The Saw Mouth

A genderqueer teen is hunted by a terrifying manifestation of their trauma in this gruesome thriller by Plett (Wavelength), set 10 years after a near-apocalypse triggered by a sudden phenomenon that animated machines and turned them violent. After Cedar’s mother dies under mysterious circumstances and their father and brother abandon Cedar and vanish underground, the 18-year-old flees to Sawblade Lake to live with their grandmother. There, Cedar finds a community of queer teens and the tentative promise of finally having found a place to belong—until Cedar realizes that they are being haunted by a shadowy, vengeful creature that begins murdering Sawblade Lake residents. To survive and protect their newfound family, Cedar must confront the past they tried to escape and unravel the creature’s origins. Visceral worldbuilding alongside irreverent, realistic dialogue skillfully captures the novel’s intimate emotional core against a backdrop of spine-tingling horror, while leisurely paced prose culminates in a tense, inventive narrative that blends queer identity, survival, and mystery. Main characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Amy Tompkins, Transatlantic Agency. (May)