This month we are spoilt for choice with some fantastic new releases. Our Book of the Month is a collection of Australian voices writing horror stories. We also have a meet-cute in a queer graphic novel, a kick-ass heroine taking down teenage cyber criminals, the final novel in the wildly popular Aurora Cycle sci-fi series, a prequel in Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, and a new novel by author of the Scythe series, Neal Shusterman. So much great reading ahead!

For a round-up of our new children’s titles in November visit here.

YA BOOK OF THE MONTH

Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales edited by Poppy Nwosu

This #LoveOzYA anthology - the first to focus entirely on horror - unites a stellar cast of Australia’s finest YA authors with talented new and emerging voices, including two graphic artists.

Contributors include Wai Chim, Sarah Epstein, Alison Evans, Lisa Fuller, Margot McGovern, Poppy Nwosu, Holden Sheppard, Jared Thomas and Vikki Wakefield.

From body horror to the supernatural, hauntings to transformations, and the everyday evil of humans, Hometown Haunts will have you glued to your chair … until you leap out of it!

Suitable for readers aged 12 and up.

GREAT YA TO READ THIS MONTH

Stars in their Eyes by Jessica Walton & Aska

In this debut graphic novel, pop culture-obsessed Maisie can’t wait to get to her first Fancon. But being a queer, disabled teenager with chronic pain comes with challenges. Can Maisie make it through the day without falling over, falling in love or accidentally inspiring anyone?

Maisie has always dreamed of meeting her hero, Kara Bufano, an amputee actor who plays a kick-arse amputee character in her favourite show. Then she meets Ollie, a cute volunteer who she has a lot in common with. Could this be the start of something, or will her mum embarrass her before she and Ollie have a chance?

Suitable for readers aged 11 and up.

Margo Mertz Takes it Down by Carrie McCrossen & Ian McWethy

Veronica Mars meets Moxie in this hilarious and biting contemporary YA novel about Margot Mertz, a girl who runs an internet cleanup business and is hellbent on taking down a revenge-porn site targeting the girls in her school.

For the right price, high school student Margot Mertz will go to the ends of the internet to remove your virtual skeletons. When a fellow student hires her to take down some leaked nudes, Margot is hellbent on taking the site down - and the mastermind (read: asshole) who created it. So with the help of an unwitting ally, Margot starts to dig. But as the case becomes darker and the feels get deeper, Margot realizes some jobs are so dirty, no-one comes away clean.

Suitable for readers aged 14 and up.

Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

The squad you love is out of time. Prepare for the thrilling finale in the epic, best-selling Aurora Cycle series about a band of unlikely heroes who just might be the galaxy’s last hope for survival.

What happens when you ask a bunch of losers, discipline cases, and misfits to save the galaxy from an ancient evil? The ancient evil wins, of course. Wait… Not. So. Fast.

When we last saw Squad 312, they were working together seamlessly (aka, freaking out) as an intergalactic battle raged and an ancient superweapon threatened to obliterate Earth. Everything went horribly wrong, naturally. But as it turns out, not all endings are endings, and the team has one last chance to rewrite theirs.

Suitable for readers aged 12 and up.

Terciel and Elinor by Garth Nix

In the Old Kingdom, a land of ancient magic, eighteen-year-old orphan Terciel learns the art of necromancy from his great-aunt Tizanael. He is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, and Tizanael is the Abhorsen, the latest in a long line of people whose task it is to make sure the Dead do not return to Life.

Across the Wall in Ancelstierre, a steam-age country where magic usually does not work, nineteen-year-old Elinor lives a secluded life. Elinor does not know she is deeply connected to the Old Kingdom, nor that magic can sometimes come across the Wall. But in a single day, Elinor finds herself on a path which will take her into the Old Kingdom, into Terciel’s life, and will embroil her in the struggle of the Abhorsens against the Dead.

Suitable for readers aged 12 and up.

Roxy by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman

Above our world is a toxic wonderland where the party has raged for centuries. Humans know the partygoers simply as narcotics, opioids, drugs. But here they are malevolent gods, toying with the fates of mortals. Roxy and Addison have made a wager to see who can be lethal the quickest.

Isaac and Ivy Ramey are their targets. Ivy is understimulated and overmedicated. Isaac is desperate to recover from a sports injury that jeopardizes his chance of a scholarship. This is the start of a race to the bottom that will determine life and death. One Ramey will land on their feet. The other will be lost to the Party. The only question is… Which one?

Suitable for readers aged 14 and up.

YA NEWS AND EVENTS

• Garth Nix will be discussing his new novel Terciel and Elinor online on Monday, November 22. For more information and booking visit here.

• We published a list of recent books on climate activism. You can check it out here.

• Our Teen Advisory Board told us their favourite books of 2021. Take a look for some great recommendations from teen readers!

• The Age newspaper published a lengthy and positive review of one of our favourite titles from last month, Dark Rise. You can read it here.