Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

 

F

ZAP

Her story is a phenomenon.  Her life is a disaster.

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless.  Online, she's Lady Constellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can't imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try.

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea's biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school.  Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile.

When Eliza's secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she's built--her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity--begins to fall apart. 

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

 

F

WEI

SciFi/Fantasy

A lone astronaut.

An impossible mission.

An ally he never imagined.

Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission--and if he fails, humanity and Earth itself will perish.

Except that right now, he doesn't know that.  He can't even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he's been asleep for a very, very long time.  He's just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, he realizes that an impossible task now confronts him.  Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it's up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery--and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

With the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he's got to do it all alone.

Or does he?

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys

 

F

SEP

Historical Fiction

Romania, 1989, Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians are not free to dream; they are bound by rules and force.

Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer.  He's left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves--or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives, but what is the cost of freedom?

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

 

F

MAF

SciFi/Fantasy

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight.

The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king.  He could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can't put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom--and the world.

 

Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean

 

F

JEA

Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in--it isn't easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it's always been Izumi--or Izzy, because "It's easier this way"--and her mom against the world. Izzy discovers a clue to her previously unknown father's identity...and he's none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princes..

In a whirlwind, Izzy travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn't all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izzy soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself--back home, she was never "American" enough, and in Japan, she must prove she's "Japanese" enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairytale, happily every after? 

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

 

F

BOU

Mystery/Horror

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.

The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details don't add up and she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into the heart of a criminal investigation.

Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, but secretly pursues her own investigation, tracking down the criminals with her knowledge of chemistry and traditional medicine. The deceptions--and the deaths--keep piling up and soon the threat strikes too close to home.

Now, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Objbwe woman) and how far she'll go to protect her community, even if it tears apart the only world she's ever know. 

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

 

F

CLA

YA

A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness.  As the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks...

 

A first meeting.

Long-time friends.

Bitter exes.

And maybe the possibility of something new.

When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight. 

Six award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of black teen love to this interlinked novel of charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stores that shine a bright light through the dark.

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner

 

F

ZEN

Life in a small Appalachian town is not easy.  Cash lost his mother to an opioid addiction and his Papaw is dying slowly from emphysema. Dodging drug dealers and watching out for his best friend, Delaney, is second nature. He's been spending his summer mowing lawns while she works at Dairy Queen.

When Delany manages to secure both of them full rides to an elite prep school in Connecticut, Cash will have to grapple with his need to protect and love Delaney, and his love for the grandparents who saved him and the town he would have to leave behind.

From the award-winning author of The Serpent King comes a beautiful examination of grief, found family, and young love. 

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

 

F

JAC

Mystery/Horror

The case is closed.  Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.

But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure.  When she choses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. If they real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth? 

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

 

F

KLU

SciFi/Fantasy

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village.  On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between the mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo.  Hugo is the tea shop's owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

But Wallace isn't ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo's help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.