YA Worth the Wait

Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green
It was a long time coming for John Green’s newest novel, five years since his 2012 bestseller The Fault in Our Stars was published. And if it’s any indication, Turtles is going to follow that success. Green’s newest main character is Aza, a girl filled with anxiety since the death of her father when she was a child. After her childhood best friend Davis’ billionaire father disappears, Ava sets out to look for him—and hopefully claim some of the reward money. Much like Green’s other protagonists, Ava is smart and gutsy and her head is an intense place to be. It’s hard to think of how John Green was going to top The Fault in Our Stars, but if the buzz is any indication, Turtles is going to be worth the wait.

Little & Lion, by Brandy Colbert
Brandy Colbert’s debut Pointe remains one of my favorite books of 2014. It was a lyrical, gripping contemporary, and her sophomore follow-up Little and Lion definitely doesn’t disappoint. Set in Los Angeles, it follows Suz after she returns home from her New England boarding school. Back from boarding school—and her first relationship with a girl, as well as her first homophobic encounters—Suz tries to help her brother Lionel with his recent bipolar II diagnosis. Not to mention she has a crush on both Rafaela, her flirty coworker, and her longtime friend Emil. Much like she did with Pointe, Colbert beautifully writes diverse and complex relationships that aren’t to be missed.

Here We Are Now, by Jasmine Warga
Warga’s debut, My Heart and Other Black Holes, was a beautiful handling of mental illness that didn’t glorify it, and I was equally excited when I heard she finally had another novel coming out! Much like her first, this one promises to be a moving contemporary with a complex female protagonist. Taliah Sahar Abdallat spends much of her time listening to music—mostly since it helps ease the pain of not knowing who her father is, since her mother won’t talk about him. She’s resigned herself to not knowing until she finds letters to her mom from rock star Julian Oliver, and realizes just where her love of music comes from. She’s even more surprised when Julian shows up at her door asking her to come on a trip with him to meet her dying grandfather, his father. This sophomore effort is sure to be as heart-wrenching as her debut. Definitely worth the wait!

I’ll Give You the Sun, by Jandy Nelson
Look, like most of you I’m waiting for Jandy Nelson to announce a new novel any day now, especially with the four-year gap between her 2011 debut, The Sky Is Everywhere, and 2015’s Sun. But while we’re waiting, it’s worth talking about (or rereading!) I’ll Give You the Sun again. An absolutely breathtaking and unique book, it follows twins Jude and Noah, who used to be close until loss rips them apart. Told in alternating perspectives between the two, and at different times in their lives, it’s a breathtaking book that has me eagerly awaiting whatever Jandy Nelson writes next.

Picture Us In the Light, by Kelly Loy Gilbert
Kelly Loy Gilbert’s Conviction remains a book I completely adore and wish had gotten more attention when it came out, because it’s an absolutely stunningly executed contemporary. Picture Us in the Light promises to be just as devastating. Danny Cheng’s parents have secrets—he’s always known that. Still, he’s got their blessing to attend RSID and continue making art, something he’s been doing for as long as he can remember. But his fear at losing his best friend, Harry Wong, not to mention his discovery of a taped-up box in his father’s closet filled with damning evidence on a powerful Silicon Valley family, throws his life into turmoil. It’s sure to be as powerful as her first novel.