The best YA fiction for the summer holidays

A group of high-achieving teens, friends since childhood, arrive for a luxury spring break hoping to put distance between themselves and the tragedy that fractured their circle the year before. So far, so good… but when a sudden tropical storm cuts the island off from the outside world, old tensions begin to simmer, secrets rise to the surface and the dream escape curdles into something far more dangerous. Taut, twisty and emotionally charged, deftly written by some of YA fictions most exciting authors, this is a pacey mystery about friendship, survival and the past refusing to stay buried.

In The Last Death Poet by Stephen Daly (Rock the Boat, £9.99), we’re drawn into a haunting contemporary Belfast, where the past presses insistently against the present. Michael has been forced to leave his old life behind and start again in his mother’s hometown, all while searching for answers about his father’s mysterious disappearance. Almost at once, he is troubled by vivid, unsettling visions of the city’s history, glimpses that grow stronger and stranger the deeper he looks. As Michael begins to form new connections, including a tentative romance and a close friendship with Meg, he finds himself pulled into a mystery that links family secrets, Irish history and myth. . Darkly compelling and thought-provoking, The Last Death Poet lingers long after the final page.

Radiya Hafiza’s The Silver Kingdom (Simon and Schuster, £16.99) is a lush and immersive fantasy that draws deeply on South Asian-inspired folklore, weaving a tale of magic, duty and forbidden love. Princess Layla of Sawan and Prince Zayd of Dakaria are heirs to rival lands, bound by fragile alliances and the expectations of kingdoms still scarred by conflict. Both are expected to marry for peace rather than passion, yet their growing connection threatens to unsettle the delicate balance around them. Beautifully realised, Hafiza conjures dramatic landscapes, political tension and richly drawn characters in a sweeping adventure that effortlessly blends romance, prophecy and epic fantasy stakes.

Sheena Wilkinson’s Star by Star (Little Island, £8.99) is a moving tale of grief, courage and change, set at a moment when the world itself is beginning again. It is November 1918, the First World War has ended and Stella, raised by her suffragette mother to believe she can help shape the future, suddenly finds herself alone after the influenza pandemic claims the person she loves most. With a tender, atmospheric narrative full of historical detail, Wilkinson’s writing encapsulates emotional warmth and quiet determination. Equal parts coming-of-age story and stirring historical drama, this is an uplifting read about hope, resilience and finding your place in history.

From post-war drama to high-stakes heists, Lora Beth Johnson’s Hell to Pay (Hot Key Books, £8.99) delivers a fierce and breathless story of grief, loyalty and impossible choices. Elle Fields comes from a family of thieves who specialise in breaking into the afterlife to steal secrets from the dead, but when one disastrous job costs her brother his soul, she turns her back on the life that destroyed them. Enter the mysterious Rook, with an irresistible offer; one final, impossible heist that could reveal the secret to resurrection. Drawn back into danger, Elle reunites her old crew and plunges into a world where nothing, not even death, can be trusted. Johnson’s novel crackles with tension, driven by a sharp-edged heroine and a plot full of twists, betrayals and dark magic. Fast-paced, inventive and emotionally charged, Hell to Pay is a gripping exploration of loss, loyalty and the price of bringing someone back.

Lastly, we plunge into the blood-dark world of Viking-era Shetland with Curtis Jobling’s Red Tide (Fox and Ink Books, £8.99), a fierce, historical adventure that fuses Norse legend and supernatural horror. On the island of Unst in 900 AD, Hilde, the restless daughter of a jarl, longs to follow her shieldmaiden mother into saga-worthy danger, while Cormac, a Pictish blacksmith’s son, knows how fragile peace can be. When the terrible Harrowed Men arrive through an unnatural fog, their raid brings more than axes and fire – these are no ordinary Vikings, and they have an unnatural hunger no bloodshed can satisfy. Jobling drives the story forward with brutal battles, vivid island detail and a thrilling clash of cultures. Dark, dramatic and richly atmospheric, this is an epic page-turner with bite.

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