YA Friday: October 2022 Monthly Wrap-Up

YA book covers with a blue circle and white text that reads Monthly Wrap-Up

Halloween is almost here! And with spooky season nearing its end, it is almost time to cuddle under a blanket and fill your free time during holiday breaks devouring some of the great new October releases. Some long-awaited prequels and sequels came out this month, as well as new contemporary stories and heartwarming cold-weather romances.

Which book are you most excited to read?

October 2022 Releases

I Was Born for This, book cover

I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman

For Angel Rahimi life is about one thing: The Ark -- a boy band that's taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark's fandom has given her everything she loves -- her friend Juliet, her dreams, her place in the world. Her Muslim family doesn't understand the band's allure -- but Angel feels there are things about her they'll never understand.

Jimmy Kaga-Ricci owes everything to The Ark. He's their frontman -- and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing, even it only amplifies his anxiety. The fans are very accepting that he's trans -- but they also keep shipping with him with his longtime friend and bandmate, Rowan. But Jimmy and Rowan are just friends -- and Rowan has a secret girlfriend the fans can never know about. Dreams don't always turn out the way you think and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together, they find out how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be.



A Scatter of Light, book cover

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo

Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha's Vineyard with her best friends--one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria's parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother's gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable--for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It's the kind of summer that changes a life forever.



Tell Me No Lies, book cover

Tell Me No Lies by Andrea Contos

Nora and Sophie Linden may be sisters, but they're not friends. Not since the party last month. Not since the night Sophie's boyfriend, Garrett, disappeared. Half the town thinks Garrett is dead, the other half believes he ran away, but Sophie knows something no one else does -- Garrett left that party with Nora. And straight-A, Ivy-league-bound Nora had never been to a single party before that night.

Then Nora withdraws, barely coming home anymore, right when Sophie starts receiving messages from someone who claims to be Garrett, promising revenge -- for what happened to him that night and for the lies both girls told to the police about it.

With the sisters' futures -- and lives -- in jeopardy, they'll have to decide whether to trust each other again or risk their secrets leading them to their graves.



If You Could See the Sun, book cover

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.

When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.

But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.



Eight Nights of Flirting, book cover

Eight Nights of Flirting by Hannah Reynolds

Shira Barbanel has a plan: this Hanukkah, she’s going to get a boyfriend. And she has the perfect candidate in mind—her great-uncle’s assistant, Isaac. He’s reliable, brilliant, and of course, super hot. The only problem? Shira’s an absolute disaster when it comes to flirting.

Enter Tyler Nelson, Shira’s nemesis-slash-former-crush. As much as she hates to admit it, Tyler is the most charming and popular guy she knows. Which means he’s the perfect person to teach her how to win Isaac over.

When Shira and Tyler get snowed in together at Golden Doors, they strike a deal—flirting lessons for Shira in exchange for career connections for Tyler. But as Shira starts to see the sweet, funny boy beneath Tyler’s playboy exterior, she realizes she actually likes hanging out with him. And that wasn’t part of the plan.

Amidst a whirl of snowy adventures, hot chocolate, and candlelight, Shira must learn to trust her heart to discover if the romance she planned is really the one that will make her happiest.



Dark Room Etiquette, book cover

Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe

Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he's been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.

But as time passes, the line between fact and fiction starts to blur, and Sayers begins to wonder if he can escape . . . before he loses himself.



Further Reading

Love from Mecca to Medina, book cover
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove, book cover
Reader, I Murdered Him, book cover
I Miss You, I Hate This, book cover
The First to Die at the End, book cover
Drizzle, Dreams, and Lovestruck Things, book cover
Anne of Greenville, book cover