The Most Anticipated YA Books of Fall 2024

Fall is a season of change. The days get shorter, the leaves turn darker. The weather has an increasing bite to it. Spooky season and all its assorted frights start creeping into the fringes of our lives and the sparkling promise of the holidays twinkle in the distance. But if there’s one thing you can count on when it comes to Fall: It’s the best time of the year to be a book lover. From YA books to fantasy doorstoppers and horror titles to capitalize on the thrills of Halloween, hundreds of exciting new titles are about to drop in your local bookstore over the next few weeks.

With publishers eager to get some of their biggest titles in front of readers ahead of the all-important Christmas shopping season, we’re in for a non-stop barrage of must-reads, no matter what genre you’re most interested in. YA fans are particularly spoiled for choice, with everything from fantasy romances to contemporary stories and creepy historicals arriving in the next few months.

Here are twenty-five of the best YA books hitting shelves this Fall.

Compound Fracture Most Anticipated YA Books Fall 2024

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White

Release Date: September 3 from Peachtree Teen

Why We’re Excited: Andrew Joseph White may well be the YA genre’s most underrated author, a writer who consistently turns out thought-provoking, atmospheric, and occasionally horrifying stories full of difficult truths, righteous fury, and complex queer characters. Compound Fracture marks another intriguing swerve for White as an author, and follows the story of an autistic trans teen amidst the generational struggles of the rural poor and the fight against those who work to exploit them.

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

Release Date: September 3 from Fiewel & Friends

Why We’re Excited: The conclusion to Aiden Thomas’s duology sees semidióses Teo, Aurelio, and Niya travel through the dangerous lands of Los Restos to find the Sol Stone and resurrect the god Sol.

Publisher’s Description: Teo never thought he could be a Hero. Now, he doesn’t have a choice.

The sun is gone, the Obsidian gods have been released from their prison, and chaos and destruction are wreaking havoc on Reino del Sol. All because Teo refused to sacrifice a fellow semidiós during the Sunbearer Trials.

With the world plunged into perpetual night, Teo, his crush Aurelio, and his best friend Niya must journey to the dark wilderness of Los Restos, battling vicious monsters while dealing with guilt, trauma, and a (very distracting) burgeoning romance between Teo and Aurelio. Determined to rescue the captured semidioses and retrieve the Sol Stone, the trio races against the clock to return Sol and their protective light. With it, order can be restored.

The future of the whole world is in their hands.

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Release Date: September 10 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: A nuanced horror thriller that follows two trans teens who must escape a group of small-town locals who plan to sacrifice them, Old Wounds is both deeply creepy and a deft exploration of the complexities of being transgender in our current cultural moment.

Publisher’s Description: Erin and Max are two trans kids who are just trying to get to California. Max is desperate to finally be able to transition, and Erin is longing to understand why she’s on this trip to begin with, after Max suddenly broke up with her two years earlier.

But when they find themselves stranded – and eventually separated – in the creepy woods of rural middle America, they suddenly have much bigger problems.

First, there’s the creature that, according to legend, feeds on girls, hunting them through the shadows. And then there are the locals, who are searching for a female sacrifice. If either of them hope to survive to see the sunrise, Erin and Max will have to come together and stop running: from their attackers, from each other, and, ultimately, from themselves.

How to Lose a Best Friend by Jordan K. Casomar

Release Date: September 10 from MTV Books

Why We’re Excited: A truly refreshing YA story with truly unique premise follows the story of two best friends and the fallout that ensues when one doesn’t reciprocate the other’s romantic interest. How to Lose a Best Friend deftly confronts the idea of the alleged “friend zone” and explores toxic masculinity through the social fallout among the pair’s social group. Original and sadly necessary.

Publisher’s Description: For as long as anyone can remember, Zeke Ladoja and Imogen Parker have been best friends. Their classmates, their parents, and even the school custodian think that they’re meant to be together. And that’s exactly what Zeke wants: for Gen to be his girlfriend. Now that she’s about to be sixteen (and allowed to date), Zeke is finally going to tell her how he feels—in front of everyone at her birthday party.

Imogen loves Zeke with all her heart, but only as a friend. The pressure to be with Zeke has sometimes been overwhelming, but up to this point, she’s been able to manage it. Then she falls for the new boy, Trevor Cook, and she knows the news will devastate Zeke. The last thing she wants to do is hurt her best friend, but she also resents the fact that no one seems to care about what she wants.

The night of Gen’s party, everything goes wrong. There’s backlash, most of it directed at Gen, and Zeke feels emboldened. He isn’t about to give up on his feelings, and he’ll do whatever it takes to prove that she made the wrong choice…even if it means destroying their friendship. But Gen isn’t about to give up on fighting for herself and the freedom to love the boy she wants, not the boy she’s expected to be with.

To the Bone by Alena Bruzas

Release Date: September 10 from Rocky Pond Books

Why We’re Excited: A dark, vivid piece of YA historical fiction about the early colonies in America, To the Bone follows the story of Ellis, who arrives in James Fort as an indentured servant and discovers her dreams of a better life requires surviving in a brutal, often violent landscape. Unlike anything else on this list in all the best ways.

Publisher’s Description: After the long journey from England, Ellis arrives in America full of hope. James Fort is where a better life will begin for her: where she will work as an indentured servant to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife, gain financial security, and fall deeply in love with bold, glorious Jane Eddowes.

But as summer turns to fall, Ellis begins to notice the cracks in this new life—the viciousness of the colonists toward the Indigenous people and the terrifying anger Henry uses to control his wife and Ellis—leaving her to wonder if she has sentenced herself to a prison rather than a new home.

Then winter arrives and hunger grips the Fort. Ellis is about to learn that people will do whatever it takes to survive.

The Lies We Conjure by Sarah Henning

Release Date: September 17 from Tor Teen

Why We’re Excited: This YA twist on the traditional locked room mystery features thirteen witches and two non-magical siblings attempting to solve a murder. Described as a mix of Knives Out and The Inheritance Games it feels like a perfect magical thriller for Fall.

Publisher’s Description: Ruby and her sister, Wren, are normal, middle-class Colorado high school students working a summer job at the local Renaissance Fest to supplement their meager college savings.

So when an eccentric old lady asks them to impersonate her long-absent grandchildren at a fancy dinner party at the jaw-dropping rate of two grand―each―for a single night… Wren insists it’s a no-brainer. Make some cash, have some fun, do a good deed.

But less than an hour into the evening at the mysterious Hegemony Manor, Ruby is sure she must have lost her mind to have agreed to this.

The hostess is dead, the gates are locked, and a magical curse ensures no one can leave until they solve both her murder and the riddles she left behind―in just three days. Because everyone else at this party is a powerful witch. And if the witches realize Ruby and Wren are imposters? The sisters won’t make it out of Hegemony Manor alive.

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s by Hanna Alkaf

Release Date: September 24 from Salaam Reads/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: Dark academia meets YA horror in The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s, a vaguely Salem Witch Trials-coded story of a group of female students in Kuala Lumper who inexplicably begin to let out terrified, unrelenting screams. Is it mass hysteria or something darker?

Publisher’s Description: For over a hundred years, girls have fought to attend St. Bernadette’s, with its reputation for shaping only the best and brightest young women.

Unfortunately, there is also the screaming.

When a student begins to scream in the middle of class, a chain reaction starts that impacts the entire school. By the end of the day, seventeen girls are affected—along with St. Bernadette’s stellar reputation.

Khadijah’s got her own scars to tend to, and watching her friends succumb to hysteria only rips apart wounds she’d rather keep closed. But when her sister falls to the screams, Khad knows she’s the only one who can save her.

Rachel has always been far too occupied trying to reconcile her overbearing mother’s expectations with her own secret ambitions to pay attention to school antics. But just as Rachel finds her voice, it turns into screams.

Together, the two girls find themselves digging deeper into the school’s dark history, hunting for the truth. Little do they know that a specter lurks in the darkness, watching, waiting, and hungry for its next victim…

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Payal Mehta’s Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber

Release Date: September 24 from Kokila

Why We’re Excited: This charming rom-com about an Indian American teen who teams up with her worst enemy to make the (kind of problematic) popular boy at school fall for her—even though he’s dropped more than a few microaggressions toward her—is both funny and timely, exploring themes of identity and self-esteem.

Publisher’s Description: Payal Mehta has had a crush on popular, athletic, all-around perfect Jonathan Slate ever since he smiled at her in freshman–year Spanish class. At a party during spring break of her junior year, Payal finally works up the courage to ask Jon to hang out. However, her romantic plans are derailed when he vomits on her Keds. Twice. But when Jon offers to take her out to lunch as an apology, Payal is convinced this is the start of their love story.

Over chalupas and burritos at Taco Bell, Payal’s best jokes are landing as planned. Jon is basically choking on his Coke—and then it happens. “Do you have a boyfriend?” Payal is (finally) about to get the guy. And then he tries to set her up with his Indian friend. Payal’s best friends, Neil Patel and Divya Bhatt, are just as mad about the microagression as Payal is, but they think she’s a little too hung up on him.

Determined to teach Jon a lesson by making him fall for her, Payal ropes in her archnemesis, Philip Kim, to help. It’s the perfect plan. Minus Philip’s snarky, annoying quips and lack of faith in its success. But as Payal lies to the people she loves, hides the too-Indian parts of herself in front of her crush, and learns that maybe Philip isn’t the worst, she starts to wonder if what she’s been looking for has been scowling at her all along…

Three Things About Emmy Crawford by Allison L. Bitz

Release Date: October 1 from HarperCollins

Why We’re Excited: This charming charming of age story follows a Type A senator’s daughter trying to navigate her chronic illness, her feelings for a cute ex, and her mother’s run for president.

Publisher’s Description: There are three things high school senior Emmy Crawford will accomplish, no matter what:

Taking Nationals in debate this season.
Shielding her sister, Issy, from anything that could hurt her, especially her anxiety.
Representing her family well, since her mom may be the next president.

And nothing can get in Emmy’s way. Not Crohn’s disease, even if her gut has been acting up. Not the paparazzi, who snap any photos they can get of the daughters of a presidential candidate. And definitely not her feelings for Gabe Castillo, the only debater in DC who stands a chance at beating her—and who she used to be on secret kissing terms with, before he ghosted her. When Gabe unexpectedly returns to the debate scene and Issy starts crushing on him, Emmy works harder than ever to keep her eyes on winning and off her aching heart and body, because the alternative means losing the three things that matter most.

The Dagger and the Flame by Catherine Doyle

Release Date: October 1 from Margaret K. McElderry Books

Why We’re Excited: Two rival assassins are pitted against one another in this lush, magical series opener that features forbidden attraction and (literally) explosive secrets.

Publisher’s Description: In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers—the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, eighteen-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?

Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farm girl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before. As the Cloaks and the Daggers grapple for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are consumed by the push and pull of their magic…and the deadly spark and terrible vengeance that keeps drawing them back together.

The Glass Girl by Kathleen Glasgow

Release Date: October 1 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: A rare YA story about the struggles modern teens can face with alcoholism, The Glass Girl feels necessary in more ways than just the words on its pages.

Publisher’s Description: Everyone in fifteen-year-old Bella’s life needs something from her. Her mom needs her to help around the house, her dad needs her to not make waves, her ex needs her to not be so much. The only person who never needed anything from her was her grandmother—and now she’s dead.

There’s only one thing that dulls the pressure: alcohol. Vodka, beer, peppermint schnapps—alcohol smooths the sharp edges of Bella’s life. And what’s the big deal? Everyone drinks. Besides, Bella can stop whenever she wants. But after she gets blackout drunk at a Thanksgiving party and wakes up in the hospital, it’s time to face reality. And for Bella, reality means rehab.

Red in Tooth and Claw by Lish McBride

Release Date: October 8 from G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: A dark fantasy Western involving violent monsters and a magical cult is everything you need for spooky season.

Publisher’s Description: Faolan Kelly’s grandfather is dead. She’s alone in the world and suddenly homeless, all because the local powers that be don’t think a young man of sixteen is mature enough to take over his grandfather’s homestead…and that’s with them thinking Faolan is a young man. If she revealed that her grandfather had been disguising her for years, they would marry her off at the first opportunity.

The mayor finds a solution that serves everyone but Faolan: He hires a gunslinger to ship her off to the Settlement, a remote fort where social outcasts live under the leadership of His Benevolence Gideon Dillard. It’s a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. Dillard’s absolute command over his staff just doesn’t seem right. And neither do the strange noises that keep Faolan up at night.

When Faolan finds the body of a Settlement boarder, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human, it’s clear something vicious is stalking the palisades. And as Settlement boarders continue to drop like flies, Faolan knows she must escape to evade the creature’s wrath.

Zodiac Rising by Katie Zhao

Release Date: October 8 from Random House Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: This story that mixes dark academia with magic based on the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac features everything from supernatural politics to teen angst.

Publisher’s Description: At a secret Manhattan boarding school, the Descendants of the Chinese zodiac have hidden away since the source of their magic—the twelve zodiac statues—was vandalized and lost to time. Thus, a curse befell the Descendants, and they’ve lived as creatures of darkness . . . until now.

When the lost statues suddenly resurface and a powerful classmate is found dead, all signs point to foul play from the fae. The Descendants finally have the chance to take back what’s rightfully theirs and break the curse. To pull this deadly heist off, though, they must assemble an elite crew:

THE VAMPIRE: After a century of burning hunger, Evangeline is out for blood.

THE SHAPESHIFTER: Nicholas yearns to restore justice to his people—and make peace with his past.

THE MORTAL: Alice seeks the truth of her mysterious heritage, and this mission may be the key.

THE WEREWOLF: Tristan will do anything to break free from the monstrous wolf inside.

Only these four have the power to save the Descendants, but the wrath of the fae waits at every turn. One wrong move and the fate of their kind will come crashing down. . . .

Love & Lattes by Beth Reekles

Release Date: October 22 from Delacorte Romance

Why We’re Excited: This new book from the author of The Kissing Booth has follows the story of an English girl who finds herself entangled in an office romance during her London internship after a guy she never thought she’d see again turns out to be the son of her boss.

Publisher’s Description: One summer internship. Two complete opposites. And a connection neither expected…

Annalise Sherwood has worked herself to the bone to get a place on a prestigious internship program and nothing is going to stop her now. Work hard, play later, that’s her motto. She figures one night letting her guard down won’t hurt, though – especially when it ends with the best kiss of her life.

But to Anna’s horror, she discovers that the mystery guy she kissed that night is none other than Lloyd, the company CEO’s son. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he’s everyone’s favorite guy and a total charmer, swanning around like he owns the place. And from the moment they meet again, he rubs Anna up the wrong way.

As the summer and the internship wane on, Lloyd seems to be finding any excuse to annoy Anna, and she’s not afraid to give it right back to him. But when a lot of late night working brings them unexpectedly closer, she begins to wonder if there’s more to him than she originally thought..

HappyHead by Josh Silver

Release Date: October 22 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: Already a buzzy hit in the U.K. this dystopian novel about the teen mental health crisis follows the story of Seb, who is selected to participate in an experimental project meant to help eradicate unhappiness. But first, he must prove his worth in a series of increasingly disturbing competitions meant to see how he can face the challenges of the real world.

Publisher’s Description: We are in an epidemic. An epidemic of unhappiness…

Friends, here is the good news: HappyHead has the answer.

When Seb is offered a place on a radical retreat designed to solve the national crisis of teenage unhappiness, he is determined to change how people see him and make his parents proud. But as he finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Finn, Seb starts to question the true nature of the challenges they must undergo. The deeper into the programme the boys get, the more disturbing the assessments become, until it’s clear there may be no escape…

The Debutantes by Olivia Worley

Release Date: October 29 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: A YA thriller about a missing girl set in the middle of the biggest Mardi Gras party of the year for the New Orleans elite sounds like a rollicking good time to me. Laissez les bon temps rouler.

Publisher’s Description: For the New Orleans elite, the Les Masques Ball is sure to be the social event of the season―if they can avoid another dead Queen. When debutante Margot Landry was found dead the morning after her reign at last year’s ball, it was a tragedy, but not a shocking one. Margot was a wild child with a self-destructive streak, nothing like this year’s Queen, Lily LeBlanc. With a perfectly poised debutante on the throne, everything is going according to plan…until the ball is hijacked by a mysterious figure in a Jester costume. That night, Lily sends a text to three of the Maids on her royal court―her best friend, Vivian; her boyfriend’s sister, Piper; and April, her former frenemy―asking them all to meet the next morning. But Lily never shows up.

On the surface, these three debutantes don’t have anything in common except their exclusive private school and their ties to Les Masques. But soon, they realize why Lily brought them together: something dark is lurking beneath the glamorous surface of the debutante world, and it might be the reason she disappeared. And the further the girls dig, the more they begin to suspect that Margot’s death may not have been an accident―and that Lily may be next. When the Jester starts threatening to expose their own secrets, this unlikely trio must team up to uncover the monsters behind the Mardi Gras masks―before they’re left with another dead debutante.

Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez

Release Date: November 5 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: This thrilling sequel to 2023’s underrated historical fantasy What the River Knows features adventures, betrayals, and one of the most nuanced romances of any story on this list.

Publisher’s Description: Inez Olivera traveled across the world to Egypt, seeking answers into her parents’ recent and mysterious deaths. But all her searching led her down a perilous road, filled with heartache, betrayal, and a dangerous magic that pulled her deep into the past.

When Tío Ricardo issues an ultimatum about her inheritance, she’s left with only one option to consider.

Marriage to Whitford Hayes.

Former British soldier, her uncle’s aide de camp, and one-time nemesis, Whit has his own mysterious reasons for staying in Egypt. With her heart on the line, Inez might have to bind her fate to the one person whose secret plans could ruin her.

Heist Royale by Kayvion Lewis

Release Date: November 12 from Nancy Paulsen Books

Why We’re Excited: This highly anticipated follow-up to Thieves Gambit, Heist Royal follows Ross Quest in another competition against a group of internationally renowned thieves and contains much of the same breakneck pacing and nail-biting action as its predecessor, set against a backdrop of thrilling new settings.

Publisher’s Description: It’s been six months since the end of the Gambit. Instead of winning an impossible wish, Ross has the threat of her family’s execution hanging over her head. Devroe, the only person Ross thought she could trust, could wish the Quests into oblivion at any time. Shockingly, despite his betrayal, Devroe is still making a play for Ross’s heart as the two work together pulling jobs for the Organization. But Ross has learned her lesson: A Quest can only trust another Quest.

When Ross finds herself at the center of a power struggle within the Organization, she sees her chance to change her fortunes. As a new deadly Gambit develops for control of the criminal underworld, Ross strikes a risky deal to guarantee protection for herself and her family.

In this final clash, Ross will square off against a ruthless opponent who will stop at nothing to seize power, and in their corner will be not only Devroe but his mother, who wants to destroy the Quests at any cost.

The new Gambit takes Ross and her crew into the intoxicating casinos of Monte Carlo and across treacherous snow-covered slopes in Antarctica as Ross competes against Devroe in a fight for her life. Loyalties will be tested, backs stabbed, hearts broken. May the best thief win.

Our Deadly Designs by Kalyn Josephson

Release Date: November 12 from Roaring Brook Press

Why We’re Excited: This Dark Descent was one of the best YA books of 2023, and many of us (read: me) have undoubtedly been waiting (impatiently) to return to this world and this compelling quartet of lead characters.

Publisher’s Description: The Illinir may be over, but the race for Enderlain’s future has just begun. The hunt for the old king’s lost heir is on, and the first to find them will win the throne.

Mikira has allied herself with the rebels in pursuit of the heir, but the deeper her search takes her, the closer she gets to the royal family’s wicked past.

Ari is struggling to control her own growing power as she grapples with a dark secret that may be her undoing ― and the truth behind Damien’s greatest foe.

Damien, the new head of House Adair, joins the race to find the royal successor and secure the crown. But as his influence at court grows, so do his paranoia and hunger for power.

Reid is trying his best to stay true to the friend who’s always had his loyalty ― and the flame who has his heart ― while trapped in a web of chaos and lies.

All the while, a darker force is festering in Enderlain’s underbelly. Mikira, Ari, Damien, and Reid will need to find a way back to one another ― and themselves ― before the kingdom is torn apart.

A Queen’s Game by Katharine McGee

Release Date: November 12 from Random House Books for Young Readers

Why We’re Excited: A Victorian-era-set YA historical from the author of American Royals? Yes, please.

Publisher’s Description: In the last glittering decade of European empires, courts, and kings, three young women are on a collision course with history—and with each other.

Alix of Hesse is Queen Victoria’s favorite granddaughter, so she can expect to end up with a prince . . . except that the prince she’s falling for is not the one she’s supposed to marry.

Hélène d’Orléans, daughter of the exiled King of France, doesn’t mind being a former princess; it gives her more opportunity to break the rules. Like running around with the handsome, charming, and very much off-limits heir to the British throne, Prince Eddy.

Then there’s May of Teck. After spending her entire life on the fringes of the royal world, May is determined to marry a prince—and not just any prince, but the future king.

I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea

Release Date: November 12 from Henry Holt & Co. (BYR)

Why We’re Excited: This sequel to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me promises to be even darker and bloodier than its predecessor as a former prima ballerina must reckon with her decision to make a deal with a primordial deity.

Publisher’s Description: Though Laure has tried to close the lid on her ballet shoes and the feelings she once held for dance since the Palais Garnier incident two months ago, Laure is spinning out. Between partying, drinking, and avoiding anything and, well, everyone, she has no time to be anything but a monster. But when Laure stumbles across a mysterious dead body during one of her nights out, she’s forced to notice the cracks stretching beyond herself.

Below the streets of Paris, Elysium is dying, and Acheron and Lethe’s influence is spilling into the streets like a blight. Laure isn’t the only of Elysium’s beasts to rise from the ruins of Palais Garnier, and someone is mobilizing an army of monsters with plans greater than Laure, Andor, and Keturah could have ever guessed. While Laure is warring between her wants and Acheron’s ever-demanding appetite, she and her circle of monsters are left to reckon with a not-so-simple question: how do you save yourself from oblivion?

Serpent Sea by Maiya Ibrahim

Release Date: November 19 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: In this second installment in Maiya Ibrahim’s underrated Spice Road trilogy, Imani and Taha must save their home from an invasion after the magical enchantment that hid them from the world is defeated.

Publisher’s Description: Imani is a magic-wielding warrior sworn to protect her land from the monsters that roam the desert. But an even worse enemy now threatens the Sahir. As the powerful Harrowlanders march south with their greatest weapon—spice magic—Imani knows it’s only a matter of time before their invasion of her land begins . . . and it will be a losing battle for her people.

But Imani also knows that one way to fight magic is with monsters. If she can restore Qayn’s stolen powers, together they can summon a supernatural army to defend the Sahir from the Harrowlanders. Forming an alliance with a djinni king is risky, but Imani will do anything to save her people, even embarking on a dangerous quest beyond the sands to find the magical jewels of Qayn’s lost crown.

As Imani journeys far from home, she will discover monsters that warriors have only heard about in myths . . . monsters that can strike at any moment. Meanwhile, her rival, Taha, has been captured and is on a dangerous mission of his own.

One wrong move could cost them their lives—and everyone they love. But they may find that there is more than meets the eye crossing the Serpent Sea . . . and betrayal cuts deeper than any dagger.

Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher

Release Date: November 26 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: Another entertaining YA historical romance from the author of Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, Not for the Faint of Heart puts a queer spin on the Robin Hood legend told through the eyes of his granddaughter and the girl she accidentally kidnapped.

Publisher’s Description: Mariel, a newly blooded and perpetually grumpy captain of the Merry Men, is desperate to live up to the legacy of her grandfather, the legendary Robin Hood. Clem, a too-perky backwoods healer known for her new-fangled cures, just wants to help people.

When Mariel’s ramshackle band of bandits kidnap Clem as retribution for her guardian helping the Sheriff of Nottingham, all seems to be going (sort of) to plan … until Jack Hartley, Mariel’s father and Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in a deadly ambush. Determined to prove herself, Mariel sets out to get him back – with her annoyingly cheerful kidnappee in tow.

But the wood is at war. Many believe the Merry Men are no longer on the right side of history. Watching Clem tend the party’s wounds and crack relentlessly terrible jokes, Mariel begins to doubt the noble cause to which she has devoted her life. As the two of them grow closer, forced by circumstances to share a single horse and bed, one thing is clear. They must prepare to fight for their lives and for those of everyone they’ve sworn to protect.

The Party by Natasha Preston

Release Date: December 10 from Delacorte Press

Why We’re Excited: If you’re a person who loves YA thrillers, you’re probably already familiar with the twisty, entertaining work of Natasha Preston. Her next novel, The Party, follows a group of teens invited to an exclusive secret fete at a remote castle in the beautiful English countryside. But when one of the guests turns up dead, things take an unexpectedly dark turn.

Publisher’s Description: In the heart of the English countryside, Bessie and her closest friends gather at a remote castle for a secret party destined to make this the best spring break ever. But when the first of them dies, the party takes a lethal turn.

As the body count continues to rise, Bessie and her friends must contend with a deadly storm and growing internal suspicion, all while trapped inside with a killer.

What the Woods Took by Courtney Gould

Release Date: December 10 from Wednesday Books

Why We’re Excited: The latest atmospheric YA horror from the author of The Dead and the Dark, What the Woods Took is described as Yellowjackets meets Girl, Interrupted and that is more than enough for me.

Publisher’s Description: Devin Green wakes in the middle of the night to find two men in her bedroom. No stranger to a fight, she calls to her foster parents for help, but it soon becomes clear this is a planned abduction―one everyone but Devin signed up for. She’s shoved in a van and driven deep into the Idaho woods, where she’s dropped off with a cohort of equally confused teens. Finally, two camp counselors inform them that they’ve all been enrolled in an experimental therapy program. If the campers can learn to change their self-destructive ways―and survive a fifty-days hike through the wilderness―they’ll come out the other side as better versions of themselves. Or so the counselors say.

Devin is immediately determined to escape. She’s also determined to ignore Sheridan, the cruel-mouthed, lavender-haired bully who mocks every group exercise. But there’s something strange about these woods―inhuman faces appearing between the trees, visions of people who shouldn’t be there flashing in the leaves―and when the campers wake up to find both counselors missing, therapy becomes the least of their problems. Stranded and left to fend for themselves, the teens quickly realize they’ll have to trust each other if they want to survive. But what lies in the woods may not be as dangerous as what the campers are hiding from each other―and if the monsters have their way, no one will leave the woods alive.

Lacy Baugher Milas is the Books Editor at Paste Magazine, but loves nerding out about all sorts of pop culture. You can find her on Twitter @LacyMB