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The Can't-Hardly-Wait Young Adult Books of June
As dedicated readers already know, some of the best and most innovative stories on the shelves come from the constantly evolving realm of young adult fiction. Every month our team looks at the books being published and how they're resonating with early readers. We use this information to put together a roundup of soon-to-be favorites.
New in June: A suburban teenager learns that her mom was once young and witchy too in Melissa Albert’s Our Crooked Hearts. Tori Bovalino takes on a famous 1882 narrative poem in Not Good for Maidens. And the old quarterback-and-cheerleader romance gets a queer rewrite in Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage. Plus: Necromancers, bioweapons, and Italian adventures.
Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments!
New in June: A suburban teenager learns that her mom was once young and witchy too in Melissa Albert’s Our Crooked Hearts. Tori Bovalino takes on a famous 1882 narrative poem in Not Good for Maidens. And the old quarterback-and-cheerleader romance gets a queer rewrite in Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage. Plus: Necromancers, bioweapons, and Italian adventures.
Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments!
Book two in the popular Realm Breaker fantasy series from author Victoria Aveyard, the new Blade Breaker spotlights a team of unlikely allies: a stalwart squire, an ancient sorceress, a rogue assassin, an obsessed immortal, and a magic-wielding pirate. It rather speaks to your inner D&D nerd, doesn’t it? Bonus trivia: Aveyard is also author of the sprawling Red Queen series.
It’s a truism in human culture that we all think we know our parents, but we really and truly don’t. Mom was sixteen once, too, and she’s not telling those stories to anyone. Melissa Albert (The Hazel Wood series) returns with this story of suburban teenager Ivy and her extremely strange summer. Supernatural forces are manifesting and sinister strangers are creeping about. It seems that mom’s teenage fling with the supernatural, years ago, has generated some metaphysical consequences.
Best friends Jax and Callyn don’t like magic. Magic is what crushed Jax’s leg. Magic is what killed Callyn’s parents. The good news is that magic has been forbidden in the land of Syhl Shallow—up until now. A shady magesmith has married the queen and magic is once again flowing through the land. When a stranger rides into town and recruits Jax and Callyn for an anti-magic crusade, the best friends want to do what’s right. But who to trust? That’s the real trick.
Author Emily Thiede's fantasy debut, the first in a planned series, comes with an old-world Italian flavor. Young Alessa is the chosen Finestra—blessed by the gods with powers to fend off demons that threaten her home island. But a rebellion is brewing and now Alessa’s own soldiers are trying to kill her. In desperation, she hires the notorious killer Dante to be her personal bodyguard. He’s good at what he does and he’s awfully handsome. But is he also a triple-crossing assassin?
Winner of this month’s unofficial Spookiest Book Cover Art award, Relic and Ruin is YA fantasy in the necro mode, from Australian author Wendii McIver. The story features an epic-quest style storyline through a world of Reapers, Necromancers, and characters with extremely cool names: Nyx Lahey! Erebus Salem! Bonus trivia: Relic and Ruin was originally released online in 2016 and was counted as one of that year’s most-read online stories.
Author Dahlia Adler (Cool for the Summer) is back in the mix this month with a sapphic high school romance that’s a cool queer take on an old story template. Cheerleader Amber McCloud has a thing for the new football quarterback, Jack Walsh. It turns out that Jack is short for Jaclyn, and she’s got her own set of problems when her teammates get all weird about the situation. Boys. Seriously. They’re the worst.
Sequel to last year’s popular This Poison Heart, this new book from author Kalynn Bayron (Cinderella Is Dead) continues the story of magically gifted Briseis, who is heir to a family lineage of botanical powers. The stakes are raised this time around as Bri must find the final piece of the deadly Absyrtus Heart—and work with her mysterious blood relatives—for one last chance to save her mother. Shippers will be happy to hear that Marie is back for this one, too.
Author Andrew Joseph White has delivered a bold and imaginative debut novel with this ambitious take on the post-apocalypse action-adventure. In the ruins of worldwide catastrophe, trans teen Benji joins forces with a ragtag bunch of queer kids to stop a fundamentalist sect that’s using advanced bioweapons to make its own monsters. Cults! Mutants! Allegory! Hell Followed with Us is recommended for YA-reading fans of Gideon the Ninth and Annihilation.
This third installment in Lynette Noni’s The Prison Healer series continues the epic saga of Kiva Meridan, who fought her way out of the deadly Zalindov prison only to land in the even deadlier environs of palace intrigue. Now she’s undertaken a new quest to save all of Wenderall from the ravages of war. Australian author Noni keeps her fantasy romances rooted in authentic human behavior and is recommended for those who like Sarah J. Maas and Sabaa Tahir.
Folk horror scholar Tori Bovalino (The Devil Makes Three) digs deep into the archives for this tale, a retelling of Christina Rossetti’s infamous 1862 narrative poem, Goblin Market. Our young heroine Lou has only three days to rescue her Aunt Neela from the mystical goblin market, whose twisted streets offer dark temptations for mortals. The book is being pitched as Salem’s Lot meets The Darkest Part of the Forest, and seems like a good bet for those who like some capital-L Literature in their scary stories.
Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!
Check out more recent articles, including:
Meet the Authors of Summer's Buzziest YA Novels
June's Most Anticipated New Books
Readers' Most Anticipated June Romances
Check out more recent articles, including:
Meet the Authors of Summer's Buzziest YA Novels
June's Most Anticipated New Books
Readers' Most Anticipated June Romances
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Eva
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Jun 03, 2022 09:59AM
these books look really good, can't wait to read these?
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Eva wrote: "these books look really good, can't wait to read these?"me too! we have some summer reading to do!
Cam wrote: "Eva wrote: "these books look really good, can't wait to read these?"me too! we have some summer reading to do!"
Haha Mr. J will be so impressed with us because we're so studious?
The covers are stunning! Need to check these out.
