Recommended new YA books in November

This month’s collection of new YA books sees a teen gene-hacker hunt for the cure to a deadly plague, a suitor search for answers in Proust, and villains and heroes put under the microscope…

Find our best recommendations for kids books this month here.


OUR YA BOOK OF THE MONTH


Gene manipulation, hacking, a deadly global plague, an evil corporation, politics, conspiracy and romance collide in Emily Suvada’s This Mortal Coil. Catarina’s geneticist father is dead, but how far along was he with the vaccine that could save billions?

Catarina must band together with a young soldier to decipher her father’s legacy in a thrilling YA novel that our reviewer described as ‘highly imaginative, yet eerily plausible’.

You can read our full review here.


RECOMMENDED NEW YA READS


16-year-old Martin Dubois is pushed well out of his comfort zone in Kids Like Us, when his family spends the summer in France for his famous film director mother’s shoot. Martin, who is on the autism spectrum, attends a local school and matches the new people he meets with characters in his favourite book – Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. When he falls for Alice (who he initially thinks of as Gilberte), Martin has his work cut out figuring out how to romance her, and whether the other French students like him for who he really is.

Bestselling Lunar Chronicles author Marissa Meyer has a new book out – Renegades, which the author intriguingly describes as a blend of X-Men and Romeo and Juliet. 16-year-old Nova wants to use her power to induce sleep to infiltrate the Renegades – a group of superhumans who are tasked with protecting the city, but failed miserably to protect Nova’s family when it mattered most. Raised by supposed-villains the Anarchists, Nova’s undercover role brings her into contact with Adrian, a boy who believes in heroes, justice and in her.

Rainbow Rowell fans should get their hands on the delightful Almost Midnight which brings together two of Rowell’s short stories (both previously published in the My True Love Gave to Me anthology) for this beautifully packaged, fully illustrated hardcover keepsake.

On a more sombre note, Antonio Iturb has done meticulous research for his fictionalised account of the family camp at Auschwitz – The Librarian of Auschwitz. Based on a true story, we follow teenage heroine Dita as she protects the camp’s eight contraband books, and we encounter a network of people desperately trying to eke an existence in a situation of extreme horror. You can read our full review here.

M.T. Anderson’s returns to his sci fi roots with the slim and satirical Landscape with Invisible Hand. When the aliens vuuvs come, it turns out they are fascinated with classic human culture. Desperate to survive in this new world order, Adam and his girlfriend turn to producing nostalgic and romantic video content for the vuuv, which grows increasingly difficult as their relationship sours.

Two much-anticipated books came out in the second half of last month, and were so tightly guarded that we had to wait for their publication date to read and review them… We’re pleased to report that both exceeded our high expectations.

Our reviewer Bronte devoured Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage, describing it as ‘a brilliant, gripping adventure’, and Costa-Award-winner Frances Hardinge’s latest ghostly novel, A Skinful of Shadows, received a glowing recommendation from our reviewer Dani.


NON-FICTION PICKS


Alex Bertie came to prominence on Youtube with candid vlogs and videos about his gender and sexual identity, and has now published his first book – Trans Mission: My Quest to a Beard. Alex, who realised he was a trans man at 15, writes honestly and intimately about his experiences at school, coming out, changing his name and the processes he’s had to work with in the UK health system. This is an excellent read for ages 13 and up, including parents.

In Because I Was A Girl you can rear from girls and women ages 10 to 80. Organised by decade, 38 successful and notable girls and women in the fields of science, activism, the arts, business and more tell personal anecdotes of the challenges they’ve overcome to take up the space they wanted in the world.


GIRLS TO THE FRONT


Over the past months, we’ve noticed a good handful of YA fiction titles that explore feminism for teenagers in energising and thoughtful ways.

The Nowhere Girls is an impressive new release that is being handed around and admired by our staff. Readings Kids bookseller Kushla reflected on the novel in one of our recent What We’re Reading columns. She writes: 'Storytelling has a crucial place in the work we do to improve our society and is a genuine tool with which to begin dismantling the culture of silence that surrounds sexual violence. It’s role feels particularly important for teenagers as literature is a safe place for them to explore difficult issues, and I truly believe that young people need access to books like The Nowhere Girls .’

Other notable titles include Moxie, Piglettes and Take Three Girls – all three of which come highly recommended.

And you find even more suggestions in our post of rebel stories for teen activists, and our collection of feminist reads for teens.


RECENT NEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS


Our Teen Advisory Board continues their lively meetings, this month chatting with Books & Publishing editor Jackie Tang, working on their shelf talker recommendations for our shops and sharing what they’ve been reading (and loving) lately. Read more here.

Also, if you’re curious to know what adult books might be enjoyable for teenage readers, we put this question to our Board yielding some great recommendations. Browse their recommendations for adult books loved by teens here.

In recent weeks, we staged an enormous hypothetical battle royale to find out who is the evilest of evil villains in children’s and YA literature. You can see start with round one here, or flash forward to the final showdown here which has a highly controversial outcome.


Leanne Hall is a children’s and YA specialist at Readings Kid and the grants officer for the Readings Foundation. She also writes books for children and young adults.

 Read review
Cover image for A Skinful of Shadows

A Skinful of Shadows

Frances Hardinge

This item is unavailableUnavailable