One of the best parts of my job is ordering new books for the Edge–reading the reviews, seeing what popular authors come up with next, or finding out about an upcoming sequel to an old favorite. Read on to find out about some of the new YA fiction titles coming to our shelves this month.

Trajectory by Cambria Gordon
Grades 7 and up
Library Catalog

 “Seventeen-year-old Eleanor is recruited for her math prowess to support U.S. efforts during World War II. It’s 1942, and Eleanor, who’s Jewish, lives with her family in Jenkintown, just outside Philadelphia. The Schiffs anxiously await news from abroad about the Nazis, Jewish ghettos, and the fate of family members in Poland. Following her participation in MathMeet, a competition for Pennsylvania high schoolers, Eleanor is recruited for the top-secret Philadelphia Computing Section of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.” –Kirkus Reviews

The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver
Grades 7 and up
Library Catalog

 “Youthful offenders face a deadly reality show in a social media–driven future. Sixteen-year-old Emerson Ness doesn’t know who lit a match while she carried out a robbery, but she was caught at the scene and faces arson and manslaughter charges. She’s offered a spot on a reality game show promising fame and freedom to the winner—and life in solitary for everyone else. Desperate to provide for her younger brother, Kester, a deaf tech prodigy, Emerson caves and accepts.” –Kirkus Reviews

 

It Waits in the Forest by Sarah Dass
Grades 7 and up
Library Catalog

 “The small Caribbean Island of St. Virgil has more than its fair share of secrets and scandals. Alone ever since a tragic attack killed her father and put her mother into a coma, 18-year-old Selina DaSilva makes a living working in a friend’s souvenir shop while surreptitiously pretending to be a psychic, using her botanical knowledge to help people looking for supernatural solutions to their problems. The arrival of a tourist who’s convinced he’s being stalked by an evil spirit coincides with several gruesome, unsolved murders and the return of Selina’s ex-boyfriend, Gabriel. Haunted by her mother’s reputation as a witch and by whatever dark force she believes is behind the deaths, Selina must work with Gabriel to uncover the truth of what’s happening before the body count increases.” –Publisher's Weekly

Have You Seen This Girl by Nita Tyndall
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog

 “A nonbinary teen is haunted by their father’s serial killer past. The impact on Sid Atkinson of having a father in prison for being a serial killer has been crushing. Sid has changed their last name, lives with Gram in a trailer, and is visited by the ghosts of the five teenaged girls Dad murdered so gruesomely. Ten years after the first victim was killed, June Hargrove’s body is found in the same lake as those of her predecessors. Sid knows their father didn’t do it—he’s serving time in prison—but the coincidence is triggering. As the body count ratchets up, and the patterns start to mirror their father’s crimes, it becomes clear to Sid that a copycat is at work.” –Kirkus Reviews

The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse
Grades 8 and up
Library Catalog

 “A World War I story that shines a light on a little-known group of heroic young women is the latest from noted historical fiction author Hesse. It’s 1918, and 18-year-old Edda St. James works the overnight shift as an operator at Bell System’s Washington, D.C., Central switchboard. The hours suit her: She can sleep the day away, trying to escape memories of her months in France. Flashbacks to her experiences near the front lines gradually disclose details of how those months shaped her. Edda shocked her Baltimore socialite parents when she applied to be a Hello Girl for the American Expeditionary Forces. She proved to be a natural in memorizing codes, connecting calls, and conversing in French. But her confidence in her abilities was swept away in a single night when, unable to remember the code, she could not put a connection through—and 34 American soldiers died. Back in the States, Edda blames herself—and when a voice on the other end of the switchboard line demands she tell the truth, she realizes that someone knows about her deadly mistake.” –Kirkus Reviews

Sequels:

Girl in Question by Tess Sharpe
Grades 9 and up
Library Catalog

 “In this follow-up to The Girls I've Been, to celebrate graduation, Nora's dear friend Wes and beloved girlfriend Iris suggest a long hiking trip. The only downside is that Wes's new girlfriend Amanda will be accompanying them, but surely, Nora thinks, it will be fine. But nothing is as simple as it seems. Nora will get a chance to use the skills she learned as all of the other girls she's been to evade her evil stepfather, now out of prison, along with multiple other forces from Nora's past and present as she, Iris, and Wes try to find a captured Amanda and keep themselves alive.” –School Library Journal

The first book in the series, The Girls I've Been, can be found here.

The Only Light Left Burning by Erik J. Brown
Grades 7 and up
Library Catalog

 “Where do you go after the world ends? Picking up almost immediately after the events of All That’s Left in the World (2022), this second foray into a post-apocalyptic world follows teen boyfriends Andrew and Jamie as they attempt to make a home among the few survivors of a superflu that killed most of the world’s population. Unfortunately, home is a difficult concept, especially after a hurricane severely damages their colony in the Florida Keys. Not only does the destruction derail the colony members’ northward expedition in search of survivors, but a request for aid could potentially put Andrew and Jamie within reach of the Fort Caroline settlement, a racist, homophobic religious colony in Georgia that the duo barely escaped. The pair decide to escape from both communities with a small group of friends.” –Kirkus Reviews

The first book in the series, All That’s Left in the World, can be found here.