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An investigative journalist himself, Jumata Emill writes a young adult thriller: I Don’t Wish You Well about how secrets never die. Set in Louisiana, the novel features Pryce Cummings, a journalism major at Whitmore University who hasn’t been able to snag a summer internship and is forced to return home to Moss Pointe. Hoping to advance his career prospects and to keep from growing bored, he consults his advisor Dr. Morrison about doing a podcast on a five-year old story: The Trojan Mask Murders. The murders had become the town’s cautionary tale against homosexuality, but Pryce, a closet homosexual himself, wants to prove that thereRead More →

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With her novel And the River Drags Her Down, Jihyun Yun presents a fantasy about resurrection while also exploring the convoluted concept of grief and its power. She invites the reader to suspend disbelief as she considers the real-world implications of bone magic. To guide the reader on this journey, Yun pens Soojin Han into the role of protagonist. At seventeen years old, Soojin is no stranger to death. Having lost both her mother and then her sister, Mirae, Soojin is grieving. Consequently, she is sleep walking through life, passing like a ghost from school to her job at the diner in Jade Acre toRead More →

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Something dark is afoot in Sanera, California, and four teens decide to solve the mystery. Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood features sensible Amber Grayson, quirky Jonesy with a high IQ, the track star Cameron who keeps the mood light, and a newcomer to town—the perceptive Buffy Allen who may be just a bit too interested in the case. These four sleuths are pressed into service after the deaths of football player Bradley Campbell and cheerleader Shelley Jones, who appear to have fallen victim to the Carrington Ghoul. Although the ghoul and the haunted Carrington Manor are urban legends, the eerily similar deaths between thatRead More →

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Set in Massachusetts at Hancock High School, Kill the Lax Bro by Charlotte Lillie Balogh is a murder mystery complicated by relationship webs. Balogh invites her readers to sift through the details to determine why Troy Richards was killed, where he was killed, and who has motive. As Balogh shares details, readers learn that Troy Richards is a popular Lacrosse star whose father has high expectations for him. He seems to have a reputation as a heart breaker. However, we also see Troy’s aggressive, bullying side and his devil-may-care attitude. To Troy, everything is just one big game. Because many students believe that “Troy RichardsRead More →

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Cynthia Murphy’s book The Midnight Game is nightmare fuel.  Although her novel may not reflect the same fear-factor as a Dean Koontz or Steven King work, it is certainly sinister.  A group of teens make the mistake of meeting up in real life with people they’ve met in internet chat rooms and through online threads. Ellie, Mei, Hugo, Callum, Toni, and Reece join in a terrifying game in which the Midnight Man comes to hunt. Classed as a pagan ritual, The Midnight Game was “a punishment for wrong-doers. . . . It was sort of a trial. . . . If the ‘player’ survived, theyRead More →

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A blend of horror, mystery, and thriller with a sprinkling of romance, Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine will appeal to a wide variety of readers. Set in New York, the novel features Olivia D’Angeli and Reagan Karl. Both sixteen-year-olds have an origin story anchored at Camp Lost Lake, a youth camp owned by the D’Angeli family. Tired of running, Reagan is determined to solve the murder that has her mother in hiding. She and her best friend, Jack, are determined to exonerate Reagan’s mother Lori Knight, aka Lauren Karl, so that Reagan can live a normal life free from the accusations thatRead More →

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Stacey Lee’s Kill Her Twice is a fascinating historical fiction/murder mystery written for young adults. Based loosely on the character Anna May Wong, who is considered the first female Chinese American Hollywood movie star, the novel tells the story of the challenges faced by Chinese people living in Los Angeles, California, in 1932. Lee presents her clues by alternating between the perspectives of two teens: May Chow, 19, and her sister Gemma, 17, who sell flowers in City Market. The girls’ father, Ba, always told his daughters that “his three fierce clouds—Mei Wun, or ‘beautiful cloud,’ for May; Gam Wun, or ‘fresh cloud,’ for [Gemma];Read More →

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Jumata Emill writes a killer murder mystery with his new young adult novel, Wander in the Dark. It will lead readers down circuitous paths as they attempt to follow the clues and resolve the murder of Chloe Danvers. Set in New Orleans at the time of mardi gras in February, the novel features the family drama of Marcel and Amir Trudeau. The two teen brothers are estranged, however, because their father, Martin Trudeau is himself guilty of adultery. Now the famous chef is married with a second family who seems to have it all in Amir’s eyes: connections, cash, and closeness. When Marcel invites AmirRead More →

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Written in a fashion similar to that of a fractured fairy tale, Pride and Premeditation is a tongue-in-cheek retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Although Tirzah Price employs many of the same characters and even opens with a play on Austen’s original line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a brilliant idea, conceived and executed by a clever young woman, must be claimed by a man” (1), she takes other liberties. While Price makes an effort to stay true to the etiquette and customs of the early nineteenth century, Lizzie Bennet’s ambitions to become a barrister—or even a solicitor—would have been out ofRead More →