School is out and pleasure reading beckons! This summer vacation, teens can enjoy a variety of books offering effortlessly engaging, well-crafted stories. The subjects and genres may vary, but these pitch-perfect young adult reads will find eager audiences.

Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success by Jessica Parra (Wednesday Books, May 16): In this debut, Rubi’s Cuban immigrant, bakery-owner parents push her toward becoming a lawyer. But her passion for the kitchen earned her a slot in a high-profile baking contest, and her first-choice college wait-listed her. Can she negotiate her dreams and her parents’ wishes?

A Starlet’s Secret to a Sensational Afterlife by Kendall Kulper (Holiday House, May 23): Behind 1930s Hollywood glamour lies the desperation of young women longing for stardom. Midwestern teen Henny sees the ghosts of vulnerable missing girls and gets caught up in a romance with prickly co-star Declan in this stand-alone companion to 2022’s much-admired Murder for the Modern Girl.

Her Good Side by Rebekah Weatherspoon (Razorbill/Penguin, May 30): In a popular romance author’s YA debut, Bethany, a fat, confident Black girl, and Jacob, a Korean American aspiring filmmaker, think they’re learning the ins and outs of dating in a low-stakes practice relationship, but the Los Angeles teens instead fall into something very real.

The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen (Delacorte, June 6): Students at the magical Galileo Academy for the Extraordinary face sadly all-too-familiar real-world biases. In this fantasy mystery anthology featuring contributions by a diverse variety of popular YA authors, an ensemble cast of 18 students experience the fallout of a bigoted teacher’s murder.

The Eternal Return of Clara Hart by Louise Finch (Little Island, June 13): This debut time-loop story taps into the universal longing for do-overs. When their classmate Clara dies as a result of predatory, privileged Anthony’s actions, his friend Spence is jolted into new awareness as he relives the day of the tragedy and attempts to change things.

An Echo in the City by K.X. Song (Little, Brown, June 20): Set against the backdrop of the protests that shook Hong Kong in 2019, this debut explores broadly relatable personal and political themes by bringing together Phoenix Lam and Kai Zhang, two teens from very different backgrounds. Together they grow and face hard truths.

A Guide to the Dark by Meriam Metoui (Henry Holt, July 18): A spring break road trip turns into a terrifying ordeal in this horror debut enhanced with black-and-white photographs. Midwestern best friends Mira Hamdi and Layla Saleh face danger after booking into a motel room that was the site of a string of deaths.

I Am Not Alone by Francisco X. Stork (Scholastic, July 18): In acclaimed author Stork’s latest, two Brooklyn teens on complicated personal journeys of growth feel a spark of attraction. Undocumented Alberto from Mexico struggles with auditory hallucinations and a bad living situation, while Grace has boyfriend problems and was deeply hurt when her father filed for divorce.

One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus (Delacorte, July 25): The bestselling phenomenon that launched with 2017’s One of Us Is Lying draws to an end in this trilogy closer as the Bayview Crew unite over summer vacation two years after Simon’s death to confront a new threat as more secrets are revealed.

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Aug. 22): From the author of the award-winning The 57 Bus (2017) comes another narrative nonfiction title tackling timely social themes. This one tells the story of small-town California teens who grappled with the impact of one boy’s Instagram account that spread racist, sexist memes.

Laura Simeon is a young readers’ editor.