21 exciting new YA book releases arriving in the summer of 2021
By Lacy Baugher
The Lucky List – Rachel Lippincott
From Rachel Lippincott, the New York Times bestselling co-author of Five Feet Apart comes a gripping new romance, perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
The story follows Emily, who has always had a pretty good track record when it comes to luck. Unfortunately, that luck seems to run out once her mother loses her battle with cancer. From then on, nothing ever seems to work out in her favor — not in school, not in relationships, and not even in her own family.
Emily is unsure of how to turn things around when she comes across a summer bucket list her mom made during her own senior year of high school. Encouraged by her closest (and only) friend, Blake, Emily begins checking items off of her mother’s list, adding some much-needed excitement to her own life in the process.
The Lucky List is a captivating, heartfelt story about learning who you are, and who you love, when the person you’ve always shared yourself with is gone.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"Emily and her mum were always lucky. But Emily’s mum’s luck ran out three years ago when she succumbed to cancer, and nothing has felt right since. Now, the summer before her senior year, things are worse than ever – Emily has wrecked things with her boyfriend, Matt, and her dad is selling the house she grew up in and giving her mum’s belongings away. The only person she has to talk to is Blake, a girl she barely knows since she and her dad moved back to town five seconds ago. But that’s when Emily finds the list – her mum’s senior year summer bucket list – buried in the back of her closet. When Blake suggests that Emily take it on as a challenge, the two set off on a journey to tick each box and help Emily face her fears over losing her connection to her mum. As she starts to feel closer to her mother, so too does Emily’s bond with Blake deepen into something she wasn’t expecting. And suddenly Emily must face another fear: accepting the secret part of herself she never got a chance to share with the person who knew her best."
The Lucky List is available on June 1.