SEPTEMBER

1 Sept Arcade and the Dazzling Truth Detector by Rashad Jennings. Zonderkidz
In this fourth and final book in the Coin Slot Chronicles series by former NFL running back Jennings, questions about the mysterious Triple T Token will finally be answered.

1 Sept Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson. Nancy Paulsen Books.
When his retired pro-football star father’s behavior starts changing atfer a career of head injuries, ZJ and his family must adjust to their new reality.

1 Sept The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed. Simon and Schuster.
Issues of race, class, and violence come to live through the eyes of a wealthy Black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.

1 Sept Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Macmillan. YA paranormal Latinx trans fiction @aidenschmaiden
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

1 Sept Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn. Entangled Teen.
Sisters star in this romantic comedy about dating while navigating overbearing parents.

1 Sept Flamer by Mike Curato. Henry Holt.
The author draws on his own experiences in his debut graphic novel about a boy navigating a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

1 Sept Like Spilled Water by Jennie Liu. Carolrhoda Books
When her brother dies suddenly, Na realizes how little she knew him—and that he wasn’t the only one with secrets.

1 Sept Micah: The Good Girl (Flyy Girls #2) by Ashey Woodfolk. Penguin Workshop.
The second book in the Flyy Girls series follows “good girl” Micah Dupree, whose life is turned upside down when her brother unexpectedly dies.

1 Sept Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera. Bloomsbury
This contemporary retelling of the Greek Orpheus and Euridyce myth features Afro-Latinx characters in the Bronx.

1 Sept Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam. Balzer+Bray
This novel-in-verse centers on a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated.

1 Sept Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher. GP Putnam’s Son
In 2032 America, a girl and her brother must escape a xenophobic government to find sanctuary.

1 Sept  The Shadow Crosser (Storm Runner trilogy) by J.C. Cervantes. Rick Riordan Presents.
Zane and his friends embark on their most treacherous mission yet–a mission that, with one blunder, could change history as we know it, and worse, destroy the universe.

1 Sept Tales of the Feathered Serpent #1: Rise of the Halfling King by David Bowles, illus. by Charlene Bowles. Cinco Puntos
This series opener retells a Mayan myth about a half-magic, half-human boy who uses ancient spells and his wit to overcome epic trials. Ages 8–13.

1 Sept We Are Not Free by Traci Chee. HMH Books
intertwines the stories of 14 second-generation Japanese-American teens  who were incarcerated during WWII.

8 Sept Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe by Carole Boston Weatherford. Candlewick.
A biography Marilyn Monoe’s turbulent life.

8 Sept Beast Boy (Teen Titans) by Kami Garcia, illus. by Gabriel Picolo.
Garfield Logan has spent his entire life being overlooked. Even in a small town like Eden, Georgia, the 17-year-old with green streaks in his hair can’t find a way to stand out–and the clock is ticking. Senior year is almost over.

8 Sept The Bookweaver’s Daughter by Malavika Kannan. Tanglewood Press.
In this story of magic, lore, and female friendship set in the ancient Indian kingdom of Kasmira, Reya must protect her father’s secret in order to guard his life.

8 Sept Charming as a Verb by Ben Philippe. Balzer+Bray.
When Henri’s classmate Corinne uncovers his less-than-honest side, she blackmails him into helping her change her image at school.

8 Sept Lupe Wong Won’t Dance by Donna Barba Higuera. Levine Querido.
Lupe needs an A in all her classes—including gym—in order to meet her favorite pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, who is Chinacan/Mexinese just like her.

8 Sept Star Wars the High Republic: A Test of Courage by Justina Ireland, illus. by Petur Antonsson. Disney Lucasfilm Press.
When a transport ship is ejected from hyperspace during a galaxy-wide disaster, a new Jedi and her friends are stranded on a jungle moon.

8 Sept The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters. Duet Books
Comic book geek Wesley Hudson excels at two things: slacking off at his job and pining after his best friend, Nico. Advice from his friends, ‘90s alt-rock songs, and online dating articles aren’t helping much with his secret crush. And his dream job at Once Upon a Page, the local used bookstore, is threatened when a coffeeshop franchise wants to buy the property. To top it off, his annoying brother needs wedding planning advice. When all three problems converge, Wes comes face-to-face with the one thing he’s been avoiding—adulthood.

15 Sept Awesome Asian Americans: 20 Stars Who Made America Amazing by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin, illus. by Juan Calle. Immendium.
20 individuals from diverse backgrounds are profiled, including Mindy Kaling, Bruce Lee, the Rock, and Chrissy Teigen.

15 Sept Amazing Women of the Middle East: 25 Stories from Ancient Times to Present Day by Wafa’ Tarnowska, illus. by Margarida Esteves et al. Crocodile Books.
Profiles of accomplished women from the Middle East. Ages 9–14.

15 Sept Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro. Tor Teen.
Xochital is destined to wander the desert alone, speaking her troubled village’s stories into its arid winds. Her only companions are the blessed stars above and enimagic lines of poetry magically strewn across dusty dunes. Her one desire: to share her heart with a kindred spirit.

15 Sept Furia by Yamile Saied Méndez. Algonquin.
An Argentinian soccer-star must put everything on the line—even her love interest—to follow her dreams.

15 Sept Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson. Katherine Tegen Books
Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.

Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?

15 Sept K-Pop Confidential by Stephan Lee . Point.
A Korean American girl travels from New Jersey to Seoul in hopes of debuting in a girl group at the same K-pop company behind the most popular boy band on the planet.

15 Sept The Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar. Scholastic/Levine.
In this novel-in-verse, a Latinx girl learns to hold on to hope while in a family detention center for migrants and refugees.

15 Sept Legendborn (Legendborn #1) by Tracy Deonn. Margaret K. KcElderry Books.
The mage’s failure reveals Bree’s own, unique magic and unlocks a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that she knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, Bree will do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn by becoming one of their initiates. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur and his knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

15 Sept Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee. Random House Graphic.
Lora recruits Alexa, the ghost who haunts her house, to help her stay a kid forever.

15 Sept The True Definition of Neva Beane by Christine Kendall. Scholastic.
The dictionary of words that Neva compiles helps her make sense of the world, her changing body, friendships, and her struggling family

15 Sept Turning Point (So Done #3) by Paula Chase. Greenwillow Books.
Rasheeda and Monique see their friendship threatened when Sheeda catches the eye of Monique’s older brother.

15 Sept A World Together by Sonia Manzano. National Geographic Kids.
The actor who played Maria on Sesame Street examines different cultures while celebrating what unites us.

22 Sept A Crown So Cursed (The Nightmare Verse) by L. L. McKinney. Imprint
Alice is doing her best to recover from her last boss battle, but members of her crew start having these… dreams. And they’re all the same dream: visions of a dark past―and an even darker future. It seems the evil in Wonderland may not be as defeated as they’d hoped. When word spreads of an encroaching army of Nightmares unlike any ever seen, Alice finds she may have to step between the coming darkness and the mortal world once more. But this time is different. This time, the monsters aren’t waiting for her on the other side of the Veil.

22 Sept Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds. Katherine Tegen Books.
Jamal’s best friend doesn’t know that he died, and that he’s about to die… again.

22 Sept Every Body Looking (Ada #1) by Candice Iloh. Dutton Books.
Told entirely in verse, Ada’s story encompasses her earliest memories as a child, including her abuse at the hands of a young cousin, her mother’s rejection and descent into addiction, and her father’s attempts to create a home for his American daughter more like the one he knew in Nigeria.

The present-tense of the book is Ada’s first year at Howard University in Washington D.C., where she must finally confront the fundamental conflict between who her family says she should be and what her body tells her she must be.

22 Sept How It all Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi. Viking Books.
Amir always knew that coming out to his Muslim family would be messy—but he didn’t think it would end in an airport interrogation room.

22 Sept Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron. Maya searches for her missing father, who is guardian of the veil between our world and the Dark world.

22 Sept Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore. HarperTeen.
There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.

22 Sept Smash It! (Smash It #1) by Francina Simone. Inkyard
Liv’s role in a hip-hopera high-school production of Othello leads to a journey of self-empowerment.

22 Sept The Silvered Serpents (The Gilded Wolves) by Roshani Chokshi. Wednesday Books.
As hidden secrets come to the light and the ghosts of the past catch up to them, the crew will discover new dimensions of themselves. But what they find out may lead them down paths they never imagined.

22 Sept Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker. Imprint
A collection of 11 vampire stories by an array of YA authors.

29 Sept Dear Justyce by Nic Stone. Crown
Incarcerated teen Quan writes letters to Justyce, the protagonist of Stone’s Dear Martin, about his experiences in the U.S. juvenile justice system.

29 Sept Everything Comes Next: Collected and New Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye. Greenwillow Books.
This compilation includes never-before-published poems.

29 Sept Historically Inaccurate by Shay Bravo. Wattpad Books.

After her mother’s deportation last year, all Soledad “Sol” Gutierrez wants is for her life to go back to normal. Everything’s changed―new apartment, new school, new family dynamic―and Sol desperately wants to fit in. When she joins her community college’s history club, it comes with an odd initiation process: break into Westray’s oldest house and steal . . . a fork?

There’s just one problem: while the owners of the house aren’t home, their grandson Ethan is, and when he catches Sol with her hand in the kitchen drawer, she barely escapes with the fork intact. This one chance encounter irrevocably alters her life, and Sol soon learns that sometimes fitting in isn’t as important as being yourself―even if that’s the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.

29 Sept Saucy by Cynthia Kadohata, illus. by Marianna Raskin. Atheneum.

Being a quadruplet can make it hard to stand out from the crowd. Becca’s three brothers all have something that makes them…them. Jake has his music and dancing, Jammer plays hockey, and K.C. thinks they’re all living in a simulation and doesn’t see the point of doing much of anything. Becca is the only one with nothing to make her special. But when she finds a tiny, sick piglet on the side of the road, Becca knows this is it. This is her thing.

29 Sept Shine by Jessica Jung. Simon Pulse

For seventeen-year-old Korean American Rachel Kim, the answer is almost everything. Six years ago, she was recruited by DB Entertainment—one of Seoul’s largest K-pop labels, known for churning out some of the world’s most popular stars. The rules are simple: Train 24/7. Be perfect. Don’t date. Easy right? Not so much.

29 Sept Skyhunter by Marie Lu. Roaring Brook Press.

In this fantasy set in a world broken by war, the only hope against evil lies with a team of young warriors who are willing to sacrifice everything to save what they love.

29 Sept Unexpected Super Spy (Planet Omar) by Zanib Mian, illus. by Nasaya Mafaridik. Hodder Children’s Books.

Omar’s amazing imagination brings the second story in his adventures to life as he navigates more of life’s ups and downs. From sibling brawls to speaking to the scary principal and becoming a community activist, bold illustrations and cheeky dialogue show how Omar perseveres through serious and silly adversity.