Book Mail: Trans history, a mythology-tinged debut, a teen given a second chance, a new Laurie Halse Anderson, and more!

The 2025 books are arriving at great speed! Now if only I could read them as quickly as they get dropped off at my door!
Get ready to add a bunch of new titles to your TBR. If it’s anything like mine, it’s probably already bursting with 2025 titles!
All descriptions from the publishers.

After Life by Gayle Forman (ISBN-13: 9780063346147 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 01/07/2025, Ages 14-17)
A Good Morning America Book Club YA Pick
“Gayle Forman has an uncanny ability to create characters in which we see ourselves, and her latest—which looks at where love goes, after a loss—is an honest, heartbreaking elegy to how memory makes relationships eternal.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“I was consumed by this thought-provoking, deftly written, multilayered novel. Gayle Forman reigns as the queen of breaking hearts with a touch of magic.” —Adam Silvera, #1 New York Times bestselling author of They Both Die at the End
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One spring afternoon after school, Amber arrives home on her bike. It’s just another perfectly normal day. But when Amber’s mom sees her, she screams.
Because Amber died seven years ago, hit by a car while on the very same bicycle she’s inexplicably riding now.
This return doesn’t only impact Amber. Her sister, Melissa, now seven years older, must be a new kind of sibling to Amber. Amber’s estranged parents are battling over her. And the changes ripple farther and farther out: Amber’s friends, boyfriend, and even people she met only once have been deeply affected by her life and death. In the midst of everyone’s turmoil, Amber is struggling with herself. What kind of person was she? How and why was she given this second chance?
This magnificent tour de force by acclaimed author Gayle Forman brilliantly explores the porous veil between life and death, examines the impact that one person can have on the world, and celebrates life in all its beautiful complexity.

Using Literature to Support Children’s Mental Health edited by Kim Becnel and Robin A. Moeller (ISBN-13: 979-8892555760 Publisher: ALA Editions date: 01/10/2025)
In this valuable collection, librarians, educators, parents, counselors, and caregivers will find practical guidance on leveraging quality children’s literature to support the mental health needs of students, families, and communities.
Generation Z and Alpha youth are facing mental health crises that many adults are unprepared to address. There have been dramatic rises in the numbers of young people reporting feelings of hopelessness, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety. The global COVID-19 pandemic brought such a devastating impact on mental health of young people that it sparked national and global conversations, but experts say that the pandemic only exacerbated problematic trends already well underway. One small silver lining is the proliferation of new fiction and nonfiction geared towards children who are struggling, including books with themes related to social and emotional learning, psychological wellbeing, and specific mental health challenges. Edited by former public and school librarians, this important resource explores the exciting landscape of recent children’s literature and provides helpful frameworks and strategies for adults to think about the evaluation, curation, and use of these books with young people. Readers will discover
- books for children dealing with the cancer diagnosis of a relative, illnesses, death, loss, and grief, with suggested activities that can be paired with these titles to further assist young readers in the grieving and healing process;
- fantasy bibliotherapy to help children understand, process, and cope with anxiety-provoking situations in their lives;
- graphic novels that promote mental and emotional wellbeing, including those that depict common childhood mental health conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder;
- guidance on reaching historically underserved population groups such as Black girls, Muslim children, and young Latin American migrants; and
- using children’s literature to support the unique needs of autistic mental health.

True Gretch — Young Adult Edition: Lessons for Anyone Who Wants to Make a Difference by Gretchen Whitmer (ISBN-13: 9781665983761 Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers Publication date: 01/28/2025, Ages 14-18)
The young adult edition of the unconventionally honest, deeply personal, and sharply funny account from Michigan governor and rising Democratic star Gretchen Whitmer is packed with remarkable insights for young people wishing to make a difference in the world.
When Gretchen Whitmer was growing up, her beloved grandmother Nino taught her that you can always find something good in other people. “Even the meanest person might have pretty eyes,” she would say, a piece of advice that Gretchen carries with her today in her role as the governor of Michigan. (And one that resonated more than another her grandmother offered: “never part your hair in the middle.”)
From navigating a kidnapping and assassination plot in which she herself was a target to facing monumental challenges during a global pandemic, Big Gretch (as she’s now known) shares the key pieces of wisdom that have shaped her trailblazing career and personal experiences in this often hilarious, always uplifting book. Along the way, she tells stories about growing up gutsy in the Midwest, the wild comments she’s encountered as a public figure, and how to neutralize high-profile bullies with a fearless sense of humor.
Told in her famously straightforward and slyly funny voice, this young adult edition of the governor’s story not only offers an intimate insight into the life of a politician with an astounding journey, but also affords extraordinary lessons for young people everywhere who wish to make a difference in the world.

Girls to the Front: 40 Asian American Women Who Blazed a Trail by Niña Mata (ISBN-13: 9780063216280 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 01/28/2025, Ages 8-12)
Stand back, the girls are coming through: Learn about forty amazing Asian American women who have changed the course of history!
From the big stage to the US Navy, from laboratories to the boardroom, from the Olympics to the pages in books, these girls and women lead every line. Bold, bright, and empowering profiles by Geisel Honor–winning and #1 New York Times bestselling artist Niña Mata place these incredible changemakers at the very front and inspire readers to tap into their own greatness.
Perfect for fans of Little Leaders, Latinitas, Rebel Girls, Notable Native People, and other anthologies for children.
Readers will meet: Mary Tape · Umpeylia “Sugar Pie” DeSanto · Susan Ahn Cuddy · Sunisa “Suni” Lee · Zarina Hashmi · Cristeta Comerford · Anna May Wong · Grace Lee Boggs · Christine Ha · Kimora Lee Simmons · Vicki Manalo Draves · Amy Tan · Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu · Tammy Duckworth · Lucy Liu · Gyo Fujikawa · Kalpana Chawla · Helen Zia · Ny Sou Okon · Vera Wang · Geena Rocero · Patsy Mink · Gabriella Wilson (H.E.R.) · Dr. Erika Lee · Chloe Kim · Margaret Cho · Maya Lin · Yuri Kochiyama · Kristi Yamaguchi · Tye Leung Schulze · Ali Wong · Dr. Kazue Togasaki · Merritt Moore · Nicole Ponseca · Miyoshi Umeki · Joy Cho · Dorothy Toy · Ruby Ibarra · Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee · Kamala Harris

Rhino’s Run by Robert Lipsyte (ISBN-13: 9780063343870 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication date: 01/28/2025, Ages 13-17)
“You can’t play it safe when you’re the captain.”
From celebrated author Robert Lipsyte, this powerful coming-of-age follows high school football player Ronnie “Rhino” Rhinehart after a violent incident at school leaves him questioning everything he ever believed.
Ronnie Rhinehart, better known as Rhino on the field, is the captain of his high school team in Woodhaven, a small town obsessed with football. His only goal is to earn a Division I football scholarship so he can escape this town forever. Until the day he punches Josh Kremens in the face.
To avoid serious punishment and stay in school, Ronnie is forced to join Group, a cast of misfits who discuss their feelings with a counselor. At the same time, tensions are rising on the football team. Not everyone is happy that Ronnie, a junior, was named captain, especially Cogan and his friends the Berserkers. Other than his best friend, Andy, Ronnie struggles to find solace and support, even at home, where his dad puts pressure on him to maintain his role on the team. Reluctantly, Ronnie finds himself liking aspects of Group, even if he isn’t always a welcome presence to the other members. Then one fateful day, Keith, another Group member, comes to school with a gun . . . and everything changes.

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang (ISBN-13: 9781335523129 Publisher: Harlequin Publication date: 01/28/2025, Ages 13-17)
Jenna Chen has spent her life in the shadow of her flawless cousin. Jessica Chen is so smart she gets the top score on every test. Jessica Chen is so beautiful people stop in the hallway to stare at her. Jessica Chen is so perfect she got into Harvard.
And Jenna Chen will only ever be a disappointment.
So when Jenna makes a desperate wish to become her cousin, the last thing she expects is for it to come true—literally. All of a sudden she gets to live the life she’s always dreamed of . . . but being the model student at cutthroat Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she’d imagined. Worse, people seem to be forgetting that someone named Jenna Chen ever existed. But isn’t it worth trading it all away—her artistic talent, her childhood home, even the hope of golden boy Aaron Cai loving her back—to be Jessica Chen?

Me and Other Bunnies by Mo Willems (ISBN-13: 9781454951490 Publisher: Union Square Kids Publication date: 02/04/2025, Ages 3-6)
Mo Willems, #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning author-illustrator creates a hare-larious picture book about bunnies.
There are ME bunnies.
There are YOU bunnies.
There are US bunnies . . . and WE bunnies . . . and THEM bunnies.
There are a lot of bunnies in Me and Other Bunnies.

The Ghosts of Bitterfly Bay by Mary Averling (ISBN-13: 9780593624937 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 02/04/2025, Ages 8-12)
A ghost must team up with the living girl she’s been haunting in order to defeat a monster out of her nightmares and save her little brother, from the author of The Curse of Eelgrass Bog.
Maudie isn’t your typical twelve-year-old girl—she’s the ghost of one. Along with her best friend Kit and little brother Scratch, she haunts a cottage in the woods, doing her best to scare off the vacationers and forget her old life.
But everything changes when Kit and Scratch go missing. Maudie knows something terrible must have happened, and she’s right: Longfingers—a monster from her own nightmares, with spidery fingers and needle-sharp teeth—has stolen her friends away.
Longfingers makes Maudie a twisted deal: find the key to a door in a mysterious cabin, or she’ll never see her friends again. With nobody else to turn to, Maudie has to beg for help from Gianna, the living girl she’s been haunting. Together, the girls search for a way to thwart the monster and save Maudie’s friends.
But Maudie’s keeping secrets about the cabin and her past. Unless she finds a way to finally face the truth, she may never be able to rescue her friends from Longfingers’s grasp.

Mountain Upside Down by Sara Ryan (ISBN-13: 9780593699515 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 02/11/2025, Ages 10-13)
A funny and heartfelt LGBTQIA+ middle grade novel set against the backdrop of family drama and a library funding campaign in a small town.
Alex Eager lives in Faillin, OR with her grandmother, a retired librarian. Life should be great for Alex, since she finally worked up the courage to ask her best friend PJ if they could be more than friends and she said yes. But their new relationship will have to be long distance, because PJ is moving. On top of that, Alex is worried that something is wrong with her increasingly forgetful grandmother. And to make matters worse, Faillin is holding a referendum on library funding, and things aren’t looking good. Will anything good for Alex ever last?
Mountain Upside Down is a beautifully crafted story of a thirteen-year-old girl finding her place in her family and her community. It’s a queer-positive story that doesn’t center coming out. It’s a story of a library’s role in a community that doesn’t feature book banning. And it’s a story of long-held family secrets and resentment that focuses not on final resolution but learning how to communicate again.

The Six — Young Readers Edition: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush, Rebecca Stefoff (Editor) (ISBN-13: 9781534497047 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers Publication date: 02/11/2025, Ages 8-12)
The extraordinary true story of America’s first female astronauts hailed as “suspenseful, meticulously observed, enlightening” by Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures, now adapted for young readers.
Sally Ride may have been the first US woman in space, but did you know there were five other incredible American women who helped blaze the trail for female astronauts by her side?
When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s, the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots—a group women were also aggressively barred from—had the right stuff. But as the 1980s dawned so did new thinking, and six elite women scientists—Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Anna Lee Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon—set out to prove they had exactly the right stuff to become the first US women astronauts.
In The Six Young Readers Edition, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows how these brilliant and courageous women fought to enter STEM fields they were discouraged from pursuing, endured claustrophobic—and often deeply sexist—media attention, underwent rigorous survival training, and prepared for years to take multi-million-dollar equipment into orbit.
Told with contributions from nearly all the living participants and now adapted for young readers, this book is an inspiring testament to their struggles, accomplishments, and sacrifices and how they built the tools that made the space program run. It’s a legacy that lives on to inspire young people today.

Bad Badger by Maryrose Wood, Giulia Ghigini (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781454953456 Publisher: Union Square Kids Publication date: 02/25/2025 Series: Bad Badger, Ages 7-10)
For fans of Odder and Skunk and Badger comes a heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship between a gull and a badger.
Septimus is not good at being a badger. He adores the sunset. He dreams of going to Venice. And he lives alone in a charming cottage by the sea. He’s not unhappy with his tidy, solitary life, but there are times when being so bad at badgerdom makes him wonder if he’s even a badger at all.
When a gull of very few words lands on the windowsill, Septimus leaps at the possibility of friendship. However, his new confidant soon goes missing and Septimus is bereft. Determined to find his best—and only—friend, he ventures into new territory and encounters a cast of surprising characters. Can Septimus be as brave and bighearted as he’ll need to be to find Gully? Or is he really a bad badger after all?
Bad Badger is a young middle-grade novel about badgers, gulls, and learning that staying true to yourself means knowing who you are to begin with.

Muk ‘N’ Honey: Treehouse Trouble by Brett Bean (ISBN-13: 9780593658963 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 02/25/2025 Series: Muk ‘n’ Honey #1, Ages 6-9)
Meet Honey Bunny and Muk Muk Moose: the inventor duo who make whimsical creations to help the forest, even if it takes them a few times to get it right! Designed to engage early readers, this chapter book series combines simple text, lively illustrations, and laugh-out-loud humor to help boost kids’ confidence and create lifelong readers!
Honey Bunny and Muk Muk Moose may be forest inventors, but when the staircase to their treehouse collapses, they’re stumped! Not only do they have to get back up in time to take their delicious Triple Decker Hunger Wrecker concoction out of the oven, but now some of their friends need help solving their own problems, too. Can Honey Bunny and Muk Muk Moose come up with new creations to help everyone, even themselves?
With full-color illustrations on every spread, this humorous and whimsical story is perfect for kids just beginning to read on their own. The short chapters, early vocabulary, and amusing illustrations make reading easy and fun! Exciting, easy-to-read books are the stepping stone a young reader needs to bridge the gap between being a beginner and being fluent.

I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew (ISBN-13: 9781546104483 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/04/2025, Ages 13-18)
From bestselling author Kelly Andrew comes the most electrifying dark romance of the decade…
Following the death of his father, Thomas Walsh had to grow up quickly, taking on odd-jobs to keep food on the table and help pay his gravely ill mother’s medical bills. When he’s offered a highly paid position as an interpreter for an heiress who exclusively signs, Thomas — the hearing child of a Deaf adult — jumps at the opportunity.
But the job is not without its challenges. Thomas is expected to accompany Vivienne wherever she goes, but from the start, she seems determined to shake him. To make matters worse, her parents keep her on an extremely short leash. She is not to go anywhere without express permission. She is not to deviate from her routine.
She is, most importantly, not to be out after dark.
A selective-mute, Vivienne Farrow hasn’t said a word in years — not since going missing in Red Rock Canyon when she was four years old. No one knows quite what happened to her out in the dark. They only know that the sound of her voice is now as deadly as a poison. Anyone who hears her speak suffers a horrible death.
Ever since that fatal family vacation, Vivienne has been desperately searching for a way to regain control of both her voice and her body. Because the face staring out of the mirror isn’t hers. It’s something with teeth.
Thankfully, Vivienne has a plan. She’s finally found someone who claims to be able to perform a surgical exorcism. She just needs to find a way to get rid of Thomas first. But Thomas can’t afford to walk away, nor is he willing to abandon the mysterious girl he’s quickly falling for, no matter what dark powers threaten to swallow them both whole.

POP! Goes the Nursery Rhyme by Betsy Bird, Andrea Tsurumi (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781454960461 Publisher: Union Square Kids Publication date: 03/18/2025, Ages 3-5)
In this laugh-out-loud spin on a classic nursery rhyme collection, a feisty weasel continuously interrupts the narrator’s carefully prepared recitation—adding exuberant mischief to the timeless rhymes we all know and love.
The sensible Secretary Bird wants nothing more than to get on with their job of properly narrating a classic nursery rhyme book. But something is afoot in the orderly land of nursery rhymes . . . a zippy little Weasel has entered the scene! As the Secretary Bird tries to get through the rhymes—from Little Miss Muffet to Jack and Jill—the Weasel bursts in, throwing everything into a comical tailspin. Can the Secretary Bird put an end to the chaos?
In POP! Goes the Nursery Rhyme, influential children’s librarian Betsy Bird and acclaimed illustrator Andrea Tsurumi remix beloved nursery rhymes, serving up a classic-in-the-making packed with hilarious surprises that will have little listeners riveted.

Catty Corner Lands on Her Feet by Julie Murphy, Eve Farb (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781454956471 Publisher: Union Square Kids Publication date: 03/25/2025 Series: Catty Corner, Ages 6-8)
Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’, brings her signature warm positivity and message of empowerment to her chapter book debut: a series about a big-hearted girl who is half-human, half-cat.
Introducing Catty!
She’s a confident second grader who happens to be half-cat, like her mother and grandmother. In this series debut, Catty hits a few rough patches at her new school. So she turns to her fuzzy diary—AKA her “scratch pad”—where she shares her big feelings and documents her adventures. Before long, Catty is making friends and learning to love her new school.
Catty Corner is the natural next read for fans of character-driven chapter books like Junie B. Jones, Ivy & Bean, and Judy Moody.

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain by Selina Li Bi (ISBN-13: 9781641296489 Publisher: Soho Press, Incorporated Publication date: 04/01/2025, Ages 14-17)
A lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel about a Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret—perfect for fans of Emily X.R. Pan and Ann Liang.
Jasmine Cheng has grown up on stories spun by her beautiful, free-spirited mother. Together, they’re the Phoenix and Dragon. Jasmine’s father is the god Pangu, creator of the heavens and earth. Her mother may have boyfriends, but Jasmine chases them away. For her mother, love brings chaos, sleepless nights, and frightening episodes, and it’s Jasmine’s job to keep their home life stable—especially now that a social worker has started to keep tabs on them.
When the sudden arrival of Cal, her mother’s old flame, fractures their delicate world, events unfold that will send Jasmine on a cross-country journey to the West Coast—and into her past. Trapped in a tangle of fantasy and reality, Jasmine becomes determined to find the truth, even while her mother’s refusal to be honest drives a deeper wedge between them. Will the crack in their fantasy destroy her, or finally let the light in?
Selina Li Bi’s magical debut perfectly portrays the pain of growing up in a less-than-magical world and introduces a remarkable new voice in young adult fiction.

All the Stars Align by Gretchen Schreiber (ISBN-13: 9781250892188 Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group Publication date: 04/01/2025, Ages 13-18)
All the Stars Align is the magical love story that is Taylor Swift’s Enchanted meets Cyrano, from the author of Ellie Haycock is Totally Normal.
All the women in Piper’s family know their true love at first sight, complete with butterflies, heart eyes, and a gut instinct. The kind of fated love that lasts forever. Piper grew up with her ancestors’ epic love stories repeated like fairy tales, and yearns for the day she’ll start her own. Already singled out in her family due to her physical disability, Piper collects a second strike against her when her parents announce their divorce, which convinces her family that she’s doomed.
When she finally finds her true love at a party, she’s more determined than ever to attain her love story and earn a spot in her family. But after completely botching their first meeting, she realizes that she’ll need help from her best friend Leo, who is sort of a love expert. The catch—he and Piper haven’t talked in six months, since he needed a “break” from their friendship.
To win over the love of her life and a place in her family, Piper must convince Leo to teach her his ways. And it’s all going as planned…until Leo confesses his own love for Piper. Now, she must decide: will fate choose her love, or will love choose her fate?

Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson (ISBN-13: 9781416968269 Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books Publication date: 04/01/2025, Ages 10-14)
From New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson comes an eerily timely historical fiction middle grade adventure about a girl struggling to survive amid a smallpox epidemic, the public’s fear of inoculation, and the seething Revolutionary War.
In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots’ massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage.
Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one. While a treatment is being frantically fine-tuned, thousands of people rush in from the countryside begging for inoculation. At the same time, others refuse protection, for the treatment is crude at best and at times more dangerous than the disease itself.
Elsbeth, who had smallpox as a small child and is now immune, finds work taking care of a large, wealthy family with discord of their own as they await a turn at inoculation, but as the epidemic and the revolution rage on, will she find her father?

Chaos King by Kacen Callender (ISBN-13: 9781250890283 Publisher: Tor Publishing Group Publication date: 04/15/2025 Series: Infinity Alchemist #2, Ages 13-18)
WHEN THE WORLD BURNS, ASH WILL RISE.
The explosive sequel to instant New York Times bestselling YA debut Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender.
The hardcover edition features a beautiful jacket with silver foil, a case stamp, an in-world map and illustrated endpapers.
Ever since he rose up against his father and saved New Anglia from destruction, Ash has been struggling to adapt to his new life. He has nightmares every night, haunted by strange black orbs and his screaming dead mother. Ash is sure she’s trying to warn him that the world is still in danger, and becomes determined to find a way to speak to her again—but communicating with the dead isn’t easy, even for an alchemist as powerful as Ash.
It doesn’t help that violent anti-alchemist sentiment is spreading across New Anglia. When Ash is captured by a radical group, inspired by his father’s legacy, he must decide if alchemist rights can be trusted in the hands of the Houses, along with his partners Callum and Ramsay—or if Ash must follow the path his father laid for him, and become the leader of an alchemist revolution.
Can Ash keep his relationships together and stop the world from falling apart?

Outsider Kids: A Parachute Kids Graphic Novel (Parachute Kids #2) (ISBN-13: 9781338832716 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 04/15/2025, Ages 9-12)
Can one spoiled cousin upend three kids’ hard-won happiness and stability? Find out in this hilarious, hair-raising, high stakes companion to the award-winning bestseller Parachute Kids! Perfect for fans of School Trip, A First Time for Everything, and The Tryout.
WITH FAMILY LIKE THIS, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?
After seven months on their own as undocumented immigrants, the Lin siblings have settled into their new lives in California. Jia-Xi (Jesse) has a new job, Ke-Gang (Jason) has a new crush, and Feng-Li (Ann) is excited to celebrate her eleventh birthday with her new friends. Their parents still await visa approval in Taiwan, so the trio is trying to take better care of one another and stay under the radar of immigration authorities. But when their stuck-up cousin Josephine—a violin prodigy—arrives with her privilege and demands, suddenly their world is in turnaround. Will they have to give up the life they worked so hard to achieve?

The Thrashers by Julie Soto (ISBN-13: 9781250377173 Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group Publication date: 05/06/2025, Ages 12-18)
Either you’re in or you’re out.
Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High.
They’re everything everyone wants to be.
Jodi Dillon was never meant to be one of them. Julian, Lucy, Paige, and the infamous Zack Thrasher are rich, sophisticated, and love attention. Jodi feels out of place, but Zack’s her childhood best friend, so she’s in.
Then Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher, dies—and the whispers about the Thrashers begin. As Emily’s journal surfaces, detectives close in, and Jodi faces an impossible choice: betray her friends or protect herself.
But as eerie messages and strange occurrences escalate, it becomes clear—Emily isn’t done with them yet.
A twisty thrill-ride of unforgettable drama and suspense that “encapsulates the vulnerability of adolescents playing adult games” (Ali Hazelwood) from USA Today bestselling author Julie Soto, The Thrashers will keep you up at night desperate to read just one more page.

This Thing of Ours by Frederick Joseph (ISBN-13: 9781536233469 Publisher: Candlewick Press Publication date: 05/06/2025, Ages 14-17)
The powerful and timely YA novel debut from two-time New York Times best-selling author Frederick Joseph is a deeply heartfelt story—and a rallying cry against book banning.
In an instant, Ossie Brown’s entire future is in jeopardy when a torn ACL ends his promising basketball career. Now that basketball is no longer a major part of his identity, Ossie—a Black teen who doesn’t come from wealth and privilege—must navigate his new place in the social and academic ecosystems of his affluent, predominantly white school. When a Black teacher encourages him to join her highly regarded writing program, Ossie begins to find a new purpose, buoyed by not only the rich works of literature by marginalized authors he’s now reading, but also by new friends who see him as something more than an asset to the sports program. Everything changes when some students’ viral “anti-woke” video puts the teacher’s job, the writing program, and even Ossie’s friends’ safety at risk—and Ossie must find his true voice. This unflinching novel confronts critical issues like racism and classism, the treatment of student athletes, homophobia, and book banning while weaving together a moving testament to family, romance, friendship, and the power of words.

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss (ISBN-13: 9781250366146 Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group Publication date: 05/13/2025, Ages 13-18)
Wilder Girls meets Outer Banks where a group of scuba diving friends stumbles across lost treasure, a legendary cave, and a new type of power… that comes at a price.
The deeper you go, the darker you fall.
Phoebe “Phibs” Ray is never more at home than when she’s underwater. On a dive six months ago, she and her four closest friends discovered a handful of ancient gold coins, rocketing them into social media fame. Now, their final summer together after high school, they’re taking one last trip to a distant Australian island to do what they love most – scuba dive.
While diving a local reef, Phibs discovers a spectacular underwater sea cave, rumored to be a lost cave with a buried treasure. But when Phibs and her best friend Gabe surface from the cave, they notice that they’re undergoing strange changes. Oozing gashes that don’t heal. Haunting whispers in their heads… Something has latched onto them, lurking beneath their skin, transforming them from the inside out.
When treasure hunters arrive, desperate to find the location of the cave and hold Phibs’ group for ransom, she’ll do anything to keep her friends safe. In the process she learns that, of all the dreadful creatures of the sea, she might be the most terrifying of them all.

Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day by Alex L. Combs, Andrew Eakett (ISBN-13: 9781536244175 Publisher: Candlewick Press Publication date: 05/13/2025, Ages 12-17)
An essential introduction to trans history, from ancient times to the present day, in full-color graphic nonfiction format. Deeply researched, highly readable, and featuring a broad range of voices.
What does “trans” mean, and what does it mean to be trans? Diversity in human sex and gender is not a modern phenomenon, as readers will discover through illustrated stories and records that introduce historical figures ranging from the controversial Roman emperor Elagabalus to the swashbuckling seventeenth-century conquistador Antonio de Erauso to veterans of the Stonewall uprising Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In addition to these individual profiles, the book explores some of the societal roles played by trans people beginning in ancient times and shows how European ideas about gender were spread across the globe. It explains how the science of sexology and the growing acceptance of (and backlash to) gender nonconformity have helped to shape what it means to be trans today. Illustrated conversations with modern activists, scholars, and creatives highlight the breadth of current trans experiences and give readers a deeper sense of the diversity of trans people, a group numbering in the millions. Extensive source notes provide further resources. Moving, funny, heartbreaking, and empowering, this remarkable compendium from trans creators Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett is packed with research on every dynamic page.

Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler (ISBN-13: 9781250871695 Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group Publication date: 05/27/2025, Ages 13-18)
In this opposites attract romance for fans of Begin Again and Better Than the Movies, a fresh start doesn’t have to mean changing yourself.
Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett “Evie” Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning – one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she’s accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay.
When rumors and gossip about Evie’s housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation… but she’s definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate Salem Grayson isn’t exactly her first choice, but he does need her help to repair his relationship with his parents every bit as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact: he’ll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good.
It’s a flawless plan, except while Salem thrives academically, romantically, and–annoyingly enough– even physically, Evie’s quest feels like one dead end after another. But when Evie realizes what she wants more than anything, she’ll have to contend with her thrice-broken heart and figure out how to become someone capable of chasing happiness.
Dahlia Adler’s Come As You Are is about refusing to accept less than you deserve, and realizing that the best relationships are forged with people who know exactly who you are.

Costumes for Time Travelers by A. R. Capetta (ISBN-13: 9781536233711 Publisher: Candlewick Press Publication date: 05/27/2025, Ages 14-17)
Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A. R. Capetta.
Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when. To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous. For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since. When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased. From the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The Heartbreak Bakery comes a fairy-tale romance that weaves in and out of time, from kiss to kiss and costume to costume.

Rewind To Us by Molly Morris (ISBN-13: 9781250289728 Publisher: St. Martin’s Publishing Group Publication date: 06/17/2025, Ages 13-18)
Again, But Better meets Maybe in Another Life in this love story with a magical twist!
Dixie Mulligan only has one plan for her annual California vacation this summer – to tell her best friend Sawyer that she’s in love with him.
It doesn’t matter that things between them technically fell apart over spring break, and they haven’t spoken since – until Dixie arrives and realizes Sawyer has moved on (a fact made very apparent when she sees him kissing, um, someone else).
Luckily, Dixie and her family have each been gifted with a Rewind. All Dixie has to do is go back and redo the moment she thinks doomed hers and Sawyer’s relationship before it even began.
But when family secrets start pouring out, Dixie’s not so sure even her Rewind will be enough to save what she and Sawyer had. Is the damage already done, or can she turn back the clock and give them one more chance?
Filed under: new books

About Amanda MacGregor
Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on BlueSky at @amandamacgregor.bsky.social.
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