New Books in Young Adult Literature

S. C. Bandreddi's debut YA historical fantasy novel The Game of Oaths (Candlewick Press, 2026). It’s 1896. Beneath a hotel in the heart of Paris is the famed le Cirque des Ombres, led by ringmaster and Enchanteur Jean-Pierre. But behind the dazzling spectacles, the circus performers are bound by magical contracts, also making them potential players in the annual Game of Oaths, an underground blood...

L.L. Madrid's My Lips, Her Voice (Creature Publishing, 2025) takes place in Copper City, a town who's bloody history is steeped in ghost stories and whispers of serial killers, but three girls have caught the attention of something far more sinister. A grandmother tormented by visions tried to warn the town, but no one listened. Now, a haunted inheritance has passed to her granddaughters, Audrey a...

Picture book author, Jilanne Huffmann's first middle-grades novel, Heartland (Little Brown Books, 2026). Out of the Dust meets Me and Marvin Gardens in this coming-of-age novel about a young misfit searching for the truth of her family's past, set against the backdrop of an environmental cover-up. Twelve-year-old Xyla is sick of two things: working on her family's sixth-generation Iowa farm and he...

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with David Ly about his novel, Not All Dragons (Wolsak & Wynn, 2026).What is it that you are, Rhys? In a land of magic and myth, Rhys awakens on the shore of Lanilia with mysterious wounds on his back and no memory of his life before. Disoriented, he stumbles on the Mernese estuary protected by the mermaid Delia, who is quickly intrigued by this male...

In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with YA author Emily De Angelis about her acclaimed novel, The Stones of Burren Bay (Latitude 46 Publishing, 2024). In a tragic car accident, 15-year-old Norie loses her father while her distant mother is injured. Her prized possession, an antique artist’s box that traveled from Ireland with her great-great-grandmother, is destroyed along with her de...

Loretta Chefchaouni's debut The Lustrous Dark (Peachtree Teen, 2026) follows protagonist Shay. Orphaned as a baby, Shay has spent her life training as the midwife’s apprentice. Her role grants her stability, yet Shay has always yearned for more. Namely, motherly affection and answers regarding her mysterious birth—neither of which the midwife deems practical to provide. After Shay discovers her bi...

Mackenzi Lee's Masters of the Universe: Teela: Daughter of Eternos (Mattel, 2026) is a young adult tie-in for the Masters of the Universe (2026) film.  A FALLEN KINGDOMFour years after Skeletor decimated the kingdom of Eternos, Teela and the scattered refugees of Eternia survive by never staying in one place for long. When a brutal storm of acidic rain deep within the Evergreen Forest leaves their...

Maria Ingrande Mora's latest fantasy romance A Wild Radiance (Peachtree Teen, 2026) brings readers to the magical industrial revolution. Josephine Haven is about to find out exactly where she fits into the march of Progress. Her outbursts are infamous at the House of Industry, the school for children who can wield radiance, an electricity-like magic. She's tried to follow the rules, but her fiery...

In her latest young adult novel, Holloway (Clarion Books, 2026), award-winning author Elana K. Arnold returns with a boldly visionary, deeply felt story that crosses space and time to examine loss and love in a world on the brink. It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro. Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken. Nora, who couldn't help her mother...

Under a Carnivore Sky (Page Street YA, 2026) is Brianna Jett's debut young adult novel in verse. Sixteen-year-old Lili is a hunter, which means she has one goal: Find the monster lurking in the carnivorous, labyrinthian swamp that borders their hometown—and slay it. Her father failed to kill the beast, and like all townsfolk over eighteen, bits of his flesh and bone are being stolen away by its cu...

Sayantani DasGupta's latest middle grades novel, Theft of the Ruby Lotus (Scholastic, 2026) is an adventure heist. Ria Bailey finds herself in quite a fix, and it's all because of a strange treasure that turns up in the mail one fateful day. It might be a ruby, and it just might hold the key to some troubling developments in her life. Most importantly, if she and her besties Miracle Owusu and Anni...

The print adaptation of Jason Reynolds acclaimed, award-winning audiobook Soundtrack (Crown Books, 2026)—a stirring story of music, friendship, and finding your voice in 2000s New York City. Stuy Grey plays the drums, just like his mom, a founding member of the all-black punk band the Bed-Stuy Magic Dusters. He teaches himself by watching videos of tap dancers. Now he’s left home, estranged from h...

Lish McBride's Most Likely to Murder (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2026)  Surviving high school is harder than it seems. The rumor mill has never been kind to Meadowvale High seniors and best friends Rick and Martina, labeling them outcasts (sure), stoners (no comment), and pranksters (okay, this one’s fair). But for the most part, they have successfully flown under the radar. That...

Dana Mele talks about their latest book, The Beast You Let In (Sourcebooks, 2026). Everyone in the rural town of Ashling knows the tale of Veronica Green, a teen who was murdered in the woods. But did a party trick bring her back to claim her revenge? A fast-paced, suspenseful YA horror from the author of Summer's Edge and People Like Us. There is no one Hazel trusts less than her self-centered tw...

Rachel Greenlaw's debut young adult romantasy, Compass and Blade (Inkyard Press, 2024) is filled with sirens and mysterious magic, swoony romance and cutthroat betrayal. This world of sea and storm runs deep with bargains and blood. On the remote isle of Rosevear, Mira, like her mother before her, is a wrecker, one of the seven on the rope who swim out to shipwrecks to plunder them. Mira's job is...