Young adult debuts of 2022 we can’t wait to read!

Debut novels are a special kind of magic – we get to meet new characters, explore new worlds, and find new authors to fall in love with! The most exciting part of it all is that we’re not even halfway through 2022 and we already have a long list of incredible authors that have made (or are just about to make) their authorial debut and we’re here to cheer them on!

From coming-of-age romances like Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam and Salaam, with Love by Sara Sharaf Be, to fast-paced fantasy adventures like Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin and Only a Monster by Vanessa Len, and hard-hitting contemporaries like Growing Up in Flames by Zach Jones, you’re bound to find an instant new fave in this line-up.

So scroll down, add them to your TBRs, and let’s give these books some extra love and attention!

This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian – Annalie and Margaret are sisters who agree on only one thing – that they have nothing in common. Nineteen-year-old Margaret couldn’t wait to leave their oppressive small hometown and take flight in New York. Meanwhile sweet, popular, seventeen-year-old Annalie can’t think of anything worse. Until she arrives home one day to find a gut-punching racial slur painted on their garage door.

Why is Everybody Yelling?: Growing Up in My Immigrant Family by Marisabina Russo – This graphic-novel debut from an acclaimed picture book creator is a powerfully moving memoir of the author’s experiences with family, religion, and coming of age in the aftermath of World War II, and the childhood struggles and family secrets that shaped her.

Ellie Pillai is Brown by Christine Pillainayagam – Most days, Ellie Pillai is somewhere between invisible, and not very cool – and usually she’s okay with that. But suddenly, Ellie feels different. Suddenly, her misfit style, her skin colour, her songwriting and all that getting lost in the music in her head seem to be okay too. Because maybe standing out isn’t a bad thing after all.

And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems by Erica Martin – In stunning verse and vivid use of white space, Erica Martin’s debut poetry collection walks readers through the Civil Rights Movement-from the well-documented events that shaped the nation’s treatment of Black people, beginning with the “Separate but Equal” ruling-and introduces lesser-known figures and moments.

Salaam, with Love by Sara Sharaf Beg – Being crammed into a house in Queens with her cousins is not how Dua envisions her trip to New York City. But after just a month, Dua is surprised to find that she’s learning a lot more than she bargained for about her faith, relationships, her place in the world—and cute drummers …

Horror Hotel by Victoria Fulton – When the YouTube-famous Ghost Gang–Chrissy, Chase, Emma, and Kiki–visit a haunted LA hotel notorious for tragedy to secretly film after dark, they expect it to be just like their previous paranormal huntings. But when they stumble upon something unexpected in the former room of a gruesome serial killer, they quickly realize that they’re in over their heads.

The Noh Family by Grace K. Shim – A sparkling K-drama inspired debut teen novel by Grace Shim, this book introduces irrepressibly charming teen Chloe Chang, who is reunited with her deceased father’s estranged family via a DNA test, and is soon whisked off to Seoul to join them.

The In Between by Marc Klein – After bouncing around in foster homes for most of her childhood, seventeen-year-old Tessa Jacobs doesn’t believe she deserves love. But everything changes when meets Skylar. Their budding relationship quickly leads to the kind of passion you only see in the movies. When tragedy strikes, Tessa wakes up alone in a hospital room and learns Skylar is dead. As Tessa searches for answers, Skylar’s spirit reaches out to her from the other side …

The Big Reveal by Jen Larsen – A plus-size dancer needs money for a career opportunity-and decides to put on an only slightly risque burlesque show to raise it …

Heart of the Impaler by Alexander Delacroix – Vlad Dracula has long lived in the shadows cast by his bloodthirsty father, the voivode, and his older brother, Mircea. When Vlad and his cousin Andrei meet Ilona Csaki, the daughter of an influential boyar, they each find themselves inextricably drawn to her. But then Ilona is betrothed to Mircea as part of a political alliance, and Vlad’s resentfulness of his brother begins to seethe into something far darker.

Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei – Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league’s top draft spot. The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey’s infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long – After angering a local gangster, seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen must flee with the gangster’s prize fighting wolf, Iska, in tow. A team of scientists offer to pay her way off her frozen planet on one condition: she gets them to the finish line of the planet’s infamous sled race.

Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood – Andromeda is a debtera—an exorcist hired to cleanse households of the Evil Eye. She would be hired, that is, if her mentor hadn’t thrown her out before she could earn her license. Now her only hope of steady work is to find a Patron. When a handsome young heir named Magnus Rochester reaches out to hire her, she takes the job without question. Never mind that he’s rude and demanding and eccentric …

Rock Paper Killers by Alexia Mason – When five Dublin teenagers arrive at a rural coastal college to cram for their final exams, their most pressing concern is the prospect of a month with no partying. Little do they know that one of them will never make it back home.

Rebel Skies by Ann Sei Lin – Kurara has never known any other life than being a servant on board the Midori, but when her party trick of making paper come to life turns out to be a power treasured across the empire, she joins a skyship and its motley crew to become a Crafter. Taught by the gruff but wise Himura, Kurara learns to hunt shikigami – wild paper spirits who are sought after by the Princess. But are these creatures just powerful slaves, or are they beings with their own souls?

All That’s Left in the World by Erik J. Brown – When the Superflu wipes out most of the population, Jamie finds himself completely alone in a cabin in the woods – until an injured stranger crosses his path. Jamie takes him in, and as Andrew heals and they eventually step out into the strange new world, their relationship starts to feel like more than just friendship … But trouble isn’t far behind.

The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder – Filore, a treasure hunter with a knack for riddles, is busy running from her own deadly curse, when she pricks her finger on a spindle. Bound to the sleeping prince Briar Rose with the spindle’s magic – and chosen as the only person who can wake him – Fi is stuck with the prince’s ghost until she can break his ancient curse and save his kingdom.

The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes – Seventeen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich, Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and most importantly, don’t fall in love.

The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman – Vira is desperate to get out of her mother’s shadow and establish her legacy as a revered queen of Ashoka. But with the country’s only quarry running out of magic, Vira’s only hope is to find a mysterious object of legend: the Ivory Key, rumoured to unlock a new source of magic. But in order to infiltrate enemy territory and retrieve it, she must reunite with her siblings, torn apart by broken relationships.

Finding Jupiter by Kelis Rowe – Ray has no time for romance. She queen of the roller rink, she creates poetry from her favourite books, and she’s got her eyes set on her own, independent future. Orion would, just once, like to be smooth with the girls. Really he’s a hopeless romantic – and when he spots Ray at the rink, if feels like the stars have aligned.

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len – Every family has its secrets, but the summer Joan Chang-Hunt goes to stay with her Gran in London, she learns hers is bigger than most. The Hunts are one of twelve families in London with terrifying, hidden powers. Joan is half-monster. And what’s more, her summer crush Nick isn’t just a cute boy – he’s hiding a secret as well; a secret that places Joan in terrible danger.

Forward March by Skye Quinlan – Harper “Band Geek” McKinley just wants to make it through her senior year of marching band-and her Republican father’s presidential campaign. That was a tall order to start, but everything was going well enough until someone made a fake gay dating profile posing as Harper.

My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham – Finch Chamberlin is the newest transfer student to the ultra-competitive Ulalume Academy … but she’s also not what she seems. Months before school started, Finch and her parents got into an accident that should have left her dead at the bottom of the river. But something monstrous, and ancient, and terrifying, wouldn’t let her drown.

What We All Saw by Mike Lucas – If you wander into the wood … If you hear scratching sounds from the Old Quarry … If you go too close to the edge … WATCH. OUT.

The Greatest Thing by Sarah Winifred Searle – It’s the first day of Grade Ten, and Winifred is going to reinvent herself. Now that her two best (and only) friends have transferred to a private school, Win must navigate high school on her own. Luckily, she isn’t alone for long. In art class, she meets Oscar and April. They don’t look or act like the typical teenagers in her town: they’re creative, a little rebellious and seem comfortable in their own skin in a way that Win can only dream of.

Mars Awakens by H.M. Waugh – Raised in rival colonies on Mars, each long ago abandoned by Earth, Dee and Holt have been brought up to hate even the idea of each other. But when a mysterious object crash lands on a far-flung plain, they are both sent to investigate and their fates intertwine.

Growing Up in Flames by Zach Jones – Kenna’s mother Ava was killed in a bushfire not long ago. Now Kenna’s living with her uncle and his young family in the small town where Ava grew up, and she feels like an intruder. One night Kenna sees the general store on fire, and a boy standing watching as it burns. It takes her a while to notice he’s holding a petrol can, but then things move fast. She’s tackled him and run off with his bag before she even knows what’s happened.

The Museum of Broken Things by Lauren Draper – Reece still isn’t used to living in the small beachside town of Hamilton – she misses her old school, her old friends and her old life. But when Reece inherits a strange artefact that belonged to her beloved grandmother, she begins to unravel a mystery that might change the way she feels about everything around her, including her charismatic classmate Gideon …

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Eden Samuel