Teen Scene
April 2026

Recent Releases
Sibylline (a Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick) by Melissa de la Cruz
Sibylline (a Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick)
by Melissa de la Cruz

**A Good Morning America YA Book Club Pick** NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - Three teens infiltrate the magical ivy league in the first book of a heart-stopping dark academia romantasy series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. The special first edition of the hardcover features stunning stenciled edges and designed endpapers Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical university rejects them, the friends' plans for a future studying the arcane together begin crashing down. Until they decide to steal an education. Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration's watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more. But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage . . . if they don't wreck one another first.
The Sun and the Starmaker
by Rachel Griffin

An immortal Starmaker keeps Reverie in eternal sunshine, protecting the mountain village from the deadly Frost. When Aurora becomes the Starmaker’s successor, she grieves the simple life she envisioned for herself while also developing feelings for her new mentor. This whimsical standalone novel reads like a classic fairy tale.
 
Queen of Faces by Petra Lord
Queen of Faces
by Petra Lord

In Caimor, a person’s consciousness can be transferred into a fabricated body, effectively evading death. When Annabelle is caught trying to steal a body for herself, she must choose between dying and becoming an assassin for people trying to quash rebellion. Read-alikes: Andrea Tang’s Kingdom of Without; Jill Tew’s The Dividing Sky.
Few Blue Skies by Carolina Ixta
Few Blue Skies
by Carolina Ixta

In her latest novel, Pura Belpr Award-winning author Carolina Ixta weaves a tender story about love and hope, following a teen as she works to protect her family and community from a major corporation taking over her town.Paloma Vistamontes is heartbroken. A year ago, her ex-boyfriend, Julio Ramos, broke up with her after his father's death, a tragedy that drove Paloma and him apart. Ever since then, the mountains have felt flatter, the sky farther away.Now, her hometown of San Ferm n, a place where honest people work on farms and in factories, is in danger. Selva, a massive e-commerce conglomerate, threatens to open one of their warehouses beside her high school.This isn't the first time they've done this. Since Selva arrived, they've opened warehouses everywhere where there used to be green spaces. Because of them, the air pollution is so bad that school is often canceled. Many people, including Paloma's ever-practical Ma, want to leave.But Paloma wants nothing more than to stay. Because when the smog clears, there is still hope. That hope drives Paloma to reconnect with Julio to expose and challenge the dangers that Selva introduces to communities like their own. Can they stop Selva from destroying everything they know? Is there still a chance for their budding romance?
The Spiral Key by Kelsey Day
The Spiral Key
by Kelsey Day

For fans of Holly Jackson and Jessica Goodman, this high-stakes thriller is set in a virtual-reality paradise turned hellscape, from a celebrated writer making their YA debut. An edge-of-your-seat thriller about friendship and ex-friendship, love, loss, and longing, and the need to belong that is as honest and relatable as it is spine-tingling. Don't miss this one.--Jennifer Niven, #1 NY Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places At the start of each school year, Madison Pembroke, the most popular girl at Lincoln Academy, sends out invitations to her epic birthday party in the form of custom forged spiral keys. For that one night, a few lucky teens get to enter Ametrine, a virtual paradise that hosts the party of the year--a wild, unforgettable celebration that will secure their social status in the real world. As Madison's hated ex-BFF, Bree Benson never receives a key. Until now. Despite warnings from her boyfriend, Bree sees the invite as an olive branch, the perfect opportunity to rekindle her once-amazing friendship with Madison. But as the party games begin to turn provocative and violent, Bree finds that Ametrine might not be the decadent wonderland she was promised. And that Madison may have let Bree enter Ametrine, but she has no intention of ever letting her leave . . . Kelsey Day's gripping debut shows that while best friends know each other the best, ex-best friends know how to hurt each other the worst.
Tidespeaker by Sadie Turner
Tidespeaker
by Sadie Turner

A girl with the power to command the tides has her life changed when she secures a job serving a wealthy noble family--only to learn upon arrival that the last person to fill her post mysteriously died, and her new employers are hiding dark secrets--in this haunting and lush debut fantasy. Corith Fraine is a Floodmouth - her words can control water. Yet for those born with her rare elemental ability, paths forward are few, and Corith is one of the lucky ones. She has spent most of her life in a prestigious magic institution, training to one day achieve the highest possible honor for a member of her kind: the chance to serve one of the hundred noble houses. When Corith learns she's secured a post working for House Shearwater, a reclusive noble family living on a wave-battered island, she thinks her hard work has paid off. Until she discovers that their previous Floodmouth - Corith's closest friend - mysteriously died in their service. And Corith is her replacement. To learn the truth of her best friend's accident, Corith must unravel the dark conspiracies at the heart of Bower Island. Yet doing so will require contending with the island's deadly tides and her enigmatic new employers - including the family's brooding youngest son, Llir, who she finds herself equally drawn to and repelled by. With her loyalties pushed to the breaking point, these treacherous waters may well pull Corith under...
Steam by Shaenon K. Garrity
Steam
by Shaenon K. Garrity

A genius humanoid escapes the university lab where she was made and gets a job at a local coffee shop in this hilarious...excellent (School Library Journal, starred review) young adult graphic novel perfect for fans of Giant Days and Heartstopper. Ruby is a genius humanoid who was grown in a secret lab at the local university, created to solve science's greatest problems. But Ruby suspects she can't fulfill her function while trapped inside, so she breaks out. Now living among humans, Ruby attempts to lie low and fit in as a barista at the university coffeehouse, Inkcap. Working there gives her plenty of opportunity to figure out what problems people need solving. And as far as she can tell, most humans' biggest problem is struggling to find happiness. And what makes them happy? Love So, Ruby uses her superpowered brain to play cupid. As Ruby sets to work pairing up the staff and regulars at Inkcap, she feels more and more human herself: she's got a community now, maybe even a crush. But the lab believes she's dangerous, and it wants her back. When pursuing her own happiness leads Ruby straight into a trap, she'll need her new motley crew of coffeehouse friends to save her from the scientist who only want to use her.
Children of the Night (When Monsters Wake Book 1): A Graphic Novel by Victoria Setian
Children of the Night (When Monsters Wake Book 1): A Graphic Novel
by Victoria Setian

One of Publisher's Weekly Top 10 Comics for Fall 2025 A thrilling, spine-chilling YA graphic novel from debut author Victoria Setian and Bloom artist Savanna Ganucheau--a modern spin on the classic horror novel DraculaMina Murray is followed by death--at least, that's the rumor in her small town of New Whitby. An aspiring photojournalist, she has a knack for finding herself in unsettling situations to find interesting shots, like on the deck of the recently crashed boat the Demeter.While exploring the wreckage, Mina comes across large cases of dirt and debris--and the decaying body of the ship's captain.Intrigued by the ghastly scene, Mina tries to unearth more information about the abandoned ship, the captain, and the missing crew. Instead, she finds herself roped into her high school's newspaper club covering the big school dance her BFF, Lucy, is coordinating. It's a major bummer, but all might not be too bad if it gets her closer to Jon, her crush and guitarist for the local punk band the Romeros.But instead of catching Jon's eye, Mina enters the orbit of Raf, the brooding (and frankly, hot) transfer student who has everyone under his thrall. As Raf's popularity grows and the dance draws near, sinister events begin to shake the core of the school: The head of the newspaper club gains an unseemly appetite for flies. Jon is getting close to Raf.And Lucy falls ill . . . with strange puncture wounds on her neck. Mina starts to suspect that new student is hiding a dark and terrible secret . . . but will she be able to figure it out before it's too late?
Carnival Fantástico by Angela Montoya
Carnival Fantástico
by Angela Montoya

Witty, charming, and a little sinister, this is a real showstopper. --Allison Saft, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wings of Starlight An unputdownable romantasy following a young woman posing as fortune-teller at a magical traveling carnival, where the handsome boy who once broke her heart resurfaces and warns her that the carnival is more sinister than it appears. Welcome to the Carnival Fant stico, a spectacle of magic and mischief, and the perfect haven for a runaway. Using her tricks and razor-sharp wit, Esmeralda becomes the carnival's resident fortune-teller, aiming for the lead role in the Big Top Show. Success would mean freedom from her former employer, the commander of the King's army. Ignacio has defected from the army and is on the hunt for evidence of his father's corruption. But the last thing he expects to find on his father's trail of lies is the only girl he's ever loved, spinning false fortunes at a traveling carnival. Perhaps fortune has thrown them together for a reason. They strike a deal: she'll help him expose his father if he helps her secure the main act. But old feelings don't die easily, and the commander's secret isn't the only thing they'll need to confront.
Contact your librarian for more great books for age 14 and up!
Auburn Public Library
49 Spring St.
Auburn, Maine 04210
207-333-6640

www.auburnpubliclibrary.org/