Teens seeking a fresh start contend with adolescent pregnancy, financial insecurity, parental absence, and substance reliance in Adjoa’s introspective debut. After placing her baby for adoption, high school junior and poet Jae determines to keep her past private, leaving her mother behind in Atlanta to move into her stern uncle’s house in Delray Beach, Fla. Joining her new school’s poetry club nets Jae promising friendships—and an unwelcome reintroduction to Derek, a popular soccer player she clashed with on her first day. Forced into the club as punishment following a breaking-and-entering incident, Derek is desperate to keep his participation—as well as the reason behind his B&E—secret. In preparation for the club’s upcoming open mic night, Derek and Jae are partnered to search for an event space. Despite their initial reluctance, the pair’s attraction for each other grows with every venue they visit. But their hesitance to share their secrets for fear of social ostracization jeopardizes their relationship. Sharply rendered poems by various characters are interspersed throughout the protagonists’ compelling and unique alternating narration, and Jae and Derek’s electric chemistry leaps off the page. Jae is of Ghanaian heritage; Derek is half Indian and half white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lindsey Auld, Writers House. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

A dirigible carrying dangerous cargo crashes, inciting a bid for survival in this swashbuckling fantasy from Reintgen (the Dragonships series). When armed soldiers board the Grand Gesture, young smuggler Pearl tries not to panic about the contraband dragon she and her aunt Hath snuck aboard. If they’re lucky, the men will be too focused on the prisoner they’re transporting—powerful teen wizard and accused murderer Marken—to pay Pearl and Hath any mind. Then the Grand Gesture is blown off course and shipwrecks on an uncharted desert island. Upon discovering that the dragon has escaped her enchanted crate, Hath tells Pearl to keep quiet and hope for a speedy rescue; warning people will just make the two women targets. After the creature starts hunting castaways, however, Pearl pleads with the soldiers to unbind Marken’s magic, reasoning that the wizard’s powers would give them a fighting chance, but the soldiers refuse, forcing Pearl to ponder mutiny. Worldbuilding takes a backseat to breathless pacing and high-stakes action. The lean plot features some seismic twists, and the shy attraction that sparks between Pearl and Marken injects a healthy dose of heart. Characters cue as racially diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Chong blends family drama, supernatural suspense, and teen angst with Malaysian folklore in this arresting debut. For five years, 18-year-old Caroline Chua has been living in New York City, learning to hone her magical skills. But when her older brother, Aaron, disappears, she is forced to return home to Penang. As the Hungry Ghost Festival—during which spirits become more powerful—approaches, it’s imperative that Aaron is found so that he can take on his duty as Malaysia’s next High Protector. Upon discovering that vengeful ghosts with a grudge against the Chua family have kidnapped Aaron to seize control of the island, Aaron’s rescue becomes Caroline’s top priority. To succeed, she must reconnect with the friends she lost contact with after leaving for N.Y.C., including JJ, her former love interest, who still sets her heart aflutter. An experience of forging one’s own path while managing expectations is sensitively rendered alongside propulsive action sequences, dynamic plot twists, and affecting interpersonal conflict involving forgiveness, friendship, and self-advocacy. Ages 12–up. Agent: Larissa Melo Pienkowski, Azantian Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Khorram (The Breakup Lists) impresses with this searing, deeply felt dual-POV novel about the aftermath of a thoughtless act and the process of making amends. Egged on by a friend, Kansas City high school freshman Dayton shouts a homophobic slur during an assembly. While serving subsequent in-school suspension, Dayton connects with classmate Brody. Though Brody is most known for his raunchy jokes, Dayton is surprised to discover his hidden nerdy, caring side. The pair’s friendship becomes strained, however, when Brody’s off-color commentary repeatedly sabotages Dayton’s attempts to woo his crush. Meanwhile, student Farshid struggles to reconcile thoughts about his own sexuality with worries surrounding his self-image. Upon realizing that the slur could apply to him, he avoids thinking about it by devoting himself to a punishing diet and grueling workouts in an exhaustive pursuit to gain more muscle. When Dayton and Farshid are partnered for a history project, the boys are forced to confront the consequences of Dayton’s assembly exclamation. Urgent second-person narration expertly nails both teens’ insecurities and self-perception. The result is a powerfully relevant and affirming story about trying to connect with oneself while navigating homophobia, misogyny, and toxic masculinity. Dayton and Brody read as white; Farshid is Iranian Bahá’í. Ages 12–up. Agent: Molly O’Neill, Root Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

A high schooler grapples with conflicting ideologies on “how to be a man, a real man” in this empathetic novel by Lessore (Dropping Beats). Black 14-year-old Anton and his friends are at the top of the food chain at his South London school. Because of his father’s incarceration for physical assault charges five years ago, Anton’s classmates assume he’s tough, an assumption he perpetuates with help from his friends, with whom he routinely disrupts class, picks fights, and bullies other students. When, after one too many detentions, Anton’s mother enrolls him in a volunteer organization, Anton is paired with Matthew, the one classmate spared from Anton’s torment, and the only person who never cracked jokes about his dad. As the boys grow closer, though, Anton’s friends—claiming Matthew has made him soft—present an ultimatum: drop Matthew, or become the group’s next target. Anton’s father’s release from prison complicates things further. As he navigates sometimes heavy experiences informed by the pressure of toxic masculinity, Anton’s charismatic and comedic first-person narration details his reluctant friendship with Matthew, whose open vulnerability and willingness to connect with others models for Anton a previously unknown example of moving through the world. Ages 12–up. Agent: Becca Langton, Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

In 1918, an orphaned teen must prove herself innocent of her guardian’s murder in this atmospheric historical mystery from Lee (Kill Her Twice). As a baby, Lucy Nowhere washes ashore on Orcas Island, Wash., where shipbuilder and estate owner Darkon Sanders takes her in. Now 18, Lucy yearns to see more of the world and learn about her origins; she believes that her acceptance to the University of Washington is her ticket off the island. After Sanders’s decapitated head appears on the shoreline, islanders worry that the sea wolves, commanded by the legendary demon Orkus, are responsible for his death. But when Lucy is named heiress of the estate instead of Sanders’s dashing nephew Nash, she finds herself under suspicion as well. Science-minded Lucy works to unravel the mystery surrounding the sea wolves and Sanders’s murder, along the way becoming romantically entangled with both her watchful friend, Koa, and “presumptuous city rat” Nash. Descriptive prose and sensorial imagery bring the intersectionally diverse people and beguiling setting of this gothic whodunit to vivid life. Realistically rendered characters navigate fast-paced events with a dash of romance, culminating in a captivating adventure that perceptively ruminates on themes of colonization, gender discrimination, and environmental collapse. An author’s note concludes. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this winsome collaboration from Kelkar (The Cobra’s Song) and Lerner (A Work in Progress), two sixth graders become unlikely allies in an effort to save their school library. Indian American Roohi views white-cued classmate Nate as an underachieving slacker. Nate, meanwhile, thinks Roohi is a snobby know-it-all. Then both join Lunch Brunch, their school’s newly formed reading club, and—following personal reveals on both sides—they begin seeing each other in a new light. Roohi feels alienated by her track friends after an injury that forced her to take a break, and Nate believes his academic struggles are amplified by his parents constantly comparing him to his genius older brother. Other club members soon start opening up as well, and their honesty and vulnerability forges a stronger bond than any of them anticipated. But when budget cuts threaten to oust their beloved librarian and club adviser, the Lunch Brunch resolves to come to the rescue, even as they navigate personal challenges. Rapid-fire chapters alternate between Roohi and Nate’s buoyant POVs. Grayscale comics and spot illustrations accentuate the lighthearted humor of the characters’ evergreen adolescent conflicts while earnest prose and a supportive cast emphasize themes of pressure to meet expectations and managing friendships. Ages 8–12. Agents: (for Kelkar) Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary; (for Lerner) Myrsini Stephanides, Arc Literary Management. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

A precocious princess must contend with ethical and physical peril in this immersive historical adventure from Zahler (Wild Bird). Twelve-year-old Princess Blanca prefers playing with her best friend Suna, whose hearing was impaired by a childhood illness, to devoting herself to her royal studies. As the youngest of Castile’s two princesses, Blanca knows that all aristocratic duties will fall to her beloved sister, Urraca. While eavesdropping on her father and a trusted adviser, Blanca overhears that the siblings’ grandmother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitane, will chaperone a princess of Castile to France, where she will enter a political marriage. To Blanca’s shock, the queen chooses not Urraca but Blanca. Together with Queen Eleanor, her sizable retinue, and Suna, Blanca embarks on an arduous journey over the mountains from Spain into France. Along the way, she must reconcile the privilege she experiences as royalty with the discrimination Suna endures due to her hearing impairment and “unchristian” religious beliefs, and navigate life-or-death situations that force her to reexamine her values and choose the type of leader she wants to become. Smoothly flowing prose accessibly presents myriad historical and philosophical concepts. Methodically generated interactions between empathetic characters provide ample opportunity for readers to consider how differing perspectives come together and how the past informs the future. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Resilient tweens must work together to survive in this race-against-the-clock fictionalization of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. After losing ownership of the family gold mine, 12-year-old Cora Henshaw’s father travels from San Francisco to Los Angeles for work, leaving Cora to take care of her mother and younger brothers. Desperate for money, Cora steals food and picks pockets to feed her family, and visits the docks at dawn to scan passenger ships for her father’s return. She’s on her daily trip to the docks—accompanied by Chi, a girl from Chinatown she’s just met—when an earthquake hits and the street cracks open beneath them. Callouts at the start of each chapter detail a minute-by-minute timeline of events, against which Nielsen (The Free State of Jax) hair-raisingly chronicles Cora and Chi’s struggle to escape the underground cave-in while contending with ruthless looters and corrupt officials. Though plot points lean heavily on convenience and some characterizations feel one-dimensional, high-tension conflict ensures reader investment across a thrilling adventure narrated via Cora’s sincere first-person POV. An author’s note concludes. Most characters are white; Chi reads as having Chinese ancestry. Ages 8–12. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Aevitas Creative Management. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

As addressed in an endnote, Anishinaabe/Métis author Lindstrom (Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior) pulls inspiration from the North-West Resistance of 1885 in Saskatchewan to deliver a rousing historical tale about standing up for what one believes in. After learning that her Métis community is at risk of being forcibly removed from their land by the Canadian government, 12-year-old Rose determines to do whatever it takes to protect her village of Batoche. As things throughout Batoche grow tense, Rose pleads with her parents to share stories of their similar ordeal in Manitoba and the Red River area in 1870. Though her family is hesitant to relive the experience by remaining in Batoche, Rose soon helps them see the value in aiding the burgeoning resistance: she assists in spying, gathering weapons, and generating a plan to stop an approaching steamboat carrying Gatling guns. Though the story is somewhat unevenly paced, it nevertheless excels in relaying potent depictions of the cycles of grief and loss that permeate Indigenous history as seen through the eyes of an indomitable protagonist who will engender empathy and inspire readers. Ages 8–11. Agent: Allison Remcheck, Stimola Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink