YA novels and trilogies have undeniably taken over the literary scene for the last few years whether you love them or hate them. With an overwhelming number of novels to choose from, all with their own sub-genre under than broad YA umbrella, here is a list of great ones that you need to read before Autumn. Now that summer is winding down a bit, it’s time to start stocking up for winter reading. Or if you just need some more books to indulge yourself with (I know I can never have too many; It isn’t hoarding if it’s books) then hopefully this list will give you a few suggestions you might enjoy!
Without further ado, and in no particular order:
1. Riders – Veronica Rossi
This saga follows Gideon Blake, whose life goal is to become a U.S. Army Ranger, but who wakes from an accident to learn he’s now one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Which sounds a lot more exciting than a book about just horses.
(Available: February 16, 2016)
2. A Study in Charlotte – Brittany Cavallaro
Recasting Sherlock Holmes in high school, with the great-great-grandchildren of Watson and Holmes. The witty writing and characters make this book a fantastic read. Charlotte Holmes even has some of her grandfathers more volatile behaviours.
(Available: March 1, 2016)
3. The Transatlantic Conspiracy – G.D. Falksen
The year is 1908. Seventeen-year-old Rosalind Wallace’s blissful stay in England with her best friend, Cecily de Vere, has come to an abrupt end. As a publicity stunt, her industrialist father has booked Rosalind on the maiden voyage of his fabulous Transatlantic Express, the world’s first railroad to travel under the sea—without asking. Rosalind is furious. But lucky for her, Cecily and her handsome older brother, Charles, volunteer to accompany her home.
Fun turns to worry when Charles disappears on the station platform. To Rosalind’s surprise, Cecily isn’t concerned about her brother. And when Cecily runs into an old friend onboard, another belle of the European aristocracy, she appears to forget about Charles altogether.
Then, deep under the Atlantic, Cecily and her housemaid, Doris, are found stabbed to death in their state room. Rosalind is now trapped on the train—where nothing is as it seems—in a deadly fight to clear herself of her friend’s murder and to thwart a sinister enemy whose ambitions she can only imagine.
(Available: June 14, 2016)
4. Don’t Get Caught – Kurt Dinan
“Ocean’s Eleven” meets “The Breakfast Club,” I am already sold. Average Max Cobb — owner of a C-level GPA and lover of heist films. He’s sick of his mediocre existence, so when he gets an invite to join something called “The Chaos Club,” he jumps at the chance. When the invite proves a setup, Max and four others who were duped plot a great revenge.
(Available: April 5, 2016)
5. Learning to Swear in America – Katie Kennedy
With an asteroid hurtling toward earth and Yuri, a Russian teen-genius-turned-NASA-prodigy, is being tapped to avert disaster.
(Available: July 5, 2016)
6. Tales of the Peculiar – Ransom Riggs
Surely, there’s no YA author working who’s better equipped to deliver on all things peculiar. Riggs gives his fans illustrated fairy tales from his bestselling Miss Peregrine series — perhaps the best way for hungry readers to hold tight for Tim Burton’s film adaptation of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, which demands patience until it emerges in December 2016.
(Available: Fall 2016)
7. Maresi, The Red Abbey Chronicles – Maria Turtschaninoff
The book is set in a fictional island Abbey: A place of quiet knowledge, where young girls and women can work and learn together – and where men are forbidden from setting foot. This enclosed world, whose food and customs are vividly, tactilely conveyed, is a place of comfort and safety – but, when troubled runaway Jai arrives, horror follows suit. (Annie Prime, who translated the novel into English, deserves credit.).
(Available: January 14, 2016)
8. The Moth Girls – Anne Cassidy
A thriller about what happens in the aftermath of the mystery disappearance of two teenagers, Petra and Tina, who are dubbed the Moth Girls. They earn that name in the press coverage of the tragedy, because the girls were supposedly drawn like moths to a house in Holloway, London, where something really terrible happens. The dual timelines work well in the novel and allow the author to deftly explain what was going on in Petra’s life before the vanishing.
(Available: January 7, 2016)
9. The Impostor Queen – Sarah Fine
The 16-year-old raised in luxury as the heir apparent to the Valtia, a queen who controls the fire and the ice magic. But when she takes over, the queen’s powers don’t transfer to her as they are intended to. If you’re in for a passionate magical adventure, put this one on your TBR. And there are more to come in the series.
(Available January 5, 2016)
10. We Are The Ants – Shaun David Hutchinson
The sarcastic, poignant, and totally unique We Are The Ants. After years go by of Harry Denton being abducted by aliens, the aliens give him a final choice: Press a button or the world will end in 144 days. With a difficult life — his grandmother is drowning amid Alzheimer’s, his boyfriend committed suicide, his mother struggles as a waitress to make ends meet, and his brother is a dropout — he’s just not sure he wants to keep the world alive.
(Available: January 19, 2016)
