Discover the new books for young adult readers that our booksellers are excited about this month!
Black River (Black River, Book 1)
Ruby Jean Cottle
There is something very unsettling yet utterly compelling about this debut Australian novel set in a remote town in the US. Dusty and her sister Opi live with their father on a mountain that overlooks Black River. Their mother mysteriously left a few years earlier and they are still processing her absence from their lives. One day, Dusty wakes up with dirt on her feet and she doesn’t know how it got there. Nor does she know why she has incredible energy but doesn’t feel like eating, or why she now sees colours around people. And then there is her newfound desire for blood.
Dusty begins a friendship with a boy, Will, in her class, but her new needs are very distracting. At a party, when sitting with Will, Dusty suddenly realises another boy who also lives on the mountain – whom she has hated forever – has the same desire for blood as her. She grabs him before he does something stupid and they disappear into the woods for two days, causing her family to panic.
What have they become? And what is happening on the mountain? These are the questions that keep the reader turning the pages long into the night and make for an exciting, spine-tingling thriller. For those who love their stories with a bit of magic, a smouldering romance, and oodles of tension, this debut is a winner for ages 14+.
Reviewed by Angela Crocombe.
A Guide to Falling Off the Map
Zanni L. Arnot
A Guide to Falling off the Map is classic YA. A coming-of-age romance, this story follows childhood friends Vinnie and Roo as they try to navigate the turmoil of teenagehood and their own feelings. Vinnie is coping with the loss of her mother to multiple sclerosis and suicide, while trying to deny the same symptoms developing within herself. At school, she’s contending with her dreams to become a professional actor and the reality that dreaming doesn’t necessarily equal reality.
Roo, on the other hand, dropped out of high school to help his mother financially. In his desperation he finds himself in increasingly unsafe situations and is balancing a delicate web of lies to keep her from finding out. After a disastrous day, Vinnie decides to sweep Roo away on an epic road trip visiting all the places of their favourite childhood memories. What follows is a journey of self‑discovery, healing and a strong dash of romance.
This book tackles a variety of problems teens could face, both big and small. Plagued by friendship problems, problematic boys and terrible bosses, Vinnie and Roo both make some very bad decisions, but this book does a really good job of exploring the emotions behind those choices, and how they manage to grow from the experience.
I would recommend this for fans of contemporary romances like It Sounded Better in My Head and Dancing Barefoot. Perfect for readers 12+. Content notes include the loss of a parent and suicide.
Reviewed by Alicia Guiney.
Kill Creatures
Rory Power
Original, wickedly fun, and creepy, Kill Creatures is a story of survival, but not of victim over would-be murderer, instead, it’s a tale of a murderer trying to survive their victims.
It’s been a year since Nan’s three best friends – Jane, Edie, and Luce – suddenly disappeared at Saltcedar Canyon. Now presumed dead, and with no luck finding them, the girls’ families and the community hold a memorial, finally ready to say goodbye. But before they can begin, Luce is found – alive.
Nan is teeming with questions. She must figure out where Jane and Edie are, what happened to Luce over the past year, and, most importantly, how she is going to get away with this, given that she’s the one who killed her three friends. But when an unidentified skeleton is found in the canyon near where the girls went missing, Nan must solve the mystery of whether she killed another person she doesn’t even remember killing last summer, or if there’s another murderer in town.
Kill Creatures is a bone-chilling psychological thriller that grips you by the throat from beginning to end. Nan is a complex and beguiling protagonist whose true motivations and perspective on the world increasingly unravel until she is someone completely unfamiliar. Perfect for fans of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder or the film I Know What You Did Last Summer, Rory Power’s newest novel is a macabre book about female friendship, secrets, jealousy, and revenge.
With an unreliable narrator, a creepy small-town setting, and a touch of sapphic romance, Kill Creatures is the YA crime book of the year for me. For ages 15+.
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr.
📖 Also recommended are:
The Wycherleys (The Wycherleys, Book 1)
Annaliese Avery
Seventeen-year-old Aurelia Wycherley is entering her debutante season as a witch. Aurelia should be excited about finding the perfect match to tether her magic to. But her magic is cursed – dark, dangerous, and not the kind that her peers want to match with – and, without a tether, she faces losing her magic completely.
But when Aurelia learns that enigmatic, aloof Jules, a member of arch enemy family the Nightlys, is searching for a way that a witch can keep their magic without tethering, she realises he may be her only hope. A forbidden alliance is formed, but as they navigate the Magical Season with its glamoured balls and perilous trials, they uncover dark forces that threaten their families and the magical world they live in.
Expect family secrets, generational curses, forbidden romance, gorgeous ballgowns, bribery, extortion, trespass, magic and kissing ... lots of kissing.
Oxford Blood
Rachael Davis-Featherstone
Eva has one dream: to study English at Oxford University. Not only will she receive a world-class education – getting into Oxford is a pass to freedom.
But when Eva and her best friend George are invited to Interview Week, they find themselves part of a kill-or-be-killed competition on an anonymous student forum, Oxford Slays. When Eva finds George dead on the steps of a statue in the college, she knows he’s been murdered – but all eyes are now on her. Can she clear her name, catch the true killer and win her place at Beecham College?
Eva has one week to prove her innocence, and Oxford Slays will be watching.
This Season’s Draft
Jason Gent
Set in the year leading up to the AFL Draft and following the experiences of six teenagers who are in its orbit, this YA novel is compelling, authentic and full of footy.
Summer. Winter. Autumn. Spring. As the year unfolds, AFL footy season starts and the dreams of six teenagers play out on and off the field.
Elias. Team player. Running keeps him calm.
Zac and Fletcher. Best mates. Top 5 Draft picks?
Mason. Perfect practice with Dad makes perfect play.
Dane. Great footballer. Terrible boyfriend.
Beth. It's always been 'Dane and Beth'. What does 'just Beth' look like?
Plans unravel and life bounces in unexpected directions. A brilliant YA novel about coming of age, and the love of the game with all its triumph, heartbreak and hope.
Wish You Were Her
Elle McNicoll
Everyone wants a piece of actress Allegra Brooks. When she decides she desperately needs to get away from the spotlight she heads for the remote town of Lake Pristine and its summertime book festival.
When Allegra immediately clashes with annoying (and annoyingly handsome) bookseller Jonah Thorne, their rivalry soon becomes the talk of the small town. Before long, Allegra's main escape is the increasingly flirtatious email relationship she's sharing with an anonymous charming bookseller that she's sure can't possibly be Jonah . . .
An unforgettable romcom about finding the one person who makes you feel yourself when the whole world is watching.
Maisy Hayes is Not for Sale
Allayne L. Webster
Maisy Hayes is doing it tough. There's never enough money, even for the simple things like having a decent breakfast. Her friends have given up inviting her out. And then there's her sister's serious illness, her overwhelmed mum, and her latch-key kid brother. It's a lot. Maisy never hears from her dad – not now that he's got a fancy life in a different city with his new wife and kids. Why would he care?
Maisy's angry. She feels ripped off. And she's a first-class expert at hiding it – at making excuses, at covering her shame, pretending it doesn't exist. But pretending will only get you so far.
When Maisy's dad insists she go and stay with him and then lavishes her with spending money and extravagant gifts, it's everything she always wanted. So why doesn't it feel right? Maisy is forced to question what she really wants – and she must find the power within herself to make it happen.
📖 Graphic Narrative
This Place Kills Me
Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux
At Wilberton Academy, few students are more revered than the members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society – a.k.a. the WTS – and no one represents that exclusive club better than Elizabeth Woodward. Breathtakingly beautiful, beloved by all, and a talented thespian, it’s no surprise she’s starring as Juliet in the WTS’s performance of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. But when she’s found dead the morning after opening night, the whole school is thrown into chaos.
Transfer student Abby Kita was one of the last people to see Elizabeth alive, and when local authorities deem the it-girl’s death a suicide, Abby’s not convinced. She’s sure there’s more to Wilburton and the WTS than meets the eye. As she gets tangled in prep school intrigues, Abby quickly realizes that Elizabeth was keeping secrets. Was one of those secrets worth killing for?
Told in comics, letters, diary entries, and news articles, This Place Kills Me is a page-turning whodunnit from award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and acclaimed illustrator Nicole Goux that will have readers on the edge of their seats and begging for an encore.
