11 must-read new YA releases that will capture your heart this February

Red Hood – Elana K. Arnold

Red Hood, on paper,  is a play on the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. But in truth, it’s so much more than that. Author Elana K. Arnold turns the traditional story on its head, relocating the power and agency of this fairytale to the women at its center.

In this version of the story, sixteen-year-old Bisou Martel encounters a monster in the woods. But, this time, instead of running from or falling prey to the wolf, Bisou kills it. The next day, a local boy turns up dead, and a mystery begins. When a second boy vanishes under mysterious circumstances after menacing another local girl, Bisou’s family secrets come – and her grandmother’s life story – come to light.

The novel is full of surprises, but perhaps the biggest of all is the way that it takes a traditional tale that’s meant as a cautionary tale for women into one that celebrates their strengths. Red Hood works because of the female relationships at its center – whether thats family, friends, or a legacy of looking out for each other that’s run backward for generations. There are wolves in the woods, yes. There always will be. But we don’t have to face them alone.

The official synopsis reads as follows.

"Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel has lived a quiet life in a little house in Seattle. She’s kept mostly to herself. She’s been good. But then comes the night of homecoming, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and between trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her. A wolf attacks. Bisou fights back. A new moon rises. And with it, questions. About the blood in Bisou’s past and on her hands as she stumbles home. About broken boys and vicious wolves. About girls lost in the woods—frightened, but not alone."

Red Hood is available on February 25.