21 exciting new YA book releases arriving in the summer of 2021
By Lacy Baugher
The Wild Ones – Nafiza Azad
A book described as We Hunt The Flame-meets-Nowhere Girls, with a cast of young women of color from around the world, The Wild Ones is the highly anticipated second novel from The Candle and the Flame author Nafiza Azad. And if this early excerpt is anything to go by, it’s going to be a story that’s more than worth the wait.
This thrilling, feminist fantasy follows a group of immortal teenage girls endowed with special magic. Once abandoned and silenced, each girl joining the group gains the ability to weaponize their screams. As they find strength and support in each other, the girls learn to use their voices – literally and metaphorically – to stand up for themselves and all those who are defenseless against harm.
The official synopsis describes the story in much more detail.
"Meet the Wild Ones: girls who have been hurt, abandoned, and betrayed all their lives. It all began with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother and sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escapes, she runs headlong into a boy with stars in his eyes. This boy, as battered as she is, tosses Paheli a box of stars before disappearing. With the stars, Paheli gains access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like herself and these Wild Ones use their magic to travel the world, helping the hopeless and saving others from the fates they suffered. Then Paheli and the Wild Ones learn that the boy who gave them the stars, Taraana, is in danger. He’s on the run from powerful forces within the world of magic. But if Taraana is no longer safe and free, neither are the Wild Ones. And that…is a fate the Wild Ones refuse to accept. Ever again."
The Wild Ones is available on August 3.