July 2, 2024
- Publisher: Albatros Media
- Reading age: 10 – 14 years
- Lexile measure: IG1210L
- Grade level: 4 – 6
Explore the fascinating world of architecture, from ancient monuments to modern structures, and decode architectural styles and history in this engaging non-fiction book.
This non-fiction compendium takes readers on a global tour of architectural wonders, from ancient monuments that have withstood the test of time to the new streamlined modern structures that define our contemporary landscape. Explore iconic buildings by uncovering the intricate secrets of architectural styles and the rich histories they represent. From the timeworn exterior of the Great Pyramid of Giza to the smooth sleek lines of the White House, this book offers an immersive exploration of architectural diversity, offering readers a lens through which to decipher the architectural language of the structures that surround us.
Aimed at adolescents ages 10–14, this book transcends age barriers, offering a window into the world of architecture for all. Through vivid content and imagery, it offers an exciting journey through history and design. Young readers seeking a deeper understanding of architecture will gain deep insights into the world’s architectural legacy. It’s not just a book; it’s a key to unlocking architectural secrets, an educational resource, and a visual delight. Whether for personal enrichment or education, this invaluable guide will deepen your appreciation for our shared global architectural heritage.
- Publisher: Scholastic Press
- Reading age: 13 years and up
- Grade level: 8 – 9
The Honeys meets The Secret History in a work of dark academia like no other — a boarding school thriller about a queer teen from Mississippi who finds himself swept into a world of old money, privilege, and the secret society at the heart of it all.
When Cal Ware wins a scholarship to an elite New England boarding school, he’s thrilled to leave his past behind. Back home in Mississippi, he was the poor, queer kid who never fit in. But at Essex Academy, he’ll be able to reinvent himself. Or so he hopes…
But at Essex, Cal’s classmates only see his cheap clothes and old iPhone. They mock his accent, and can’t believe he’s never left the country, or heard of The Hamptons. Cal, at his breaking point, is about to give up and return to Mississippi when he learns about a secret society on campus — the key to becoming Essex royalty.
Cal knows he’s not exactly secret society material, but to his surprise, he finds an unlikely champion in the handsome, charismatic, and slightly dangerous Luke Kim. As they get swept up in the mystery and glamour of the Rush process, Cal finds himself falling in love for the first time.
But as the initiation rituals grow riskier — and increasingly nefarious — Cal must decide how far he’s willing to go, and how much of himself he’s willing to sacrifice, to save everything and everyone he cherishes most. Because nothing at Essex — not even Cal’s first love — is quite what it seems.
- Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
- Reading age: 12 – 17 years
- Lexile measure: HL730L
- Grade level: 7 – 9
Ellie’s Deaf boarding school just shut down, forcing her to leave the place she considered home and return to her hearing family. But being mainstreamed into public school isn’t exactly easy. So her guidance counselor pairs her with Jackson, a student who’s supposed to help her adjust. Can the boy who tries to say the right things, and gets it all wrong, be the lifeline Ellie needs?
Jackson has been avoiding his teammates ever since some numbness in his legs cost them an important soccer match. With his senior year off to a lonely start, he’s intrigued when he’s asked to help the new girl, initially thinking it will be a commendable move on his part. Little does he know Ellie will soon be the person he wants most by his side when the strange symptoms he’s experiencing amount to a life-changing diagnosis.
Exploring what it means to build community, Anna Sortino pens a story about the fear of the unknown and the beauty of the unexpected, all wrapped up in a poignant romance that will break your heart and put it back together again.
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Reading age: 14 years and up
- Grade level: 9 – 12
Paedyn and Kai battle with duty and desire in this highly anticipated second installment in the sizzling and epic romantic fantasy trilogy that’s packed with spicy tension and edge-of-your-seat betrayal.
The kingdom of Ilya is in turmoil…
After surviving the Purging Trials, Ordinary-born Paedyn Gray has killed the King and kickstarted a Resistance throughout the land. Now she’s running from the one person she had wanted to run to.
Kai Azer is now Ilya’s Enforcer, loyal to his brother Kitt, the new King. He has vowed to find Paedyn and bring her to justice.
Across the deadly Scorches, and deep into the hostile city of Dor, Kai pursues the one person he wishes he didn’t have to. But in a city without Elites, the balance between the hunter and hunted shifts—and the battle between duty and desire is deadly.
- Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
- Reading age: 14 years and up
- Grade level: 9 – 12
An anxious teen hopes that a summer of adventure and offbeat dares will keep her friend group together after graduation in this luminous coming-of-age graphic novel with the feel-good vibes of Booksmart and Morgan Matson’s Since You’ve Been Gone.
With senior year finally behind them, Cassie and her three best friends are on their way to what’s next. Like their parents, the crew has always been inseparable: there’s Marcy, the artist, for whom style is self-expression and sarcasm is a love language; Aaron, the future lawyer, whose good humor balances out his competitive streak; Nico, the musician, whose flirtatiousness, obliviousness, and recent interest in a rising senior are becoming increasingly unbearable to Cassie; and of course, Cassie herself, the only one who doesn’t have her future all figured out.
This summer is their last chance to make memories together in New York City before everyone but Cassie scatters across the globe for college—and she’s determined to make the most of it. Her plan? They’ll spend August playing the game of dares and risks they invented as kids! From adventurous to outrageous, these dares will definitely make for an unforgettable summer. Even better, Cassie is hopeful they’ll help the group stay friends no matter what…because she is not ready for a future without them.
- Publisher: Shadow Mountain
- Reading age: 13 – 17 years
- Grade level: 7 – 12
In this friends-to-lovers romance, high school senior Nellie has her future all planned out—except for a disastrous first kiss, a hurtful prank, and the unexpected twist of falling in love with her childhood friend.
Fun fact: Nellie Samsin has ten days left of high school, and she’s never been kissed—which is fine with her. She’s been more focused on editing the yearbook and being named valedictorian than worrying about a boyfriend. But when she has a chance to kiss her longtime crush, she hopes it will be a magical experience. Until she learns it was all a lie, a hurtful prank orchestrated by her so-called best friend, leaving Nellie heartbroken and angry with everyone involved.
Jensen Nichols has spent his senior year keeping three massive secrets: first, he’s been writing a best-selling romance fantasy series under the pseudonym “Jen Dimes”; second, he’s been harboring a secret crush on Nellie, to the point where he’s based his fictional romantic heroine on her; and third, Nellie’s dad has been his writing mentor and coach. Jensen has promised himself that he’ll reveal his secrets—but only when the time is right. Then he sees Nellie kissing his best friend, and his unexpected rush of jealousy means that the time for keeping secrets is running out.
When a family tragedy rocks Nellie’s world, the future she meticulously planned for is threatened. And when she learns the people she thought were her friends have lied to her, she feels lost and betrayed. At least she has Jensen, who is the one person she knows for a fact she can trust. But the more time the two of them spend together, the more Nellie suspects Jensen is hiding something from her. (Fun fact: Keeping secrets is the worst.)
It seems Nellie and Jensen are perfect for each other, but they will need to separate fact from fiction in order to see if their unplanned romance can last beyond graduation day.
- Publisher: Melissa de la Cruz Studio
- Reading age: 12 – 17 years
- Grade level: 7 – 9
The action and adventure of Percy Jackson meets the complex heroines of The Cruel Prince as a family of valkyries fight to stop Ragnarök.
For seventeen-year-old Bryn, being the youngest, messiest, most rebellious sister in a family of valkyries isn’t easy. Especially considering home is a Renaissance faire in Chicago full of costumed workers who see her as nothing more than a nuisance. When her mother disappears on a mission for Odin, Bryn begins having strange visions about the impending Ragnarök. Bryn senses their mother is in great danger, but her annoyingly perfect older sisters refuse to take her seriously. Their mother is, after all, captain of the valkyries.
Things only take a turn for the worse when a half human, half giant named Juniper crashes the party with a violent zombie in tow, confirming Bryn’s worst fears—her visions of Ragnarök are real. If that wasn’t enough, the faire’s mysterious new addition, Wyatt the Black Knight, just so happens to have a ferocious secret that threatens everyone around him. Determined to survive Ragnarök, Bryn, Juniper, and Wyatt team up to combat the horde of monsters that keeps appearing throughout the faire. But after Bryn ignores the call to deliver Wyatt to Odin’s eternal warriors in Valhalla, choosing to save his life instead, she starts to wonder if she’ll ever get this valkyrie thing right.
Whispers of divine interference—including sightings of the mischievous Loki—reach Bryn’s ears. Soon everyone at the faire becomes a suspect, leaving Bryn, her sisters, and their newfound friends the only ones who can stop the war to end all realms. Whether she’s ready or not, Bryn is about to learn how the ties between fate and choice are as interwoven and unbreakable as the bonds between sisters.
- Publisher: Holiday House
- Reading age: 14 – 17 years
- Grade level: 9 – 12
When baking-obsessed Ivy meets a boy who shares her rare diagnosis, sparks fly outside of the kitchen for the first time in her life!
Chronically ill seventeen-year-old Ivy has stayed inside baking all summer—pies are better than people, and they don’t trigger her social anxiety. So when her (also) chronically ill mom and sister cook up a plan to get Ivy out of the house and into a support group, Ivy doesn’t expect to say more than a few words.
And she certainly doesn’t expect Grant. Grant is CUTE: class-clown cute, perfectly-messy-hair cute, will-always-text-you-back cute. There’s an instant connection between them. He has the same illness as her—juvenille rheumatoid arthritis—and he actually understands Ivy’s world. But just because he understands her pain doesn’t mean he can take it away, and she wishes he could… because it’s getting worse. Ivy has always tried her best to seem “normal,” but between symptom management, new treatment plans, and struggling with medical self-advocacy, being sick feels more and more difficult. With her energy plummeting, even her bestie starts drifting away! What if Grant does, too? Will Ivy’s sugar-sweet romance pan out? Can she maintain her façade, for him and for the world… or should she be brave and let it drop?
Marissa Eller serves up a sweet, satisfying romcom that tackles the realities of chronic illness—and coming-of-age milestones from friend breakups to first kisses—with wry humor, tons of heart, and a huge helping of honesty. Nuanced, funny, and deeply enjoyable, readers will fall for Eller’s voice in this compelling debut that offers all the right ingredients.
- Publisher: Sungrazer Publishing
- Reading age: 14 years and up
- Grade level: 8 and up
From bestselling author Josephine Angelini comes a whimsical cozy fantasy read with loads of adventure and none of the triggers. Perfect for fans of Olivia Atwater and Travis Baldree.
Ever wish you could travel inside your favorite book and become the main character? Of course you have. Everyone has. But if you ever manage to pull it off, here’s a tip. Timing is everything…
Take Holly for example, who after saying a spell is transported inside a fairytale called The Chronicles of Lucitopia, a magical world infested with grifter grandmas, halitosis-riddled bandits, and devoid of any functioning toilets.
Holly becomes Princess Pleasant exactly as she wished, but she gets there too late, right after an evil sorcerer turns Lucitopia into a tetanus-ridden hellhole. And now, it’s up to Holly to make things right.
With the help of a freakishly handsome, yet frustratingly virtuous knight, Holly sets out to fix her story, but she only has fifteen days left to do so or she risks being stuck in Lucitopia for the rest of her life, which may prove to be a short one considering she’s overdue for her shots.
