Book Recommendations: Disability in YA Fantasy

On The Booked Shelf is a YA book recommendations post all about spotlighting disability rep in Young Adult fantasy!

Young Adult fiction continues to deliver a diverse scope of stories each and every year and fantasy as a genre pushes the boundaries of imagination and storytelling, that is especially true coming from the books being written especially from authors of color, marginalized + diverse voices. We’re highlighting the many YA novels (in the fantasy subgenre) that feature characters who have disabilities are neurodivergent, etc. Here’s 10+ Young Adult fantasy titles you should check out!

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman (Useelie Duology #1)
Release Date: January 3, 2023

• Rep: Autistic mc & mc with adhd

Summary: Twin sisters, both on the run, but different as day and night. One, a professional rogue, searches for a fabled treasure; the other, a changeling, searches for the truth behind her origins, trying to find a place to fit in with the realm of fae who made her and the humans who shun her.  Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies, they find themselves unraveling a larger mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.  Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister, and herself?

A Song Of Wraiths And Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (ASOWAR #1)
Release Date: June 2, 2022

• Rep: Mc with anxiety

Summary: For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts Malik’s younger sister, Nadia, as payment into the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal—kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic . . . requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

The first in an fantasy duology inspired by West African folklore in which a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee find themselves on a collision course to murder each other despite their growing attraction.

This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede (The Last Finestra #1)
Release Date: June 28, 2022

• Rep: Mc with Adhd

Summary: Three weddings. Three funerals. Alessa’s gift from the gods is supposed to magnify a partner’s magic, not kill every suitor she touches.

Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island’s only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.

Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante’s dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?

Venom & Vow by Anna-Marie McLemore and Elliot McLemore
Release Date: May 16, 2023

• Rep: Main characters who use a cane & staff

Summary: Keep your enemy closer. Cade McKenna is a transgender prince who’s doubling for his brother. Valencia Palafox is a young dama attending the future queen of Eliana. Gael Palma is the infamous boy assassin Cade has vowed to protect. Patrick McKenna is the reluctant heir to a kingdom, and the prince Gael has vowed to destroy. Cade doesn’t know that Gael and Valencia are the same person. Valencia doesn’t know that every time she thinks she’s fighting Patrick, she’s fighting Cade. And when Cade and Valencia blame each other for a devastating enchantment that takes both their families, neither of them realizes that they have far more dangerous enemies.

A Cuse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Cursebreakers #1)
Release Date: January 29, 2019

• Rep: Mc with cerebral palsy

Summary: Fall in love. Break the curse. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s pulled into a magical world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom. Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

One For All by Lillie Lainoff
Release Date: March 8, 2022

• Rep: MC with chronic illness

Summary: An OwnVoices, gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a Musketeer and uncovers secrets, sisterhood, and self-love.

Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone in town thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl”; even her mother is desperate to marry her off for security. But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion.

Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for a new kind of Musketeer: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a swordfight.

With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels for the first time like she has a purpose, like she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her first target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming, and breathlessly attractive—and he might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to lean on her friends, listen to her own body, and decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.

The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew
Release Date: October 18, 2022

• Rep: Deaf mc

Summary: Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she’s Deaf. So when she’s accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she’s excited for the chance to prove herself. But her semester gets off to a rocky start as she faces professors who won’t accommodate her disability, and a pretentious upperclassman fascinated by Delaney’s unusual talents. Colton Price died when he was nine years old. Quite impossibly, he woke several weeks later at the feet of a green-eyed little girl. Now, twelve years later, Delaney Meyers-Petrov has stumbled back into his orbit, but Colton’s been ordered to keep far away from the new girl… and the voices she hears calling to her from the shadows. Delaney wants to keep her distance from Colton — she seems to be the only person on campus who finds him more arrogant than charming — yet after a Godbole student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit-hole of deeply buried university secrets. But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them — and their forbidden partnership — apart.

To A Darker Shore by Leanne Schwartz
Release Date: April 30, 2024

• Rep: Autistic mc

Summary: A da Vinci-esque teen girl inventor on a Dante-esque journey through hell to save her best friend. Plain, poor, plus-size, and autistic, Alesta grew up trying to convince her kingdom that she’s too useful to be sacrificed like so many of their country’s poor to appease the infernal monster across the poison sea in hell. When Alesta’s attempt to prove herself with inventions goes awry, her best friend and heir to the throne, Kyrian, takes the blame expecting leniency―and ends up tithed in her place. To end the sacrifices forever, Alesta plans to kill the monster that killed her friend. She travels to the depths of hell only to find Kyrian, alive, but monstrously transformed. There’s no escaping hell or their deeper feelings for one another, and the farther they go, the closer they come to uncovering a truth about the tithings that threatens to invoke the wrath of not only monsters but the gods as well.

Skyhunter by Marie Lu (Skyhunter #1)
Release Date: September 29, 2020

• Rep: Mute mc

Summary: In a world broken by war, a team of young warriors is willing to sacrifice everything to save what they love.

The Karensa Federation has conquered a dozen countries, leaving Mara as one of the last free nations in the world. Refugees flee to its borders to escape a fate worse than death—transformation into mutant war beasts known as Ghosts, creatures the Federation then sends to attack Mara.

The legendary Strikers, Mara’s elite fighting force, are trained to stop them. But as the number of Ghosts grows and Karensa closes in, defeat seems inevitable.

Still, one Striker refuses to give up hope.

Robbed of her voice and home, Talin Kanami knows firsthand the brutality of the Federation. Their cruelty forced her and her mother to seek asylum in a country that considers their people repugnant. She finds comfort only with a handful of fellow Strikers who have pledged their lives to one another and who are determined to push Karensa back at all costs.

When a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front, Talin senses there’s more to him than meets the eye. Is he a spy from the Federation? Or could he be the weapon that will save them all?

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Release Date: September 24, 2019

• Rep: Chronic Illness

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead. The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good? Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Iron Widow #1)
Release Date: September 21, 2021

• Rep: Chronic Illness

Summary: The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

Six Of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (SOC #1)
Release Date: September 29, 2015

• Rep: Main character who uses a cane & dyslexic mc

Summary: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .A convict with a thirst for revenge. A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. A runaway with a privileged past. A spy known as the Wraith. A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes. Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

‘Little Thieves’ Animated Film In Development

On February 9, Deadline reported exclusively that NYT & Sunday Times Bestselling YA fantasy author Margaret Owen’s Little Thieves is in development to be adapted into an animated movie with Available Light Productions.

Little Thieves (2021) is a reimagining of the Goose Girl the story follows 16-year-old Vanja, a thief whose been looked after by her godmothers, gods of Death and Fortune. When her theft upsets a god, she becomes cursed unless she correct her wrongs. Alongside her is a junior detective looking to arrest Vanja who is known as the Penny Phantom, a princess (whom Vanja has stolen the proper place of and taken her identity, there’s also a feral shape-shifter.

Owen’s novel, with the film adaptation retitled as Penny Phantom, has been pitched as “a fantasy comedy adventure” with Diana McCorry set to write the screenplay and Daron Nefcy as director (Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil) for the animated feature. The project appears to be in its early development stage.

According to Owen’s Instagram announcing the news, she had this to say “Soooo…. I’ve been sitting on some big news. Hide your wallets, hide your jewelry, hide your popcorn, because the gremlin girl is coming to the screen. 😘💎🩸✨”

Former Disney Channels Worldwide executive Nancy Kanter, has brought Little Thieves on board to her recently re-launched production company Available Light Productions, alongside two other projects.

Kanter said in her statement with Deadline “I look forward to landing new series and movies in just the right homes and continuing to develop material that speaks to me and to broad audiences in surprising and authentic ways.”

The medium of animation for Owen’s adaptation marks hopefully a groundbreaking step for bringing even more YA fantasy novels to screen with the only other Young Adult project in recent years to be animated being Netflix’s Nimona (2023).

No other news about estimated release date, streaming platform or casting were stated in the article.

The Little Thieves Trilogy starts with Little Thieves, followed by Painted Devils and the third book Unholy Terrors set to be released in 2025.

[character art credit in feature image goes to author Margaret Owen]

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl…

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother’s love–and she’s on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele’s dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja’s otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back… by stealing Gisele’s life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele’s sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja’s tail, she’ll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen is out now!

‘A Banh Mi for Two’ by Trinity Nguyen Cover Reveal

On January 31, the cover for debut author Trinity Nguyen’s Vietnamese Sapphic YA romcom, A Banh Mi For Two, was revealed through Twitter which is slated for a Summer 2024 release!

Vietnamese-American student Vivi, planning a secret trip to visit her family’s homeland, begins her freshman year of college in Vietnam. Inspired by the passion to unearth her family’s history and her favorite food blog A Bánh Mì for Two which is dedicated to Sài Gòn street food, she meets Lan, a Chinese-Vietnamese local banh mi seller who actually runs the blog Vivi loves, but hasn’t updated since the passing of her father. As the two girls connect and help each other unravel family history, explore the city, write and even enter a food blogging contest they find themselves falling in love.

According to her thread, Nguyen reveals the novel will be told in dual POV.

Cover artist is Molly Murakami and cover designer is Abby Granata.

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 even 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.

A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen is set to be released August 27, 2024!

Watching ‘The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes” – Read these 10+ Diverse Young Adult Dystopia Books

Its been 8 years since Mockingjay Part 2 released in theatres and fans have not forgotten the era of The Hunger Games – now with The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes film adaptation (based on Suzanne Collin’s YA prequel of the same name) coming to theatres in mere days on November 18, here’s a list of YA Dystopia (as well as futuristic Sci-Fi/Fantasy & Horror in the mix) recs all by authors of color you should read or add to your TBR if you are looking for dynamic, immersive post-apocalyptic or dystopian literature within the Young Adult space!

When it comes to YA, authors (especially authors of color) have delivered such thoughtful, creative and unique dystopian stories that explore the truths behind unjust systems, shows characters who fight for a better future, tackle deeper messages and more importantly feature teens of color at the center of these tales being the survivors who take charge for a brighter tomorrow! Enjoy these 10+ Young Adult recs:

• TBS stands with Palestine and during this time we urge you to inform yourself on the current genocide against Palestinians by watching documentaries, pick up non-fiction books (these are free through Haymarket) as well as following the book community auction / fundraiser Books For Palestine, including contacting your reps.

Dealing In Dreams by Lilliam Rivera
Published: March 15, 2019

Summary: At night, Las Mal Criadas own these streets.

Nalah leads the fiercest all-girl crew in Mega City. That role brings with it violent throw downs and access to the hottest boydega clubs, but the sixteen-year-old grows weary of the life. Her dream is to get off the streets and make a home in the exclusive Mega Towers, in which only a chosen few get to live. To make it to the Mega towers, Nalah must prove her loyalty to the city’s benevolent founder and cross the border in a search for a mysterious gang the Ashé Ryders. Led by a reluctant guide, Nalah battles other crews and her own doubts, but the closer she gets to her goal, the more she loses sight of everything—and everyone— she cares about.

Nalah must do the unspeakable to get what she wants—a place to call home. But is a home just where you live? Or who you choose to protect?

Want by Cindy Pon (Want #1)
Published: June 13, 2017

Summary: Jason Zhou survives in a divided society where the elite use their wealth to buy longer lives. The rich wear special suits that protect them from the pollution and viruses that plague the city, while those without suffer illness and early deaths. Frustrated by his city’s corruption and still grieving the loss of his mother, who died as a result of it, Zhou is determined to change things, no matter the cost.

With the help of his friends, Zhou infiltrates the lives of the wealthy in hopes of destroying the international Jin Corporation from within. Jin Corp not only manufactures the special suits the rich rely on, but they may also be manufacturing the pollution that makes them necessary.

Yet the deeper Zhou delves into this new world of excess and wealth, the more muddled his plans become. And against his better judgment, Zhou finds himself falling for Daiyu, the daughter of Jin Corp’s CEO. Can Zhou save his city without compromising who he is or destroying his own heart?

Rebelwing by Andrea Tang (Rebelwing #1)
Published: February 25, 2020

Summary: Business is booming for Prudence Wu.

A black-market-media smuggler and scholarship student at the prestigious New Columbia Preparatory Academy, Pru is lucky to live in the Barricade Coalition where she is free to study, read, watch, and listen to whatever she wants. But between essays and exams, she chooses to spend her breaks sweet-talking border patrol with her best friend, Anabel, in order to sell banned media to the less fortunate citizens of the United Continental Confederacy, Inc.

When a drop-off goes awry, Pru narrowly escapes UCC enforcers to find that her rescuer is, of all things, a sentient cybernetic dragon. On the one hand, Pru is lucky not to be in prison, or worse. On the other, the dragon seems to have imprinted on her permanently, which means she has no choice but to be its pilot.

Drawn into a revolution she has no real interest in leading, Pru, Anabel, and friends Alex and Cat become key players in a brewing conflict with the UCC as the corporate government develops advanced weaponry more terrifying and grotesque than Pru could have ever imagined.

Under This Forgetful Sky by Lauren Yero
Published: July 18, 2023

Summary: In the spirit of Paolo Bacigalupi and Laini Taylor, this futuristic star-crossed love story follows two teens struggling to find their place in a starkly unequal world.

Sixteen-year-old Rumi Sabzwari has spent his entire life behind the armored walls of St. Iago, which protect citizens of the Union of Upper Cities from the outside world’s environmental devastation. But when rebels infect his father with a fatal virus, Rumi escapes St. Iago, desperate to find a cure.

In the ruined city of Paraíso, Rumi meets fifteen-year-old Paz, who agrees to guide him on his journey. As they travel together, Rumi finds himself drawn to Paz—and behind her tough exterior, she begins to feel the same way. But Paz knows more about Rumi’s father’s illness than she’s saying and has her own agenda. With the powerful forces at play in their cities putting them at odds, can the two learn to trust in each other—enough to imagine a different world?

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (Gearbreakers #1)
Release Date: June 19, 2021

Summary: Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they’re fighting for a common purpose–and falling for each other–in Zoe Hana Mikuta’s high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu’s Legend series.

We went past praying to deities and started to build them instead...

The shadow of Godolia’s tyrannical rule is spreading, aided by their giant mechanized weapons known as Windups. War and oppression are everyday constants for the people of the Badlands, who live under the thumb of their cruel Godolia overlords.

Eris Shindanai is a Gearbreaker, a brash young rebel who specializes in taking down Windups from the inside. When one of her missions goes awry and she finds herself in a Godolia prison, Eris meets Sona Steelcrest, a cybernetically enhanced Windup pilot. At first Eris sees Sona as her mortal enemy, but Sona has a secret: She has intentionally infiltrated the Windup program to destroy Godolia from within.

As the clock ticks down to their deadliest mission yet, a direct attack to end Godolia’s reign once and for all, Eris and Sona grow closer–as comrades, friends, and perhaps something more…

The Last 8 by Laura Pohl
Release Date: March 5, 2019

Summary: A high-stakes survival story about eight teenagers who outlive an alien attack—perfect for fans of The 5th Wave

Clover Martinez has always been a survivor, which is the only reason she isn’t among the dead when aliens invade and destroy Earth as she knows it.

When Clover hears an inexplicable radio message, she’s shocked to learn there are other survivors—and that they’re all at the former Area 51. When she arrives, she’s greeted by a band of misfits who call themselves The Last Teenagers on Earth.

Only they aren’t the ragtag group of heroes Clover was expecting. The group seems more interested in hiding than fighting back, and Clover starts to wonder if she was better off alone. But then she finds a hidden spaceship, and she doesn’t know what to believe…or who to trust.

Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh (Rebel Seoul #1)
Release Date: September 14, 2017

Summary: EAST ASIA, 2199. After a great war, the East Pacific is in ruins. In brutal Neo Seoul, where status comes from success in combat, ex-gang member Lee Jaewon is a talented pilot rising in the academy’s ranks. Abandoned as a child in the slums of Old Seoul by his rebel father, Jaewon desires only to escape his past. When Jaewon is recruited into the most lucrative weapons development division in Neo Seoul, he is eager to claim his best shot at military glory.

But the mission becomes more complicated when he meets Tera, a test subject in the government’s supersoldier project. Tera was trained for one purpose: to pilot one of the lethal God Machines, massive robots for a never-ending war. With secret orders to report on Tera, Jaewon becomes Tera’s partner, earning her reluctant respect. But as respect turns to love, Jaewon begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime that creates weapons out of humans. As the project prepares to go public amidst rumors of a rebellion, Jaewon must decide where he stands–as a soldier of the Republic, or a rebel of the people. Pacific Rim meets Korean action dramas in this mind-blowing, New Visions Award-winning science fiction debut.

All These Monsters by Amy Tintera (All These Monsters #1)
Release Date: July 7, 2020

Summary: From New York Times best-selling author Amy Tintera, a high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home—even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad. Perfect for fans of Warcross and Renegades. 

Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she’s ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance.

When Clara starts training with her teammates, however, she realizes what fighting monsters really means: sore muscles, exhaustion, and worst of all, death. Scrabs are unpredictable, violent, and terrifying. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.

✔ Also check out Tintera’s YA Sci-Fi / Dystopia backlist which includes: The Reboot Duology and The Q

The Ones We’re Meant To Find by Joan He
Release Date: May 4, 2021

Summary: Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.

In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara lives in an eco-city built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia hated it. Popular and lovable, Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.

Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Logic says that her sister must be dead. But nevertheless, she decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.

The Getaway by Lamar Giles
Release Date: September 20, 2022

Summary: Welcome to the funnest spot around . . .

Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that.

As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only… they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call.

Whether they like it or not.

Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew–and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?

The Light At The Bottom Of The World by London Shah (Light The Abyss Duology #1)
Release Date: October 19, 2019

Summary: In the last days of the twenty-first century, sea creatures swim through the ruins of London. Trapped in the abyss, humankind wavers between fear and hope–fear of what lurks in the depths around them, and hope that they might one day find a way back to the surface.

When sixteen-year-old submersible racer Leyla McQueen is chosen to participate in the prestigious annual marathon, she sees an opportunity to save her father, who has been arrested on false charges. The Prime Minister promises the champion whatever their heart desires. But the race takes an unexpected turn, forcing Leyla to make an impossible choice.

Now she must brave unfathomable waters and defy a corrupt government determined to keep its secrets, all the while dealing with a guarded, hotheaded companion she never asked for in the first place. If Leyla fails to discover the truths at the heart of her world, or falls prey to her own fears, she risks capture–or worse. And her father will be lost to her forever.

Nightbreaker by Coco Ma
Release Date: September 19, 2023

Summary: Fifteen years ago, The Vanishing thrust Manhattan into darkness, forever changing the City That Never Sleeps. Aboveground, resilient New Yorkers have adapted by clinging to the vestiges of their cosmopolitan lives. Below the streets–well, you never go underground unless you have a death wish.

Or unless you’re Rei Reynolds.

By day, Rei attends the an elite New York prep school, but by cover of night, she’s is a self-initiated warrior with a knack for hunting Deathlings, the deadly creatures that haunt Manhattan’s subway tunnels and blood-soaked streets at night. All Rei wants is to avenge her parents, who were slaughtered years ago by the nightmarish monsters.

The Tournament is the only path to the career Rei has always dreamed of–becoming a Maverick, the city’s elite Deathling-killing force. Winning should be a breeze, but the one potential problem is fellow competitor Kieran Cross, Rei’s infuriating ex with whom she shares a bitter history. But as the Tournament progresses–and the cutthroat betrayals mount–everything Rei believed about who she can and cannot trust is called into question. She soon becomes the target of everyone who wants to keep the city’s ruling class in power, as well as those who seek to bring it down.

In other words, Rei is positively and completely screwed.

Legend by Marie Lu (The Legend Trilogy #1)
Release Date: November 29, 2011

Summary: What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

What are some of your favorite YA Dystopia written from BIPOC or authors of color??

This Week In YA #Booktok (May 21, 2023)

On The Booked Shelf is a new feature called “This Week in YA #Booktok” to highlight the latest buzz surrounding Young Adult titles on the bookish side of TikTok (aka #Booktok).

While the platform is filled with a vast number of creators, this is just a slice of what the algorithm has pushed onto our feed when it comes to new or upcoming titles that’ve had Booktoker’s eager to read, purchase or add the book to their TBR!

Our hope with this new feature is to not only highlight newer YA titles, but also seek out backlist reads that’ve been getting attention from creators on the platform ― consider this also as a resource if you ever find yourself wondering what other titles aside from the “Popular Booktok” are pushed by the algorithm.

With the release of ‘Divine Rivals‘ by Rebecca Ross on April 4, 2023 throughout the month of May there were an average of 25+ videos ranging across the past couple weeks from Booktoker’s praising Ross’s newest YA Fantasy Romance for the “gritty and dark” themes, alongside the reader’s love for the “compelling” main characters of Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt ― who are rival journalists set among a fantastical world of warring gods.

As of May 24, the #DivineRivals hashtag currently has 1 million views.

Shadow and Bone meets Lore in this epic enemies-to-lovers fantasy novel filled with hope and heartbreak, and the unparalleled power of love.

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

On May 22, Ross revealed through her Instagram the sequel cover to ‘Divine Rivals‘ which has been titled ‘Ruthless Vows’ slated for an April 30, 2024 release!

With the cover reveal of Gabe Cole Novoa’s upcoming YA retelling for Fierce Reads Remixed Classics Series on May 19 via Twitter as well as on TikTok the algorithm highlighted a couple videos with excitement for the Pride & Prejudice retelling. The 9th installment in the Remixed Classics Series will be a retelling in which “Darcy is gay & the second eldest Bennet is a gay trans boy”

With Booktoks garnering over 11k likes and over 53k views, Cole Novoa’s forthcoming novel had climbed up the Barnes & Noble ranks as a pre-order in the Teen & YA Bestsellers top 100 following the reveal.

A trans boy searches for a future—and a romance—in which he can live and love openly as himself in this heart-wrenching YA reimagining of Pride & Prejudice, the ninth book in the Remixed Classics series.

London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats, and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis but also by society’s expectations. The world—and the vast majority of his family and friends—think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out and explore the city dressed as a young gentleman.

During one such excursion, Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky, rude young man. But in private, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And so Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.

‘Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix’ by Gabe Cole Novoa is set to be released January 16, 2024!

That concludes the round-up for This Week In YA #Booktok! What YA Books have you seen on your Booktok fyp?

‘A Tempest Of Tea’ by Hafsah Faizal Cover Reveal

As of May 10, NYT Bestselling author Hafsah Faizal revealed the cover to her newest YA Fantasy duology via Instagram with the first novel titled A Tempest Of Tea ― slated for a Winter 2024 release!

According to Publishers Weekly the story is “Set in Ettenia, an amalgamation of 1920s and Victorian London with a dash of ancient Rome, the novel follows a gang of outcasts in a deadly heist led by Arthie Casimir to save her tearoom—which fronts an illegal blood house, where local vampires can purchase fresh blood.”

Cover artist is Valentina Remenar and art director is Aurora Parlagreco.

From Hafsah Faizal, New York Times–bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame, comes the first book in a hotly-anticipated new fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it—and she can’t do the job alone.

Calling upon a band of misfits, Arthie formulates a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not every member of her crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it. Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.

A Tempest Of Tea by Hafsah Faizal is set to be released February 20, 2024!

‘Gorgeous Gruesome Faces’ by Linda Cheng Cover Reveal

As of April 3 it was revealed via the author’s Twitter, the cover to the 2023 YA sapphic speculative thriller debut Gorgeous Gruesome Faces from Linda Cheng, slated for a Fall release with Fierce Reads!

Following a disgraced teen idol Sunny Lee, she comes face-to-face with the demons of her past and former bandmate in a workshop that brings about more questions than answers as competitors become injured and strangely mutilated, one by one.

Set in the cutthroat world of K-Pop, Cheng’s debut has been pitched as Yellowjackets meets She Is A Haunting, which also has a planned sequel.

Cheng has described her novel featuring elements of “terrible queer girls,” a “blood-soaked pop idol competition,” as well as “maybe the real treasure was the enemies we made along the way.”

Cover designer is Samira Iravani and letterer is David Milan.

After a shocking scandal that abruptly ended her teen popstar career, eighteen-year-old Sunny Lee spends her days longing for her former life and cyberstalking her ex-BFF and groupmate, Candie. The two were once inseparable, but that was then—before the tragedy and heartache they left in their wake.

In the here and now, Sunny is surprised to discover that Candie is attending a new K-pop workshop in her hometown. Candie might be there chasing stardom, but Sunny can’t resist the chance to join her and finally confront their traumatic history. Because she still can’t figure out what happened that horrible night when Mina, the third in their tight-knit trio, jumped to her death. Or if the dark and otherworldly secrets she and Candie were keeping had something to do with it . . .

But the workshop doesn’t bring the answers Sunny had hoped for, nor a happy reunion with Candie. Instead, Sunny finds herself haunted by ghostly visions while strange injuries start happening to her competitors—followed by even stranger mutilations to their bodies. In her race to survive, Sunny will have to expose just who is behind the carnage—and if Candie is out for blood once more!

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng is set to be released November 7, 2023!

‘Stars And Smoke’ by Marie Lu Cover Reveal

On September 30, revealed through Twitter was the cover to #1NYT Bestselling author Marie Lu’s YA action-thriller Stars And Smoke, slated for a Spring 2023 release!

Winter Young is a superstar who soon becomes a secret agent to infiltrate a criminal tycoon’s inner circle, the cunning, charismatic pop star is joined by the youngest spy in the covert ops organization The Panacea Group, Sydney Cossette, who poses as his bodyguard. As the mission brings them both closer together, they may become the biggest heroes the organization’s ever seen, if they can survive each other.

In her initial tweet, Lu confirmed the novel is to be a standalone, along the veins of Mission Impossible and The Hating Game.

Cover illustrator is Jessica Cruickshank and art director is Aurora Parlagreco.

Meet Winter Young—rookie backup dancer turned global pop phenomenon. His star power has smashed records, selling out stadiums from LA to London. Now he’s bringing his swoon worthy assets to a whole new arena…Infamous criminal tycoon Eli Morrison has just one weakness—his daughter, Penelope. And Penelope has just one wish for her nineteenth birthday—a private concert with Winter Young. When covert ops organization The Panacea Group approaches Winter with this once-in-a-lifetime chance to infiltrate Morrison’s inner circle, Winter must use his fame, cunning, and charisma to pull it off—only he won’t be on his own.

Posing as Winter’s bodyguard is the fiery Sydney Cossette, Panacea’s youngest spy. Sydney may be the only person alive impervious to Winter’s charms, but as the mission brings them closer, she’s forced to admit there’s more to this A-lister than slick dance moves and a handsome face. Panacea’s unlikeliest partners just might become its biggest heroes—and maybe even more—if they can survive each other first.

Stars And Smoke by Marie Lu is set to be released April 4, 2023!

2023 Young Adult Novels Spotlight

While 2022 is not over just yet, here on TheBookedShelf is a new feature where we’ll be spotlighting upcoming releases that based on the intriguing premise, you should add to your to-read list!

There’s a variety of novels across different sub-genres within Young Adult & the sincerest hope is you’ll discover some new reads, adding them to your tbr for the upcoming year!

Today’s Spotlight feature will highlight 10+ novels that don’t have covers yet, but definitely caught our attention based on the spectacular pitch, summary, title or familiarity with the author’s previous work:

We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim

Tara Sim, author of The Scavenge The Stars Duology and the Timekeeper Trilogy, returns to YA in this fantasy duology being published with Penguin Teen! She states it’s a “love letter to Indian mythology, Frankenstein, and gremlin girls vilified for their ambition.” An aesthetic based on the novel can be found on her Twitter here. We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim is slated for a Spring 2023 release!

The full summary reads: a young woman desperate to resurrect her sister escapes accusations of witchcraft by joining a group of rebels on the condition she raises their rightful prince from the dead.

I HAVE MORE YA COMING

WE SHALL BE MONSTERS is my love letter to Indian mythology, Frankenstein, and gremlin girls vilified for their ambition 💀👑🦋✨ pic.twitter.com/QuZWNx6m3B

— Tara Sim 💀 (@EachStarAWorld) July 20, 2021

She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

In this coming-of-age YA gothic horror debut from Trang Thanh Tran, Jade Nguyen stays with her estranged father in Vietnam in a “quietly” scheming house, being published with Bloomsbury! Character art and additional elements to be found within the novel can be seen on the author’s Twitter here. She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran is slated for a January 2023 release with Bloomsbury!

The full summary reads: When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised. But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat. Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house—the home her family has always wanted—will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

A Warning About Swans by R.M. Romero

Author of fairytales both for children and Young Adults, this will be Romero’s second Young Adult novel with Peachtree Teen, slated for 2023!

Not much is known about the novel yet, but based on the author’s Instagram, the novel will be in verse and most likely touch up historical & fairy tale elements as with her previous books.

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni

Debut author Aleema Omotoni presents a reimagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in her debut the story has been pitched as being set “an elite boarding school in the English countryside [were] Nigerian cousins Iyanu and Kitan are thrown into the middle of a schoolwide conspiracy when everyone’s juicy relationship secrets are released, Burn Book style, the week before the annual Valentine’s Day Ball.”

The author has also pitched her novel through Twitter as being about “Black girls, desirability, joy & family, with messy boarding school kids keeping secrets & being obliviously in love.”

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni is slated for a Spring 2023 release with Balzer + Bray.

The Summer I Ate The Rich by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

From author duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, The Summer I Ate The Rich is their newest YA, this time Contemporary Fantasy about zombies! According to Maritza Moulite’s Twitter the novel is “a whip smart YA fantasy defying economic + racial inequity & / inspired by Haitian Zombie lore.”

The initial summary follows a “teen zombie who uses her skills in the kitchen—and taste for human flesh—to get revenge on the wealthy elite responsible for her family’s pain.”

The Summer I Ate The Rich by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite is slated for a Fall 2023 with Fierce Reads and FSG.

THE SUMMER I ATE THE RICH (fall 2023):

🧟‍♀️whip smart YA fantasy defying economic + racial inequity

🇭🇹 inspired by Haitian zombie lore

📚 attn fans of MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER + PARASITE + @trishadeg

Here's our newsletter for updates!https://t.co/XiIXQ5RcCB#EatTheRich pic.twitter.com/AjogCF2D1Y

— Maritza Moulite (@MaritzaMoulite) September 9, 2021

Viva Lola Espinoza by Ella Cerón

From writer and editor Ella Cerón comes her debut novel Viva Lola Espinoza set for a Spring 2023 release with Kokila. In this coming-of-age romance with a dash of magical realism, the story follows “a booksmart teen whose summer plans are derailed when she is sent to live with her grandmother in Mexico City and learns a family secret that changes her life forever.”

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz

From debut author Zeba Shahnaz comes a twisted, time loop adventure following “lowborn Anaïs, whose attendance at the royal ball is disrupted by an explosion that rips through the palace at the stroke of midnight, killing everyone—again and again and again. To escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must figure out who’s targeting the royal family with the help of the charming prince Leo, and hope they can survive past midnight.” Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz is slated for a Spring 2023 release with Delacorte.

According to Shahnaz initial deal post on Twitter, the novel will contain “thrilling action, deadly court intrigue, and swoony romance.” A cover reveal for Midnight Strikes will also take place on July 6, 2022!

If I Have To Be Haunted by Miranda Sun

In this contemporary fantasy debut from Miranda Sun, it follows a “Chinese American teen reluctantly embraces her ghost-speaking heritage to resurrect her nemesis, the local golden boy, from an otherworldly snake bite, rekindling a multi-generational feud—and maybe falling in love with him—in the process.” The novel is slated for a Summer 2023 release with HarperCollins.

As of May, Sun shared promotional art on Twitter alongside other elements to be expected in the novel!

The Witch And The Vampire by Francesca Flores

Coming March 2023 with Wednesday Books is YA Fantasy author Francesca Flores’s newest fantasy project, this time a Sapphic Rapunzel retelling where a witch and a vampire who trust no one, must journey together through a cursed forest.

The full summary for The Witch And The Vampire reads:

Ava and Kaye used to be best friends. Until one night two years ago, vampires broke through the magical barrier protecting their town, and in the ensuing attack, Kaye’s mother was killed, and Ava was turned into a vampire. Since then, Ava has been trapped in her house. Her mother needs her: Ava still has her witch powers, and Eugenia must take them in order hide that she’s a vampire as well. Desperate to escape her confinement, Ava needs to reach the vampires that live in the forest and to stop her mother’s plans for the town. When there is another attack, she sees her opportunity and escapes.

Kaye, now at the end of her training as a Flame witch, is ready to fulfill her duty of killing any vampires that threaten the town, including Ava. On the night that Ava escapes, Kaye follows her and convinces her to travel together into the forest, while secretly planning to turn her in. Ava agrees, hoping to rekindle their old friendship, and the romantic feelings she’d started to have for Kaye before that terrible night.

But with monstrous trees that devour humans whole, vampires who attack from above, and Ava’s stepfather tracking her, the woods are full of danger. As they travel deeper into the forest, Kaye questions everything she thought she knew. The two are each other’s greatest threat—and also their only hope, if they want to make it through the forest unscathed.

Which 2023 Young Adult Books are you looking forward to? What’s already on your TBR?

‘Cemetery Boys’ Sequel Releasing In 2024

On June 28, Aiden Thomas, NYT Bestselling author of Cemetery Boys and Lost In The Never Woods, revealed through Twitter that he will be releasing a sequel to his beloved trans YA paranormal romance slated for a Fall 2024 release with Feiwel & Friends.

In the first novel, Yadriel, a trans gay boy, is trying to prove himself to his family as a true brujo, but summons a ghost on accident, who also happens to be bad boy Julian Diaz. As Julian’s looking to tie up some loose ends before he leaves, Yadriel isn’t expecting to fall in love with him during their adventures.

According to the announcement thread the currently untitled “Cemetery Boys 2” will be told from Julian’s POV, centering around a monster who starts creating “malingo spirits” in East L.A.

Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, is a YALSA 2021 Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten pick and has been described by Entertainment Weekly as “groundbreaking.” Cemetery Boys was originally published in September of 2020 under the Swoon Reads imprint (with Fierce Reads).

Thomas commissioned art celebrating the announcement which was created by @/mmarsloud on Twitter.

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas is out now!