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Teen Scene
September 2026
Recent Releases
You Only Live Twice by Autumn Allen
You Only Live Twice
by Autumn Allen

Ready for life on her own terms, Zakiyyah leaves high school early, attends community college, and begins wearing a niqab. She’s considering finding a spouse who shares her faith, but she’s still discovering much about herself. This earnest, affirming story unfolds through texts, emails, sticky notes, poetry, and more.
Flickerstate by F. A. Davidson
Flickerstate
by F.A. Davidson

People who access the flickerstate can manipulate probability, but there are vicious flickerbeasts in the realm of the future. Needing a cure for flickerbeast bites, Noah teams up with classmates to compete for access to her academy’s archives. Read-alikes: Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning; Petra Lord’s Queen of Faces.
Such Great Heights by Rajani Larocca
Such Great Heights
by Rajani Larocca

Siya was 10 years old when her attorney mother died in a car accident. Now a high school senior on the mock trial team, Siya encounters a case mirroring her mother’s story, prompting her to uncover family secrets. This sweeping novel is a retelling of Hindu epic the Ramayana.
Nest of Tongues by Randy Ribay
Nest of Tongues
by Randy Ribay

Siblings Lily and Caleb are Bay Area teens with a big secret: they’re vampires. When a monster hunter targets Caleb, the two seek to uncover the hunter’s identity before it’s too late. This page-turning horror novel is rooted in Filipino vampire mythology.
Immortal Game by Allison Saft
Immortal Game
by Allison Saft

When Midir of Bri Leith, the fae High King of the Otherworld, hosts a chess tournament, the prize is the granting of a single wish. Chess grandmaster Shea Fury knows this is her chance to reclaim her sister, lost to the fae realm six years ago. Read-alikes: Malindo Lo’s Huntress; Bex Hogan’s Nettle.
Retro Reads
Check out these awesome books from the not-so-distant past.
 
Split the Sky (Coretta Scott King Author Honor Title) by Marie Arnold
Split the Sky
by Marie Arnold

Women in Lala’s family see visions of the future. One such vision puts Lala in a moral quandary: save a member of the Black Student Alliance from death, or do nothing and allow a powerful social movement to rise from the tragedy? Read-alikes: Brittney Morris’ The Cost of Knowing; Lorraine Avila’s The Making of Yolanda la Bruja.
There Is No Map for This by Tom Birdseye
There Is No Map for This
by Tom Birdseye

A high-adrenaline story of what it really means to man up. Seventeen-year-old Ren Adams feels lucky to be living with his brother, Levi, and Levi's girlfriend, Ellie -- a welcome escape from his mother and her fundamentalist husband. Ren finally feels able to breathe, even if Levi and Ellie insist on trying to RENovate him, make him push his limits, live up to his potential -- man up ... whatever that means. Ren does his best to keep up -- until Levi is killed in an avalanche on one of their follow-the-leader dares. Overcome with grief, Ren feels unmoored, while Ellie embraces new risks and adventures, and tries to pull Ren into her orbit. He cannot resist her wattage, and when she comes to his bed one night, he stops trying. The next morning, Ellie has disappeared. Ren throws himself into full Ren-to-the-rescue mode -- out of love, brotherly loyalty, guilt or grief? He doesn't quite know. His search is by turns enlightening and reckless, as he discovers that there is no map for becoming a man. 
Songlight by Moira Buffini
Songlight
by Moira Buffini

In dystopian Brightland, people with the telepathic ability called songlight are considered “unhuman” and subject to extermination. After Elsa’s boyfriend is imprisoned, she sends out an anguished cry through songlight, drawing her into a vast conflict. This trilogy opener is unputdownable.
Rick Riordan Presents: A Touch of Blood by Sajni Patel
A Touch of Blood
by Sajni Patel

During the Fire Wars, naga Eshani bargained her own life away to ensure her people’s survival. Now the Underworld’s gatekeeper needs Eshani’s help healing the plague-stricken realm before the Shadow King claims her. This riveting novel infuses the myth of Hades and Persephone with Indian lore.
Better Left Buried by Mary E. Roach
Better Left Buried
by Mary E. Roach

Told in alternating voices, this novel follows Lucy and Audrey as they investigate a town full of secrets, a family full of mystery, and an abandoned amusement park where people keep turning up dead.
Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 14 and up!
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