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2016 Recommended Reading : YA upcoming releases

From love potions that seem to work, to a school trip to Japan, here are some interesting Young

Adult titles to be released between May and October 2016. Debut novels or sequels of best sellers,

they all appeal to us.

If you have any suggestions, or books you would like us to consider, let us know at

Youth@wordfest.com or send us a tweet at @wordfestyouth

Click on a title below or scroll down the list.

Flannery by Lisa Moore ............................................................................... May 2016

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson ............................. May 2016

Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten ............................................................... May 2016

Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick .................................................... May 2016

Shooter by Caroline Pignat .......................................................................... May 2016

You Know Me Well By David Levithan and Nina LaCour .............................. June 2016

Tumbling by Caela Carter ............................................................................ June 2016

Towers Falling By Jewell Parker Rhodes ....................................................... July 2016

The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno ................................................................ July 2016

A World Without You by Beth Revis ............................................................. July 2016

Tales of the Peculiar By Ransom Riggs .............................................. September 2016

Irreversible By Chris Lynch ................................................................ September 2016

And Then the Sky Exploded by David A. Poulsen ....................................October 2016

We Know It Was You by Maggie Thrash .................................................October 2016

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Flannery by Lisa Moore May 2016

Sixteen-year-old Flannery Malone has it bad. She’s been in love with

Tyrone O’Rourke since the days she still believed in Santa Claus. But

Tyrone has grown from a dorky kid into an outlaw graffiti artist, the rebel-

with-a-cause of Flannery’s dreams, literally too cool for school. Which is a

problem, since he and Flannery are partners for the entrepreneurship

class that she needs to graduate. And Tyrone’s vanishing act may have

darker causes than she realizes.

Written in Lisa Moore’s exuberant and inimitable style, Flannery is by turns

heartbreaking and hilarious, empowering and harrowing ― often all on the

same page. It is a novel whose spell no reader will be able to resist.

The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson May 2016

Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save

enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books

store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his

horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing—down to

number four.

Stephanie Perkins meets 10 Things I hate About You in The Only Thing

Worse than Me Is You, a fresh, romantic debut from author Lily Anderson

inspired by Much Ado About Nothing.

Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten May 2016

For fans of We Were Liars, The Girl on the Train, and Gone Girl, this

powerful psychological thriller with multiple mysteries is set against the

backdrop of the megawealthy elite of New York City. Toten delves into the

mesmerizing yet dysfunctional world of those who manipulate but seem

ever so charming.

The Haves. The Have-Nots. Kate O’Brien appears to be a Have-Not. Her

whole life has been a series of setbacks she’s had to snake her way out

of—some more sinister than others. But she’s determined to change that.

She’s book smart. She’s street-smart. Oh, and she’s also a masterful liar.

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Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick May 2016

Nanette O'Hare is an unassuming teen who has played the role of dutiful

daughter, hardworking student, and star athlete for as long as she can

remember. But when a beloved teacher gives her his worn copy of The

Bubblegum Reaper--a mysterious, out-of-print cult classic--the rebel within

Nanette awakens.

Matthew Quick (aka Q) is the New York Times bestselling author of The

Silver Linings Playbook, The Good Luck of Right Now, and three young

adult novels, Sorta Like a Rock Star, Boy21, and Forgive Me, Leonard

Peacock.

Shooter by Caroline Pignat May 2016

A lockdown catches five grade 12 students by surprise and throws them

together in the only unlocked room on that empty third floor wing: the boys'

washroom. They sit in silence, judging each other by what they see, by the

stories they've heard over the years. Stuck here with them--could anything

be worse?

Told in five unique voices through prose, poetry, text messages, journals,

and homework assignments, each student reveals pieces of their true

story as they wait for the drill to end. But this modern-day Breakfast Club

takes a twist when Isabelle gets a text that changes everything: NOT A

DRILL!! Shooter in the school!

You Know Me Well By David Levithan and Nina LaCour June 2016

Who knows you well? Your best friend? Your boyfriend or girlfriend? A

stranger you meet on a crazy night? No one, really?

Mark and Kate have sat next to each other for an entire year, but have

never spoken. For whatever reason, their paths outside of class have

never crossed.

Told in alternating points of view by Nina LaCour and David Levithan, You

Know Me Well is a deeply honest story about navigating the joys and

heartaches of first love, one truth at a time.

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Tumbling by Caela Carter June 2016

By the end of the two days of the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, some of

these girls will be stars. Some will be going home with nothing. And all will

have their lives changed forever.

Towers Falling By Jewell Parker Rhodes July 2016

When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and

community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once

visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused.

She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen

by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about

who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and

heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry

when she brings up anything about the towers?

The Lost & Found by Katrina Leno July 2016

A charming and imaginative new YA novel about getting lost before you

can be found, for fans of Adi Alsaid’s Let’s Get Lost and Margo Rabb’s

Kissing in America.

Katrina Leno grew up in Connecticut and spent her childhood summers by

the shore in Massachusetts, where The Half Life of Molly Pierce takes

place. Katrina was first published at the age of sixteen in the Connecticut

Review and now holds an MFA in creative writing. This is her first novel.

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A World Without You by Beth Revis July 2016

After the unexpected loss of his girlfriend, a teenage boy suffering from

delusions is convinced that he can travel through time to save her, in this

gripping new novel from New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis.

Not since Ned Vizzini’s It’s Kind of a Funny Story has there been such a

heartrending depiction of mental illness. In her first contemporary novel,

Beth Revis guides readers through the mind of a young man struggling to

process his grief as he fights his way through his delusions.

Tales of the Peculiar By Ransom Riggs September 2016

Wealthy cannibals who dine on the discarded limbs of peculiars. A fork-

tongued princess. These are but a few of the truly brilliant stories in Tales

of the Peculiar—the collection of fairy tales known to hide information

about the peculiar world, including clues to the locations of time loops—

first introduced by Ransom Riggs in his #1 bestselling Miss Peregrine’s

Peculiar Children series.

Irreversible By Chris Lynch September 2016

Keir Sarafian insists he did nothing wrong. But no one will believe that he’s

the good guy he knows he is—no one except his father, Ray. And Ray is

just the person Keir has to leave in order to have the fresh start he

deserves. Now at Carnegie College, Keir’s life isn’t what he thought it

would be. When tragedy strikes, will Keir finally be able to confront his past

actions and realize his potential? - The accused date rapist from the “finely

crafted and thought-provoking” (School Library Journal) National Book

Award Finalist, Inexcusable, must confront the kind of person he really is

and come to terms with his past actions, in this stunning sequel from Printz

Honor–winning author Chris Lynch.

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And Then the Sky Exploded by David A. Poulsen October 2016

While attending the funeral of his great-grandfather, ninth-grader Christian

Deaver learns that the man he loved and respected was a member of the

Manhattan Project, the team that designed and created the atomic bombs

dropped on Japan during World War II.

Then, on a school trip to Japan, Chris meets Yuko, now eighty-one years

old, who was eleven when she was horribly injured and maimed when the

first bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Christian is determined to do

something to make up for what his great-grandfather did. But after all this

time what can one teenager really do? His friends tell him it’s a stupid idea,

that there’s nothing he can do. And maybe they’re right.

We Know It Was You by Maggie Thrash October 2016

It’s better to know the truth. At least sometimes.

Halfway through Friday night’s football game, beautiful cheerleader

Brittany Montague—dressed as the giant Winship Wildcat mascot—hurls

herself off a bridge into Atlanta’s surging Chattahoochee River.

Just like that, she’s gone.

Eight days later, Benny Flax and Virginia Leeds will be the only ones who

know why.