12 must-read new YA book releases to get us through April

Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me – Gae Polisner

A heartfelt coming of age story set in Long Island, Gae Polisner’s Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me follows the story of Jean Louise, a teen girl named after author Jack Kerouac who is struggling to adjust to various life changes.

Do YA readers nowadays know who Jack Kerouac is? I guess we’re about to find out, since JL’s mother and grandmother are somewhat obsessed with a formative young experience involving the author.

JL herself must contend with a variety of complex problems, including her father’s decision to disappear to California, her mother’s slow decline into mental illness and the collapse of her friendship with her childhood BFF. And, of course, there’s a boy – an older, possibly inappropriate boy, because that’s what happens in these sorts of stories.

The official synopsis describes the emotional story in greater detail.

"Fifteen-year-old JL Markham’s life used to be filled with carnival nights and hot summer days spent giggling with her forever best friend Aubrey about their families and boys. Together, they were unstoppable. But they aren’t the friends they once were. With JL’s father gone on long term business, and her mother suffering from dissociative disorder, JL takes solace in the in the tropical butterflies she raises, and in her new, older boyfriend, Max Gordon. Max may be rough on the outside, but he has the soul of a poet (something Aubrey will never understand). Only, Max is about to graduate, and he’s going to hit the road – with or without JL. JL can’t bear being left behind again. But what if devoting herself to Max not only means betraying her parents, but permanently losing the love of her best friend? What becomes of loyalty, when no one is loyal to you?"

Jack Kerouac Is Dead to Me is available on April 7.