Now that 2020 is here, there’s a whole new wave of Young Adult fiction books hitting the shelves. Each book is different from the next- there’s something for everyone. Thus, I decided to kick off this year with a list of my top 5 new releases this year in hopes that others might enjoy them too.
- “Yes No Maybe So” by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed
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“Yes No Maybe So” is a coming of age novel that focuses on a Muslim girl named Maya Rehman and an activist known as Jamie Goldberg. In their free time, the two try to navigate the political world while attempting a cross-cultural relationship for the first time. Together, they must face racial prejudices and establish their positions in life as the election gets closer and the stakes get higher.
- “Bone Crier’s Moon” by Kathryn Purdie
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Ailesse has trained her whole life to become a Bone Crier. Specifically, the matriarch of the Bone Criers, meaning that her duty would be protecting the living from the dead with her famille of women by using animal bones to ferry dead souls to the afterlife. The twist: the job comes with a price, sacrificing one’s true love. Therefore, to complete her rite of passage and officially become a Bone Crier, Ailesse must hunt down and kill her destined beloved.
Bastien is determined to get revenge ever since a Bone Crier murdered his father. So when he stumbles upon Ailesse he doesn’t hesitate to capture her. But little does he know that just as he searched for her, Ailesse was searching for him. The only question is who will be first to kill- the ambitious huntress or the vengeful son?
- “The Vanishing Deep” by Astrid Scholte
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When the Great Waves destroyed the planet, people had to adapt to living on the water to survive. However, this doesn’t stop seventeen-year-old Tempe from diving down to explore the ruins of the once vibrant cities and look for things she can sell. Motivated by the search for the truth about her parents’ death- which she believes her sister is responsible for- Tempe tries to save enough money to buy back her dead sister Elysea’s life ever since the scientists of the island, Palindromena discovered how to reanimate the departed for 24 hours. The only thing Tempe didn’t anticipate was Elysea’s determination to experience the freedom she believes was taken from her with death. Now Tempe has no choice but to break her sister out of the facility to get answers before Elysea’s time runs out, leading the two on a dangerous journey to uncover the past while the facility’s employees are hot on their trail.
- “A Phoenix First Must Burn” by Patrice Caldwell
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This is an anthology book full of 16 stories that exemplify the black experience of teens through fantasy, science fiction, and magic. Whether it be folktales or futuristic dilemmas, this book conveys what it means to be black as a woman and as a gender nonconforming individual. Each story has its own moral- from love to strength, betrayal, and confidence- that allows readers to relate to the material and feel empowered by it. Each heroine in the book is unique and has their own story that expresses true-to-life complex problems, despite being about witches, scientists, or rebels.
- “Scavenge the Stars” by Tara Sim
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Amaya has suffered hardships ever since she was sold at the age of seven as a slave to repay her parents’ debt. It isn’t until she risks her freedom to save a mysterious man from drowning that her life turns upside down, especially when the stranger offers something Amaya never thought possible: revenge. Revenge on the man who put her in that position and hurt so many other people she cares about, Kamon Mercado. Now Amaya must go undercover in her homeland of Moray to find her enemy’s weakness and rip everything away from him, just as he did her. The only thing she didn’t expect was to start developing feelings toward Kamon’s only son, Cayo Mercado.
Cayo is a former gambler that squandered all his family’s riches, putting them in a rough position. Still, he tries his best to fix his mistake for the sake of his sister. In his eyes, there is nothing he wouldn’t do to protect his family. This puts him in an awkward position when he meets a mysterious woman hellbent on bringing them down, but who still intrigues him. This book is a complex story of deception, love, and adventure, making it hard to determine which side is right.
(Every title throughout this article will bring you to the respective book’s Goodreads page)