Teen & Young Adult Books of the Month

The best new teen & young adult (YA) books - as chosen by our resident book-lovers. 

 

A cosy, swoony autumn romance where one big decision leads to two different versions of love - for fans of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe and Gilmore Girls, and readers of Jenny Han.

One choice. One season. Two different versions of love . . .

Willa lives in Oak Falls, a small town where the Fall months are full of red and gold leaves, pumpkin spice and bonfires. Willa loves it but deep down she has sometimes wondered if just maybe she might want more. When she is left some money by a distant aunt, her small world is rocked. It's a Sliding Doors moment . . .

In alternating chapters see Willa live each version of her decision - and two different versions of falling in love . . .

On one hand, she has her eye on London and a travel-journalism course - but she needs to study for it, so has to start spending her weekends in the library, where Theo, a grumpy out-of-towner who thinks everything here is beneath him (and has an annoyingly handsome way of pushing his glasses up his nose) also hangs out.

Or she can take her time and stay in Oak Falls, working at the coffee shop while she decides exactly what the perfect round-the-world trip would be. But she recently got a new boss: monosyllabic James, who's back in his childhood town with a broken heart. . .

Read all your favourite Fall Romance tropes: Small-Town Romance Grumpy x Sunshine Enemies to Lovers And look out for Love in Oak Falls in every season: Snowflakes or Surf Breaks? - October 2026 Sunflowers or Sandy Beaches? - Summer 2027

The mind-blowing new novel full of mystery, conspiracy and dark secrets from bestselling Holly Bourne, for fans of Kathleen Glasgow and e. lockhart "A voice of our generation." Samantha Shannon "Holly Bourne is something special. She's got it." Patrick Ness Everything was perfect in the small town of Maple Lakes...until the cheerleaders started screaming. Clover wishes something would happen in her boring high school - so she can spend more time with her crush Brody, covering it for the school newspaper. But she never wished for this... When cheerleader Abigail starts screaming in the middle of an exam, people laugh. But as more girls start breaking into uncontrollable screaming fits, it's clear something is seriously wrong. The authorities don't have a clue what's happening - so it's up to Clover and Brody to investigate. What they discover is a darkness beneath the perfect veneer of Maple Lakes - and it is spreading fast.