August 29, 2023
John Blossom’s new YA novel follows a futuristic teenager on his quest to design a better football game.
In the mid-2050s, eighth-grader Dude and his father, Dudley Senior, disagree on the merits of playing football. Dudley thinks the sport is outmoded and dangerous, and that kids should be contented with virtual gameplay. Dude, on the […]
June 27, 2023
S.B. Frasca’s new YA novel follows a teenager who uses art to make sense of an unfair world.
Life is tough for Hy, a character who, in an unusual twist, Frasca never identifies by gender. Awkward and overweight, Hy is bullied at school and lives with a single mother who can’t provide much in the […]
March 20, 2023
Arthur Kevin Rein’s tension-filled YA tale revolves around a teen-aged boy dealing with personal challenges and a crime mystery.
As summers go, Sam, 17, knows this will be one of the worst. He’s working hard for his family’s failing lake resort, is in love with a seemingly unattainable girl, and his best friend is the […]
March 14, 2023
Starship Malaysia is an inventive, historical YA novel following an adolescent American’s adventures in Malaysia.
In 1982 and ’83, after his father’s tragic death, 17-year-old Scott Mitchell moves to a small Malaysian town with his mother and her new husband. Scott quickly befriends a group of native boys, eventually becoming involved in their investigation of […]
February 14, 2023
A Freak in the Family Tree is a compelling YA fantasy novel about friendship, history, and breaking down prejudices.
The novel follows 12-year-old Kit, who feels like an outcast in her small town because of her junk-collector father and his eccentric family, even as she rides horses and attends private school due to her wealthy […]
January 31, 2023
Just City is an engaging, philosophically oriented YA novel that helps show readers how to find the values that matter the most to them.
The story follows Nathan, a budding young entrepreneur striving to succeed on his own, as he works to earn money to enter a start-up contest. As part of this, he takes […]
November 15, 2022
Torn is a short, quietly engaging young adult novel about health and empathy.
The novel is narrated by Perry, a high school track runner who seriously hurts his knee after trying to catch a young thief stealing a package from his porch. He later discovers the thief is dating his younger sister and is one […]
August 8, 2022
Lester Murray’s Mystery Boy begins with an intriguing scene: A police officer finishing his rounds discovers a naked young boy shivering under a heap of old newspapers in an empty house.
The boy, about 11 or 12 years old, can’t speak. He’s brought to a foster mom, who calls him Mikey. He’s then taken in […]
June 6, 2022
Morr Meroz’s Snowlands is an ambitious graphic novel centering on the young wolf cub Feba.
Feba is solidly white, a feature so rare that it sparks fear and superstition among the wolf pack. When the sheep disappear from the Snowlands, a hostile terrain the wolves share with other creatures, pack leaders blame the young orphan […]
May 30, 2022
In part three of Erasmus Cromwell-Smith II’s fantastical Orloj series, a favorite eccentric professor, known for sharing his remarkable lecture series with students around the globe, once again takes readers along on his “magical journey down memory lane.”
The beloved pedagogue describes his adventurous youth at age 14 in and around the city of […]