Today marks the beginning of new partnership. Rachel Strolle, known as Rec it Rachel, is joining us here at TLT. On the first of each month she will be sharing a rundown of some of the new MG and YA titles coming out during that month. And on the 15th she will share a curated list on the topic of her choosing. We’re so excited to welcome Rachel!

1 Bite Me, Royce Taslim by Lauren Ho 

Disney-Hyperion, May 7, 9781368095358

Pitch: You know that feeling when you accidentally get run over which not only hurts you and destroys your chances at a track scholarship but also your archnemesis is the only witness to your pain? That might be highly specific to Agnes, but not to worry because she’s got a whole new path to scholarship: an international stand-up comedy contest for teens! And naturally, it means she’s going up against that archnemesis, Royce Taslim.

Shorter pitch: After getting run over, Agnes shifts her scholarship goals from track to stand-up comedy, going up against her archnemesis (and maybe falling for him) in the process.

Give to readers who ask for: Jenny Han readalikes, rivals-to-romance (or if they ask for enemies-to-lovers), a laugh

For book displays on: Romance, Funny YA, Competitions, Books set in Asia (this book is set in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia if you do little location tags!), Authors Who Write in Multiple Age Categories

2 The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve 

Amulet Books, May 7, 9781419764967

Pitch: Crushes are exhausting–just ask Hayley, who is absolutely done with unrequited love after falling for yet another unavailable girl. So Hayley and her best friend, Talia, decide to make a list of different places they’ve seen lead to love in the movies. I mean, it’s not quite that easy, talking to strangers is hard, especially when they’re cute, but they’re going to try their best. 

Shorter pitch: Two queer best friends make a list of places to find meet cutes and summer love, just like they see in the movies.

Give to readers who ask for: beach reads, romance, queer leads, main characters with anxiety and/or ADHD, lesbian main character

For book displays on: “I’ve got a Plan!”, Summer, Pride Month, Love

3 The Dare by Natasha Preston 

Delacorte, May 7, 9780593704066

Pitch: Marley, Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse are seniors, taking part in the classic senior pranks–egging houses, filling the principals office with glitter balloons, driving a notorious stretch of road with no headlights leading to a tragedy and leaving guilt and fear behind…like I said, the classic senior pranks.

Shorter Pitch: A dare amongst a group of friends turns bad, and the ensuing guilt threatens to tear them apart.

Give to readers who ask for: Thrillers, fast paced reads, bad choices

For book displays on: Mystery/Thrillers, Truth or Dare (True Crime / Fiction Thrillers), senior year

4 This Book Won’t Burn by Samira Ahmed

Delacorte, May 7, 9780593704066

Pitch: When Noors family moves after her father leaves, she’s determined to get through the last few months of her senior year, only to become the center of a fight against the school board and their book bans. 

Shorter Pitch: After a family shakeup and big move, Noor challenges her new small towns book bans. 

Give to readers who ask for: ripped from the news fiction, page turners

For book displays on: freedom to read, activism, books about books

5 Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle & Katherine Webber 

Delacorte, May 7, 9780593704066

This is the third book in the Twin Crowns series, as I usually don’t pitch a third book to someone, I’m listing this here with the pitches I use for book one just to make sure you know about it! 

Pitch (Twin Crowns): Do you ever look at someone who seems to be acting different and think “gosh I wonder if they’ve been replaced by an identical twin they didn’t know anything about who is also a witch who has been raised to take my place as princess to avenge a lot of witch deaths and probably is going to arrange my kidnapping”? Because same.  

Shorter Pitch (Twin Crowns): Witch Wren takes her identical twin sister Rose’s place as princess to avenge her parents murder. 

Give to readers who ask for: fun fantasy, completed series (two spinoffs are coming but the trilogy is complete), YA romantasy 

For book displays on: multi POV, witches, royalty, twins

6 Blood at the Root by LaDarrion Williams 

Delacorte, May 7, 9780593704066

Pitch: Malik’s mother disappeared a decade ago, the same night he discovered the powers he has since kept hidden. But when he reveals a connection to his long-lost grandmother, he ends up at Caiman University, a hidden magical university his mother once attended. And as he learns more about not only his family history, but also history of his magical community that goes back to the Haitian Revolution, he’ll team up with Alexis, his very first love.

Shorter Pitch: Malik discovers a magical university where he’ll learn the truth about powers, his family history, and rediscover his first love. 

Give to readers who ask for: new fantasy, what to read while waiting for Legendborn book three

For book displays on: dazzling debuts, magic schools

7 Queerceañera by Alex Crespo

Delacorte, May 7, 9780593704066

Pitch: Joaquin’s sister and dad have decided to throw him a queerceñera to celebrate him. But among the party planning and the RSVPs, a rumor in the family group chat that he’s dating Felix, his mother’s fave godson/the boy who was his first kiss, spirals into a fake dating scheme. 

Shorter Pitch: Joaquin must balance the queerceñera his dad and sister are throwing to celebrate him with fake dating the boy who was his first kiss. 

Give to readers who ask for: trans main characters, fake dating

For book displays on: parties, Latine YA, romance

8 The Ballad of Darcy & Russell by Morgan Matson 

Simon and Schuster BFYR, May 7, 9780593704066

Pitch: How long does it take to fall in love? For Darcy, the answer is not long at all, as she’s always been ready for that love at first sight moment. And it seems to be here: she meets Russell at the bus station after a music festival when she has no cash, no phone battery, and no time left before she leaves for college. Not ideal, but over the course of one night, she might just fall in love anyway.

Shorter Pitch: After meeting at a bus station, Darcy and Russell spend one night having an adventure before Darcy leaves for college.

Give to readers who ask for: romance, authors with lots of backlist to binge

For book displays on: hopeless romantics, short time spans

9 Death’s Country by R. M. Romero

Peachtree Teen, May 7, 9781682636916

Pitch: Musician Andres, photographer Renee, and dancer Liora all met on Miami Beach, falling in love and forming a polyamorous triad. But after a car accident leaves Liora in a coma, Andres and Renee head into the underworld, where Andres has been before after drowning and bargaining with death to return to the living.

Shorter Pitch: Andres and Renee head to the underworld to fetch their girlfriends spirit and reunite it with her body.

Give to readers who ask for: polyamorous relationships, 

For book displays on: death, novels in verse

10 Thirsty by Jas Hammonds

Roaring Brook Press, May 14, 9781250816597

Pitch: Blake, an 18-year-old hoping to make it into an exclusive sorority alongside her (admission-practically-guaranteed) girlfriend, looks to alcohol in hopes of feeling her bolder and more outgoing, which soon spirals into addiction.

Shorter Pitch: Blake Brenner’s drinking takes a turn into danger as she begins to use it to try and prove she can be accepted. 

Give to readers who ask for: amazing writing, tough topics

For book displays on: literary YA, mental & physical health

11 It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass

Disney Hyperion, May 14, 9781368098335

Pitch: Despite her dreams of leaving, Selina lives on the island of St. Virgil, kept in place by guilt over her mother’s coma. While she makes a living conning tourists with phony rituals and talismans, one of those tourists has ended up in the middle of a string of murders and Selina, and her ex, must question if evil really lurks in the forest.

Shorter Pitch: Selina (and her ex-boyfriend) begin investigating a string of murders on the island she lives on, which may be caused by something dark and magical.

Give to readers who ask for: mythology/PJO, fantasy and mystery

For book displays on: Rick Riordan presents line, magical trees and forests, murder!

12 A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur

Feiwel & Friends, May 14, 9781250858092

Pitch: Joseon (Korea), 1506. The King is a tyrant, stealing and hurting women and girls, most recently Iseul’s sister. To try and get her back, she leaves her village, colliding with Prince Daehyun, the half-brother of the king who desires nothing more than to overthrow him.

Shorter Pitch: Iseul tries to save her sister from the tyrant King, connecting with the king’s half-brother Prince Daehyun to help take him down

Give to readers who ask for: historical fiction, eyebrow raising

For book displays on: intrigue-ing stories, historical fiction from pre-1700s

13 True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li

Quill Tree Books, May 14, 9780063246041

Pitch: Grace is in her first year of college, looking to ace a statistics project by using an algorithm that’s meant to pair students with their perfect match. Determined to prove her algorithm a good idea, she is desperate to make things work with Jamie, a guy that is meant to be her match. But she seems to be falling for Julia, the coworker at the campus library who has been kinda skeptical about the whole project, instead.

Shorter Pitch: Grace tries to develop an algorithm for love for a statistics project, but ends up falling for someone outside of her algorithmic match.

Give to readers who ask for: contemporary stories, queer self-discovery

For book displays on: college YA, math, matchmaking and perfect pairings

14 The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaeffer

Harper Alley, May 21, 9780358464945

Pitch: Chihiro has decided to work with her hero. Decided may be a strong word, but she’s found a way to make it work, so she’s heading off in her father’s place after he is conscripted for service. The hero in question is Tatsuo Nakano, the first woman to be accepted into the Keisi Academy (a samurai school). But Tatsuo has become a ronin, working for hire and running from grief. 

Shorter Pitch: Chihiro teams up with her favorite samurai Tatsuo Nakano, but soon learns that Tatsuo is more than just someone to fawn over, and is fighting her own demons.

Give to readers who ask for: graphic novels, delight and dismay

For book displays on: proving yourself, unexpected duos

15 Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Tor Teen, May 28, 9781250884893

Pitch: Viola needs to escape from the world sometimes, and luckily there’s a MMORPG called Twelfth Knight. But alas, the patriarchy tends to invade gaming spaces and so she creates an alter ego named Cesario. While in the game, Cesario makes friends with Duke Orsino, who she doesn’t realize is played by currently injured football star, and the president to Viola’s student body vice president, Jack. 

Shorter Pitch: Student Body VP Viola escapes into the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, where under the guise of a knight named Cesario, she unknowingly falls for her annoying student body president, Jack.

Give to readers who ask for: video game books, falling in love semi-anonymously

For book displays on: Shakespeare, retellings, authors who write across age groups (Farol Follmuth writes in adult under Olivie Blake)

16 Another First Chance by Robbie Couch

Simon & Schuster BFYR, May 28, 9781665935302

Pitch: River’s best friend, Dylan, died in a car accident a year ago. After being caught vandalizing the billboard reminding everyone about texting and driving, the one that reduces Dylan from a person to a statistic, he’s blackmailed into joining a research study called the Affinity Trials. While they’re supposedly for teens struggling socially, he begins to quickly wonder why his every move is being watched.

Shorter Pitch: After the death of his best friend, River is placed into a study for teens “struggling socially” where he begins to wonder what the researchers are studying.

Give to readers who ask for: books on grief, books that might surprise you

For book displays on: a little bit of speculative, blackmail, if you like TBDATE

17 Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore

Feiwel and Friends, May 28, 9781250869630

Pitch: Isla and Renata are sent by their grandmother to the Alarie House, a finishing school that only Renata ends up staying at. But months later, when she returns, her rebellious nature has been replaced by a terrifying politeness and pleasantness that might cover up something more terrifying. That is, before she vanishes. 

Shorter Pitch: Isla returns to the finishing school she left after her older sister returns home changed before vanishing entirely.

Give to readers who ask for: intersex characters, modern gothic vibes

For book displays on: school stories (where school is not cool), siblings

Filed under: new books