As the school year begins, it’s important to have a good school-to-life balance. You can take breaks from projects and homework to start crossing a few names off your TBR. But in order to do that, you have to add to your TBR first. I’ve gathered a list of 12 new young adult releases coming September 2022 for you to check out. Whether your go-to is fantasy, dystopian, realistic fiction, or romantic comedy, you’re sure to find something new to try on this list.
The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
Coming September 13
For fans of Once Upon a Broken Heart here comes the sequel. The Ballad of Never After sees Evangeline Fox swearing she’ll never trust Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, ever again after he betrays her. She has her own magic now and believes she can bring back the chance at happily ever after that Jacks took. But a new murderous curse enters the mix and Evangeline has no choice but to work with the Prince of Hearts again. In fact, he might be the only person she can trust as there are new forces she must be aware of. The two fight old friends, new enemies, and powerful magic to break the spell.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
Coming September 6
If demigods and competition are right up your lane, The Sunbearer Trials offers both in the first novel in this Mexican-inspired fantasy duology. The story follows semidioses (demigods) as they compete in a series of challenges to replenish the Sun’s power. They must keep Sol in the sky to keep the Obsidian gods at bay. The winner of the trials brings light and life to the temples of Reino del Sol while the loser must sacrifice themselves to Sol. Their body refuels the Sun Stones and protects the world for another ten years. Teo is a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and trans son of the goddess of birds.
He’s not worried about himself for the trials until the impossible happens: Sol chooses two Jade competitors for the first time in over a century – Teo and Xio, a 13-year-old child of the god of bad luck. The two must compete in five trials against Gold opponents with better training and more power. Teo is determined to make it through the trials with his friends for fame, glory, and most importantly, to stay alive.
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
Coming September 6
This suspenseful novel tackles America’s legacy of racism through Madison Washington’s story. She’s a biracial high school student in a small town in Georgia. She’s always been a target for bullies but has kept the fact that she is biracial a secret at her white father’s insistence. When an unexpected storm reveals that she’s biracial and a viral bullying video exposes Springville High’s racist roots, student leaders plan the school’s first integrated prom to show unity and change their image. The class president convinces her popular quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to the dance leaving her wondering whether she can have a normal life. But her peers won’t leave her alone and they don’t know Maddy still has another secret that might just cost them their lives.
Secrets So Deep by Ginny Myers Sain
Coming September 27
Avril has spent the past 12 years piecing together bits and pieces she remembers about the night she lost her mother. She drowned at Whisper Cove theater on the Connecticut coastline. Local legend claims women in the waves – ghosts from old whaling stories – called her mother out to the sea. Avril doesn’t believe in ghosts and returns to Whisper Cove again at 17 years old to make sense of her memories: Stars falling into the sea, a blinding light, a tight grip on her wrist, and a sensation of flying. As Avril gets closer to Willa, the camp director, and her son Cole, Whisper Cove starts to reveal itself. Distances shift in the fog, echoes bounce off the marsh, and Avril keeps meeting her dead mother at the edge of the ocean. Avril will discover the truth, but it could come at an incredible cost.
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
Coming September 27
From the bestselling author of These Violent Delights comes Foul Lady Fortune, the first book in a duology set in 1931 Shanghai. Rosalind Lang was saved from the brink of death four years earlier with a strange experiment that essentially keeps her from dying. She stopped sleeping and aging and can heal from any wound. With this ability, she works as an assassin for her country to make up for her traitorous past and adopts the code name Fortune.
Her current mission becomes more complicated when the Japanese Imperial Army starts its invasion and a series of murders in Shanghai causes unrest. Rosalind’s new orders lead her to infiltrate foreign society to find those responsible for the terror while posing as the wife of an arrogant playboy-like Nationalist spy, Orion Hong. As they work to make sense of the conspiracy, they find there is much more to the mystery than they thought.
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
Coming September 6
A combination of dystopian fantasy, sea monsters, deadly competition, and female friendship, Monsters Born and Made delivers a story about the Glory Race. It’s a deadly chariot tournament for the upper class where the winner receives gold and glory. Sixteen-year-old Koral and her brother Emrik risk their lives daily to capture maristags – sea monsters from the black sea around their island – so that their family won’t starve. They live in an oceanic world where the ruling elite are the Landers who have indentured Koral’s family to provide maristags for the Glory Race.
When the last maristag they have escapes, Koral’s family is left in a dire financial situation. In order to afford medicine for her ill younger sister, Koral must cheat her way into the Glory Race to try and win the gold. Her competitors have trained their whole lives for this and refuse to let a low-caste girl steal their glory. As others attack to make her drop out, Koral must decide between her life and her sister’s before the whole island goes down in flames.
Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco
Coming September 27
The third and final book in the Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy is here. In this anticipated conclusion, Emilia is still processing the discovery that her sister, Vittoria, is still alive. But before facing her past, Emilia wants to claim her king’s, the Prince of Wrath, heart and soul. When a high-ranking member of House Greed is assassinated, the two are pulled to the demon court. Evidence points to Vittoria as the murderer quickly deeming her an enemy to the Seven Circles.
However, Emilia will do anything to solve this mystery and figure out who Vittoria really is. Wrath and Emilia work to stop the chaos brewing between witches, demons, shape-shifters, and worst of all: the Feared. Emilia was warned that nothing is as it seems when it comes to the Wicked and when the truth finally comes to light, she might have to pay with her heart.
Our Shadows Have Claws Edited by Yamile Saied Méndez and Amparo Ortiz
Coming September 6
From some of the best YA authors comes an anthology of 15 original short stories based on some of Latin America’s mythological monsters. The genres range from dark to magical and include zombies, cannibals, vampires, and shapeshifters. The stories are set across Latin America and its diaspora and touch on oppression, grief, sisterhood, empowerment, and first love. Here is the full contributor list: Chantel Acevedo, Courtney Alameda, Julia Alvarez, Ann Dávila Cardinal, M. García Peña, Racquel Marie, Gabriela Martins, Yamile Saied Méndez, Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, Claribel A. Ortega, Amparo Ortiz, Lilliam Rivera, Jenny Torres Sanchez, Ari Tison, and Alexandra Villasante.
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
Coming September 13
Set during the Syrian Revolution, Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when cries for freedom rang out in Syria. Now she volunteers at a hospital in Homs to help those in need. But she secretly hopes to find a way out of the country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. Her desperation has resulted in a physical manifestation of her fear in the form of a companion named Khawf who keeps her safe. But even Khawf’s influence isn’t enough to keep her from wavering between her loyalty to her country and her desire to survive. And when she meets the boy she was destined to, her resolution to leave starts to crumble. She must see the reality around her for what it is – a revolution, not a war – and decide how she will also fight for Syria’s freedom.
It Looks Like Us by Alison Ames
Coming September 27
Riley Kowalski is a shy high school junior spending winter break with five volunteers, a chaperone, and an impartial scientist on a research trip to Antarctica sponsored by one of the world’s biggest tech companies. They aim to prove environmental plastic pollution has made it all the way to Antarctica, but they find something worse – something that looks human…but isn’t. Riley has a history of anxiety and panic attacks, so when she starts to get a weird feeling about their leader, Greta, she dismisses it. But then Greta tries to kill Riley and then disintegrates and Riley has no choice but to accept that something real and terrifying is happening. When another student starts acting the same, she realizes it’s not some infection spreading between them but an infiltration. Something like a shapeshifter is among them, and if they let their guard down that thing could easily replace any of them.
Inaugural Ballers by Andrew Maraniss
Coming September 13
This story tells the journey of the first US Women’s Olympic Basketball team and its beginnings. Long before women’s soccer became an Olympic sport and before the formation of the WNBA, the 1976 women’s basketball team paved the way for the rise of women’s sports in all capacities. Though they came from small schools and were generally unknown, the roster of this team became some of the most legendary basketball figures in history. Women like Pat Head, Nancy Lieberman, Ann Meyers, Lusia Harris, coach Billie Moore, and more proved the world wrong. Maraniss captures their story with thorough research and incredible pictures.
Talk Santa to Me by Linda Urban
Coming September 27
Perfect for the incoming fall, Talk Santa to Me is a cutesy romantic comedy reminiscent of Hallmark Christmas movies. It follows Francie who was literally born in a stable. Well, a display stable with a light-up roof. Her family sells Christmas items at their Hollydale Holiday Shop. Francie loves working there, but with her grandpa’s recent passing and her Aunt Carole’s new Hollywood-inspired vision for the shop, she fears the nostalgia she loves about it will be ruined. Unless she does something to stop it. But, of course, winter is about more than saving Christmas. Francie’s saving up for a car and hopes to kiss the cute boy who works at the tree lot next door. She hopes he will give her a second chance at a first kiss and let her forget the disaster of her real first kiss.
For more of Bookstr’s recommendations, keep reading here!