Debut Author Shout Out!Like this list

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• Morris Award | Young Adult Library Services Association

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  The William C. Morris YA Debut Award honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens. Find more information on the Morris Award, including winners, policies and procedures and how to nominate a title.

• All the Noise at Once

  Davis, DeAndra,

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  The 2025 winner! In this compelling, moving story about brotherhood, identity and social justice, a Black autistic teen tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested.

• You and Me on Repeat

  Shyne, Mary,

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  In this debut rom-com graphic novel, two former friends are trapped in a time loop together, repeating their high school graduation day over and over and over. A 2025 honor book!

• First Love Language

  Valentine, Stefany,

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  Taiwanese American Catie has never fit in with her white family. She desperately wants to know about her culture and find her biological mother. Her co-worker Toby will teach her Mandarin in exchange for helping him win his crush! A 2025 honor book!

• Love, Misha

  Aden, Askel,

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  Misha is stuck on a road trip with their mom (who refuses to acknowledge that Misha is nonbinary). When the pair are suddenly sucked into a Realm of Spirits, they will have to work together to get back home! A 2025 honor book!

• Not Like Other Girls

  Adamo, Meredith,

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  The 2025 winner! A girl risks everything to find her former best friend in this powerful debut mystery about trauma and girlhood.

• Aisle Nine

  Cho, Ian X.,

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  The world is filled with portals to hell and bloodthirsty demons, but Jasper spends his time working as a check-out clerk at the mini-mart. There's even a hell portal in aisle nine, but that doesn't mean the apocalypse is coming, right? A 2025 honor…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear

  Wasley, Robin,

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  Fighting through hordes of living corpses, Sid and a ragtag crew of friends are the only thing standing between their town and the end of the world. A 2025 honor book!

• Shut Up, This Is Serious

  Ixta, Carolina,

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  Belen wants a normal life. But nothing is normal: Her father abandoned her, she might not graduate, and her super-Catholic best friend is pregnant — by her Black boyfriend she hasn't told her racist parents about. Things are hella complicated! A…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Wilderness of Girls

  Franklin, Madeline Claire,

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  Rhi discovers a pack of feral girls in the woods and is swept up in the ensuing mystery: Are the Wild Girls of Happy Valley lost princesses from a faraway land, as they believe or are they brainwashed victims of a deranged kidnapper? A 2025 honor…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Rez Ball

  Graves, Byron,

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  When Tre's older brother died in an accident, it left Tre wanting to complete his dream of playing in the NBA. The first step is helping his Red Lake Reservation High School team to the state championships! He can't mess this up! The 2024 winner!

• All the Fighting Parts

  Sawyerr, Hannah V.,

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  In the vein of "Grown" and "The Poet X," this searing and defiant novel in verse is about reclaiming agency after a sexual assault within the church community. A 2024 honor book!

• Once There Was

  Monsef, Kiyash,

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  When 15-year-old Iranian American Marjan discovers her murdered father was secretly a veterinarian to magical creatures, she realizes she must take up his mantle despite the many dangers. A 2024 honor book!

• Saints of the Household

  Tison, Ari,

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  Brothers Max and Jay help a classmate in trouble but then struggle with the consequences of their violent actions and worry they may be more like their abusive dad than they thought. The brothers turn to their Bribri roots to find their way forward.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• She Is a Haunting

  Tran, Trang Thanh,

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  Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyen is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans. A 2024 honor…Read moreRead more of this annotation