Looking to spice up your life and bookshelf at the same time? We’ve got all the best YA books to read this year all in one handy place. So whether you’re starting a readathon, you’re compiling a new TBR list, or you just want to know all the best YA book releases in 2018 – you’ve come to the right place. The only thing we won’t be held accountable for is your dwindling bank balance.
Happy reading!
May 1st
‘A Court of Frost and Starlight‘ by Sarah J Maas
A companion tale to Sarah J. Maas’s #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series that takes place several months after the explosive events of A Court of Wings and Ruin Narrated by Feyre and Rhys and, this story bridges the events in A Court of Wings and Ruin and the upcoming novels in the series. Feyre, Rhys and their companions are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated – scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.
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May 3rd
‘Skylarks‘ by Karen Gregory
When she was little, Joni used to have dreams that she could fly. But these days her feet are firmly on the ground – they have to be when money’s tight and her dad can’t work and the whole family has to pull together to keep afloat. Then she meets Annabel. Annabel is everything Joni isn’t, and yet there’s a spark between them. Though Joni barely believes it at first, she thinks they might be falling in love. But when Annabel’s parents find out about the relationship, it’s clear they believe there are some differences that are impossible to overcome…
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‘In Your Light‘ by Annalie Grainger
Are you still a sister, if one of you is missing?
Sixteen-year-old Lil’s heart was broken when her sister Mella disappeared. There’s been no trace or sighting of her since she vanished, so when Lil sees a girl lying in the road near her house she thinks for a heart-stopping moment that it’s Mella. The girl is injured and disorientated and Lil has no choice but to take her home. But something’s not right… The girl claims she’s from a peaceful community called The Sisterhood of the Light, but why then does she have strange marks down her arms, and what – or who – is she running from…
Could she hold the key to Mella’s disappearance?
And what happens if the Sisterhood is unwilling to let its daughters go…
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‘Summoner: The Outcast‘ by Taran Matharu
Arcturus is just an orphaned stable boy when he accidentally summons a demon. As Hominum’s first common summoner, he becomes the key to a secret that the powerful nobility would do anything to keep hidden.
He is immediately whisked away to Vocans Academy where the lost arts of summoning, spell craft and demonology are taught to the noble children of the Empire. In no time, Arcturus finds himself surrounded by enemies as noble teachers and students question his right to be there.
But before he can even attempt to make friends, his life is turned upside down once again, for the Empire is in turmoil. Rebellion is simmering among the masses, and it will not be long before it boils over. Arcturus must choose a side . . . or watch the Empire crumble,
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‘The Colour of the Sun‘ by David Almond
One hot summer morning, Davie steps boldly out of his front door. The world he enters is very familiar – the little Tyneside town that has always been his home – but as the day passes, it becomes ever more mysterious.
A boy has been killed, and Davie thinks he might know who is responsible. He turns away from the gossip and excitement and sets off roaming towards the sunlit hills above the town.
As the day goes on, the real and the imaginary start to merge, and Davie knows that neither he nor his world will ever be the same again.
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‘We Are Young‘ by Cat Clarke
It starts with a wedding. And a car crash. It ends with dark secrets and even darker lies. An unforgettable thriller from the queen of emotional suspense, for fans of Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott and Jandy Nelson. On the same night Evan’s mother marries local radio DJ ‘Breakfast Tim’, Evan’s brand-new teenage step-brother Lewis is found unconscious and terribly injured, the only survivor of a horrific car crash. A media furore erupts, with the finger of blame pointed firmly at Lewis. Everyone else believes the crash was drugs-related, but Evan isn’t buying it. How did the four teenagers know each other? Lewis is a loner. As far as Evan knows, he doesn’t have any friends. She starts to investigate, finding out all she can about the three dead teenagers: They’re not the same age, they go to different schools and seem much more popular than Lewis. What could they possibly have in common? As Evan delves deeper into their lives, she uncovers some disturbing truths and a secret that threatens to tear her family – and the community – apart forever.
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‘Ventura Saga: The Truth of Different Skies‘ by Kate Ling
‘I’ve always feared this place would keep me rooted forever… but now, without gravity, I’m flying, floating, falling’
Bea feels trapped. Having never left her small town and with no money or anyone to rely on, she faces the inevitable future of a dead-end job – forced to survive, rather than live.
When a message arrives from space, a mission is planned to travel to its source. Bea knows she has to be chosen to go, no matter what it takes, even though it means leaving Earth forever. Her life has to matter.
Except she didn’t plan on falling in love before she left…
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‘Spirit‘ by Sally Christie
Matt is new, quiet and shy. Jazzy is outspoken, popular, confident. They’d never normally be friends. But things in the village of Burnham Stone aren’t normal: Matt has seen something extraordinary up in Burnham Wood. And Jazzy is the only one who believes him. With the help of Matt’s little dog and Jazzy’s little sister, the two make surprising discoveries – and unleash such a powerful force that nothing can ever be the same again. A wonderful story about friends, growing up, and the very real magic in the world around us.
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‘Queens of Fennbirn‘ by Kendare Blake
The Young Queens is the story of the three queens when they were born, before they were separated – it gives a short glimpse of the time when they all lived together, loved each other and protected one another. It’s also the story of the day they were torn apart and the immediate years that followed before the opening of Three Dark Crowns.
The Oracle Queen – historically, baby queens born with the sight gift were drowned. This had been the practice for hundreds of years, so long that few were even born any more, as if the Goddess knew it would be a waste. It is a harsh sentence, but necessary, for it is well-known that in a queen the sight gift will run strong. Strong enough to drive her mad. This is the tale of the last sight-gift queen to be allowed to live. She was overcome by paranoia and false visions, driven past the brink by the phantom thoughts of others in her head, so she set upon the capital with bloody ruin, murdering whole houses, whole family lines, without trial. Or at least, that is how the tale is told. This is her story.
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‘The Smoke Thieves‘ by Sally Green
A princess, a traitor, a soldier, a hunter and a thief. Five teenagers with the fate of the world in their hands. Five nations destined for conflict. In Brigant, Princess Catherine prepares for a political marriage arranged by her brutal and ambitious father, while her true love, Ambrose, faces the executioner’s block. In Calidor, downtrodden servant March seeks revenge on the prince who betrayed his people. In Pitoria, feckless Edyon steals cheap baubles for cheaper thrills as he drifts from town to town. And in the barren northern territories, thirteen-year-old Tash is running for her life as she plays bait for the gruff demon hunter Gravell. As alliances shift and shatter, and old certainties are overturned, our five heroes find their past lives transformed and their futures inextricably linked by the unpredictable tides of magic and war. Who will rise and who will fall? And who will claim the ultimate prize?
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May 12th
‘Floored‘ by Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood
The Breakfast Club meets One Day in Floored, a unique collaborative novel by seven bestselling and award-winning YA authors: Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson and Eleanor Wood.
When they got in the lift that morning, they were strangers. Sasha, who is at the UK’s biggest TV centre desperately trying to deliver a parcel; Hugo, who knows he’s by far the richest – and best-looking – guy in the lift; Velvet, who regrets wearing the world’s least comfortable shoes to work experience; Dawson, who isn’t the good-looking teen star he was and desperate not to be recognized; Kaitlyn, who’s slowly losing her sight but won’t admit it, and Joe, who shouldn’t be there at all, but who wants to be there the most.
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May 17th
‘Starry Eyes‘ by Jenn Bennett
Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best-friends-turned-worst-enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern-day version of the Montagues and Capulets. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.
Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to try to make their way to safety. But as the two travel deeper into the rugged Californian countryside, secrets and hidden feelings surface. Soon it’s not simply a matter of enduring each other’s company, but taming their growing feelings for each other.
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May 22nd
‘The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik‘ by David Arnold
This is Noah Oakman → sixteen, Bowie believer, concise historian, disillusioned swimmer, son, brother, friend.
Then Noah → gets hypnotized.
Now Noah → sees changes: his mother has a scar on her face that wasn’t there before; his old dog, who once walked with a limp, is suddenly lithe; his best friend, a lifelong DC Comics disciple, now rotates in the Marvel universe. Subtle behaviours, bits of history, plans for the future—everything in Noah’s world has been rewritten. Everything except his Strange Fascinations . . .
A stunning surrealist portrait, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik is a story about all the ways we hurt our friends without knowing it, and all the ways they stick around to save us.
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May 31st
‘All Of This Is True‘ by Lygia Day Penaflor
When four Long Island teens plot to meet Fatima Ro, the elusive author of their favourite novel, they’re stunned when she befriends them and invites them into her eccentric life. Suddenly their lives seem charmed, and as they grow closer to their idol, they find themselves revealing their darkest secrets to her. But a year later, Miri, Soleil, Jonah and Penny are shocked to discover that Fatima’s newly released YA novel is based on those same secrets. The revelations are devastating, and they can’t escape the spotlight. The friends’ interview transcripts, emails and journal entries reveal how willing they were to sacrifice everything to win Fatima’s approval – and how those sacrifices led to a tragedy from which one of them will never recover.
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‘A Long Walk To Water‘ by Linda Sue Park
Eleven-year-old Salva is forced to flee on foot when it comes under attack. Braving every imaginable hardship – including killer lions and hungry crocodiles – he is one of the ‘lost boys’ travelling the African continent on foot in search of his family and a safe place to stay.
Nya goes to the pond two times a day to fetch water. It takes her eight hours. But there is unexpected hope, as these two stories set in Sudan – one unfolding in 2008 and one in 1985 – go on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.
Have we missed one that people need to know about? Email us at hello@unitedbypop.com