New Young Adult Books
2025 Summer Reading Program
YA Book Reviews
Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games Vol. 5)
by Suzanne Collins
-You can find this book here.
The Hunger Games twist, destroy, and galvanize another wave of young people in this entry set 24 years before the series opener.
Haymitch Abernathy is turning 16, and he’d love nothing more than to spend his birthday with his girlfriend, Lenore Dove. Unfortunately, it’s also the reaping day of the Fiftieth Hunger Games and the second Quarter Quell, meaning twice as many tributes will be chosen from each District for the lethal contest. Being torn from everything familiar all at once is only the beginning of Haymitch’s tortures: Death and manipulation follow him every step of the way into the Capitol’s media circus and through the famed games. Slivers of hope exist—alliances among players, whispers of sabotage—though violence, misery, and encounters with mutated creatures frequently comprise the spoils. This book contains enough lore to stand alone, but returning fans will weave the thoughtfully placed callbacks and returning characters into their understanding of this world’s tragic chain of events. By this point, the game masters and audience within Panem have developed a sophisticated understanding of the Hunger Games, and Collins combines many of the best qualities of the series into one book, balancing layers of personal insights, worldbuilding, and danger to form an inescapable whirlwind of suspense and conflict. She makes frequent use of music and poetry, underscoring the enduring power of generational messages. Characters largely present white.
A heartbreaking crescendo and another grimly irresistible chapter in the saga of this interlocking series. (Dystopian. 13-adult)
Review found here.
Death in the Jungle
by Candace Fleming
-You can find this book here.
An account of the pathology and charm of Jim Jones, who led 918 people to their deaths in the Guyanese jungle in 1978.
Neglected young Jimmy learned the art of manipulation early—pathos and compliments could earn him a meal from mothers in his small Indiana town. He studied both local preachers and Adolf Hitler to learn persuasive oratory skills and was fascinated by death and power. Marrying in 1949 at age 18, he worked in a Methodist church before hitting the revival circuit as a fraudulent faith healer until he’d attracted enough attention to start his own church. At first, Jones seemed to be a powerful force for good—encouraging full racial integration and providing church members with material as well as spiritual assistance. As his Peoples Temple grew, he began preaching socialism, coercing members to obey nonsensical commands, and convincing them that nuclear annihilation was imminent. He relocated to California and then Guyana, where, despite his heavy drug use, dismissal of the Christian “sky god,” and assumption of the mantle of “earth God,” he held enough sway over his followers to cause their deaths, many by suicide (hundreds of others were murdered). With her trademark precision, absorbing writing, and meticulous research, Fleming leads readers to understand not only what Jones did but how. Her heart-stopping, heart-wrenching work with its substantive backmatter draws heavily on survivors’ memories, both from her own interviews and archival transcripts, and shows how cults strip their victims of autonomy.
Extraordinary and illuminating. (Nonfiction. 12-18)
Review found here.
Fearless (Powerless Trilogy #3)
by Lauren Roberts
-You can find this book here.
Fearless is the last book in the Powerless Trilogy. Lauren Roberts delivers a thick book to give the fans who have come to love her characters plenty of time before the conclusion. Paedyn accepts the marriage proposal from Kitt to ensure his vision of ordinaries being allowed back into the kingdom without fear of more killings. However, Kai and Paedyn fully realize how much they love each other, so marrying the wrong brother adds angst and drama to the plot.
There are several plot holes throughout the book, but they are resolved in consecutive big reveals that keep changing the landscape of the timeline, plot, and what you thought you had figured out. We have some flashbacks into King Edric’s life that change everything, and a cough throughout from Kitt also hints at how it will all end, but the why is surprising.
The resolution to Mak’s storyline was underused after his strong introduction in the novella, Powerful. Kitt doesn’t act like himself. While that gets explained, it also feels like he was done dirty just to keep the drama of Paedyn and Kai going. Throughout, I wondered why he was forcing her into another set of trials and why he would let his beloved brother suffer by marrying his love. Callum, as a mind reader, also didn’t make sense for much of the book, because if he cared about them, then couldn’t he read the anguish Paedyn and Kai were experiencing, yet, didn’t try to change course. We meet a faraway Queen who knows things she shouldn’t, which never gets explained, but it does make me wonder if it is setting her up for a companion series.
Review found here.
Stuck Up and Stupid
by Angourie Rice and Kate Rice
-You can find this book here.
Pride and Prejudice meets celebrity romance in this contemporary work set in rural Australia and Hollywood.
This modern take on Austen’s classic centers on Lily, a recent high school graduate living with her younger sister, Rosie, and single mother, Lydia, in the tiny, idyllic community of Pippi Beach, which is tucked away and hidden from Sydney by bushland. The family resides year-round in the expansive beach house of Lily’s wealthy aunt Jane. When Casey Brandon, a charming young American actor, and his entourage—his influencer sister, Cecilia, her friend Yumi, and his aloof best friend, Dorian Khan, an even bigger movie star—rent Pippi Beach’s most luxurious property, Lily and Juliet, her lovely, shy cousin from the city, encounter the VIP visitors at a local party. Despite overbearing Lydia’s meddling, Casey and Juliet quickly become genuinely smitten, while Dorian remains wary of the small resort town’s insular, aspirational inhabitants. Lily’s gap-year trip to Los Angeles further amplifies the celebrity angle, while the book stays remarkably faithful to Austen’s plot beats. The Australian mother-daughter authors cleverly reimagine Mr. Collins as an obsequious production assistant and Lady Catherine de Bourgh as his ruthless producer boss. Lydia and her sisters are based on the Bennet siblings, adding another layer of homage to Austen, although the focus remains squarely on Lily and Juliet’s generation. Lily and her family present white, and names cue diversity in the supporting cast.
A frothy and fun retelling. (Romance. 13-18)
Review found here.
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