New Releases

New Releases

Posted onAuthorK. Imani Tennyson

A whole slew of new books coming out this week and I see some I want to add to my TBR pile. How about you?

Illustrated cover of Something Like Right. A Black teenage boy with medium length curly hair gazes directly at the viewer. He is wearing a green hoodie with the hood down. There is a glitching effect across him, like an old box tv in on the fritz, so that the lines of him don't all match up and the colors aren't layering properly.Something Like Right by H. D. Hunter
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

A contemporary young adult novel about one life-altering year of a biracial Black and white teen boy, showing a raw glimpse into the systemic inequality in racialized communities.

Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s only hope for redemption is to transfer to Broadlawn Alternative School and complete the year.

Zay isn’t thrilled about the disgusting school lunch and classroom trailers at Broadlawn, and boarding with his aunt Mel and her live-in boyfriend isn’t the greatest. But he’d rather be there than in the city dealing with his estranged father, his overbearing mother, and the fallout from his fight. Besides, Broadlawn has Feven, the beautiful new student Zay is starting to get to know—and fall for.

Still, first love is rarely a fairy tale, and as Zay’s time in Broadlawn comes to an end, he learns that shaping yourself within a new place is a lot harder than letting it shape you.

A tender contemplation of first love, broken families, and healing generational trauma by an incredible voice in young adult fiction.

Illustrated cover of Drown Me With Dreams. Two Black teenagers stand facing opposite ways, shoulder to shoulder, though they are both looking at the viewer. The girl is wearing a green backless dress and has long curly hair past her shoulders and bright yellow eyes. The boy is wearing a green and gold tunic, has short curly hair, and bright blue eyes. He is holding a candle, and it looks like there are waves crashing behind them.Drown Me with Dreams (Sing Me to Sleep #2) by Gabi Burton
Bloomsbury YA

In the second book in this dark and seductive YA fantasy duology, a siren must decide if saving her kingdom is worth betraying the boy she loves.

Saoirse Sorkova is on the run. Accused of several murders, her siren identity compromised, even the newly crowned King Hayes can’t protect her if she’s caught. The only way to save her life is to send her on a dangerous mission across the magical barrier that surrounds the kingdom.

Forced to travel with Carrick – once her best friend, now her greatest betrayer – she begins to unravel multiple plots that threaten the safety of her family, the livelihood of the entire kingdom, and her future with Hayes. And the more time she spends with Carrick, the harder it is to keep hating him . . .

Soon, Saoirse is forced to what if Hayes isn’t the right ruler for the kingdom? And if he’s not, is she willing to betray her king – and her heart?

Featuring an all Black and Brown cast, a forbidden romance, and a compulsively dark plot full of twists, this thrilling YA fantasy series is perfect for fans of A Song Below Water and To Kill a Kingdom.

Illustrated cover of Prince of the Palisades. Two Black teenage boys stand together with a Los Angeles beach and palm trees in the distance behind them. The light suggests it is just after sunset. One boy has short cropped pink hair and wears a yellow sweater. He has his had on the other boy's upper arm. The second boy is wearing sunglasses and is wearing a dark blue with gold embroidery. His hair is shaved on the sides with longer curls up top. The boys are looking at each other fondly.Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters
Viking Books for Young Readers

Young Royals meets Red, White, and Royal Blue in this heart-pumping romance by award-winning author Julian Winters!

When roguish Prince Jadon of Îles de la Rêverie is left in America to clean up his image after a horribly public break-up gone viral, romance is not on the table. Carefully planned photo ops with puppies? Yes. Scheduled appearances with the Santa Monica elite Absolutely. Rendezvous with a pink-haired, film-obsessed hottie from the private school where he’s currently enrolled? Uhhhh . . .

Together with his entourage—a bitingly witty royal guard, Rêverie’s future queen (and Jadon’s brilliant older sister), and a quirky royal liaison—Jadon’s on a mission to turn things around and show his parents, and his country, that he’s more than just a royal screw-up. If he doesn’t prove that he’s the prince Rêverie deserves? Well, he may not be allowed home . . .

But falling for a not-so-royal American boy has Jadon redefining what it means to be a leader. If he can be someone’s Prince Charming just by being himself, maybe that’s all it takes to win over a nation. Or at least a prince can dream .

Illustrated cover for A Bánh Mì for Two. Two Vietnamese girls are wearing áo dài, one with a red tunic with white trousers and the other vice versa. They're both leaning against a food cart that is selling bánh mì, and you can see some Sài Gòn buildings behind them. The girls are smiling at each other.A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen
Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks

In this sweet sapphic romance about two foodies in love, Vivi meets Lan while studying abroad in Vietnam and they spend the semester unraveling their families’ histories—and eating all the street food in Sài Gòn.

In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father but has stopped updating since his passing.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She’s determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she’s seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two.

When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother’s story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love.

Illustrated cover for Codex Black (Book Two): Bird of Ill Omen. Two teens from pre-Columbian Mesoamerica stand together on top of a building or wall, looking off into the distance and braced to fight. One of them has a sword-like weapon and large wings with black feathers and a green, red, and gold covering that appears part of their clothes. The other has something that looks like a necklace clutched in one fist. Behind them looms the image of a person with elaborate clothing and jewelry.Codex Black (Book Two): Bird of Ill Omen by Camilo Moncada Lozano
IDW Publishing

Best friends Donají and Itzcacalotl stumble into dangerous political intrigue in this follow-up to the young adult epic Codex Black: A Fire Among Clouds!

In 15th-century Mesoamerica, Donají and Itzcacalotl travel to the Oracle of Lyobaa in the hopes of learning the secret behind Donají’s missing father. But instead of receiving information, they find themselves roped into a quest to stop the assassination of the great Emperor Ahuizotl! This is easier said than done when faced with a mysterious group of black-clad killers who want nothing more than to send the known world tumbling into chaos.

Along the way, the two will have to navigate new friends, old enemies, and corn people as they try to save the emperor…before it’s too late!

Illustrated cover of Helga. A teenage girl with long black hair sticks her tongue out at the viewer. She is visible from about the chest up and is wearing a green and black striped shirt. She also has a prominent set of stitches across her forehead and a thick black choker around her neck. She is wearing large white sunglasses, and you can see the reflection of a volcano in them.Helga by Catherine Yu
Page Street YA

Helga is not the obedient science experiment her father intended. And though she has only just awoken, he leaves her in the care of his lab assistant Penny to go on a business trip.

Bursting with curiosity, Helga quickly escapes from the well-meaning Penny and heads into Amaris City. There Helga finds she is as untamable as the invasive blackberry vines overtaking the island. And because of the misdeeds of her father’s scientific community, the natural world grows more volatile.

Helga soon discovers the night market, rowdy clubs, delicious food, and cute boys. Enamored with city life, she’ll do anything to find love―but she has only two weeks until her father gets back, and besides there are ominous rumblings from the volcanic island that could put her dating schemes, and even her own life, in grave peril.

Illustrated cover of Surviving the City. Two Indigenous teens have an arm around each other as they smile over a group of what looks like other teenagers working together to plant rows of seedlings in a green space. Behind the group is a toppled statue, and its base is covered in red hand prints.We Are the Medicine (Surviving the City #3) written by Tasha Spillett & illustrated by Natasha Donovan
HighWater Press

Miikwan and Dez are in their final year of high school. Poised at the edge of the rest of their lives, they have a lot to decide on. Miikwan and her boyfriend, Riel, are preparing for university, but Dez isn’t sure if that’s what they want for their future.

Grief and anger take precedence over their plans after the remains of 215 children are found at a former residential school in British Columbia. The teens struggle with feelings of helplessness in the face of injustice. Can they find the strength to channel their frustration into action towards a more hopeful future?

“We Are the Medicine” is the moving final volume of the best-selling Surviving the City series.

Illustrated cover of Love Requires Chocolate. Two Black teenagers are on a rooftop with the Paris skyline around them and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. The girl is wearing a sleeveless dress and is being lifted into the air by the boy, who is wearing a t-shirt and jeans. The lighting suggests either sunrise or sunset, and a sign reading "Chocolat Doré" is hanging from the building they're standing on.Love Requires Chocolate by Ravynn K. Stringfield
Joy Revolution

Whitney Curry is primed to have an epic semester abroad. She’s created the perfectitinerary and many, many to-do lists after collecting every detail possible about Paris, France. Thus, she anticipates a grand adventure filled with vintage boutiques, her idol Josephine Baker’s old stomping grounds, and endless plays sure to inspire the ones she writes and—ahem—directs!

But all is not as she imagined when she’s dropped off at her prestigious new Parisian lycée. A fish out of water, Whitney struggles to juggle schoolwork, homesickness, and mastering the French language. Luckily, she lives for the drama. Literally.

Cue French tutor Thierry Magnon, a grumpy yet très handsome soccer star, who’s determined to show Whitney the real Paris. Is this type-A theater nerd ready to see how lessons on the City of Lights can turn into lessons on love?