Happy Debut YA Book Birthday

Hey there boys and girls... we've got a busy debut YA book birthday week!  You read for this stellar list?

Today
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
NEWSOUL

Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.  

NOSOUL 

Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are suspicious and afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?  

HEART 

Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies--human and creature alike--let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?

Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned.

 

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

 

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.

 

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard for her to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It’s hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.

 

Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.

 

That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

The Edumacation of Jay Barker by Jay Clark

Meet Jay Baker . . . or, as he is not-so-affectionately called by his opponent in the freshman-class presidential election--no comment.

A few random bullet points about Jay:

• He is stupidly in love with his best friend, cheerleading dynamo Cameo "Appearance" Parnell.
• He is also trying to score (points) with earthbound tennis-playing goddess Caroline Richardson.
• He is fighting a losing battle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
• He rocks a touché array of pop-culture references, jokes, and puns.
• His family life cookie is about to crumble.

Root for Jay as he exchanges ego-blows with his mortal enemy, gets awkward around his dream girl(s), loses his marbles in a Bermudian love triangle, watches his parents' relationship implode, and, finally, learns to keep it real and be himself(ish).

 

February 1
Angelina's Secret by Lisa Rogers
As a child, Angelina spent years in counseling learning that Josie, her imaginary friend, wasn't real, but it turns out her childhood friend wasn't imaginary after all. Now Angelina has to accept she's either (A) crazy or (B) able to see ghosts. Wanting to believe in her sanity, she chooses (B) and welcomes Josie back into her life. But even Josie can't help her deal with Shelly, the spirit of a confused teenager, and things go very, very wrong. When Angelina finds herself in a psychiatric hospital, she faces a choice: she can spend the rest of her life pretending to be someone she isn't, or she can embrace who she is and take a chance that she may never get to go home.

February 2
This One Time with Julia by David Lampson
The story of Joe, a boy who can fall in love but can’t grow up

After Joe’s parents died, he stopped growing up. He doesn’t know where his money comes from. His diet consists primarily of cheeseburgers from McDonald’s. He plays basketball on the level of
a pro, but he has only ever played on the streets.

Then his brother disappears, and Julia shows up. Joe falls in love with Julia as quickly as his twin brother, Alvin, did. And like Alvin did before him, he runs away with Julia to her parents’ hotel. There, he’s so blinded by her seductive, dysfunctional family that he can’t see the truth of his brother’s disappearance
… until he accidentally stumbles upon Alvin’s killer.

Harbinger by Sara Wilson Etienne
When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

Is your TBR list ready??