Family Ties (Part 2): 13 2022 YA Debuts About Families

We shared adult #22Debuts that involve families. Today, we're looking at YA releases this year that look at such a pivotal part of our upbringings. I don't know about you, but I certainly remember fighting with my parents in high school, so I can only imagine how many clashes we're going to see in the pages below!

Being Mary Bennet by JC Peterson on March 15, 2022 from HarperTeen
Marnie Barnes is convinced she's the long-suffering protagonist of her life, just like the characters in all her favorite books. But then a series of Marnie-induced disasters forces her to confront the devastating truth: Marnie has more in common with Mary Bennet—the utterly forgettable middle sister of Pride & Prejudice—than effervescent Elizabeth Bennet. Determined to reinvent herself, Marnie enlists the help of her bubbly roommate and opens herself up to the world—leading lady style. Between new friends, a very cute boy, and a rescue pup named Sir Pat, Marnie realizes that being the main character doesn't mean rewriting your life entirely, just finding the right cast of characters, the love interest of your dreams, and most important, embracing your story. Flaws and all. (Who doesn’t LOVE a Jane Austen story? And a focus on a forgotten Bennet sister?? I’ve been psyched to read this one, and now that it’s out, we all can!! Also: RESCUE PUP.) 

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Remember Me Gone by Stacy Stokes on March 22, 2022 from Viking
People come from everywhere to forget. At The Memory House, in Tumble Tree, Texas, Lucy’s father can literally erase folks’ heartache and tragic memories. Lucy can’t wait to learn the family trade and help alleviate others’ pain, and now, at 16, she finally can. But everything is not as it seems. When Lucy practices memory-taking on her dad, his memory won’t come loose, and in the bit that Lucy sees, there’s a flash of Mama on the day she died, tinged red with guilt. Then Lucy wakes up the next morning with a bruised knee, a pocketful of desert sand, and no memory of what happened. She has no choice but to listen to Marco Warman—a local boy she’s always wondered about who seems to know more than he should. As Lucy and Marco realize there are gaps in their own memories, they team up to fill in the missing pieces—to figure out what’s really going on in their town, and to uncover their own stolen history along the way. But as the mysteries pile up one thing becomes certain: there are some secrets in Tumble Tree people will do anything to keep. (A family trade of memory-taking that hides dark secrets??? I really can just go on that premise. Dads hiding things from their daughters is RIPE for conflict!)

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The Monsters Club by Lotté Jean Elliott on April 21, 2022 from Northodox Press
A model student at an exclusive private school, Junie Han is popular, bright and destined for Oxford University. Or so everyone believes. Unbeknownst to her wealthy friends and family, Junie is a gifted hacker, and is using her talents to make money as a means of escaping the life they have planned for her. As long as she can maintain her image of perfection, nothing will stop her. Whilst exploring the dark web, Junie and her fellow hacker, Yamazaki, discover a site called the Monsters Club, a place where murderers post pictures of their victims. After investigating the site, Yamazaki disappears. And Junie begins to receive alarming messages from an anonymous stranger... (I love badass hacker girls, and couple that with hiding those skills from your family—well, I’m sold!)

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The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes on May 17, 2022 from Balzer & Bray
Seventeen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being the new kid at a 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, she could use the fresh start. At Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: make her mom proud, keep her brother out of trouble, and most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami. The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And talented. And confident. And cute. So cute. Yami isn't sure if she likes Bo or if she's just jealous of her unapologetic nature. Either way, she isn't ready to make the same mistake again. If word got to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. (Support QTPOCs, I say, but also: crush on the only out girl, who’s perfect. Keep family together and maybe not let them know you’re queer. And killer eyeliner? This book has it all!) 

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Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson on May 31, 2022 from Holt
For best friends Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine, Providence, Rhode Island has a magic of its own. From the bodegas and late-night food trucks to The Hill that watches over the city, every part of Providence glows with memories of them practicing spells, mixing up potions and doing sèances with the help of the magic Miliani’s Filipino grandfather taught her. But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the world they’ve always known is left haunted by grief…and Jasmine’s lingering spirit. Determined to bring her back, the surviving friends band together, testing the limits of their magic and everything they know about life, death and each other. (Two words: FOUND!!! FAMILY!!! Okay, more words: family seances, a lingering spirit, and buried secrets??? I cannot WAIT!) 

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The Gravity of Missing Things by Marisa Urgo on June 7, 2022 from Entangled
This #OwnVoices debut contemporary YA novel follows a bi teen who has to juggle first love and a family secret when her pilot mother's plane mysteriously vanishes, leaving her mother as the prime suspect. (Bi teen… missing mother… family secrets… the juicy secrets are DRIPPING from this book!!) 

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The Loophole by Naz Kutub on June 7, 2022 from Bloomsbury
Pitched as a speculative Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda with a focus on identity, found family, and friendship, the novel follows a queer Indian-Muslim boy travelling the world for a second chance at love after a possibly magical heiress grants him three wishes. (A genie and a queer Muslim teen fleeing his toxic family?? I’m so there.) 

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Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne on July 12, 2022 from Wednesday Books
After dropping out of college, all Laurel Early wanted was to resume her life as a tobacco hand and taxidermist and try not to think about the boy she can’t help but love. Instead, a devil from her past has returned to court her, as he did her late mother years earlier. Now, Laurel must unravel her mother’s terrifying legacy and tap into her own innate magic before her future and the fate of everyone she loves is doomed. (Creepy sentient settings are my absolute jam, and repeating family secrets coming back to haunt you just sweetens the deal. I’m psyched to be terrified!!)  

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Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S. Zrull on July 19, 2022 from Flux Books
Bounced between foster homes since the age of seven, Jessica knows better than to set down roots. Most of the kids at her new Michigan high school think she’s a witch anyway (because, you know, goth). The only one who gives her the time of day is geeky Oscar, who wants to recruit her fashion skills for his amateur cosplay group. But Jess is fine showing off her looks to her Insta fans—until a woman claiming to be her biological mother barges into her DMs. Jess was claimed by the state when her bio mom’s mental illness made her unstable. While their relationship is far from traditional, blood ties are hard to break. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, who are aiming for that big convention in New York… (Just LOOK at that cover! And if that’s not enough, this intimate look at foster families and choosing your own, written by someone who’s been through foster care, sounds like a no-brainer.)  

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Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah on September 6, 2022 by Sourcebooks
Sixteen-year-old Koral and her older brother Emrik risk their lives each day to capture the monstrous maristags that live in the black seas around their island. They have to, or else their family will starve. In an oceanic world swarming with vicious beasts, the Landers―the ruling elite, have indentured Koral's family to provide the maristags for the Glory Race, a deadly chariot tournament reserved for the upper class. When the last maristag of the year escapes and Koral has no new maristag to sell, her family's financial situation takes a turn for the worse and they can't afford medicine for her chronically ill little sister. Koral's only choice is to do what no one in the world has ever dared: cheat her way into the Glory Race. (Siblings are my thing. Siblings trying to capture SEA MONSTERS to race in order to save their family finances? Plus, have you SEEN that cover???)  

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Lioness of Punjab by Anita Jari Kharbanda on September 17, 2022 from Yali Books
It is the winter of 1705, and the tenth Guru of the Sikhs is under attack by the armies of the mighty Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb. Under siege and isolated, Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s men are exhausted beyond measure, and forty soldiers decide to head home. Back in the villages of Punjab, these forty men are met by a fiery Sikh woman—a warrior who has been preparing all her life for this very moment—who leads the deserters back to the Guru. This is the story of that warrior, the fierce Mai Bhago, who chose the sword to symbolize her unwavering loyalty and devotion to her people and her faith. (An important historical figure in the Sikh community who happens to be a warrior woman?? I can’t help but think there’s going to be some strong found family vibes in this one!) 

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Jasmine Zumideh Needs A Win by Susan Azim Boyer on November 1, 2022, from Wednesday Books
Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win features a bitingly funny, Mindy Kaling-esque, Iranian American heroine, who makes messy, complicated choices that snowball into an avalanche when an international incident intrudes on her high school election, forcing her to reckon with her identity in a way she never has before. (Okay, I’m hella biased because I’m Persian and my dad was actually in the US during the Hostage Crisis, but this is one of my most anticipated reads this year.)   

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The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim from Salaam Reads, 2023
Zahra Khan is basically Bangladeshi royalty, but being a princess doesn’t pay the bills in Paterson, New Jersey. While Zahra’s plans for financial security involve working long hours at Chai Ho and saving up to study writing in college, Amma is convinced that all Zahra needs is a “good match,” Jane Austen-style. Enter Harun Emon, who’s wealthy, devastatingly handsome, and…aloof. As soon as Zahra meets Harun’s stuck-up gaze, she knows it’s a bad match. It’s nothing like the connection she has with Nayim Aktar, the new dishwasher at the tea shop, who just gets Zahra in a way no one has before. So when Zahra finds out that Harun is just as uninterested in this match as she is, they devise a plan to slowly sabotage their parents’ scheme over the course of the summer. And for once in Zahra’s life, she can have her rossomalai and eat it too: develop real feelings for Nayim while “dating” Harun and keeping Amma happy. (Originally, The Love Match was supposed to come out in 2022, so we’re slipping it in as an honorary debut! Plus, a tea store, swoony boys, and arranged marriages are RIPE for drama—family and otherwise.)  

Curated by: Naseem Jamnia
​Posted by: Erin La Rosa​​

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