12 must-read September YA releases to pair with your PSL

September 2021 release – The Other Merlin  – Robyn Schneider

The bestselling author of The Beginning of Everything attempts to reinvent Arthurian legend in The Other Merlin, a story that casts the story of King Arthur as a teenage rom-com.

Here, our Merlin figure is a teenage girl, the daughter of the legendary court wizard who disguises herself as her brother in order to go to court herself. There, she learns that Prince Arthur’s not exactly a hero — he pulled the sword out of the stone by accident and prefers to spend his time reading — and Guinevere isn’t interested in either the prince or Lancelot.

The irreverent tone and gleeful disregard for historical accuracy (this is a Camelot where coffee exists) will appeal to fans of books like the Lady Janies series, and its bawdy jokes, high-stakes court intrigue, and unexpected romance will inject some much-needed fun into an often too serious world.

The official synopsis has a lot more detail about the story.

"Welcome to the great kingdom of Camelot. Prince Arthur’s a depressed botanist who would rather marry a library than a princess, Lancelot’s been demoted to castle guard after a terrible misunderstanding, and nothing is going according to plan. Then Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone (in his defense, he was drunk and mostly kidding), and now everyone’s convinced he’s some prophesied hero. Emry Merlin is stuck in her small town. Her father, the legendary court wizard, disappeared years ago, and Emry’s been peddling theater tricks to make ends meet. When a royal messenger arrives summoning her far less talented twin brother to serve as Prince Arthur’s right-hand wizard, Emry is understandably upset. But after Emmett becomes indisposed thanks to a bad spell, Emry disguises herself as her brother and travels to the royal court to impersonate him until they can switch. Studying magic at the castle is everything Emry hoped for. But life in King Uther’s court is full of scandals, lies, and backstabbing courtiers. What’s a casually bisexual teen wizard masquerading as her twin brother to do? Other than fall for the handsome prince, stir trouble with the foppish Lord Gawain, offend Princess Guinevere, and make herself indispensable to the future of Camelot? When the truth comes out with disastrous consequences, Emry has to decide whether she’ll risk everything for the boy she loves, or give up her potential to become the greatest wizard Camelot has ever known."

The Other Merlin is available on September 21. 

What are you planning to put on your must-read list this month? Shout out your September picks in the comments.