We’ve got five books on our radar this week! Which ones are you adding to your TBR list?
The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
HarperCollins
Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a blue-collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis’s only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates.
As if his circumstances couldn’t get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinished business to take care of.
As Walt and Hollis begin working together to put Walt’s spirit to rest, an unspeakable bond forms between them, and the boys begin falling for one another in unexpected ways. But it’s only a matter of time before Hollis’s best friends begin to notice that something about Hollis isn’t quite…right.
With the threat of a long-overdue exorcism looming before them, will Walt and Hollis be able to protect their love and undo the curse that turned their town from a garden of possibility into a place where dreams go to die?
If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Lights. Camera. Love?
Rochelle “the Shell” Coleman is laser focused on only three things: becoming valedictorian, getting into Wharton, and, of course, taking down her annoyingly charismatic nemesis and only academic competition, Amira Rodriguez. However, despite her stellar grades, Rochelle’s college application is missing that extra special something: a job.
When Rochelle gets an opportunity to work at Horizon Cinemas, the beloved Black-owned movie theater, she begrudgingly jumps at the chance to boost her chances at getting into her dream school. There’s only one problem: Amira works there… and is also her boss.
Rochelle feels that working with Amira is its own kind of horror movie, but as the two begin working closely together, Rochelle starts to see Amira in a new light, one that may have her beginning to actually… like her?
But Horizon’s in trouble, and when mysterious things begin happening that make Horizon’s chances of staying open slimmer, it’s up to the employees to solve the mystery before it’s too late, but will love also find its way into the spotlight?
Iron Tongue of Midnight (The Forge & Fracture Saga, Book 3) by Brittany N. Williams
Amulet Books
Swashbuckling and romantic, this series delivers an unforgettable story—and a heroine unlike any other.
It all ends with the Fae Queen.
Seventeen-year-old Joan Sands must banish the Fae, just as her ancestor did nearly two thousand years ago. But first she’ll have to unravel the mystery behind the original pact that allows the Fae to openly terrorize London while King James hides in the countryside, protected by the children of the Orisha.
Armed with a magical sword and the power to manipulate and create metal, Joan gathers allies and enemies in unlikely places as the world she knew slips further away.
But the children of the Orisha struggle to wield their magic for war, and Joan clashes with the elders who refuse to trust the fate of the world to a child, regardless of her Orisha blessings. All while her two loves, Nick and Rose, grow closer to each other, a prospect more momentous and alluring than Joan ever could have imagined.
When a spirit bent on annihilating all who worship the Orisha is unleashed, Joan discovers the unsettling truth behind the original pact. Faced with the lies of the past, the frightening power of the Fae, and a mortal king whose dangerous whims hold her community hostage, Joan must decide: Is the old world worth saving or is it time to forge something frighteningly new?
The Summer I Ate the Rich by Maritza Moulite & Maika Moulite
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Just add garlic, lemon, and a dash of the one percent.
This smart, biting novel explores what happens when a Haitian American girl uses her previously hidden zombie abilities to exact revenge on the wealthy elites who’ve caused her family pain.
Brielle Petitfour loves to cook. But with a chronically sick mother and bills to pay, becoming a chef isn’t exactly a realistic career path.
When Brielle’s mom suddenly loses her job, Brielle steps in and uses her culinary skills to earn some extra money. The rich families who love her cooking praise her use of unique flavors and textures, which keep everyone guessing what’s in Brielle’s dishes. The secret ingredient? Human flesh.
Written by the storytelling duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, The Summer I Ate the Rich is a modern-day fable inspired by Haitian zombie lore that scrutinizes the socioeconomic and racial inequity that is the foundation of our society. Just like Brielle’s clients, it will have you asking: What’s for dinner?
Under the Fading Sky by Cynthia Kadohata
Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
A teen boy thinks his vaping habit is harmless until it becomes a crippling addiction of nightmarish dimensions in this searing young adult novel from Newbery and National Book Award winner Cynthia Kadohata.
So, stuff has, like, a beginning and an end.
And you don’t really realize that until the end, or right before.
Before that, you’re just thinking that you and your homies are chillin’ and getting high, and it’s all gonna work out. You know?
Truth is, the way life works is that you were born in the eye of a hurricane, and you think that’s just the way life is, calm-like.
Until…it isn’t.
So, yeah, Elijah is only sixteen, and already he would change a lot of stuff if he could go back in time.
But you can’t ever do that.
And when you can’t, that’s when you find out who you really are.