When she signs up for an elective radio broadcasting class, Nina expects that she will earn an easy A. After all, her father is a well-known radio DJ, so radio must be in her blood, right? But when her class’s group project spins out of control, Nina and her team learn more about radio—and family, friendship and loyalty—than they ever anticipated.

The story centers on Nina, who is juggling family drama, friendships and the general anxiety of senior year, none of which is helped by the fact that her neighbor and former best friend, Jamie, has come hurtling back into her life as the fourth member of her radio class team. But Mills’ vivid character development doesn’t end with her protagonist. Nina’s two sisters, her mother, her soon-to-be stepfather and all of her friends are colorful and complex creations who are fully capable of stealing the show. (Nina’s broadcasting team members Joydeep and Sasha nearly do—repeatedly.)

The slow burn of Nina and Jamie’s rekindled friendship-turned-adorable-romance adds an extra layer of depth to Lucky Caller that readers of contemporary romantic comedies will love. But Nina and her team’s efforts to create an exciting new radio show—and all that goes wrong along the way—are what readers will really find irresistible. Emma Mills (First & Then, Foolish Hearts) delivers a quietly heartwarming story of complicated family dynamics, forgotten friends and first loves in Lucky Caller.

Acceptance to an elite university and a bright future beyond—what more could a teenager want? As Ever Wong discovers in Abigail Hing Wen’s debut novel, Loveboat, Taipei, there’s a whole lot more to life than traditional notions of success.

Ever would rather do anything than spend the summer after her senior year of high school studying in Taipei, Taiwan. But when her parents decide it’s time for her to learn about her culture, Ever reluctantly travels across the globe to attend Chien Tan, an academic program for high-achieving students. Prepared for a summer of boredom, Ever is shocked to find that Chien Tan—nicknamed “Loveboat” because of its notoriety for romance and matchmaking—promises anything but.

Thrilled at her first taste of freedom, Ever is swept up into a world of parties, romance and a healthy dose of rebellion. As she learns the ropes of Loveboat, she encounters plenty of obstacles, and her understanding of her own identity begins to develop. Her summer in Taipei brings her deeper knowledge of her culture, recognition of her passions and the chance to build strong and moving relationships. By the time she leaves Taipei, Ever is a more empowered and passionate version of herself, and she’s brought readers along for her journey. 

Heartwarming, honest and at times hilarious, Loveboat, Taipei is a story of learning and growth. Wen has crafted a novel that is not only a warm and fuzzy feel-good read but also a beautiful commentary on identity, self-expression and love. It’s a book readers will be helpless not to fall for.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with Abigail Hing Wen.

The only things Ximena possessed the day she was found wandering the streets of La Ciudad Blanca were her loom and her striking resemblance to the Condesa Catalina, the last surviving member of Illustrian royalty after the Llacsan revolt. Rather than continue to live on the streets, young Ximena agreed to become Catalina’s double, to appear as Catalina in public in order to keep the real Catalina safe.

Ten years later, Ximena has lived in the Illustrian Keep alongside Catalina as her sister, confidant and loyal subject. Only Ximena and a select and trusted few know that Catalina is the real Condesa and Ximena only a decoy; most Illustrians believe Ximena to be Catalina, the leader who will take over and rule once they defeat Atoc, the false king.

So when a messenger arrives bearing the news that Atoc has demanded the Condesa’s hand in marriage, Ximena knows it’s an opportunity for her to gather crucial information for the Illustrians’ planned attack on the Llacsans. Although Ximena would prefer to practice her magical weaving than serve as a warrior or a spy, she is excited for a chance to return her beloved Catalina to the throne and for the possibility of victory after years of stalemate. But once she is among her lifelong enemies, playing the role of Catalina on the most important stage yet, Ximena’s encounters with a friendly guard, an infuriating healer and others she meets in the Llacsan court cast doubt on many of the convictions she’s held since childhood. 

Woven in Moonlight is a nuanced and empathetic fantasy inspired by Bolivian folklore, history and politics. Ximena is a kind and strong protagonist whose experiences challenge her to outgrow her prejudice and desire for vengeance. Touching on ideas of restorative justice in a unique and vivid setting, Isabel Ibañez delivers a confident, subtle and inspiring debut about what it takes to move a divided society forward.

Identities shift and glittering surfaces reveal decay at the root in Scavenge the Stars, a ferocious fantasy from Timekeeper trilogy author Tara Sim. 

A girl known as Silverfish is working amid grim conditions to buy back her freedom on the debtor ship Brackish when, disobeying orders, she throws a net to a drowning man. Her altruism extends her sentence on the ship, but the man she saves promises her wealth beyond measure if she will follow his lead. Once they find themselves back on land in Moray, he aids her in assuming a new identity (while she also tries to reclaim her birth name, Amaya), and she quickly wields authority to rival that of a queen. Or has she become a pawn in someone else’s game? As Amaya seeks to exact her revenge against the wealthy family who owns the Brackish, she also tries to discover the answer to a question that haunts her: How could her own mother sell her into servitude?

The world of Moray is full of striking contrasts. Many of its denizens lead lives of luxury, yet its gambling districts teem with night-crawlers and their addictions, and a contagious illness that costs a fortune to treat keeps some quarantined and, critically, unable to marry. Each chapter opens with an epigram cited from books that exist in the story’s universe, a touch that adds depth without weighing down the fast-moving narrative.

Scavenge the Stars is harsh, violent, sensual and chockablock with vice and corruption, but the good news doesn’t stop there. This twisted take on Alexandre Dumas’ classic swashbuckler The Count of Monte Cristo is the first book in a duology, which means readers who love this walk—and swim—on the wild side can look forward to further adventures to come in the sequel.

At the beginning of their senior year, Kat and James (her parents were convinced she’d be a boy) are inseparable. At the end? Well, the title of Amy Spalding’s latest novel is a bit of a spoiler: We Used to Be Friends. These longtime BFFs both end up bruised and bewildered by their friendship breakup. As James observes in the novel’s opening chapter, “It was easy to believe that romance was the only heartache out there.”

Kat’s year starts when, after splitting from her boyfriend, she starts to develop feelings for a girl named Quinn. Between exploring her bisexual identity, idealizing her new girlfriend and embarking on a campaign to take down the heteronormative prom king and queen competition at school, Kat doesn’t seem to have much time for James anymore. In the meantime, James hasn’t told Kat that she’s dealing with her parents’ separation and her own decision to break up with a boy with whom, once upon a time, she imagined her own happily ever after. 

James’ and Kat’s stories unfold in alternating chapters and in opposite chronologies. Kat’s narrative starts at the beginning of the school year and moves forward, while James’ story begins the summer after senior year and goes backward. Each girl’s narrative voice is unique, introspective and often funny as they each navigate this pivotal year of their lives, at first together and then increasingly on their own or with others.

By the time Kat and James meet in the middle of their timelines, readers will have developed an appreciation for the ways relationships can evolve and sometimes even end, often without any kind of crisis or anyone to blame. It’s rare to find a novel that treats friendship so perceptively and acknowledges its potential end so truthfully.

“Jonah’s hands are still now,” teenage narrator Liv says of her older brother, Jonah, on the first page of the novel-in-verse Three Things I Know Are True. Jonah was once a daredevil, but that was before he and his friend Clay played with a gun they didn’t know was loaded. Now Jonah needs around-the-clock nursing care, which leaves Liv without much attention or energy left for school—but with many unanswered questions. Whose fault was the accident? Is Jonah still there, somewhere deep inside his body? And what 18th birthday gifts could possibly appeal to someone who can’t move, talk or even eat on his own? 

As the debate about gun control rages around her, Liv’s life centers on daily minutiae: problems at school, team meetings with Jonah’s nurses and desperate appeals from Clay’s mother. When Liv needs solace, she finds it on the riverbank near the shuttered paper mill that once supported her small Maine town. And sometimes, Liv gives the river a piece of clothing that used to belong to her dead father.

Debut author Betty Culley is no stranger to medical fragility or family grief. Drawing on her personal experiences as a pediatric home hospice nurse, she writes Liv’s story from a place of courage and authenticity. Realistic details abound, and the poetic format enables complex and weighty emotions to flow freely. 

Dedicated to “those who find the beauty in a life they didn’t choose or expect,” Three Things I Know Are True is a moving testament to the power of resilience.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our Q&A with author Betty Culley.

What if the tech boom brought more than money and hipsters to San Francisco? What if it brought gang warfare? Those questions form the premise of Shannon Price’s debut novel, A Thousand Fires, a quick-moving thriller set in a slightly dystopian future.

The gangs in A Thousand Fires don’t face off over colors or turf. Instead, their fights are about gentrification and urban development, and their members are as likely to be children of the elite as progeny of the dispossessed.

While Price keeps the gangs’ goals hazy, her heroine Val’s desires are crystal clear. Ever since her little brother was gunned down, Val has been waiting to turn 18 so she can join the Herons with her boyfriend, Matthew, and take vengeance against whoever killed her brother. But no one gets to choose their gang; the gang chooses you. 

When Val is recruited by the Stags, the Herons’ rival gang, she’s torn. The Stags promise to help her avenge her brother, but if she joins, Matthew will become her sworn enemy. Risking her life, Val hedges her bets, joining the Stags but staying in surreptitious contact with Matthew. She complicates matters further by falling for Jax, the Stags’ attractive but dangerous leader.

In Val, Price offers an engaging, conflicted protagonist. Though Price’s knack for intrigue and fast-paced plotting will hook readers, it’s her compelling first-person narration and strong characterization that will linger. Price will have readers who prefer their action spiced with a dash of romance and a pinch of speculative fiction eating out of her hand.

Comedy nerds and curious newbies alike will LOL at the improv-infused Crying Laughing. 

Winnie Friedman finds herself highly amusing, but the aspiring comedian has sworn off performing after bombing at her bat mitzvah. When she’s invited to join a comedy troupe, however, Winnie decides to give the stage another shot. Then she learns that her father, a former comedian, has been diagnosed with ALS. He’s been keeping it from her and downplaying it with others, to her mom’s frustration. Winnie doesn’t want to take sides—at home or at school, where her best friends are in conflict—but she’s stressed out. On top of all this, she also has to read Tess of the d’Urbervilles, “which doesn’t seem funny at all,” and figure out the rules of improv games like Nameball, Zip-Zap-Zop and Harold. 

Thanks to his own comedy chops, Lance Rubin (Denton Little’s Deathdate) expertly explains the aforementioned games as Winnie masters them. Readers will cheer her on even as they cringe-laugh sympathetically. Crying Laughing offers insight into why it can be good to be unfunny, and gently but firmly advocates for facing up to feelings, even scary ones. Winnie’s rapid-fire internal voice and awkward dating experiences are a hoot, and her relationships are infused with compassion and nuance. 

This sweet and appealing story celebrates kindness, wit, perseverance and “the most passive-aggressive grocery unpacking of all time.” Ha!

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Go behind the book with Crying Laughing author Lance Rubin.

A harrowing story of survival based on an actual 18th-century event is brought to life by British author Geraldine McCaughrean, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for The White Darkness. As in that book, which was set in Antarctica, Where the World Ends takes place in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape: the St. Kilda archipelago, a cluster of islands northwest of Scotland.

The novel follows nine boys and three men who are taken, by boat, from their village and dropped off on Warrior Stac, “a rock whale pitching its whole bulk into the sky, covered in barnacles, aiming to swallow the moon,” where they will hunt birds for several weeks before being picked up and returned to the village.

Quill has been fowling on the stac before. Although he usually enjoys the challenge of hunting, this year, as the boat leaves, he strains to catch a glimpse of Murdina, the girl with whom he has fallen in love.

Hunting birds on the cliffs is treacherous. Quill and his friends are tested from the very beginning, but then the unthinkable happens: The boat does not return for them. Weeks go by, then months. One boy has a vision that their loved ones have all gone up to heaven, while they have been overlooked, left behind on the rock.

The seasons change, the birds leave their cliff nests, and each day is fraught with peril as the members of the party struggle to stay alive and sane. There are surprises and tragedies, and while all the characters are tested (the adults fail miserably), it is Quill’s trials that will keep readers riveted. Although no one in this book escapes sorrow and heartbreak, the story ends with a glimmer of hope.

McCaughrean’s storytelling is as dramatic and harsh as the island landscape. She includes a helpful glossary, a historical note and sketches of the marvelous seabirds that appear in the book. Already a classic in the U.K., where it won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, Where the World Ends is a stunning literary achievement.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Go behind the book with Where the World Ends author Geraldine McCaughrean.

Devon and Ashton are bound together by the stars. When Devon, an aspiring astronomer passionate about the power of the galaxies, meets Ashton, she is sure she has found her soul mate. But after a summer filled with stargazing and blossoming love ends with Ashton’s complete and sudden disappearance from Devon’s life, she is left heartbroken. Though her life ambles on, she finds herself constantly held back by the ghost of her relationship with Ashton. 

Determined to move on, Devon prepares for her senior year at the elite Preston Academy. As one of just a few low-income students of color at Preston Academy, Devon knows she must remain focused on academics in order to prove herself and earn a spot in the astronomy program at her dream university. However, when Devon arrives to her first day of school and discovers that Ashton has enrolled as a student at Preston, her carefully laid plans for her final year turn upside down, and she and Ashton enter into a passionate yet deeply complicated relationship. As she learns that Ashton’s life is far darker than she could have imagined, Devon is forced to make a painful choice: Should she prioritize her own well-being, or that of the boy she loves?

Through Devon’s struggle to recognize the importance of valuing herself within her romantic relationship, debut author Ronni Davis deftly illustrates one of the primary challenges of young love. Davis also eloquently discusses the concept of privilege without centering its narrative around themes of race and class. Deeply moving and thought-provoking, When the Stars Lead to You takes readers on a journey through first love and the turbulence, heartbreak and indispensable lessons that it can bring.

Gravity “Doomsday” Delgado is a true badass. She joined PLASMAFuel Cops ’n Kids boxing gym when she was 12 years old and trained every single day without fail. Now 16, she’s an accomplished fighter with a real chance at making the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Gravity is her story, the brainchild of Sarah Deming, herself a New York Golden Gloves champion, Pushcart Prize-winner and current boxing coach.

Gravity’s life is a lot for an ordinary teenager to handle, let alone one who’s trying to win Olympic gold. Her mom is a cruel and neglectful alcoholic; her father left when she was just 8 years old. Fortunately, her Aunty Rosa and cousin Melsy are kind and supportive, and her little brother Ty is sweet when he’s not being annoying. Still, Gravity’s life isn’t so different from the other kids she trains with, fighters with names like D-Minus, Monster, Svetlana and Lefty — an eclectic group, all with the desire to be champions. Sleazy coaches, corrupt referees, poverty-induced stress and workday temptations all act as roadblocks to success, but Gravity persists in a story that is by turns suspenseful, funny and thrilling.

Deming skillfully conveys necessary information about how the boxing-competition circuit works, with an assist from interspersed articles by Carmen Cruz, a women’s boxing expert who follows the team from gym to arena, posting dispatches and building narrative tension along the way. Gravity struggles with questions of identity, both with regard to her Dominican Jewish heritage and her efforts to discern what’s important and what’s worth letting go of—inside and outside the ring.

Gravity is an entertaining and engrossing novel, with lots of boxing-centric detail (daily training, making weight, the sound of a punch, the feeling of victory) and well-timed doses of drama. There’s also occasional romantic fun and deep yet beautiful sorrow, too. Gravity’s coming-of-age tale will resonate with readers of all stripes, thanks to its emotional underpinnings and a heroine who embodies the thrill—and value—of a good fight.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Read our interview with Gravity author Sarah Deming.

Abandoned. Thief. Drifter. Trixie’s fine with those labels, and fine being on her own ever since her mother disappeared. But the state isn't fine with a homeless 17-year-old girl with a record of burglary. So her social worker offers Trixie a deal: She can avoid prison by finishing high school in the guardianship of her long-lost aunt.

Small-town life with the McCabe family is a big change for city-loving Trixie. Her cousin Ember is shy and withdrawn, her meddlesome great-great aunt is always matchmaking and her aunt bakes pies—Lucky Lime, Bracing Blueberry and Ardent Apple—that are known around town for their magical properties. And then there’s Jasper, the perpetually smiling delivery boy who just might take Trixie’s mind off Shane, who was supposed to be her source of stability amid the instability of her mother’s addictions.

Trixie settles into a routine of doing homework, working at her aunt’s tea shop and taking turns making dinner with her new family. But she’s had chances with families before and things have never worked out. Why should this time be any different?

All the McCabe women, she's told, have special gifts. How will Trixie use hers? Will she continue reaching for the past or put down roots in the present? In A Constellation of Roses, author Miranda Asebedo offers a tearjerker tale about the nature of love, the meaning of family and, of course, the magical powers of pie.