Ten YA Books to Look Forward to in 2019

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni Santiago is a high school senior too busy caring for her daughter and her abuela to follow her dream of working in a kitchen one day.  She knows she does not even have time to take her school’s new culinary arts class.  But Emoni is magic in the kitchen–and that kind of talent cannot be hidden.  From the author of The Poet X.

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

As king of Ravka, Nikolai Lantsov must find a way to restore his country’s prosperity after the recent struggles.  But a terrible power is growing within in, one he longs to destroy.  Along with a Grisha squaller and a monk, he sets forth to find a way to fight his inner darkness.  But not every journey has a successful end.

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennet

Birdie Lindberg’s inner life is far more exciting than her real one.  She hopes that working the graveyard ship at a historic hotel will help her become a bolder person.  There she meets Daniel Aoki, a van driver who works her same shift.  Better yet, Daniel has a real-life mystery for her to solve: a reclusive author might be meeting someone at the hotel.  Now she and Daniel are on a  mission to uncover the author’s true identity.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Zafira is a legendary hunter who braves a cursed forest to feed the people.  Nasir is an assassin, removing those who oppose his father the king.  Zafira can never let anyone know she is a girl.  And Nasir can never disappoint his father.  Their paths cross when the forest starts devouring the land and both hunt an ancient artifact that can stop the darkness.  But Nasir has been ordered to kill the Hunter.  The first in a series.

The Waning Age by S. E. Grove

In a parallel world, children start to “wane” or lose their emotions at the age of ten.  But Natalia Peña’s brother is not waning.  And when he is taken for testing, Natalia suddenly finds herself experiencing emotion, as well.  She wants to bring her brother home, and she will stop at nothing to do so.  From the author of The Glass Sentence.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall, has been cursed to repeat his eighteenth year over and over again, turning into a beast each autumn–unless someone can fall in love with him.  He has long given up hope, until he meets Harper Lacy.  A contemporary retelling of “Beauty and the Beast” by the author of Letters to the Lost and More Than We Can tell.

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

When Maia Tamarin‘s father is called to court, she dresses as a boy and goes in his place.  There she competes with twelve other tailors, but their final task seems impossible.  For the emperor’s betrothed, they must sew three dresses: one from the laughter of the sun, one fro the tears of the moon, and one from the blood of stars.   The first in a series.

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer

When Echo Alkaev‘s father disappears, she never expects to find him six months later guarded by a talking wolf, who asks Echo to live with him in his home for a year.  There she finds a magical library full of books in which a man named Hal is trapped.  But if Echo does not save her wolf from his enchantment, all will be lost.  A retelling of “East of the Sun and West of the Moon.”

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Bri dreams of becoming a rapper, just like her father, who died before he could make it big.  But now the bills are coming due and Bri and her mother are struggling with homelessness.  How do you find the strength to follow your dreams when your world is precarious?  From the author of The Hate U Give.

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Amiel Williams

Isabelle Warren first meets Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train.  Over the next few years, they learn more about each other’s lives.  Alex dreams of becoming a poet, but his father wants him to play ball.  And Isabelle, though she seems to lead a perfect life, has an unstable mother who would never approve of Alex.  From the author of Water in May.