Tag Archives: Contemporary YA

Cover Reveal

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford

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Today on the site, I’m delighted to host the cover reveal for Rabbit & Juliet by Rebecca Stafford, a queer YA Thelma & Louis-esque contemporary releasing September 24, 2024 from Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins! Here’s the story:

Seventeen-year-old Rabbit has been struggling to stay above water since her mom died. In the span of a year and a half, her small Georgia town has become unbearably hellish: her ex-boyfriend, resident golden boy Richard, turned into an unrelenting stalker; her friends are nonexistent; and her dad is campaigning hard for Functioning Alcoholic of the Year.

But all that changes when the sarcastic, gorgeous, and frustratingly impenetrable Juliet Bergman walks into Rabbit’s weekly support group. All hard angles and James Dean bravado, Juliet throws Rabbit a life preserver just as depression threatens to sink her.

Then one morning, Rabbit’s ex–best friend, Sarah—Richard’s current girlfriend—shares a horrific discovery about Richard and his crew that pitches Rabbit back into darkness. The three girls vow to enact revenge on the boys for what they’ve been doing to unsuspecting girls at parties. With Juliet leading the charge and demanding blind loyalty from the girls, Rabbit falls harder for her than she thought possible. It isn’t until Rabbit is faced with a startling act of violence that she must decide how far she’s willing to go—for herself, for Juliet, and for justice—when love and grief threaten to topple everything.

And here’s the striking cover, illustrated by Mariia Menshikova and designed by Kathy Lam!

Buy it: B&N | Amazon

Rebecca Stafford is a Pushcart Prize award–winning poet, writer, critic, and editor whose work has been published in the New Yorker and reviewed in the New York Times. Rabbit and Juliet is her debut young adult novel. To learn more about Rebecca’s distinguished body of work, visit her online at rebeccastaffordauthor.com.

New Release Spotlight

New Release Spotlight: You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

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Clever, funny, romantic, and empowering, You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (Scholastic, June 1) is just so much of what makes both Contemporary YA and YA Romance great. (And yes, it is an f/f Romance!) The second I finished reading it I wanted to pass my ARC around like candy, and while maybe that kind of sharing isn’t the best idea these days, I definitely recommend getting your hands on your own as soon as you can!

Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events, but despite her devastating fear of the spotlight she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get to Pennington.

The only thing that makes it halfway bearable is the new girl in school, Mack. She’s smart, funny, and just as much of an outsider as Liz. But Mack is also in the running for queen. Will falling for the competition keep Liz from her dreams . . . or make them come true?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | Indiebound