Warm weather means finally being able to read outside without pretending you're enjoying the sun while bracing for the chill in the air. Good thing we have a stack of incredible new releases hitting shelves this month for you to take outside with you! From moving contemporary to angsty summer romance to thrilling historical fiction to incredible graphic novels, there's something for everyone. Keep reading to learn more. Karate Prom by Kyle Starks On Sale: May 7, 2024 Don “TheDragonWilson” Jones is the finest fighter Benjamin Harrison High School has ever produced. But when he enters the ring against Lincoln High’s Sam Steadman, it’s love at first knockout. Unfortunately, Sam has a jerky ex-boyfriend…and Don has a seriously terrifying ex-girlfriend. Like, “global crime cartel” terrifying. From prom to the after-party to graduation, Don and Sam—and an increasingly eclectic cast of supporting oddballs—will have to fight their way through a gauntlet of opponents, all in the name of love (and punching). Did we mention the punching? Fast-paced, madcap, and completely free of any kind of redeeming or morally thoughtful content, KARATE PROM is a loving homage to teen comedies of the '80s as well as badly dubbed kung-fu films. A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur On Sale: May 14, 2024 June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history. Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly. 1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings. Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death. Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust. When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever seen: Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant. In Repair by A. L. Graziadei On Sale: May 14, 2024 Nathaniel Conti doesn’t feel real when he’s alone. Maybe that’s why he has a reputation as a troublemaker—he’ll do just about anything to have everyone’s eyes on him. But things are about to change. Nathaniel is in his first year of college, flung into new circumstances with new people to meet. There are public speaking classmates, lacrosse players—and then there’s the aspiring photographer who asks Nathaniel to be their model, who’s interested in more than what’s on the surface. Nathaniel feels like he’s moving forward—until a former friend shows up, someone who reminds him of habits and hurts he thought he’d left behind. From the author of Icebreaker comes a deeply felt, gorgeously told story about confronting what's buried, coming into your own, and finding your people. Thirsty by Jas Hammonds On Sale: May 14, 2024 From Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes a gripping read about a queer teen risking it all to pledge an underground sorority with her best friends the summer before college—perfect for fans of Euphoria and Girl in Pieces. It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove. As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . . But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process. Keepers of the Stones and Stars by Michael Barakiva On Sale: May 21, 2024 Keepers of the Stones and Stars is a witty young adult contemporary fantasy about a group of five teens chosen by magical gems to save the world. Save the world. Get the guy. Reed is leading his best life: he’s just kissed the boy of his dreams, his band is finally taking off, and he’s a shoo-in to getting elected as next year’s Student Council president. But he’s ready to give it all up when his suspiciously aristocratic guidance counselor tells him he has been chosen to go on the adventure of a lifetime. Because Reed is the first of five Stone Bearers to be chosen by magical gems and granted their powers. All he has to do is unite all five and lead them to seal a portal that will release an onslaught of uncontrollable chaotic magical energies, and destroy the world as we know it. It’s up to the Ruby, Sapphire, Topaz, Emerald, and Amethyst Bearers to save the world, fulfilling their roles in a centuries-old cycle that dates back to 17th century Mughal India and the first Keepers of the Stones and Stars. I Wish You Would by Eva Des Lauriers On Sale: May 21, 2024 To All the Boys I've Loved Before meets You’ve Reached Sam—with all the feels of a Taylor Swift song—in this love story in which explosive secrets threaten to tear everyone apart, including best friends (or maybe more?), Natalia and Ethan. "One of the best YA novels I've read in a long time." —Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of Today Tonight Tomorrow It’s Senior Sunrise, the epic overnight at the beach that kicks off senior year. But for Natalia and Ethan, it’s the first time seeing each other after what happened at junior prom—when they almost crossed the line from best friends to something more and ruined everything. After ghosting each other all summer, Natalia is desperate to pretend she doesn’t care and Ethan is desperate to fix his mistake. When the senior class carries out their tradition of writing private letters to themselves—what they wish they would do this year if they were braver—Natalia pours her heart out. So does Ethan. So does everyone in their entire class. But in Natalia’s panicked attempt to retrieve her heartfelt confession, the wind scatters seven of the notes across the beach. Now, Ethan and Natalia are forced to work together to find the lost letters before any secrets are revealed—especially their own. Seven private confessions. Seven time bombs loose for anyone to find. And one last chance before the sun rises for these two to fall in love. In The Shallows by Tanya Byrne One Sale: May 21 From the acclaimed author of Afterlove comes a beautiful sapphic second-chance love story drenched with longing, loss and mystery. Mara's ex, Nico, is the girl of her dreams: beautiful, wild and unpredictable. She's Mara's everything, even though Mara's never sure that she's Nico's anything. Then Nico goes missing ... New Year's Day: A girl is rescued from the sea. She knows she is called Nico, but other than that, she has no memory of why she was in the sea or what came before. When destiny reunites them, is this Mara and Nico's second chance? Can their relationship make it out of the shallows? And what will happen when they discover the truth behind Nico's accident? Because one day, Nico will remember everything. Flawless Girls by Anna-Marie McLemore On Sale: May 28, 2024 The Soler sisters are infamous in polite society—brazen, rebellious, and raised by their fashionable grandmother who couldn’t care less about which fork goes where. But their grandmother also knows the standards that two Latina young ladies will be held to, so she secures them two coveted places at the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites. Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls in their prim white dresses. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she’s unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes. As their grandmother uses every connection she has to find Renata, Isla re-enrolls, intent on finding out what happened to her sister. But the Alarie House is as exacting as it is opulent. It won’t give up its secrets easily, and neither will a mysterious, conniving girl who’s either controlling the house, or carrying out its deadly orders. Tautly written, tense, and evocative, this is a stunning YA novel by award-winning and critically acclaimed author Anna-Marie McLemore. Maelstrom: A Prince of Evil by Lorian Merriman On Sale: May 28, 2024 In this action-packed, hilarious fantasy graphic novel perfect for fans of Nimona and The Adventure Zone, Maelstrom, the demon son of an evil tyrant improbably teams up with the Hero of Virtue to take his mother down—that is, unless, Maelstrom decides to betray the Hero first. Maelstrom is a half-demon prince pining for a place in history. (Honestly, he’s just bored and searching for a way to pass the time.) Twigs is the young, prophesized Hero of Virtue fated to face him—or so we’ve been told . . . But Maelstrom’s mother, regent to the throne and a powerful necromancer, is determined to keep an iron grip on her domain. Bemoaning his lost destiny, Maelstrom teams up with the Hero to stop his mother and forge a new destiny for himself. What Twigs doesn’t know is that Maelstrom has a cunning plan to build his own epic legend and double-cross Twigs at the perfect moment. . . Hurdles in the Dark by Elvira K. Gonzalez On Sale: May 28, 2024 A Mexican-American teen girl dreams of winning an athletic scholarship against all odds in a Texas border town. This true story of survival, strength, and triumph is perfect for fans of Educated and Athlete A. Twenty-four hours: that's how long fourteen-year-old Elvira Gonzalez is given to come up with the $40,000 she needs to save her kidnapped mother from a drug cartel. It's 2006 and Elvira's hometown of Laredo, Texas, has become engulfed by the Mexican Drug War. Elvira's life is unraveling around her—setting her on a harrowing path that leads her to being locked up in one of South Texas's worst juvenile detention centers. After Elvira's released from juvie, she's resolved to never go back. That's when her unexpected salvation arrives in the form of 33-inch-high plastic hurdles. Determined to win a track scholarship out of Laredo, Elvira begins breaking into the school, alone, at 5:30 in the morning to practice hurdling. Soon, she catches the attention of a renowned high school coach, an adult man in his 30s. As they train, their coach-student relationship begins to change, becoming sexual. At just seventeen years old, Elvira experiences the dangers many young athletes face, especially those who are marginalized. In spite of these towering obstacles, Elvira eventually propels herself to become one of the top ranked hurdlers in the USA and the first in her family to go to college. This inspiring true story of grit, tenacity, and hope traces Elvira's path as she overcomes impossible hurdles in her race to freedom.