Even if you’re not reading this during Spooky Season™, any time of year is a good time to turn off the lights, huddle under the covers, and allow yourself to feel scared. But you don’t necessarily need a horror movie to feel that way, since there’s plenty of creepy, unsettling, nightmare-inducing YA books on the market. And no matter what your favorite horror trope is, there’s something out there for everyone.
So grab your favorite weighted blanket and a candle and check out some of our scary recs, from psychological horror to witches and zombies and more.
Book Recs Based on Your Fave Type of Horror Film
FROM SLASHER FILMS TO GHOST STORIES
If you like killer/slasher movies, try…
1. Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
For fans of classic horror movies like It, Cesare’s YA novel will take you to Kettle Springs—a tiny town that’s split down the middle between an older generation who wants to save it, and a younger one intent on leaving as soon as possible. But there’s more to Kettle Springs than meets the eye—particularly the creepy clown school mascot with a sinister plan of his own. And when this particularly murderous clown gets his sights set on recruiting the rotten kids of Kettle Springs, the small town goes from boring and dull to anything but.
Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs, to find a fresh start. But what they don’t know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half.
On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can.
Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a creepy clown in a pork-pie hat, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kettle Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.
2. The Woods Are Always Watching by Stephanie Perkins
It’s finally the summer after graduation, and it couldn’t have come quickly enough for best friends—and fellow outsiders—Neena and Josie. But when a three-day hike deep in a forest turns deadly, Neena and Josie are tested in ways they never expected in high school and are soon fighting for their own survival.
Bears aren’t the only predators in these woods.
Best friends Neena and Josie spent high school as outsiders, but at least they had each other. Now, with college and a two-thousand-mile separation looming on the horizon, they have one last chance to be together—a three-day hike deep into the woods of the Pisgah National Forest.
Simmering tensions lead to a detour off the trail and straight into a waking nightmare; and then into something far worse. Something that will test them in horrifying ways.
3. Ten by Gretchen McNeil
BFFs Meg and Minnie are looking forward to a weekend getaway filled with partying—and without a care in the world. But when they stumble upon a DVD with a terrifying message, it’s clear that a mysterious killer has other plans. And when people start getting murdered one by one, it’s up to Meg to figure out the killer’s identity…unless they’ve found her first.
Ten teens. Three days. One killer.
It was supposed to be the weekend of their lives—an exclusive house party on Henry Island. Best friends Meg and Minnie are looking forward to two days of boys, booze, and fun-filled luxury. But what starts out as fun turns twisted after the discovery of a DVD with a sinister message: Vengeance is mine. And things only get worse from there.
With a storm raging outside, the teens are cut off from the outside world . . . so when a mysterious killer begins picking them off one by one, there’s no escape. As the deaths become more violent and the teens turn on one another, can Meg find the killer before more people die? Or is the killer closer to her than she could ever imagine?
If you like psychological horror, try…
1. They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman
Jill Newman is almost done with high school—and the memories from freshman year, when her best friend Shaila was murdered by her boyfriend Graham. But senior year doesn’t exactly go as planned, because Jill starts getting mysterious texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence. Suddenly, Jill finds herself down a rabbit hole of clues as she works to find Shaila’s real killer—who might be closer to her than she ever expected.
In Gold Coast, Long Island, everything from the expensive downtown shops to the manicured beaches, to the pressed uniforms of Jill Newman and her friends, looks perfect. But as Jill found out three years ago, nothing is as it seems.
Freshman year Jill’s best friend, the brilliant, dazzling Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend. After that dark night on the beach, Graham confessed, the case was closed, and Jill tried to move on.
Now, it’s Jill’s senior year and she’s determined to make it her best yet. After all, she’s a senior and a Player–a member of Gold Coast Prep’s exclusive, not-so-secret secret society. Senior Players have the best parties, highest grades and the admiration of the entire school. This is going to be Jill’s year. She’s sure of it.
But when Jill starts getting texts proclaiming Graham’s innocence, her dreams of the perfect senior year start to crumble. If Graham didn’t kill Shaila, who did? Jill vows to find out, but digging deeper could mean putting her friendships, and her future, in jeopardy.
2. Horrid by Katrina Leno
After the death of her father, Jane North-Robinson moves to her mother’s old house in Maine. She hopes to start over, working to make new friends at school and gleaning insight into her father’s life from memories left over in her mother’s former home. But one day, Jane opens a locked “storage” room to discover that it’s actually a little girl’s bedroom—one that’s full of sinister secrets. And as those secrets unravel, Jane must reckon with everything that she’s been avoiding—and something much darker.
Following her father’s death, Jane North-Robinson and her mom move from sunny California to the dreary, dilapidated old house in Maine where her mother grew up. All they want is a fresh start, but behind North Manor’s doors lurks a history that leaves them feeling more alone…and more tormented.
As the cold New England autumn arrives, and Jane settles in to her new home, she finds solace in old books and memories of her dad. She steadily begins making new friends, but also faces bullying from the resident “bad seed,” struggling to tamp down her own worst nature in response. Jane’s mom also seems to be spiraling with the return of her childhood home, but she won’t reveal why. Then Jane discovers that the “storage room” her mom has kept locked isn’t for storage at all — it’s a little girl’s bedroom, left untouched for years and not quite as empty of inhabitants as it appears….
Is it grief? Mental illness? Or something more…horrid?
3. The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould
When Logan Ortiz-Woodley arrives in Snakebite, Oregon, she senses right away that there’s something off about the town. Teenagers are going missing, but they aren’t fully leaving. Logan ultimately teams up with Ashley Barton, whose boyfriend was among the first to disappear—and linger. Together, they hope to figure out what has been haunting the town, but they uncover secrets far more deep than they ever thought possible.
The Dark has been waiting for far too long, and it won’t stay hidden any longer.
Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV’s ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there’s more secrets buried here than they originally let on.
Ashley Barton’s boyfriend was the first teen to go missing, and she’s felt his presence ever since. But now that the Ortiz-Woodleys are in town, his ghost is following her and the only person Ashley can trust is the mysterious Logan. When Ashley and Logan team up to figure out who—or what—is haunting Snakebite, their investigation reveals truths about the town, their families, and themselves that neither of them are ready for. As the danger intensifies, they realize that their growing feelings for each other could be a light in the darkness.
If you like gothic themes, try…
1. Gallant by V.E. Schwab
When Olivia Prior is called home to Gallant, she’s not quite sure what to expect. It’s certainly not her hostile cousin, or the spirits that lurk in the hallways. But when she uncovers a secret within the walls of the manor, she starts to unravel generations of mystery—including those tied to her own parents. And as she gets deeper into the past, Olivia must decide whether to choose between good and evil—or if both live within her at the same time.
Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for Girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home; it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile, or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.
Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant—but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysterious figure rules over all. Now Olivia sees what has unraveled generations of her family, and where her father may have come from.
Olivia has always wanted to belong somewhere, but will she take her place as a Prior, protecting our world against the Master of the House? Or will she take her place beside him?
2. The Book of Living Secrets by Madeleine Roux
Best friends Adelle and Connie have one major thing in common: their shared love of the gothic romance novel titled Moira. So when they are invited to magically visit the world of the book, they can’t resist. However, the novel’s universe is nothing like they pictured—instead, it’s nightmarish and filled with other-worldly horrors. They realize that something deadly is hidden beneath their favorite story, and it’s up to them to solve the mystery—if they want to escape and return home.
No matter how different best friends Adelle and Connie are, one thing they’ve always had in common is their love of a little-known gothic romance novel called Moira. So when the girls are tempted by a mysterious man to enter the world of the book, they hardly suspect it will work. But suddenly they are in the world of Moira, living among characters they’ve obsessed about for years.
Except…all is not how they remembered it. The world has been turned upside down: The lavish balls and star-crossed love affairs are now interlaced with unspeakable horrors. The girls realize that something dark is lurking behind their foray into fiction—and they will have to rewrite their own arcs if they hope to escape this nightmare with their lives.
3. Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone
When Violeta Graceling finds herself living at Rowan Sylvanan’s estate after her brother agrees to lend him his powers, she doesn’t expect to fall for him. Rowan’s dark reputation precedes him, but Leta soon learns that there’s more to the boy who’s rumored to be a monster—like the fact that he’s bound to the evil and mysterious Lord Under and cursed by a spell that ties him to the ominous lake behind his mansion. Leta must work with Rowan to help break the curse—while confronting the darkness that lives inside her as well.
There are monsters in the world.
When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.
There are monsters in the woods.
As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…
There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.
Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under.
If you’re into ghosts and hauntings, try…
1. White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson
Marigold is forced to move into a renovated home with her mother and 10-year-old stepsister—and she quickly learns that the house has some secrets of its own. Eerie things begin happening within the walls of her new home on Maple Street, and her stepsister Piper suddenly has an imaginary friend who seems to loathe Mari. But it’s not just the house that has secrets; Mari’s new town does too. And it’s up to her to uncover all of them in time—before they catch up with her first.
Marigold is running from ghosts. The phantoms of her old life keep haunting her, but a move with her newly blended family from their small California beach town to the embattled Midwestern city of Cedarville might be the fresh start she needs. Her mom has accepted a new job with the Sterling Foundation that comes with a free house, one that Mari now has to share with her bratty ten-year-old stepsister, Piper.
The renovated picture-perfect home on Maple Street, sitting between dilapidated houses, surrounded by wary neighbors has its . . . secrets. That’s only half the problem: household items vanish, doors open on their own, lights turn off, shadows walk past rooms, voices can be heard in the walls, and there’s a foul smell seeping through the vents only Mari seems to notice. Worse: Piper keeps talking about a friend who wants Mari gone.
But “running from ghosts” is just a metaphor, right?
As the house closes in, Mari learns that the danger isn’t limited to Maple Street. Cedarville has its secrets, too. And secrets always find their way through the cracks.
2. Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters
Shady Grove has a special gift, passed down from her father: she can summon ghosts from the grave with a fiddle. It’s a talent she often avoids, as summoning ghosts brings nothing but more darkness and death. But when her brother is accused of murder—a murder she is certain he didn’t commit—she has to turn to her gift in order to prove his innocence, no matter what darkness she might summon in the process.
If I could have a fiddle made of Daddy’s bones, I’d play it. I’d learn all the secrets he kept.
Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness.
But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets.
In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing.
3. This Is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes
It’s the summer after high school graduation, and Daffodil Franklin has her plans set: she’ll be house sitting at a sprawling mansion. But there’s more to this large manor than meets the eye—secrets are buried within the walls, and the estate has a grudge of its own. And Daffodil might just be the house’s next victim…or the key to solving everything.
I am not welcome. Somehow I know that. Something doesn’t want me here.
Daffodil Franklin has plans for a quiet summer before her freshman year at college, and luckily, she’s found the job that can give her just that: housesitting a mansion for a wealthy couple.
But as the summer progresses and shadows lengthen, Daffodil comes to realize the house is more than it appears. The spacious home seems to close in on her, and as she takes the long road into town, she feels eyes on her the entire way, and something tugging her back.
What Daffodil doesn’t yet realize is that her job comes with a steep price. The house has a long-ago grudge it needs to settle . . . and Daffodil is the key to settling it.
If you want something witchy, go for…
1. Extasia by Claire Legrand
Extasia takes readers to a small village where a girl joins a coven in order to rid her community of an ancient evil. After several people in her town have died, the girl becomes one of the four acclaimed saints, throwing herself into a blood-drenched quest filled with dark magic and nightmarish creatures. But while trying to rid her village of death and destruction, she might uncover secrets about her village—and about herself—that are far more sinister in the process.
Her name is unimportant.
All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain—an evil which has already killed nine of her village’s men.
She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.
Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?
2. The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin
Witches have controlled the climate for centuries, but their power is waning amid climate change and man-made destruction. It’s up to Clara, an everwitch whose power is tied to all four seasons, to help stop some of the most deadly storms the world has ever seen. The only problem is that Clara doesn’t want anything to do with her power, especially when it seems to hurt everyone around her—that is, until she meets Sang, her trainer. As she starts to fall for him, Clara must decide whether to lean into her abilities or protect the ones she loves.
For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power from the sun peaking in the season of their birth. But now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.
In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It’s wild and volatile, and the price of her magic―losing the ones she loves―is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather.
In Winter, the world is on the precipice of disaster. Fires burn, storms rage, and Clara accepts that she’s the only one who can make a difference.
In Spring, she falls for Sang, the witch training her. As her magic grows, so do her feelings, until she’s terrified Sang will be the next one she loses.
In Summer, Clara must choose between her power and her happiness, her duty and the people she loves… before she loses Sang, her magic, and thrusts the world into chaos.
3. The Witch Haven by Sasha Peyton Smith
After a mysterious incident involving a dead man and a pair of scissors, Frances Hallowell is whisked away to Haxhaven Sanitarium under the pretense that she is deadly ill. But the sanitarium is actually a school for witches, sending Frances into a magical spiral where she must confront her newfound power—and the secrets that come with it. When she meets a magical boy in her dreams who is able to teach her more about her abilities, she realizes that she might have more power than she ever thought possible. But with power comes secrets, like the truth about what happened to her murdered brother, and a bigger evil at bay in her city.
In 1911 New York City, seventeen-year-old Frances Hallowell spends her days as a seamstress, mourning the mysterious death of her brother months prior. Everything changes when she’s attacked and a man ends up dead at her feet—her scissors in his neck, and she can’t explain how they got there.
Before she can be condemned as a murderess, two cape-wearing nurses arrive to inform her she is deathly ill and ordered to report to Haxahaven Sanitarium. But Frances finds Haxahaven isn’t a sanitarium at all: it’s a school for witches. Within Haxahaven’s glittering walls, Frances finds the sisterhood she craves, but the headmistress warns Frances that magic is dangerous. Frances has no interest in the small, safe magic of her school, and is instead enchanted by Finn, a boy with magic himself who appears in her dreams and tells her he can teach her all she’s been craving to learn, lessons that may bring her closer to discovering what truly happened to her brother.
Frances’s newfound power attracts the attention of the leader of an ancient order who yearns for magical control of Manhattan. And who will stop at nothing to have Frances by his side. Frances must ultimately choose what matters more, justice for her murdered brother and her growing feelings for Finn, or the safety of her city and fellow witches. What price would she pay for power, and what if the truth is more terrible than she ever imagined?
If classic monsters are more your jam, try….
1. Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Lisa Sterle
When Becca transfers to a new high school, she’s more than surprised to be taken under the wing by the most popular girls in town. Except they aren’t your regular popular girls—at a party, Becca later learns that her new BFFs are actually werewolves. Hungry for acceptance, Becca lets them turn her into a werewolf as well. But when murders start popping up in town, their secret might be blown apart. Along with the secret feelings she’s developing for one of her new best friends.
When Becca transfers to a high school in an elite San Francisco suburb, she’s worried she’s not going to fit in. To her surprise, she’s immediately adopted by the most popular girls in school. At first glance, Marley, Arianna, and Mandy are perfect. But at a party under a full moon, Becca learns that they also have a big secret.
Becca’s new friends are werewolves. Their prey? Slimy boys who take advantage of unsuspecting girls. Eager to be accepted, Becca allows her friends to turn her into a werewolf, and finally, for the first time in her life, she feels like she truly belongs.
But then things get complicated. As their pack begins to buckle under the pressure, their moral high ground gets muddier and muddier—and Becca realizes that she might have feelings for one of her new best friends.
2. What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo
Eleanor Zarrin has found refuge away from her wild, monstrous family while at boarding school for years. But when she’s forced to go home, she struggles to find acceptance from her relatives, who are more likely to prowl the woods than sit around the dinner table. Yet ultimately, Eleanor must find a way to connect with them in order to keep her family together—and perhaps discover her inner darkness in the process, too.
Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying incident, she goes to the only place she thinks is safe: the home she left behind. But when she gets there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods around the family estate and read fortunes in the guts of birds.
Eleanor finds herself desperately trying to hold the family together—in order to save them all, Eleanor must learn to embrace her family of monsters and tame the darkness inside her.
3. Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer
Nita’s mother has a unique source of income: she sells the body parts of supernatural beings on the black market. And Nita helps out by dissecting the bodies after they come in. But when her mother brings in a live creature instead one day, Nita decides that the whole thing has gone too far. Her refusal comes with a price: now Nita herself is put for sale on the black market, and she has to do everything in her power to escape…even if it means committing crimes of her own.
Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” Until her mom brings home a live specimen and Nita decides she wants out; dissecting a scared teenage boy is a step too far. But when she decides to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold in his place—because Nita herself isn’t exactly “human.” She has the ability to alter her biology, a talent that is priceless on the black market. Now on the other side of the bars, if she wants to escape, Nita must ask herself if she’s willing to become the worst kind of monster.
Looking for a zombie read? Look no further than…
1. Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Jane McKane is finishing her studies at Miss Preston’s School of Combat, ready to take flight in her career as an Attendant. She’s grown up among the dead, having been born right after the corpses of fallen soldiers at the battles of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville began to walk again. But she doesn’t want anything to do with that. However, when families in Baltimore begin to go missing, Jane doesn’t have a choice—she’s suddenly entangled in a mess of conspiracies and conflict between the dead and the living.
Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.
In this new America, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Education Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead.
But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose.
But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.
And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.
2. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
After the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been trying to make ends meet by working as gravediggers in the small village of Colbren. There’s just one problem: the corpses don’t always stay in the ground. When Ryn crosses paths with Ellis, a mapmaker with an intriguing history, she’s forced to face her town’s darkness head on. Together, they try to untangle a decades-old curse and figure out what is making the corpses return—along with the truth about each other.
Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.
The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?
Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them deep into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the long-hidden truths about themselves.
3. Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson
When Mila Flores’s best friend dies along with two other girls at school, she has suspicions about what led to their deaths. So she does what any other person would do: she decides to bring them back to life. Unfortunately, the undead girls have no memory of their murders—but they are thirsty for revenge. Mila and the corpses must work together to find the killer before they murder again—before the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves forever.
Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.
So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.
Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.
For apocalyptic books, be sure to check out….
1. The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
Set in a dystopian version of New York City where art and books are illegal, The Sound of Stars follows 17-year-old Janelle “Ellie” Baker who rebels by curating a library in secret. When a book goes missing, her secret is threatened to be blown open by M0Rr1S, the lab-born alien who is now required to surrender her to punishment by death. But it turns out that M0Rr1S has a soft spot for art—and secrets of his own, all of which threaten to spill out as they embark on an epic road trip to escape the oppressive Ilori and chase their own fate.
When a rebel librarian meets an Ilori commander…
Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the death of one-third of the world’s population. Today, seventeen-year-old Ellie Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. All art, books and creative expression are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library.
When young Ilori commander M0Rr1S (Morris) finds Ellie’s illegal library, he’s duty-bound to deliver her for execution. But Morris isn’t a typical Ilori…and Ellie and her books might be the key to a desperate rebellion of his own.
2. Any Sign of Life by Rae Carson
Basketball star Paige Miller is gearing up for the championships when she falls incredibly ill. A few days later, she wakes up in a hospital room to learn that the entire world has vanished. Determined to survive, Paige clings to life and eventually crosses paths with a few other survivors. Together, they quickly learn that the world’s ending did not happen by chance—and the danger might still be out there, waiting for them.
Paige Miller is determined to take her basketball team to the state championship, maybe even beyond. But as March Madness heats up, Paige falls deathly ill. Days later, she wakes up attached to an IV and learns that the whole world has perished. Everyone she loves, and all of her dreams for the future—they’re gone.
But Paige is a warrior. She pushes through her fear and her grief and gets through each day scrounging for food, for shelter, for safety. As she struggles with her new reality, Paige learns that the apocalypse did not happen by accident. And that there are worse things than being alone.
3. The Fever King by Victoria Lee
When Noam Álvaro wakes up in the hospital, he learns that he’s the only survivor of a magical virus that killed his entire family—and turned him into a technopath, someone who can control technology with magic. As the son of undocumented immigrants, Noam is now among the magical elite, and he secretly plots to use his newfound power against the government. There’s just one problem: he’s starting to fall for the minister’s son. As the stakes rise, Noam must decide between his head and his heart, while learning who he can trust—and who he can’t.
In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.
The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.
Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.