Read Rec Rachel: New YA Releases for September 2024

September is filled to the brim with great new YA, and here’s a few I think are great to share with teens!

Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore

HarperCollins, September 3, 9780063284685

Pitch: When Margot goes on her school trip to Pompeii, she goes with the intention of finding the Vase of Venus Aurelia – a vase that hasn’t been seen since 1932 and is at the center of a journal belonging to lost teen explorer Van. But her search instead leads her to a statue that comes to life…bringing Van into the present and also ready to find the vase. 

Shorter pitch: Margot searches for a vase on her school trip to Pompeii and instead finds a statue that comes to life…who also wants the vase. 

Give to readers who ask for: magical romcoms

For book displays on: “if your childhood special interest was…” (this one fits with Pompeii, but for other books you can pick things like Greek Mythology / natural disasters / etc), unconventional romantic beginnings

The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs

Heartdrum, September 3, 9780063287389

Pitch: People in town have begun to go missing, and it might have something to do with a strange pond in the center of the forest. It was this very pond that Avery stumbled upon on a morning run, and this pond that has haunted her ever since–following her, haunting her in a new form every time. And after her best friend, Key, disappears, Avery will need to listen to her  Kanien’kéha: ka (Mohawk) relatives to find out what’s going on and if she can get Key back. 

Shorter pitch: When Avery’s friend goes missing not long after she finds a strange and haunting pond, she’ll have to decide what she’s willing to risk to get her friend back.

Give to readers who ask for: horror

For book displays on: “i will find you”, creepy reads

Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos

Bloomsbury, September 3, 9781547613717

Pitch: Ana Maria Ybarra helps out at her family’s bakery, but her heart lies in the dream of becoming a world famous pastry chef. So she’s putting her dream in the hands of a recipe competition, which if she were to win would provide her a prize large enough to pay for her to attend culinary school. And fate tosses her something else–Miguel, a boy she had a magical day with months before, who offers to help her win. But the catch is that he is from the family that owns the rival Cuban bakery across the street from her family’s. 

Shorter pitch: Aspiring pastry chef Ana must team up with the son of her family’s rivals in the bakery business to win a recipe competition.

Give to readers who ask for: romance, enemies/rivals-to-lovers

For book displays on: competitions, “don’t read while you’re hungry” foodie display

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

Little Brown, September 3, 9780316570381

Pitch: Kidan is searching for her sister, convinced that a vampire has taken her. In Kidan’s world, human bloodlines gain power by having vampire companionship, and the vampire bound to their family is Susenyos Sagad. To find her sister, and kill Susenyos, she’ll need to infiltrate the elite Uxlay University, where humans and vampires work to ensure their coexistence. And doing so means she’ll need to survive living with Susenyos. 

Shorter pitch: Orphan heiress Kidan infiltrates an elite university to track down her sister and kill the vampire she thinks stole her.

Give to readers who ask for: dark academia, best books of the year

For book displays on: vampires never die

When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao

Wednesday Books, September 3, 9781250762061

Pitch: Eric has been dealing with the death of his best friend the only way he knows how: creating imaginary scenarios in his head. But when he’s in a coffee shop, a boy he met in Japan the summer before walks in and sits next to him, only for Eric to learn he’s the only one that can see him. Haru is 

Shorter pitch: Reeling from the death of his best friend, Eric runs into a boy he met the year before, and discovers he’s the only one who can see him. 

Give to readers who ask for: books on grief

For book displays on: a touch of magic

Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas

Feiwel and Friends, September 3, 9781250822086

Pitch (I pitch The Sunbearer Trials book 1): The Sunbearer Trials occur every decade, finding a winner among 10 semidioses who will carry light to all the temples of Sol…and a loser whose body will serve as the fuel. Teo is the trans son of Quetzal, and is a Jade semidios, which means he’s not worried about being picked as it’s always the Golds. He is reluctantly worried for friend/rival Aurelio, but he really should have been worried about himself because they’re both competing.

Shorter pitch (I pitch The Sunbearer Trials book 1): Teo, the trans semidios son of Quetzal, competes in The Sunbearer Trials, a competition with great glory awaiting the winner, and death awaiting the loser, unexpectedly. 

Give to readers who ask for: mythology, complete fantasy series

For book displays on: competitions, must read fantasy

Till the Last Beat of My Heart by Louangie Bou-Montes

HarperCollins, September 10, 9780063296725

Pitch: Jaxon’s mom is the local mortician, so death is nothing new to him. But resurrection? Not just new, but completely unexpected. Christian, Jaxon’s first crush and one time best friend, gets accidentally brought back to life (by Jaxon, imagine that!) after a car accident, and they quickly learn there is only a little bit of time before Christian’s new batch of time runs out. 

Shorter pitch: Jaxon, who has grown up in the funeral mom his mom works in, accidentally resurrects his first crush, Christian. 

Give to readers who ask for: books that balance death and life, queer fantasy

For book displays on: accidental ghosts & resurrections, family legacy

To the Bone by Alena Bruzas

Rocky Pond Books, September 10, 9780593616208

Pitch: Ellis arrives to James Fort, indentured to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife. But as winter gets closer, the new life she’d imagined where she’d gain security and fall in love with the beautiful Jane starts to freeze over, as hunger and anger grip the fort and the colonists. 

Shorter pitch: Ellis, an indentured servant newly arrived from England, arrives to James fort in advance of a deadly and ugly winter. 

Give to readers who ask for: dark sides of history

For book displays on: books that will break your heart

Ruin Road by Lamar Giles

Scholastic Press, September 17, 9781338894134

Pitch: Cade always feels like people are afraid of him (for whatever reason it might be, like that he’s too big, or too Black), despite being a football star. Ducking into a pawn shop one night to avoid a cop encounter, he wishes aloud people would stop acting so scared around him…and soon the wish comes true. It’s not long before he discovers that while people might not be afraid of him anymore, they’re also not afraid of anything else. 

Shorter pitch: A wish to stop people from being afraid of him turns into everyone in Cade’s world losing their fear of everything. 

Give to readers who ask for: books for fans of The Purge

For book displays on: wishes gone wrong

Cade Webster lives between worlds. He’s a standout football star at the right school but lives in the wrong neighborhood–if you let his classmates tell it. Everywhere but home, people are afraid of him for one reason or another. Afraid he’s too big, too fast, too ambitious, too Black.

Then one fateful night, to avoid a dangerous encounter with the police, he ducks into a pawn shop. An impulse purchase and misspoken desire change everything when Cade tells the shopkeeper he wishes people would stop acting so scared around him, and the wish is granted…

At first, it feels like things have taken a turn for the better. But it’s not just Cade that people no longer fear–it’s everything. With Cade spreading this newfound “courage” wherever he goes, anything can happen. Fearless acts of violence begin to escalate in both his neighborhood and at school. With the right moves, and brave friends, Cade might have one — and only one — chance to save all he loves. But at what cost? After all, the devil’s in the details.

Spells to Forget Us by Aislinn Brophy

Putnam, September 17, 9780593354551

Pitch: When Luna and Aoife begin dating, Luna as a witch casts a spell so that the non-magical Aoife won’t remember their history if and when they break up. But when it happens, both of them lose their memory, leading to them finding each other, falling for each other, and forgetting all over again. 

Shorter pitch: A witch and her non-magical girlfriend get caught in a spell loop of having their memories erased when they break up and then finding each other again. 

Give to readers who ask for: unique fantasies, queer love and magic

For book displays on: caught in a loop

A Constellation of Minor Bears by Jen Ferguson

Heartdrum, September 24, 9780063334229

Pitch: Molly, Hank, and Tray were inseperable, even having a hike of the Pacific Crest Trail planned for after graduation. But when Hank, Molly’s brother, ends up with a traumatic brain injury after a climbing accident, Molly can’t seem to forgive Tray, Hank’s best friend, or herself for not being there. But when she sets off for the hike, her parents put Tray in charge of looking out for her, leaving her to spend her time with the person she’s most frustrated with.

Shorter pitch: Molly must spend her anticipated postgraduation hike with her brother Hank’s best friend, Tray, even though their relationship is fractured by Hank’s recent TBI. 

Give to readers who ask for: teen leads who feel authentic

For book displays on: contemporaries that will make you feel the feelings

The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette’s by Hanna Alkaf

Salaam Reads, September 24, 9781534494589

Pitch: A student begins screaming in the middle of class. Seventeen girls are screaming by the end of the day. St. Bernadette’s is known for being a school where young women attend and are molded into the best and brightest. But soon, they might be known for the screaming instead. After Khadijah’s sister becomes one of those affected by the screams, she knows that she’s the only one who can save her. 

Shorter pitch: A well renowned school is thrown into chaos when the young women who attend there begin screaming uncontrollably.

Give to readers who ask for: page turners

For book displays on: schools you’re glad you don’t go to

Filed under: Uncategorized