Staff Picks Young Adult Fiction
May 2022
All the Best Liars
by Amelia Kahaney
Three best friends grew up poor, but one by one each gained money and popularity, until only one girl was alone on the wrong side of the tracks. When the ex friends reunite in a blaze of fire, one will end up dead, one will be a murderer, and one will be taking the fall. You think you know someone…. Until you don’t. Check out this YA read today!
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Furia
by Yamile Saied Méndez
Camila is forced to live a double life. At home she is a well behaved daughter who is excelling at school. In her spare time though, she is La Furia. An amazing female soccer player who might just be good enough to win a scholarship to a North American University, and her chance to play in the professional women’s league. Her biggest problem is that her parents don’t know about her soccer passion, and if they did, they would never let her play. Worst of all, she needs their permission to play in a tournament where all of her dreams might come true. Her life gets more complicated when the boy she once loved comes back into town and starts distracting her. But Camila won’t let anything stand in the way of her dreams. Will she face her secrets and find her true place in the world? Check out this 2023 Abe Lincoln Award nominee today!
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
An Ember in the Ashes
by Sabaa Tahir
This is a dystopian fantasy that is inspired by Ancient Rome. There is a world where if you defy the empire, you will be put to death. When Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, she is forced to spy for the rebels within the Empire’s military academy to keep him alive. There she meets Elias, the Empire’s best soldier and it’s most unwilling. Both Laia and Elias want freedom. When their destinies come together their choices might change the fate of the Empire forever. Check out this 2023 Read For A Lifetime book today!
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
April 2022
I Wish You All the Best
by Mason Deaver
When Ben tells their parents that they identify as nonbinary and prefer the pronouns they/them, they are thrown out of the house. In desperation Ben contacts his estranged older sister. She offers him refuge and they begin to start over in a new house and school with no friends. When Nathan takes Ben under his wing, Ben is unsure of how to handle his exuberance and extroversion. As the two forge a friendship their feelings begin to change. Just what is in store for Ben and Nathan?
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby and Hoopla as an ebook and e audiobook.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Eliza and Her Monsters
by Francesca Zappia
In real life Eliza is friendless, shy, and odd. Online though, she is the amazing anonymous creator of the popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. She’s happy for a time with her secret life, until she meet Wallace in real life and things start to change for the better. But good things don’t always last… Her online secret identity is accidently spilled to the world and everything that she has kept hidden about herself is now in the open. Everything starts to fall apart including her sanity. Will her new found real life fame destroy her? Or will she find the help she needs to keep things together?
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby/Hoopla as an ebook and e audiobook
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
How to Hang a Witch
by Adriana Mather
Sam is the decedent of Cotton Mather, one of the people responsible for the Salem witch trials. So when she moves to Salem she becomes public enemy number one, especially among the teen girls who call themselves the Descendants. They are the ancestors of the witches that Cotton Mather hanged during the witch trials. On top of being tormented by the Descendants, Sam’s new home is haunted by an angry Teen ghost. Sam learns that there is a curse affecting the descendants of anyone who was tied to the witch trials, including herself. Will she be able to find a way to work with her ghost and the Descendants to stop the curse’s deadly cycle? Or is she doomed to become the newest ghost in Salem?
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook.
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares
by Krystal Sutherland
Esther is doomed to suffer one great fear that will lead to her death. It’s a family curse that has been affecting them since her grandfather met Death. Esther does everything in order to avoid things that could scare her, that way she doesn’t have a fear. She keeps a list of her semi-definitive worst nightmares and knows that those things are off limits. Crowds? Nope. Elevators? No way. When Jonah shows back up in her life she is forced to face her list of fears with him. Together they overcome one phobia at a time. But what happens if love starts to appear? Will it be enough to break the curse?
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
The Testing
by Joelle Charbonneau
If you like the Hunger Games, this should be your next read! Every year candidates are chosen to join the Testing to show that they are worthy to be a University student. The test however is not your average pen and pencil quiz and most candidates don’t survive to the end. In a life or death situation, who can you trust to have your back? And can you survive the Testing?
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive/Libby as an ebook and audiobook.
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
The Naturals
by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
If you like mysteries and thrillers, this book could be for you. There is a program put on by the FBI where they recruit kids who are special. Each participant has a “natural” gift. Cassie can read people and tell you who you are and what you want in detail. When she is put together with other teens who also have special talents things get real fast. Are the teens willing to risk danger and death to help the FBI solve murder cases? Can they come together as a team and survive before the killer picks them off one at a time? Pick up this book to find out.
Recommended by: Erin Faxel, Youth Services Teen Librarian
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction
Blood Moon
by Lucy Cuthew
This book in verse chronicles Frankie’s fall from grace in high school after a vicious meme goes viral. Since Frankie thinks her best friend posted it, their friendship is now over. On top of that the guy she likes cuts off contact with her once the meme is public. While this is all going on, Frankie is in the midst of applying for a coveted internship in her field of choice: astronomy.
This book is available in the library and on OverDrive as an ebook.
Recommended by: Becky McCormack, Youth Services Assistant Manager
Posted in: Young Adult Fiction