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All the Noise at Once DeAndra Davis

Aiden has always wanted to play football like his star-quarterback brother, Brandon. After a sensory meltdown costs him a spot during summer tryouts, he finally gets a second chance when a roster opening appears—but not everyone on the team is happy about it because they don't know how Aiden will handle the pressure while managing his Autism. Rising tension leads to a fight, police involvement, and Brandon stepping in to defend Aiden. Hours after being cheered on from the bleachers, Brandon is arrested and accused of assaulting an officer. As his future unravels and the brothers’ bond is strained, Aiden becomes determined to uncover what really happened that night. Can he find the truth in time to clear Brandon’s name?

Author website: DeAndra Davis | Author

Professional Book Review: ALL THE NOISE AT ONCE | Kirkus Reviews

Book Talk: All the Noise at Once by DeAndra Davis

Neurodivergent character

Sports (football)

Contemporary/Realistic Fiction

The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting Natalie C. Parker

Tru has been hiding all her life. Her parents taught her to conceal her Bastion Talent: indestructible skin, muscles, and bones. Hiding failed to keep Tru’s parents alive, but moments before their murder, Tru’s mom pointed her to Logan Dire, a famed recluse assassin who adopted and trained orphaned Tru. At seventeen, she’s still hiding. Not even her closest friends know her true name or Talent. When assassins interrupt a mundane babysitting job booked through BountyApp—where lethal hunters find work and babysitters for their kids—Tru flees with a one-year-old strapped to her chest and spiraling questions: Who killed her parents? Whom can she trust? And what does it mean to be a Bastion?

Author info: Natalie C. Parker

Professional Book Review: THE ASSASSIN'S GUIDE TO BABYSITTING | Kirkus Reviews

Fantasy

Adventure

Survival

Mystery

Best of All Worlds Kenneth Oppel

Xavier is dreading spending time with only his dad and stepmom at their remote cabin away from his friends.  As if this isn't bad enough, things take a mysterious turn when he wakes up to find the cabin, its contents, and inhabitants have all been transported overnight to a confined environment - with no other humans to be found.  Xavier and his family learn to survive with limited help from a mysterious source, but the questions keep coming when years later another family suddenly appears, and they may not be friendly.  Best of All Worlds is a fast-paced sci-fi adventure that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Author info: Author — Kenneth Oppel

Professional Book Review: BEST OF ALL WORLDS | Kirkus Reviews

Book Talk: Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Science Fiction

Mystery/Thriller

Family

Survival

Codebreaker Jay Martel

Mia Hayes expects a normal summer filled with a part-time job and college applications, but everything changes when federal agents break into her home, leaving her mother dead and her father on the run. Suddenly thrust into a dangerous mystery, Mia must solve the clues her father left behind with the help of Logan, a brilliant and charming hacker she meets along the way.

Federal agents track her moves as Mia follows the cryptic codes and tries to uncover the truth about her family. Packed with nonstop action, mystery, and a bit of romance, Codebreaker keeps readers on edge, inviting them to crack the codes alongside Mia. 

Author Info: Jay Martel Books

Professional Book Review: CODEBREAKER | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Codebreaker Jay Martel Book Trailer

Mystery/Thriller

Romance

Adventure

The Dead of Summer Ryan LaSala

Ollie Veltman is finally coming home to the quaint island of Anchor's Mercy after a year away while his mom battled cancer. It should be a celebration -- his mom is cancer free, and she's determined to have the best summer ever -- but Ollie's (now ex) best friends think he abandoned them, and he's returning with a lot questions. Because for a place that's perfect on the outside, a secret rots inside. A secret that could explain his mom's illness, and the illness of so many other locals.

Author info: Ryan La Sala – Fantasy + YA Author

Professional Book Review: THE DEAD OF SUMMER | Kirkus Reviews

Mini Book Trailer: The Dead of Summer | On Sale Now

Horror

Mystery/Thriller

Science Fiction  

Dungeons and Drama Kristy Boyce

Sometimes the musical is so good you must take the opportunity to go, even if it means driving without a license.  While Riley’s punishment of working at her father’s game store takes up her time, she still somehow finds a way to fight to keep her school’s Spring Musical.  Part of her scheme includes sweet-talking her cute co-worker into taking some of her shifts. Will her plans backfire though when she finds out she actually enjoys learning to play Dungeons & Dragons and fake dating Nathan?

Author info: About — Kristy Boyce

Professional Book Review: DUNGEONS AND DRAMA | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Dungeons and Drama Book Trailer

Romance

Fake Dating

Realistic Fiction

The Executioners Three Susan Dennard

Freddie Gellar didn't mean to get half the rival high school arrested, or become the prank war hero, but because of a phone call to the cops about a scream from the woods, she manages to do both. Then the next day, a body is found. And while the local sheriff is not convinced of foul play, Freddie's instincts tell her otherwise. So, like the aspiring sleuth (and true X-Files aficionado) she is, Freddie sets out to prove there's a murderer at large.
 

Author info: Susan Dennard – New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author

Professional Book Review: THE EXECUTIONERS THREE | Kirkus Reviews

Book Talk: The Executioners Three #booktube #bookreview #susandennard #horror

Mystery/Thriller

Paranormal

Set in the 90s

Falling Like Leaves Misty Wilson

Ellis has a lot of expectations for her senior year, but moving from Manhattan to Bramble Falls, Connecticut is not one of them. Yet in the wake of her parents' separation, that's exactly where she and her mother are headed.  Ellis finds herself charmed by their quaint small town Falling Leaves Festival, a month-long tourist attraction run by Ellis's aunt—celebrating everything autumn. But it's also full of distractions like local barista Cooper Barnett, Ellis's one-time best friend—and first kiss—who has not only majorly glowed up but wants nothing to do with Ellis. 

Author info: About — Misty Wilson

Professional Book Review: FALLING LIKE LEAVES | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Young Adult Book Trailer - Falling Like Leaves

Romance

Fall Vibes

Second Chances

King of the Neuroverse Idris Goodwin

King of the Neuro Verse is a lyrical novel-in-verse that drops you into the mind of Purnell, a creative and witty black teen with ADHD. The story flows like a freestyle battle, capturing Purnell's every racing thought, his doubts, and bursts of brilliance. Purnell has one goal: to become the Cypher King, the ultimate champion of a local freestyle competition. While other people see his ADHD as a weakness, Purnell knows it’s his secret weapon. His quick thinking, wild wordplay, and nonstop imagination give him an edge above the competition. And if he's lucky, maybe Purnell will even fall in love for the first time.

Author info: Idris Goodwin

Professional Book Review: KING OF THE NEURO VERSE | Kirkus Reviews

Book Talk: me 🤝🏾 books with mental health rep! king of the neuro verse is out today and l highly recommend!

Novel in verse (poetry)

Realistic Fiction

Neurodivergent (ADHD)

A Language of Dragons S.F. Williamson

In 1923 London, translation is the ultimate weapon.

After her parents are arrested and her sister vanishes, linguistic prodigy Vivien Featherswallow is enlisted into a secret world at Bletchley Park. To buy her family’s freedom, she must decipher the forbidden Language of Dragons before a ticking clock runs out.

Viv has to decide who's the enemy in this historical fantasy with a slow-burn romance. The government or the resistance?

Caught in a high-stakes web of government lies, Viv realizes the code she's breaking might be the spark that burns the empire down.

Author info: S F Williamson

Professional Book Review: A LANGUAGE OF DRAGONS | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: 📚🐉 A Language of Dragons – Worth the Read? 🤔 #BookReview #FantasyBooks

Fantasy

Dragons

Historical fiction

Romance

Looking for Smoke K.A. Cobell

When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren’s missing sister, Mara thinks she’ll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.

Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.

Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them—Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli—have a complicated history with Samantha.

Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.

Author Info: Link to Book

Professional Book Review: LOOKING FOR SMOKE | Kirkus Reviews

Book Talk: Looking for Smoke by K A Cobell

Contemporary

Mystery/Thriller

Indigenous

Lunar New Year Love Story Gene Luen Yang

Valentina Tran was named after Valentine's Day, which used to be her favorite holiday. But after a truth about her parents is revealed, and the spirit of Saint Valentine tells her she and her family are cursed to always be unlucky in love, she realizes true love is a lie and Val is ready to give into her fate.

Meanwhile, lion dancing is the only thing that has given Jae peace after his dad passed away. For some inexplicable reason, Jae hands Val a paper heart at a Lunar New Year festival. Though Val and Jae struggle with the spirits who haunt them they are inextricably brought together in a love story that is satisfying, sweet, and moving.

Author info: Home - Cartoonist & Teacher | Gene Luen Yang

Professional Book Review: LUNAR NEW YEAR LOVE STORY | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: 📚 Lunar New Year Love Story | Empowerment & Redesign Love #valentine #shorts #graphicnovel #design

Graphic novel

Romance

Magical Realism

An Ocean Apart Jill Tew

Climate disasters have left the poor struggling in flooded cities while the wealthy live safely on ships at sea. Eden sneaks onto a luxurious dating competition for Theo, the heir to the powerful company controlling the world's water, planning to trick him and steal the prize money for her community. But as she gets closer to Theo, Eden starts to question whether he's really the enemy she believed he was. Now she must choose between revenge and the truth - even if it risks her heart.

Author Info: About — Jill Tew - dystopian romance and middle grade author

Professional Book Review: AN OCEAN APART | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Book Trailer: An Ocean Apart by Jill Tew #booktube #dystopian #romancebooks

Book

Dystopian

Romance

Set in Florida

Out of Air Rachel Reiss

Phoebe Ray only feels comfortable underwater. As an outsider she finally meets a group of friends that share her passion for scuba diving. One day on a dive they find some coins and they become known as famous treasure hunters. After graduating from high school, they take one last trip together to Australia and that is when the trouble truly begins; they discover a long-lost, infamous cave. What is worse is that as Phoebe and Gabe resurface, they begin to slowly and monstrously transform. With treasure hunters following them, they must race against time to survive. Revealing the cave's existence could help Phoebe pursue diving as a career and stay with her friends forever, but the treasure hunters are threatening to kill them in the process. And now she and Gabe are having trouble breathing on land... how will they survive?

Author Info: Rachel Reiss

Professional Book Review: OUT OF AIR | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Out of Air by Rachel Reiss: Short

Mystery/Thriller

Horror

Adventure

Song of a Blackbird Maria Van Lieshout

Fictionalized but based on true events, Song of a Blackbird has two intertwined timelines: In the present day, teenage Annick is desperate to find a bone marrow donor that could save the life of her grandmother, Johanna. She turns to her family history and discovers a photograph taken by Emma Bergsma. Decades earlier, Emma is a young art student about to be drawn into what will become the biggest bank heist in European history: swapping 50 Million Guilders' worth of forged bank notes for real ones―right under the noses of the Nazis! 

Author Info: Link to Book.vanlieshoutstudio.com

Professional Book Review: SONG OF A BLACKBIRD | Kirkus Reviews

Book Trailer: Young Adult Book Trailer: Song of a Blackbird

Graphic Novel

Historical Fiction

Holocaust/WWII