Don’t know what to read next? Looking for YA book recommendations? Welcome to the Book Chat with the Young Adult Team. Every month, the YA Team each recommends a favorite book from our YA collection. We cover fiction, non-fiction, manga, comics, and graphic novels, so there is something for everyone! There is also a mixture of new releases and old favorites, so keep an eye on our posts for books to add to your TBR.
GENEVIEVRE RECOMMENDS OUR SHADOWS HAVE CLAWS: 15 LATIN AMERICAN MONSTER STORIES EDITED BY YAMILE SAIED MÉNDEZ & AMPARO ORTIZ, ILLUSTRATED BY RICARDO LÓPEZ ORTIZ
Our Shadows Have Claws is a horror anthology by 16 different authors of the Latin American diaspora. Each story is a unique adaptation of creatures and characters from cultural myths and folklore, which exposes a new audience to universal themes like connecting with cultural heritage (whether the culture in the story is your own or not), dealing with grief, finding acceptance both internally and externally, honoring ancestors in a rapidly changing world, taking back power and reversing the predator/prey narrative, challenging outdated cultural norms that cause harm, fighting for justice, as well as providing creative inspiration for those simply wanting to get lost in a good monster story.
Some of my personal favorites from the collection are “The Nightingale and the Lark” by Chantel Acevedo, which is a monstrous Cuban retelling of Romeo and Juliet, “Blood Kin” by Ari Tison, which focusses on land rights of Indigenous Costa Ricans, “The Boy from Hell” by Amparo Ortiz, which follows a young slayer as she takes on vampires targeting young women in her Puerto Rican town, “La Madrina” by Yamile Saied Méndez, about a young woman who follows la luz mala (Argentina’s ghostly light), and “Leave No Tracks” by Julia Alvarez, about loss and environmental justice in the Dominican Republic. Whether you’re looking for something along the lines of Goosebumps or are interested in folktales with depth, this collection will appeal to you!
NICOLE RECOMMENDS A BITE OF PEPPER BY BLAZS LORINCZI
What could be more awesome than a skateboarding vampire? Pepper Mint herself would tell you, “Nothing”! A Bite of Pepper is a fun, nontraditional vampire tale about a teenage vampire learning how to navigate both the vampire and human worlds while trying to stay true to herself. When her brother and new potential girlfriend want her to go against her values to reinforce negative vampire stereotypes, Pepper must decide whether to listen to her conscience or give in to their peer pressure. With lush illustrations and a lighthearted plot, this graphic novel is perfect for vampire lovers or for any teenager looking for a fresh, new twist to the familiar coming-of-age story.
KAYLEIGH RECOMMENDS OPHELIA AFTER ALL BY RACQUEL MARIE
Ophelia Rojas loves lots of things: good Cuban food, her friends, her carefully cultivated rose garden, and lots of boys. She knows who she is and so do her friends and family. But as prom and graduation approaches her senior year of high school, things start to shift in ways she hasn’t weathered before. Her tight friendship group is splitting along the seams as a love triangle destabilizes their closeness, her mom is distant and angry after Ophelia embarrasses her at work party for reasons she won’t explain, and she can’t stop thinking about the girl sitting in front of her in her government class. Serial boy-crusher Ophelia is beginning to feel like a title that no longer fits, but as she struggles to figure out who she is and wants to be, she finds that even when friends and family love you, sometimes they don’t understand you. Ophelia After All is an emotional and complex coming-of-age story about love of all varieties, change, and the exciting, terrifying potential that comes from entering a new stage of life.
KELLI RECOMMENDS FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEY’S END BY KANEHITO YAMADA, ART BY TSUKASA ABE
Frieren is the cutest story following an Elf that outlives her adventure party.
Following the death of her old adventurer friend, Frieren takes it upon herself to learn and
understand humans while gathering magic spells and artifacts. She makes new friends,
partakes in new adventures, and tries to understand humanity in a way that I could
understand. I had a great time relating to her and how she sees the world
RACHEL RECOMMENDS THE L.O.V.E. CLUB BY LIO MIN YA
Three years ago, four gamer girls belonged to the L.O.V.E. Club: Liberty, O, Vera, and Elle. Then, Elle went missing. Reeling from the loss, the remaining members fell apart. Liberty moved away with her family, Vera was sent off to live with her estranged father, and O stayed behind in Calendula.
When Liberty and Vera return to Calendula for their senior year of high school, the three of them are strangers. But they still feel the inexplicable pull to their old clubhouse where a glowing computer monitor invites them to play Morning Glory.
The only way out is through when the girls are (literally) transported into the botanical fantasy world crafted by Elle. Each level is tailored to one of the members of the L.O.V.E Club and coded with storylines, quests, and devastating bosses that Elle couldn’t possibly have known. Neither could O. In fact, unbeknownst to Liberty and Vera, O can’t remember anything before the club’s formation or after a few days before Elle’s disappearance.
The girls carve their way deeper into the game and each other’s psyches, unearthing the sort of truths that can make or break their lives. One of those truths could be about Elle’s disappearance. Does O want to know?
Morning Glory is part litRPG, part coming-of-age story, and part horror. It includes scenes, themes, and topics that may disturb some readers. Content warnings include: graphic violence (including murder), domestic violence, sexual harassment, racism, misogyny, transphobia, transmisogyny, mental illness (including delusions, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation), body shaming, animal death, alcoholism, and vomiting.
BETH RECOMMENDS THE MARY SHELLEY CLUB BY GOLDY MOLDAVSKY
Did you know Mary Shelley was only 18 when she wrote Frankenstein? That fact is the underlying basis to this book. Rachel Chavez is getting over a terrible trauma of a home invasion that didn’t end well. Now it is a year later and she started a new school. Rachel’s idea of dealing with the fear and trauma is to watch horror movies until her one new friend makes her leave the house and go to a party. That is where it all starts to change her life. When the party is in full swing, the most popular girl starts screaming there’s spiders in her hair. Rachel notices someone with a remote and realizes it is all a prank and starts laughing. No one else saw the remote and thinks Rachel did this. The next day everyone is talking about her and treating her horribly. All of a sudden she receives a message to meet someone at 2am if she wants to know what really happened. She goes and meets a group of 4 people who call themselves The Mary Shelley Club. They watch horror movies of all kinds and play a prank game. They each pick a target and plan a prank that will make them scream. If they don’t scream, the player loses the game. Rachel is all about her new friends until things start to go wrong and people actually start to die. Rachel must race against time to figure out who is behind the deaths. What she finds out haunts her til this very day…. is someone still after her? Read this fast paced suspense to find out if you dare.
LAUREN RECOMMENDS THE GIRL YOU KNOW BY ELLE GONZALEZ ROSE
If the movie “Scream” has taught me anything it is to never trust the love interest! A true dark academia romance book with emphasis on dark. The week before Luna’s twin sister Solina was supposed to return for her final semester at an elite boarding school she told Luna she was dropping out. When Luna argued with her and then told her that she would be doing no such thing, Solina left the apartment angry and was later found dead under “unknown circumstances.” Luna is now determined to find the person responsible for her sister’s death using any means necessary. This book is filled with tons of miscommunication and has secrets piling up faster than leaves falling on the ground. It is a great read for both fall and honoring Hispanic heritage month.
ADRIANE RECOMMENDS WHEN WE WERE MONSTERS BY JENNIFER NIVEN
This book had a slow build, at first everything seemed fine until you were suddenly like what the heck is going on?!? That said I felt the characters and feel of the novel was well done. You know what happens at the end, you are told in the first page of story, you just spend the rest of the book trying to figure out the how and why of the book. This book is great for those who don’t like extreme suspense, but still want a little bit of a thrill in their book. It is also the perfect fall read, an academic thriller set in a remote location on the northeast coast of the US, it has all the fall vibes!
Want more book suggestions? Stay tuned for future recommendations from our team!
If you’re a teen who likes to read, you can also submit book recommendations from our collection. Email genevievre.wood@rva.gov with a one paragraph review.
