Discover the new books for teen readers that our booksellers are excited about this month!
A New Kind of Beautiful
Suzy Zail
⭐Young Adult Book of the Month⭐
I absolutely adored this novel about a young woman coming to terms with losing her sight to Stargardt disease.
Paige and her best friend, Jazz, are determined to make Year 10 their best year ever. Jazz posts to Paige’s Instagram all the crazy things she gets up to, like jumping off buildings, kissing boys she barely knows, and mouthing off at school. Paige used to be an art nerd, but since she began losing her eyesight she is trying to make up for all the things she may never get to do or see again. Paige is the ultimate teen rebel, but she has good reason – it’s not easy to go from being a 16-year-old who only has to worry about boys and homework to someone with a serious disability. And she’s determined that no one at school should know, so only Jazz is aware of her difficulties, and Paige has been hiding how bad it is even from Jazz.
This is the story of how Stargardt disease slowly impacts Paige’s relationships with her best friend and her family, as well as her chances for romance. Written with warmth and compassion, the reader can wholly empathise with Paige as she goes through this reluctant and often painful journey to find acceptance of her condition.
Suzy Zail has written well-known historical young adult books that have been shortlisted for many awards. This latest novel treads different ground, but it is equally compelling, well-researched and authentic. Readers aged 12+ who like contemporary stories and romance are going to devour it just like I did.
Reviewed by Angela Crocombe.
Also recommended are:
Us in the Bright Lights
Zanni L. Arnot
Sometimes, you have to lose everything to find yourself. A swoony and moving novel about ending up in the most unexpected places, with the most unlikely people, and discovering it's exactly where you're meant to be.
Stevie Jones has always lived in the comfort of her best friend Bella's glorious shadow. But when Bella's suddenly gone, her absence casts a harsh light on everything Stevie's not. Who even is she without her best friend?
Unmoored, Stevie moves to Europe for a year in a desperate attempt to fulfill Bella's bucket list. As she checks off Bella's list, she begins to figure out who she is: the things she doesn't like, and the things she does ... which would all be terrific, if one of those things wasn't way-off-limits Theodore, Bella's long-time crush.
As her time overseas draws painfully to a close, Stevie must decide whether she wants to go back to her old life or stay in the big, bright light of the new world she's building.
Young World
Soman Chainani
When 17 year old Benton Young uploads a video daring the world to elect him as US President, the video goes viral. Young people have lost all faith in their leaders, and Benton’s video ignites a national revolution ... resulting in Benton as President.
Inspired, young people from across the globe take to the streets, and soon eight of the world's most powerful nations are led by teenagers. Their mission: to set a bold new course for the future. But, on the eve of their first global summit, one of the leaders is murdered in cold blood ... and Benton is the only suspect.
Now Benton must untangle a deadly web of secrets, betrayal and power plays to prove his innocence. The world’s future – and his own – is on the line.
With globe-spanning action, shocking twists and an electric new brand of storytelling, Young World is a heartstopping thriller that asks: what happens when the future really does belong to the young?
To All The Boys I've Loved Before: Graphic Novel
Jenny Han & Perez Marquez, illustrated by Akimaro & Li Lu
A gorgeous graphic novel adaptation of the global phenomenon To All The Boys I've Loved Before, starring beautiful full colour art throughout by Chinese artist Li Lu.
Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her: there's one letter for every boy she's ever loved. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control …
Old Bertie
Vincenzo Perrella & Dan Osborn
George Jones is fed up and hungry for change. She's stuck on an island with a bunch of compliant suckers who all live in fearful deference to Old Bertie, a Giant Squid. Old Bertie devoured George's mother, and swallowed up her father's heart, and his will.
But George's world changes when a mysterious stranger washes ashore. Fernandez is the first person to ever enter Old Bertie's watery domain and live to tell the tale. If Fernandez was spared by the Great Beast, could her mum still be out there? And is George willing to break her dad's heart in her quest to know the truth?
This story will appeal to readers looking for a satisfying blend of heart and humour, with a speculative, fantastical twist.
Immortal Game
Allison Saft
Ever since Shea Fury's sister was stolen by the High King of the Fae, Shea has dreamed of rescuing her. When an invitation to compete in a once-in-a-lifetime chess tournament in the Otherworld arrives on Shea's doorstep, she learns the winner is granted one wish.
But dark magic lurks around every corner, and her cutthroat opponents are willing to bend the rules to make their own wishes come true. To make it to the final round – and save her sister – Shea is forced to strike an alliance with her longtime rival, the sharply beautiful fae princess, Ciara of Bri Leith. One wrong move, though, and it could cost her everything.
In Immortal Game, Allison Saft has written a high-stakes sapphic love story filled with plot twists and competitive tension set against a lush, Irish folklore-inspired fantasy world. It's The Cruel Prince meets Ali Hazelwood's Check & Mate, perfect for fans of The Rose Bargain, Powerless, and Belladonna.
This Moth Saw Brightness
A.A. Vacharat
"The invisible D in my name is my mother's second most lasting contribution to my life."
'Wayne Le-known as "Invisible-D 'Wayne" at school-has been invited to participate in a seemingly ordinary, innocuous adolescent health study by a prestigious university. The study has a few nice perks, but most important to 'Wayne, is the opportunity to give his immigrant father an accomplishment to be proud of – something that's been in short supply since 'Wayne's mother left.
But the study quickly proves to be anything but ordinary and innocuous, and 'Wayne, his best friend Kermit, and a fellow study participant named Jane (a girl who shall not be manic-pixied) find themselves sucked into an M. C. Escheresque maze of conspiracies that might be entirely in their heads or might truly be a sinister government plot.
A weird and revelatory debut that vividly captures the dislocation of growing up BIPOC and neurodivergent in a country awash in both conspiracy theories and genuine conspiracies.
