New YA Book Releases for August 13, 2025

Marisol Polly-Rodriguez is an actress, but things right now are not going well for her. She just wrapped up a big show but has nothing else booked, and Miles, who was her former costar-turned-boyfriend just dumped her because she wasn’t taking acting seriously enough.

Marisol won’t take the heat from him nor online haters, and she scores a role in the same teen drama that Miles has. But as seriously as she’s trying to take the role, everything seems to be conspiring against her, from castmates to the director.

But things are still okay on set thanks to Jamila, the show’s lead. Marisol cannot stop staring at her, which leads to falling for her. Marisol never thought she’d be falling for someone who wasn’t Miles, but perhaps her world falling apart was the opportunity for it to be completely changed.

This looks like a fun dramatic and romantic read.

More YA books are seeing dual releases this year than I recall in any memory–you’ll get your choice of purchasing in hardcover or in paperback at the same time. This is one of those titles.

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Adam found an old diary in his attic, and he’s immediately connecting with the story shared inside it by a young woman from Nagasaki, Japan. They have a lot in common, despite 100 years between them.

But as Adam reads on, he’s finding it hard to believe the girl who writes about being haunted by ghosts. That is, until he begins to feel those spirits himself and realizes the only way to figure out what’s going on–both for him and for the girl in the diary–is to figure out her identity.

Adam takes a homestay in Nagasaki and it’s an opportunity for him to reconnect with his heritage and discover the truth about the girl from the diary. He has so many experiences he didn’t know he needed, including reconnecting with family members and finding a crush in Jo. Together, they’re going to solve the mystery of the diary girl–that is, if it’s not too late to do so.

Lola Boyd lives with a mysterious illness that includes chronic exhaustion and migraines. No doctor has had an explanation. But when her mom, stepdad, and she move to the rural Claret Creek into the home that belonged to her late father, everyone hopes the fresh start will help.

It does not.

Lola begins to have visions that take her back in time over 100 years. As she begins to learn about the history of her new town, she begins to believe the visions she’s having of a generations-long conspiracy at the heart of Claret Creek aren’t just visions. As she begins to talk about this with her new friends, she begins to see they’re cagey and insistent she not dig any deeper.

She doesn’t listen, of course, and as she begins to learn more, the more Lola begins to question everyone and everything–including her mother. What’s in the water in Claret Creek, anyway?

This one’s for fans of contemporary fantasy about magic, golems, warlocks, and witches.

Terra is ready for the best senior year possible, despite some of the challenges she’s got, including not knowing her own birth origin. But her plans for an amazing year are thwarted when Throne Wilder comes to town. Thorne is a magical bounty hunter from a coven of witches.

It turns out that Terra is a golem. She was created by a warlock. This information, understandably, turns her entire world upside town. Cyrus Quill was her creator, and he’s a fugitive being pursued by witches eager to hold him accountable for past crimes. There’s one huge problem: if Cyrus dies, so, too, does Terra and everyone else Cyrus created.

Terra makes a deal with Thorne to save Cyrus’s life, as well as her own and her fellow golem created by Cyrus. She has to master her own magic. If she does, everyone will stay safe. If not, well, the ending won’t be great for anyone.

Thorne may have made a deal, but Thorne isn’t going to make this easy. . . even if Terra’s made an alliance with him.

At prom, besties Tan Lee and Winter Woo shared a kiss that was a little more, err, intense than anticipated. They’ve decided to step back because love isn’t really on the menu for either of them.

But conveniently, their parents are going on vacation together, leaving Tan and Winter back at home to babysit Tan’s little sister. Awkward, but not completely unreasonable.

Then Tan’s ex-girlfriend shows up at the door. She’s stolen money from her billionaire father and people are after her. Now Tan is crisscrossing San Francisco trying to protect everyone he loves while trying not to fall in love.

Oluwan is a city of magic. Within the city, Small Sade is looking for a job as a maid, since it’s a field where people are not concerned with her looks. But before she can get a job, she’s accidentally bound to a god called the Crocodile, whose rumored power is eating pretty girls. To keep the god at bay, Small Sade tells him her biggest secret: she’s a Curse Eater, which allows her to change people’s fates by cleaning their homes.

Small Sade isn’t going to let the Crocodile tell her what to do, even if they’re bound. She takes a job as a Curse Eater at a fancy inn and plans to woo the wealthy who are there in order to gain status in Oluwan.

But will her past — and the Crocodile — be her downfall? Or does everyone in Oluwan have her wrong?