A Book for Schitt’s Creek Fans, Norse Mythology, and More New YA Releases For March 4, 2026

Edith has had to play the role of good girl. She’s in a foster home and doesn’t want her foster family to think she has the violent streak that her biological father did. But that doesn’t mean Edith isn’t angry or isn’t suppressing something important.

When she’s pushed too far and her claws come out, Edith learns she is a berserkr. She’s part of a Norse warrior lineage in which people can become animals. This is when she’s sent to Skallagrim Academy, an ancient school meant to help people like her harness their powers and push them down. It’s intended to help her and everyone around her.

Two days into her time at the mysterious school, though, she stumbles upon a murder. When she’s seen at the scene by a student tasked with tracking down the berserkrs who fall out of line, Edith has to prove her innocence. It’s not just about being turned in for something she didn’t do. It’s also a matter of life or death, as she might be the next one taken down by the killer.

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Estela Morales was accepted into one of San Francisco’s top high schools, and she’s among the only Latinas in the building. Her only goal for the year is to get through things and keep her head down. She doesn’t want a fight, even if her Spanish teacher is low-key racist.

But then Estela places second in the Latine Heritage Poetry Contest. The person who beat her? Not Latine. Now Estela has been thrown into a debate over identity and diversity that is taking over the entire city.

That’s not the whole of her life this year, though. She and her family are also facing eviction.

With comps to Elizabeth Acevedo, this debut verse novel looks outstanding.

Over the last couple of years, there’s been a big call for more books centering male stories that aren’t focused on romance. There is indeed a dearth here, though it’s likely because of course correcting after that being such a focus of YA for many years. All of that is to say, this is one readers looking for male-centered stories with low romance will want on the TBR.

Wyatt “DoctorDoctor” Docherty is the privileged son of engineers at Hydrexo, which supplies 3/4 of North America’s water. He knows how lucky he is and how easy it is for him to access good, clean water because of his privilege. He wishes he could do something about it, which is why he’s trying to win the Fathom Fall gaming competition. If he can make a name for himself in a new way, he could do something good.

Though he’s doing well in the competition, Wyatt’s also beginning to see Bluddites–the water guzzling monsters from Fathom Fall–in real life. He’s now suspecting that this game isn’t about just prize money. It’s about something even more dangerous.

This is a story about a gaming competition turned real-life battle over water access, set in a near-future Toronto.

Every summer, Sylvie Castellano is dumped at her aunt’s house while her parents work on a luxury yacht. Sylvie loves her aunt, but she yearns for an adventure of her own.

So when she’s out thrifting and finds a vintage gold watch worth a lot of money, she thinks her luck is changing. When she turns the watch’s dial, out pops Penn, a ghost boy attached to it. With no idea who he is or what his story is, Sylvie decides this is the adventure she craves–she’s going to travel with Penn to figure out what happened to him.

As they experience an unforgettable summer together, Sylvie begins to yearn for more than just the present. But she can’t have a future with a ghost boy, can she? Things take an even more unsettling turn when the watch reveals a secret even bigger than Penn.

If you’re looking for a book that will scratch the same itch that Schitt’s Creek did, this one is for your TBR.

Elena Ok is an L.A. party girl with a growing following as an influencer. Her parents don’t seem to care, though. They think her brother Gavin–a guy who can’t even remember to do his homework–is really the star of the family. None of this matters, though, when the Ok’s popular fast-fashion brand goes under, and the family loses everything overnight.

With their business gone and their family under investigation, the Oks relocate to the small town of Blaire, California. Mom and Dad begin to realize they don’t know their kids at all, while Elena and Gavin discover the farming town is boring and they’re very annoyed with one another.

Slowly but surely, though, the kids find things charming about Blaire. The family reconnects with their Korean farming legacy in their new town, and Elena begins to see where and how she can flex her skills and interests to help those around her fulfill their dreams.

Ramin Abbas is a Muslim teen who has always followed his parents, his Imam, and Allah’s teachings. But then Ramin develops a crush on the cute captain of the soccer team, and he starts questioning everything he’s been taught.

This is a story about discovering who you are, questioning what your faith has taught you, and finding a way to balance being true to yourself with still believing in and practicing religion.

There’ve been several great books in the last year about faith and queerness–see here–and it’s really nice to see a Muslim perspective land on shelves.

Addae lives on Golden Isle. It’s a private island off the South Carolina coast, and those who live there don’t mix with those who live on the mainland. Golden Isle was founded by Kinfolk, descendants of escaped enslaved Black people. Addae is one of the Kin, and her grandmother, Nana Ama, is the island matriarch. Kin protect the Island, as it is full of West African culture and tradition–in return, the Island protects her Kin.

Addae’s best friend goes missing, and a Kin is found drained of blood. Suddenly, everything about Island life is at risk. Everything is pointing to this being the work of West African vampires.

Desperate to find her best friend, Addae travels to the mainland to look for her. But what she sees are deep secrets about both the Island’s history and her own grandmother’s legacy. Now, Addae is torn between the legends she’s grown up with, the new things she’s learning, and the risks associated with trying to find her best friend–and those with finding and saving herself.

A year ago, Roslyn’s sister Adeline died under mysterious circumstances. It’s had a huge impact on Roslyn, who cannot figure out what happened. So when Adeline’s former friends roll into town, Roslyn wants to join them to try to get answers.

Adeline’s friends are closed off from the world because they’re working on behalf of Death himself. Where Death has spared those girls several times from their own endings, they’ve repaid by reaping souls for him. Roslyn’s now realizing that being with these girls may be even more dangerous than being away from them, even if it means potentially never learning what happened to her sister.

It’s been the family legacy to be a premier necromantic Spectacle at the Museum entertaining the City’s elite, so while it is annoying, Vanity Adams has to be shielded from the outside. At the same time, she waits, she at least knows it’s better than being stuck in the Sanatorium with less fortunate witches.

As much as it is also annoying that she’s had her magic taken from her while she waits, Vanity’s sister Arrogance might hold the key to remembering how and where to use that magic. Perhaps life in a holding pattern is more exciting than Vanity could have ever imagined.

This one’s for fans of bloody magical witch stories.

This paperback original is for fans of sports romances, and given that baseball preseason is here, well, it couldn’t be more timely.

Eliza Crowley is a junior in small-town Fairfield, North Carolina, where she’s got a reputation as a rich princess. Fairfield cares about two things: following “tradition” and following the local baseball team. Eliza dreams of things beyond Fairfield, though, even if it’s hard to shake her reputation around town. She wants to do lighting design on Broadway, and she’s going to devote her summer to a local community theater to gain more experience.

Enter Reed Fulton. He’s the grandson of a Fairfield farmer who is struggling, and Reed himself has come back for the summer to shake off a bad baseball season. He’s bound and determined to lead the Fulton Hawks to a season victory over the Crowley Cardinals.

There’s just one big problem: Eliza and Reed are pulled back together after years of being apart, and when their families agree to settle a long-time rivalry, the two teens are caught in the middle. So much for a quiet and unremarkable summer!

Jasmine Cheng’s mother has always spun the most glorious tales. It’s a world of daydreams, where she and her mother are the dragon and the phoenix, and where Jasmine’s father is the god Pangu.

Jasmine’s mother has many boyfriends, and in those stories, Jasmine chases them away. At least she did until the arrival of Cal. He’s her mother’s old flame, and no matter how much she tries, Jasmine can’t chase him away.

So instead, Jasmine leaves and heads to the West Coast. It’s here she’s determined to get to the truth of the stories her mother tells and the relationships that her mother has brought Jasmine into–willingly or not.

Her mother’s stories, especially with Cal in the picture, are causing Jasmine to question what is and isn’t true, creating fractures and fissures in both their dream world and their real one.

This mythological story centers a Chinese-Filipina main character and has comparisons to the work of Emily X.R. Pan and Ann Liang.