Recently Announced Book Deals I’m Excited About

Hello friends! Back in the day, Clare and I did a few monthly recaps, but we quickly gave up on them – they took too much time to write, were too long, and, frankly, no one seemed to care about them… including us haha.

At the end of each monthly recap, we would showcase some of the industry news we found exciting, i.e. recently announced book deals. Looking for those was always my job, and it was something I enjoyed immensely, so I decided to bring them back, and give them their own feature at Wordy and Whimsical. Obviously, our TBRs are in dire need of books, they are not long enough as it is, am I right? 😂

FANTASY

The Notorious Virtues by Alwyn Hamilton

🖤Nora, the daughter of the most powerful heiress in the world, is pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz trials after her mother’s death, and has to fight to become to the true inheritor.

🖤 first in a duology, publication planned for summer 2020

🖤  the world has echoes of 1920s society 👀

A Dragonbird in the Fern by Laura Rueckert

🖤 After her older sister is killed, Princess Jiara is doubly screwed – she not only has to find her sister’s killer, so her vengeful ghost can rest in piece, but her sister’s betrothed is forced to become Jiara’s betrothed, as well, which is… awkward.

🖤 The book is said to be both sex positive and feminist, and Jiara is dyslexic. (I couldn’t determine if the rep is #OwnVoices.)

🖤 Slated for publication for fall 2020.

Darling by K. Ancrum

🖤 A Peter Pan retelling, where “Peter isn’t what he seems and the Lost Boys are in more trouble than they realize.”

🖤 Said to have LGBTQ+ rep (unsure about the specifics at the moment)

🖤 Slated for fall 2020.

CONTEMPORARY

Our Way Back to Always by Nina Moreno

💜 The novel follows two ex best friends (gamer, fanfic-writer Luisa and drummer, golden boy Sam) who discover their old bucket list, and decide to complete it before the end of their senior year.

💜 publication is slated for spring 2021

Up All Night edited by Laura Silverman

💜 A Young Adult anthology about “what can happen in the hours between sunset and sunrise.”

💜 Contributors include Brandy Colbert, Kathleen Glasgow, Maurene Goo, Tiffany D. Jackson, Amanda Joy, Nina LaCour, Karen M. McManus, Anna Meriano, Marieke Nijkamp, Kayla Whaley, Julian Winters, and Francesca Zappia.

💜 Expected publication: spring 2021.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen

💜 The MC’s parents send her to Taiwan to study Mandarin during the summer. What they don’t know is that however over-achieving the teens at the program are, they are more interested in clubbing than studying.

💜 “An exploration of love, family, multifaceted identity, and intersectionality.”

💜 Expected pub date: February 4th 2020

Bad Girls Never Say Die by Jennifer Mathieu

💜 Marketed as the female version of The Outsiders, and it’s “about a gang of Texas tough girls in early 1960s Houston who find friendship and love in unexpected places.”

💜 Mathieu is the uncrowned queen of contemporary YA, so you won’t want to miss this, believe me.

💜 Slated for spring 2021.

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

💜 “About a closeted trans boy who realizes after he’s cast as Romeo in the school play that he can’t go back to being seen as a girl when he steps off the stage.”

💜 OwnVoices trans rep.

💜 Expected publication: spring 2021.

The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

💜 The MC is the daughter of a con artist, and has to put her skills to use to free herself, her girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend from a bank hostage situation.

💜 Scheduled for spring 2021.

The Problem with Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Kwame Ivery

💜 Follows an interracial couple whose relationship is tested when their older sisters run against each other for student body president.

💜 Publication is set for February 2021.

Where I Belong by Marcia Argueta Mickelson

💜 Short blurb from Goodreads: Guatemalan-American high school senior Milagros “Millie” Vargas struggles to balance her family’s needs with her own ambitions for her future, especially after her mother’s employer announces his run for Senate and tries to use Millie as a poster child for “deserving” immigrants.

💜 Slated for fall 2020, or spring 2021

MYSTERY

The Poppy & the Rose by Ashlee Cowles

💙 A YA Gothic Mystery.

💙 A teen girl must unravel clues from a strange English manor and a young heiress’s diary, discovering a web of family secrets dating back to the Titanic. (from Goodreads)

💙 Slated for fall 2020.

Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

💙 After his death, an eccentric billionaire leaves his secret filled house to a teen girl, he’s never met.

💙 A duology (I think?).

💙 Publication is scheduled for 2020.

NON-FICTION

Courageous Creativity by Sara Zarr

💛 it was written to “help kids cultivate fulfilling creative practices by overcoming perfectionism, fear, and other obstacles to artistic expression.”

💛 I’m pretty sure it’s middle grade, not young adult.

💛 publication is scheduled for fall 2020

LET’S CHAT!

First of all, would you like to see more posts like this? (It’s okay, if the answer is no, haha.) Are you excited for any of these? Have you read something else by the author?