* denotes BIPOC MC
+ denotes disabled MC
^ denotes LGBTQIA+ MC
+ denotes disabled MC
^ denotes LGBTQIA+ MC
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102 Days of Lying About Lauren
Publisher: Holiday House Release Date: June 20, 2023 Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Mouse calls an amusement park home. Nobody notices her, and that’s the way she likes it. Mouse sweeps the streets and wears a uniform she “borrowed” and sleeps on the top floor of the Haunted House of Horrors. She knows which security guards to avoid, eats the bagel left out each morning for the Ghost of Summer (a popular theme park legend), and even has the taco guy convinced that her lunch is paid for. She has her special hiding methods down to a science. But one morning, a girl named Cat comes looking for Lauren Suszek. Cat notices her, and Mouse doesn’t like it. Mouse cannot let this nosy pest find out who she really is! If Mouse gets discovered living in the park, Mama might come back for her, and Mouse doesn’t want that. Or—even worse?—Mama might not come back at all. Mouse knows she can lose this girl without blowing her cover. She just has to follow her rules. A carefully constructed life in the park is all she needs. Right? |
The Alchemy of Letting Go
Publisher: Albert Whitman Release Date: April 27, 2023 Synopsis: For twelve-year-old Juniper Edwards, science holds the answer to every problem. She learned entomology from her parents and her older sister, Ingrid, who died trying to catch a butterfly called the Palos Verdes Blue. After Juniper nearly dies herself trying to finish what her sister started, she discovers that the line between science and magic—and between life and death—is not as solid as she thought. With the help of her mysterious neighbors, Juniper tries a dangerous experiment to get back the life she wants. The results will force her to face the fact that some answers can’t be found in science or magic. |
Always the Almost^
Publisher: Wednesday Books Release Date: February 14, 2023 Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his slimy arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Plus, Miles’ new, slightly terrifying piano teacher keeps telling him that he’s playing like he “doesn’t know who he is”—whatever that means. Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. But after Eric and Miles pretend to date so they can score an invite to a couples-only Valentine’s party, the ruse turns real with a kiss, which is also definitely not in the plan. If only Miles could figure out why Eric likes him so much. After all, it's not like he’s cool or confident or comfortable in his own skin. He’s not even good enough at piano to get his fellow competitors to respect him, especially now, as Miles. Nothing’s ever been as easy for him as for other people—other boys. He’s only ever been almost enough. So why, when he’s with Eric, does it feel like the only person he’s ever really not been enough for...is himself? |
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Caught in a Bad Fauxmance*^
Publisher: Joy Revolution Release Date: December 5, 2023 Synopsis: Devin Baez is ready for a relaxing winter break at Lake Andreas. That is, until he runs into his obnoxious next-door neighbors the Seo-Cookes, undefeated champions of the lake’s annual Winter Games. In the hope of finally taking down these long-time rivals, the Baezes offer up their beloved cabin in a bet. Reckless? Definitely. So when annoyingly handsome Julian Seo-Cooke finds himself in need of a fake boyfriend, Devin sees an opportunity to get behind enemy lines and prove the family plays dirty. As long as Devin and Julian’s families are at war, there’s only room for loathing between them. Which is a problem because, for Devin, this faux game of love is feeling very real. |
Ever Since
Publisher: Penguin Release Date: May 23, 2023 Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Virginia makes bad choices. In fact, she’s That Kind of Girl, according to the whispers. But as long as she has her tight group of best friends by her side, she’s able to ignore the gossipers. Until she finds herself spending time with Rumi, Poppy’s boyfriend. Breaking with tradition, she doesn’t hook up with Rumi. Worse, she falls in love with him. While Virginia and Rumi’s relationship grows in secret, she discovers that his little sister, Lyra, is being groomed for abuse. The soon-to-be-abuser is a respected member of the community, and only Virginia knows who he is and what he does. If she stays quiet, Lyra will become a victim. But coming forward feels equally impossible. |
Field of Screams
Publisher: Delacorte Release Date: August 1, 2023 Synopsis: Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to a nearby abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause! The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting. But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself. |
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Give Me a Sign+
Publisher: Putnam Release Date: July 11, 2023 Synopsis: Lilah is tired of being stuck in the middle. At least, that's what having a hearing loss seems like sometimes - when you're feeling neither "deaf enough" to identify as Deaf, nor hearing enough to meet the world's expectations. Ready for a change, Lilah becomes a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, where she plans to brush up on her ASL. Once there, Lilah also finds a community. There are British lifeguards, who are very cute and very hard to understand; a YouTuber, who's just a bit desperate for clout; the campers Lilah's responsible for (and maybe a bit overwhelmed by) - and there's Isaac, the dreamy Deaf counselor who volunteers to help Lilah with her signing. Romance was never on the agenda, and Lilah's not positive Isaac likes her that way. But all signs seem to point to love - unless Lilah's reading them wrong? One thing's for sure: Lilah wanted change, and things here... are definitely different than she's used to. |
If I Have to Be Haunted*
Publisher: HarperCollins Release Date: September 26, 2023 Synopsis: A Chinese American teen reluctantly embraces her ghost-speaking heritage to resurrect her nemesis, the local golden boy, from an otherworldly snake bite, rekindling a multi-generational feud—and maybe falling in love with him—in the process. |
Love & Resistance*
Publisher: Quill Tree Release Date: July 4, 2023 Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Olivia Chang is at her fourth school in seven years. Her self-imposed solitude is lonely, but safe. At Plainstown High, however, Olivia’s usual plan of anonymity fails when the infamous Mitzi Clarke (influencer, queen bee, bully) makes a pointed racist comment in class. Olivia knows what she must do: let it go. But Olivia is tired of ignoring things just so she can survive. This time, she defends herself. And that is the end of her invisible life. Soon, Olivia discovers, and joins forces with, the Nerd Net: a secret society who has been thwarting Mitzi’s reign of terror for months. Together, they plan to unite the masses and create true change at Plainstown High. But in order to succeed, Olivia must do something even more terrifying than lead a movement: trust other people. She might even make true friends along the way . . . if Mitzi doesn’t destroy her first. |
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The Love Match*
Publisher: Salaam Reads Release Date: January 3, 2023 Synopsis: Zahra Khan is basically Bangladeshi royalty, but being a princess doesn’t pay the bills in Paterson, New Jersey. While Zahra’s plans for financial security this summer involve working long hours at Chai Ho and saving up for college writing courses, Amma is convinced that all Zahra needs is a “good match,” Jane Austen style. Enter Harun Emon, who’s wealthy, devastatingly handsome, and…aloof. As soon as Zahra meets him, she knows it’s a bad match. It’s nothing like the connection she has with Nayim Aktar, the new dishwasher at the tea shop, who just gets Zahra in a way no one has before. So, when Zahra finds out that Harun is just as uninterested in this match as she is, they decide to slowly sabotage their parents’ plans. And for once in Zahra’s life, she can have her rossomalai and eat it too: “dating” Harun and keeping Amma happy while catching real feelings for Nayim. But life—and boys—can be more complicated than Zahra realizes. With her feelings all mixed up, Zahra discovers that sometimes being a good Bengali kid can be a royal pain. |
Pedro & Daniel*+^
Publisher: Levine Querido Release Date: June 6, 2023 Synopsis: Pedro and Daniel are Mexican American brothers growing up in 1970s Ohio. Their mother resents that Pedro is a spitting image of their darker-skinned father, that Daniel likes dolls, that neither boy plays sports. Life at home is rough, but they have an unbreakable bond that will last their entire lives. The novel follows the boys from childhood into adulthood. Pedro and Daniel are gay, Latino, and neurodivergent. They are very much alike. But they are also dissimilar in their struggles, their dreams, and their approach to life. Together, the brothers manage an abusive home life, coming out, first loves, first jobs, and the AIDS pandemic, in a coming-of-age story unlike any other. |
Promposal*
Publisher: Poppy Release Date: April 4, 2023 Synopsis: High school senior Autumn Reeves has been waitlisted at her dream school. Determined to move to the top of the list, she must find a way to stand out. When a promposal she planned for a friend has half the senior class asking for her help, a brilliant business idea that will look great on her application is born: Promposal Queen. Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss—a kiss that meant everything to her and nothing to him—cost Autumn her best friend. He’s the only person with the experience to help her, but how can she possibly trust him? With her dreams on the line, Autumn’s willing to risk it. After all, Mekhi could be a good business partner without being a guy she would ever let near her heart again. But when working with Mekhi jeopardizes her only chance at rekindling a friendship with her ex-best-friend, and secrets long buried threaten to ruin Promposal Queen, another broken heart may be the least of her worries--her entire future is on the line. |
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Seven Faceless Saints
Publisher: Little, Brown Release Date: February 7, 2023 Synopsis: In the city of Ombrazia, saints and their disciples rule with terrifying and unjust power, playing favorites while the unfavored struggle to survive. After her father’s murder at the hands of the Ombrazian military, Rossana Lacertosa is willing to do whatever it takes to dismantle the corrupt system—tapping into her powers as a disciple of Patience, joining the rebellion, and facing the boy who broke her heart. As the youngest captain in the history of Palazzo security, Damian Venturi is expected to be ruthless and strong, and to serve the saints with unquestioning devotion. But three years spent fighting in a never-ending war have left him with deeper scars than he wants to admit…and a fear of confronting the girl he left behind. Now a murderer stalks Ombrazia’s citizens. As the body count climbs, the Palazzo is all too happy to look the other way—that is, until a disciple becomes the newest victim. With every lead turning into a dead end, Damian and Roz must team up to find the killer, even if it means digging up buried emotions. As they dive into the underbelly of Ombrazia, the pair will discover something more sinister—and far less holy. With darkness closing in and time running out, will they be able to save the city from an evil so powerful that it threatens to destroy everything in its path? |
Sincerely Sicily*
Publisher: HarperCollins Release Date: January 3, 2023 Synopsis: Sicily Jordan’s worst nightmare has come true! She’s been enrolled in a new school, with zero of her friends and stuck wearing a fashion catastrophe of a uniform. But however bad Sicily thought sixth grade was going to be, it only gets worse when she does her class presentation. While all her classmates breezed through theirs, Sicily is bombarded with questions on how she can be both Black and Panamanian. She wants people to understand, but it doesn’t feel like anyone is ready to listen—first at school and then at home. Because when her abuela starts talking mess about her braids, Sicily’s the only one whose heart is being crumpled for a second time. Staying quiet may no longer be an option, but that doesn’t mean Sicily has the words to show the world just what it means to be a proud Black Panamanian either. Even though she hasn’t written in her journal since her abuelo passed, it’s time to pick up her pen again—but will it be enough to prove to herself and everyone else exactly who she is? |
Sing Me to Sleep*
Publisher: Bloomsbury Release Date: June 27, 2023 Synopsis: Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill. As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren’t for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious blackmailer threatens her sister, Saoirse takes a dangerous job that will help her investigate: she becomes personal bodyguard to the crown prince. Saoirse should hate Prince Hayes. After all, his father is the one who enforces the kingdom’s brutal creature-segregation laws. But when Hayes turns out to be kind, thoughtful, and charming, Saoirse finds herself increasingly drawn to him—especially when they’re forced to work together to stop a deadly killer who’s plaguing the city. There’s only one problem: Saoirse is that deadly killer. |
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Something More*+
Publisher: Tundra Release Date: June 6, 2023 Synopsis: Fifteen-year-old Jessie, a quirky loner obsessed with the nineties, is diagnosed as autistic just weeks before starting high school. Determined to make a fresh start and keep her diagnosis a secret, Jessie creates a list of goals that range from acquiring two distinct eyebrows to getting a magical first kiss and landing a spot in the school play. Within the halls of Holy Trinity High, she finds a world where things are no longer black and white and quickly learns that living in color is much more fun. But Jessie gets more than she bargained for when two very different boys steal her heart, forcing her to go off-script. |
Tagging Freedom*
Publisher: Union Square & Co. Release Date: November 7, 2023 Synopsis: Kareem Haddad of Damascus, Syria, never dreamed of becoming a graffiti artist. But when a group of boys from another town tag subversive slogans outside their school, and another boy is killed while in custody, Kareem and his friends are inspired and start secretly tagging messages of freedom around their city. Meanwhile, in the United States, his cousin, Samira, has been trying to make her own mark. Anxious to fit in at school, she joins the Spirit Squad where her natural artistic ability attracts the attention of the popular squad leader. Then Kareem is sent to live with Sam’s family, and their worlds collide. As graffitied messages appear around town and all eyes turn to Kareem, Sam must make a choice: does she shy away to protect her new social status, or does she stand with Kareem? |
There's No Way I'd Die First*
Publisher: Delacorte Release Date: September 5, 2023 Synopsis: Noelle Layne knows horror. Every trope, every warning sign, every survival tactic. She even leads a successful movie club dedicated to the genre. Thus, who better to throw the ultimate, most exclusive Halloween party on all of Long Island? And with the guest list including the coolest kids in her senior class, her popularity is bound to spike. Hopefully, enough to warrant an expansion into podcasting. Plus, the fact that attractive, singer-songwriter Archer Mitchell is coming is honestly the candy corn on top. Nothing is going to kill her party vibes. Except…maybe the low-budget It clown she hires to lead a classic round of tag. He’s supposed to be terrifying, though in a comforting, nostalgic way. Instead, the guy is giving major creeps. But maybe Noelle’s just that good at hosting? Her confidence is immediately rocked when the night’s entertainment axes one of her guests. And he’s not done yet. If an evil, murderous clown thinks life is a game, then Noelle is ready to play. She’s been waiting a long time to prove that she’s a Final Girl. |
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Under This Forgetful Sky*+
Publisher: Atheneum / Simon & Schuster Release Date: July 18, 2023 Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Rumi Sabzwari has spent his entire life behind the armored walls of St. Iago, which protect citizens of the Union of Upper Cities from the outside world’s environmental devastation. But when rebels infect his father with a fatal virus, Rumi escapes St. Iago, desperate to find a cure. In the ruined city of Paraíso, Rumi meets fifteen-year-old Paz, who agrees to guide him on his journey. As they travel together, Rumi finds himself drawn to Paz—and behind her tough exterior, she begins to feel the same way. But Paz knows more about Rumi’s father’s illness than she’s saying and has her own agenda. With the powerful forces at play in their cities putting them at odds, can the two learn to trust in each other—enough to imagine a different world? |
We the Future
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press Release Date: April 18, 2023 Synopsis: I’m from the future. We need you. Ever since he learned about climate change, twelve-year-old Jonah has dreaded a weather-beaten future where not even his asthma medication can save him. Luckily, a girl from that future arrives just in time to throw Jonah a lifeline. Sunny traveled back to the 2020s with a mission: help Jonah launch a climate strike big enough to rewrite history. To do it, he’ll have to recruit his entire school before Halloween. Why so soon? Sunny won’t say. But how can Jonah win over 600 classmates when the only thing he dreads more than the end of the world is talking to other kids? |
When Oceans Rise*
Publisher: Creative James Media Release Date: May 23, 2023 Synopsis: By the time seventeen-year-old Malaya’s toxic boyfriend hits her, she can’t leave him. So disconnected from her family and friends, she turns to the sea to decide her fate. Its decision? Toss her to the Sea Witch. Because Malaya has a death wish, the Sea Witch barters her voice for a new life—one in which Malaya was never with her abusive boyfriend. But when Malaya timeshifts into her new existence, she discovers she shipped a happier Malaya off to her old life and that Aswangs, Tikbalangs, and other assorted Filipino Mythological creatures now run rampant in both worlds. The Sea Witch used her voice to unleash the beasts. With the help of Salvador, the God’s champion who pulled Malaya out of the ocean, and her alternate timeline sister, Gabrielle, they fight the discovery of these mythological beasts before the next full moon when the Sea Witch will use the collective power of belief in mythical creatures to escape her underwater prison. Malaya can end it all if she truly wants to return to her old life. But as she gets further away from her ex and closer to Salvador and Gabrielle, her ability to save the world becomes impossible. |
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Where You See Yourself+
Publisher: Scholastic Release Date: May 2, 2023 Synopsis: If Effie’s being honest with herself, she knows just what she wants. She wants to enjoy all the firsts and lasts of senior year with her two best friends. She wants to go to college in NYC and major in mass media so she can make sure more disabled people like her get to see themselves in the media. She’s never been to New York, but she can picture the person she’ll be there, far from the Minneapolis neighborhood where she’s lived her entire life. And she wants the specific kind of happiness that would come with dancing with her long-time crush, Wilder, at homecoming. With being more than just in-school friends. When she finds out that Wilder is applying to her dream school too, it seems like a sign that it’s the right place for her. But when her high school fails to make the accommodations Effie needs as a wheelchair-user, and she can’t get the situation fixed on her own, she can’t help wondering: Is New York too big, too far, too much? And if she can’t bring herself to tell Wilder how she feels, how could they ever have a future together? As Effie learns to speak up and fight for her dreams, she’ll also have to decide which dreams are truly worth fighting for. What—and who—will bring her the happiness she deserves? |
The Wicked Unseen^
Publisher: Underlined Release Date: June 20, 2023 Synopsis: The new girl in town is having trouble fitting into a community that believes there’s a secret Satanic cult conducting rituals in the woods. When her crush goes missing, she starts to wonder if the town’s obsession with evil isn’t covering up something far worse. Perfect for fans of Fear Street! From the moment Audre arrives in rural Pennsylvania, it’s clear she won’t fit in. After all, her nose ring, horror movie obsession, and family’s Ouija board collection aren’t likely to endear her to a town convinced there’s a secret Satanic cult conducting rituals in the nearby woods. When the preacher’s daughter and Audre’s crush, Elle, goes missing on Halloween weekend, the town is quick to point fingers in Audre’s direction. With the cops busy harassing her family for being nonbelievers and everyone else convinced demons are to blame, Audre realizes she might be the only person who can find her friend. But the deeper Audre digs, the weirder it gets. Has Elle fallen victim to a Satanic ritual, or is the town’s obsession with the occult covering up something even more sinister? |