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14 must-read new YA releases to beat the August heat

By Lacy Baugher

Edie in Between by Laura Sibson. Image courtesy Penguin Random House
Edie in Between by Laura Sibson. Image courtesy Penguin Random House /
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The Endless Skies by Shannon Price. Image courtesy Macmillan Publishers
The Endless Skies by Shannon Price. Image courtesy Macmillan Publishers /

August 2021 release: The Endless Skies – Shannon Price

A thrilling standalone fantasy from A Thousand Fires author Shannon Price,  The Endless Skies is a searing story of a young girl’s desperate quest to save her city from a deadly disease and keep her magical community intact.

Set in the kingdom that floats high above the sea, The Endless Skies follows the story of the group of elite warriors who protect the Heliana, home to a magical race of shape-shifting winged lion people. (It’s less weird than it sounds, promise.)

Seventeen-year-old Rowan has been training all her life to become one of these fighters charged with protecting her people, but before her joining ceremony can take place, the city’s children are infected by a deadly disease brought by birds from the human world.  Soon Rowan will have to decide what she’s willing to risk to protect the people she loves – and whether she’s capable of breaking the rules to do it.

The official synopsis offers more details about the story.

"High above the sea, floats the pristine city of the Heliana. Home to winged-lion shapeshifters―the Leonodai―and protected from the world of humans by an elite group of warriors, the Heliana has only known peace. After years of brutal training, seventeen-year-old Rowan is ready to prove her loyalty to the city and her people to become one of the Leonodai warriors. But before Rowan can take the oath, a deadly disease strikes the city’s children. Soon the warriors―including two of Rowan’s closest friends―are sent on a dangerous mission to find a fabled panacea deep within enemy lands. Left behind, Rowan learns a devastating truth that could compromise the mission and the fate of the Heliana itself. She must make a decision: stay with the city and become a warrior like she always dreamed, or risk her future in an attempt to save everyone she loves. Whatever Rowan decides, she has to do it fast, because time is running out, and peace can only last so long…"

The Endless Skies is available on August 17.

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