21 upcoming YA book releases we can’t wait to read in 2021
By Lacy Baugher
The Project – Courtney Summers
The latest book from the author of Sadie, The Project is a story about a cult. But it’s also a story about identity, and loss, and looking for something that allows you to ground yourself in the world. Like Summers’ other novels, there will probably be some debate about whether this book is correctly categorized as YA, with its dark themes and uncomfortable subject matter. But, in its way, it’s also a coming of age tale, and one that wrestles with our universal desire to find someplace to belong.
The story follows two sisters, and their struggle to cope after the death of their parents. Lo, badly scarred, ends up in the care of her great aunt, while Bea joins a community in upstate New York known as the Unity Project. Which…bears a more than passing resemblance to a full-blown cult. Lo eventually decides to investigate the group in the hopes of reuniting with be, but what she discovers will surprise her – and possibly threaten her life.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it. When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to."
The Project is available on February 2.