20 upcoming YA books we can’t wait to read in 2020
By Lacy Baugher
The Mall – Megan McCafferty
In case you were looking for a book that’s basically completely made up of the Stranger Things scenes at Starcourt Mall, Megan McCafferty’s latest novel is 100% made for you.
The Mall is set in the early 1990s of New Jersey, when everyone had a summer job working various low level retail positions at the local palace of glittering consumerism that was the titular shopping center. This story follows the adventures of Cathy, who works at the Parkway Center Mall for the six weeks after graduation, and finds her life forever changed as a result.
You see, Cathy has A Plan. It involves staying with her boyfriend, heading off to NYC together and living happily ever after. What happens….is something else entirely.
The official synopsis describes the story as a fun, nostalgia fueled romp.
"The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after. But you know what they say about the best laid plans… Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places."
The Mall is available on June 9.