Teen Scene
October 2021
Recent Releases
White Smoke
by Tiffany D. Jackson

Welcome home? Fresh from rehab for substance abuse, Mari moves with her newly blended family to a gentrifying town where their renovated house is plagued by strange smells, unexplainable shadows and sounds, and sinister forces tied to the town's deadly history.

Is it for you? Mari's experience of anxiety and addiction is vivid and gripping; those looking for a less intense (but just as spooky) haunted house story might prefer Cherie Priest's The Agony House.
Take Me With You When You Go
by David Levithan and Jennifer Niven

Without warning: Sixteen-year-old Ezra Ahern's older sister, Bea, runs away, leaving Ezra at the mercy of their abusive parents, with little support beyond his caring boyfriend.

What happens: Email becomes a lifeline between the separated siblings as Ezra hangs on to survival and Bea goes on a quest to uncover hidden truths about their family and find a worthwhile future.

Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on CloudLibrary
Bad Witch Burning
by Jessica Lewis

It's a living: With a tough family situation, no money for rent, and not enough hours at her low-paying job, Katrell uses her shaky necromancy skills to support a more profitable gig: raising the dead.

Why you might like it: The emotional stress of poverty merges with the paranormal horror of revenants in this gruesome, riveting read.

Also available in eBook on CloudLibrary
So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix
by Bethany C. Morrow

What it is: A multilayered remix of the classic Little Women, focused on four Black sisters living in the Freedpeople's Colony of Roanoke Island during the American Civil War.

Starring: Jo, determined to protect her community; Meg, unsure of the future family she hopes for; Amy, pushing the boundaries of dance; and Beth, whose self-expression is challenged by illness.

Also available in eBook on OverDrive
Retro Reads
Awesome books from the not-so-distant past.
 
A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope
by Patrice Caldwell, editor

What it is: an electrifying collection of fantasy and science fiction stories celebrating the power and limitless possibilities of Black girls and gender-nonconforming people.

Featuring: a star-studded lineup of authors who share their visions of characters such as fire spirits, sea women, magical hairdressers, alien interrogators, and a daytime TV witch.

Also available in eAudiobook on OverDrive
Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary
Clown in a Cornfield
by Adam Cesare

Welcome to: Kettle Springs, Missouri, a run-down factory town surrounded by cornfields and stalked by a clown-faced killer who channels the atmosphere of distrust between the generations into a blood-splattered murder spree.

Why you might like it: There's no better time than spooky season for an old-school, adrenaline-fueled slasher story packed with sharp modern humor.

Also in eAudiobook on Hoopla
Also available in eBook on CloudLibrary
A Peculiar Peril
by Jeff VanderMeer

What it's about: After inheriting his grandfather's bizarre mansion, 16-year-old Jonathan discovers that it contains a door to a parallel world -- a place where animals and vegetables talk, and warlock Aleister Crowley (along with Napoleon's disembodied head) wages a war that could overtake our world...unless Jonathan and his friends stop it.

Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla
 
The Enigma Game
by Elizabeth Wein

What it's about: Orphaned during the 1940 Blitz, 15-year-old Jamaican British Louisa takes a job near a Scottish Royal Air Force base where she meets military driver Ellen, Flight Lieutenant Jamie, and a pilot from the German Resistance who has intel crucial to the British war effort.

Read it for: Compelling characters, intriguing espionage, and a wealth of historical insight. 


 
Parachutes
by Kelly Yang

Starring: Shanghai teen Claire Wang and Filipina American scholarship student Dani De La Cruz, who are thrown together when Claire's wealthy parents send her to board at Dani's house and attend Dani's private school.

What happens: The barriers between the girls break down as they lean on each other in the aftermath of sexual violence.

Also available in eBook on OverDrive
Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary
Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 14 and up!