Perfect Summer Reads for Young Adult

Perfect Summer Reads

Summer contemporary reads, chilling thrillers and frothy romance lead off a heavy hitting line-up of most excellent vacation reads. Lots of paranormal, supernatural thrillers, and science fiction adventure round out the field. Enjoy!

Contemporary, Triller and Romance (i.e., non-paranormal)

THE MOON AND MORE by Sarah Dessen

THE MOON AND MORE

Dessen's stories make great reads for summer or any time. Emaline has a perfect boyfriend. She and Luke have been together all through high school. Then in the summer before college she meets sophisticated, exciting Theo, a New Yorker assisting on a documentary film. Emaline begins to think she has bigger dreams than a small beach town can hold, but that means leaving her loving family and community. Emaline wants the moon and more, but how can she balance where she comes from with where she's going? Contemporary, Romance (June 4; Viking Juvenile)

RULES OF SUMMER by Joanna Philbin

RULES OF SUMMER

Rory's summer job might have landed her among the beautiful and rich of East Hampton, but she is strictly "staff." But Isabel Rule, her employer's youngest daughter, decides it's a summer for taking chances, and she's taking Rory along for the ride. But will Rory's own summer romance jeopardize her friendship with Isabel? And after long-hidden family secrets surface, will the Rule's picture perfect world ever be the same? Contemporary, Romance (June 4; Poppy)

THE GIRL WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE by April Henry

THE GIRL WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE

She doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know where she is or why. All she knows when she comes to in a ransacked cabin is that there are two men arguing over whether or not to kill her. And that she must race against the clock to stay alive. A nail-biting thriller involving murder, identity theft, and biological warfare. Thriller. (June 11; Henry Holt)

SPIES AND PREJUDICE by Talia Vance

SPIES AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice meets Veronica Mars in this slick romantic spy-thriller where nothing is what it seems. Berry Fields is a regular teen sleuth, trailing cheaters and liars and too busy to think about romance, especially arrogant, and gorgeous Tanner Halston. She's more concerned with the questions surfacing about her mother's death. But Tanner is hard to ignore when he keeps popping up in her investigations. Is he trying to stop her from discovering the truth, or protecting her from an unknown threat? Romance. Mystery. (June 11; EgmontUSA)

HOW (NOT) TO FIND A BOYFRIEND by Allyson Valentine

HOW (NOT) TO FIND A BOYFRIEND

Sophomore Nora Fulbright might be the most popular new cheerleader at school, but she's got a secret past as a nerd. She's emerged into a social butterfly, even if it meant dumbing down her class schedule to fit in. But her plan backfires when funny, sweet and very cute Adam moves into town with his ultra-smarts and illegally cute dimple. Can she prove to everyone, including herself, that she can be both a butterfly and a nerd?  (June 13; Philomel)

Paranormal and Fantasy

BORN OF ILLUSION by Teri Brown

BORN OF ILLUSION

In 1920s New York CIty, Anna Van Housen is a talented illusionist playing sidekick to her faux-medium mother and hiding her own very real supernatural gifts. Then her visions become darker, Anna is forced to rethink all she's ever known. Are these frightening images of her mother in peril real, or just a trick? When a young man discovers her abilities and introduces her to a secret society who helps people with gifts like hers, magic, romance and intrigue mix, as Anna takes charge of her powers, and her own destiny. Historical Paranormal Romance (June 11; Balzer + Bray)

RUSH: BOOK ONE OF THE GAME by Eve Silver

RUSH

Rush offers science fiction and gaming fans romantic thrills at a breakneck pace. Miki Jones pulled from her life, through space and time, into some kind of game where she and other teens are sent on missions to eliminate a terrifying alien race. There's no practice runs, no training, and no way out. And it's more than a game--what Miki and her teammates do determines their survival and the survival of every other person on this planet. (June 11; Katherine Tegen Books)

ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE by Kate Karyus Quinn

ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE

Stephen King meets Sara Shepard in this deliciously creepy tale of identity and possession. When she's found wander down a highway after being missing for a year, Annaliese only knows one thing: she's not the real Annaliese Rose Gordon. Piece by piece, her fractured memories come together to reveal a violent, endless cycle that she will never escape, unless she can unlock the twisted secrets of her past. (June 11; Harper Teen)

SOLSTICE by P.J. Hoover

SOLSTICE

Piper's world is dying. Each day brings hotter temperatures and heat bubbles that threaten the Earth. Then Piper discovers a universe--a sphere of gods and monsters--and realizes that her world is not the only one in crisis. While gods battle for control of the Underworld, Piper struggles to find the answer to the secret kept from her since birth--her own identity. An imaginative melding of mythology and dystopia by debut author P.J. Hoover. (June 18; Tor Teen)

INK by Amanda Sun

INK

Tragedy sends Katie to live in Japan with her aunt, where she feels lost until she meets aloof but gorgeous Tomohiro, star of the school's kendo team. When they're near each other strange things happen. Pens explode. Ink drips from nowhere. And drawing come to life. Somehow Tomo is connected to the kami, powerful ancient beings who once ruled Japan, and once the truth comes out, no one will be safe. Paranormal Romance. First in a series. (June 25; Harlequin Teen)

New books from popular series/authors

TEMPEST REVEALED (Tempest #3) by Tracy Deebs (June 4; Walker)

ELEGY (Hereafter #3) by Tara Hudson (June 4; Haper Teen)

STORMBRINGERS (Order of Darkness #2) by Philippa Gregory (June 4; Simon Pulse)

SIEGE AND STORM by Leigh Bardugo (June 4; Henry Holt)

ABANDON (Possession #3) by Elana Johnson (June 4; Simon Pulse)

Rosemary Clement-Moore writes Young Adult books because she loves to read them. Visit her webpage or blog to find out more about her award winning Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series, and her gothic romance, THE SPLENDOR FALLS (now in paperback) and her latest: TEXAS GOTHIC.