Love Oz YA
We are barely five months into 2024 and we have been gifted with so many incredible #LoveOzYA titles! Here is a list of just some of the titles from seasoned YA authors to debuts.
Deep Is the Fen by Lili Wilkinson
Merriwether Morgan doesn't need a happily-ever-after. Her life in the idyllic town of Candlecott is fine just as it is: simple, happy, and with absolutely no magic. Magic only ever leads to trouble. But Merry's best friend, Teddy, is joining the Toadmen - a secret society upholding backward thinking and suspiciously supernatural traditions - and she is determined to stop him. An ancient Toad ritual is being held in the nightmarish Deeping Fen, and if Merry doesn't rescue Teddy, she'll lose him forever. But the further she travels into Deeping Fen's foul waters, the more Merry wonders if she can possibly save her friend - or if she's walking straight into a trap.
Because there's nothing the Toadmen love more than a damsel in distress . . .
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang
Sadie Wen is perfect on paper- school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times- she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they're accidentally sent out.
Now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie - Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate . . .
Shadows of Truth by Astrid Scholte
After their dramatic escape from Vardean prison, Cayder and his friends leap into the unknown, tumbling headlong out of Telene and into the strange and mysterious world beyond the veil.
Leta - who grew up believing a world of dark fairytales existed on the other side of the veil - finds that the truth is more magical, and terrifying, than she could ever have imagined. Cayder and Elenora learn that both this world and their own are teetering on the brink of destruction. This page-turning sequel to League of Liars takes us beneath the surface of the familiar world of Telene, and into the shadowy realm that is the source of both its magic and its nightmares.
Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden
Marco should be at university, studying biomedicine. Instead, he’s been sent to live on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean with his estranged uncle, all because of a ‘blip’ everyone else is convinced was a panic attack. (Which it most definitely was not.) And even though Marco’s trip is supposed to provide answers – about himself, about his family – all he finds on board the Ocean Melody are more and more questions.
But then his best friend CeCe proposes a new plan: for someone who has always done the right thing, in every possible way, it’s time for Marco to get a few things wrong. And hooking up with a hot dancer from the ship is only the beginning . . .
The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales
While her parents are away for the week, sixteen-year-old Ivy Winslow plans on binge-watching her favourite TV show and hanging out with her best friend, Henry. But things quickly go downhill on the very first morning, when Ivy wakes up to find Weston, the gorgeous lead character of her favourite show, in her bedroom. And, oh yeah, he thinks that she's his soulmate.
Mack, Ivy's best-friend-turned-enemy who lives next door, and Henry get involved and the three of them need to figure out why Weston is here and how to get rid of him. As Ivy and Mack grow closer again, old feelings resurface and they finally face the fallout of their broken friendship, and question if they've both secretly always wanted something more . . .
Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin
running late, drop it off without me I type drop what off? I don't know what Mish is talking about. While I'm typing, another message appears. don't tell bella. But I am Bella.
Best friends Bella and Connie live on the outskirts of the city in an area that was once full of open fields and paddocks but is changing as the suburbs creep closer. And now there is Mish, Connie's cousin, who has to be included even though she is unfriendly and unpredictable. The pandemic lockdowns have lifted and the three teens are eager to explore their newfound independence. But with the world opening up, there has been a rise in surveillance, from apps that track their movements to voice recorders and hidden cameras. It feels like everyone is watching them. But when does 'watching' become 'watching over'?
The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland
Zara Jones won't accept her murdered sister is gone forever and will do whatever it takes to claw her sister back from the grave – even trading in the occult. Jude Wolf may be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. Jude's desperate to find someone to undo the damage she's done to herself. Enter Emer Byrne, an orphaned witch with a dark past and a deadly power, a.k.a. the solution to both Zara's and Jude's problems.
Though Emer lives a hardscrabble life, she gives away her most valuable asset – her invocations – to women in desperate situations who are willing to sacrifice a piece of their soul in exchange for a scrap of power. Zara and Jude are willing, but they first have to find Emer.
Birdy by Sharon Kernot
Maddy is mute. Since the Incident she has barely spoken. And now she and her mother and brother are staying in a farmhouse on an old apricot orchard not far from town. It's a chance to rest and recuperate-or a way to hide further away from the world.
Alice is waiting. Since Birdy, her darling daughter, disappeared forty-five years ago, she has sat in her house waiting for her to come home. Alice says Maddy reminds her of Birdy, and Maddy feels a strange connection to the long-lost girl. In the quiet not-speaking and waiting, amid the clutter of the old woman's house, Maddy and Alice slowly become friends. Until Maddy takes something that's not hers.