wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 1 of 6
Back to top
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
[email protected] 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
wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 2 of 6
Back to top
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.
wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 3 of 6
Back to top
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.
wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 4 of 6
Back to top
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.
wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 5 of 6
Back to top
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.
wordfest.com • [email protected] • last updated: 2016-04-25 Page 6 of 6
Back to top
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.