Award-winning 2024 youth books featuring nonbinary characters, plus youth book news from June 27, 2024

Daniel Sanchez is a photographer, film buff and autistic. He tries to pretend to fit in, but he really appreciates being able to be himself around his best friend Mona. But he always found it kind of weird that she loves being around someone as introverted and quiet as him, since she’s a loud, proud soccer star at school.

Then Daniel meets Gabe Mendes, a freshman in school. Gabe is cool, mysterious, and nonbinary. Daniel knows that Gabe and Mona would get along well and become the kings of the homecoming court together, and Daniel will make it work.

But Daniel imagined matchmaking differently, and it turns out that this story isn’t about bringing two cool people he knows together. It’s more about finding your own partner.

Dami wants to become human again and escape her existence as a demon. To do that, they must end every agreement they’ve ever made. The problem? Silas. Silas is a sweet boy who is cursed to die young. The only reason he’s still alive is because of the agreement he made with Silas. Becoming human again means Silas will die, but maybe there’s a way Dami and Silas can work together to free them both.

Cardinal Creek is plagued by copycat killings and now another girl has gone missing.

This time, Sid’s father was not the culprit. He is in prison for murdering five other girls ten years ago. He killed them all and then dumped their bodies in the lake. It was in this lake that the new missing girl, June, was found, but this time it is clearly not Sid’s father. Instead, suspicions turn to Sid. The only person who believes Sid is not responsible is a new girl in town named Mavis. The problem is that Mavis doesn’t know Sid’s background either, and if she did, he would probably be suspected in Mavis’ eyes as well.

But it’s not just Sid’s past that’s a secret. The fact that they’re being visited by the girls murdered by their father is also a secret. June’s voice is now part of what they hear, and June will settle for nothing less than an answer to the question of what’s going on.

Sid must clear his name. But the only way to do that, to prove he’s not a monster or a murderer, is to confront his past and face the truth about what his father did. If they don’t, they may never find peace with those murdered girls – and they certainly don’t want to go to prison for a crime they didn’t commit.

Jude is a cupid. They think they’re good at it, too, even if they’ve made some mistakes. Even if they’re on probation because they weren’t that great. But Jude is ready to prove himself one more time.

Their job, however, is not to match two adults. They are to match two high school students – people around Jude’s age – who will be more than the best friends they were before their big fight.

Jude is confident about the task… until they are thrown off course.

Ellery doesn’t believe in the religion of the supernatural world. They may be stuck in winter for years, but there’s a science behind it.

Knox is from the other world and his job is to help people who do business at crossroads. However, he is worried about what might be going on back home since he hasn’t heard from his queen. When crossroads demons come after Knox, he panics and runs down an alley where he runs into Ellery.

Knox can’t believe Ellery helped him. Ellery can’t believe they’ve stumbled upon the paranormal – and they don’t want to believe it either. Only Ellery needs to find a way to end this winter, and Knox needs help staying tied to the human world. They might find they have more in common than they ever imagined or believed.

Am I cheating a little and adding a title from 2025? Yes, and I don’t care. I loved She Is A Haunting and can’t wait to pick up Trang Thanh Tran’s next horror read.

After a devastating hurricane hit Mercy, Louisiana, the city was hit by a red algae bloom. It’s always been a monstrous city, but with the rising tide it’s gotten worse. This is most evident in the downtown area on the bay.

Noon and her former boyfriend, an older boy, had their lives ruined at a party on the bay before the hurricane struck. Now Noon navigates Mercy with her mother as they search for the members of the dead family, who they believe have been reincarnated as sea creatures. But her past on the bay and her belief that she herself is not in the right frame of mind haunt Noon more than she can admit, and now with a new storm brewing and the town’s predatory leader breathing down her neck, she must do something with her past to have a future.

This is body horror with a nonbinary main character.

Yuiza loves horror movies and dreams of becoming a film director. When Yuiza receives a scholarship to Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy and is one of the few students of color, things start to change very out of. The workload is heavy, everything is expensive, and both the teachers and students are downright strange.

Then Yuiza has a series of disturbing dreams about the history of the school and realizes that the fate of the scholarship students is not a good one. It will be up to Yuiza to convince others of what is happening in order to save them all from what Our Lady has in store for them.