Book Lists

Five Life and Death Books for Summer

Posted onAuthorAudrey

While I was taking a look at upcoming titles this summer, a theme caught my eye. Here are five books all about the highest stakes: life and death.

Illustrated cover for Funerals Are For the Living by Sami Ellis. Two teenage girls peer down into an open grave while the full moon looms over them in a purple sky. The white girl appears to be just standing there, but the Black girl is reaching down to the person who is in the grave--apparently another Black girl, who has a red manicure and dark cracks through the skin on the back of her hand and into her wrist, like she is in the process of falling apart or decaying. Funerals Are for the Living by Sami Ellis
Amulet || Publishes 21 July 2026

A month ago, Junie Daniels was in a car crash that left her with a dead sister, fragmented memories of the accident, and a mother too checked-out to plan a funeral. The cheapest grave plot Junie can find is in the next town over. Sure, Williamsville is still proudly named after a slave master who was rumored to dabble in dark magic—but this North Carolina, after all.

When unexplained occurrences start happening at the graveyard, though, Junie and her best friend, Omari, investigate. And it’s not long before Junie and Omari are taken…

Williamsville wants both Daniels girls. But Junie will do anything to protect her sister—even if it’s only her corpse.

Illustrated cover for Take It To Your Grave by Louangie Bou-Montes. The cover is a close up of half of boy's face. He has one hand pressed to the side of his face, covering most of his cheek and his ear, and he stares directly at the viewer. In his eye, you can see a white, human-shaped reflection. There's something like a colored bar a static effect in the background, bleeding into the boy's hand and face. Take it to Your Grave by Lounge Bou-Montes
Godwin Books || Publishes 21 July 2026

Maximiliano Rafael Guerrero Lopez “Max” has been dead for 30 years. He’s stuck as a sixteen-year-old in his childhood bedroom with no memory of how he died, and no company aside from rotting floor boards and mildew-ridden guitars.

Joaquín Felix Ladrón “Joaquín” is a high schooler who’s desperate to experience something paranormal―he’d do anything to even catch a glimpse of a ghost, even if it means sacrificing his relationship with his boyfriend.

When Joaquín goes on a ghost hunt at an abandoned house that’s rumored to be haunted, he and Max find their fates becoming intertwined in ways neither of them expected. But, as Max’s powers begin to grow stronger, it becomes clear that their tentative friendship may just prove to be fatal…

Cover for Too Perfect to Die by Juliana Goodman. The title is styled like a red, glittery charm and hangs off what might be a charm bracelet along with a green bow and a silver megaphone with the word CHEER on it. There's blood splattered across the cover, along with the phrase This Team Kills. Too Perfect to Die by Juliana Goodman
Feiwel & Friends || Publishes 28 July 2026

With competition this fierce, bodies are bound to hit the mat…

All Jonty has ever wanted is to lead her cheerleading team, The Exalted Ones, to win a NCA championship. Cheer is not just a sport, it’s her legacy. Her mother cheered for T.E.O. before she died, and Jonty would do anything to snatch the crown and honor her mother’s memory. This year she has a real shot, finally beating her rival Tommie and becoming the team captain.

But Jonty’s perfect season is shattered when Tommie shows up dead on the first day of practice. Now the team is down a flyer and everyone is convinced that Jonty killed her. Everyone except Adam, her co-captain, who was with her the night that Tommie died.

As the season progresses, girls keep dropping like flies, and one thing becomes clear: Someone is sabotaging The Exalted Ones, and they’re willing to commit murder to get their way. But with the police still convinced it’s her, will Jonty be able to save herself, her team, and her perfect season?

Illustrated cover for Death Card by Jasmine Smith. A Black teenage girl peers out from behind the Death card, which she holds in between two fingers while the card obscures her right eye. She looks intently at the viewer even though her face is partly turned away, and there are golden butterflies or moths in the foreground along with a pair of skulls. There are what looks like swirls of black and purple magic around her, and the full moon hovers in the background.Death Card by Jasmine Smith
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers || Publishes 11 August 2026

A dark contemporary fantasy featuring witchcraft, tarot, death, and a bit of romance that’s perfect for fans of Immortal Dark and Cinderella Is Dead.

On an ordinary Monday morning, eighteen-year-old Mikaela Broussard receives the shock of her life. During a customer’s tarot reading at her family’s occult shop, she turns over the Death card and envisions the beautiful stranger stabbing her in the heart.

In order to determine why the girl, Joelle, wants to kill her, she’ll have to keep her close. But the more time Mikaela spends with her soon-to-be murderer, the more irresistible she finds her.

As if imminent death isn’t worrisome enough, witches are turning up with their magic stolen. And it’s clear some very dark magic is at work. Mikaela, as the next Witch Queen of her coven, is tasked with figuring out who’s behind the horrific acts—a mystery that will put her and her power to the test.

Death Card is a dark, pacy, and romantic fantasy about one witch’s journey to find the strength to fight for herself, her future, and her beloved community.

Collage style cover for My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru. The title is scrawled across a whiteboard in dark pink all caps, except for the word KILLER, which is assembled from cut out letters. A black and white photo of an older woman is near the center, with tire tracks across her face leading to a white truck. A photo booth strip of a couple is tied with red string to a kitchen knife that's plunged into the white board. A photo of a large mansion is connected to a silver key by more red string. In the bottom right hand corner is a post-it note that says NOTHING BRINGS FAMILY TOGETHER LIKE ATTEMPTED MURDER. My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru
Atheneum Books for Young Readers || Publishes 11 August 2026

Knives Out meets Never Have I Ever in this hilarious and twisty young adult mystery-comedy about an Indian American teen whose family reunion at a lavish manor falls into chaos after her grandma is attacked.

Nothings brings family together like attempted murder.

There are three things Jayshree Devi can count on happening at her annual family reunion: 1) her cousins will forget she exists, 2) her aunts will try to set her up, and 3) her uncles will get into a fight. What she doesn’t expect? An accident that lands her grandmother in a coma, throwing the family—and their matriarch’s sizeable fortune—into chaos.

When Jay discovers Grand Mom’s “accident” might not have been so accidental after all, she’ll have to dig through decades of secrets to find the truth. With the help of her (annoyingly perky) cousins and one of their (annoyingly hot) friends, Jay finds herself knee-deep in a mystery that’s even more tangled than her family tree.

But the closer Jay gets to answers, the closer she gets to finding her place amongst the relatives who once felt so distant. With Grand Mom’s life and fortune hanging in the balance, can Jay save her family and maybe hook up with a hottie while she’s at it?