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 LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY BY GENE LUEN YANG AND LEUYEN PHAM
Lunar New Year Love Story is perfect to read around Lunar New Year, which begins on January 29, 2025. This story follows Valentina Tran, a Vietnamese teenager named after Valentine’s Day. Growing up Valentina celebrates Valentine’s Day alongside her imaginary friend, St. Valentine, who appears to her in the form of a small Cupid. As she reaches high school, however, Val’s love of all things love comes to a screeching halt when she witnesses her Valentine’s card being ripped up by a boy and discovers that her dad has been lying to her. Now, haunted emotionally by grief and betrayal as well as supernaturally by the gristly ghost of Saint V, Val makes a deal that if she can’t find true love in a year she’ll accept her family’s curse of being unlucky in love and give up on it forever. Can Val find true love in time before the clock runs out? Is it Les with his popularity and good looks? Or could it be Jae with his quiet and understanding demeaner? Should she listen to her best friend and avoid giving away her heart at all? Is Val truly cursed to be unlucky in love? This story explores complex themes of family, parental choices, cultural connection, grief, friendship, staying true to oneself, and the difficulties surrounding love and vulnerability.
NICOLE RECOMMENDS PIPER BY JAY ASHER AND JESSICA FREEBURG
Piper by Jay Asher & Jessica Freeburg is a dark fairytale retelling of the Pied Piper legend. Gorgeous illustrations help tell this story through the perspective of a deaf girl named Maggie, who quickly falls for this mysterious piper. Although a quick read, Piper still does a wonderful job addressing themes of trust, magic, fear, and greed. Recommended for readers who enjoy a good Grimm’s Fairy Tale, for as the eerie cover art suggests, this story is far from all sunshine and uplifting melodies…
KAYLEIGH RECOMMENDS THE DARKNESS OUTSIDE US BY ELIOT SCHREFER
Ambrose is on a mission to rescue his sister from Titan, one of Saturn’s moons—but when he wakes up on the spaceship, he can’t remember getting there. And other things are different than he expected on his mission—mainly the presence of another spacefarer on board, a representative of the other of Earth’s only two remaining countries. As they get closer to Saturn, more things stop adding up and Ambrose struggles to know who to trust—the mysterious other man on board, the confusing AI running the spaceship, and even himself. The Darkness Outside Us is a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, a fascinating sci-fi set in a not-so-distant future, and an epic love story.
YSANNE RECOMMENDS AT THE END OF THE RIVER STYX BY MICHELLE KULWICKI
In At the End of the River Styx by Michelle Kulwicki, readers follow the journey of parallel worlds and characters. Zan made an ultimate sacrifice in order to save his mother: his life in exchange for hers and 500 years delivering souls to the Ferryman. In the 499th year of his sentence, Bastian, a young boy who miraculously survives a car crash that takes his mother’s life, causes issues in the River Styx. Even though he survived the accident, he wasn’t supposed to, and the Ferryman still expects Zan to deliver his soul. Follow along as Zan decides whether he will fulfill his duty to the Ferryman and finish out his sentence, or if he will let his compassion for Bastian jeopardize his freedom.
Want more book suggestions? Stay tuned for future recommendations from our team!
