Teen

Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier – book Recommendation

| Tasha
Cover image for Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by AJ Dungo, featuring one pane with a group of students holding signs and protesting and another pane with a girl lying down and reading a book.

Wake Now in the Fire by Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by AJ Dungo

  • Publisher: Ten Speed
  • Publication Date: February 3, 2026
  • Reviewed from library copy
  • ISBN: 9780593838044

When Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, a graphic novel that shares the atrocities that happened in Iran, gets pulled from classrooms in Chicago Public Schools, the teachers, principals and librarians must comply. Some teachers move their classroom titles to the school libraries to keep them from being destroyed. But it is the students who stand up and rise up to protest them being removed. This graphic novel about a true event that happened in Chicago in 2013 shares the stories of several of the teens who took action when the school district made the decision to remove the title from curriculum. The book shows how students dealing with other events in their lives found community and solace in shared action. 

The author of this work won an award from ALA for his work exposing this story of book censorship. His afterwords about the claims of Chicago Public Schools and what eventually was proven is alone brilliant to read. In the graphic novel, he shows students and teens the power of collaboration, protest and resistance. Throughout he shares how a variety of students can take their own unique form of action and how it all comes together to force changes to be made. The art is dynamic and marvelously modern, almost like art from a protest sign or banner. 

Brilliant, rage-filled and action inducing, this graphic novel is entirely perfect for our time. Appropriate for ages 12+.

Queen of Faces by Petra Lord – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
Cover image for Queen of Faces by Petra Lord, featuring a girl's face a wave, and a castle against a black starry and lightning-filled sky.

Queen of Faces by Petra Lord

  • Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.
  • Publication Date: February 3, 2026
  • Reviewed from library copy
  • ISBN: 9781250362971

In a world where the wealthy can switch bodies whenever they want or need to, Ana finds herself stuck in a decaying body of an Edgar, the lowest level body available when her last one caught an infection. Ana can’t afford a new body, unless she can start to make money. But when she fails the entrance exam for Paragon, the top magical school, for a third time, she can’t find another way out. Then the headmaster of Paragon offers her a deal. Become a mercenary for hire for him and she can start working as a servant at Paragon, a way to potentially be considered as a student. Given no choice, Ana agrees, but she soon discovers that heroes can be villains and opportunities can be traps. 

Wow.This is one incredible fantasy novel that weaves dark academia with dystopia with trans elements. It is done skillfully and with such passion. The switching of bodies and genders is a core element of the book, speaking to people feeling disconnected with the body they are currently in and being able to become alluring and gorgeous if they have enough money and luck. The entire cast of characters is beautifully rendered and complex with heroes and villains intertwined at times.

A great teen fantasy with an LGBTQIA+ heart. Appropriate for ages 13+.

The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
Cover image for The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi. Features a red-headed girl with half a body of pink wings and the other dark gray that swoops over a castle.

The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

  • Publisher: Wednesday Books
  • Publication Date: January 6, 2026
  • Reviewed from library copy
  • ISBN: 9781250873101

Demelza is the daughter of a veritas swan and an evil sorcerer. Her sisters are all veritas swans themselves, able to transform and whose beautiful voices force the truth from others. Demelza though takes after her father more. She doesn’t have wings and her voice is hurtful to the ears. Across the land, Prince Arris has put out a call for eligible girls to apply to be his bride. Arris lives under a family curse where he is doomed to likely be killed by his bride for power over the throne. Demelza heads to the prince’s realm to try to help, also escaping death by her father’s hand. Can these two find the way through the magic and curses that bind them?

This YA novel is a delight. Both of the lead characters are a joy to spend time with. From Arris who is trying to make the most of his short life by clinging to every beautiful experience he can to Demelza who is trying to figure out who she is outside of her mother and father’s needs. The two stumble together through the book, their connection growing beautifully across the story in a genuine way. Even better, the secondary characters are also rendered completely. Both sets of parents have complex love stories of their own, the contestants for Arris’ hand are marvelous, and Arris’ sister steals every scene she enters.

One of the best teen romatasies, this one is worth losing your heart to. Appropriate for ages 12+.

LA Times Book Prize Finalists

| Tasha

The LA Times has announced the finalists for their annual book prizes. The prizes span genres, including audiobooks, nonfiction categories, graphic novels, fiction, fiction genres, and YA literature. Here are the finalists for the Young Adult Literature category:

FINALISTS

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Tung Le Nguyen

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum

King of the Neuro Verse by Idris Goodwin

My Mother, the Mermaid Chaser by Jamie Jo Hoang

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr

2026 Great Graphic Novels for Teens

| Tasha

The Young Adult Library Services Association has selected their list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The list includes nonfiction and fiction graphic literature. A top ten was selected; here are those titles:

TOP TEN

Eden of Witches by Yumeji (Volumes 1-5)

Halfway There: A Graphic Memoir of Self-Discovery by Christine Mari

Hunger’s Bite by Taylor Robin

Kindergarten Wars by You Chiba

Love, Misha by Askel Aden

Meat Eaters by Meredith McClaren

Monster Locker, Volume 1 by Jorge Aguirre

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

Spacewalking with You, Volume 1 by Inuhiko Doronoda

You and Me on Repeat by Mary Shyne

2026 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers

| Tasha

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has selected over 60 titles for its Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list. This is one of my favorite lists every year, since it often includes books that did not gather attention during the previous year but that teens will check out and use in our library. The books are selected for ages 12-18. A top ten list is part of the selection. Here are those titles:

TOP TEN

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Factory by Catherine Egan

Family Force V: Book One by Matt Braly, illustrated by Ainsworth Lin

Out of Air by Rachel Reiss

The Story of My Anger by Jasmine Mendez

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… by Jason Reynolds

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

2026 Best Fiction for Young Adults

| Tasha

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has announced their list of the best fiction for teens. The list covers books written for 12-18 year-olds that “incorporate outstanding literary quality and effectiveness of presentation, as well as appeal to the personal reading tastes of the teens.” The list includes over 60 titles with a top ten list. Here are the top ten titles:

TOP TEN

All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Cope Field by T. L. Simpson

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum

His Face Is the Sun by Michelle Jabes Corpora

Kill Creatures by Rory Power

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

Top Heavy by Rhonda DeChambeau

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr

The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday by Kelsey B. Toney

Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
Book cover for Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman. Teen girl wearing a space suit smiles at the reader before a red sky.

Red Star Rebels by Amie Kaufman

  • Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
  • Publication Date: February 10, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9798217029013

Brace yourself for a wild science fiction ride in this latest from the bestselling Kaufman. Cleo is a stowaway on Mars, trying to find a way to escape legal issues on Earth and forge a new life for herself. She has made it to Pax base but has been stuck there for months. Hunter is a member of the Graves family who were the first to populate Mars. No one knows that he is on Mars since he wanted to surprise his ultra-wealthy mother and sister. When a disaster hits the Pax complex, Cleo and Hunter are the only ones left onsite after mercenaries evacuate the base. The countdown is ticking, only 8 hours to stop them and manage to survive, perhaps together. 

Kaufman has such a feel for pacing. In this novel, it is the smarts and ingenuity of the two main characters that save the day. Through clever use of the base’s infrastructure and software, the two of them manage to prank and isolate mercs as the clock winds down. The pacing is relentless, the setting wonderfully vivid, and the book reads like a movie. Add in the building connection and romance between the two characters, and you will root for them for a lot longer than the 8 hours they have.

A riotously good book on the red planet. Appropriate for ages 13+.

Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
The cover image for Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrated by Emily Holden. Two girls sit together in a coffee shop tapping their coffee cups together. The steam forms a heart.

Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrated by Emily Holden

  • Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
  • Publication Date: February 03, 2026
  • Reviewed from Edelweiss e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781534495869

When Ruby, a super genius raised in a university lab, escapes captivity, she must find a way to live among normal humans. She gets a job at a coffee shop near the university as a barista. She attempts to fulfill her function by helping the regulars at the coffee shop find love while still not giving her true identity away. As she starts pairing staff and customers the love takes off, and Ruby herself may have found her match too. But the lab hasn’t given up trying to get Ruby back for themselves, insisting that she isn’t human after all.

This graphic novel for teens is a delightful mix of lighthearted romance, caffeine and technology. There is just enough action to keep the book from being too frothy and compelling romantic pairings that are intelligent and embrace queerness and all ages. The illustrations echo the feel of the story with a lightness and an underlying love of the characters. Filled with found family and a built community, Ruby’s own humanness is the key to her survival in the end.

Grab a coffee and fall in love. Appropriate for ages 13+.