Teen Scene
December 2025

Recent Releases
Hazelthorn
by CG Drews

After his guardian suddenly dies, Evander is freed from his bedroom prison at the Hazelthorn mansion. Now he must contend with the heir, Laurie, who tried to kill Evander once but fascinates him nonetheless. With a lush, carnivorous garden, this thriller is a gothic twist on The Secret Garden.
Coldwire
by Chloe Gong

The alternative to a harrowing world of extreme weather and disease is NileCorp’s virtual reality service. Eirale and Lia, soldiers in NileCorp’s military, risk it all to expose injustice in their worlds, real and virtual. Fans of Marie Lu's Warcross and Marissa Meyer's Renegades will enjoy this action-packed cyberpunk trilogy opener.
 
A Dark Forgetting by Kristen Ciccarelli
A Dark Forgetting
by Kristen Ciccarelli

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ciccarelli weaves the epic love story of a magical girl, the boy she left behind, and a deadly curse.Lush, dark, and romantic. I could have remained lost in the woods forever. - Isabel Iba ez, #1 New York Times bestselling author of What the River Knows No matter how far she runs, the forest always comes for Emeline Lark, haunting her with its mysterious disappearances and its tales of fae magic. When her grandfather goes missing, Emeline is forced to venture into the woods to save him. There, Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, brutally tries to dissuade her from searching, even as a magnetic spark ignites between them. Undeterred, Emeline enters the court of the fabled Wood King and makes a deal: her voice for her grandfather's freedom. Little does she know, she's stumbled into a curse that threatens the very existence of this eerie world she's now trapped in. To survive, she'll need to team up with the fiery yet secretive Hawthorne. If she fails, she'll lose everything she holds dear. 
The House Saphir
by Marissa Meyer

Armand hires Mallory, who can talk to ghosts, to exorcise his ancestral estate. Mallory plans to swindle him out of his money, but instead she finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, and Armand is a suspect. This creepy novel is a witty retelling of the Bluebeard myth.
 
He's So Possessed with Me by Corey Liu
He's So Possessed with Me
by Corey Liu

A boy must save his best friend from a demon that wants to steal his heart--literally--
2025 Debuts
As 2026 draws closer, check out these books by authors who published their first books in 2025.
 
All the Noise at Once
by DeAndra Davis

Star quarterback Brandon is happy to have his autistic brother Aiden on the team. When a post-game fight results in Brandon’s unjust arrest, it’s up to Aiden to prove his older brother’s innocence. Read-alikes: Sonora Reyes’ The Luis Ortega Survival Club; Christina Hammonds Reed’s The Black Kids.
 
Salvación
by Sandra Proudman

The magical sal negra Lola’s mother uses to cure maladies draws travelers to their home, but it also attracts threats. That’s why Lola adopts the guise of Salvación, a masked vigilante protecting her people from colonizers and deadly magic. This swashbuckling tale takes inspiration from the character Zorro.
 
Honeysuckle and Bone
by Trisha Tobias

Despite Carina’s mother forbidding travel to her home island of Jamaica, Carina takes a temporary job there nannying for a wealthy family. As strange things start happening in the house, Carina fears a tormented spirit may be after her. Read-alikes: Kyrie McCauley’s All the Dead Lie Down; Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting.
 
First Love Language
by Stefany Valentine

Although Catie loves her adoptive mother, she is curious about her biological mother’s Taiwanese culture. Given the chance to learn Mandarin from her coworker Toby, she’ll happily provide him dating advice, despite her own inexperience. This sweet, thoughtful romance delves into the complexities of transracial adoption.
 
A Language of Dragons
by S.F. Williamson

After accidentally fanning the flames between the government and the rebels, Vivian makes a bargain. She’ll exchange her knowledge of dragon languages for her parents’ freedom. This gripping historical fantasy, set in an alternate London in 1932, reimagines dilemmas code breakers faced during World War II.
 
Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 14 and up!
Central Arkansas Library System
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Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
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