Hallie’s Rules for a Recovering Romantic by Jessica Lewis (July 7th)
Hallie loves romance, but it doesn’t seem to love her back. Her six-time broken heart can attest to that.
So when Hallie has the chance to attend a prestigious academic summer camp, she sees an opportunity not just to better herself, but to reinvent herself. Into a new Hallie who will succeed where the old one failed—in school, friends, and especially love.
First, a fresh start—which means no romance, all summer. If Hallie’s fortitude is immediately tested by Julia, her gorgeous camp roommate with an uncrackable icy shell, then all the better! Reinvention is never easy!
Yet as Hallie and Julia get closer, Hallie’s heart is in more danger than ever. With the prospect of real love on the line, can Hallie trust that New Hallie won’t make the mistakes that she did? Or is Julia looking for someone else—the unfiltered, unaltered, real Hallie?
Free Girls by Kristen McCallum (July 7th)
Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Cooper is back after twelve months at Guiding Hearts Home for Troubled Girls, and nothing is the way it was. Her mom has remarried and now there’s a big new house, a shiny new family, and a fancy new school. Jas feels completely out of place, and things only get more complicated when her mom insists that her “fresh start” include hiding the truth of where she’s been and cutting off people from her past.
As Jas settles into her new life bonding with her seemingly perfect stepsister, making a close-knit group of besties, and maybe even falling for the cute girl in class, it starts to feel like her second chance might actually be real. But when a friend from the detention center reaches out to reconnect, Jas worries that everything she’s built could fall apart. How long can she keep her past a secret? And how many times can she spin the truth before she forgets who she really is?
Buried Feelings by Kit Rosewater (July 7th)
Cam was the one who discovered the hunt…
He brought it to Ivy like an offering, took her hand as they combed through San Francisco, searching for treasure and conspiring against the heteronormative agenda. But that was back then. Now juniors, they’re both out and proud—Cam as a trans man and Ivy as gay—but their friendship isn’t as assured. Problem is, Ivy can’t reveal Cam’s past betrayal without airing closely guarded secrets of her own.
…But Ivy will be the one to finish it.
As Ivy comes across the missing link in the treasure hunt from their childhood, she’s certain she can put the clues together and finally come out on top in the cat-and-mouse game Cam’s been playing with her ever since their friendship ended. Once Cam gets wind of Ivy’s renewed interest in the hunt, the ex-best friends go head-to-head in their search for gold. But as they get digging, they uncover more things buried between them than they bargained for.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | PRH
Where Lost Girls Go by Kody Keplinger (July 7th)
There are many reasons why five girls have ended up living with Sol in a cabin in the Kentucky mountains. But the girls don’t talk about what has brought them each here or who they were before. They have become sisters and are grateful to have a place to call home.
Iris knows she owes everything to Sol. He has promised to keep them safe from their pasts. All he asks in return is for their loyalty, which Iris freely gives. With her sisters and Sol as her family, she feels happier than she has in a long time.
Until a new girl arrives and everything changes.
Sol christens her Rose and the sisters are quick to welcome her. Iris is drawn to Rose, but as they grow closer, Rose has Iris questioning things about this life in the woods. When Sol notices, he challenges Iris to prove her commitment to their family. Her sisters tell her that she should be willing to do anything for the man who saved her. But with each new ask, Iris realizes there is more to Sol―and her sisters―than she knows and some secrets should stay buried deep.
Coming Out Perfect by Richard Mercado (July 7th)
When Kevin’s parents ignore his attempts to come out of the closet, he devises a plan to become more like Raymond, the popular gay kid at his high school. After all, if Kevin can do everything perfectly, too, then people will have to pay attention to him.
But life under Raymond’s wing isn’t easy: a dress code, new things Kevin can and can’t do, and even abandoning his old “uncool” friends. Perfection comes at a cost, and Kevin must decide whether it’s worth the sacrifice.
Heartstopper, Vol. 6 by Alice Oseman (July 7th)
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The final installment in the bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel series about life, love, and everything that happens in between.
Everyone in school knows Nick and Charlie. Everyone knows they’re going to be together forever. But Charlie’s busy with his bid to become head boy. And while Nick is preparing to leave for college, he’s starting to wonder who he’ll be… without Charlie.
The Assassin’s Guide to Dating by Natalie C. Parker (July 14th)
Tru and Lila confront shadowy new enemies, dangerous powers and maybe even their first date in this high-octane sequel
At the secretive Underhill agency for those with superhuman abilities, Tru and Lila—a virtually indestructible bastion and an explosive bombshell, respectively—are trying to navigate their talents, careers, and budding relationship. But the perception of bombshells like Lila has soured—their actions, and even their heart rates, are now heavily monitored, and no one trusts a bombshell not to go off. All this scrutiny is hindering not just Lila’s missions but also her attempts to finally go on a real date with Tru. After all, romance can quicken a pulse just as much as danger!
As Lila’s bitterness escalates, she meets Ryan, a talented young man from an organization with a lawless reputation who tells her to call him if she gets tired of following the rules. But who is Lila, if not someone who follows all the rules? Is she the person feared by the community stifling her, or the person seen by the ruthless stranger promising freedom and power?
Take it to Your Grave by Louangie Bou-Montes (July 21st)
Maximiliano Rafael Guerrero Lopez “Max” has been dead for 30 years. He’s stuck as a sixteen-year-old in his childhood bedroom with no memory of how he died, and no company aside from rotting floor boards and mildew-ridden guitars.
Joaquín Felix Ladrón “Joaquín” is a high schooler who’s desperate to experience something paranormal―he’d do anything to even catch a glimpse of a ghost, even if it means sacrificing his relationship with his boyfriend.
When Joaquín goes on a ghost hunt at an abandoned house that’s rumored to be haunted, he and Max find their fates becoming intertwined in ways neither of them expected. But, as Max’s powers begin to grow stronger, it becomes clear that their tentative friendship may just prove to be fatal…
Funerals are for the Living by Sami Ellis (July 21st)
A month ago, Junie Daniels was in a car crash that left her with a dead sister, fragmented memories of the accident, and a mother too checked-out to plan a funeral. The cheapest grave plot Junie can find is in the next town over. Sure, Williamsville is still proudly named after a slave master who was rumored to dabble in dark magic—but this North Carolina, after all.
When unexplained occurrences start happening at the graveyard, though, Junie and her best friend, Omari, investigate. And it’s not long before Junie and Omari are taken…
Williamsville wants both Daniels girls. But Junie will do anything to protect her sister—even if it’s only her corpse.
We Were Never Here by Sophia Hannan (July 28th)
In July, Georgia Perry and Jules Park—secret girlfriends, covert art thieves, and cohosts of a popular YouTube ghost hunting show—step into a haunted house to steal a priceless painting. A few short hours later, there’s a knife in Jules’s chest and Georgia is waking up in a pool of blood with no memory of how she got there.
Now it’s October, and Georgia is underwater. She hasn’t been to class in weeks, she’s avoiding her old crew and only friends like the plague. But when the three remaining thieves get a call from the man who paid a hefty sum to keep them out of jail, demanding that they return to finish the job, Georgia has no choice but to return to her old life.
As the estranged friends scramble to steal the painting with no cover story and no leader, they quickly realize that something is very, very wrong, and it’s not just the suffocating memory of Jules or the prying eyes of their viewers. Between the strange shadows that begin to trail them and the nightmares plaguing Georgia’s sleep, only one thing is certain: Something followed them home from De Lys manor, and it will do anything to keep them from going back.
Buy it: Bookshop | B&N | Amazon | Indigo | S&S
Black Girls Don’t Cry by Alex Travis (July 28th)
Ida and JJ could have been the ultimate power couple of Banneker High. As the VP and president of their Black Student Union, the two seemed destined to be yearbook legends. But that was before JJ learned Ida was equally attracted to girls. JJ is already deep in a new relationship, which infuriates Ida―almost as much as when a sexist “hot list’ starts circulating the school. It’s bad enough anyone rated the girls on their looks, but the list has only white students. Seriously?
There has never been any racial diversity among the prom queen candidates at Banneker, so the BSU decides to make their own statement on beauty and run a candidate. Now Ida and JJ’s new girlfriend are both competing for the title. Ida wants to make a point more than win the crown, but having smart, savvy Amayah as her campaign manager might just help her do both. She’s already winning Ida’s heart.
Competition is fierce. Suddenly the prom queen candidates start getting picked off one by one…dropping out and dropping dead. Forget winning a tiara. Who will live to see prom?
Immortal Game by Allison Saft (August 4th)
Six years ago, Shea Fury’s sister was whisked away by the High King of the Otherworld, the ruler of the treacherous land of fae. Although Shea has spent the years since dreaming of rescuing her sister from captivity, the Iron Veil that separates the human world from that of the fae has made it only a wish. That is, until an invitation to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime chess tournament in the Otherworld arrives on Shea’s doorstep. The winner of the tournament may ask the High King to grant one wish, and Shea is finally within reach of hers.
But entering the tournament and winning it are two different matters. Dark magic lurks around every corner in the Otherworld, and Shea’s cutthroat opponents are willing to bend the rules to make their own wishes come true. To make it to the end―and to find her sister―she is forced to strike an alliance with her longtime rival, the sharply beautiful fae princess, Ciara of Bri Leith. One wrong move, though, and Shea could lose more than just the competition: She’d lose her sister, her dignity, and maybe even her life.
Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters (August 4th)
Eighteen-year-old August is trying to navigate life after the sudden death of his boyfriend left him devastated, aimless, and feeling guilty. Years after the tragic accident, August mistakenly stumbles into a world beyond his own—the Underworld. Unlike his own gray existence, the underworld is a lavish extravagant place, full of mystery and a flurry of charismatic gods, all curious about August’s arrival in their world. Realizing right away the opportunity in front of him, August goes searching for his lost love, guided by Cary, the smoldering, broody ferrier of souls. But the more time August spends down below, the more his intentions begin to blur. Is he visiting this realm to reunite with his soulmate? Or is he desperately, inexplicably, intoxicatingly drawn to Cary? With his own world in pieces and a dangerously seductive realm promising him a new existence at a heavy cost, August must choose: a life with grief or a love that might destroy him.
Survival Show by Juno Dawson (August 4th)
The world just seems to take and take from Taryn Beck, but there’s one thing it’ll never have: her voice. Only when she’s singing does Taryn feel like she can escape her reality—free from the aftermath of the War, free from the Scottish refugee camps where she and her family now live, and free from the responsibility of making ends meet for the sake of her sick brother.
Taryn’s voice is her one ticket out, and that’s why she enters to be a contestant on the world’s most watched television program: Starmaker, where kids from the New Peace Global Alliance compete for the chance to join an all-singing, all-dancing pop group. Rise to the top, and a life of luxury, stardom, and money awaits.
There’s only one small catch. The lowest ranking face a televised public execution. Starmaker thanks their participants for their noble sacrifice to Project Population.
Taryn’s about to sing for her life.
Just Another Summer by Susan & Tilly Bridges, Giulia Rinaldo, and AoiG (August 4th)
When scandal sidelines two LA teen celebrities, a punishment summer on a Montana farm forces them to trade red carpets for rubber boots—and to choose between the futures they were raised for and the loves they never saw coming.
Eager for a break from their brutal schedules as A-list actors, teen sisters Hayley and Becky Huxley sneak out to experience LA on their own terms. After a big mistake gets them fired from their gig on a hit TV show, they’re sent to a dairy farm in Montana to learn a little humility!
Sparks fly when they meet farm hand Jake, who can’t believe he has to babysit some pampered rich girls all summer! But Becky’s very into the cute girl at the local diner, and Hayley and Jake start to realize that they have more in common than they think. Even though she’s a cis city girl and he’s a trans country boy — they might just be falling for each other. But they’re from entirely different worlds, it could never work! …or could it?
Death Card by Jasmine Smith (August 11th)
On an ordinary Monday morning, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard receives the shock of her life. During a customer’s tarot reading at her family’s occult shop, she turns over the Death card and envisions the beautiful stranger stabbing her in the heart.
In order to determine why the girl, Joelle, wants to kill her, she’ll have to keep her close. But the more time Mikaela spends with her soon-to-be murderer, the more irresistible she finds her.
As if imminent death isn’t worrisome enough, witches are turning up with their magic stolen. And it’s clear some very dark magic is at work. Mikaela, as the next Witch Queen of her coven, is tasked with figuring out who’s behind the horrific acts—a mystery that will put her and her power to the test.
There are Ghosts Here by Adrienne Tooley (August 11th)
Willa has no memory of anything before arriving at Dorsey House, and when she meets two sinister girls who seem to already know her, she slowly begins to lose her grip on what is real . . . and what is a lie.
Willa Childs doesn’t know why she’s at Dorsey House. The tragic accident that banished her to the mysterious reformatory perched at the edge of the sea is lost in the recesses of her murky memory. The Dorseys themselves offer no answers, and the only other wards, Caroline and Ivy, seem intent on keeping Willa in the dark—and on the outside of their obsessive friendship.
Yet as the days pass, it begins to feel like the sinister twosome know
Willa better than she knows herself. And as her memories gradually return to focus, the girls become even stranger, doing their best to convince Willa that she’s been at Dorsey House before. Only, that’s impossible.
Or is it? If they’re telling the truth, Willa can no longer trust her own mind. The line between reality and nightmare begins to blur. Willa is certain Dorsey House is haunted, but by what? And if she can’t remember leaving, how will she ever escape?
Bridget & Gabe Are Not Okay by Lex Croucher (August 11th)
The sequel to the unforgettable New York Times bestseller Gwen & Art Are Not In Love that invites readers on a quest chock full of wit, undeniable yearning, and second chances.
They fell in love. They fought a great battle. And they won. Now, Camelot’s famous couples have fallen apart.
Newly crowned King Gabriel is having panic attacks in cupboards in-between council meetings. He can’t tell Arthur just how not okay he is―so he’s set him free, to find love with someone who can get through the day without breaking down.
Bridget has lost her spark for sparring, forfeiting again and again in the lists. When she’s invited to join Gabriel’s round table, she hopes it’ll be the change she needs. But trying to navigate the post-happily-ever-after reality of a relationship with Gwen, when Bridget no longer feels like the dashing knight Gwen fell in love with, feels impossible.
With the kingdom still reeling from an attempted uprising, and rumored sightings of the holy grail, the questing beast, and the green knight happening across the country, the gang depart on a PR tour destined for disaster. Can Gabriel be the king his country deserves? Can Bridget get her jousting groove back? And will they find their way back to the courtly love that once seemed fated?
Hollow Magic by Mars Lauderbaugh (August 11th)
Seventeen-year-old Rosefinch has been traveling along the weather-beaten coast for two years on a quest to find a witch strong enough to help her control her magic. Her magic is volatile, hard to wield, and Rosefinch is tired of the pain of magical backlash. When she’s directed to the sea-side village of Harp, she discovers the ancient castle of a long-lost Witch Queen with the inhabitants long gone; the only remaining soul is a knight encased in solid ice guarding the door.
When she attempts to lift the curse, she frees Thierry, a human with no memory of who they are, wrapped in cursed magic so strong that they cannot leave the castle. Thierry is soft spoken, strong, and in possession of a fey sword that should be impossible for them to have. But they have secrets of their own, as do other members of the Harp family still hidden within the walls.
Harp castle was left in ruins for a reason, and Rosefinch must find a way to cure the curse or lose Thierry—and the chance to learn the truth about the Witch Queen—forever.
Buy it: Bookshop | Charlie’s Queer Books | Always Here Books | Third Place Books
Bound By Fury by Noelle Monet (August 18th)
Harper grew up loving her grandma Gigi’s stories about pretty brown girls with magic from the stars, but they were just that—stories…until Gigi’s sudden death awakens a dangerous power building beneath Harper’s skin. Desperate for answers, Harper finds herself drawn to an elite boarding school in the Appalachian Mountains.
A school that Gigi herself attended, and one rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of witches past.
Harper arrives at Black Mountain Academy determined to learn about her burgeoning power, even if that means dealing with Kai, her grumpy ex-best friend now hellbent on getting her to leave campus, and his cousin, Lucas, who won’t let her forget the almost-kiss from last summer. But Black Mountain Academy was built on secrets, and the deeper Harper digs, the more sinister rot she finds lurking beneath.
When Harper unearths a chilling local legend about the gruesome deaths of twelve witches on campus, she feels an uncanny connection to the women. But someone doesn’t want her exposing the school’s dark past, and when it becomes clear they’ll kill to stop her, Harper has to decide whether to leave her history behind or risk everything for the truth of her own identity.
If We Survive the Night by Jo Salazar (August 25th)
Sixteen-year-old Quinn is used to being told that what she feels inside isn’t quite right. After getting kicked out of multiple foster homes and narrowly escaping juvenile detention, she’s undergoing therapy at a residential treatment center for “troubled” girls. Looking for a night of freedom, Quinn sneaks onto the roof with her best friend Keisha, and what she sees changes everything…
She witnesses the start of the zombie apocalypse.
As zombies, or “carriers” as the news calls them, infiltrate the treatment center, escape becomes crucial. Quinn and Keisha make a pact to leave together, but several unexpected complications screw up their plans.
As the girls battle the carriers and wrestle with their doubts about each other, Quinn realizes she has never felt more alive. Maybe this is exactly the kind of world she was built for. And part of thriving in this cutthroat environment means cutting off the dead weight – even if that means putting other lives at risk…But even if she’s willing to sacrifice everything, can anyone really outlive the apocalypse?
Mirrorwoven by Bori Cser (August 25th)
This is the US edition. The UK edition releases July 2nd.
Del has two rules. One: Stay away from royalty. Two: Don’t fall in love.
The first is because Del is secretly Adeleine Ventris, runaway princess. After the death of her sister at the hand of her lover, Del has fled her family, home, and all the responsibilities that come with being the queendom’s new daughter-heir―but not before faking her death and magically constructing a new, mirrorwoven face. No longer recognizable as Adeleine, she’s now just Del, a simple musician who knows nothing of court life and can disappear to the faraway opaline lagoon-city of Salato.
The second is because the enchantment hiding Del’s identity can only be unraveled by true love’s kiss. But that’s just fine―Del’s had enough of love.
When Del breaks Rule One and becomes court bard to the new First of Salato, she is resolved to at least keep her head down and stay well out of politics―until she realizes sweet, gentle Clara, the young figurehead who trusts too easily and loves too much, may be the one person less prepared to govern than Del herself. And if Clara loses her throne, Del loses the tenuous new job and life she’s found in Salato.
As Del’s deceptions grow ever larger and more precarious―and as she grows closer to both Clara and Nasca, Clara’s brilliant, dangerous sister―it will take only the slightest push to bring Del’s house of cards tumbling down.
Like, for example, breaking Rule Two.
The Harrow Home for Wayward Girls by Jessica Spotswood (August 25th)
In this gothic historical tale full of mystery, two girls must uncover the secrets of their haunted home before it’s too late.
THE HARROW HOME FOR WAYWARD GIRLS has long stood as a place of secrets. The estate has housed hundreds of young women hidden away during their pregnancies, their homesick cries echoing through the halls, providing a haunting score to Grace Harrow’s childhood.
Now, in the summer of 1947, the Home has been sold to a wealthy hotelier. Grace expects the new owner’s daughters to be spoiled. Yet Rose, the eldest daughter―unaware of Mr. Harrow’s abusive tendencies―is jealous of Grace’s seemingly easy confidence. But as they’re drawn into each other’s lives, an unlikely friendship begins to form. Fortunately so, because not all of the wayward girls made it out…
One still lingers. Lurking in the shadows. Looking for vengeance.
To expose the truth buried in the walls of the Harrow Home, Grace and Rose must unravel a legacy of silence and cruelty. But Grace’s father will stop at nothing to keep the past hidden, and if the truth comes to light, it could destroy both their families.
But I Hate Him by Page Powars (August 25th)
Rory is academic royalty.
As the heir to the most successful tutoring company in the world, he can be nothing less than perfect if he wants to gain his parents’ approval. So it’s simple. Rory studies harder than anyone else. He does not make mistakes. And he never loses.
Except to Luca Melendez. The infuriatingly good-looking hockey player who wins every academic competition without even trying.
When Rory has a very public meltdown, throwing a smoothie at Luca and shattering his own public image in the process – it feels like one more thing Luca ruined.
To salvage his reputation, Rory has his sights set on winning the most cutthroat academic camp in the country, BRAIN. There is nothing standing between Rory and the final medal.
Until, Luca Melendez shows up.
This means war and Rory has the perfect plan: Make Luca fall in love with him.
And then break Luca’s heart right before the final competition.
Natural Selection by Clare Edge (August 25th)
When it comes to boys and bears, always choose the bear.
The girls of Riverside are raised to grin and bear it. Until three
of them can’t anymore.
Megan Lawless (aka Outlaw): Riverside born and raised. Lettered in volleyball, basketball, and track. HATES Kevin Johnson, but tolerates him for her best friend, Megan.
Megan Deloria: Outlaw’s ride or die. Riverside royalty and soon to be valedictorian. Shoo-in for the homecoming crown alongside her boyfriend, Kevin.
Meghan Bach (aka Bee): Moved to Riverside last year. Still the “new girl.” Pulls tarot cards daily. Just wants to forget what happened last summer at that party with Kevin.
And then there’s Kevin Johnson: Riverside’s Golden Boy. Only scared of two things—the dark and bears. Soon, he’ll be scared of three more.
Because Megan, Megan, and Meghan are done with Kevin, and they’re about to teach everyone in their tiny rural town the new natural order: Predator, meet prey.
The Three Beasts by Grovey Pascasio, lettered by Buddy Beaudoin (August 25th)
Ten years ago, the Great Tamers saved the people of Punong Panday from a giant hydra, turning the once savage beast into a peace-keeper. Now, these three men are known across the land as legends. But for Dima, Espie, and Keris, the Great Tamers are more than legends… they’re their fathers. And to become worthy successors, the young friends must each prove themselves in a physical contest against the hydra, Matutum.
Dima is too meek and untalented, especially compared to the short-tempered Espie. Even their cool mentor Keris never stood a chance at winning. When their dreams become a deadly game of pride, they have to find a way out together—with their blades drawn, and their fathers’ legacies burnt to ashes.
Boy Friends by Kai Spellmeier (August 25th)
Luca has loved Simo for as long as he can remember. But confessing? That could ruin everything. And in their tiny, cosier-than-cosy seaside town, there would be nowhere to hide.
Then an anonymous post on the community noticeboard blows his secret wide open – and suddenly, everyone is shipping them hard. Luca and Simo have no choice but to face the truth. Will they risk it all for love – or lose each other for ever?
The City of Slaughter by Aden Polydoros (August 25th)
This is the sequel to The City Beautiful
The World’s Fair has packed up, the tents and food stalls disappeared. And the dybbuk, a restless spirit that possessed Alter, is gone. Life returns to normal for Frankie and Alter, as both boys inspire each other to start a detective agency—using skills from Frankie’s dark past and Alter’s desire to do good in their community. But when children start to go missing, Frankie is certain the supernatural is once again to blame, as they race to track down a sheyd, a demon-like entity. But in order to save his future with Alter, Frankie will have to confront his past.
Bite Me by Jennifer Dugan and Kit Seaton (August 25th)
Poe never imagined that during her senior year of high school she would be attacked by a pair of vampires and turned into one herself. And she never dreamed her longtime crush, Jolie—who seemed to maybe actually like Poe back—would turn out to be a slayer.
When Jolie drives a wooden stake into her chest, Poe’s heart is broken at the betrayal. But somehow she survives the slaying, and when she awakens, it’s unclear which is stronger inside her: the thirst for blood, or the thirst for revenge on Jolie.
Now the hunter has become the hunted. But, when the girls come face to face again, Jolie seems overjoyed that Poe is still alive. And beneath Poe’s rage remains a burning passion of a different sort. Can a vampire and a slayer ever be more to each other than predator and prey?
Queens of the Crypt, Vol. 1 by Dom&Ink (August 25th)
There is a crypt that sits in the darkness… A crypt that exists across multiple realms, that houses your worst fears… And it’s coming to Widow’s Creek…
When seventeen-year-old Barnaby Jones comes out to their parents as nonbinary, they expect that to be the toughest part of their day. But it turns out the toughest part might actually be when their best friend, Fi, is kidnapped by a faceless killer who’s been abducting teens all across the small town of Widow’s Creek. Or is it when Barnaby unwittingly summons the undead and fabulous Queens of the Crypt through a portal in their bedroom closet?
Either way, the Queens—the Phantom, the Countess, Lady Invisible, the Creature, and the Bogeywoman—are here to help. As the horrors creep closer, can Barnaby work together with the scream queens to save Widow’s Creek from destruction and unmask the Faceless Frightener?
Straight to the Source by K-Ming Chang (September 1st)
Taiwanese American teen and aspiring journalist Wendy Lin wants nothing more than to witness the downfall of her personal nemesis, the annoyingly perfect high achiever Helen Ouyang.
Yep, Helen Ouyang. As in, Wendy’s childhood best friend. Now most-decidedly-ex-best-friend. Perhaps, maybe, still her unrequited-crush-friend. After a falling out that may or may not have involved some simmering romantic feelings, the two haven’t spoken in years, and Wendy has had to witness Helen’s meteoric rise to high school success from the sidelines.
But not for long.
Chasing up a lead for the school paper, Wendy soon turns up a major story with Helen at its center—one involving a mysterious fire that destroyed a building and tore apart an immigrant community a decade earlier. Wendy investigates, certain she finally has the dirt she needs to bring Helen down. But when the girls reconnect, old feelings come rushing to the surface…and with them, long-buried skeletons in both girls’ family closets.
Your Boyfriend Needs an Exorcist by Justine Pucella Winans (September 1st)
Jennifer’s Body meets The Weight of Blood in this horror-comedy about an evil spirit looking for a second chance at love and life.
Just because Schuyler is a bloodthirsty evil spirit doesn’t mean she can’t fall in love. Ever since Wren Castillo moved into the house Schuyler haunts, Schuyler has been crushing hard. But Wren has a boyfriend, Enzo, and he’s the worst. Schuyler has no choice but to watch as Enzo treats Wren terribly-until she accidentally possesses him.
With Enzo’s spirit nowhere to be found, Schuyler must pretend to be him until she can set things right. But Schuyler feels more at home in Enzo’s body than she ever did in her own, and as she grows closer to his family and friends-including Wren-she starts to wonder if this could all be for keeps.
Maintaining a possession is harder than Schuyler expected, though, and it might just take some spilled blood to keep her new body going strong. Worse, it turns out she’s not the only one interested in stealing Enzo’s body. When another evil spirit threatens everyone Schuyler now holds dear, she must decide just how far she’s willing to go to secure her second chance at love-and life.
The Siren’s Kiss by Leslie Vedder (September 1st)
Dead Shot Rayleigh has spent the last three years bound to a cursed ship after crossing the sea god Red-Handed Roger. Her only hope for freedom is to find his long-ago stolen heart—which means taking on his sworn enemy, the Sea Witch.
But Rayleigh’s not the only one with a score to settle… Fiery mermaid Maren is also searching for the Sea Witch, determined to bargain for the soul of her lost brother.
When Rayleigh and Maren’s separate missions bring them together, sparks fly, and all their plans go up in flames. Now they’ll have to join forces to survive.
Find the Sea Witch. Steal the heart. And don’t fall for your enemy, no matter how irresistible she is. How hard can it be?
Tom Burne Has Left the Chat by Seán Farrelly (September 1st)
This wasn’t my phone. This was real. Tom had died today, literally died, and here I was, picking through the digital carrion like some sort of virtual vulture.
What happens to your phone when you die? Who has access to your online legacy? When micro-influencer Tom Burne takes his own life, he leaves behind his phone, its password and a cryptic message that needs decoding.
Seventeen-year-old Jamie doesn’t intend to take the phone, but once he does, he knows it was meant for him. Fueled by his own sense of isolation and the recent passing of his father, Jamie loses himself in uncovering the truth. The more he investigates the digital fragments contained within the phone, the deeper into Tom’s dark world he falls.
As his own grief resurfaces and with his mother pushing for them to move to a different country for a fresh start, Jamie has very little time to find out the harsh reality that led to Tom’s tragic end.
Can he clear Tom’s name before it is too late?
Tell the Ghosts I’m Gone by Kalynn Bayron (September 1st)
From New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron comes a new horror novel about a group of teens with unique-and potentially deadly-gifts.
Moll, Redd, Agnes, and Ossie are powerful-and dangerous. But they don’t want people to fear them. They’ve spent their lives trying to understand and control their supernatural gifts, trying to help people instead of hurt them.
That’s why they offer paranormal investigative services to anyone who needs them. But when the case of a missing young woman brings them to an old (and potentially haunted) Victorian mansion, soon it’s the four teens who are in the greatest danger. The secrets they uncover about the paranormal forces inhabiting the house may shed light on the darkness that exists at the edge of their powers and finally help them gain control-if they can make it out alive.
The Ending You Deserve by Rebecca Stafford (September 1st)
Ava Quirk thought getting into Faraday, the fine arts private school of her dreams, could be a fresh start. Instead, her grades have tanked and her scholarship hangs by a thread.
Near failing out, Ava is presented with a deal. Her student advisor, local legend Peter Barden, agrees to pass her if she befriends Love Solt, a brilliant but guarded classmate. Barden says Love is troubled and could use some guidance. In turn, Ava can soak up Love’s academic prowess. If Ava does this—and gets him a copy of the top-secret novel Love’s writing—he’ll pass Ava. It’s an odd ask, but Ava’s desperate.
At first, friendship comes easy, trust is built, and she’s right where she needs to be to deliver on Barden’s ask. But as time goes by, she realizes she’s falling for Love, and the idea of betraying her is killing Ava. Then she reads Love’s novel…
If the devastating truth Love has penned gets out, many lives will be ruined. But if the secret stays hidden, many lives will be at risk. Ava faces an impossible choice: turn her back on what she’s found, or close the book on a sinister villain who has gone unchecked for far too long.
President of the Anime Club by Stephanie Evangelista Fukuda and Daigo Fukuda (September 1st)
It’s the first day of high school, and Cherie is unsure how to find her place. But then she meets Naomi, a fellow freshman and fan of Orange High School Bakery Club―Cherie’s favorite anime. Naomi’s warmth and confidence ignite confusing feelings in Cherie. Their duo becomes a trio when they befriend Miro, a boy in their class with an interest in learning about anime.
Enter Jenny: a charismatic upperclassman and president of the school’s anime club. When she invites the three friends to join, it creates tension between them. As Cherie, Naomi, and Miro deal with complicated feelings, can their special bond survive? And will their love of anime endure?
Wicked Endeavors by Kamilah Cole (September 8th)
Caya lived a charmed life under the protection of Coventry’s royal family … until the three witch Houses seized power and wiped them out.
Now eighteen, she’s ready to take revenge. With the help of a mysterious benefactor, Caya slips into the witches’ glittering world under a new identity: Marisol Vinyet, a disarmingly beautiful aristocrat. As Marisol, she’ll attend the annual Coronet, the witches’ cutthroat social season designed to strengthen their power. Even the prince of neighboring Domingo―Tomás Castellan―will attend, just in time for “Marisol” to kill him.
After all, his family set the witches upon Coventry in the first place.
But Tomás is more charming than Caya anticipated. Worse the prince is protected by her estranged childhood friend, Bas Arroyo, who stirs up frustrating feelings that waver between attraction and hatred.
To destroy the witches from within, Caya will have to keep her identity hidden, her heart in check, and her mission front and center. Because even though she’s made herself a weapon, she might be the one to bleed.
My Own Kind of Person by Tim Manley (September 8th)
In this heartfelt and hilarious coming-of-age romance, Sean discovers his bisexuality and his true voice while chasing his dream as a stand-up comedian.
Sean O’Brien copes with anxiety by being the funny guy—at school, in his relationships, and onstage at local open mics. But when his stand-up act starts feeling like a performance of someone he’s not, everything changes. As Sean struggles with awkward girlfriend encounters and rising panic, he meets Elijah, a new guy with quiet confidence and an honesty Sean has never allowed himself. Suddenly, Sean’s life, his comedy, and his self-awareness come into sharper focus.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Pining for You by Stef Ferrari (September 8th)
Bennie Bosley has Christmas spirit on lock. Her borderline magical ability to give the perfect gift, encyclopedic knowledge of holiday movies, and skill as a baker working at a literal Christmas tree farm mean she’s the authority on all things merry. So, when Bennie sees sparkles after bumping into the most stunning girl she’s ever seen in her small Connecticut town, her friends are all shocked that Bennie doesn’t seem to realize what this is: real holiday magic at work…and the perfect opportunity for her much-needed first kiss.
There’s just one problem: her mystery girl, Eve, lives in Brooklyn and Bennie never got her number or her last name. But showing up unexpectedly to make a big romantic gesture is a classic holiday trope for a reason, right? And her friends aren’t about to miss the fireworks.
But what was supposed to be a quick Christmas adventure turns into a scramble across Brooklyn when the biggest snowstorm of the decade hits. Will Bennie and crew be able to track Eve down for a merrily ever after and still make it back for their last Cooper Farm Christmas Eve party, or is their holiday movie moment destined for the cutting room floor?
Adam, Mine by K. Ancrum (September 8th)
Victor Frankenstein is a young, wealthy, and brilliant prodigy who wants nothing more than to prove himself and change the world. His plan to right what he feels is wrong with the world? Reanimation of the sick and dying, bringing them back to life. But no one will give him the chance to prove his genius. However, one drunken night a bet is made, one that will cause Victor to do the unspeakable: take a teen boy from a small, neighboring village, and experiment on him under the dark of night. Elias Hilfiker. The boy who would become his monster. His curse. When Elias awakens, his voice is gone, his skin is stitched, scarred, and branded with strange symbols, and he’s abandoned by his loved ones. Meanwhile, Victor embarks on a journey to discover how to reverse the horror he’s unleashed, visiting dark alchemists in lands far and wide, gripped by fear and guilt.
But Victor’s act of resurrection creates a tether to Elias, leaving them feeling each other’s pain, joy, and regret, as the two each seek a way to end the other. As the two bound boys continue to search for answers and forgiveness, vengeance and mercy, the boundaries between what makes a man and what makes a monster will only get more blurred.
Our Last Fall by Lyvia Martinez (September 8th)
She stole her brother’s ashes.
Now she has six hours to say goodbye.
It’s been a month since Javi died, and fourteen-year-old Eva is done pretending a dusty urn is enough. On the last night of the Los Angeles County Fair, she steals his ashes and drags their old friend group back to the place he loved most.
The plan? Ride everything. Eat everything. Scatter him everywhere.
But grief doesn’t disappear at the top of a rollercoaster.
As security starts closing in and secrets crack the group wide open, Eva has to face the guilt she’s been dodging—and the girl she never stopped loving: Clare, Javi’s best friend.
Six hours. One reckless goodbye. No coming back the same.
Cemetery Boys:
Julian used to be a ghost and now he can’t stop seeing them.
Ever since being sacrificed as part of a forbidden ritual, Julian has been able to see and communicate with the spirits of passed brujx. And that would be okay, if it allowed him to be part of his new boyfriend’s community. But Julian’s also seeing other things: shadows in the corner of his eyes, glowing eyes in the dark, and “dark spots” on people – gaping, black gashes that are somehow wrong. He did ask his new magical boyfriend about it, but Yadriel has never heard of anything like it either, and he’s so busy with his new Brujx responsibilities, trying to figure out where all the new malingos are coming from, that Julian hates for his problems to ruin what little time together they have.
Then, a strange new brujx shows up. Ángel, as a nonbinary brujx, can heal the living and release the dead, but more than that, they can also see the same dark spots as Julian. Despite Yadriel’s reservations, Julian eagerly accepts their help. But, Ángel’s ruthless methods feel wrong to Julian, who wants to move away from hurting others.
With the shadows growing darker, and the discovery of a gaping dark spot on his friend Luca, Julian has to decide who he wants to put his trust in, and just how far he’s willing to go to save what is his.
False Face by Josh Galarza (September 15th)
Rusty is positive Todd with two D’s is a figment of his troubled mind. That’s the only reason he breaks into musical numbers and lurks in the school bleachers so he can stare unabashedly at Burt, the cutest guy in school. But when Todd’s antics go a little too far, Rusty quickly finds himself in a dangerous situation. Little does Rusty know, the boy he’s head over heels for just might be the one to save his life.
By day, Burt Espinoza is the only out kid in school who’s ever maintained his social status. But by night, he is a real hero: a secret agent rescuing vulnerable queer kids in danger. His handlers (also his adoptive moms) are concerned he’s pushing himself too hard to be the man he thinks he needs to be. Now Burt has to prove that he’s ready for his biggest mission yet: saving the only boy he’s ever hurt.
Winterveil by Ava Reid (September 15th)
It’s a game—until it’s war.
- A disgraced politician from a powerful American dynasty.
- A coldly brilliant strategist who will sacrifice anything to win.
- A former pageant queen with a talent that could change the world.
- An expert female soldier with an enigmatic past—and a dangerous secret.
In an alternate future where the Cold War still rages, four precocious teenage criminals with dark skills and darker secrets are offered a fresh start at a secret military academy. But instead of training to end the war, they find themselves on a mysterious mission that will test loyalties, forge romances, and maybe end the world as they know it.
So Superb it’s Killing Me by Zachary Sergi (September 15th)
Sam built his magic from nothing. Now it may cost him everything.
At Superb Prep East, a prestigious school where gifted students cultivate personal magic, Sam is determined to win the Superb Battle League championship and launch his career as an arena legend.
But as the competition builds, he’s haunted by his brother’s disappearance, tangled up in messy queer romances and heated rivalries, and pressured to keep his evolving identity frozen in time.
To claim the title, he must choose: the persona he perfected for the arena, or the new magical self he’s only just beginning to understand.
But in a world where burning out means defeat, strength is key.
If Sam embraces his truest self, will his magic transform him—or unmake him?
Spikes, Dice & Other Variables by Harper Kinsley (September 15th)
Life is over for Riley McMahon.
Well, it isn’t really, but when you’re the star setter of the volleyball team and on the brink of academic ineligibility, the actual end of Everything™ feels closer than you think. Terrified of failing math and losing her spot on the team, she’s desperate to do anything to save her grades.
Which is why when Simon, the shy, fat boy in her math class offers to help Riley out, she’s quick to say yes. But Simon’s a nerd. And Riley’s a jock. And she’s certain that he’ll stop tutoring her as soon as he realizes how much of a lost cause she really is.
So, naturally, she’ll join the school TTRPG club to impress him, show him she’s cool, and make him like her enough to stick around.
But as they spend time together, Riley realizes she might feel something… different towards Simon. Something other than friendship. Riley’s been avoiding relationships her whole life, and as her friends start to notice her not-so-platonic feelings for Simon, she’s forced to admit why: she’s uncomfortable with the idea of sex, which seems to be all anyone can think about in relationships. Balancing her own fears against society’s expectations, Riley must figure out what matters most to her, and how to let everyone else’s expectations go.
Buy it: Inked in Gray Press
To Our Untamed Core by Sonido Reyes (September 22nd)
Centuries after the conquistadors claimed the Afueras for their own, Temo spends his life obeying the Holy Order’s decree, undergoing their sacraments to tame his supposedly violent nature.
The only rule he breaks: hiding that he’s trans. If that fact is discovered, Temo will face El Torneo, a brutal, fight-to-the-death game pitting the untamed against one another. No Afuereño who enters El Torneo ever escapes with their life.
But when Temo’s boyfriend is unexpectedly arrested and thrown into the deadly tournament, he’ll do anything to rescue Ollin from his gruesome fate, even if it means entering El Torneo himself.
Only there’s far more to this tournament than meets the eye—survival is just the beginning. When the cost of saving the one he loves the most might be higher than he ever imagined, is Temo willing to pay it?
Hearts on the Table by Susan Metallo (September 22nd)
As World War I rages, a seventeen-year-old English feminist with a penchant for thrashing men at cards finds herself stranded on an enemy-controlled island and tangled in the last mess she’d ever expect: love.
Violet is used to winning—with her mathematical mind, no one stands a chance of beating her at cards, or much of anything else. So, when her wrathful father threatens to marry her and her trans twin brother Seb to the highest bidders, she’s certain they can escape England, even with a war on. But before they reach safety in Italy, a U-boat sinks their ship, and Violet washes up on a small island, on the wrong side of enemy lines, desperate to find her missing twin.
To earn passage to the mainland, where she hopes Seb has landed, Violet disguises herself as a man and accepts a job delivering love poetry for melancholy pacifist Teo, the island’s irritating golden boy. The object of his affection, fair Olivia, is less than enchanted, but she is intrigued by the handsome delivery boy—Violet in disguise. While Violet struggles to sidestep Olivia’s attentions, she’s vexed by her own inconvenient but undeniable attraction to Teo.
Add a mysterious newcomer, who converts the love triangle into a square, and Olivia’s autistic sister, who’s concocting a devilish revenge against the island’s biggest bully, and odds are things will only get messier.
Fortunately, playing the odds is Violet’s specialty.
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All the Way Home by Alex Ritany (September 22nd)
’Twas the flight before Christmas. . . .
Zach is heading home from his first semester at college with presents for his family, a voicemail from his ex, and about as much travel anxiety as can fit within the confines of the human body. After a series of humiliating events, including having his bags stolen, he meets the captivating, beautiful Kieran, who’s dreading his return home for Christmas and traveling with his sister, Rena, and her boyfriend, Lucas―who are dealing with some baggage of their own.
As the snow falls and sparks fly, Zach and Kieran must learn to trust in themselves and in each other if their love is ever going to leave the ground, while Rena and Lucas must decide if their turbulent relationship can withstand another storm.
A Dangerous Bargain by Erin Cotter (September 22nd)
It’s the height of the Italian Renaissance. In the golden city of Florence, art is equal to holiness—and angels walk among us, bestowing their talents…for a price.
Seventeen-year-old artist Virgil is in trouble. To support his family, he’s bargained most of his life away to an angel—only to discover that his missing brother is in danger, and nothing but magic can rescue him. Now, with just a few months left to live, Virgil is desperate enough to try the one thing he swore he would never, ever do—team up with the infuriating, annoyingly talented, and most notorious playboy in all of Florence, the charming Leonardo da Vinci.
As the two journey through Florence’s gilded streets, luxurious cathedrals, and glorious Medici palaces, they unearth dark truths beneath the city’s facade.
Those in power will do anything to keep their deadly secrets safe, but with his feelings for Leonardo giving him new life, Virgil is determined to expose their lies before he runs out of time.
Even if it might cost him his soul.
Death in Verse by Julie Lew (September 22nd)
The first ferry of the new term arrives in six days. Let us hope it finds you alive and well.
When Bronte Cade’s mother vanishes, the only clue she leaves behind is an invitation to a retreat for magical poets. Determined to find answers, Bronte attends in her mother’s place by masquerading as the esteemed Dr. Sappho Cade.
But when Bronte arrives at the Radley School of Poetry, she finds the island abandoned—save for six other confused poets, one line of an unfinished poem, and an anonymous host who issues a chilling ultimatum through an enchanted gramophone: complete the spell, and they may return home on the next ferry. Fail, and they die.
There’s another problem: Bronte isn’t magical.
With escape impossible, the body count rising, and her mother still missing, Bronte forms a wary alliance with the infuriating yet brilliant Marlowe Fang. Together, they race to unmask their host before Bronte is exposed—or worse, the next victim.
But beneath the host’s sinister scheme lies an even more insidious plot, one decades in the making. It bleeds beyond the shores of Radley like an ink stain, and no one’s hands are clean. Least of all the people Bronte trusts most.
Dead Girls by Beck Kubrick (September 22nd)
In the cozy town of Clossdale, a serial killer rampages! Five girls missing in as many weeks! Bodies turning up on the forest floor! And all fingers point to one vile fiend: Ash Hargreeves.
Except Ash didn’t do it. She may be the daughter of the infamous Clossdale Killer, and these copycat killings aren’t exactly convincing proof of her innocence—and okay, she’s kind of a weirdo who has two friends total, but when the murders strike a little too close to home, Ash decides to take a stand.
With the help of her besties, Ash is going to hunt down the killer, clear her mother’s name, and stop there from being any more dead girls—now and forever. After all, WWJLD: what would Jamie Lee do?
Just the Good Parts by Robbie Couch (September 29th)
Caspen Coolsby’s dad is missing. But even though it’s only been a few months, everyone has given up on finding him. Except for Caspen.
He finally gets a break in the case when he meets his new upstairs neighbors and discovers he can somehow transport himself into each of the college students’ memories using candle scents that remind them of important moments. No one loved candles more than his dad, so Caspen is sure there must be clues pointing toward where to find him hidden in the memories.
His thinking hits a snag, though, when a handsome boy named Lars keeps popping up in memories where he also doesn’t belong. As the lines between memory and reality begin to blur, Caspen can’t help but fall for the mysterious boy who keeps chipping away at the rose-colored lens he’s always seen life through. But will Caspen be able to find his dad and his crush outside of these stolen moments if it means reliving the hard truths of his past and not just the good parts?
Don’t Print This by Monica Chin (September 29th)
“You need to stop whatever it is that you’re doing and get as far from this case as you can.”
“Why?”
“Because a woman disappeared.”
Freshman year, Ace Li kissed his best friend, Akash Patel. The next day, Akash moved away without a word ― and Ace was so brokenhearted he stopped eating.
It took years for Ace to recover, but he’s finally stable again. Ace drinks his protein shakes, swims every morning, and might even win the debate competition this year. He’s good. He’s forgotten that kiss―at least, that’s what he tells himself. Then Ace hears the news: Akash is back.
Akash has returned because his mother, the world-famous investigative journalist Radhika Malhotra, is missing, and she was last seen in this town. Ace tries to stay away, but the second he sees Akash, the feelings he’s suppressed bubble back to the surface. Then Ace happens upon some notes―notes about what Akash’s mother was investigating. If he retraces her steps, he might be able to find her. And if he does, maybe Akash will give him another chance.
As Ace follows Radhika’s trail, his stable life begins to crumble. He stops eating, and he starts receiving threatening, anonymous messages. If he goes public with what happened to Radhika and why, his entire town will have to pay the consequences. Winning Akash’s heart might cost Ace everything, but maybe that’s a sacrifice he’s willing to make.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
When the World was Happy by Benjamin Alire Saenz (September 29th)
CheChe knows that he and his twin sister Emma lead an unusual life. They enjoy spending time with their parents and grandparents, love to read, and don’t have a huge circle of friends—and they’re happy. Then, just a few months after they turn seventeen, three gunmen show up one morning at their El Paso, Texas, high school, and everything changes.
CheChe loses a leg, and both he and Emma have friends who die. Suddenly, the world feels like a very different place. But what they find hasn’t changed—or has only gotten deeper—is their love for their family, their close friends, and one another, and as they begin to heal, they create their own little community, one that wields the power of humor, kindness, and hope.
CheChe finds himself doing all kinds of things he never expected from his junior year: relearning to walk, falling in love with the boy he’s nursed a longtime crush on, making friends with a kid he always found intimidating. By the end of this life-changing school year, none of them will be the same, and many of them will have found their voices in ways they never imagined.
The Bone Brides by Marley Rose-Teter (September 29th)
Nola James can handle it. She can handle that her father is dead. She can handle that her friends, bored with her grief, left her behind. Nola James can handle it because she has to. Lumi―the love of her life and a faery changeling―is in danger. Not only is Lumi’s human mother trying to kill her, but she’s being hunted by veiled monsters that want to return her to the fae. Hiding out together in an abandoned cabin with only a skeleton rabbit for company is miserable, but Nola can handle that too. And she does.
Until Lumi is abducted.
In order to save her, Nola must enter the faery realm: a world at the bottom of a lake in which eyeless horses parade as brides, ghost-bees produce transformative honey, and skeletons dance in skin-colored cloaks. Aided by a witch-girl with uncertain motives, Nola uncovers the realm’s terrifying power over changelings. Unless Nola can outplay an abyssal faery queen and find the courage to let the world see her own pain, Lumi will be trapped in faeryland forever.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Exchanged by Dan Perucco (September 29th)
Enzo Rossi knows that Irontown, Michigan―the small declining mining town he calls home―isn’t exactly a study-abroad dream destination. So when his family is chosen to host an exchange student, he welcomes the opportunity to spend his senior year with a fellow music nerd from the outside world.
But when the Rossis arrive at the airport expecting Davit from Tbilisi, Georgia (the country), they’re greeted instead by Garrett Andersen, a handsome football jock from Atlanta, Georgia (the state). Apparently something got lost in translation.
Living across the hall from someone so cool, so hot, and so obviously straight is not what Enzo signed up for. He can’t stop putting his foot in his mouth, and Garrett―infuriatingly―always has a comeback ready. Enzo dismisses Garrett as a spoiled, cocky city boy, and Garrett writes off Enzo as too stuck up for his own hometown.
While Garrett dazzles the rest of Irontown with his Southern charm, Enzo starts stumbling over his feelings. The more time Enzo and Garrett spend together, the harder it is for both boys to keep their guard up . . . and the closer they come to finally seeing each other clearly.
Too Hot to Tango by E.E. Salo and Megan Kearney (September 29th)
High School Musical meets Dirty Dancing in this feel-good queer romance with high stakes, hot tango, and camp hijinks delivered by two-time Emmy-nominated writer E.E. Salo and acclaimed cartoonist Megan Kearney
This summer, soccer superstar Honey is the coach at an elite sports camp. Soccer is Honey’s whole world―after all, it got her a full ride to Stanford. Life is a game, that game is about winning, and Honey knows the rules by heart―that is, until she meets Teddi, the brusque Australian dance coach at the arts camp across the lake. Suddenly, Honey’s heart has her forgetting all the rules . . .
When an inter-camp competition gone awry accidentally lands Teddi’s dance partner with a broken arm, Honey volunteers to step in. With a crucial audition coming up, Teddi has no choice but to accept the offer.
As Teddi teaches Honey the steps, they start to match each other’s rhythm on and off the dance floor . . . but do these opposites have what it takes to tango their way to the top? With steamy routines, camp shenanigans, and a high-stakes competition coming up fast, these girls will have to show the whole world just how in step with each other they really are.
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (September 29th)
This is a special 25th anniversary edition
This reissue has a brand-new look, a note from the author, and an introduction by Maia Kobabe, author of Gender Queer.
Jason Carillo is a jock with a steady girlfriend. He’s on track to play ball, marry his high school sweetheart, and get as far away from his abusive dad as possible—but that’s if he can get into college with his shaky math grades…and if he can stop dreaming about having sex with guys.
Kyle Meeks is definitely gay, but he’s not planning on telling anyone, least of all his parents. All he wants is to keep his head down and get through high school without incident—until Jason asks him for help in math and all of a sudden, Kyle is spending long hours with a boy he’s always found cute and it’s getting harder and harder to keep his feelings under wraps.
Nelson Glassman is out and loud about it, but being proud of who you are doesn’t mean things don’t get lonely. He’s got a target on his back for the school bullies to kick, and while his mom supports him, she doesn’t entirely understand him. To make things worse, he and his best friend—and longtime crush—Kyle have been spending more and more time apart, and he doesn’t know how to deal.
Like Glass by Jen Ferguson (October 6th)
When Tatum Nova Lambert boards a plane to Chamonix, a town in the French Alps, she has one half-formed plan: to drag her Michelin-star-winning dad home. Since her older sister Bronwyn’s death a year ago, Tate and her dad don’t talk. They barely even text. So when he doesn’t pick her up at the transit station like he said he would, it’s no surprise.
What is a complete and very unwelcome surprise? Her dad is unexpectedly living in Bronwyn’s apartment, and Tate discovers she’ll be sleeping in her sister’s bed—the one Bronwyn died in. In the apartment and at her dad’s restaurant, it’s hard to bear both her dad’s broken promises and her sister’s ghost.
While trying to untangle the secret life Tate’s sister left behind, Tate meets Agatha, a schedule-obsessed Olympic ski-jump hopeful, and Beetle, a pickpocket and general teenaged dirtbag. As the unlikely trio explore in the mountains’ shadow, Tate brings her distinct kind of chaos to everyone’s lives—all while she tries to figure out if she can forgive her dad and her sister for leaving her behind.
Where the Bones Took Root by Juniper Klein (October 6th)
Jayde will do anything to bring back Soleste, the girl she loved, even highly taboo necromancy―or she would, if the spell would work. When a stranger named Barrick catches her after the murder that marks her fourth failed attempt, he blackmails her into using her illegal magic to help him infiltrate a local alchemy cult. Jayde agrees, hoping that the cult will provide answers about Soleste’s murder, and binds Barrick with a magical oath that enforces a truce between them until the final initiation.
She’s certain that the lifeblood of Soleste’s murderer is the missing ingredient to her resurrection spell, but which cult member is responsible? Her investigation reveals that Soleste may have been keeping secrets of her own. As Jayde and Barrick cheat their way through the cult’s hierarchy, she feels drawn to him in a way that can’t be fully attributed to their magically-enforced alliance―which, due to a translation error in the spell, makes her swoon every time their skin touches.
In the end, she’ll have to choose between allowing her grief to sink her deeper into dark magic, or claiming her frightening power in service of a new and uncertain future.
Fangs and All by Tas Mukanik (October 6th)
Meet the Parents meets Wednesday in this queer, tongue-in cheek YA graphic novel about every young couple’s worst nightmare: meeting the family.
Sam and Boots are relationship goals: stupidly cute, super supportive, and so in love. Of course, the natural next step is for Sam to join Boots for a weekend back home. So what if Boots says her family is a little weird and that they’d never expect her to bring a girlfriend home? Sam is sure she’ll win them over. Besides, meeting the parents is a big deal, but it’s not life or death, right?
Wrong! Because it turns out the Blackwoods aren’t just weird, they’re monsters—literally. Soon enough, Sam isn’t just dealing with the realization that her girlfriend is a vampire but also dodging a myriad of family members who can’t help but try to curse, hunt, drown, or eat her. And while Boots grapples with her own monstrous tendencies, Sam struggles to be supportive…while also staying alive. This not-so-perfect-after all couple will have to fight tooth and claw if they want to escape the weekend with their relationship and their humanity intact.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Until the Last Light Goes Out by Courtney Gould (October 13th)
Flickering neon lights and hot Miami nights turn deadly in this gothic horror about a daughter investigating her best friend’s disappearance at an abandoned island resort.
You may not escape, but the truth will.
Twenty-five years ago, the Ripley Memorial High School senior class entered the luxurious Kaleidoscope Key resort deep in the remote Florida Keys. Despite international intrigue and years of investigation, no one truly knows how the 183 students died. And they never will, since the five survivors of the massacre have never spoken a word about what happened to them that night.
Paige Keller, daughter of one of the Kaleidoscope Key Massacre’s infamous survivors, has grown up determined to steer her life away from the resort and the unsolved mysteries her ex-best friend, KJ, can’t leave alone. But when she’s called home on the 25th anniversary of the massacre, she finds that KJ has gone missing.
Paige knows there’s only one place KJ could be: her obsession, the now-abandoned resort. When Paige and the remaining survivors’ kids go in after her, they’re forced to confront their—and their parents—pasts once and for all.
Kaleidoscope Key is waiting, and it’s starving. Once they find their way inside, there may not be a way out. And one way or another, the truth of the massacre will come to light.
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Revenge of the Final Girl by Andrea Mosqueda (October 13th)
Liliana “Lili” Garza hasn’t had a single moment of peace since her best friends were murdered at a graduation. A year later, Lili is barely scraping by. Now that her own high school graduation is fast approaching, reminders of the massacre are all around her, with news stories commemorating the anniversary of the Gatzville graduate murders and a town that refuses to let her forget.
But when one of Lili’s classmates is found dead at a party exactly one year after that horrific night―killed by the same injuries that Lili herself had survived―Lili realizes that someone is trying to recreate the past―and this time, they might not let her escape. To stay alive―again―Lili must confront the ghosts of her past to find out who is coming for her, even if it means unearthing the painful memories she has buried deep down inside.
Nightcurse by Emma Hinds (October 13th)
Emrys Swift is so dead. One hundred and fifty seven years worth of dead, to be exact. He’s a Revenant, nightcursed, destined to be stuck being seventeen forever. Hidden away, he spends his infinite days as an undead librarian of witchlore at the NeverEnd library–until a new Revenant arrives and magical artifacts start going missing, jeopardizing his beloved home.
Emrys’s mortal enemy and annoyingly attractive shapeshifter Aubrey Vale is determined to solve the mystery – with Emrys’s help. Suddenly Emrys and Aubrey are magically bonded together on a quest into the dark and frost-bitten world of night-kin. But as Emyrs and Aubrey interrogate ghosts and face drowning by mermaids, deathly creatures aren’t the only spectres haunting them. With the ghoulish Night Hunt chasing them down, can they outrun the secrets of Emrys’ death and Aubrey’s life? And if they can save NeverEnd’s future, can they have a future together?
The Unpoetic Life of August Grey by Max Fischer (October 20th)
You can only hold your breath underwater for three minutes before you go unconscious. For seventeen-year-old August Grey, life in his small Nebraska town has felt like that endless third minute ever since his best friend Waylon died.
When August earns a coveted spot at a prestigious summer writing program in New York, he believes it’s his one chance to heal – and to keep the promise made to Waylon to pursue his dream. But New York brings its own challenges: a strained reunion with an estranged father, the weight of trying to write without Waylon there, and the unexpected arrival of Levi, August’s old crush who knows nothing of his failed coming out.
As August wrestles with grief, secrets, and the tentative spark of new love, he must decide if he can finally surface – embracing his queer identity and the joy of being himself before the past threatens to drown his future.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
You’re No Better by Andrew Joseph White (October 20th)
Morgan Slaughter, a seventeen-year-old trans boy with autism, put his serial killer father in prison years ago. Despite that, everyone thinks Morgan will grow up to be just like his dad: including his volatile mother, the documentary crew following their family, and maybe himself.
Desperately, Morgan latches onto his father’s final victim—the only one who was never identified—hoping that if he unravels the mystery, he’ll finally prove he’s better than the man who hurt him. But this puts Morgan in the crosshairs of classmate Felicity Keating, who knows the truth about Morgan’s childhood—that he wasn’t just a witness to his father’s brutality, he was an accomplice. And if he doesn’t let them help with his investigation? They’ll tell everyone.
Forced to confront his past, Morgan’s ugly but carefully controlled world unravels. The film crew is manipulative. His mother’s temper spirals into malice, then violence. And Morgan and Felicity may be more tightly intertwined than either of them can stomach . . .
Sun Chasers by Kacen Callender (October 27th)
You stood still. Stared out at the ocean. Like you were searching for something. Maybe the same thing I was searching for, too. Something that belongs in my chest. Warm and bright.
Kole has mastered the art of deflection. He explains away the real reason why he had to move to St. Thomas to live with his father and his new family. He makes excuses for any bruises or limps people notice. He starts dating a girl at his new school to avoid questions about who he’s really attracted to.
But he can’t seem to hide how drawn he is to Gabriel.
Gabriel wishes he could disappear. But everywhere he goes on the island he calls home, he can’t escape the people who misgender him, who threaten him. He’s haunted by the memories of a painful past. And with his single mother barely making ends meet, he knows there’s no hope for a better life after high school.
As Kole and Gabriel slowly start to share their struggles with each other, their connection becomes a lifeline. But can a young love survive in a world determined to tear them down? Are there some wounds that can never be healed?
From Square One by A.M. Woody (October 27th)
After an accident leaves Riley Wilson with amnesia to deal with on top of his chronic pain, he can recall everything except for: the crash that landed him in the hospital, the last year of his life, and having a boyfriend. Who happens to be his older brother’s best friend. And the guy he resents more than anyone . . .
Learning this information sends Riley spiraling. In what world, then, could someone as sensible and meticulous as Riley have ever willingly agree to go out with Aaron—an arrogant prick who screwed up his brother’s life?
Riley would love nothing more than to use his amnesia as an excuse to start fresh and snip Aaron out of his life. But with his family being cagey about the past, and his memories far out of reach, he realizes that this troublemaker is the only person willing to help him remember the last year. And teaming up with him despite his brother’s protests may be the only path to finding the missing memories—even if it means starting from square one and reenacting every date, every kiss, every “first” they’ve ever had in the hopes of rediscovering them.
All Riley has to do is not make the same mistake by falling in love twice.
Fleet of Wonders by Erin Hanyu Lynch (October 27th)
Gold. Power. Glory. Love. Four prizes that eighteen-year-old, mixed-race factory workers Eliza and Jules—barely scraping by in Ikaria’s slums—can imagine only in their wildest dreams. When Jules’s deteriorating health takes a turn for the worse and Eliza is thrown to the streets by her abusive mother and stepfather, Eliza hatches a plan.
She sets her sights on the Ikarian Empire’s inaugural Fleet of Wonders: a brutal naval competition where fifty fantastical battleships crewed by the nation’s greatest young minds race to invent a weapon deadly enough to fend off a brewing war with Ikaria’s neighbor. The victors win life-changing riches…if they can survive their rivals’ cutthroat attacks.
Impersonating foreign nobility, Eliza and Jules steal aboard the Belladonna, the crown vessel of the Fleet. Among their crew is none other than Pierre, the imperious, alluring heir to the very factory Eliza and Jules escaped—and a powerful smith who can bend metal to his will. Finally embracing her own darkly magical abilities, Eliza agrees to train with Pierre to give their crew an added advantage—all while the seductive push and pull energy between them becomes irresistible …even as Eliza catches the eye of Charlotte, a dangerous, enigmatic aristocrat, whose deadly charm is only outmatched by her lethal way with a sabre.
Meanwhile, as Jules falls for sweet, bookish Suman, a medical student who has given him a new lease on life, Jules risks revealing his true identity as the two get closer.
As they advance in the competition, sinister revelations leave Eliza and Jules torn between the empire that offers them their dreams and their blood ties to a nation Ikaria once conquered. In the end, they must decide who they are and what price they will pay to change their fortunes—if their hearts don’t betray them first.
Scorpion Deep by CG Drews (October 27th)
The only thing Jonathan Covey wants from the gloomy, moldering isle of Kelcarrow is to leave it. Summer is ending, and his friends are looking forward to college on the mainland, unaware that Jonathan was not accepted to join them. He’ll be left behind with nothing but the ocean’s haunts and a rising dread of being abandoned.
In an act of wild desperation, Jonathan pays a tithe to Scorpion Deep, an eldritch sea god who many of the locals have dismissed as myth. He wants to forget the past, he wants to follow his friends, and most of all he wants to finally escape.
To his shock and horror, the ritual works―Scorpion Deep awakens. And despite his terror, Jonathan can’t help but feel drawn toward the ageless entity that seems just as mutually obsessed with him. As scales start growing down his spine and Scorpion Deep’s adoration of him turns bloody, Jonathan realizes the only way to end the nightmare is to destroy the monster one way or another.
But once a god has awoken, the only way to be free is to pay a price of blood.
Ghosted by Talia Tucker (November 10th)
“Oh no . . . Did I hurt the big bad demon’s feelings?”
Keziah is very familiar with the concept of ghosts―after all, a sleep paralysis demon has been her closest companion for the last few years. She’s, unfortunately, also all-too-familiar with the concept of being ghosted. Which isn’t helping her quest to secure a date for the Homecoming dance, to get her best friend off her back and help her bid for Homecoming queen. And then she meets a guy who just transferred to the all-boys school nearby. He’s charming, cute, and―unlike with her other dates―she actually sees potential with him.
Too bad he ghosts her, too.
This time, though, she isn’t going to take it so easily. Not when Guy and his friends mess with her real true love, Mr. Kim’s food truck, and especially not when she finds out the real reason Guy transferred in the first place. If he wants to ghost, she’ll haunt him right back to where he came from.
Enacting revenge while her sleep paralysis demon keeps bugging her certainly won’t be easy but, with help from a cute girl, let the real (and well-deserved) ghosting begin!
Girls Walking With Wolves by Jenna Baner (November 10th)
Arden Hood, blind since birth, is not afraid of witches.
Every day Arden walks alone, deep into the woods, to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother, and she’s yet to come across a single witch.
Arden believes her life may be this small forever―quiet evenings with her father and days spent at her grandmother’s bedside―until two encounters alter the course of her life. One day at the market she chances upon the Queen’s hunter, who develops an interest in her yet won’t say what he’s hunting; and that same evening, she’s rescued from a wolf attack by a mysterious young woman named Myra, the last witch still living in the woods.
Myra is nothing like the witches in the villagers’ stories―she is good and kind and soon she becomes the best friend Arden has ever had. The girls hide their friendship, but they cannot hide forever. The hunter was sent to these woods for a reason, and he won’t leave until he’s captured a witch…
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N
Lavender & Hemlock by Lili Wilkinson (November 10th)
Step into the Oubliette and forget your troubles….
Housemaid Tansy’s days are all the same. Her only duties are to tend to her charge, old Lady Aster, and take care of their quaint cottage home. The seaside house is charming, peaceful, and above all, isolated. Tansy can’t remember the last time she left…or when she arrived.
Merit is a Carrion Knight. A servant of the dark entity the Unmaker, she has been raised to be a monster. But when she’s wounded during a routine raid, she stumbles through a mysterious door… and finds herself tumbling into the Oubliette.
When the two meet, an instant connection forms, and a crack appears in Oubliette’s perfect façade. As the bond between Merit and Tansy grows and powerful feelings rise to the surface, Tansy must question not only what she wants, but who she is. Because the origins of this charming world are darker than she could imagine—and the key to uncovering them might lie with Tansy herself.
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon
Selkies and Skeptics by Elias Cold (November 17th)
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN A LIE?
THE TRUTH WITH TEETH.
Sixteen-year-old Luella is trapped in an isolated lighthouse with only her cruel father for company―he turns off the beacon for every twenty-fifth ship that passes, then makes her dive for riches in the resulting wreckage.
Luella desperately longs for friends and freedom, so when she spots a newspaper ad for The Society for the Protection of Faeries, she grasps for the opportunity to escape. She writes in, claiming selkies live on the island to entice the group to come . . . and to her surprise, they do.
To back the lie, Luella fakes faerie magic, convincing the Society that the seals on her island are actually selkies, and they induct her as a member. She takes quickly to a world of traveling in carriages, garden parties, and friends her own age, but Luella can never come clean about her deception if she wants to keep her new life. Soon she realizes she is not the only liar. There’s an imposter among them, someone who possesses real magic and sabotages her friends’ discoveries―and without evidence, they will soon run out of funding. The imposter knows Luella’s lying too, and if she dares to unmask them, they’ll ruin her new life with the Society for good.
Drop Dead Handsome by Matthew Hubbard (December 22nd)
Parker Ryland has always been the master of his own destiny, meticulously planning his escape from his small town. But when he’s told that his college application is “boring”, he is thrown for a loop. Parker may be many things, but boring is not one of them.
So, Parker applies to his school’s Miss Spirit pageant to spice up his application and challenge himself—and the town’s antiquated gender ideals.
Pageant life in southern Tennessee is intense enough without the nerdy—but undeniably charming—student body president, Dean, offering to give Parker a crash-course in pageantry. As the two get closer, Parker’s carefully constructed plans begin to unravel. And then someone starts sabotaging Parker, threatening not only his chance at the crown, but his future.
As paint splatters and sparks fly, Parker learns that sometimes the best way to win is to play—and love—by your own rules.
Love Light by Mela Rogers (December 26th)
In this romantic YA graphic novel, a teenage girl lives in a world where people are connected to their soulmates by a light that shines from their chest, but what happens when she falls in love with someone who isn’t her soulmate?
Sixteen-year-old Meredith believes she knows exactly how to find her soulmate: follow the Light, the beacon glowing from her heart and connecting her to one other person. It’s what her parents and her faith have always told her.
But when Meredith meets Casey, she falls for her, hard and fast, even though they’re not Lights soulmates. Keeping their relationship a secret is stressful, and when Meredith runs into her actual soulmate, things get even more complicated.
How can she choose between faith, fate, and first love?
Paperback Rereleases
The Tournament by Rebecca Barrow (July 7th)
Gardner isn’t like other boarding schools. They take in those who’ve been rejected everywhere else, they offer a survival skills class that has students killing and gutting animals, and then there’s the Tournament.
A competition available only to seven elite seniors, the Tournament is revered by the entire student body. They’d do almost anything—including completing a series of grueling physical challenges—to win the champion’s cup.
And this year, three seniors make the Tournament more cutthroat than ever.
Max, the ruthless scholarship student who can’t afford any distractions, not even her ex best friend Nora’s stupid confession of love at the end of last year that ruined everything between them.
Nora, who always put herself on the sidelines so Max could have everything she wanted, but might just be ready for center stage now that Max has brutally excised herself from Nora’s life.
And Teddy, the transfer who’s on her last chance and will chase any high that can pull her back from the gaping, dark void inside herself that’s always threatening to pull her in.
If one of them wants to win, then they can’t let anything—or anybody—get in their way.
A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nicole Lesperance (July 21st)
Contains a bi4bi m/f romance
When Mazzy and her best friend Nora sneak down to the beach one moonlit night to cast a spell, they don’t expect to find a dead body. But as the tide rolls in, it carries the remains of a woman who is missing her hands and teeth.
The girls know they should leave the investigation to the police, but they can’t shake the weird, supernatural connection they feel with the dead woman. Using spellwork and divination, they set out to find answers of their own. But after they uncover a rash of local disappearances stretching back years—and both girls start having occult visions and hearing ghostly, whispering voices—Mazzy worries that she and Nora are in danger.
Then, Nora finds a second body. And the whispering voice is telling her where to find more. With everything spiraling, Mazzy needs to figure out who to trust and how to sever this supernatural connection—or she and Nora might be the next bodies to wash up on the beach.
The L.O.V.E. Club by Lio Min (August 4th)
Three years ago, Elle (the “e” in the self-proclaimed L.O.V.E. Club) disappeared from Calendula, an affluent Chinese American suburb in inland California. Soon afterward, Liberty and Vera (“l” and “v”) moved away, leaving O alone with her grief, abandonment, and confusion. . . until Liberty and Vera return for their senior year of high school.
Though the L.O.V.E. Club’s three remaining members once bonded as outcasts and gamers, they can’t pick up the pieces of their friendship. But the girls are drawn back to their old clubhouse, where they discover, loaded for them to play, a new game created by none other than the missing Elle.
One click, and Liberty, Vera, and O are ported into Morning Glory, an ever-evolving botanical fantasy coded with their lived experiences, complicated history, and repressed insecurities. Unbeknownst to the others, O can’t remember the events surrounding Elle’s disappearance―but within the game, Elle has sent O a cryptic hint about Morning Glory’s real nature.
While Liberty and Vera defeat increasingly sinister bosses, O grapples with the secret knowledge that her deepest wish, to reunite with Elle, might just come true. But as the girls progress through Morning Glory, O begins to wonder how well she actually knew any of her former best friends and if she’s ready to confront the hard truths―and dangerous revelations―about Elle in her returning memories.
Hollow by Taylor Grothe (August 18th)
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?
Where Echoes Die by Courtney Gould (August 25th)
Beck Birsching has been adrift since the death of her mother, a brilliant but troubled investigative reporter. She finds herself unable to stop herself from slipping into memories of happier days, clamoring for a time when things were normal. So when a mysterious letter in her mother’s handwriting arrives in the mail with the words Come and find me, pointing to a town called Backravel, Beck hopes that it may hold the answers.
But when Beck and her sister Riley arrive in Backravel, Arizona it’s clear that there’s something off about the town. There are no cars, no cemeteries, no churches. The town is a mix of dilapidated military structures and new, shiny buildings, all overseen by the town’s gleaming treatment center high on a plateau. No one seems to remember when they got there, and the only people who seem to know more than they’re letting on is the town’s enigmatic leader and his daughter, Avery.
As the sisters search for answers about their mother, Beck and Avery become more drawn together, and their unexpected connection brings up emotions Beck has buried since her mother’s death. Beck is desperate to hold onto the way things used to be, and when she starts losing herself in Backravel and its connection to her mother, will there be a way for Beck to pull herself out?
In her sophomore novel Courtney Gould draws readers into the haunting town of Backravel and explores grief, the weight of not letting go of the past, first love, and the bonds between sisters, mothers and daughters.
What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould (August 25th)
Devin Green wakes in the middle of the night to find two men in her bedroom. No stranger to a fight, she calls to her foster parents for help, but it soon becomes clear this is a planned abduction―one everyone but Devin signed up for. She’s shoved in a van and driven deep into the Idaho woods, where she’s dropped off with a cohort of equally confused teens. Finally, two camp counselors inform them that they’ve all been enrolled in an experimental therapy program. If the campers can learn to change their self-destructive ways―and survive a fifty-days hike through the wilderness―they’ll come out the other side as better versions of themselves. Or so the counselors say.
Devin is immediately determined to escape. She’s also determined to ignore Sheridan, the cruel-mouthed, lavender-haired bully who mocks every group exercise. But there’s something strange about these woods―inhuman faces appearing between the trees, visions of people who shouldn’t be there flashing in the leaves―and when the campers wake up to find both counselors missing, therapy becomes the least of their problems. Stranded and left to fend for themselves, the teens quickly realize they’ll have to trust each other if they want to survive. But what lies in the woods may not be as dangerous as what the campers are hiding from each other―and if the monsters have their way, no one will leave the woods alive.
The Afterdark by E. Latimer (September 1st)
Northcroft is an elite boarding school with a deadly secret. Each night as the bell tolls and the shutters slam down, cutting off the outside world, the Afterdark descends, turning the surrounding old growth forest into a macabre copy of itself. A negative photograph crawling with horrors.
Evie Laurent is certain of one thing from the moment she sees Holland Morgan on the front steps of Northcroft: she wants to know everything there is to know about her. But there are some things about Evie herself that are better kept secret. Especially the fact that she let her sister drown. And that it’s getting harder to ignore her dark impulses . . .
Holland Morgan knows falling for Evie is just one more terrible choice in her long history of terrible choices. The problem is, she’s not sure she cares.
As attraction turns slowly to obsession, they find themselves playing a dangerous game. Something out there is calling to each of them. Beckoning to the shadows within.
Do they fight the call and protect one another, or answer, and embrace the darkness?
