Teen

On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining 

Publisher: Abrams Fanfare

Publication Date: September 30, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9781419765049

Alex hasn’t been back to Indigo Harbour where her grandmother lived in years. Now her grandmother has died and Alex offers to help pack up her house. Her best friend Grim comes with her and the two explore Indigo Harbour, meeting the people who were close to Alex’s grandmother. When Alex discovers that her grandmother had a beloved girlfriend that she never knew about, she sets out to meet her. But Indigo Harbour has a certain magic about it. It’s a magic that makes people who leave forget it, that protects those who live there and that offers sanctuary to resident witches. Alex must remember her own memories and build new ones to discover who her grandmother was. 

This YA graphic novel uses magical realism to grapple with loss. It takes a magical place, offering solace to those who may not have visited relatives as much as they would have liked in retrospect and giving space for grief. The beautiful town is a mix of warm acceptance for the queer characters as well as being a space for magical beings. The use of metaphor throughout is thoughtfully done, supporting the Alex through her journey. 

A beautiful graphic novel about loss and love. Appropriate for ages 13+.

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr 

Publisher: Amulet Books

Publication Date: September 23, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9781419776830

Truth is 17 and not sure what she wants to do after she graduates this year. When she finds out that she is pregnant, she has one more choice to make. Her best friend assumes that Truth will have the baby, but Truth isn’t sure. She can’t tell her verbally abusive mother about being pregnant, since her mother has made it clear that her own teenage pregnancy that resulted in Truth being born ruined her life. She doesn’t want to let the baby’s father know either. Luckily, Truth finds a space in which she can start to process her own decisions and find a way forward: slam poetry. As Truth struggles to make slam practice while dealing with her pregnancy and her decision, she continues to lie until one of her poems gets released online and people learn what her decision was. It’s time for truth.

Brilliantly written in verse, this story of a teenage Black girl finding her voice in slam poetry and standing on her own despite the many critical people around her is triumphant. It is one of the few YA novels about choosing to have an abortion that shares that as a valid choice without ongoing emotional trauma. Truth is such a real person, making mistakes, dealing with consequences and still dreaming of a different future than others see for her. Her relationship with her best friend and her mother are rendered with complexity and a deep understanding for Truth herself. 

A great verse novel that speaks to the power of choice and voice. Appropriate for ages 15+.

Flip by Ngozi Ukazu – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Flip by Ngozi Ukazu 

Publisher: First Second

Publication Date: September 23, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9781250179517

Chi-Chi is a Black scholarship student in a mostly-white affluent private boarding school. She finds herself once again crushing on a rich white boy, this time it’s Flip Henderson. When her promposal video is shown accidentally to the entire class, Flip rejects her in front of everyone. In her anger, Chi-Chi makes a wish that becomes a curse. Afterwards, she and Flip switch bodies, and worse it seems to be getting exponentially longer each time they do it. As she and Flip learn about one another’s lives, they both have to face aspects of wealth, privilege, race and bias that they weren’t expecting. 

This graphic novel for teens is a delightful mix of the fun and magic of body swapping mixed with serious commentary and questions about social issues. Add in the zest of a k-pop obsession, the questions of who to trust with the truth, and trying to break the curse together, and you have a truly marvelous story that takes readers deep into both characters and their lives. The emphasis on self-worth despite outside pressures is key in the success of the graphic novel and will resonate with young readers.

Honest and timely, take the time to flip this one over. Appropriate for ages 13+.

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: October 7, 2025

Reviewed from library copy.

ISBN: 9780593904879

Soojin has lost her mother to a car accident years ago and now has lost her older sister who was found drowned in the river. In Soojin’s family, the women have a unique gift of being able to bring small animals back from the dead. Cautioned her entire life from using her power to bring back people, Soojin’s grief leads to do the unthinkable and bring back Mirae. The two sisters must hide what Soojin has done and as time goes by, the choice she made changes them both. Mirae becomes more vengeful and deaths start happening in town. Soojin begins to sicken as the toll of using the power becomes clear. Can the two sisters survive this? Should they?

Filled with the currents of grief and loss, this book triumphs. Using the river and water as a constant rush in the reader’s ears, the book is a dark and destructive look at what grief can cause people to do and how it is impossible to move on, particularly if you are keeping the dead alive. The use of Korean traditions throughout the book strengthens the magic of the sisters and makes the horror all the more palpable on the page. Additionally, the book has themes that take on racism in their small town and women taking back power from abusive men.

A marvelous slow-burn horror novel that will carry you into the depths. Appropriate for ages 13+.

Raised by Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Raised by Ghosts by Briana Loewinsohn 

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Publication Date: February 4, 2025 

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9798875000508

Set in the early 1990s, this graphic memoir tells the story of the author’s middle school and high school years. Raised by divorced parents who could not be more different from one another and yet are both absent from her life, Briana spends much of her time alone. She eats dinner alone, draws and writes in her closet, and listens to her mother complain about her on the phone to other people. Her days are filled with time with her friends, listening to music on her mix tapes, struggles at school. The book doesn’t offer a bright ending, but rather offers space and a way forward through art and writing that Briana found.

The art in this graphic novel is not the brightly colored, poppy graphics one might expect in a YA graphic work. Rather, it is powerfully dark, stormy on the page, filled with isolation and frustration. The images echo the subject matter beautifully, creating a unique reading experience. The setting of the 1990s, speaks to the differences time brings. There are no cell phones, no ways to check in when waiting to be picked up, and adults will find themselves and their own childhoods shared here.

Deep, thoughtful and powerfully quiet. Appropriate for ages 13+.

Barnes & Noble Best Young Adult Books of 2025

| Tasha

Barnes & Noble have announced their best book lists for the year. Here are their picks for the top YA books of 2025:

An Archive of Romance by Ava Reid

The Demon and the Light by Axie Oh

Eternal Ruin by Tigest Girma

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Fearful by Lauren Roberts

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

Grim and Oro by Alex Aster

Hazelthorn by CG Drews

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

Oathbound by Tracy Deonn

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

Amazon’s Top 20 Teen & Young Adult Books of 2025

| Tasha

Amazon has announced their lists of best books for 2025. Here are their picks for the top 20 YA books of 2025:

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

Balancing Act by Paula Chase

Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Coldwire by Chloe Gong

The Crimson Throne by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause

Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin

Never Ever After by Sue Lynn Tan

Nightweaver by R. M. Gray

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

We Fell Apart by E. Lockhart

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Books of 2025

| Tasha

Publishers Weekly has announced their list of best books for 2025. Here are the selected books in YA:

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

The Leaving Room by Amber McBride

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller

Reasons to Hate Me by Susan Metallo

Reasons We Break by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick

Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux

The Tournament by Rebecca Barrow

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin

Publisher: Page Street YA

Publication Date: August 5, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9798890032706

Verity is a young witch in the middle of her witch training where she has left home and spends each year in a new place. She is just ending a lovely year living near a bakery when a leaf appears to beckon her to her new assignment. Foxfire is a village separated from the world since their bridge was destroyed, leaving them isolated. To make it worse, there is a creature who has laid a curse upon them, ruining their crops, leaving them hungry and desperate. It is into this village that Verity arrives. Her magic will not be trusted to be helpful and she must find ways to take on the creature ruling over the town who continues to make deals with villagers where they often never return. 

There are so many witch books, so please don’t assume this is just another one that you’ve read before. Martin has created a witch who has real power, real duties to service and a connection to the natural world that reads with such deep roots that it will echo in your bones. His story is marvelously complex both in the characters and their motivations and in the magical structures he employs. Nothing is simple for the reader or Verity in Foxfire, which is challenging and delightful. Add in a touch of romance and this is fire.

Impossible to put down, this is one of the best teen witch books out there. Appropriate for ages 12-18.