Summer is here! To help bookstores and libraries encourage summer reading, we’ve put together this roundup of YA novels to spotlight during July and August—and year-round.
Light in the Canyon by Darren Cools
Slant Books | June 23, 2026
Distributor: Ingram
ISBN: 978-1-63982-226-3
According to Patrick Flores-Scott, “an explosion thrusts an expertly-drawn, dynamic, multi-generational cast of characters out of their normal lives and into a voyage of grieving, healing, and growth” in this young adult novel.
The Heron Witch by Marnie Reed Crowell
Green Writers Press | February 25, 2025
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9798988382041
According to Doug Tallamy, this young adult novel based on tracking data from a real-life Great Blue heron is a “delightful tale about a city girl’s adventures in a Maine fishing village.”
Finding Ramanata by Robyn Dabney
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | December 2, 2025
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781646036219
According to Adriana Allegri, in this YA novel readers “will find enormous inspiration in Klarke’s determination and passionate resolve to uncover the truth despite the personal cost, anguish, and peril.”
Catalyst Press/Flare Kids | March 3, 2026
Distributor: Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
ISBN: 978-1963511239
Set in the near future, this YA novel follows an eighteen-year-old who wakes “to find an apocalyptic landscape, the earth split open and a violent flood engulfing the farming valley where he lives.”
Celia in the Revolution by Elena Fortún
Translated from the Spanish by Michael Ugarte
Swan Isle Press | January 15, 2024
Distributor: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9781736189368
In the final book in Fortún’s Celia series, set during the Spanish Civil War, “Celia, now a madrecita, a little mother to her two younger sisters since the death of their mother, is forced into a life of hardship.”
Ghost Brother by Sylvia Sánchez Garza
Arte Público Press/Piñata Books | October 31, 2024
Distributor: Ingram
ISBN: 9798893750065
This young adult novel “explores death, grief, and the supernatural folklore of Mexican Americans in South Texas.”
The Closest Thing to a Normal Life by Michael Méndez Guevara
Arte Público Press/Piñata Books | May 31, 2025
Distributor: Ingram
ISBN: 9798893750133
This YA novel set in San Antonio, Texas, deals with “the loss of loved ones, prejudice, and the clash of social mores.”
Seven Stories Press | September 17, 2024
Distributor: Penguin Random House
ISBN: 9781644213988
This YA novel is about what it means to “‘contain multitudes’—to love both men and women, to defend your mixed-race family in the American South, to care for someone who experiences the world in fundamentally different ways than you do.”
Manor of Buried Secrets by Mason O’Connor
Catalyst Press | March 27, 2026
Distributor: Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
ISBN: 978-1960803269
This YA novel is “a gripping journey of mystery, friendship, passion, and the search for buried treasure.”
Our Bodies Electric by Zackary Vernon
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | June 4, 2024
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 9781646034574
Our Bodies Electric is “a coming-of-age story that celebrates the exuberance of youth, the individual quest for sexual identity, and the joy of finding connections in the most unexpected of places.”
Gone Before You Knew Me by Renate Wildermuth
Regal House Publishing/Fitzroy Books | February 24, 2026
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group
ISBN: 978-1-64603-684-4
“Told through a series of redacted confessions recorded by a secret agency,” this young adult novel tells “the story of Talya—a girl who’s equal parts Katniss Everdeen and Harriet the Spy.”
