The cleverly plotted, page-turning sequel to Maureen Johnson’s hit bestseller Truly Devious (2018) manages to outshine its predecessor as true crime aficionado Stevie Bell returns to posh private school Ellingham Academy and unearths even more confounding clues in her investigation of a classmate’s mysterious disappearance.

Stevie promised school officials and her parents that she would refrain from inserting herself into any more real-life murder investigations and decades-old cold cases. But when she gets an internship with the wacky Dr. Fenton—who wrote the book on the 1936 unsolved kidnappings of Academy founder Albert Ellingham’s wife and daughter—she makes a gruesome discovery that rattles the school once more.

To further complicate matters, Stevie has made a deal with corrupt Senator Edward King to keep tabs on his son, David, the boy with whom she shares a burgeoning romance. And then there’s Dr. Fenton’s handsome nephew, who has some revelations of his own for Stevie. It’s not just several murders that Stevie is trying to puzzle out, but her social life as well. All the adults keep warning her away from investigating, but Stevie can’t resist a good mystery, and her murder obsession might get her killed.

Suspense and intrigue abound in The Vanishing Stair as Johnson illuminates suspects and teases out clues that will flummox even the most adept murder mystery aficionado. Like the humorous and intellectually curious Stevie, Johnson is a true crime lover, and she dedicates this sequel “to all the murderinos” (fans of the popular “My Favorite Murder” podcast).

Savvy sleuths will devour this sequel in one gulp, but they’ll have to wait until 2020 for the next installment.

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Goodbye, Perfect, the latest novel from British author Sara Barnard (A Quiet Kind of Thunder, Fragile), is a bittersweet exploration of the bonds of friendship, the limits of how well we can know one another and the power of internal and external pressures to unravel our identities.

Eden and Bonnie have been best friends since they were 7 years old, when Eden—a rough-around-the-edges foster kid—arrived for her first day of school and perfect-in-every-way Bonnie took her under her wing. Though the two girls are drastically different, they’ve always balanced each other and kept each other steady. 

But during the week before the start of final exams, now 15-year-old Bonnie runs off with Jack, her secret boyfriend who is also their school’s 29-year-old music teacher, and Eden is left to question everything she thought she knew—both about her best friend and about herself.

In the vein of Carrie Fountain’s I’m Not Missing, Barnard’s novel is written from the point of view of the friend who’s left behind. Bonnie’s disappearance is the catalyst for Eden to begin a complex journey of growth and self-discovery, and Barnard uses a light touch to bring readers along as Eden receives a string of emails from Bonnie and re-evaluates her perceptions of love, friendship and her relationships with her adoptive family and her “lovely, non-secret, drama-free” boyfriend, Connor.

Fans of Sarah Dessen will be eager to inhale this nuanced, heartfelt coming-of-age story about the pain of losing what you once held dear—and the joy and satisfaction of finding yourself in the process.

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

“I might have to kill somebody tonight.” It’s a powerful opening line for multiple award-winning author Angie Thomas’ sophomore novel, On the Come Up, which brings readers back to the neighborhood of Garden Heights, the setting of her debut, The Hate U Give. But what 16-year-old Bri really wants to slay is her competitor in the Ring, a place where wannabe rappers come to compete against each other. She’s beyond confident; after all, she’s the daughter of Lawless, a legendary and influential rapper who was killed in the midst of gang violence.

Fueled with a desire to be like her father, Bri goes big with her verse—maybe too big. When she wins the rap battle and a buzzworthy video of her performance goes viral, she discovers that her war has just begun. Bri’s raw and controversial lyrics put her in danger when they incite misunderstanding and anger, and her classmates label her as “hood.” Add to that an eviction notice, a drug-dealing aunt and an out-of-work mom who’s a recovering addict, and it looks like Bri has bitten off more than she can chew on her way to the top.

Can Bri remain true to herself while rapping behind a tough persona? And is free speech really free—especially for young black people? Bri discovers that this fighting-for-your-life thing gets real in more ways than one.

Thomas knocked it out of the park with The Hate U Give—amassing scores of literary awards and a blockbuster movie deal. In the introduction to her new book, she calls that experience “surreal.” But Thomas should prepare for even more attention and accolades, because On the Come Up is another raw and powerful look at the challenges of being young and black in America.

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

In Someday We Will Fly, Rachel DeWoskin presents a perspective of World War II that is seldom represented in contemporary classrooms—the Jewish people who found refuge in Japanese-occupied China, one of the last places to accept European refugees without visas.

In 1940, both Warsaw and Shanghai were situated within countries that were devoured by conquering nations, and both cities were populated by those who were either ignored or shunned by the rest of the world. Fifteen-year-old Lillia Kazka has a good life in Poland, performing with her parents in an acrobatic circus and attending school with her friends. But everything changes when her mother is taken by Nazis during a raid on their final circus performance, and Lillia, her father and her disabled younger sister are forced to set out on a multi-month journey to reach Shanghai. Although Lillia is free from Nazi violence and persecution when she first arrives in China, she finds that life in an occupied country so far from home is anything but comfortable or easy.

Meticulously researched and breathtakingly detailed, Someday We Will Fly is based on real accounts of Jewish refugees living in Shanghai and the difficult conditions they endured in order to survive. DeWoskin beautifully intertwines Lillia’s hope, pain, joy, sorrow and love with the larger narrative of the war-torn world’s fear and uncertainty. DeWoskin gives a voice to tens of thousands of forgotten people as she uncovers their stories and experiences. This is essential reading.

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage starred review, January 2019

High stakes and heartbreak are at the center of award-winning author Holly Black’s The Wicked King, the second book in the Folk of the Air series and the luscious sequel to her New York Times bestseller The Cruel Prince.

When The Wicked King opens, it’s been five months since 17-year-old human Jude planted Faerie Prince Cardan on the Elfhame throne. Now, she’s struggling to maintain her behind-the-scenes power, and it doesn’t help that Cardan is trying to undermine their deal or that her twin sister’s marriage to the duplicitous Locke comes with its own set of challenges. On top of all that, Jude’s stepfather is strategizing behind her back.

But when the Queen of the Undersea threatens the Faerie kingdom and Cardan’s rule, Jude must spy and scheme to protect her family and her hold on the throne. But Jude can’t foresee everything, and someone is out to betray her. Despite growing up in a Faerie world, Jude is not one of them. And there’s only so much power a mortal girl can wield when fighting monsters.

Fans of The Cruel Prince have been clamoring for this book, and they will not be disappointed. Black ratchets up the action with even more sinister settings, wicked villains, surprising plot twists and her haunting, melodic prose. Cardan and Jude’s infatuation with one another is seductively tense as they continue to fight their feelings. And Jude’s ability to steamroll her enemies with violence and wit offers a particularly feminist high.

The Wicked King is intense and entertaining storytelling at its finest.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

An enchanting story about a book-loving girl who’s shunned by gossipy villagers and the evil stepmother who forces her to leave home may seem more than a little familiar to even the most casual Disney fan, but author Joanna Ruth Meyer (Beneath the Haunting Sea) lovingly builds upon recognizable tropes from classic fairy tales while still making her latest YA novel, Echo North, feel fresh and original.

When she was a child, Echo Alkaev was mauled by a white wolf in the woods, leaving her with a face covered in scars. Ostracized by her cruel peers, her only sources of companionship are her doting father and older brother, who treasure her intellect and the “echo” of her dead mother’s love and beauty that they see within her. But Echo’s small happiness is shattered with the arrival of her father’s new wife, who mocks Echo in private and plunges the family into debt. When Echo’s father sets off to sell his rare books, he becomes lost in the wintry woods. Echo finds him unconscious in the snow with the very white wolf who attacked her so many years ago. To save her father’s life, she strikes a curious bargain: She will live alone with the wolf for one full year, and she cannot tell her family where she’s going or have any contact with them. 

Meyer takes a hard left turn into the fantastical as Echo joins the talking wolf in his house under the mountain, a beautiful but dangerous estate guarded by the North Wind and filled with old magic and enchantment. As Echo learns how to care for the cantankerous old house, including its charmed library and shifting rooms, she makes friends in unexpected new worlds and takes ownership over her life’s direction. And of course, the closer she gets to the wolf, the more determined she is to break the spell that binds him to his animal form.

Based on the Norwegian folk tale “East of the Sun, West of the Moon,” this lyrical and romantic fantasy offers plenty for both YA lovers and fairy-tale connoisseurs to appreciate.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

People hear about America’s opioid crisis on the news, but author Kristin Russell brings readers up close and personal to this problem in her debut novel, A Sky for Us Alone. Cultural richness and material poverty collide in Russell’s fictional Appalachian setting of Strickland County. This is much more than a simple cautionary tale of how opioids can devastate a community. Instead, Russell has created a living, breathing tapestry of Appalachian life that is filled with voices both ancient and youthful.

When 18-year-old Harlowe Compton discovers his older brother Nate’s body on their front porch, he vows to figure out who shot him. Nate served as the rock of their family, and his brutal death has devastating consequences for the Comptons. While Harlowe grieves over the loss, he also watches his family disintegrate. Harlowe’s mother deals with her physical and mental pain by slipping back into opioid use, and his father, unable to cope with both his wife’s addiction and his son’s death, simply disappears.

However, Harlowe finds an unexpected bright spot in his life when a new girl named Tennessee Moore moves to town, and despite their overwhelming family issues, the two teens find true friendship, support and love.

The coal-mining industry and its Mafia-like bosses—the powerful and conniving Prater family—serve as the backdrop for the action and mystery in A Sky for Us Alone. All life in Strickland County is viewed through coal’s influence. Vivid contrasts abound between the mining rubble, draglines, polluted runoff and the pristine beauty of the southern Appalachian wilderness.

Readers can expect a satisfying and uplifting ending despite the overall grimness of Russell’s well-told teen drama.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Born two decades after the Civil War in segregated Savannah, Georgia, Essie has had the odds against her from the start. And with a formerly enslaved mother who’s become bitter and is subsequently not much for nurturing, Essie’s pretty much on her own, and her dreams seem impossibly out of reach. Even as she gathers some people into her corner—like Ma Clara, her mother’s housekeeper who cares for her, and Binah, the best (and only) friend she’s ever had—making something of herself still seems like a long shot.

Essie spends most of her days working as a maid at a boardinghouse, until a wealthy black woman known as Dorcas Vashon shows up and makes her the offer of a lifetime: She will provide Essie with a classical education and a fine wardrobe, and then she will spirit her away to Washington, D.C., where Essie will meet and mingle with the upper echelons of black society. It’s everything Essie has ever dreamed of. But the road to her new life is not entirely smooth, and she’ll have to decide how much of her former self she’s willing to part with. As her dreams begin to become her reality, she decides to gift herself with a new name to suit her new identity, one that embodies all the grace and tenacity she hopes to exhibit: Victoria.

Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Tonya Bolden (Maritcha, Crossing Ebenezer Creek) has penned an atmospheric and fresh historical novel with Inventing Victoria. Her prose is rich in period detail, evoking both the barren loneliness of Essie’s childhood and the luxurious fortune that her generous benefactor offers. Bolden has created a sweeping and exhilarating story of a teen girl filled with hope and perseverance.

Told from the perspective of a young woman of color in a time period rarely seen in historical fiction for young adults, Inventing Victoria is a truly unique and necessary addition to the genre.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Following his parents’ divorce and his mother’s decision to take a job at the University of Texas, black Canadian teen Norris moves to perpetually muggy, burnt sienna-colored Austin, Texas. Leaving behind his ambivalent father and his only friend in Montreal, Norris is catapulted into a typical American public school midway through his junior year, and he finds himself hiding behind sarcasm and surface-level, stereotypical perceptions of everyone he meets. But on prom night, Norris messes up big time, and he realizes it might be time to drop the protective mask and embrace his new life.

Debut author Ben Philippe’s The Field Guide to the North American Teenager mirrors his own experience and paints an authentic portrait of what it’s like to feel like a fish out of water—not only for his protagonist but also for a richly developed cast of supporting characters whose Breakfast Club-style stereotypes fall away to reveal teens who are just trying to find their places in the world. Philippe’s buoyant prose and Norris’ snark allow some of the story’s heavier themes (broken families, depression, race) to feel light, poignant and approachable. And with this undercurrent of messy reality, characters are affected by these issues instead of defined by them.

For contemporary YA fans, this witty look at what we learn about ourselves by observing others will be a fantastic back-to-school read.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

BookPage Top Pick in Teen, starred review, January 2019

In bestselling author Roshani Chokshi’s The Gilded Wolves, a crew of young people in an alternate version of belle epoque Paris use their wits and daring to restore their leader to his rightful place.

In this world, some have “Forging” power—creative and metamorphic power over matter or minds—which is made possible through fragments of the Tower of Babel. These broken pieces are scattered across the world and safeguarded by the mysterious Order of Babel, which is organized in national factions and then further divided into Houses.

Séverin Montagnet-Alarie is the heir to France’s House Vanth, but he was denied his Order inheritance years ago and now watches the two remaining French Houses—Nyx and Kore—with envy. But Séverin has a plan to claim his right, and a crew of various talents who live with him at his glamorous hotel will help him pull it off. They plot to steal an ancient artifact that will help Séverin buy his way back into the good graces of the Order, but the artifact and its owner turn out to be more than they bargained for.

With a diverse ensemble—characters are multiracial, from different cultural and religious backgrounds, have differing sexualities, and one character is non-neurotypical—Chokshi challenges the notion that historical fantasy novels (even those with a European setting) must be populated by mostly white characters. She balances four points of view, although the lack of any significant entry into the psyche of two major characters is awkward, especially in light of their significance to the plot.

The glittering and lavish 1890s setting is the perfect complement to the marvelous possibilities of Forging, and the chemistry between Chokshi’s romantic pairs is realistic yet slightly off-script from what readers may expect. In this delicious first entry in a new series from a veteran YA author, readers will find sumptuous visuals, deep characters and a maddening eleventh-hour twist.

This article was originally published in the January 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Elizabeth Acevedo’s novel-in-verse, The Poet X, is an empowering, feminist tale of a young woman discovering her own voice through writing—and then learning to use it as boldly and best she can to push back against everything aiming to drag her down. Though The Poet X is Acevedo’s debut, she’s already made a name for herself through her two collections of poetry and electrifying spoken-word performances that have made her a National Slam Champion.

Xiomara Batista, though only 15 years old, quickly learns that she’s been both blessed and cursed with the body and the problems of a grown woman. As an Afro-Latina girl and the daughter of Dominican immigrants growing up in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, she discovers at a young age just what men’s catcalls and compliments really mean. So she first learns to fight back with her fists, but then she uses those same hands to quietly craft powerful poems in her notebook.

With wise eyes and incisive words, Xiomara dives head first into the tough topics like complicated family dynamics and parental abuse, body shaming and acceptance, the burdens of an overbearing religion, and finding both self-love and romantic love. When her teacher invites her to join the school’s slam poetry club, Xiomara is torn between remaining as the obedient daughter who attends the Catholic confirmation classes that her regimented mother has forced upon her and practicing an art and craft that is opening her heart to love and personal growth.