June 2026 list by K. Pearson |
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Bonebag
by E. M. E. M. Elliott
Trapped in a dark forest with his cold-hearted parents, Bonebag leads a cruel and isolated existence. However, he feels deep in his bones that things weren’t always this way: he has known happiness before. Why does it feel like it was in a past life? When Bonebag discovers a locket that burns him to the touch, and a ghostly girl beckons him into the deep woods, he must grapple with the riddle of where he came from and how he came to be. Only then can he begin to rewrite his fate.
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Calypso's Odyssey
by Anna Ellison
Callie Quinn has never left Catalina Island. Her world is a crumbling cliffside inn, a father who’s more prison guard than parent, and a curse she believes she’s doomed to repeat: every summer brings a boy, a spark—and then a goodbye. Until one summer everything changes. A storm. A shipwreck. A boy washed ashore. Odie is secretive, wounded, and desperate to disappear. Callie offers him shelter, a place to heal, and slowly, something more. But Odie is no ordinary castaway. He carries secrets that could destroy them both. On Catalina, Callie shows him another way to live. A life of freedom and belonging. An everlasting life where he could be anyone—even himself.
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Change of Plans
by Sarah Dessen
Finley has always felt most comfortable in someone else’s shadow. Fortunately, she’s got Colin, her magnetic boyfriend, who sweeps her along for activities, friendships, and future plans. Then she goes on a last-minute trip with her distant mom to a family vacation house that Finley didn’t know existed and is now about to be sold. Her mom was estranged from her own parents and siblings since leaving home for college, and it’s a novelty for Finley to see her aunts and cousins. There’s also the handful of teens who work at the Egg, her aunt’s diner, and make up a found family of their own—including undeniably handsome guitarist Ben.
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Drop Dead Famous
by Jennifer Pearson
When superstar Blair Baker is murdered moments before her triumphant homecoming concert, her younger sister, Stevie, knows she has one chance to find out who’s responsible. The thing is, Stevie’s been here before, desperately searching for clues that might reveal who hurt someone she loves…but Stevie was younger then, just a kid. This time, she won’t let the truth slip through her fingers.
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The Electric Life of Lavender Lewis
by Kara Storti
At seventeen, Lavender Lewis has had epilepsy for most of her life. Convulsions, hallucinations, you name it—she’s experienced them all, more times than she can count. No medication, therapy, or diet has helped. Forget surgery—no one is scooping out a chunk of her brain. Her mom used to say epilepsy was magic, but how could it be, when all it’s ever brought is suffering? But after her mom’s death, Lavender hallucinates a boy too real to be an illusion. Every time she seizes, he appears. Has her brain finally broken? Or is this the magic her mom always talked about? All she knows is this boy needs her help.
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Every Exquisite Thing
by Laura Steven
Hoping to follow in her supermodel mothers footsteps, eighteen-year-old Penny attends the elite Dorian Drama School, where she seizes the chance to gain immortal beauty through a mysterious artists portrait, but when her mentor is murdered and students begin to die, she must uncover the deadly secret behind the paintings before she becomes the next victim.
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The Hanging Bones
by Elle Tesch
Katrin has lived on the border of the forest her whole life, raised on tales of the Folk that dwell within. As a gamekeeper for the baron who rules over the region, she is saddled with the onerous task of escorting the entitled nobles who descend upon her home for the Breimar Hunt. None of them respect the forest or its legends, and Katrin is only too happy to let them risk their foolish necks for what they see as a cheap thrill. When her beloved cousin becomes the latest target of the baron's lecherous appetites, Katrin knows only his death will keep her family safe, and the only way she can claim his life is to win the hunt herself. But something hungry has begun to stir in the woods, something even older and more powerful than the stag. As the horrifying, mutilated bodies pile up, Katrin begins to question where the true danger lies.
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I'm Gonna Get You Back
by Eva Des Lauriers
Reid Rousseau, once a star runner, returns to his mountain hometown for Legacy Weekend hiding an injury that could cost him his scholarship—and force him to face the ex who shattered him. Clara Suarez, desperate to get into film school, must interview former classmates about their chaotic senior year, including Reid. But when an anonymous account starts exposing secrets, old tensions ignite. Reid isn’t the only one with something to hide, and Clara isn’t the only one with regrets. Their chemistry still burns, but the truth they’re avoiding may destroy their second chance.
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In Case I Go Missing
by R. N. Swann
Seventeen-year-old Fenny Allen has been Sarah Vincenty's sidekick for as long as she can remember. Over the years, Sarah has built a reputation in their small town as an amateur detective and a vigilante who has dispensed her own form of justice. Now Sarah is missing. The police have written her off as yet another teen runaway, but Fenny is convinced there’s foul play. And when she discovers a binder Sarah left behind, entitled In Case I Go Missing, Fenny realizes that Sarah disappeared while investigating her biggest case yet.
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In the Blood
by April Henry
When high school senior Tess turns eighteen, she takes a DNA test in hopes of finding her biological parents, but instead discovers links to a religious cult and the elusive Portland Phantom, a serial killer responsible for the deaths of seven young women.
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Jin Young, in Between: A Colliding Worlds Book
by Ellen Oh
Jin’s whole world been turned upside down. Since meeting Mina inside her webcomic, Jin has discovered unbelievable things about his life: 1. He’s been living in a parallel universe. 2. His birth mother didn't abandon him.
3. He'll never be able to see Mina again. But then the impossible happens—Jin teleports to Mina’s world. But with every visit, cataclysmic weather threatens Jin’s world. And a mysterious lab seems way too interested in testing Jin’s new teleporting ability. Is Jin ready to risk it all for the girl he loves?
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The Lustrous Dark
by Loretta Chefchaouni
Orphaned as a baby, Shay has spent her life training as the midwife’s apprentice. Her role grants her stability, yet Shay has always yearned for more. Namely, motherly affection and answers regarding her mysterious birth—neither of which the midwife deems practical to provide.
After Shay discovers her birth mother, Hind, is still alive and addicted to a magical drug called Snow, she determines to get the woman clean. But when Hind betrays Shay to get her hands on more Snow, Shay’s abandoned within a deadly forest and forced to rely on a band of monstrous ghouls for safety.
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The Neon Sky
by Alyssa Villaire
Penny Emberly didn’t expect to fall head over heels for Alonso De Luca last summer—or to discover that he’s a witch. Together with their friend Corey Barrion, they managed to save her mother from a deadly spell. Now autumn has arrived, and Penny believes they can take on anything. But darkness is descending on the small town of Idlewood. Corey is desperate to undo the bloody legacy that made his family rich. The price, however, is steep: to unravel the magical bargain made by his grandfather, Corey must take a life.
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Seconds to Spare
by Rachel Reiss
Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Werth is trapped in what feels like a never-ending nightmare. She's the only person onboard Aloha Airways Flight 1333 who’s stuck in a 28-minute time loop, one that repeats over and over again. When Orion James –the cute boy who's been asleep the entirety of each cycle– wakes, it triggers an alarming change in the events Evelyn has come to count on. As the two grow closer and learn to trust each other, they discover there’s more to the loop than they initially realized. They must find the hidden clues, piece together the moving puzzle, and save everyone onboard –before it’s too late.
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Shadow Reaper
by Lynette Noni
The city of Aravell is in peril, plagued by a deadly blackmist and reapers who roam the streets, stealing magic from innocent children in their thirst for power. Seventeen-year-old Viridia Solace has trained for years to hunt these reapers, but their ranks keep growing, led by the man who murdered her parents: the Reaper Priest. When the Priest’s most loyal follower, Reeve Ashton, is captured, he offers Viri a chance to avenge her parents . . . for a price. She knows better than to bargain with a reaper, let alone this reaper, but his offer is too good to resist.
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The Spiritualists
by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Stella Bohdan is never alone—never—and yet she is the loneliest person she knows, dead or alive. A gifted psychic who can hear the voices of spirits, all Stella wants is to con enough people to survive on the brutal New York City streets and find a way to deal with the tragic death of her sister. Performing seances in parlor rooms and tarot readings by candlelight, Stella is barely holding on. Until she meets Pax, a mysterious young man who offers Stella an invitation and a promise: Join a secret group of talented mystics who explore the darker realms of spiritualism, and together they will get revenge on her sister’s killer.
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The Two Week Curse
by Michael Chatfield
Erik West served as a combat medic alongside his marine buddy Jimmy 'Rugrat' Rodriguez. After being marked with the two week curse, they have just 14 days until they're teleported from their lives. No one else that has been 'cursed' has ever returned. All of them have started seeing stat screens and being able to do things that should only be possible in games. When the curse teleports them to the first realm they're going to have to learn and quickly. Strength is security here and they'll have to use all of their newfound skills and abilities combined with all their training and knowledge to forge their own path.
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Their Will Undone
by R. J. Valldeperas
In Amaru, it is an honor to be chosen in the annual harvest and serve the gods'-favored emperor. Nina’s brother has already been chosen, but when the emperor’s men come a second time for her sister, Nina volunteers instead. She is taken to the acllahuasi, a gilded cage where women train to become servants or wives for the ruling class. It is there that a soldier comes to collect her, and Nina learns of her fate—to become a wife...to the emperor.
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Things I Learned While I Was Dead
by Kathryn Clark
Asha is dead. Years of medical treatment were not enough to heal her. The only way 17-year-old Calico can save her younger sister now is by joining her in death – at least until modern medicine can bring them both back to healthy life. Cryogenics is the answer: Scientific. Legal. Safe. Or so Dr Fates would have her believe. He plans to preserve the sisters’ bodies until his biotechnology research finds a cure for Asha. But when Calico is brought back to life, she’s in a post climate catastrophe, low-tech future trapped in a research facility. She’s at risk of being sold off to a sinister enforced breeding programme. And worst of all – Asha is missing.
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This Could All Go Bad
by Spencer Hall
When Jensen's two best friends, Maleek and Cooper, show up to kidnap him (OK, recruit him) to compete against a group of girls-including Leslie Chen herself-in a series of escalating dares, Jensen knows it's now or never: face his fears once and for all, or face a life of spinelessness forever. The boys set out on an epic race against the clock that includes faulty skateboards, internet-famous ferrets, and a stolen golf cart. But when Jensen finds out that Maleek and Cooper have been keeping a huge secret from him, he'll need every scrap of his newfound bravery to save their friendship.
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Under a Carnivore Sky
by Brianna Jett
Raised in a town surrounded by a labyrinthian, man-eating swamp, Lili craves nothing more than to track down the monster lurking in its depths and kill it. The monster’s curse claims the flesh and bone of every adult in town, stealing them away, piece by piece. For generations, people have tried to kill it or escape the town altogether, but every path out of town leads them right back in. Caleb, a bookish boy with dreams of freedom, is hungry to escape. He thinks that with Lili’s help and knowledge of the swamp, he can make a map to freedom. And Lili hopes that with a better sense of its territory, she might finally find and kill the monster.
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When the Rain Came
by Matthew Eicheldinger
Seventeen-year-old Aurora knows how to survive. Life in the foster system has taught her how to stay quiet, stay smart, and stay ready. But nothing could prepare her for this: a never-ending storm that swallows cities, drowns forests, and turns the world into a flooded wasteland. Trapped in a collapsing house with her strict prepper foster parents, Aurora is forced to live by their rules just to stay alive. Until the day they disappear without a trace.
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You're Dead to Me, Reed Walker
by Gwenyth Reitz
Tessa Sinclair is a winner. Winner of spelling bees, science fairs, and scholarships. So when she finds herself unexpectedly dead after a graduation party in an abandoned mansion, she's none too pleased. What's worse, her Harvard-bound, Mr. Perfect academic rival, Reed Walker, is there too―deceased, smug, and annoying as hell. Being a ghost is hard enough, but it's a thousand times worse having to haunt the same house as your nemesis. But as Tessa and Reed retreat to RIP in their respective corners of the mansion, a mystery unfurls about the exact cause of their deaths.
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