10 exciting new YA releases to cozy up with this November
By Lacy Baugher
November 2021 release: Catch the Light – Kate Sweeney
Cozy Fall romance Catch the Light is described as perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Nina LaCour. It follows the story of seventeen-year-old Marigold, who’s still trying to move on nine months after her father’s death from cancer.
Her life suddenly seems as though it’s full of changes: Her older sister Hannah has gone off to college, her grief-stricken mother has decided to move the family from sophisticated Los Angels to upstate New York, and they’ll all have to live with her newly divorced aunt. (Whether they want to or not.) She’s forced to say goodbye to both her best friend and her boyfriend, as well as all the places she associates with the dad she so recently lost.
As Marigold struggles to adjust to the realities of her new life, she realizes something else: She’s starting to forget the father that meant so much to her. But when she meets a new boy at her new school – Jesse – who shares her love of photography, she’ll slowly start to learn that there’s a way to move forward that doesn’t require her to let go of her past – or be trapped by it forever.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"Nine months after the death of her father, Marigold; her little sister, Bea; and her mom move from sunny California to Upstate New York to live with Mary’s aunt El. Maybe New York will be a fresh start for them. But living in New York means missing all the things Mary left–from her BFF, Nora; to her now long-distance boyfriend, Bennett; her older sister, Hannah; and the memories of her father tied to the places she used to live. How can she keep them in her life with everything so far away? Then, while settling into the new normal, Mary meets Jesse, a fellow photographer and kindred spirit who just seems to get her. Falling into a friendship with Jesse feels easy, there’s something about him she can’t stop thinking about. But as things with Bennett are so uncertain, she can’t seem to make a move either way. When things come to a head, Mary will have to come clean and decide what she really wants and how she feels–finding a way to finally come to terms with her family, friends, and herself."
Catch the Light is available on November 9.