Winter break: a time for books that will retain the attention of tired teens who may be worn out after final exams, in the throes of college applications, or overwhelmed with the busyness of holidays and family visits. What could be more refreshing for mind and spirit than retreating for a few hours with a book that invites you to escape into another world? The titles below cover a variety of genres and formats, but each one will draw readers into a well-built world populated by intriguing characters in whose fates they’ll become invested. Whether your teen is a bookworm who’s stuck in a rut or one who’s less bookish, there’s something here to tempt them.
In a world populated by superpowered people, Tru must flee with little Thea when armed killers break in during what should have been an ordinary babysitting job. The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting by Natalie C. Parker (Candlewick, January 7) is an intense story filled with breathtaking suspense and riveting action sequences. When a post on BountyApp frames Tru’s guardian for murder and offers $100,000 to take him out, Tru bands together with friends to clear his name and protect baby Thea.
Sydney is grateful for the heart transplant that saved her life—and deeply curious about her donor. She scours obituaries and, when she finds Mia’s, is convinced she’s the one. After she befriends Mia’s brother, Clayton, under false pretenses, they grow close. But Sydney’s ongoing lies loom over their budding romance and her other relationships. In Every Borrowed Beat (Delacorte, March 11), author Erin Stewart, who survived heart failure, writes poignantly and sincerely about mortality, hope, and human connection.
Expertly blending complex family relationships with a winding mystery, Brittney Morris pulls readers into This Book Might Be About Zinnia (Simon & Schuster, July 1), a dual-timeline story about secrets, lies, and tender dreams. When the new book by 18-year-old Zinnia’s favorite novelist contains startlingly specific details that describe her own life, she becomes convinced the author is her birth mom. In the second storyline, set in 2006, a gifted teen writer named Tuesday is struggling after being forced to hide her pregnancy and relinquish her baby.
Trumpets of Death, written and illustrated by Simon Bournel-Bosson and translated by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe, August 5), is a surreal, visually striking, and multilayered graphic novel from France. Homesick Antoine is staying in the countryside with his busy, chatty grandmother and harsh, intimidating grandfather, a keen hunter. While foraging in the woods, Antoine picks a glowing white mushroom that transforms him into a white stag. Self-aware and able to communicate with animals, he grows in his confidence and awareness in the lead-up to a dramatic ending.
The glowing, romantic color palette of On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining (Abrams Fanfare, September 30) perfectly complements this magic-infused story of grief and discovery. Alex and her best friend head to the quintessential British seaside town where Alex lived as a child. They’re cleaning out Grandma’s cottage following her death, but as they explore her belongings and the local area, glimmers of memory, surprising revelations, new acquaintances, and a mysterious black cat come together in unexpected ways.
Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.
