Top 5 Young Adult Titles for May 2021

Looking for a new YA title out in May? Take a look at our top 5 picks full of drama, lies and LGBTQ+ stories.

• Heartstopper. Volume four by Alice Oseman

Charlie didn't think Nick could ever like him back, but now they're officially boyfriends. Charlie's beginning to feel ready to say those three little words: 'I love you.' Nick's been feeling the same, but he's got a lot on his mind - not least coming out to his dad, and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder. As summer turns to autumn and a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick are about to learn a lot about what love means. 'Heartstopper' is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie's lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Latest installment of the beloved graphic novel series

• The Yearbook by Holly Bourne

Working on the school newspaper, Paige is used to dealing with fake stories. How popular girl Grace is a such an amazing person (lie). How Laura steals people's boyfriends (lie). How her own family are so perfect (lie). Now Grace and friends have picked their best high-school moments for Paige to put in the all-important yearbook. And they're not just fake. They're poison. But Paige has had enough of all the lies in her life. And with the help of Elijah - the only boy who could ever understand her - she's going to reveal the truth.

Pitched as The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Mean Girls

• Things to do before the end of the world by Emily Barr

What would you do when you hear the news that humans have done such damage to the earth that there might only be a limited amount of safe air left - a year's worth at most? You'd work through your bucket list, heal rifts, do everything you've never been brave enough to do before? Olivia is struggling to do any of this. What is it she truly wants to do? Who does she want to be?

From the author of The One Memory of Flora Banks

• Felix ever after by Kacen Callender

Felix Love has never been in love - and, yes, he's painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it's like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What's worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he's one marginalisation too many - black, queer and transgender - to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages - after publicly posting Felix's deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned - Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn't count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi-love triangle!

A Stonewall Honor Book

• We were wolves by Jason Cockcroft

Boy lives in a caravan on his own in the woods. His dad, John, is in prison and promises to get out soon. All the boy needs to do is survive alone for a little while longer. But dark forces are circling - like the dangerous man in the Range Rover, who is looking for his stolen money. And then there are the ancient forces that have lain asleep in the woods for an age.

From the illustrator of the final 3 Harry Potter books