New Releases I’m Excited About: Early 2022 Speculative & Youth Fiction

Happy Friday! We’re down to the last two posts in our look at this new season of upcoming releases! Tomorrow we’ll finish the week with nonfiction but today I’m diving into Early 2022 Speculative & Youth Fiction New Releases (January – April). 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!

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

This certainly isn’t all the speculative & youth fiction releasing in Early 2022 but it is the selection of books I most want to read & the ones I can verify for sure are clean. I’ll also include links to all the January-April 2022 releases, each in their own list by month. You can also keep up with 2022’s new books as I learn about them by bookmarking the ‘2022 Releases‘ page on my blog menu & checking it periodically!

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

YOU’RE THE HUG TO MY KISSES
Barbara Herndon & Diane Ewen
Zonderkidz / January 4, 2022

You’re the jelly to my donut / You’re the blue to my sky / You’re the laces to my sneakers / You’re the twinkle to my eye. With whimsical, read-aloud rhymes, this delightful picture book will appeal to readers of all ages and remind them that life is sweeter when you have someone to share it with.

CROWNED WITH GLORY
Dorena Williamson & Shellene Rodney
WaterBrook / February 8, 2022

An ode to Black hair and Black girl joy, this joy-filled rhyming picture book invites young readers into the world of a young Black girl as she rocks her God-given beauty. From the hair on her head to the tips of her toes, Azira knows that she is awesome! And whether it’s styled in twists, curls, braids, Bantu knots, a textured bun, or left totally natural, her hair is just one of the countless things that helps Azira celebrate who God made her to be. She’s able to live out a beautiful story because God has crowned her with glory—and Azira wants you to do the same!

SUPER YOU!
Anne Kennedy Brady
WorthyKids / March 8, 2022

Kids love to pretend they have super powers, “flying” around in capes. But parents and grandparents see all the ways their little one is heroic—learning and growing and trying so much every day. Vivid, comic-book-style artwork depicts various costumed super-kids while the lively text draws comparisons between the qualities of a superhero and the child’s special qualities. Little heroes—and their adult “sidekicks”—will love Super You!

WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY LOVE TODAY?
Kristin Chenoweth & Maine Diaz
Thomas Nelson / March 8, 2022

What Will I Do with My Love Today? is a sweet adventure picture book by celebrity Kristin Chenoweth. This heartfelt story follows young Kristi Dawn around New York City as she shares her love through acts of generosity–from singing in the church choir to helping a neighbor weed her garden. When she meets a lonely dog looking for a home, Kristi Dawn shows that adoption is one of the most loving and life-changing gifts of all. Through delightful rhyme and examples of child-friendly (and pup-friendly!) acts of generosity and kindness, Chenoweth shares the powerful message that the more love you give, the more love you get back!

THANK YOU, MAMA
Linda Meeker & Sandra Eide
Thomas Nelson / April 5, 2022

We all want to raise happy eaters who enjoy eating new foods, mealtimes with family, and being thankful. That’s why so many parents love Linda Meeker’s charming videos of her son Grey saying “Thank you, Mama!” With colorful illustrations that capture a child’s daily snacks and mealtimes, Thank You, Mama will delight parents and kids alike.

young adult books

WE WERE KINGS
Court Stevens
Thomas Nelson / February 1, 2022

Twenty years ago, eighteen-year-old Francis Quick was convicted of murdering her best friend, Cora King, and sentenced to death. Now the highly debated Accelerated Death Penalty Act has passed giving Frankie thirty final days to live. Surprising everyone, one of the King family members sets out to challenge the woefully inadequate evidence and potential innocence of Frankie Quick. The at-first reluctant but soon-fiery Nyla and her unexpected ally—handsome country island boy Sam Stack—bring Frankie’s case to the international stage through her YouTube channel, Death Daze. They step into fame and a hometown battle that someone’s still willing to kill over. But who? The senator? The philanthropist? The pawn shop owner? Nyla’s own mother? Best advice: Don’t go to family dinner at the Kings’ estate. More people will leave in body bags than on their own two feet. And as for Frankie Quick, she’s a gem . . . even if she’s guilty.

UNBETROTHED
Candice Pedraza Yamnitz
Illuminate YA / February 8, 2022

Around Agatha Sea, princesses are poised, magically gifted, and betrothed. So, when seventeen-year-old Princess Beatriz still fails to secure a betrothal, her parents hold a ball. Forming an alliance could mean the difference between peace and war, but Beatriz doesn’t want just any suitor. She’s in love with her best friend, Prince Lux. Marrying Prince Lux will always be a silly dream as long as she has no magical gift. Princess Beatriz will do whatever it takes to obtain a touch of magic, including making a deadly oath to go on a quest to Valle de Los Fantasmas. A valley where no one comes out alive.

OATHBOUND
(The Royal Rose Chronicles #1)
Victoria McCombs
Enclave Escape / February 15, 2022

Emme has spent her life avoiding anything to do with pirates. But the fates are cruel, and now a hidden sickness leads her to partner with pirates for the one thing that can save her—a cure on an island none are certain exists. The pirate captain’s secrets are darker than the deep and threaten to kill them all. His obligations are tinged with betrayal, for his oathbind must be fulfilled. To ignore it is to invite peril of unimaginable destruction. As the adventure unfolds, the sea takes more than she expects and the sea gives more than he wants.

THE SUMMER WE FORGOT
Caroline George
Thomas Nelson / March 8, 2022

Darby and Morgan haven’t spoken for two years, and their friend group has splintered. But when the body of their former science teacher is found in the marsh where they attended camp that summer, they realize they have more questions than answers . . . and even fewer memories. The group of reunited friends begins to suspect that a murderer is stalking the coastal highway 30A, and they must try to recover their memories as quickly as possible . . . before the history they can’t remember repeats itself. As tensions rise and time runs out, Darby and Morgan begin to wonder if they can believe one another . . . or if they can even trust themselves.

speculative fiction (adult)

NEVER LEAVE ME
(Waters of Time #2)
Jody Hedlund
Revell / January 4, 2022

In the last stages of a genetic disease, Ellen Creighton has decided to live out her remaining days at the estate of her longtime friend Harrison Burlington. Harrison cares deeply for Ellen, but as a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, he’s never allowed himself to get serious in a relationship. However, he’s desperately trying to save her by finding the holy water that is believed to heal any disease. When he locates two flasks, Ellen refuses to drink one of them because she believes the holy water killed her sister and father. In an effort to convince her to take it, Harrison ingests the contents first, and when Ellen witnesses the effects, she can no longer deny the power of the substance in the bottles. Dangerous criminals are also seeking the holy water, and Ellen soon learns they will go to any lengths to get the powerful drug–including sending her back into the past to find it for them.

THE SWORD AND THE SONG
(The Song of Seare #3)
Carla Laureano
Enclave / January 11, 2022

Seare is at war. The Red Druid has continued to gain strength and power, and the people of Seare suffer beneath the ravages of the isle’s unbound spirits. The Fíréin are all that stand between the land and certain disaster. But there is strife within the Brotherhood as well: Eoghan still refuses to claim his rightful throne, leaving the responsibilities of rule to Conor and creating an uncomfortable distance between the sworn brothers. When Conor leaves Ard Dhaimin to find the key to defeating the Red Druid, he delves into a world of shadows and danger which will bring him to the brink of madness and back. All the while Eoghan and Aine are left to pursue their own mission to defeat their adversary through her magical gifts. But as the final battle looms ever closer, they realize that the cost of defeating the Red Druid may be greater than they’re willing to pay… and that nothing—and no one—is as it seems.

A PATH TO FORGIVENESS
(The Prodigal Woman #1)
Lisa M. James
January 21, 2022

Reckless. Extravagant. Wasteful. These were all words that could describe Esther. Thirteen years of careless living had left Esther and her young son destitute. When her husband disappears at night, leaving Esther with the full burden of their debt, Esther has no choice but to claim her husband is dead and enslave herself and her child to stay alive. So severely had she broken the relationships in her life, she never expected a man from her childhood to speak on her behalf and carry the weight of her debt. Yet Esther soon realizes that escaping the demons of her past would not be so easy. Levi had little interest in seeing Esther again. When a promise to her father leaves him honor-bound to take her as his wife, he struggles with the bitterness he holds toward her for allowing her addictions and selfishness to derail her life. Yet, he could not hide the deep desire within him to be a husband and a father, even to a woman he did not love and a child that was not his by blood.

add these to your wish list

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

What about you? Which Early 2022 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 in the comments.