A Lake with History, A High School Trial Romance, and More New YA Books for October 21, 2026

Halloween is definitely in the air. There are pumpkins and mums aplenty, alongside creative home decorations of spiderwebs, skeletons (I unabashedly love both those 12-foot ones and the groundbreakers!), and black cats galore. This is the first year that my own daughter has had plenty of opinions about what she likes, piping up as she reads more and more outstanding Halloween picture books in anticipation of this year’s Saturday celebrations. Whether or not you’re all-in on Halloween, here’s another thing that’s popping off right now: new YA book releases. Nice segue, huh? It’s true, though. We’re still in the season of bounty for YA books. There’ll be a couple more weeks with a high number of new releases before things start to slow down a bit through the end of the year. This week, we’ve got a story featuring a hidden tunnel to the past, a love story set in a private school’s student court room, and a teen determined to set the record straight about who they are. You’ll also find a story about an auction house that sits atop a gateway to hell and, for something lighter, another holiday romance (coming off several new YA holiday romances that have published this month!). New Hardc...