New Releases I’m Excited About: Mid 2021 Speculative & Youth Fiction

Happy Friday, dear readers! We’ve made it to the last two days of our look at Mid 2021 New Releases – how’s your TBR pile looking? 😉  Today we’re looking at Mid 2021 Speculative & Youth Fiction New Releases (May-August). I usually group these together because they are smaller categories as far as books I want to read.

Here is the schedule of posts for the week so you can zero in on your fave genre(s)!

Monday: Contemporary Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Tuesday: Historical Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Wednesday: Mystery/Suspense (non-Amish, non-speculative)
Thursday: Amish Fiction
TODAY: Speculative/Youth
Saturday: Non-Fiction

This certainly isn’t all the speculative & youth fiction releasing in Mid 2021 but it is the selection of books I most want to read & the ones I can verify for sure are clean. Make sure to also check the links to ALL the May-August 2021 releases, each in their own list by month. Or you can keep up with 2021’s new books as I learn about them by bookmarking my ‘2021 Releases‘ page & checking it each month!

I’m breaking down this list into three categories: Children’s, Young Adult, and Speculative just to more clearly define the genres represented here.

spotlight on titles i’m most giddy about

(click on book title to go to its goodreads page if available)

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

DIFFERENT: A Great Thing to Be!
Heather Avis & Sarah Mensinga
WaterBrook / June 29, 2021

This joyful rhyming book encourages children to value the different in all people, leading the way to a kinder world in which the differences in all of us are celebrated and embraced. Macy is a girl who’s a lot like you and me, but she’s also quite different, which is a great thing to be. With kindness, grace, and bravery, Macy finds her place in the world, bringing beauty and laughter wherever she goes and leading others to find delight in the unique design of every person.

ESCAPE FROM THE EVERGLADES
(High Water #1)
Tim Shoemaker
Focus on the Family / July 6, 2021

A park ranger’s son hates the Everglades, and he thinks he’ll just die if he doesn’t escape Southern Florida soon . . . and he’s right. After Parker Buckman is mauled and nearly killed by an alligator, he sees the glades as a place of death. All he wants to do is get out of the area, and he’s convinced he won’t truly be okay until he does. But he can’t leave until he finds a friend who goes missing. Escaping a bad situation isn’t a matter of a geographical change. Sometimes the best way to a brighter future is to face the darkness of your past.

HAND TO HOLD
JJ Heller & Alyssa Petersen
WaterBrook / July 20, 2021

With delightful illustrations and an engaging rhyme scheme, this book offers the promise of security and love every child’s heart longs to know. From skipping stones and counting stars to climbing trees and telling stories, every moment is wrapped snugly in the certain warmth of a parent’s presence and God’s blessing. With poignancy and joy, this bedtime read captures the unconditional love parents want their children to know but so often fail to express amid the chaos of daily life.

SO YOU WANT TO BUILD A LIBRARY
Lindsay Leslie & Aviel Basil
Capstone / August 1, 2021

There is no better place in the world than a library. Especially a library that kids create! A million stories high? Sure. Bathtubs? Absolutely. A full-service sundae bar? Of course. Everything is possible in this library–just like in books!  Author Lindsay Leslie puts the reader in charge as the architect of a fantastical library in this imaginative picture book celebrating libraries and the joys of reading.

MYSTERY ON MAGNOLIA CIRCLE
Kate Klise
Feiwel & Friends / August 3, 2021

Rear Window meets Nancy Drew in this middle-grade novel by Kate Klise about a girl who believes she has witnessed a crime. On the first day of vacation, ten-year-old Ivy Crowden falls down the stairs and breaks her leg. Stuck in a plaster cast, she’s certain her summer is doomed. Not even Teddy, her neighbor and best friend, can cheer her up because he’s dealing with his own pain: the loss of a beloved dog. But when Ivy witnesses a possible burglary from her living room window, her summer takes a sudden turn from meh to mysterious. Who are the criminals? Might a classmate be involved? And . . . uh-oh. A second mystery is nipping at Ivy’s heels. Cue the best friends, the best dog, and the best chance that summer can be saved!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS BOOK?
Angela DiTerlizzi & Tom Booth
Philomel Books / August 31, 2021

When a boy discovers that his favorite book is missing, he asks you if you’ve seen it. But with every description he gives and every page you turn, you realize that his missing book is in YOUR hands! So what do you do? And what does HE do when he figures it out? A laugh-out-loud, interactive story that breaks the fourth wall written by Angela DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Tom Booth! Perfect for fans of DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON, THIS BOOK JUST ATE MY DOG, and THERE’S A MONSTER IN YOUR BOOK.

teen & young adult fiction

SUNKISSED
Kasie West
Delacorte Press / May 4, 2021

Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can’t help her forget what happened. To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of “fun.” Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks–mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks–who just happens to be on staff–which means he’s off-limits. What starts as a disaster turns into. . . something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery. And when Brooks offers her the chance of a lifetime, she must figure out how far is she willing to go to find out what she wants and who she wants to be.

CASTLE OF REFUGE
(The Dericott Tales #2)
Melanie Dickerson
Thomas Nelson / June 1, 2021

Ever since she was a child, Audrey wanted her life to be extraordinary. But as the daughter of a viscount born in late fourteenth-century England, the only thing expected of her was to marry—until an act of malice by her sister, Maris, four years ago damaged her prospects even further. Though Maris was sent away, twenty-year-old Audrey is still suffering the scars of her sister’s cruelty. So when her father announces his plans to marry off his damaged daughter and bring Maris back home, Audrey decides to flee in search of her true destiny. However, life outside her home is dangerous, and she soon finds herself attacked, sick, and in dire straits. She is taken in at Dericott Castle to be nursed back to health. While there, she decides to keep her identity a secret and work as a servant in the castle. But she doesn’t count on falling in love with the young and handsome Lord Dericott, who lost his arm several months earlier and bears scars of his own. In this Ugly Duckling retelling, New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson brilliantly crafts a highstakes, encouraging tale about the power of love.

THE STORY KING
(The Sunlit Lands #3)
Matt Mikalatos
Wander / June 8, 2021

In the third and final installment in the Sunlit Lands series, the magic of the Sunlit Lands has been reset, but that doesn’t mean all is well. Unrest and discord are growing by the day, and Hanali is positioning himself as ruler of the Sunlit Lands. But, in order for Hanali to seize control, there must be a sacrifice, one that very few are willing to make. Jason, Shula, Baileya, and others must work together to save the lives of those Hanali would sacrifice for his own gain.

SHADOW
(Heirs of Neverland #2)
Kara Swanson
Enclave Escape / July 13, 2021

Desperate to rescue Claire and the fractured Lost Boys, Peter must unravel what truly tore his dreamland apart. But with each step, he is haunted by more of his own broken memories. Not even Pan himself is what he seems. Claire Kenton is chained to a pirate ship, watching the wreckage of Neverland rocked by tempests. When she finally finds her brother, Connor is every bit as shattered as the island. Claire may have pixie dust flowing in her veins—but the light of Neverland is flickering dangerously close to going out forever. To rescue Neverland from the inescapable shadow, the boy who never grew up and the girl who grew up too fast will have to sacrifice the only thing they have left: each other.

VISION
(The Blaze Trilogy #3)
Hope Bolinger
IlluminateYA / August 10, 2021

After Danny Belte ends up with a gunshot wound to the head, he’s shipped off to a local psychiatric center under the assumption he’d attempted suicide. Knowing that a classmate had tried to kill him, and having a photographic memory to prove it, keeps him sane. After meeting the fun and playfully rebellious members of his ward, he suspects that some underlying connection ties them all together. Haunted by revealing visions, he may have a chance at discovering one conflict of interest that will buy their ticket out of the ward. But memories are dangerous things. He may just make as many enemies as friends. Enemies who want his memories erased. Or worse, want him dead.

SECRETS IN THE MIST
(Skyworld #1)
Morgan L. Busse
Enclave Escape / August 10, 2021

In a world where humanity lives in the sky to escape a deadly mist below, Cass’s only goal is survival. That is, until she finds a job on the airship Daedalus as a diver. Now she explores ruined cities, looking for treasure and people’s lost heirlooms until a young man hires her to find the impossible: a way to eradicate the Mist. Theodore Winchester is a member of one of the Five Families that rule the skies. Following in his father’s footsteps, he searches for the source of the Mist and hopes to stop the purges used to control overpopulation. But what he finds are horrifying secrets and lethal ambition. If he continues his quest, it could mean his own death. The Mist is rising and soon the world will be enveloped in its deadly embrace, turning what’s left of humanity into the undead.

speculative fiction (adult)

WINDWARD SHORE
(The Dancing Realms #3)
Sharon Hinck
Enclave / May 11, 2021

Storm clouds loom on the horizon as Carya and Brantley struggle to overcome wounds of the past and build a future together. The fragile new Order is on shaky ground, with too few dancers and sparse resources. Then trouble erupts—and now an insidious rebellion and a new foe threaten their entire world. When she uncovers an old enemy behind all the destruction, Carya realizes the past is not done with her. With conflict tearing apart the dancers and villages, rimmers are soon overrun, and Carya must unite her people by leading the battle to protect the very heart of her world … or lose it all.

STICKS AND STONE
(The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #3)
David James Warren
TriStone Media / June 1, 2021

When Rembrandt goes back to stop the untimely death of his partner, he finds himself wrapped up in the disappearance of two missing children in the middle of an epic Minneapolis blizzard. But, can he save the children in time–and if he does, will he also be able to save his partner? The continuing adventures of Rembrandt Stone from the creative minds of James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren and newcomer David Curtis Warren, writing as DAVID JAMES WARREN

COME BACK TO ME
(Waters of Time #1)
Jody Hedlund
Revell / June 1, 2021

The ultimate cure that could heal any disease? Crazy. That’s exactly what research scientist Marian Creighton has always believed about her father’s quest, even if it does stem from a desire to save her sister Ellen from the genetic disease that stole their mother from them. But when her father falls into a coma after drinking a vial of holy water believed to contain traces of residue from the Tree of Life, Marian must question all of her assumptions. He’s left behind tantalizing clues that suggest he’s crossed back in time. Insane. Until Marian tests his theories and finds herself in the Middle Ages during a dangerous peasant uprising. William Durham, a valiant knight comes to Marian’s rescue and offers her protection . . . as his wife. The longer Marian stays in the past, the more she cares about William. Can she ever find her father and make it back to the present to heal her sister? And when the time comes to leave, will she want to?

BENEATH THE FORSAKEN CITY
(Song of Seare #2)
Carla Laureano
Enclave / June 8, 2021

Conor and Aine have barely escaped Seare with their lives. Conor knows he must return to find the harp that could end the Red Druid’s reign of terror, but he must first see Aine safely to her family home on the isle of Amanta. When an unnatural storm tears them apart, they find themselves in even more danger than that which they fled. Because magic is not the only thing to fear in Aine’s homeland, where the Sofarende invaders harry the coasts and shifting clan alliances make it impossible to know who to trust. Conor and Aine must cling to the whispers of Comdiu’s plans for them and their enduring love for one another, even when the future looks darkest.

THE WEIGHT OF MEMORY
Shawn Smucker
Revell / July 6, 2021

When Paul Elias receives a terminal diagnosis, he leaves his physician’s office in a fog. Only one thing is clear to him: if he is going to die, he must find someone to watch over his granddaughter, Pearl, who has been in his charge since her drug-addicted father disappeared. Paul decides to take her back to Nysa–both the place where he grew up and the place where he lost his beloved wife under strange circumstances forty years earlier. But when he picks up Pearl from school, the little girl already seems to know of his plans, claiming a woman told her. In Nysa, Paul reconnects with an old friend but is not prepared for the onslaught of memory. And when Pearl starts vanishing at night and returning with increasingly bizarre tales, Paul begins to question her sanity, his own views on death, and the nature of reality itself.

BETRAYED
(The Gifted #2)
Lisa T. Bergren
Stonewater Books / July 26, 2021

(Previously released as THE BETRAYED) An illuminated letter, long buried by the Church—prophesying a fellowship of men and women possessing powerful spiritual gifts—is the catalyst for a profound war that will bring either a new age of enlightenment or a darkness the world has never before seen. As the Gifted gather, gain strength, and follow God’s clues, their enemies grow more determined to control them.

SET IN STONE
(The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #4)
David James Warren
TriStone Media / August 10, 2021

Rembrandt Stone is on the case of a serial killer. But when the killer finds him first, he puts the one person Rembrandt loves in his cross hairs. Now, Rembrandt must outwit time to save the people he loves. The continuing adventures of Rembrandt Stone from the creative minds of James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren and newcomer David Curtis Warren, writing as DAVID JAMES WARREN.

BLESSED
(The Gifted #3)
Lisa T. Bergren
Stonewater Books / August 25, 2021

(Previously released as THE BLESSED): The fellowship of the Gifted is thirteen in number—each in possession of a divine purpose, each forging ahead as catalysts in a war between light and dark. Among them are Sir Gianni de Capezzana and Daria d’Angelo, a couple in pursuit of new goals—to face the Church and avoid being burned as heretics. Trailed by the enemy, and on the run in an unpredictable land, they find respite and, at long last, love. Yet the enemy is closing in, hell-bent on their ultimate destruction…

add these to your wish list

all the new releases by each separate month
(amazon affiliate links used)

my fave covers?

What about you? Which Mid 2021 Speculative & Youth Fiction New Releases are you most anxious to read? Which covers are your favorites?

If you don’t see your book mentioned here OR in my amazon lists, I apologize! It’s impossible to keep up with all the books LOL! Please feel free to leave your release info for Christian / clean fiction in the comments.