New YA Book Releases This Week, April 16, 2025

Emezi dabbles in a whole lot, from adult novels to poetry to YA, and in their latest, we’re dropped into a fantastical West African world, where Somadina and her twin brother Jayaike live as best friends. They start off being virtually inseparable until their powers emerge once they come of age, and suddenly, everything is different. While Jayaike’s powers are enchanting and alluring, Somadina’s strikes fear in their neighbors. Then, Jayaike goes missing, and Somadina sets out to find him. She’ll have to brave a sacred forest, otherwordly traveling, and places where her soul may be separated from her body, all for the sake of her brother.

Garza Villa’s YA stories of queer Latine life are always so real, tender, and funny. Here, college goalkeeper Gabriel Piña just knows he’s going to be playing for Liga MX or MLS someday. He also “knows” he’s straight, until he keeps finding himself falling deeply into the soft brown eyes of Vale, his philosophy classmate/tutor. As their friendship takes a hotter turn, Gabi now has to worry about being a brown Mexican futbolista and bisexual—he’s heard how queer people are talked about. In the end, it’ll come down to either dampening his true self, or embracing it—which luckily also comes with a gorgie boyfriend.

Here is another sports-centric book, but with a very different vibe. There’s Aiden, who wants to play football like his brother, Brandon, but his autism presents some difficulties. He tries out for the team, but becomes over-stimulated, and a pile-up ensues. Suffice it to say, he doens’t make the team…initially. When a spot opens up later that needs urgent filling, he gets his chance. But people aren’t exactly enthused to have him on the team, and when tensions come to a boiling point, Aiden’s brother Brandon steps in to defend him. Then Brandon ends up getting arrested by the same cops who were cheering him on earlier. Now Brandon has a trial to attend that could ruin his future, and Aiden wants desperately to clear his brother of the trumped-up charges—which he tries his best to do, all while trying to figure out what it truly means to be autistic and Black.

This is giving modern-day The Prince and the Pauper, as it follows two students whose summer-time internship arrangements have been switched because of their last names. Elijah Ri’s father owns Haneul Corporation, a huge tech company that will have him as the future CEO. Which is why it’s odd when he gets placed in a tiny apartment with other unpaid interns in New York City for the summer. Jessica Lee, on the other hand, expected the tiny apartment for her internship, but instead gets a beautiful brownstone to herself, and training to be a future executive. The two realize they got switched because they share the same Korean name, but they also decide to stay switched—so Jessica can make some much-needed connections and so Elijah can escape his dad’s ever-watchful eye. As they keep up the lie, they also discover something else brewing between them.

Jackson Ghasnavi just minds his business as a theater stage manager and has no interest in romance, having been privy to his parents’ terrible divorce, and his sister Jasmine’s tumultuous heartbreaks. But when swim captain Liam auditions for a show, both Jackson and his sister develop a crush on him. Jackson figures Liam is definitely, probably straight — but then why is he suddenly learning sign language to be able to better communicate with Jackson…