The French Quarter of New Orleans is no place for a child. Josie Moraine, the daughter of a prostitute, grew up there and made her own way by cleaning the brothel and working in a bookstore. She’s 17 now and ready to make a better name for herself, which means getting away from her past. When a murder ties all the strands of her life in knots, will Josie make it Out of the Easy in one piece?

Author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) sets her story in 1950 and decorates it with both glamour and grime. The city’s nightlife is decadent, but morning finds the streets littered with broken glass, Mardi Gras beads and bottles. Josie cleans up after nights of revelry, finding a high heel here, a cufflink there, and delivers them to madam Willie Woodley, whose brusque manner belies a genuine love for this tough, smart girl.

There are many supporting players here: mechanic Jesse and Josie’s best friend Patrick, either of whom may be a potential suitor; the working girls who’ve watched Josie grow up; and Cokie, Willie’s driver and right-hand man, who wants to help Josie escape and get an education. Through all the plot twists, Josie’s desire to better herself and maintain a moral center in a place where that’s decidedly unfashionable keeps us in her corner.

Out of the Easy has a mystery at its center, but in many ways it’s a book about family and how the ones you’re born to aren’t necessarily your true tribe. Rough-edged and glamorous by turns, this is a wild ride worth taking.

RELATED CONTENT
Read a Q&A with Ruta Sepetys for Out of the Easy.

Rudy is an average teenage boy. He plays pranks on his friends and gets into trouble, but he always planned on going to college. His life takes a drastic turn, however, when he and his family move to a remote island in an effort to save his sick little brother. After months of loneliness and boredom, he meets two friends: Diana, a teenage girl who lives a reclusive existence in the only mansion on the island; and Teeth, a “fishboy” whose screams and dark secrets keep Rudy wide awake in horror at night.

Through Teeth's mysterious cries, flaky scales and mangy hair, the novel takes the literary tradition of mermaids and makes it dark, ugly and potentially deadly. Rudy is inexplicably drawn to Teeth, despite also being afraid of him, and the two isolated and lonely boys soon find refuge in their friendship. Geared toward an older teen audience with mature themes and language, Teeth succeeds in the difficult task of convincingly capturing the voice of a teenage boy and making him likeable, yet not without flaws and weaknesses. Moskowitz does a beautiful job of portraying a universal adolescent struggle—the quest to become comfortable in one’s own skin—within the framework of a story where the reader is just as anxious as Rudy to uncover the mysteries of the island.

Moskowitz’s only weakness appears in the middle of the novel, as a lack of concrete plot development slows the tension and mystery of the story. However, her remarkable characters and unique setting prove strong enough to keep readers amply intrigued to carry on.

Rudy’s friendship with Teeth, as well as the secrets he uncovers about the strange island and its inhabitants, makes Teeth one story about mermaids that is anything but a fairy tale.

Ruby awakens on her 10th birthday to an entirely different life. Her parents are so scared of her that they lock her in the garage and then allow the government to send her to a “rehabilitation camp.” The root of her problem is a horrible disease that is killing most of America’s children, and those who survive, like Ruby, are doomed to live their lives tormented by horrific and dangerous abilities.

While many of the children in the camp are exterminated if their powers are deemed too strong, Ruby manages to hide the fact that she has one of the highest levels of ability: She can alter people’s thoughts simply by touching them. She survives to the age of 16, and she is then “rescued” by a rebel group that wants to use her powers against the government. She flees from her rescuers, joins another group of escapees and sets out to find East River, a place where kids like her are rumored to find refuge.

In the midst of this superb dystopian tale, Alexandra Bracken manages to create a fantastic male love interest for her strong-willed and independent female protagonist. Ruby connects with Liam, the leader of the escapees, who falls deeply in love with her. He is flawed but sweet—and completely convincing as Ruby’s perfect match. Readers will root for him as he is enveloped with affection for the very focused and brave Ruby.

Dystopia, romance, a fast-paced story and scenes that will invoke absolute fear in pretty much anyone will keep readers turning the pages of Bracken’s second novel. Two more installments are to follow, and the ending of The Darkest Minds will leave readers dumbstruck and salivating for more.

Emily Booth Masters reviews from Nashville, Tennessee.

Is one day enough to change your life? Allyson Healey’s existence has always been predictable and mundane. She’s never questioned her mother’s color-coded schedules or her own intention to go to medical school like her father. But on the last day of an unexciting pre-college European summer tour, everything changes. Allyson decides at the spur of the moment to spend a day in Paris with Willem, a 20-year-old traveling Shakespearean actor whom she’s just met.

A dizzying day of Parisian adventure follows, but the next morning Allyson finds herself stranded and alone. Haunted not only by the loss of Willem but also by the loss of the person Willem inspired her to be, Allyson’s first semester of college is marred by depression and failure.

When a guidance counselor suggests she drop her science labs for a Shakespeare class, a new door opens for Allyson. She begins to build an independent identity around her own interests and goals. Forgoing the summer internship her mother has arranged for her, Allyson finds her own job and makes plans to return to Paris to look for Willem. She soon discovers that her trip is as much about finding herself as finding Willem.

Gayle Forman, best-selling author of If I Stay and an experienced traveler herself, infuses this tale of self-discovery with details of international travel, Shakespeare’s plays, and the sights, smells, tastes and textures of Paris. Against this backdrop, and in the setting of Allyson’s small Boston-area college, Forman develops a cast of well-drawn characters in realistic relationships—from Allyson’s strained post-high school relationship with her longtime best friend Melanie, to her growing friendship with Dee, a classmate who’s not afraid to challenge others’ preconceptions of his unusual fashion choices. In the end, though, what captures readers’ hearts is Allyson’s own emerging individuality as she struggles with defining—and then becoming—the person she wants to be.

Readers curious about Willem’s side of the story can look forward to Just One Year, coming this fall.

ALSO IN BOOKPAGE
Read an interview with Gayle Forman for Just One Day.

Alyssa Gardner can hear the voices of insects and plants. You’d hear and see strange things, too, if your great-great-great-grandmother were none other than Alice from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and your family had been cursed ever since Alice’s return.

To save her mother and herself from the curse, Alyssa discovers a way into Wonderland and accidentally pulls her sexy next-door neighbor, Jeb, down the hole with her. Together they encounter outlandish creatures—from zombie flowers to an octo-walrus—and realize dark discrepancies from Carroll’s playful tome. But before they can look for a way home, Alyssa must fix Alice’s mistakes and break the curse—not an easy task when seductive Morpheus, a caterpillar/moth creature that used to haunt her in the human world, keeps changing the stakes.

While readers will delight in such recognizable scenes as Alyssa drinking from a bottle to shrink, the richly detailed scenes that stray from the original will entice the imagination. In the process of finding her sanity and saving herself and Jeb, Alyssa may discover love as well. These adventures are indeed wonderful.

Laura Buzo, a social worker by profession, clearly understands the lives and concerns of young people, even if the young people about whom she writes are the kind of precocious youths who use words like “sangfroid” and who discuss Great Expectations and third-wave feminism on their lunch breaks.

Lunch breaks play a key role in Buzo’s debut novel, Love and Other Perishable Items (originally published under a different title in Buzo’s native Australia in 2010), seeing as it's set primarily in a Sydney grocery store, where both 15-year-old Amelia and 21-year-old Chris work as checkers. Amelia’s a stellar high school student and Chris is an under-motivated university student who may drink a little more than is good for him. But they both enjoy reading and thinking and discussing everything under the sun. The only problem? Amelia leaps headlong from their conversations into a fierce, overwhelming crush, while Chris just views their banter as a harmless distraction from everything else in his life, especially his idealized ex-girlfriend.

Buzo tells the story from both Amelia’s and Chris’ points of view, in sections that are different in style and also offset in time, so we see Chris’ take on events many pages after they are narrated in Amelia’s sections. Seeing the two of them as individuals, the reader may become increasingly convinced that Amelia—with her starry-eyed romanticism—and Chris—with his heartache and hard edges—might need more than witty banter to make them a couple.

The long-standing peace between the three kingdoms Auranos, Paelsia and Limeros is coming to an end. Two cruel despots capitalize on the murder of a poor Paelsian boy and form a treacherous alliance. At the center of the conflict are the royal descendents and rebellious youth of the three kingdoms.

Sixteen-year-old Princess Cleo of Auranos has lived a sheltered and frivolous life. She is second in line to the throne behind her much more responsible sister, but when her sister falls ill, Cleo enters into enemy territory, desperate to locate a cure. Eighteen-year-old Prince Magnus of Limeros doubts he has the stomach to rule like his cruel father. Protective of his sister, he harbors a disturbing secret that could be his undoing. At the start of it all is Jonas Agallon, a Paelsian peasant who seeks vengeance for his brother’s murder—but those he’s chosen to align himself with might be more dangerous than the one he’s after. Meanwhile, a powerful, dormant magic has reawakened. In the wrong hands, it could destroy everything. When battle lines are drawn, the kingdoms may be no longer.

The first in a planned quartet, Falling Kingdoms is a superbly written and character-driven narrative told from the viewpoints of several young people who are desperate to find their purposes within their respective kingdoms. Each character is complex and conflicted, making them largely sympathetic. It’s hard to know who to root for and who to root against. This is a perfect novel for fans of Game of Thrones and Graceling, but just as engaging for those who don’t typically read fantasy. Themes of belonging, honor and duty will resonate with everyone.

By the time Greer Cannon is shipped off to rehab at McCracken Hill, her family views her as beyond redemption. Busted for shoplifting, she’s also juggling disordered appetites for both food and sex. Living under constant supervision is hell until she meets Addison, whose magnetic personality opens new worlds to Greer. Addison’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Joshua comes into their social circle, and that's when things go frighteningly haywire.

The Believing Game is notably believable, and that makes it very scary. Joshua uses his race (he's African-American) and age to subdue a group of deeply damaged kids into not questioning his behavior; to do so would be racist by implication. The only black kid in their group immediately calls him on his nonsense and is ostracized for it. Instead of making Joshua’s evil more evident, this forces a closer bond between the remaining kids until events spiral out of control.

Eireann Corrigan brings this story to life with an eye for detail and a precise ear for language. When Addison’s temper flares, Greer observes his voice “had a serrated edge.” And Greer is immensely likable. Despite a messed-up childhood, her narration is filled with quick wit and biting observations. Joshua’s promotion of an awkward girl to a position of power sets Greer off: “She could not have served as the ambassador to a ham sandwich, let alone help inspire a world revolution.”

The Believing Game is a knockout horror story, but it should also inspire discussion about race, faith, family and the cult of personality.

Venom is book one in Fiona Paul’s intriguing new series, Secrets of the Eternal Rose, set in Venice at the end of the Renaissance. As the book opens, Cassandra Caravello is attending the funeral of Liviana, one of her oldest friends. Death is no stranger to Cass. Since her parents died, she has been living on tiny San Domenico Island with her aunt, Agnese. Agnese keeps Cass close to home, rarely allowing her to travel to the Rialto, Venice’s commercial center. Cass chafes against the restrictions and the thought of a boring, predictable future with Luca, her fiancé. Luca is studying abroad, and Cass hasn’t even seen him for three years. Writing in her journal and wandering the graveyard at night are about as exciting as her life gets.

But Cass gets more adventure than even she can imagine. On the night of Liviana’s funeral, she makes a gruesome discovery: Liviana’s body has been stolen, replaced by the mutilated corpse of a young girl. While the culprits are nowhere to be found, Cass does meet the mysterious, attractive Falco, a young art student who challenges her to solve the mystery with him.

Soon Cassandra finds herself leading a double life—dutiful young contessa by day, fearless investigator by night. With Falco by her side, Cass goes beyond what is expected for a girl of her station, exploring the dark streets and secrets of Venice in search of the killer. But what about Falco himself? Cass is attracted by his bold impudence and his infectious charm—yet even Falco is keeping secrets from her. And when her fiancé returns, Cass must face a difficult choice.

Venom is a heady combination of romance and intrigue (with some luscious descriptions of Venetian gowns thrown in for good measure). By the end, teen readers will be craving Cassandra’s journey to continue in the next volume of what promises to be a popular YA series set in an unusual and fascinating setting.

In the near-distant future, a catastrophic, Earth-changing event called the Darkness has left the planet without trees. In their place are GenTech’s genetically engineered cornstalks, with each kernel imprinted with the company’s logo. Oh, yeah—and nearly indestructible killer locusts that make their homes in these cornstalks.

Ever since his father was taken a year ago, Banyan has been finding work as a tree builder where he can. Hoarders with enough assets and memories hire Banyan to transform scrap metal and running lights into tree-like sculptures. At his latest job, the violent landowner’s stepdaughter, an inquisitive photographer named Zee, shows Banyan a strange photo. Chained to trees—real trees—is his missing father. Using the photo as inspiration, and a cryptic tattoo on Zee’s mother’s body as a guide, Banyan sets out to find his father and glimpse living trees for the first time.

Nothing’s easy in this atmospheric story. A bleak, desolate land filled with outlaw poachers recalls the Old West, and sudden dust storms exacerbate symptoms of lung crust. But romance is possible when he runs into tough, leggy Alpha and her roving band of road pirates. And a meeting with an old Rasta with bark embedded in his skin and mumblings of Zion provide the teen with more clues along his quest.

Finding his roots is far from a happy homecoming, especially when Banyan discovers the actual source of the trees. While dystopian novels proliferate in young adult literature, Rootless stands out for its world-building that skillfully blends the familiar, such as the walled city of Old Orleans, with a disturbing premise of a treeless, authoritarian society. Banyan offers a seed of hope in this barren land, but fans will have to wait for the sequel to see it realized.

Rachel's older brother Micah has gone missing. She's been keeping his secrets for so long that telling her parents about his drug addiction now seems beside the point. When a stranger sends her an email, warning her that her brother’s in danger, Rachel asks Micah's friend and bandmate Tyler for help. They set out to search for him, finding clues and complications along the way.

Out of Reach is author Carrie Arcos' first novel, and she bravely turns conventional expectations upside-down. Rachel and Tyler search for Micah but also get distracted by crushing on each other. We meet Micah through flashbacks and can see how Rachel's guilt stems from how close the brother and sister once were before drugs and deception pulled them apart. Despite pulling no punches about the destruction caused by meth addiction, Arcos never reduces characters to caricature; there's humanity under every surface story.

The journey is the destination in this novel, and it's full of grimy Southern California coastal towns, surfers, drug dealers and gang-bangers. Arcos uses details to sketch Micah's life, as when Rachel finds a room where he'd been staying: “I sat down on the bed and opened the bag, dumping the contents onto the floor: a pair of jeans, three socks, a guitar pick, a black cap, a broken pair of sunglasses, and The Hobbit. Of all my books, he'd stolen that one. I hadn't even noticed.”

Some readers may wish for a neater conclusion, but the open-ended resolution feels like a new beginning for Rachel. Out of Reach is unconventional, edgy and raw, and a fine first novel.

Famine, disease and old age have been completely eliminated in Arras. Weather is carefully balanced, resources are rationed and neighborhoods are segregated by gender to enforce purity standards. When teens reach their 16th year, courtship appointments are made and lifetime work assignments are distributed. Most girls are assigned roles as teachers, nurses or secretaries—all except the few who show talent in weaving space and time. These few are sent to the four Coventries to become the Spinsters who, together with the ruling Guild, create and maintain the fabric that holds Arras together.

When Adelice is taken to the Western Coventry for Spinster training, she knows that life as a Spinster won’t always be about the fancy parties and glamorous gowns that she’s been told Spinsters enjoy. She also knows that Spinsters cannot marry or have any loyalties outside their work, including maintaining ongoing ties with their families. But she doesn’t know how rare her own talent is—Adelice can see and manipulate the fabric around her even without a loom—or what dark secrets underlie the seemingly perfect lives of her people.

Especially since the success of Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games trilogy, stories about teen characters who first live in and then rebel against totalitarian regimes have become an increasingly popular theme in contemporary young adult literature. But readers expecting a standard dystopian narrative are in for a pleasant surprise: Crewel, the first part of a planned trilogy, both reflects the prevailing norms of its genre and seeks to broaden them, creating a world that invites readers to think critically about love, friendship and the nature of reality itself.

Wren Wells had her future all planned out. After an internship with an art magazine at the end of her senior year of high school, she’d be off to Amherst in the fall, ready to make new friends and study both photography and medicine. But when an argument with her boyfriend ends with his death in a car accident, everything changes. Leaving behind an overprotective mother and a frustrated best friend, Wren goes to live with her artist father in the woods of Maine, where she spends her days sleeping, running or anything else that won't interfere with her desperate need to be empty and numb.

One day she meets Cal, who’s taking time off from college as he battles the same multiple sclerosis that killed his mother. Forming a new relationship, with new possibilities for hurt and anguish, is exactly what Wren doesn’t want. But Cal needs Wren as much as Wren needs Cal, and slowly—with the encouragement of the various students and artists who surround her father—Wren begins to reach outside herself again. At the same time, she starts to think about her future in new ways. Which parts of her plans were really what she wanted, and which were based only on her mother's expectations? How can she wish for love and connection, when she's seen where such wishes inevitably lead?

First-time novelist Amy McNamara wrote Lovely, Dark and Deep after the unexpected death of someone she loved. Her depictions of grief, depression and healing, set against a backdrop of the snow-covered Maine woods, make this a powerful book that's not to be missed.