|
|
New High School Books February 2026 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Beasts We Raise
by D. L. Taylor
Marry her enemy. Save her realm. Forsake her heart. The heart-shattering conclusion to this dark fantasy duology is perfect for fans of Adrienne Young, Tricia Levenseller, and Brigid Kemmerer. Newly-appointed Prime Mancella is desperate to keep the peace within her realm and within herself. Having recently acquired the power to physically split into separate versions of herself, her identity is beginning to fracture — along with her land, which is on the brink of war. The only semblance of normalcy in her life is her budding romance with thief-turned-confidant, Silver … at least until the mysterious Prime Reltas arrives at her doorstep asking, or rather demanding, her hand in marriage. If Mance wants to avoid a fight that will devastate her realm, she'll have to consider the proposal. Even if it destroys Silver. But Mance isn't ready to give up just yet. Desperate to free herself from the betrothal, Mance must seek allyship from other Primes and learn to control her new magic. If she fails, her decision to refuse Reltas's proposal will implode the delicate state of affairs across the realms, setting off a catastrophic war — and shatter two hearts in the process.
|
|
|
|
Beyond Seven Forests
by Amanda McCrina
In 1916, amidst World War I, a blizzard traps eighteen-year-old Polish countess Renata in her home with two Polish deserters from the Russian army.
|
|
|
|
The Darkness Greeted Her
by Christina Ferko
Yellowjackets meets Smile in this atmospheric sapphic horror debut, in which a group of troubled girls are stalked through the Appalachian wilderness by a frightening monster that feeds on their deepest fears. Penny's abusive father is dead … but she still hears his voice in her head, encouraging her to hurt those around her. She can't go to school or be around her friends or even draw with a sharp pencil without her intrusive thoughts urging her toward violence. Desperate to get a handle on her OCD, she agrees to spend the summer at Camp Whitewood — an exclusive therapy retreat in the woods. She feels optimistic when she arrives. The other girls all have their reasons for being there, which makes Penny feel a little less alone. But then she starts seeing things that can't possibly be there: the gold watch her father was buried with, his favorite whiskey spilled on her cabin floor … a terrifying figure she calls the Shadow Man looming at the foot of her bed. Penny thinks she is losing her mind, but when a girl goes missing, and is later found dead, it's clear that whatever is happening at Camp Whitewood isn't all in her head. As the hallucinations become increasingly intense and more girls wind up dead, Penny must work with whoever is left standing to figure out what is real before the Shadow Man uses their traumas against them and claims their lives.
|
|
|
|
PostScript
by Cory McCarthy
From Stonewall Honoree Cory McCarthy, a heartbreaking, joyful, read-it-in-one-sitting YA novel about the last of us. I'm not sure the how-pocalypse changes anything. I don't think about it; this is hard enough. This is a depopulated archipelago off the coast of Massachusetts, home to a tiny handful of sapiens sifting the remnants of civilization for scraps of comfort and joy. There's no sense in trying to figure out exactly how humans got to this place of endless gray skies and so many mass graves--that's a very long letter no one has the heart to read again. What matters is this fleeting postscript, a strangely joyous house of bones built by an unlikely quintet of survivors.
|
|
|
|
Queen of Faces: Deluxe Edition
by Petra Lord
This dark academia fantasy follows a desperate girl at a cutthroat magical academy who faces a choice between life and death: become an assassin for the enchanted elite or watch her decaying body draw its last breath. For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Brandon Sanderson, Lev Grossman, and R.F. Kuang. Anabelle Gage is trapped in a male body, and it's rotting from the inside out. But Ana can't afford to escape it, even as the wealthiest in Caimor buy and discard expensive designer bodies without a thought. When she fails to gain admittance to the prestigious Paragon Academy — and access to the healthy new forms the school provides its students — her final hope implodes. Now without options, Ana must use her illusion magic to try to steal a healthy chassis — before her own kills her. But Ana is caught by none other than the headmaster of Paragon Academy, who poses a brutal ultimatum: face execution for her crime or become a mercenary at his command. Revolt brews in Caimor's smog-choked underworld, and the wealthy and powerful will stop at nothing to take down the rebels and the infamous dark witch at their helm, the Black Wraith. With no choice but to accept, Ana will steal, fight, and kill her way to salvation. But her survival depends on a dangerous band of renegades: an impulsive assassin, a brooding bombmaker, and an alluring exile who might just spell her ruin. As Ana is drawn into a tangled web of secrets, the line between villain and hero shatters — and Ana must decide which side is worth dying for.
|
|
|
|
Sibylline
by Melissa de la Cruz
Three teens infiltrate the magical ivy league in this heart-stopping dark academia romantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz. The special first printing of the hardcover edition features stunning stenciled edges and designed endpapers! Raven, Atticus, and Dorian have dreamed of attending Sibylline for as long as they can remember. But when the magical university rejects them, the friends' plans for a future studying the arcane together begin crashing down. Until they decide to steal an education. Getting jobs on campus, they sneak into lectures and swipe forbidden texts, dodging the administration's watchful eye. In the quiet of night, in the thrill of secrecy, their magic awakens. And so do long-buried attractions that turn their friendship into something more. But like magic, love can create, and it can destroy. As unrequited feelings and resentment threaten to fracture their bond, the trio discovers an insidious magic that has sunk its claws into Sibylline, killing students and corroding the very bones of the university. Now the three intruders may be the key to saving the institution from wreckage … if they don't wreck one another first.
|
|
|
|
A Stage Set for Villains
by Shannon J. Spann
The gods are dead. All that's left are the Players … The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her. When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime — a chance for one mortal to steal a Player's immortality — Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse's brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life. But with time running out and the Playhouse's secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain. Because the Playhouse doesn't just tell stories. It rewrites them. And Riven's might end in blood. Caraval meets One Dark Window in this lush and dark fantasy.
|
|
|
|
This Ain't Our First Rodeo
by Liara Tamani
When life lassoes Josie and Shawn back together three years after their dreamy first date, their second chance at love is anything but easy. A big-hearted rodeo romance set in Houston, Texas, by the critically acclaimed Liara Tamani, author of What She Missed, All The Things We Never Knew, and Calling My Name. This bold first-love story is for fans of Nothing Like the Movies and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute.This ain't Josie's first rodeo. Her parents own several fancy restaurants in Houston, and they just opened a new one right outside the stadium. Josie is expected to stay inside the restaurant and help, and maybe take over their growing empire one day, but that isn't what Josie wants. She'd rather be at the rodeo itself than in a high-end restaurant next to it. Or eating funnel cakes and Texas-sized corn dogs at the carnival on the grounds. Or better yet, riding her horse at her grandparents' ranch, the very place her mom wants to sell. It ain't Shawn's first rodeo either. He's been riding bulls since his mom died, doing everything he can to live up to his rodeo-champion stepfather's sky-high expectations. But as Shawn's stardom rises, so do tensions in their relationship. His stepfather's drinking and gambling problems sure don't help. After one unforgettable night leaves Josie and Shawn wanting nothing but each other, their lives become entwined in increasingly complex ways. Can they save Josie's family land? Or will Shawn's stepfather and his shady plan be the ranch's ruin? Will one wrong move cost them everything? Rodeo after rodeo, year after year, can Josie and Shawn keep their hearts open through the secrets, twists, and turns? This Ain't Our First Rodeo is a contemporary western love story full of bulls, brawls, and horses. It's a tender second chance cowboy romance about family, friendship, mistakes, and the blessings of choosing to love anyway. Black cowboys and cowgirls like Josie and Shawn have long helped shape the American West — a legacy that shines in Liara Tamani's storytelling. Her writing is quick-witted, swoony, and authentic, with characters who are easy to love and hard to forget.
|
|
|
Elmhurst Public Library 125 S Prospect Ave. Elmhurst, Illinois 60126 (630) 279-8696
|
|
|
|