14 must read YA book releases to kick off summer right this June
By Lacy Baugher
June 2021 release: Instructions for Dancing – Nicola Yoon
The New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Nicola Yoon is back with her eagerly anticipated third novel, Instructions for Dancing. (Which also happens to have one of the most stunning covers you’ll see on this list, by the way.)
An utterly unique romance full of heart and hope, Instructions for Dancing follows the story of a girl named Evie who doesn’t believe in love—especially after she witnesses a couple kiss and manages to see both how their romance began and will one day end.
But when she meets a boy named X at a dance studio, her lessons in the waltz and foxtrot just might teach her a lot more than she bargained for. X is everything she isn’t, and everything she’s convinced herself she doesn’t want. Especially now that she sees how few love stories actually end in happily ever after. But as she and X continue their dance – both literally and metaphorically – she’ll be forced to question everything she thought she knew.
The official synopsis describes the series as follows.
"Evie Thomas doesn’t believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually. As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything–including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he’s only just met. Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it’s that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?"
Instructions for Dancing is available on June 1.