Fantasy, futurism, gritty realism and dark fantasy sit side-by-side in our YA recommendations for this month.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Two teenagers find themselves inducted into the ways and mysteries of a secretive order in the new novel from beloved sci-fi author Neal Shusterman. Scythe takes place on a future AI-governed Earth where immortality has become the norm, and overpopulation is combated by random ‘gleanings’ undertaken by Scythes.

After witnessing and acquitting themselves well during a gleaning, sixteen-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranov are apprenticed to learn Killcraft, competing with each other to gain a final position. But the Scythe world is not as simple and noble as it first appeared, and both teens find themselves questioning and in danger.

Malvern bookseller Alistair was taken by Scythe, describing it as ‘dark, philosophical and sometimes incredibly funny’. You can read his full review here.

Between Us by Clare Atkins

Two young people living and going to school in Darwin make a genuine but fraught connection in Clare Atkin’s Between Us. Anahita, an Iranian refugee, lives an odd double life where she is interned at Wickham Point Detention Centre, but attends the local high school with Jono. Jono is struggling with depression and the fallout of his parent’s divorce.

The teenager’s budding romance is complicated by Ana’s precarious status as a refugee in Australia’s inhumane system, and by the fact that Jono’s father Kenny is a guard at the detention centre. The complex picture of displacement and belonging is underscored by Jono’s family background – both his dad and aunt were Vietnamese refugees who came to Australia in the 1970s.

Members of our Teen Advisory Board loved _Between Us and it’s clear they’ve responded to the social and political issues raised in Ana and Jono’s story. I’d urge you to read their passionate recommendations here.

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Fairytale lore gets a fresh and modern treatment in Melissa Albert’s dark and edgy fantasy. Alice and her mother Ella leave behind their usual peripatetic lifestyle to move to the Hazel Wood estate after the death of Alice’s grandmother. By all accounts, Alice’s grandmother Althea was an interesting woman – a recluse and the author of a cult book of twisted and creepy fairytales, Tales from the Hinterland.

Instead of bringing peace, Alice’s new circumstances stir up chaos: family secrets start to emerge, Ella disappears, reality melds with fairytale, and Alice is compelled to enter the Hinterland with super-fan Ellery.

Readings Kids bookseller Pilgrim recommends this intriguing book as ‘a dark and mesmerising journey’. You can read her full review here.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Orphaned Jude and her two sisters have been raised in less-than-normal circumstances, growing up as the only humans in the High Court of Faerie. Not only that, but they’ve been raised by their parent’s killer, Madoc. Bullied Jude grows tired of her powerlessness and sets her sights on becoming a knight, an ambition that sees her drawn into a bloody, magical, treacherous coup.

The Cruel Prince is the first book in a new trilogy from Holly Black, titled The Folk of the Air.

Readings Kids bookseller Julia describes The Cruel Prince as ‘romantic and dark’. You can read her full review here.

WaR: Wizards and Robots by will.i.am & Brian David Johnson

Yep, you read that author name correctly. Black Eyed Peas’ musician will.i.am has teamed up with futurist Brian David Young to imagine a world where humans and robots co-exist, aliens might invade and time travel is a possibility.

Three separate timelines – 1489, 2052 and 3019 – weave together in this dizzying sci-fi adventure. Ada Luring is the daughter of Sara Luring, the inventor of the first robot. Ada and her mother become the centre of a centuries-spanning battle when they are visited by a young wizard and a loyal robot warning them of impending danger.

You can read our review here.

Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is trying to find a way to be herself, and accord with her immigrant parent’s expectations. Her dreams of becoming a filmmaker get a boost from being accepted into New York University, but she’s too scared to tell her protective parents that she wants to live and study away from home. Her two potential suitors, Kareem and Phil, perfectly express her position suspended between Indian and American identities.

As Maya slowly moves closer to what she wants, with moxie and authenticity, a terrorist act changes everything for her family.

This smart and romantic coming-of-age novel explores the complexities of cultural identity, Islamophobia, and inter-generational relations with ease. Maya is a delightfully nuanced character who defies preconceptions at every turn, and the love triangle is handled in a mature and realistic way.

RECENT NEWS & RECOMMENDATIONS

If you’re curious about what YA lies ahead in 2018, check out all the exciting YA books to look out for in 2018. This year is shaping up to be a particularly strong year for Aussie YA, with new books from Ellie Marney, Shivain Plozza, Erin Gough, Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, Jay Kristoff, A.J. Betts and Amie Kaufman.

On the subject of LoveOzYA, if you’re keen to read more local YA, here’s our recommendations of Australian YA books to read this summer (or autumn, winter and spring – reading in all seasons is encouraged).

The winners of the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were recently announced. The winner of the Writing for Young Adults Award was Demet Divaroren for Living on Hope Street – you can read our review here. A YA novel also won the People’s Choice award. Alison Evans’s Ida is a gender-fluid, sci-fi story of parallel universes.

Finally, our busy bees in the Readings Teen Advisory Board have been reading and reviewing heaps as usual, you can check out some of their recent picks here and here.

Leanne Hall is a children’s and YA specialist at Readings Kids. She also writes books for children and young adults.