Older Readers
The Absinthe Underground.
By Jamie Pacton.
Feb. 2024. 304p. Peachtree Teen, $19.99 (9781682634929). Gr. 9–12.
Sybil goes home with Esme one night after a shift at the Rosemary Thistle cafe to sleep on her sofa, and a little over a year later, they’ve made a life together, complete with a few cats. Sybil supplements Esme’s meager cafe earnings by pilfering posters by the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec and Mucha and then selling them to collectors. On the night Sybil swears will be their last of thieving, the girls meet Maeve, beguiling proprietress of the Absinthe Underground, Severon’s most exclusive nightclub. The shrewd businesswoman recruits the naive young women and their skills for a heist that is guaranteed to change their lives forever. Secrets can only be kept so long, however, as their mission pushes the girls closer—to confessions, revelations, and each other. Inspired by poster art of La Belle Epoque, the novel draws from the same visual universe made famous by the Moulin Rouge. Pacton includes an author’s note illuminating some of the colorful elements that inform the novel. A predictable yet sweetly enchanting romantasy for fans of quasi-historical fiction. —Elizabeth Bevington
Ariel Crashes a Train.
By Olivia A. Cole.
Mar. 2024. 464p. Random/Labyrinth Road, $19.99 (9780593644669). Gr. 9–12.
For as long as Ariel Burns can remember, she has had thoughts that are disturbing and violent in nature. For example, she has a vivid memory from when she was younger of watching a girl she had a crush on die at a softball game, and her first thought was how giving her CPR would be like kissing her. As she gets older, Ariel’s thoughts get more intrusive and troubling, and she finds herself completing rituals to stave off the “crocodile” in her head. With help from her friends and her sister, she discovers that she has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ariel works to manage her diagnosis despite her father’s adamant insistence that she pray away her thoughts. Cole’s novel in verse is a poignant, raw masterpiece that unbraids the harmful stereotypes of not only mental illness but gender and racial identities as well. Within the book, Ariel’s friends are in various stages of self-discovery and healing, and they serve as both foils and advocates. It is through Ariel’s different relationships that a modern bildungsroman unfolds, perfectly portraying her journey of acceptance and agency. As usual, there is a searing vulnerability in Cole’s verses that stays with the reader long after they have finished the book, making this a necessary and important read. —Nashae Jones
Chronically Dolores.
By Maya Van Wagenen.
Mar. 2024. 320p. Dutton, $18.99 (9780525426820). Gr. 7–10.
Dolores Mendoza’s life is in the toilet after she embarrasses herself in front of the entire eighth grade. Between her chronic illness (interstitial cystitis) and repeated head injuries, her best friend Shae ghosting her, and family drama, she feels really out of place. To get her out of the house, her mom signs her up for a workshop on communication and making friends, where the only other girl there about her age is awkward, direct, and puts the pieces of Dolores’ life together, causing her further embarrassment. But that girl, Terpsichore Berkenbosch-Jones, is doing whatever she can to convince her overprotective mom to let her go to the public high school because being home-schooled is not how she’s going to become a Tony-winning costume designer for a big Broadway show. Together, the two hatch a plot for Dolores to get her friend back and convince Terpsichore’s mother that being autistic doesn’t mean she can’t have dreams and a life. Hitting themes of growing apart from old friends, confronting exaggerated ideas of embarrassment and rejection, learning to find accommodations and self-advocate, and understanding that people aren’t always what they seem, Van Wagenen’s (Popular, 2014) fiction debut is a standout with both wide appeal and important, specific representation bolstered by the author’s own life. —Kathleen Breitenbach
Daughter of the Bone Forest.
By Jasmine Skye.
Feb. 2024. 432p. Feiwel and Friends, $20.99 (9781250872456). Gr. 9–12.
Rosamund Holt is a bone familiar who can shift into a wolf, and she has two goals in life: to heal her grandmother, also a bone familiar, from her grief-induced rage, and to keep her own abilities a secret from everyone, especially the army. All her life, she’s heard about the inevitable upcoming war that Princess Shaw Colchuk is destined to fight. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life in the Bone Forest, though, she’s whisked off to a magical boarding school full of intrigue, politics, military training disguised as survival skills, and, most confusingly, the etiquette and courtship rituals that go along with Princess Shaw declaring her intention to bond with Rosy. But a bond like that means Rosy has to fight in the war—she’d be helping to lead the troops, and Rosy’s not the only one keeping secrets that could change the path of the entire country. This is a rich, queernormative fantasy, and while Rosy is described as white, other characters are of varying ethnicities and intersectional backgrounds. This is Skye’s debut, the first of a planned duology, and it ends on a cliff-hanger. Give it to teens who love high fantasy and get incredibly invested in series books. It’s not to be missed. —Kathleen Breitenbach
Dungeons and Drama.
By Kristy Boyce.
2024. 304p. Delacorte, paper, $11.99 (9780593647011). Gr. 9–12.
Riley’s parents divorced five years ago when her dad opened up a gaming store and it became more important to him than anything else. Riley, who still holds a grudge, has never set foot in his store—until now, after she and her best friend “borrowed” her mom’s car. Her punishment? Eight weeks at her dad’s store after school, and nothing else. When the school cancels (2021), does rom-coms well. Fake dating is everywhere in YA, but this nerdy take is lots of fun—and even a little magical. —
