Read Rec Rachel: June 2024
Happy June, y’all! I’m so excited to be sharing some excellent upcoming June YA with you so you can stock your shelves for the upcoming month! Each book listing here will give you a longer description, a one-sentence pitch, ideas of what teens to hand it directly to during reader’s advisory, and ideas for what book displays it might fit on.

1 Better Must Come by Desmond Hall
Athenum, June 4, 9781534460744
Pitch: Jamaican teens Deja and Gabriel meet at a party, and almost immediately the latter wonders about possible futures for them. But one day, Deja is out fishing and ends up helping a badly wounded man, who tosses her his bag and begs her to deliver it for him in secret. Gabriel is caught up in a gang that would do anything for the contents of that bag – 500,000 USD.
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Shorter pitch: The classic story of boy meets girl, start falling for each other, then girl gets pulled into delivering a bag that the gang the boy is reluctantly part of would do anything to grab.
Give to readers who ask for: contemporary with a quick pace, high stakes
For book displays on: books set outside the US, multi POV stories
2 The Breakup Artists by Adriana Mather, illustrated by Booboo Stewart
Blackstone, June 4, 9798212417525
Pitch: Parents worried about their kids who are in bad relationships have reason to hope–Summer Love, Inc. They’ll go undercover and break up those relationships, for a price. Run by best friends August and Valentine, the company is partially a hope to make way for true love (Valentine) and partially a way to prove true love doesn’t exist (August). But the latter is called into question when August meets Ella, who is part of their new case, and starts falling for her. [Also of note here, this is illustrated by Booboo Stewart, who teens would likely know from The Descendants franchise!]
Shorter pitch: August, who with his best friend runs a company to break up teen couples, begins to fall for his new case, despite not believing in love.
Give to readers who ask for: Messy relationships, illustrated fiction
For book displays on: relationship fixers/matchmakers and breakers/”help me find a love interest” or “help me break them up”
3 Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé & Adiba Jaigirdar
Feiwel & Friends, June 4, 9781250890139
Pitch: Said has returned from boarding school for the funeral of his favorite librarian, Ms. Barnes. But being back in his hometown means that he’s now in the same place as his ex-best friend, Tiwa. While the two are doing their best to pretend the other doesn’t exist, Tiwa focuses on the upcoming Eid celebration at the Islamic Center, plans that are thrown into turbulence when the center accidentally catches fire. With word that the mayor plans to demolish the center, Tiwa and Said will team up to try and save the Center, Eid, and what’s left of their former friendship.
Shorter pitch: Two ex-besties try to save the Islamic Center after it catches fire and is at risk of demolition.
Give to readers who ask for: rom-coms, Muslim leads
For book displays on: Eid, epic team-ups, multi POV stories
4 Looking for Smoke by K. A. Cobell
Heartdrum, June 4, 9780063318670
Pitch: Mara is invited to a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway by Loren, which is to honor the latter’s missing sister. But instead of being the friend-making opportunity Mara hoped for, it turns out to be the start of a murder case, as Samantha White Tail is found dead. Mara, Loren, and two other teens–Brody and Eli–are the prime suspects in the investigation, and each has their own history with Samantha.
Shorter pitch: Four Native teens get pulled into an investigation after a girl is found murdered at a Blackfeet Giveaway.
Give to readers who ask for: thrillers!
For book displays on: “Is the murderer…one of us?”, books by Indigenous authors
5 Moonstorm by Yoon Ha Lee
Delacorte Press, June 4, 9780593488331
Pitch: Hwa Young and her classmates have been stranded on an imperial space fleet, in the same empire that made her an orphan at just 10 years old when they destroyed her home. The fleet needs pilot candidates, and Hwa Young has always wanted to be a lancer pilot, so she and a few others join up. But training unearths a conspiracy and hidden truths (hey, do they need pilots so badly because something really bad happened to the previous squad?) that throws everything they know into question.
Shorter pitch: After an attack on their boarding school, Hwa Young and a few of her classmates end up stranded on an imperial space fleet, happily signing up to be lancer pilots before unearthing a conspiracy.
Give to readers who ask for: sci-fi, robots
For book displays on: “it’s a conspiracy”, “…IN SPACE”
6 The Deep Dark by Molly Knox Ostertag
Graphix, June 4, 9781338839999
Pitch: Mags is just about to graduate high school, but is hiding a dark secret in the basement. Her childhood friend, Nessa, arrives back in town with her own secrets. As the two try to balance their secrets with family legacies, memories, and feelings of fear and isolation, they begin to fall for one another.
Shorter pitch: Childhood friends Mags and Nessa fall in love while trying to contain deadly secrets.
Give to readers who ask for: childhood friends to lovers, graphic novels
For book displays on: queer graphic novels, dark secrets
7 Wish You Weren’t Here by Erin Baldwin
Viking, June 4, 9780593622698
Pitch: Juliette is perfectly fine with her childhood rival Priya existing. After all, they’ve got a truce going. They don’t interfere with each other’s lives, instead cropping their photos and strictly not gossiping to mutual friends. But this summer at camp, things are bound to be different, because Juliette has just found out her cabinmate for the summer is Priya.
Shorter pitch: Childhood rivals Juliette and Priya get paired up as cabinmates at summer camp, threatening their general truce and their feelings for one another.
Give to readers who ask for: rivals to lovers
For book displays on: summer camp, Pride, romcoms
8 Louder Than Words by Ashley Woodfolk and Lexi Underwood
Scholastic Press, June 4, 9781338875577
Pitch: Jordyn is getting a fresh start at her new high school, moving away from the person she was before and proving that she’s changed. She’s got a new group of friends, and a new cute soccer player she’s been talking to. But an anonymous podcast is revealing secrets about students, and Jordyn is desperate to stop them before she is the one in the spotlight.
Shorter pitch: Jordyn’s fresh start is threatened when an anonymous podcast starts revealing secrets at her new school.
Give to readers who ask for: books for fans of Pretty Little Liars
For book displays on: anonymous threats, new schools
9 One Killer Problem by Justine Pucella Winans
HarperTeen, June 4, 9780063324480
Pitch: Gigi and her friends get directed to math teacher Mr. Ford’s room, where they find his body in a pool of blood. With a solid alibi of detention, it’s up to Gigi, the school’s Mystery Club, her longtime crush, and more, to solve the murder (despite things like a flirty arch nemesis, the death being ruled accidental, IBS, and…you know…junior year).
Shorter pitch: After finding her math teacher’s body, Gigi and the school mystery club set out to solve the murder.
Give to readers who ask for: murder, funny mystery
For book displays on: “my tummy hurts but I’m being brave”, strange things happen in detention
10 Heiress Takes All by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Little Brown, June 4, 9780316566759
Pitch: Olivia Owens was supposed to inherit it all, but after her dad cheated on her mom and kicked them out of the house, he cut Olivia off. Now, he’s getting remarried, and Olivia has a plan to…re-inherit. Working with a crew of students (and one former teacher), she plans to use the wedding as a distraction so she can get the handwritten pass code from the safe that will allow her to take money from her father’s online accounts.
Shorter pitch: Disinherited heiress Olivia and her crew plan to steal back her inheritance while everyone is distracted during her father’s nuptials.
Give to readers who ask for: fun books, unexpected thrills
For book displays on: heists, wedding season
11 Take All of Us by Natalie Leif
Holiday House, June 4, 9780823456611
Pitch: Ian and his best friend (and secret love) Eric tend to come across many infected people–a parasite poisoned the water half a decade ago and turned many locals into oil-dripping zombies. As Ian has chronic migraines and seizures, Eric takes the brunt of mercy-killing any infected they come across. But in a rush to evacuate, Ian cracks his head, and Eric leaves him behind. Now in danger of infection, Ian searches for Eric, while Eric tries to track down Ian to take him out.
Shorter pitch: After a head injury and possible zombie infection, Ian is desperate to track down his best friend and secret love, Eric, who is also looking for Ian to take him out before the infection does.
Give to readers who ask for: horror, zombies
For book displays on: unbury your gays (queer horror), parasites
12 Hearts of Fire and Snow by David Bowles & Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Bloomsbury, June 11, 9781547610044
Pitch: When a new student shows up at Blanca’s Nevada school, she’s immediately intrigued. What she doesn’t initially know is that Greg’s fate was tied to hers centuries ago, and he’s been searching for her for a thousand years. Greg was Captain Popoca in his first life, and Blanca is the reincarnated Princess Iztac. As the two begin to piece together their pasts and their powers, they must find the reincarnation of the one who betrayed them in the first place.
Shorter pitch: Modern teens Blanca and Greg discover they are reincarnations of tragic lovers from centuries before, and must find the traitor that caused their anguish.
Give to readers who ask for: epic love stories
For book displays on: love perseveres, past lives
13 Brownstone by Samuel Teer & Mar Julia
Versify, June 11, 9780358394747
Pitch: Almudena has never met her father, but this summer is going to change that. While her white mother heads on a dance tour, she’s headed to the brownstone her father is fixing up, her father that is not Mexican like she assumed, but Guatemalan. As she starts learning about the neighborhood and community, she also starts to piece together things about her heritage and her father.
Shorter pitch: Almudena must spend her summer with the Guatemalan father she’d never met before, living in and helping fix up the brownstone he’s renovating.
Give to readers who ask for: graphic novels, family history, found family
For book displays on: Latine lit, the 1990s
14 Furious by Jamie Pacton & Rebecca Podos
Page Street, June 11, 9798890030160
Pitch: Jojo, daughter of a late celebrity NASCAR racer, is spending her summer working at her grandma’s auto shop, since her dad won’t even let her get her license. But working at the shop might not be the worst thing, since Eliana has turned up looking for her older sister, Maxine, who has dropped out of contact. The two begin to fall headfirst for each other, while investigating what happened to Max.
Shorter pitch: When Eliana turns up at Jojo’s grandma’s auto shop, the two quickly bond and set out to find El’s missing sister, Max.
Give to readers who ask for: investigations (outside of mystery/thrillers!)
For book displays on: Fast & Furious/F1/racing, epic team-ups
15 The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson
Random House, June 11, 9780593118801
Pitch: Black teen Calvin and his family have moved from Chicago to a suburban town, but it’s 1955 and the new town is a “Whites Only” town. While their family passes for white to live there, Calvin is exhausted by hiding his true self, and is beginning to learn very dark secrets about their new neighborhood.
Shorter pitch: When Black teen Calvin and his family move to a “Whites Only” suburb in the 1950s, they pass for white while uncovering secrets about the town.
Give to readers who ask for: historical fiction, thrillers
For book displays on: 1950s, characters caught between two worlds
16 If You Can’t Take the Heat by Michael Ruhlman
Penguin Workshop, June 4, 9780593523445
Pitch: Theo’s breakup isn’t the worst thing to happen to him recently, as the football star just broke his leg and has to put his sports dreams on hold. While healing, he’s working in the kitchen of a French restaurant, where he unexpectedly finds not just a purpose but also a new love.
Shorter pitch: An injured football star finds new purpose working in a kitchen in 1980s Ohio.
Give to readers who ask for: historical that feels like contemporary,
For book displays on: 1980s, cooking/foodie
17 Where Wolves Don’t Die by Anton Treuer
Levine Querido, June 18, 9781646143818
Pitch: Though Ezra would rather be at the rez at Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation, he’s stuck in Minneapolis, where his father is a professor. Worse still, he’s stuck in a neighborhood with Matt Schroeder, a terrible bully. When Ezra defends his friend Nora against Matt, he thinks that will be the end of things. But as Matt’s house burns down that night, Ezra instead becomes the prime suspect, getting sent to his grandfathers in remote Canada while the Schroeder’s are looking for him.
Shorter pitch: After getting into a fight with a bully, Ezra becomes the prime suspect when the bully’s house burns down the same day.
Give to readers who ask for: thrillers
For book displays on: Indigenous lit, proving innocence
18 Crashing into You by Rocky Callen
Henry Holt, June 25, 9781250861894
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Pitch: Leti dreams of being a famous female street racer, always speeding away from any problem. She’s not expecting to slow-mo fall for Jacob Fleckenstein, a boy that will get her to pry open her heart the tiniest bit from the cages of grief and guilt that surround it. But when tragedy strikes, Leti vows to give up driving, even though it might be the thing that saves those she loves.
Shorter pitch: Aspiring famous female street racer Leti unexpectedly falls in love as tragedy lurks on the race path.
Give to readers who ask for: high emotional stakes
For book displays on: Fast & Furious/F1/racing
19 We Shall Be Monsters by Tara Sim
Nancy Paulsen, June 25, 9780593407424
Pitch: Kajal does what any good sister would do–she tries to bring her sister Lasya back to life. I mean, it definitely does not work, because her sister’s soul turns into a bhuta (a murderous spirit) which ends up getting Kajal sentenced to death. Alas. She’s freed though, on a condition from her two rescuers–resurrect the crown prince. Sounds fine and dandy, except it didn’t go great last time, and also this boy she’s resurrected turns out to not even be the crown prince at all, so she’ll have to team up with him, and her undead dog, to find the real one.
Shorter pitch: After an attempt to resurrect her sister goes awry, and I mean really awry, Kajal is freed from potential execution in exchange for resurrecting the crown prince…if she can find him.
Give to readers who ask for: twisty fantasy
For book displays on: [picture here, a photo of Gene Wilder a la Young Frankenstein]: IT’S ALIVE!!,
20 Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury, June 25, 9781547609765
Pitch: Eve is nearly 17, and ready to fulfill the purpose she’s been raised for: to defeat the evil sorcerer, the Knight. But things aren’t quite adding up, between the fact that her mother keeps talking to a mirror and the strange young man, the Knight’s messenger, who showed up to deliver a message about her past.
Shorter pitch: Eve, the daughter of queens, is ready to fight an evil sorcerer, despite the secrets he seems to hold about her past.
Give to readers who ask for: retellings, standalone fantasy
For book displays on: magic, fairy tales
Filed under: Uncategorized
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