Murashige’s fantasy debut follows an outcast teen who, after striking a deal with a Japanese god of fortune, embarks on a transformative journey to discover life’s beauty. Following a friendship fallout, 17-year-old Machi lost “the will to speak.” Now, she ardently wishes she was a robot vacuum cleaner instead of a person: “They’re treated like humans... but no one expects them to be anything more than what they are.” Unexpectedly, the goddess Benzaiten appears and counters Machi’s prayer with a plea that she “realize the beauty of being human and rediscover my voice.” With each new encounter on Machi’s quest—and each new question posed by her therapist throughout—Machi comes to accept her broken relationships as well as herself. This heartfelt and original exploration of one teen’s reasoning for her way of thinking and her growth into a new version of herself focuses on connection and communication in fun, fantastical ways. Murashige’s fresh blend of Japanese mythology and frank depictions of mental health challenges rendered via simple prose allow readers to relate to Machi’s emotions and struggles and gain new perspective into the complexity of human nature. Ages 14–up. Agent: Savannah Brooks, KT Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Since her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis two years ago, Ivy Harding, 17, has gradually isolated herself. Social anxiety has always made communicating difficult, and now Ivy barely has the energy to try. She spends her time recreating her grandmother’s recipes as gluten-free dishes and managing increasingly frequent flare-ups that result in heightened pain and limited mobility. When her family insists she attend a support group for teens with chronic illnesses, Ivy is reluctant. At her first meeting, however, she encounters Grant Deluca, who also has RA. He’s extraordinarily cute and he’s interested in Ivy, and while Ivy isn’t sure she wants to date, she can’t deny their chemistry. But even as their relationship blossoms, Ivy’s flare-ups worsen and her anxieties grow. Neatly paced, insightful prose punctuated by text exchanges and sweet dates depict Ivy and Grant’s slow-burn romance. Ivy’s introspections about RA are realistic, nuanced, and informed by debut author Eller’s personal experiences, as discussed in an endnote. Good-natured secondary characters, many of whom navigate their own autoimmune diagnoses, round out Ivy’s lively, majority-white support network. Ages 14–up. Agent: Emma Nordstrom Higdon, Westwood Creative Artists. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

This richly rendered speculative novel by Yu (Imagine Us Happy) follows deceased high school seniors Kenny Zhou and Caroline Davison, who find themselves in pseudo-purgatory, a stark-white room outfitted with a television that shows them what’s happening to their loved ones back in the land of the living. A mysterious entity seemingly able to read their thoughts sends them notes commenting on the scenarios playing out on screen, and the teens soon realize that they can influence situations occurring in the real world in small, surreptitious ways. They resolve to help each other accomplish personal goals: Kenny will save his family’s struggling restaurant and Caroline will assist her family in finding justice and closure regarding the circumstances of her death. As the duo watch the events unfold, they learn more about their own hidden connections and come to terms with the impact that their deaths have on their communities. Yu’s prose sings with lush and powerful empathy and makes good on the novel’s wild premise by blending humor and pathos with fantastical worldbuilding and genuine emotional stakes. Caroline reads as white; Kenny is of Chinese descent. Ages 14–up. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Smuggling the newest issue of his self-authored comic book, Kid Condor, into the school library is just one of the many things that Brett Isaias Harrison, 16, is up to. Some nights, he gets drunk and calls an Uber to take him “drunk drive-thru’ing”; others, he stargazes at the top of Tumamoc Hill in Tucson, Ariz. What Brett won’t do is dwell on such subjects as his eating habits, how he compares to best friend Reed, his fear that girls won’t ever like him, or his adoptive mother’s recent cancer diagnosis. When his food journal goes viral on school socials, Brett finds himself the center of unwelcome attention, which prompts a series of binging and purging. Refuge comes from an unexpected friendship with Mallory, “the fattest kid in school”; her assertiveness and confidence both fascinate and confuse him. Brett’s quirky voice—a mix of self-conscious thoughts, Kid Condor mythology, and bro-isms (“You ready for some nuggs, bruh?”)—tempers this funny yet bruising narrative about one teen’s experience with grief and disordered eating in which debut author Galarza carefully touches on issues surrounding underage drinking, body dysmorphia, and internalized anti-fatness. Extensive resources conclude. Brett has Welsh, Spanish, and Mayan ancestry. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Dunton, Harvey Klinger. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Benton-Walker (Blood Justice) crafts a trope-bending horror anthology, collecting 13 loosely linked tales by authors such as Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Chloe Gong, and Mark Oshiro. Centering protagonists of various body types, genders, and racial and ethnic backgrounds, each story dismantles racist tropes and casts “the white guy” as the first kill. Kendare Blake addresses East Asian stereotypes in “The Golden Dragon,” which centers a Chinese-restaurant-owning Korean American family and a Japanese ghost that avenges rape survivors. Meanwhile, “Gray Grove” by Alexis Henderson grapples with monstrous malevolence on a former slave plantation. Contributions showcase powerful storytelling through unreliable narrators (as in Tiffany Jackson’s “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”) and skilled foreshadowing (in Lamar Giles’s “The Protégé”). Scares are plentiful but always impactful: cannibalism becomes a metaphor for cultural appropriation in H.E. Edgmon’s “Best Served Cold,” told by a two-spirit narrator, and “Break Through Our Skin” by Naseem Jamnia conceptualizes the transgender experience through depictions of body horror. Pair this intense, riveting collection with The Black Girl Survives in This One and The Blonde Dies First for a deep dive into subversive contemporary horror. Ages 13–up. Agent: Patricia Caldwell, New Leaf Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Two disabled former friends—both white and Jewish—reconnect and explore their feelings while stuck in a time loop in this heartfelt, pitch-perfect debut. In Lewiston, Fla., 17-year-old Phoebe has been stuck reliving August 6 for nearly a month. She worries that a wish she made during an intense IBS flare-up is why she’s trapped; now, she’s forever waiting for her anticipated appointment with a specialist whom she hoped wouldn’t dismiss her symptoms because of her weight. Everything changes when she encounters her former BFF, nonbinary and arthritic Jess, and discovers they’re also stuck. Horrified to learn that Phoebe hasn’t taken advantage of the “no consequences” aspect of the loop, Jess dubs themself a “certified fun guide” and pushes Phoebe into new activities, such as seeking revenge on a bully and hanging out with Jess’s brother’s band. As their time together blossoms into romance, Phoebe’s comfort in the certainty of the loop’s events chafes against Jess’s sudden desire to break the loop. Via sparkling prose, Greenfield crafts a magnetic romance between two disabled teens that highlights the realities of their experiences, comforting reconnection, and ways in which anxiety can distort perception. Ages 13–up. Agent: Natascha Morris, Tobias Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

High schoolers Florence, a dancer, and Jude, a photographer, meet while participating in the traditional “sunrise night,” the last day of art camp, during which campers stay out all night. Despite the pair’s individual challenges—Florence worries that a worsening eye condition will end her ability to dance and Jude struggles with heightened anxiety in the aftermath of his parents’ divorce—they make each other laugh, and think, and hope. They know there’s something between them, but since Jude has a girlfriend, and he and Florence live nowhere near each other, they agree not to talk again until the next sunrise night. Coauthors Cavallaro (Manifest) and Zentner (In the Wild Light) employ spot-on banter to deliver a romance teeming with an ambiance of endless possibility on the precipice of devastating heartbreak. As the teens bond over their shared love and conviction for their craft, between them spins a love story that is truly suspenseful. The will-they-won’t-they plot, ferried along by the duo’s alternating perspectives, will have readers struggling between racing toward the ending and lingering over the luminous verse. Protagonists read as white. Ages 13–up. Agents: (for Cavallaro) Taylor Haggerty, Root Literary; (for Zentner) Charlie Olsen, InkWell Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Sparks fly between handsome cowboy Colton Walker and exasperated West Coast transplant Riley Thomas in this lighthearted debut. After relocating to Nebraska, Riley’s family insists on embarking on an Oregon Trail tour, an outdoorsy survival reenactment run by Colton’s family. Though initially at odds, Riley and Colton soon grow closer as they traverse the trail; Colton realizes that Riley has survival capabilities he’d never suspect from a California girl, and Riley falls for Colton once she learns that his sweet, soft-spoken country gallantry is genuine. But there are plenty of perils on the trail, including buffalo stampedes, familial tumult, and the sudden appearance of Colton’s loudmouth rival, whose competitive streak against Colton once again rears its head in his pursuit of Riley. Then life-changing news from her mother forces Riley to decide whether Nebraska—and Colton—will be in her future at all. The Oregon Trail setting provides an evocative backdrop against which Riley and Colton’s snappy banter and push-pull dynamic plays out. Well-worn romance tropes delivered via tightly paced writing teeming with sunshiny vibes make this a swoony and uplifting read. Main characters read as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, JABberwocky Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

When Ellie Egan’s Deaf boarding school closes, it means she’ll have to move home to Cincinnati, where she’ll be forced to complete her senior year at Amber High as the only Deaf student. It starts out poorly: one of Ellie’s interpreters continually misrepresents what Ellie is saying, leading to an emotional outburst that sparks rumors that Ellie is “pretending to be deaf.” Meanwhile, Jackson Messina doesn’t understand the constant numbness in his legs or why he’s feeling so fatigued. Following a disastrous outcome at his last soccer match, he’s been avoiding his team, who are still angry. Asked to give the new student a school tour, Jackson agrees but fumbles when he realizes she’s Deaf. However, Ellie’s prickly personality intrigues Jackson, and he begins teaching himself ASL. Via Jackson and Ellie’s alternating perspectives, Sortino (Give Me a Sign) details Jackson’s health challenges and Ellie’s conflicts at home taking downward spirals, which leave the teens wondering if they’re better off alone. The pair’s sweet courtship leans into missteps and aching human moments in this empathetic romance that intricately depicts Deaf and disabled experiences. Protagonists cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kari Sutherland, KT Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink

Iranian diasporic culture collides with Hollywood life in this over-the-top children’s debut by Jalili (Just Send the Text, for adults). On Josie Lawrence’s 18th birthday, she receives a letter from her “deceased estranged biological father” and learns that he was beloved reality TV dad Ali Mashad. The revelation leaves Josie reeling, partially because Ali was already married to the Mashad matriarch when he had an affair with Josie’s late mother, and partially because agreeing to do just one season on the family’s reality show could earn Josie $40 million. Though “becoming tight with these mega celebrities feels even more fake than the money,” she accepts, hoping to alleviate her stepfather’s debt, save up for college tuition, and get to know her three half sisters. But Josie is caught unawares by the fame, a crush (that’s “like, low-key incest”), and dramatic secrets that challenge her perception of her mother and the Mashads. Lines that casually pathologize characters’ behaviors occasionally clash with Josie’s otherwise conscientious narration. Still, Jalili ascribes depth and nuance to the Persian American cast and, as a treat for die-hard fans of media glamour, peppers the text with tongue-in-cheek nods to Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Gossip Girl, and The Princess Diaries. Ages 12–up. Agent: Amy Bishop-Wycisk, Dystel, Goderich, & Bourret. (July)

Reviewed on 04/26/2024 | Details & Permalink