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Welcome to 2025, bookworms! Here are the weird and wonderful young adult and middle grade books that are coming out in the next six months. I have a different post for adult book releases.
Note: Publishing is notorious for changing the release date of books. Don't come for me if the dates in this post are wrong. I'm trying! I promise!
🎒 January - June Books For Teens & Tweens 🏫
The Song Of Orphan's Garden by Nicole M. Hewitt
Middle Grade Fantasy
January 21, 2025
In an arctic world that's getting colder every day, Lyriana's only hope of survival is to get her little brother Zave and herself to the fabled Orphan's Garden. It’s rumored to be the one place in the world not controlled by deadly Winter Spirits or ruled by the tyrant Giant king. In Orphan’s Garden, healing trees will melt away Winter’s pains, and Lyriana and Zave can live safely in the warmth of Spring. If the garden exists, they must find it. They won’t live much longer without it.
Brob, a Giant boy, also needs sanctuary. When the Giant king banishes his family to the Winter Blight, it’s a death sentence. Orphan’s Garden is his family’s only hope, and as far as Brob’s concerned, it belongs to him. After all, he was the one who accidentally used an ancient magic to grow the garden years ago. He has no intention of sharing his haven with pesky humans, who will just use up its magic and ruin it.
When it becomes clear that Orphan’s Garden is in danger of being destroyed, Lyriana and Brob are the only ones who can save it—but only if they can put the ages-old battle between Humans and Giants aside and find a way to work together.
Why I want to read it: It's a novel-in-verse, which always intrigues me because I was terrible at my college poetry classes. The nicest thing a poetry professor ever said to me was, "Well . . . I can tell you tried." I'm impressed by anyone who can write an entire book in verse.
All Better Now by Neal Shusterman
Young Adult Dystopia
February 4, 2025
An unprecedented condition is on the rise. It behaves like a virus, with the first symptom being a fever, but those who contract it experience long-term effects no one has ever seen: utter contentment. Soon after infection, people find the stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings that used to weigh them down are gone.
Almost everyone revels in this mass unburdening. But people in power—who depend on malcontents tuning into their broadcasts, prey on the insecure to sell their products, and convince people they need more, new, faster, better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. Soon, campaigns start up convincing people that being happy all the time is dangerous. There’s even a vaccine developed to rid people of their inner peace and get them back to normal because, surely, without anger or jealousy as motivators, productivity will grind to a halt and the world will be thrown into chaos.
It’s nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their own agendas, and two teens from very different backgrounds who’ve had their lives upended in different ways by the virus find themselves enmeshed in the center of a dangerous power play. Can they reveal the truth?
Why I want to read it: If you haven't read a Neal Shusterman dystopia, what are you doing with your life? He thinks of everything. His books always ask fascinating ethical questions that challenge my perspective. I don't think he's written a book that I didn't like.
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
Young Adult Fantasy
March 4, 2025
Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers.
The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:
1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first.
2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.
3. Try not to fall in love.
Why I want to read it: The premise reminds me of Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick and The Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I adore both those books. Or maybe I just like books about people who get to relive their lives. I guess I should read this one and find out.
They Bloom At Night by Trang Thanh Tran
Young Adult Horror
March 4, 2025
A red algae bloom has taken over Mercy, Louisiana. Ever since a devastating hurricane, mutated wildlife lurks in the water that rises by the day. But Mercy has always been a place where monsters walk in plain sight. Especially at its heart: The Cove, where Noon’s life was upended long before the storm at a party her older boyfriend insisted on.
Now, Noon is stuck navigating the submerged town with her mom, who believes their dead family has reincarnated as sea creatures. Alone with the pain of what happened that night at the cove, Noon buries the truth: she is not the right shape.
When Mercy’s predatory leader demands Noon and her mom capture the creature drowning residents, she reluctantly finds an ally in his deadly hunter of a daughter and friends old and new. As the next storm approaches, Noon must confront the past and decide if it’s time to answer the monster itching at her skin.
Why I want to read it: Because plants are scary! Mushrooms are the scariest because they know too much, but algae is scary too. There's just so much of it. We're outnumbered.
Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Young Adult Dystopia
March 18, 2025
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch's name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He's torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12s: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town.
As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail. But there's something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
Why I want to read it: Another Hunger Games book. I have mixed feelings about it. I liked The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, but it also felt extremely unnecessary. Why do we need more Hunger Games books? The original trilogy is fine on its own! I'm still going to read this new one. I'm too curious for my own good.
The Corruption Of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
Young Adult Horror
April 22, 2025
Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a Blue-Collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis's only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates.
As if his circumstances couldn’t get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinished business to take care of.
As Walt and Hollis begin working together to put Walt’s spirit to rest, an unspeakable bond forms between them, and the boys begin falling for one another in unexpected ways. But, it’s only a matter of time before Hollis’s best friends begin to notice that something about Hollis isn’t quite . . . right.
With the threat of a long overdue exorcism looming before them, will Walt and Hollis be able to protect their love and undo the curse that turned their town from a garden of possibility into a place where dreams go to die?
Why I want to read it: This sounds delightfully weird. A teen falls in love with a ghost inside his own body? How does that work? What if the ghost is just manipulating your brain so he can keep your body? I want to know.
Silverborn: The Mystery Of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
Middle Grade Fantasy
June 24, 2025
Morrigan Crow is ready for a new adventure. In The Mystery of Morrigan Crow, we will travel to places in Nevermoor that we've never seen, we'll meet people from Morrigan's past who will be very important in untangling the mystery of who she is . . . as she sides with someone very dangerous to learn more of the Wundrous Arts.
Why I want to read it: This is the fourth book in the Nevermoor series. Nevermoor is the most fun book series I'm currently reading. It's funny, quirky, fast-paced, and full of loveable characters. I wish it had been around when I was a kid. I would have been obsessed. Read it if you want to feel joy.
Which 2025 book releases are you looking forward to reading?
This is a great list! I’ll keep these in mind when I’m looking for books for my grandkids.
ReplyDeleteOne of the guys I work with is so excited for the new Hunger Games book, we talk about it every time I'm at the office! I wasn't crazy about the prequel, but I do think Haymitch's story is going to be a good one.
ReplyDeleteI feel the sale about Sunrise on the Reaping: I'm not sure if we need a new book but I'm still going to read it anyway because I'm too curious not to :)
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is always down for a Hunger Games book.
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to books not normally on my radar. I"m curious about how the novel in verse will be accepted by youth.
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