It’s July! My favorite month of the year, mid-summer, and if you’re in a location similar to mine, the end of the cicada plague that has made me (more) wary of the outdoors for the last month and a half. Luckily, books can be read inside too, so here’s 10 that I think you should check out or add to your collection that release in July 2024.

1 Ready or Not by Andi Porretta

Athenum, July 2, 9781665907026

Pitch: Cassie and her friend group are grappling with their final summer together before they go their separate ways after high school, and she feels the least sure of what her future holds. So in hopes of clinging onto their friendship and the waning calendar days of the season, she plans to revive their childhood game of dares and risks.

Shorter pitch: Before separating at the end of the summer after senior year, a friend group revives their childhood game of dares. 

Give to readers who ask for: messy protagonists, awesome art 

For book displays on: graphic novels, road to college

–

2 On the Bright Side by Anna Sortino

Putnam, July 2, 9780593697863

Pitch: Ellie has just entered public school, returning home after her Deaf boarding school shut down. To ease the transition, a guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, another student at the school. Jackson is dealing with the fallout from a soccer match, where some numbness in his legs cost them the game. As Ellie and Jackson bond, and Jackson receives some unexpected and life-changing news, the two begin to fall for each other. 

Shorter pitch: Ellie, a Deaf girl who has just moved to public school, and Jackson, a soccer player dealing with an unexpected diagnosis, bond. 

Give to readers who ask for: characters dealing with big life shifts, contemporary romance

For book displays on: new schools, disability

–

3 It’s Only a Game by Kelsea Yu

Bloomsbury, July 9, 9781547613359

Pitch: Marina has been living under a fake identity since leaving her old life behind, but she’s put that at risk to accept an invitation to a tour of her favorite game company. During the tour, the game’s creator is murdered, and Marina and her online gaming team are threatened with a frame job…unless they win four rounds of the killer’s game. 

Shorter pitch:.Marina and her friends must win four rounds of a dangerous game, and if they lose they will be framed for murder. 

Give to readers who ask for: thrillers, pageturners

For book displays on: “help I’ve been framed”,  secret identity, deadly games

4 The White Guy Dies First edited by Terry J Benton-Walker

Tor Teen, July 16, 9781250861269

Pitch: A selection of dynamic and delectable stories that cover a wide breadth of horror subgenres including cannibals, slashers, killer clowns, haunted houses, and more! Authors include thriller/horror mainstays like Lamar Giles and Tiffany D. Jackson, YA mainstays from other genres like Chloe Gong and Adiba Jaigirdar, and other incredible authors like Kendare Blake, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, and H. E. Edgmon, all put together by Terry J. Benton-Walker.

Shorter pitch: A horror short story anthology where the white guy dies first. It’s–pretty much in the title. 

Give to readers who ask for: Horror, especially if just starting out and/or wanting to explore subgenres

For book displays on: short story anthologies, meet your reading goals, discover your new favorite author

Extra Notes: Tor Teen has done one of my favorite things ever for an anthology–on their Edelweiss listing for the book, they’ve put up graphics that tell you every authors story title and subgenre. Check it out here: https://www.edelweiss.plus/?sku=1250861268&g=4400

–

5 Portrait of a Shadow by Meriam Metoui

Henry Holt, July 16, 9781250863270

Pitch: Though the investigation has come to a halt, Mae is determined to unravel the mystery behind her sister Inez’s disappearance. As she clears out Inez’s studio, Mae comes across a white canvas in an ornate frame, but something seems off about it, especially the layers and layers of white paint that cover it. As she begins following a trail of Inez’s last steps before disappearing, she puts a bit of desperate hope in the strange boy who claims to have been Inez’s neighbor. 

Shorter pitch:.Mae suspects an old creepy painting might have something to do with her sister’s disappearance.

Give to readers who ask for: creepy reads

For book displays on: searching for something or someone missing, DO judge a book by the cover

–

6 The Second Son by Adrienne Tooley

Christy Ottaviano Books-Little Brown, July 16, 9780316465908

Pitch: (for book one, The Third Daughter) When the queen has a third daughter, Velle rejoices at the arrival of their New Maiden, long prophesied to be the third daughter of a third daughter. Unfortunately, this displaces Elodie, the eldest, from her place in the succession. To claim the throne, she’ll have to put her sister under a sleeping spell, but when she purchases a potion from Sabine, she’s given the wrong vial by mistake. 

Shorter pitch:.(for the series as a whole) An overlooked princess seeks to take the throne by putting her prophesied younger sister under a sleeping spell, only for things to go terribly awry when the potion maker gives her the wrong vial.  

Give to readers who ask for: complete duologies, sapphic fantasy

For book displays on: queer YA romantasy, gods & monsters

7 The Lost Souls of Benzaiten by Kelly Murashige

Soho Press, July 23, 9781641295741

Pitch: Machi has been struggling in the wake of her two best friends deciding to end their friendship with her, and hasn’t spoken since. No longer wanting to be human, she prays at the altar of Benzaiten, a Japanese goddess, wanting to become a robot vacuum. But Benzaiten hears her prayer, and replaces it with one of her own, hoping for Machi to discover humanity’s beauty through shared adventures. 

Shorter pitch:. Machi’s prayer to become a robotic vacuum cleaner is heard, though not granted, by the goddess Benzaiten, who hopes Machi will discover the beauty of humanity. 

Give to readers who ask for: unique reads

For book displays on: touch of magic

–

8 Time and Time Again by Chatham Greenfield

Bloomsbury, July 23, 9781547613908

Pitch: Phoebe Mendel has spent more time thinking about August 6th than the average person. To be fair, it’s because she’s been living the day for basically a month, as every morning when she wakes up it’s still August 6th. But when a minor car crash tosses Phoebe’s childhood crush, Jess, into the time loop, Phoebe’s mundane daily routine becomes a little bit more risky, and feelings between the two become harder to grapple with. Because if they escape the time loop, will Jess still care about Phoebe? 

Shorter pitch:.Phoebe’s mundane time loop experience shakes up when her childhood crush, Jess, becomes stuck alongside her.

Give to readers who ask for: wanting to branch out from fully realistic contemporary

For book displays on: time loops, queer romance

9 The Blonde Dies First by Joelle Wellington

Simon & Schuster BFYR, July 30, 9781665922456

Pitch: Devon is planning the best summer, as a way to send off her twin sister, Drew, who is heading to college a year ahead of her. But as all party planners know, when the Ouija board comes out, a new guest will arrive…a demon who is ready to hunt them down. This demon may have seen a few too many slasher movies though because it’s hunting based on the tropiest of tropes, and Devon, as a blonde, is set to die first.

Shorter pitch:. Devon is spending her summer being hunted down by a demon that’s following slasher movie tropes and going after her (the blonde) first, while her longtime crush is the Final Girl. 

Give to readers who ask for: fast paced reads

For book displays on: slasher horrors, “well I would but you see there’s this demon”

10 The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

Holiday House, July 30, 9780823456246

Pitch: Aspiring professional singer Casey’s family just moved from Portland to Miami, not long after Casey developed sudden and profound hearing loss. Hayden dreams of Broadway but his family expects him to pursue soccer. As Casey tries to hide her hearing loss from her new classmates, and Hayden’s anxiety spirals at the idea of telling his family the truth, the two bond and form a friendship. 

Shorter pitch:. Casey, the new girl in town who has always wanted to be a professional singer (and recently developed hearing loss), and Hayden, an aspiring Broadway performer (once he tells his family he wants that over soccer), form a friendship over music.

Give to readers who ask for: no romance, friendship between two queer characters

For book displays on: music, disability, debuts, “no dad, i’m throwing away YOUR dream”

Filed under: new books, New Releases, New YA, Teen Fiction, YA Thrillers