Loved a great book this December? Then there is sure to be at least one book you’ll adore in the new year! This list pairs up the last book of 2020 with a first book of 2021. Think of it as a way to help end and start your Goodreads reading goals of 2020 and 2021. Enjoy these Young Adult stories!
A Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir with A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
A Sky Beyond the Storm is the fourth and final book in Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series. The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack. The Nightbringer wants more than just vengeance on the humans. Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress and is after the Blood Shrike. Laia of Serra is now aligned with the Blood Shrike and is still reeling from losing the two people most important to her, but she awakens an ancient power that just might lead her to victory – or doom. In the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life – and love – he left behind, but he must take on a mission to stop the Nightbringer and the jinn.
In A Vow So Bold and Deadly, return back to the world of Emberfall in this conclusion of the Cursebreakers series. Emberfall is crumbling thanks to a faction who believe Rhen is the true prince and those who fight behind Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking upon Emberfall, and Rhen has pulled himself away from everyone – including Harper. Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But some subjects are not happy that she has an enchanted prince and magical scraver by her side. As the two kingdoms come closer to conflict, an old enemy resurfaces that might take out all of them.
Finding My Voice by Marie G. Lee with One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite
Finding My Own Voice is being republished with a new cover almost thirty (!) years later. In this standalone Ellen Sung just wants to be like everyone else at her all-white school in Arkin, Minnesota. But racist bullies won’t let her forget that she is the youngest daughter of the only Korean-American family in town. At the start of her senior year, Ellen begins to fall for Tomper Sandel, a cute, popular, and blond football player – and he falls for her too. Now she has a chance of life that she never imagined, but will their romance be strong enough to withstand hometown bigotry and her family’s disapproval?
One of the Good Ones is written by a pair of sisters about a pair of sisters. When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim, Happi begins to question the perfect way her sister is remembered. “One of the good ones” is a phrase that seems wrong to Happi as she wonders if only certain people are deemed to be missed. As Happi and her sister Genny take a trip in honor of Kezi using The Negro Motorist Green Book, they discover a twist to Kezi’s story that might change everything.
New Year’s Kiss by Lee Matthews with You Have a Match by Emma Lord
Get excited for New Year’s with New Year’s Kiss. Tess and her older sister Lauren are spending the week after Christmas at the Evergreen Lodge in Vermont. But their grandmother owns the resort and isn’t known for her warmth and good humor. But when Tess meets Christopher in the lobby she decides to get out of her comfort zone and creates a bucket list of things she wants to accomplish by the New Year like singing in front of a crowd and skiing a black diamond slope. Even though Christopher is there to support her, he is hiding a big secret that might leave Tess alone in the new year.
Loved Tweet Cute? Try You Have a Match. When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it;s to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. Abby is confident in who she is, with the exception of the Big Embarrassing Incident with Leo – and finding out she has an older sister. Savannah Tully is an Instagram-star and only a year-and-a-half older than Abby. Now Abby is determined to meet her at summer camp and figure out why she was given up for adoption. But Savvy is a total rule follower, Leo is the camp’s co-chef, and her parents have a giant secret. Abby will have to learn how to handle it all in order to succeed.
