Knowing when to use your voice, your resources, and even your personal brand of magic or It factor can be hard. From retold tales to historical journeys to fantastic adventures, these April titles all have one thing in common, the characters learn to understand their place in the world, their limits, and their strengths. By the end of these stories, you’ll be admiring your own strengths as much those of your new favorite characters.
Voice of the Ocean by Kelsey Impicciche
You haven’t met The Little Mermaid like this. This reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s original tale is about more than being a fish out of water or romance or any of the things we associate with a mermaid finding her feet. Celeste, a siren plagued by her inability to be as cold, straightforward, and efficient as her family and community finds herself on a journey to redeem her reputation after rescuing Prince Raiden Sharp and breaking siren law in the process.
She and Raiden form an unlikely duo as they sail toward a treasure more important to sirens and humans than anyone on the crew realizes. Along the way, Celeste’s relationship with Raidan and his crew will shift and change as she learns to be human and embrace her own emotions. There’s more at stake than finding herself, though. Celeste will have to confront her understanding of the human world and herself if she wants to save everyone she loves and embrace who she truly is.
If you like: Fantasy, mermaids, pirates, duologies, long reads, adventure
Read our interview with Kelsey Impicciche about the inspiration for Voice of the Ocean!
While We’re Young by K.L. Walther
Is Senior Skip Day the perfect time to reimagine your whole life? Grace is out to find out, planning to skip school and explore Philadelphia with her best friends Isa and Everett. Skipping is about more than a day in the city, though. Grace is determined to find out if Everett is in love with her (even if he used to date Isa). Oh, and Isa has been secretly hanging out with Grace’s brother James. This could be the best day of their lives or the last breath of their friendship.
Follow this trio as they explore the best Philly has to offer and see if they can salvage their skip day when everyone’s secrets come into the light.
If you like: Contemporary, adventure, high school, romance, tension
One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
A novel in verse about Matilda Young, the youngest suffragette to be arrested for picketing, One Step Forward is a peek into the effort it took to bring the 19th Amendment to Congress and eventual ratification.
Joining the Women’s Suffrage Movement is something Matilda has been dreaming of. Her older sister has already added her voice to the cause, but Matilda can’t help but consider the consequences. Protesting comes with danger, and tensions are high as World War I contributes to the political upheaval Matilda, her family, and her community face.
Matilda will have to be resilient as she joins tens of thousands of women petitioning, protesting, and fighting for the right to vote, even if it means causing trouble at home.
If you like: Historical fiction, feminist stories, novels in verse
The Dandelion Riots by Kim Smejkal
Drinn, like so many girls, was cursed at birth. Forced to hide from the witches who cursed her, Drinn might just be the force needed to take on the powers that be.
After escaping and joining a rebellious force of cursed girls, Drinn will have to battle evil to change the world around her. There’s only one problem, her curse states that if she falls in love, the world will face disaster, so finding allies and friends makes her all the more dangerous. It’s up to the girls to break their curses and create a space where they can all find their own happily ever afters, or at least the option to seek them out.
If you like: Fantasy, magic, curses, witches, girl power
Lovely Dark and Deep by Taylor Robin
The presitigious boarding school Ellery West is a well-kept secret, and the students who live at the school for magic are assessed for how powerful they are—and how dangerous.
Faith is one of those dangerous girls kept from attending regular classes and exiled by her peers. Her only hope is to keep it together until she graduates, anything less than passing will mena her magic is taken away forever.
Unfortunately for Faith, staying cool and under the radar is going to be difficult when she and the other dangerous students, labeled the Red Stripes for the extra detail on their school uniforms, find themselves working together to fight something dangerous in the forest that borders the school grounds.
If you like: Fantasy, magic, dark academia, boarding school, magic school
