Is your teen looking for a good book this summer? Take a look at some of our newest teen reads! These titles will be released through July. Though the library is still closed, you can place these books on hold for your curbside appointment or through one of our digital libraries (just download the Hoopla and/or Libby apps!)
10 Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon: Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe. Samir Jha might have a few…quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady. When Samir’s internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Catalog
All These Monsters by Amy Tintera: A high-stakes sci-fi adventure about a teen girl who will do anything to escape her troubled home–even if that means joining a dangerous monster-fighting squad. Catalog
Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab: Susannah Ramos has always loved the water. A swimmer whose early talent made her a world champion, Susannah was poised for greatness in a sport that demands so much of its young. But an inexplicable slowdown has put her dream in jeopardy, and Susannah is fighting to keep her career afloat when two important people enter her life: a new coach with a revolutionary training strategy, and a charming fellow swimmer named Harry Matthews. Catalog Hoopla
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron: It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. Catalog
Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone: An eighth grader starts a podcast to protest the unfair dress code enforcement at her middle school and sparks a rebellion. Catalog
The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant: In the violent urban jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, the French Revolution has failed and the city is divided between merciless royalty and nine underworld criminal guilds, known as the Court of Miracles. Eponine (Nina) Thénardier is a talented cat burglar and member of the Thieves Guild. Nina’s life is midnight robberies, avoiding her father’s fists, and watching over her naïve adopted sister, Cosette (Ettie). When Ettie attracts the eye of the Tiger–the ruthless lord of the Guild of Flesh–Nina is caught in a desperate race to keep the younger girl safe. Catalog
Evil Thing by Serena Valentino: From her lonely childhood, to her iconic fashion choices, to that fateful car crash (you know the one), Cruella tells all in this marvelous memoir of a woman doomed. Even the cruelest villains have best friends, true loves, and daring dreams. Now it’s Cruella’s turn to share hers. Catalog Overdrive/Libby Hoopla
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender: Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend. Catalog
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune: Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life). Catalog
Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson: Bound for humanity’s new colony planet, seventeen-year-old Andra wakes up from a cryogenic sleep 1,000 years later than scheduled, forcing her to navigate an unfamiliar planet where technology is considered magic and its practitioners revered as deities. Catalog
I Kissed Alice by Anna Birch (Birmingham, AL Author) and Victoria Ying: Rhodes and Iliana couldn’t be more different, but that’s not why they hate each other. Rhodes, a gifted artist, has always excelled at Alabama’s Conservatory of the Arts (until she’s hit with a secret bout of creator’s block), while Iliana, a transfer student, tries to outshine everyone with her intense, competitive work ethic. Since only one of them can get the coveted Capstone scholarship, the competition between them is fierce.They both escape the pressure on a fanfic site where they are unknowingly collaborating on a webcomic. And despite being worst enemies in real life, their anonymous online identities I-Kissed-Alice and Curious-in-Cheshire are starting to like each other… a lot. When the truth comes out, will they destroy each other’s future? Catalog
Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono: Thirteen-year-old half-witch Kiki travels to the town of Koriko where she makes new friends, overcomes challenges, and shares her magic with her community to make the world a brighter place. Catalog
One Year at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks: Was boarding school supposed to be this hard? When studious thirteen-year-old Juniper wins a scholarship to the prestigious Ellsmere Academy, she expects to find a scholastic utopia. But living at Ellsmere is far from ideal: She is labeled a “special project,” Ellsmere’s queen bee is out to destroy her, and it’s rumored that a mythical beast roams the forest next to the school. Catalog
Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy: Enchantée meets Downton Abbey in this atmospheric YA historical fantasy set in nineteenth-century Denmark, where secrets can kill and magic is a deadly gift. Catalog
Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross: Halcyon faces a fifteen-year sentence after being charged with murder, so her younger sister Evadne offers to carry part of her sentence and tries to uncover the truth behind the supposed crime along the way. Catalog
This is My America by Kim Johnson: Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time–her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present? Catalog
What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin: Lex was taken-trafficked-and now she’s Poppy. Kept in a hotel with other girls, her old life is a distant memory. But when the girls are rescued, she doesn’t quite know how to be Lex again. Catalog
War Stories by Gordon Korman: There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village, and was given a hero’s welcome upon his return to America. Now it’s decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took during the war — from training to invasion to the village he is said to have saved. Trevor thinks this is the coolest idea ever. But as they get to the village, Trevor discovers there’s more to the story than what he’s heard his whole life, causing him to wonder about his great-grandfather’s heroism, the truth about the battle he fought, and importance of genuine valor. Catalog