12 new YA books you should stay indoors and read this August

As Many Nows as I Can Get – Shana Youngdahl

This debut from author Shana Youngdahl, follows the story of an unconventional relationship between a grounded girl and a magnetic boy during a summer of bad decisions.

(Basically, it sounds as though if you like HBO’s Euphoria? You should give this a try.)

Graduating senior Scarlett may live in a small town in Colorado, but she has big ambitions and despite a few small acts of rebellion, her intelligence and drive have her headed off to college. Despite her excitement over this impending change, there are a few things she still finds difficult to consider letting go of.

Her best friend Hannah is one of those things. But so is another friend name David, with whom a long friendship has finally become something more. Maybe. At least something sexual, at any rate. David, however, has his own set of destructive impulses, and struggles with opioid addiction. (A bit of the story, by the way, that was inspired by events in Youngdahl’s own hometown of Paradise, CA, and her first-hand experiences seeing the brutal effects of the opioid epidemic.)

The official synopsis has a bit more detail:

"In one impulsive moment the summer before they leave for college, overachievers Scarlett and David plunge into an irresistible swirl of romance, particle physics, and questionable decisions. Told in non-linear, vivid first-person chapters, As Many Nows As I Can Get is the story of a grounded girl who’s pulled into a lightning-strike romance with an electric-charged boy, and the enormity of the aftermath. Cerebral, accessible, bold, and unconventionally romantic, this is a powerful debut about grief, guilt, and reconciling who you think you need to be with the person you’ve been all along"

As Many Nows as I Can Get is available on August 20.