Get Ready to Disconnect from Reality
With a new year comes the hope for new books. Such good things are finding a way to disconnect from the world with a great book. Some of the best young adult books coming out this year range from lesbians huntswoman, overthrowing dictators, and discovering dark family secrets.
When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord (January 4): Resilience 16-year old Millie Price of New York dreams big: Broadway big. However, her loving father doesn’t want her to attend the musical theater program in California. Well, there is her never before seen mother, who could potentially be one of the three women from her father’s Livejournal. There’s also her rival Oliver Yang competing with her for the internship. It is getting overwhelming now, but keep in check with the “Millie Mood”, or a storm will soon start.
The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder (January 11): For people familiar with Indiana Jones and Sleeping Beauty, this book is a clash of both. Briar Rose was cursed to sleep forever by the Spindle Witch. Fi accidentally pricks her finger on the bone spindle, tying her destiny to the sleeping prince. Joining her on the quest to break the curse is the tough huntswoman, Shane. However, the girls must overcome obstacles the Spindle Witch throws in their path and growing feelings.
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (February 1): Romania, 1989, is under the dictatorship of the Nicolae Ceausescu. Romanians aren’t free to speak their minds, but that doesn’t stop Cristian Florescu from writing. One day, secret police arrive at his home, blackmailing him to be a secret informer. Cristian must now betray his loved ones or outsmart the corrupted authorities and expose their crimes.
These Deadly Games by Diana Urban (February 1): A video of her little sister gagged and tied up appeared from a mysterious app. A message accompanied the video, threatening Crystal Donavan to follow their instructions. She completes tasks the kidnappers give her, later realizing each one means to kill her friends.
Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James (February 15): It is the second book of The Dark Star Trilogy. The first book “In Black Leopard, Red Wolf”, centers around Tracker looking for a valuable boy that went missing three years ago. Moon Witch, Spider King is narrated by the antagonist of the trilogy, Sogolon. She tells about what happened to the missing boy, her attempts to find him, and the century-long feud with the kings’ chancellor, Aesi.
Reclaim The Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms And Space Edited by Zoraida Córdova (February 15): This book is a collection of YA stories written by multiple authors spanning the Latin America diaspora. These sci-fi fantasy stories range from princesses in space, climate change tales, enchanting mermaids off the coast of Argentina to ghost stories from the Caribbean.
Only A Monster by Vanessa Len (February 22): She was supposed to go on dates with the cute Nick, work at the Holland House, and spend time with her family in London. Her family being monsters that time-travel by consuming hours from a human life wasn’t supposed to happen. Another shocking secret is Nick being a monster slayer, and he’s after her family. However, she joins the arrogant Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family, to time travel in hopes of saving their families.
Wave by Diana Farid And Kris Goto (March 15): Set in 1980s California, Persian American girl Ava rides the waves with Phoenix, her best friend. Surfing, singing, and reading poems is what she loves to do. But conflicts arise when Ava’s expected to follow in her mother’s footsteps in becoming a doctor. Ava loses grip on what she loves to do, and Phoenix’s lymphoma has surged back again.
Portrait of the Thief by Grace D. Li (April 5): Harvard senior Will Chen is an art history major and a golden boy. Will’s offered an impossible, illegal job: steal back five priceless Chinese sculptures for the award of fifty million dollars and maybe make a difference in history. His crew consists of his influential sister Irene Chen, premed student and thief Daniel Liang, getaway driver and engineer student Lily Wu, and the software engineer and hacker Alex Huang. With his crew, they put everything they have to pull off the heist successfully or lose everything they have.
Breathe And Count Back from Ten by Natalia Sylvester (May 10): In her Florida hometown, Verónica wants to audition to become a mermaid at a theme park. Her disability isn’t stopping her, except for her parents, who don’t want her to. She’s not allowed to hang out with her first real boyfriend either. However, when she learns that her parents are hiding the truth about her body, things start crashing down on her, making it hard to come back for air.
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