New Releases

New Releases

Posted onAuthorK. Imani Tennyson

All of these books look interesting to me. I don’t even know which book I want to add to my TBR reading list first.

Illustrated cover for Gita Desai is Not Here to Shut Up. The girl on the cover looks directly at the viewer. She is illustrated with blue skin and black hair, eyebrows, and eyes. She is wearing red lipstick and a yellow lightning bolt earring in her left ear.Gita Desai Is Not Here to Shut Up by Sonia Patel
Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books

It’s eighteen-year-old Gita Desai’s first year at Stanford University, and it’s a miracle she’s here and not already married off by her traditional Gujarati parents. She’s determined to death-grip her good-girl, model-student rep all the way to medical school, which means no social life or standing out in any way. Should be easy: If there’s one thing she’s learned from her family it’s how to chup-re—to “shut up,” fade into the background.

But when childhood memories of her aunt’s desertion and her then-uncle’s best friend resurface, Gita ditches the books night after night in favor of partying and hooking up with strangers. Still, nothing can stop the nagging voice in her head that’s growing louder and louder, insisting something’s wrong… and the only way she can burst forward is to stop shutting-up about the past.

Illustrated cover of Ida, in Love and in Trouble. A young Black woman, Ida B. Wells, looks confidently over her shoulder at the viewer. She is wearing what's probably a dark blue, late 1800s dress. It has puffy sleeves, and she is wearing a coordinating little hat with a lavender accent and lavender gloves. She as a fountain pen in one hand. She is framed by scattered newspapers and letters.Ida, in Love and in Trouble by Veronica Chambers
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Before she became a warrior, Ida B. Wells was an incomparable flirt with a quick wit and a dream of becoming a renowned writer. The first child of newly freed parents who thrived in a community that pulsated with hope and possibility after the Civil War, Ida had a big heart, big ambitions, and even bigger questions: How to be a good big sister when her beloved parents perish in a yellow fever epidemic? How to launch her career as a teacher? How to make and keep friends in a society that seems to have no place for a woman who speaks her own mind? And – always top of mind for Ida – how to find a love that will let her be the woman she dreams of becoming?

Ahead of her time by decades, Ida B. Wells pioneered the field of investigative journalism with her powerful reporting on violence against African Americans. Her name became synonymous with courage and an unflinching demand for racial and gender equality. But there were so many facets to Ida Bell and critically acclaimed writer Veronica Chamber unspools her full and colorful life as Ida comes of age in the rapidly changing South, filled with lavish society dances and parties, swoon-worthy gentleman callers, and a world ripe for the taking.

Illustrated cover of Till the Last Beat of My Heart. Two boys float in swirls of mist, looking like they might be falling. The one below has reached up with his right hand to grab the other by the back of the neck or maybe the shoulder, while the one above has grabbed his arm and also is very carefully touching his jaw. They're looking at each other longingly. Behind them floats a giant pocket watch with a cracked glass face.Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes
HarperCollins

When you grow up in a funeral home, death is just another part of life. But for sixteen-year-old Jaxon Santiago-Noble, it’s also part of his family’s legacy. Most dead bodies in the town of Jacob’s Barrow wind up at Jaxon’s house; his mom is the local mortician, after all. He doesn’t usually pay them much mind, but when Christian Reyes is brought in after a car accident, Jaxon’s world is turned upside down.

There are a lot of things Jaxon wishes he could have said to his once best friend and first crush. When he accidentally resurrects Christian, Jaxon might finally have that chance. But the more he learns about his newfound necromancy, the more he grasps that Christian’s running on borrowed time—and it’s almost out.

As he navigates dark, mysterious magics and family secrets, Jaxon realizes that stepping into an inherited power may also mean opening up old family wounds if he wants to keep the boy he may be falling for alive for good.

Illustrated cover of The Rez Doctor. A young Indigenous man stands confidently with his hands on his hips. He is wearing a doctor's white lab coat over a collared shirt and pants, and he has a stethoscope around his neck. He is smiling, but the illustration is cropped so you can't only barely see the bottom of his nose.The Rez Doctor written by Gitz Crazyboy & illustrated by Veronika Barinova
HighWater Press

Young Ryan Fox gets good grades, but he’s not sure what he wants to be when he grows up. It isn’t until he meets a Blackfoot doctor during a school assembly that he starts to dream big.

However, becoming a doctor isn’t easy. University takes Ryan away from his family and the Siksikaitsitapi community, and without their support, he begins to struggle. Faced with more stress than he’s ever experienced, he turns to partying. Distracted from his responsibilities, his grades start to slip. His bills pile up. Getting into med school feels impossible. And now his beloved uncle is in jail. Can Ryan regain his footing to walk the path he saw so clearly as a boy?

Illustrated cover of Desert Echoes. A teenager stands in the middle of a desert, in a t-shirt and sweatpants, surrounded by some low clumps of grass and a few joshua trees. He has his hands in his pockets, and he's looking up at the cloudy sky, which dominates the cover. There are two other people, more indistinct in the background, separately watching him from different distances.Desert Echoes by Abdi Nazemian
HarperCollins

From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.

Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.

Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.

Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.

Illustrated cover of Between the Pipes. An Indigenous teenage who is wearing hockey gear. The colors of the rainbow stream off to the left from his hockey gear, almost like wisps of smoke. In the top right corner is a wolf with its jaws open, and behind them both is what looks like the northern lights.Between the Pipes
Story by Albert McLeod with Elaine Mordoch and Sonya Ballantyne (Contributor) & illustrated by Alice RL
HighWater Press

Thirteen-year-old Chase’s life and identity should be simple. He’s the goalie for his hockey team, the Eagles. He’s a friend to Kevin and Jade. He’s Kookum’s youngest grandchild. He’s a boy. He should like girls.

But it’s not that simple. Chase doesn’t like girls the way that the other boys do. It’s scary being so different from his peers. Scarier still is the feeling that his teammates can tell who he is—and that they hate him for it. If he pretends hard enough, maybe he can hide the truth.

Real strength and change can’t come from a place of shame. Chase’s dreams are troubled by visions of a bear spirit, and the more he tries to hide, the more everything falls apart. With the help of an Elder, and a Two-Spirit mentor, can Chase find the strength to be proud of who he is?

“Between the Pipes” explores toxic masculinity in hockey through the experiences of an Indigenous teen.

Illustrated cover for They Thought They Buried Us. The cover shows a view from above of three green-yellow-brown frogs on dark, mossy ground. There are fallen leaves and what looks like seedlings scattered all around. The frogs are arrayed loosely in a triangle, so they look like they're watching each other.They Thought They Buried Us by NoNieqa Ramos
Carolrhoda Lab

Horror fan and aspiring film director Yuiza gets a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

As one of the few students of color at Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy, Yuiza immediately feels out of place. A brutal work-study schedule makes it impossible to keep up with the actual classes. Every expense, from textbooks to laundry, puts Yuiza into debt. And the behavior of students and faculty is… unsettling.

Yuiza starts having disturbing dreams about the school’s past and discovers clues about the fate of other scholarship students. It’ll take all Yuiza’s knowledge of the horror genre to escape from Our Lady’s grasp.

Illustrated cover for How to Lose a Best Friend. Two Black teenagers sit next two each other against a multcolored backdrop. The girl has long braids and is wearing a gray sweatshirt, brown pants, and white sneakers. She has her arms on her knees, and she looks like she's frowning slightly while looking straight ahead. The boy has short hair and is wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and white sneakers with bright blue laces. He's leaned back on his hands and turned toward her, and he looks like he's talking or laughing.How to Lose a Best Friend by Jordan K. Casomar
MTV Books

For as long as anyone can remember, Zeke Ladoja and Imogen Parker have been best friends. Their classmates, their parents, and even the school custodian think that they’re meant to be together. And that’s exactly what Zeke wants: for Gen to be his girlfriend. Now that she’s about to be sixteen (and allowed to date), Zeke is finally going to tell her how he feels—in front of everyone at her birthday party.

Imogen loves Zeke with all her heart, but only as a friend. The pressure to be with Zeke has sometimes been overwhelming, but up to this point, she’s been able to manage it. Then she falls for the new boy, Trevor Cook, and she knows the news will devastate Zeke. The last thing she wants to do is hurt her best friend, but she also resents the fact that no one seems to care about what she wants.

The night of Gen’s party, everything goes wrong. There’s backlash, most of it directed at Gen, and Zeke feels emboldened. He isn’t about to give up on his feelings, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove that she made the wrong choice…even if it means destroying their friendship. But Gen isn’t about to give up on fighting for herself and the freedom to love the boy she wants, not the boy she’s expected to be with.