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao
I’ve missed you every day since you left. But I’m sure you already knew that. It’s time to let you go now. I’ll miss you all the time, Sam.
It’s been a year since his best friend, Sam, died. Even though Oliver knows he won’t get a response, he can’t stop texting Sam’s number, especially as the anniversary of his death approaches.
Then one day he accidentally hits the call button, and someone picks up.
The voice on the other end isn’t Sam. Sam’s number was reassigned and a stranger has been receiving Oliver’s private and vulnerable messages for months. But Ben, a college student in Seattle, won’t remain a stranger for long. Oliver knows he should stop communicating now that he knows the truth—but he can’t get Ben out of his head.
The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner
Hunter’s life is at a turning point: After years of fighting his father for it, he’s gotten top surgery. He’s finally starting to feel comfortable in his own skin . . . only to be attacked by a strange creature in his backyard.
The encounter should kill him, but his best friend Gabe intervenes, and Hunter is able to walk away from the incident with his life—and new body—mostly intact. Still, something isn’t right. First, his wounds are healing quickly—too quickly. Then there are the feverish nightmares, the sudden return of his period, and his teeth . . . they’re falling out of his head.
Enter Mars, Hunter’s other best friend. A horror movie devotee, Mars points out the obvious: That mysterious creature was a werewolf, and Hunter is becoming one too—unless they can figure out a cure, which basically means they have to kill the creature that bit him.
Now, Hunter, Gabe, and Mars are in a race against time. A voice that could only belong to the creature itself is worming its way into Hunter’s head, and as the days pass, it’s only getting louder. It promises revenge on Hunter’s transphobic peers if he succumbs to his lycanthropic transformation. Or he can reject the monster and fight alongside his friends before the body—and life—he’s fought so hard for slips away for good. The choice is Hunter’s.
Hollow by Taylor Grothe
After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again. Cassie’s never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends.
Problem is that her friends aren’t so eager to welcome her back into the fold. They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first night, Cassie wakes to a barren campsite—her friends all gone.
With severe weather approaching and nearing sensory overload, Cassie is saved by a boy named Kaleb, who whisks her away to a compound of artists and outcasts he calls the Roost. As Kaleb tends to her injuries, Cassie begins to feel—for the first time in her life—that she can truly be herself. But as the days pass, strange happenings around the Roost make Cassie question her instincts. Noises in the trees grow louder, begging the question: Are the dangers in the forest, on the trail, or in the Roost itself?
To the Stars and Back, Volume I by Peglo
Introverted university student Kang Dae spends most of his time alone, and he prefers it this way. So he’s initially unhappy when bubbly new student Bo Seon moves into his apartment complex and sets out to befriend him. But before Kang Dae realizes it, his life has changed irrevocably.
As the two become closer, they slowly realize they have romantic feelings for each other; but neither has been in a real relationship before and both have trauma in their pasts. Will they be able to embrace the possibilities of what could be, or will they find that a new romance is a bridge too far?
Joy to the Girls by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
Getting the girl was easy, but can Alex and Molly keep each other when they’re both keeping secrets? Find out in this cozy holiday novella companion to She Gets the Girl!
For Alex and Molly, the last three years have felt like Christmas every day. So what better way to celebrate winter break of their senior year than a romantic getaway in a town right out of a Christmas card?
Aside from sampling all the holiday cheer Barnwich has to offer, Alex and Molly have an important mission this weekend: to help their friend Cora get her crush to fall for her. But in between ice skating, snowball fights, and matchmaking schemes, it becomes obvious that Alex and Molly have another mission this weekend: to not reveal the huge secrets they’re keeping from the other. Secrets about their post-college plans that threaten to tear them apart.
Will these two be able to help Cora get the girl and keep theirs—or will this be the last Christmas of Alex and Molly’s love story?
At Midnight ed. by Dahlia Adler
This is the paperback release.
Fairy tales have been spun for thousands of years and remain among our most treasured stories. Weaving fresh tales with unexpected reimaginings, At Midnight brings together a diverse group of celebrated YA writers to breathe new life into a storied tradition. You’ll discover . . .
Dahlia Adler reimagining “Rumpelstiltskin,”
Tracy Deonn, “The Nightingale,”
H. E. Edgmon, “Snow White,”
Hafsah Faizal, “Little Red Riding Hood,”
Stacey Lee, “The Little Matchstick Girl,”
Roselle Lim, “Hansel and Gretel,”
Darcie Little Badger, “Puss in Boots,”
Malinda Lo, “Frau Trude,”
Alex London, “Cinderella.”
Anna-Marie McLemore, “The Nutcracker,”
Rebecca Podos, “The Robber Bridegroom,”
Rory Power, “Sleeping Beauty,”
Meredith Russo, “The Little Mermaid,”
Gita Trelease, “Fitcher’s Bird,”
and an all-new fairy tale by Melissa Albert.
Adult Fiction
Cut to the Feeling by M.A. Wardell and A.J. Truman
For Bryce Derrickson, rejection is nothing new. He’s used to Broadway casting directors seeing his size and assuming he can’t be a graceful dancer. But getting dumped with no notice is a special kind of burn. At least his sweet dog Bobo still loves him.
As if being left without warning isn’t bad enough, Bryce’s ex sublets their apartment without telling him, leaving him without a place to live. When his new ‘roommate’ turns out to be a stuffy, elbow-patches-on-blazer, permanent-frown-on-face professor, Bryce is furious. No way will he give up his bohemian pad without a fight.
Years ago, Emerson Grant was on the fast track to being a preeminent scholar in his field. Now he’s stuck teaching at a commuter school in a cornfield. Finagling a guest lecturing spot at a prestigious New York institution could be his way back into the top reaches of academia. That is, if the man and dog blatantly squatting in his sublet don’t drive him bananas first.
Sharing a one-bedroom apartment with a stranger is a New York rite of passage. Sharing it with a stranger you might be falling for is something else entirely.
Buy it: Amazon
Architecti by Ruby Roe
Two women, two cursed contracts, and a romance that could burn down heaven and hell.
Mercedes Midnight is a reaper in debt with exactly one year left before hell comes to collect.
Lucy Corvine, the devil’s daughter and revered professor, is imprisoned by a contract she never agreed to.
For nine long years, Midnight scoured graveyards and grimoires for a loophole, while Lucy wore a gilded smile and dreamed of revolt…
Until a chance encounter sparks a pact neither of them can afford to break.
When Midnight claws her way into Finis Academy, she and Lucy strike a perilous bargain: Lucy will train Midnight to win the academy’s coveted demon favour and Midnight will break Lucy’s contract.
But this is no simple deal. Not when a secret cult is scheming to resurrect a fallen angel and the city is veering toward celestial war.
They’re going to have to trust each other… not easy when they’re both hiding dangerous secrets.
Harder still when stolen glances in candlelit libraries ignite a forbidden desire neither woman can resist.
Now, they must decide: shatter the contract… or surrender to a love that damns them both.
One year. One soul. One impossible choice—their love or their own damnation.
Buy it: Amazon
A Mannequin for Christmas by Timothy Janovsky
Henry Aster swears he is unlucky when it comes to love. He thought he’d finally found The One, but a sudden break-up has left him hopeless right before the holiday season.
Facing another family Christmas alone, Henry makes a wish for “The Perfect Man.” The next morning, when he arrives at the Jersey Shore vintage shop he manages, he finds one of the male display mannequins has sprung to life and entirely wrecked the place.
The magicked man is gorgeous, of course, but he comes with a Cinderella-style caveat: If he doesn’t experience true, human love before the midnight chime on New Year’s Eve, he will turn back into a mannequin for good.
Now Henry doesn’t have to show up to family Christmas alone. The catch? This new man―self-named Aidan Smith―knows nothing about being a human. Henry has one month to teach Aidan how to be a functioning person in the modern world and the swoony boyfriend that will win over his family. It’s an arduous task that draws them close together… but can human love ever really be true?
House of Rayne by Harley Laroux
SALEM
I wasn’t supposed to be here.
I was supposed to be marrying my fiancé on a country estate, looking forward to a tropical honeymoon. Instead, I found myself on a ferry headed for historic Balfour Manor on Blackridge Island, in the Pacific Northwest
The house is as mysterious and beautiful as its owner, Rayne. And like her, this place holds dark secrets.
Crimson shadows stalk the halls, and strange voices call out in the night. Despite Blackridge’s idyllic landscape, something evil lurks beneath the trees.
When all hell breaks loose and I’m stranded on the island until winter’s end, unraveling the tragedies of Rayne’s past is our only hope of survival.
RAYNE
Nothing good can stay.
That was what I told myself when Salem Lockard showed up at my door. She’s adventurous, beautiful—and doomed to die if she remains on Blackridge.
But fate has other plans. My family has long been buried, but to break the island’s curse, everything will need to be dug up again. Even the vilest of secrets.
For the first time in my life, I won’t face the beast alone. Yet I’ve never been more terrified. Now, I have something to lose, and I’ll move heaven and earth to save her.
I am You by Victoria Redel
At age eight, Gerta Pieters is dressed as a boy and put to work in the service of the Oosterwijcks, a genteel Dutch family. When Gerta catches the eye of the young Maria Oosterwijck, Gerta’s asked to accompany her to Amsterdam, where Maria will study under a noteworthy Dutch artist.
In Amsterdam, Maria rises in the ranks of society as a prodigy of still life painting. From the shadows, Gerta watches her ascension and learns to make herself invaluable to Maria in more ways than one. As their relationship evolves, Gerta may come to be more intrinsic to Maria’s personal life—and her art—than even she could have imagined.
The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet by Melinda Taub
Awkward, plain, and overlooked, Mary Bennet has long been out of favor not only with her own family but with generations of readers of Pride and Prejudice. But what was this peculiar girl really doing while her sisters were falling in love?
As, one by one, Mary’s sisters get married, she hatches a plan. If the world won’t give this fierce, lonely girl a place, she’ll carve one out herself. In a desperate bid to avoid becoming a burden on her family or, worse, married to a controlling man, Mary does what any bright, intrepid girl would do. She takes to the attic and teach herself to reanimate the dead. If finding acceptance requires a husband, she’ll get one. . . even if she has to make him herself.
However, Mary’s genius and determination aren’t enough to control the malevolent force that she unwittingly unleashes. Soon, her attempts to rein in the destruction wreaked by her creations leads her to forge a perhaps unlikely friendship with another brilliant young woman unlike any she’s ever known. As that friendship blossoms into something passionate and all-consuming, Mary begins to realize that she may have to choose between the acceptance she’s always fought for and true happiness.
Fate’s Bane by C.L. Clark
Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate.
The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children. When a burgeoning love for the chieftain’s daughter lures them both to a hidden spring, a magic awakens in them that could bind the clans under one banner at last―or destroy any hope of peace. By working their intentions into leather, they can weave misfortune for their enemies… just like the Fate’s Bane that haunts the legends of the clans.
Ambitions grow in their fathers’ hearts, grudges threaten a return to violence, and greedy enemies wait outside the borders, seeking a foothold to claim the fens for themselves. And though their Makings may save their families, the legend that gave them this power always exacts its price.
What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
The next installment in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America
Alex Easton does not want to visit America.
They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.
But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…
The Sovereign by C.L. Clark
The Sovereign brings princess Luca and soldier Touraine together one last time in the thrilling conclusion to C. L. Clark’s beloved queer political fantasy trilogy.
Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering plague will decimate her people if she can’t unearth Balladaire’s magic. The only person who can help her wants the only thing Luca won’t give—the end of the monarchy.
Touraine is Luca’s general. She has everything she ever wanted. While Luca looks within Balladaire’s borders, Touraine looks outward—the alliance with Qazal is brittle and Balladaire’s neighbors are ready to pounce on its new weakness. When the army comes, led by none other than Touraine’s old lover, Touraine must face the truth about herself—and the empire she once called home.
A storm is coming. Touraine and Luca will stand against it together, or it will tear them apart once and for all.
Non-Fiction
The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam by Lana Lin
Situated between memoir, social criticism, and conceptual art, The Autobiography of H. Lan Thao Lam is an incisive response to a modernist classic and an affecting exploration of the poetics and politics of our times.
In her 1933 The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, Gertrude Stein invented a new literary form by narrating her own story from the perspective of her partner, blurring the lines between portrait and self-portrait. Almost a century later, experimental filmmaker and artist Lana Lin has resurrected Stein’s project to tell a different story of queer love, life, and artistic collaboration.
At heart a candid chronicle of her partner Lan Thao’s life journey from Việt Nam during the war, and her own troubled history as a gender-queer Taiwanese American, Lin draws in subjects as varied as photography, cancer, tropical fruit, 9/11, and Eve Sedgwick’s eyeglasses, weaving an intimate landscape of living that is also a critical investigation of race and gender.
Dinner Party Animal by Jake Cohen
An impromptu cocktail party, casual brunch with friends, or celebratory dinner with family—food just tastes better when shared. For chef Jake Cohen, making a homemade meal from scratch for those you love is nothing short of magic. Now he’s giving you everything you need to cook and entertain with ease in this highly anticipated collection of 100 delicious recipes and sixteen inventive menus for every mood, occasion, and possible guest list.
With menus ranging from Treat Yourself Brunch to Veg Out, Meatballs to the Wall, Ride or Pie (a whole meal of pies!), That Was Tonight? (recipes that come together in a hurry), and even the ultimate Passover and Thanksgiving feasts, these are recipes you’ll turn to again and again for special occasions and weeknight dinners alike:
- Brown Butter Parker House Rolls
- Chicken and Biscuits Pot Pie
- Cheeseburger Arayes Sliders
- Sour Cream and Onion Mashed Potatoes
- Za’atar Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Salad
- Spicy Sausage Gnocchi Bake with Pesto Ricotta
- Yogurt-Roasted Salmon with Leeks
- Roast Chicken with Lemony Sauce Soubise
- Lemon-Almond Blondies with Sumac Glaze
- Tiramisu Cake
- Apple Pie Calzone
Each menu comes with a grocery list, prep and make-ahead guide, store-bought shortcuts, and a day-of run-of-show to take the stress out of hosting. Jake reminds us that we don’t have to be perfect or even have a dining room table to entertain: anyone can do this, whether you’re a comfortable home cook or a newbie in the kitchen. With cameos from Jake’s array of celebrity friends—including Isaac Mizrahi, Benny Blanco, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Alex Edelman, Jill Zarin, Joan Nathan, Debra Messing, and more—this delicious book is guaranteed to turn you into the ultimate Dinner Party Animal.
I was at a launch event for this here in Los Angeles – so much fun and can’t wait to read!