Start with Huda F Are You? and Huda F Cares
Then read:
Huda Fahmy is ready for junior year. She’s got a plan to join all the clubs, volunteer everywhere, ace the ACTs, write the most awe-inspiring essay for her scholarship applications. Easy.
But then Mama and Baba announce the most unthinkable they’re getting a divorce.
Huda is devastated. She worries about what this will mean for her family, their place in the Muslim community, and her future. Her grades start tanking, she has a big fight with her best friend, and everything feels out of control. Will her
Audience: All
Start with Medusa
Then read:
Ava Baldwin is ready for her second year at the Accademia del Forte. Now that she knows that her fellow classmates, descendants of the so-called Greek monsters, have been lied to by the Olympians, she’s ready to help them uncover their ancestors’ true stories—if only she can stay out of the way of the new headmaster, Perseus.
But laying low is easier said than done, especially when Perseus seems intent on trolling Ava, making it impossible to control her anger.
When Perseus banishes one of her friends, Ava must lead a rescue party on a whirlwind adventure from the Stygian Marsh of the underworld to the ice caves of Mount Etna with Ares and the spirits of violent death in hot pursuit. But the gods won’t be tricked so easily this time . . .
Audience: All
Start with The Marvellers, The Memory Theives
Then read:
When Ella, Brigit, and Jason return for their third year at the Arcanum Training Institute, they discover a dark plot brewing. Secrets and deception surround the magic school's founders, and the trio will stop at nothing to find out what really happened to the Institute's enigmatic Conjure architect. As they dive deeper into the mystery, it leads them to the Underworld and the Cards of Deadly Fate—a seemingly impenetrable prison full of villains. And worst of all, their old nemesis, Gia Trivelino, awaits them, ready to wreak more havoc.
With tensions between Conjure folks and Marvellers at a fever pitch, the trio must face the living and the dead to get the answers they need to protect their world.
Audience: All
Start with Ellie Engles Saves Herself
Then read:
7th grader Bree Boyd loves rules, order, and knowing what’s going to happen next. It’s why she likes reading the same books over and over; it’s why she’s the school’s reigning spelling bee champ; and, most importantly, it’s why she’s never minded the high expectations her father has always had for her and her sisters. After all, if you’re always the best, life can’t throw many surprises at you.
But for the first time, Bree has no idea what the future holds. Because when a huge storm delivers a bolt of lightning straight into Bree, it leaves behind something she never prepared for: the power to move things with her mind.
Audience: All
Start with Orbiting Jupiter
Then read:
When Jack's P.E. coach pairs him up with Jay Perkins for the cross-country team, neither of them is happy about it. Jack is grieving the loss of Joseph, his foster brother, and adjusting to his role as big brother to Jupiter, Joseph’s orphaned daughter. Dealing with Jay Perkins—who'd once ganged up with his buddies to jump Joseph in the locker room—is the last thing he wants to do. But then Jack realizes that Jay is grieving too—the loss of his cousin Maddie, Jupiter’s mom. As Jack's relationships with both Jay and Jupiter grow and his running improves, he starts to feel more like himself than he has since Joseph died. He's finding his stride . . . until Maddie’s parents, who have never shown interest in their granddaughter before, decide to claim Jupiter as their own, blocking Jack’s family from adopting her. And suddenly Jack’s past and present smash together, threatening to dissolve both his newfound confidence and his friendships. This poignant, powerful companion to Orbiting Jupiter is Gary D. Schmidt at his best. He is the author of the Printz Honor and Newbery Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy ; Okay for Now , a National Book Award finalist; and The Wednesday Wars , a Newbery Honor Book, among many acclaimed novels for young readers.
Audience: All
Start with The Davenports
Then read:
Newly engaged Ruby Tremaine is eagerly planning her wedding to the love of her life when a nasty rumor threatens her reputation and her marriage. Olivia Davenport has committed to the social justice cause and secretly hopes she’ll be reunited with dashing lawyer Washington DeWight—until her parents decide she’s to marry someone else. Amy-Rose Shepherd is making her lifelong wish of owning a salon come true, but when an incident forces her to return to Freeport Manor, she’s back in the path of John Davenport, who still holds her heart. Helen Davenport is determined to get over her own heartbreak and bring the Davenport Carriage Company into the new century, even if it means teaming up with a thrill-seeking racecar driver who just loves to get under her skin.
Audience: All
Start with Briarcliff Prep
Then read:
Avielle LeBeau is beginning her second year at Briarcliff Prep, and she's got big dreams. Top of the list? Starting her own student life magazine and rooming with her besties Rhyon and Zazie. But a housing mix-up splits Avi from her friends—and to make matters worse, she's rooming with her rival, Fallon Walsh, instead.
How does one girl juggle school, a fracturing friendship, living with a mean girl, and getting caught in a potential love triangle between the ex she can't move on from and a friend who’s becoming something more? It's a lot. Made even harder by the panic attacks Avi has been experiencing lately.
Audience: All/ Older
Start with Dear Martin and Dear Justyce
Then read:
Jared Peter Christensen is running for junior class president at his university.
Based on early polls, Jared’s pretty sure he’s got a good shot at beating the right-wing business major he’s running against. After all, his platform built on increased equity and inclusion on campus makes him the popular choice.
A new candidate enters the Dylan, transfer student from a HBCU and the most beautiful girl Jared has ever seen. She calls him out for his Woke White Boy mentality.
Jared starts writing letters to his deceased best friend Manny to make sense of his confusion.
Audience: All/ Older
Start with Raybearer and Redemptor
Then read:
In the magic-soaked capital city of Oluwan, country bumpkin Small Sade needs a job—preferably as a maid, with employers who don’t mind her unique appearance and unlucky foot. But before she can be hired, she accidentally binds herself to a powerful god known only as the Crocodile, who is rumored to devour pretty girls. Small Sade entrances the Crocodile with her secret: she is a Curse Eater, gifted with the ability to alter people’s fates by cleaning their houses.
The handsome god warns that their fates are bound, but Small Sade evades him, launching herself into a new career as the Curse Eater of a swanky inn. She is determined to impress the wealthy inhabitants and earn her place in Oluwan City . . . assuming her secret-filled past—and the revolutionary ambitions of the Crocodile God—don’t catch up with her.
But maybe there is more to Small Sade. And maybe everyone in Oluwan City deserves more, too, from the maids all the way to the Anointed Ones.
Audience: All/ Older