2023 YA Debut Titles (August – December)

Today is the final post in my series featuring debut authors this month. You’ll see that in this list there isn’t as much information available and that’s to be expected – right now publishers are focusing on titles being published before summer sets in. Just a special note about this list, there are a few titles that don’t have a specific date yet, so you’ll find those toward the bottom of this post with as much information as I could find.

Make sure to take a look at the YA debut titles being released at the beginning of 2023 and my YA debut titles coming out this summer. And while you’re at it, check out the debut picture books and middle grade titles (January – June) and (July – December) that I posted about earlier this month.

As always, the publishing world is subject to change, so I always write these posts with the caveat that I try to find the most recent information, but sometimes things change! If I’ve missed a debut author, please make sure to share the title in the comments below so that everyone can add it to their TBR. Happy Reading!

2023 Debut Author Posts

• Picture Books
• Middle Grade (January – June)
• Middle Grade (July – December)
• YA (January – April)
• YA (May – July)
• YA (August – December)

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2023 YA Debut Titles (August – December)

August

The Becalmer by Nick Wilford

Publication Date: August 8, 2023

A Tall Dark Trouble by Vanessa Montalban

Publication Date: August 15, 2023

Twin sisters Ofelia and Delfi know better than to get involved with magic. Their Mami has seen to that. After all, it was magic that cursed their family, turning love into a poison. Romance is off the table for the Sanchez women. They’ve seen the curse take hold enough times to know how that road ends. And yet. Sometimes a girl catches feelings and just can’t help herself. 

When Ofelia and Delfi begin having premonitions of a series of murders, the sisters know it is time to embrace their magical inheritance to get to the bottom of the mystery and save innocent lives. Teaming up with their best friend Ethan and with brooding detective-in-training Andres, the sisters set out to learn the truth. They just need to make sure Mami doesn’t find out what they’re up to.

Meanwhile, in 1980 Cuba, Anita struggles with a different magical conflict. Her mother, Mama Orti, is a bruja who belongs to a secret coven of elders and Anita knows she will be forced to join the coven herself one day. She sees no escape, though the thought of staying and letting this future claim her is terrifying. Ofelia, Delfi, and Anita’s stories collide as each woman steps into her power and embraces who she truly is, refusing to be subdued by any person, coven, or curse.

In this stunning YA contemporary fantasy, debut author Vanessa Montalban explores the interlocking struggles of three generations of women in one family. An unputdownable debut for anyone who roots for magic, sisterhood, and love. 

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood.

The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she’s dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom.

But Laure quickly learns she’s not the only monster around, and her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice: continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is—monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first.

From debut author Jamison Shea comes an edge-of-your-seat thriller that lifts a veil on the institutions that profit on exclusion and the toll of giving everything to a world that will never love you back.

Together We Rot by Skyla Arndt

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Wil Greene’s mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed—they claim she skipped town and you can’t find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn’t just leave…and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday—in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home after one night of after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He’s not his father’s successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he’s grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she’ll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there’s a reason they need Elwood’s blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn’t sure if she can save the boy she can’t help but love.

September

Damned If You Do by Alex Brown

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Seven years ago, Cordelia Scott’s abusive father left without a word, and life has been normal ever since. The seventeen-year-old spends her days stage managing the school play (which is going great, if anyone asks), pining over her best friend, Veronica, and failing one too many pop quizzes.

She’s never been sad that her father left, but she knows something is…missing. When her school guidance counselor, Fred, reveals during a session that he’s actually a demon, she learns that something is indeed missing: a piece of her actual soul. Why? She unwittingly made a deal with him to make her father disappear – then bargained to have the memory erased. To make matters worse, Fred is here to make another bargain: Help him with a “little” demonic problem, or she’s doomed to spend eternity in Hell with her father.

The deal? Help Fred neutralize a rival demon, who means to do more harm in her hometown than your average demon deal.

Everyone’s Thinking It by Aleema Omotoni

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

At an elite boarding school in the English countryside, Nigerian cousins Iyanu and Kitan are thrown into the middle of a schoolwide conspiracy when everyone’s juicy relationship secrets are released “Burn Book style” the week before the annual Valentine’s Day Ball.

There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Noelle Layne knows horror. Every trope, every warning sign, every survival tactic. She even leads a successful movie club dedicated to the genre. Thus, who better to throw the ultimate, most exclusive Halloween party on all of Long Island?

And with the guest list including the coolest kids in her senior class, her popularity is bound to spike. Hopefully, enough to warrant an expansion into podcasting. Plus, the fact that attractive, singer-songwriter Archer Mitchell is coming is honestly the candy corn on top. Nothing is going to kill her party vibes.

Except…maybe the low-budget It clown she hires to lead a classic round of tag. He’s supposed to be terrifying, though in a comforting, nostalgic way. Instead, the guy is giving major creeps. But maybe Noelle’s just that good at hosting?

Her confidence is immediately rocked when the night’s entertainment axes one of her guests. And he’s not done yet. If an evil, murderous clown thinks life is a game, then Noelle is ready to play. She’s been waiting a long time to prove that she’s a Final Girl.

The Marble Queen by Anna Kopp

Publication Date: September 12, 2023

Princess Amelia’s kingdom, Marion, is in shambles after months of their trade routes being ravaged by pirates, and now the only seemingly option left is for her to save it through a marriage alliance. When she gets an exorbitant offer from the royalty of Iliad—a country shrouded in mystery—Amelia accepts without question and leaves her home to begin a new life. But she lands on Iliad’s shores to find that her betrothed isn’t the country’s prince, but the recently coronated Queen Salira.

Shocked, Amelia tries to make sense of her situation and her confused heart: Salira has awakened strange new feelings inside her, but something dark hides behind the Queen’s sorrowful eyes. Amelia must fight the demons of her own anxiety disorder before she can tackle her wife’s, all while war looms on the horizon.

In the Ring by Sierra Isley

Publication Date: September 15, 2023

Rose Berman is losing her mind. At least, that’s what everyone at school seems to think.

Plagued by panic attacks that started after her mother’s untimely death, Rose is the target of frequent teasing and rumors. But when the star quarterback takes it too far, the school’s tattooed, cigarette-smoking bad boy — Elliott King — steps in.

Rose can’t help but think of Elliott—maybe if she could punch like him, she’d feel safer… stronger. As their worlds intertwine, Rose and Elliott are forced to face their most daunting opponent outside the Ring: their growing feelings for each other.

Surrounded by violence and destruction, Rose’s anxiety begins to spiral. Will her newfound physical strength keep her grounded in reality, or is she doomed to suffer the same fate as her mother?

How To Find a Missing Girl by Victoria Wlosok

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

A year ago, beloved cheerleader Stella Blackthorn vanished without a trace. Devastated, her younger sister, Iris, launched her own investigation, but all she managed to do was scare off the police’s only lead and earn a stern warning: Once she turns eighteen, more meddling means prison-level consequences.

Then, a year later, the unthinkable happens. Iris’s ex-girlfriend, Heather, goes missing, too—just after dropping the polarizing last episode of her true crime podcast all about Iris’s sister. This time, nothing will stop Iris and her amateur sleuthing agency from solving these disappearances.

But with a suspicious detective watching her every move, an enemy-turned-friend-turned-maybe-more to contend with, and only thirty days until she turns eighteen, it’s a race against the clock for Iris to solve the most dangerous case of her life.

A Prayer for Vengeance by Leanne Schwartz

Publication Date: September 19, 2023

In a city besieged by monsters and ruled by her perfect sister, plus-size sixteen-year-old Gia grows up desperate to prove her worth. As the powerful temple leader Ennio makes Gia the target of his affection, he uses her to overthrow her sister, and asks Gia to rule at his side. When Ennio turns her sister and any dissenters to stone, Gia turns her sword against him―and he traps her in stone, too.

Centuries later, autistic Milo lovingly tends Gia’s statue. He hopes to earn a place in the temple of Ennio, the immortal protector. When Milo’s prayers free Gia from Ennio’s curse, she awakens to a world that worships the man who betrayed her. Now she must break the city’s faith in Ennio and avenge her sister.

Even if she has to kill his followers to do it. Even if she must hunt the boy who woke her.

October

The Night Fox by Ashley Wilda

Publication Date: October 10, 2023

When seventeen-year-old Eli arrives at Raeth, a remote mountain retreat for teens with mental health issues, her mind is made up—she is not interested in participating, and she doesn’t need to “heal.” Still reeling from a breakup that left both her heart and faith shattered, she is determined to fake being “fine” so that the program’s warden will clear her to return home.

But the retreat itself has other ideas. The valley’s magical surroundings transform each time she ventures out, playing with her mind and dredging up her grief-laden memories. Despite the warning signs, Eli explores more of the area than she had ever planned, even venturing into the dangerous night realm.

This spellbinding novel mixes prose and poetry into an exquisite and evocative portrait of love, grief, depression, and the slow path toward healing.

Here Lies Olive by Kate Anderson

Publication Date: October 23, 2023

Growing up in the dark tourism capital of the United States, sixteen-year-old Olive should be comfortable with death. But ever since an allergic reaction almost sent her to the wrong side of the grass, she’s been terrified that there is no afterlife. And after the death of her surrogate grandmother, Olive has kept everyone at arm’s length because if there’s Nothing after we die, relationships and love can only end in sorrow.

When she summons a spirit to answer her questions about death, Olive meets Jay, a hitchhiking ghost trapped in the woods behind the poorhouse where he died. Olive agrees to help Jay find his unmarked grave in exchange for answers about the other side and what comes next.

Meanwhile, someone―or something―is targeting Olive’s classmates, and the longer Jay lingers, the more serious the attacks become. Blaming herself for having brought Jay back, Olive teams up with maybe-nemesis, maybe-crush Maren, ex-best friend Davis, and new girl Vanessa to free Jay’s spirit before he’s trapped as a malevolent shade and the attacks turn deadly. But in doing so, Olive must face her fear of death and risk losing another person she loves to the Nothing.

The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern by J. Dianne Dotson

Publication Date: October 24, 2023

Long after a climate catastrophe, when a utopian future faces an unearthed evil from our present, Gentian “Gen” Lightfoot and her friends in the night-living town of Glimmerbight must stop the past from repeating itself by using all their wits and talents…and perhaps a bit of magic.

People to Follow by Olivia Worley

Publication Date: October 31, 2023

November

Artifacts of an Ex by Jennifer Chen

Publication Date: November 14, 2023

When Chloe Chang gets dumped via USPS after moving across the county from NYC to LA, her first instinct is to throw her box of memories in the garbage. Instead, she starts buying up other teenagers’ break-up boxes to create an art exhibit, Heartifacts.

Opening night is great, until she spots Daniel Kwak filming his best friend’s reaction to his ex’s box. Daniel insists the video is for his short documentary, but Chloe demands he stop filming because she promised her contributors the utmost privacy for their mementos. Chloe and Daniel’s intense discussion launches their creative partnership and friendship.

Choosing to go for what she wants, Chloe asks Daniel out, but he says no. Daniel Kwan is always the guy who makes the girls he’s dating realize they want to get back with their ex. She insists she’s over her ex, but when he shows up unexpectedly with his new girlfriend, it turns out Daniel was right. She isn’t ready for a new relationship.

To create the exhibit she’s always wanted, Chloe needs to go back to basics, learn to work with artists in a more collaborative way, and discover what love can be. Only then will she convince Daniel she’s ready for something more than a rebound.

Fall with Publication Dates TBD

All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Publication Date: Fall 2023

Sixteen-year-old Amina Conteh has always believed in using her tongue as her weapon—even when it gets her into trouble. Her father believes silence is safety, but Amina is her mother’s daughter. Her voice is her weapon, words her shield. The very tongue she used to fight goes silent the night Amina is sexually assaulted by her pastor, a popular community figure. For the first time, she finally understands her father’s silence. Amina has to find her voice again, confronting her abuser in the courtroom— and her heart.

The Book of Fades by Rachel Moore

Publication Date: Fall 2023

THE BOOK OF FADES is a paranormal rom-com pitched as UNDEAD GIRL GANG meets NINTH HOUSE, following a girl on a quest to connect to her late father through a mysterious book, leading her to an equally mysterious boy—who is definitely cute, is probably a ghost, and just might be behind a string of disappearances at her school.

Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru

Publication Date: Fall 2023

A diverse retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, TREASURE ISLAND, with an “Ocean’s Eleven” twist.

In a climate-ravaged near future, Jin and her sister Thara are just trying to make ends meet until a mysterious drifter arrives, offering them the score of a lifetime—a massive stash of gold, hidden in the sunken ruins of the Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. 

The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed

Publication Date: Fall 2023

A girl must team up with three other unlikely teens to track down her grandmother’s missing fortune and secure her future using only cryptic clues, pieces of the town map, and an heirloom necklace, before the people who have been tracking her every move get to the money—or to her—first.

Seven Minutes In Candyland by Brian Wasson

Publication Date: Fall 2023

Sophomore Kalvin Shmelton has finally perfected his underground candy-selling hustle at school. He keeps his prices reasonable, his inventory fresh, and himself out of the drama. But when a heartbroken Sterling Glistern—Kal’s longtime crush— barges into the storage closet where he keeps his candy supply, a new source of income unexpectedly presents itself: relationship therapist. Sure, he only meant to help Sterling realize she’s been dating a jerk—and maybe win her over—but news spreads fast that Kalvin’s not just the master of sweets…but hearts, too! And as the son of two famous therapists, he leans into this newfound reputation and the money that comes with it.

The truth, however, is that Kalvin’s parents’ “perfect” marriage is crumbling. He was supposed to woo the girl of his dreams, fix his parents’ relationship, and lend a listening ear to a school-full of heartbroken teens. But a jealous boyfriend, a vengeful competitor, and Kalvin’s own growing ego threaten those plans, forcing Kal to rethink all he thought he knew about friendship, family, and love.

Thin Air by Kellie M. Parker

Publication Date: Fall 2023

When high school senior Emily Walters boards a private jet to fly to Europe, she knows her chances of beating the other fifteen students to win an exclusive college scholarship are slim. With her family’s disastrous financial status, this chance is one she can’t afford to waste, even when the competition starts unexpectedly right after takeoff.

But someone is tampering with the contest–someone who knows dangerous secrets about the competitors. Someone willing to kill to win.

As loyalties shift and secrets are revealed, Emily must figure out who to trust, and who’s trying to kill, before she becomes the next victim.