Local YA and MG books to be released in 2016

Laurie McKay is from Durham, but her Villain Keeper series is set in Asheville. The second book, The Quest Maker, releases this week.

Western North Carolina has a thriving community of authors who write for the middle grade and young adult market. In 2015, several of these authors had their work released by the country’s major publishers, and 2016 is shaping up to produce another bumper crop. Here’s a partial list of MG/YA releases by local authors to look forward to this year:

FEBRUARY

• Quest Maker, by Laurie McKay (HarperCollins): Prince Caden, future Elite Paladin of the Greater Realm, continues to try and find a way home from the Land of Shadow (aka Asheville, N.C.), where he and the young sorceress Brynne are trapped with some of their world’s greatest villains.

MARCH

• The Maypop Kidnapping, by C.M. Surrisi (Carolrhoda Books): 13-year-old Quinnie’s mom is the town sheriff of Maiden Rock, ME. But when Quinnie’s beloved teacher goes missing, Quinnie leads a relentless, sometimes misguided search for her — against her mother’s orders.

MAY

• Unforgivable, by Amy Reed (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins): In a return to the story of Evie, the cancer-survivor protagonist of Reed’s 2015 release Invincible, Evie’s boyfriend Marcus relates the continuation of their intense romance and his struggle to confront the loss of his mother and brother.

• The Hunt, by Megan Shepherd (Balzer + Bray): The Hunt continues the series about teens abducted by aliens and placed in a human zoo begun in The Cage. Note that in November, Delacorte will publish another book by Shepherd, The Secret Horses of Briar Hill, an MG novel in which a young girl hospitalized during World War II must find colorful objects to protect a winged white horse named Foxfire from the Black Horse, who hunts by colorless moonlight.

JULY

• A World Without You, by Beth Revis (Penguin/Razorbill): In Revis’ first contemporary novel, a teenage boy suffering from delusions is convinced that he can travel through time to prevent his late girlfriend’s suicide.

• The Monster War, by Alan Gratz (Starscape): Having discovered the monstrous secret of his origins, Archie Dent is no longer certain that he is worthy to be a member of the League of Seven. But with new enemies to face, he realizes that he may not have the luxury of questioning his destiny.

• Serafina and the Twisted Staff, by Robert Beatty (Disney/Hyperion): Serafina’s victory in the first book of this series has made it impossible for her to keep hiding in the basement of Biltmore Estate and now, caught between her secret life and high society, she teams up with her friend Braedon and a feral boy (who seems to live in the forest) to defeat a new evil.

SEPTEMBER

• Mr. Puffball: Stunt Cat Across America, by Constance Lombardo (Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins): Mr. Puffball and his friend, the movie star El Gato, travel across the country to get some high-flying footage for their buddy film before their studio dumps them for Benedict Cumbercat and Jude Claw.

OCTOBER

• Be Light Like a Bird, by Monika Schroeder (Capstone Young Readers): In this middle grade novel, a 12-year-old girl, whose life is thrown into upheaval following the death of her father, struggles to discover the person she’s meant to be.

• Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, by Jaye Robin Brown (HarperTeen): A look at the conundrum of having faith and being queer, this is the story of Jo Gordon, the out lesbian daughter of a moderate evangelical minister, and what happens when the minister marries for the third time and they move from Atlanta to small-town Northern Georgia.

• Wish, by Barbara O’Connor (FSG/Macmillan): 11-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same wish since fourth grade, and when her irresponsible parents cause her to be sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of N.C. to live with family members she doesn’t know, she needs that wish to come true more than ever.

LATE 2016

• Blight, by Alexandra Duncan (Greenwillow): The story of a girl who works as a border guard for one of the corporations that have taken control of a future North America.

Know of another local middle grade or young adult book due to be published this year? Please add it in the comment field!

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Doug Gibson
I live in West Asheville. I do a lot of reading. Follow me on Twitter: @dougibson

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

4 thoughts on “Local YA and MG books to be released in 2016

  1. Deanna K. Klingel

    coming in 2016:
    Blue-Eyed Doll, 4RV Publishing, Deanna K. Klingel
    McIntosh Summer, PRPP, Deanna K. Klingel
    Rebecca & Heart, 4RV Publishing

  2. Constance Lombardo

    Thanks, Douglas Gibson, for including Mr. Puffball in this wonderful list! Must be something in the mountain waters producing so many excellent local authors!!

  3. Another new release, or new-to-print, this year: ScareScapes, a series by local author Jake Bible that has heretofore only been available in an e-reader edition. The first book in the series, Phantom Limbs, came out in a paperback edition from Permuted Platinum this month.

Leave a Reply to Constance Lombardo ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.