New Young Adult books for September 2023
by Sophie Green
Looking for some new YA titles to read this September? Take a look at our top picks, from a feminist Sapphic retelling of Dorian Grey to a budding high school romance.
Find more recommendations for young adults
The Changing Man, by Tomi Oyemakinde
When 17-year-old Ife joins Nithercott School through its prestigious Urban Achievers Program, she knows immediately that she doesn't fit. Wandering its echoing halls, she must fend off cruel taunts from the students and condescending attitudes from the teachers. When she finds herself thrown into detention for the foreseeable future, she strikes up an unlikely alliance with Ben, a troublemaker with an annoyingly cute smile.
They've both got reasons to want to get out of Nithercott - Ben's brother is missing, and no one seems to be bothering to find him. For Ife, it's just another strange element of this school that doesn't care about its students. But as more and more people start going missing, including one of Ife's only friends, she starts to feel haunted. Who is the figure she's started seeing in the shadowy halls, who looks mysteriously like herself?
Yours From the Tower, by Sally Nicholls
A new historical novel from the author of Things a Bright Girl Can Do.
In 1896. Tirzah, Sophia and Polly are best friends who've left boarding school and gone back to very different lives. Polly is teaching in an orphanage. Sophia is looking for a rich husband at the London Season. And Tirzah is stuck acting as an unpaid companion to her grandmother. In a series of letters, they share their hopes, their frustrations, their dramas... and their romances. Can these three very different young women find happiness?
Thieves' Gambit, by Kayvion Lewis
The Inheritance Games meets Ocean's Eleven.
Rosalyn Quest was raised by a legendary family of thieves with one rule: trust no one. Trapped in a glamorous world of riches and double-crosses, she is about to escape the family business when her parents are kidnapped. Her only chance to save them is to win the Thieves' Gambit - a deadly competition for the world's up-and-coming thieves, where the victor is granted one wish. To win, she must outwit all of her backstabbing competitors, including her archnemesis. But can she take victory from the handsome, charming boy who makes a play for her heart? The one who might be hiding the most dangerous secret of all?
Ryan and Avery, by David Levithan
Love story from the author of Every Day.
When a blue-haired boy (Ryan) meets a pink-haired boy (Avery) at a dance - a queer prom - both feel an inexplicable but powerful connection. Follow them through their first ten dates as they bridge their initial shyness and fall in love - through snowstorms, groundings, meeting parents (Avery's) and not (Ryan's), cast parties, heartbreak, and every day and date in between.
Every Exquisite Thing, by Laura Steven
A feminist YA horror-thriller-romance retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray by the TikTok sensation and author of The Society for Soulless Girls.
Penny Paxton is the daughter of an icon. Her supermodel mother has legions of adoring fans around the world, and Penny is ready to begin her journey to international adoration, starting with joining the elite Dorian Drama School.
When Penny’s new mentor offers her an opportunity she cannot refuse, to have a portrait painted by a mysterious artist who can grant immortal beauty to all his subjects, Penny happily follows in the footsteps of Dorian’s most glittering alumni, knowing that stardom is sure to soon be hers.
But when her trusted mentor is found murdered, Penny realises she’s made a terrible mistake – a sinister someone is using the uncanny portraits to kill off the subjects one by one. As more perfectly beautiful students start to fall, Penny knows her time is running out...