New young adult books for March
by Sophie Green
Looking for some new YA titles to read this March? Take a look at our top picks, from a fantasy novel inspired by the kumiho of Korean folklore to a heartwarming story of female friendships in the world of tabletop gaming.
Find more recommendations for young adults.
Where the Heart Should Be, by Sarah Crossan
Ireland, 1846. Nell is working as a scullery maid in the kitchen of the Big House. Once she loved school and books and dreaming. But there's not much choice of work when the land grows food that rots in the earth. Now she is scrubbing, peeling, washing, sweeping for Sir Philip Wicken, the man who owns her home, her family's land, their crops, everything. His dogs are always well fed, even as famine sets in.
Upstairs in the Big House, where Nell is forbidden to enter, is Johnny Browning, newly arrived from England: the young nephew who will one day inherit it all. And as hunger and disease run rampant all around them, a spark of life and hope catches light when Nell and Johnny find each other.
Borrow Where the Heart Should Be →
King of Dead Things, by Nevin Holness
The first time Eli had tried taking magic that wasn't his, it had wrapped around his palms like razor wire, tight enough that he'd needed stitches. Since then, Eli had bled magic from a soul enough times that he knew the rhythm of it. He knew what kinds of magic to stay away from and which he could upsell, which would get stuck beneath his fingernails and which would crumble and turn to ash if he held on too tightly. Eli doesn't know who he is or where he came from. What he does know is that he can pluck the magic from a soul like a petal from a flower. And he knows there is nothing he wouldn't borrow, steal or destroy in order to discover his past.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Sade Hussein is the new girl at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy. She has no idea what to expect of her mysterious new boarding school - an institution steeped in tradition and secrets. But she certainly didn't imagine her roommate, Elizabeth, to go missing on her first night. Or for people to think Sade had something to do with it. Suddenly everyone is talking about Sade, including the Unholy Trinity: the three most popular girls at school. Swept up in their circle, Sade can't shake the sense that there's more to Elizabeth's disappearance - especially as the teachers don't seem to care. And then a student is found dead. It's clear there's more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than Sade could have imagined - and she must race to uncover the truth.
Borrow Where Sleeping Girls Lie →
The Traitor in the Game, by Triona Campbell
The sequel to explosive YA thriller The Game of Life or Death. At the end of book one, Asha Kennedy uncovered the dark secret at the heart of Virtual Reality game 'SHACKLE'. You don't play the game; it plays you - and must now go deeper into a dangerous world of corruption and greed: who is the puppet master of the game and what is their ultimate goal? Set in New York, this is a whiplash-paced, twisty mystery and scorching romance where Asha's enemies may be closer than she could ever imagine.
Borrow The Traitor in the Game →
The No-Girlfriend Rule, by Christen Randall
Seventeen-year-old Hollis Beckwith is on a quest to find her place in the world of tabletop gaming. Despite facing her boyfriend's 'No Girlfriends at the Table' rule and enduring the worst game of 'Secrets & Sorcery' ever, Hollis sets out to prove herself as a worthy player. Desperate to find a community where she belongs, Hollis seeks out an all-female gaming group, where she finds unexpected friendships and epic adventures.
Borrow The No-Girlfriend Rule →
The Fox Maidens, by Robin Ha
Kai has trained all her life in her father's martial arts school. Though she is looked down upon for being a girl, she proves her courage when assassins launch a ruthless attack on her family. Yet Kai is the inheritor of a dark secret: each month she is transformed into a fox demon, and must hunt and kill a man so she can return to her life as a young woman. As the deaths mount and the townspeople start to voice their suspicions, Kai desperately searches for a way out. Meanwhile, there is a mysterious girl who shares a secret bond with Kai, and whose love may be the key to breaking her curse.