New YA Books Hitting Shelves, August 26, 2024

Fern, Jaq, and Mallory have forged a bond over fear and trauma. None of their families had been safe enough to come out to, so they all sought refuge in an old abandoned house in the woods when they needed to be safe. But one night after the three were seeking that refuge, Mallory never made it back home. Neither Fern nor Jaq knows what happened nor do they remember what the secrets were that night that were spilled with one another. 

It’s now five years later and Fern and Jaq are preparing to graduate high school. They’ve played the role as cisgender, straight girls, and have moved on. Except, they’re not able to. A spirit who looks like Mallory begins to haunt them. That spirit promises revenge for her death and the role Fern and Jaq played in it. 

Neither girl can run anymore and as they become further haunted by the spirit of their former best friend, they begin to step into the truth of their part in her death…and the truth of who they are themselves.

For readers who love intergenerational stories that span several lifespans, look no further. Ribay’s latest follows the four Maghabol boys through each of their adolescence, beginning with Francisco’s in Watsonville, California, in 1930. We then meet his son, Emil, in 1965. Emil’s son Chris tells his story from 1983 and finally, Chris’s son Enzo tells his. Through each, we see what is happening with family dynamics, work life, and the social and political struggles with which they’re engaged.

Set in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in 2017, this book follows Libertad (Libi) Morazán, a high school senior. The country is nearing a presidential election and protests abound. Libi has taken to her anonymous Instagram to write political poetry and has been enjoying a new relationship. But then two things happen that completely upend Libi’s senior year: her Mami finds texts on Libi’s phone about kissing a girl—homosexuality is not okay at home—and Libi’s brother has been playing a role in the protests. Libi continues to turn to her art for comfort, but she’s being attacked anonymously online, too. How can she dream of freedom and the ability to live as her true self when the world around her is the way it is?

Here’s another book hitting shelves this year that is releasing both in hardcover and paperback simultaneously. We love options! This one is for fans of all things scary and has comps to classic RL Stine teen screams.

Nate Campbell, 16, grew up near a cursed street in his town called Murder Row, which is cursed by a vengeful spirit. The spirit rises once a decade and has been for more than half a century; it creates tragedy somewhere nearby.

Now Nate and his family are on the run, hoping to leave behind the curse in a new town. But it’s not easy to outrun the Hiding Boy.

Bianca and Leila are twins, but they are as different as can be. Growing up Argentinian and Iranian has been challenging in their small town, but Bianca embraces her heritage while Leila avoids it at all costs.

On the twins’ 18th birthday, there is a mysterious fire in the neighbor’s barn. Leila sees a djinn rise from the fire and she’s suddenly given a set of new powers—and strange experiences. Why would a djinn want to bother her, she wonders. What is its goal?

The twins are going to have to work together in order to understand what’s going on (and to save their lives and their town).

L.A.’s Echo Park used to have a thriving Cuban business community, but that’s dwindled. One of the last remaining businesses of those days is Clary’s family’s flower shop, La Rosa Blanca. Clary is going to inherit the business and sees her role in keeping the history of Echo Park alive as one she’s looking forward to.

The only other Cuban business in Clary’s Echo Park business district is Avalos Bicycle Works. Emilio, also a teenager, is set to inherit it, but unlike Clary, he’s not committed to it. She can hardly find him attractive or appealing if his goal is to book it out of town and let the legacy of Cuban ancestry in the area continue to crumble.

A big secret ends up cracking Clary’s world open at the same time Emilio begins to think maybe he’s being too rash about his future. You can say their need to depend on one another this summer was historic…and meant to be.

Isabel is in her junior year of high school and at a crossroads. She’s lost faith in humanity and in her sense of purpose in the world. In her quest to find this meaning, she’s drawn into an online forum that touts people called supers—these are people who do good things around the world for the purpose of spreading good. They’re mini-heroes, in a sense.

The day she turns 18, Isabel decides she’s going to travel the world and find someone, anyone, who fits this profile. She needs to in order to restore her humanity.

This is a novel about travel, about finding faith in other people, and about the power of looking inward to be who you need for yourself.

Izzy Morales, her best friend Kassidy, and five more of their friends are going to celebrate the end of high school by attending a 1920s-themed party at a fancy manor called Ashwood. All seems well until Kassidy’s boyfriend is found dead, and now the police are saying that he was murdered at the event.

Every one of the attendees is now a suspect. None can leave the Manor until the killer is found.

Will any of them get out alive?

Charity is spending the summer playing the role of the final girl at Camp Mirror Lake, a facility that is set up to be a game of terror. Guests come in and see if they can survive the night.

Things take a turn during the last weekend though, as several of the actors have stopped showing up. So when one of them does show up dead, Charity no longer thinks her role as Final Girl is just pretend.

This is a fast-paced horror that hits all of the beats of a classic bloody summer camp story. It is a cast of characters of color, and it features a secret society, a sapphic romance, and a lot of creepy owls.