Five New Books to Get Your Hands On in 2020
By: Karin A. R. Taglang
Tags: Books, Literature, Reading, Fiction, New Year

Five New Books to Get Your Hands On in 2020

The YA genre isn’t just for teenagers.

New year, new books. The first few months of 2020 hold many secret treasures for bookworms. Several well-loved authors like Becky Albertalli and Mackenzi Lee are releasing brand new books.

You don’t want to miss that!

I didn’t plan on limiting this list of 2020 releases to a specific genre. But as it turns out, many of the notable new releases belong in the young adult and middle-grade genres, so I decided to dedicate this list entirely to those.

No need to click away now if you don’t identify as a “young adult”. Being 26 myself, I don’t belong in the target audience for YA books anymore, yet I still enjoy reading them.

One of the reasons why I love YA literature is because the authors in the genre know the importance of diversity. YA books feature all kinds of characters — gay, black, gender fluid, introverted, autistic — like no other genre.

Many YA authors have a critical way of looking at the world just like many of the hyped contemporary authors do (I’m talking Dave Eggers or even Margaret Atwood here), they just convey it differently.

Give it a try if you don’t believe me. I have the five most exciting new releases in the genre listed for you. All of them will come out in the first half of 2020.

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli

Release Date: 4 February 2020

Becky Albertalli’s name is well-known all over the world, even Swiss bookstores haven’t found a way around the queen of YA. She is the author of Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens’ Agenda and its sequel Leah on the Offbeat.

Simon was so popular he got his own movie (Love, Simon) and a ton of merch. Becky Albertalli knows what she is doing, which should be enough of a reason to be excited for her new book, Yes No Maybe So.

She has teamed up with Aisha Saeed to write this story about a group of teenagers who get tied up in political activism. Thanks to her co-author, readers can expect a slightly different cultural dimension than what they know from the Simonverse.

Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

Release Date: 10 March 2020

March will be the month to dive into middle-grade books. If you think that’s not for you, let me remind you: Harry Potter is middle-grade, too. And Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend compares on a few different levels.

Hollowpox will be the third book in the Nevermoor series with our main character Morrigan Crow. Morrigan is a cursed girl whom everyone blames for everything until she is invited to compete for a place in the renowned Wundrous Society.

This magical elite school is bound to awake memories of Hogwarts, and so is Morrigan. Nevermoor is the perfect series if you want to feel those Harry Potter vibes again.

And since the book only comes out in March, there’s still plenty of time to read the first two books in the series, Nevermoor and Wundersmith.

Rick by Alex Gino

21 April 2020

I promised you diverse characters — Rick by genderqueer author Alex Gino offers just that. According to their website, Alex writes “queer and progressive middle-grade fiction”, which is a perfect description of her first children’s book about a transgender boy named George.

In their new book, little Rick is questioning many things. His identity, among others. Alex Gino has a very unique style and her books are accessible for both kids and adults.

This might be a great book to read to your kids in 2020!

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Release Date: 30 April

Alice Oseman is one of my favourite YA authors. I discovered one of her books, Radio Silence, by chance and only because I liked the narrator of the audiobook.

Now she is releasing a new YA novel about an 18-year-old girl struggling to come to terms with her being aromantic-asexual. As Alice confirmed in this tweet, she herself shares the main character’s sexual identity.

Therefore I expect Loveless to be authentic, fun, and beautiful at the same time — like all of her books usually are.

(Check the bottom of this article to enter my giveaway for Radio Silence!)

The Madness Blooms by Mackenzi Lee

Release Date: 24 November 2020

Mackenzi Lee will be releasing her long-awaited new book in November. It revolves around Dutch tulips and two orphaned siblings.

Mackenzi Lee likes to travel with her readers: Her earlier books, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Ladies’ Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, were both action-packed and involved a lot of traveling.

You can expect the same from her new book, The Madness Blooms.

Don’t Forget to Preorder

Whenever I hear about a new release coming up, I make a mental note and then forget about it until the book is already out. If that sounds familiar, I have good news for you:

All of these exciting new books are available for preorder already. I suggest you preorder them right now if you don’t want to forget.