FREE RADICALS
Released 3/21/23 from Penguin Random House/Nancy Paulsen Books
Afghan-American Mafi’s sophomore year gets a whole lot more complicated when she accidentally exposes family secrets, putting her family back in Afghanistan in danger in this smartly written YA debut.
Sixteen-year-old Mafi Shahin is well-aware that life is not always fair. If it was fair, her parents might allow her to hang out with a member of the male species, other than her cat Mr. Meowgi. If it was fair, her crush and basketball hottie Jalen Thomas might see her as more than just her brother’s kid sister. And if it was fair, her baba’s brother and wife would be able to leave Afghanistan and come to America.
Life might not be fair—but she can make it a bit more even. Working as the Ghost of Santa Margarita High, Mafi serves dollops of justice on her classmates’ behalf as the school’s secret avenger. They leave a note declaring the crime and Mafi ensures the offender receives an anonymous karmic-sized dose of payback. Keeping her identity as the Ghost a secret sometimes means Mafi has to lie. But as those lies begin to snowball both at school and at home, even compromising their family’s secret past and putting their relatives back in Afghanistan at risk, Mafi is forced to decide how she wants to live her life—trying to make the world more fair from the shadows or loudly and publicly standing up for what’s right.
RAINSONG
Releasing 6/23/26 from Penguin Random House/Knopf Books for Young Readers
In a small town haunted by unsolved disappearances, a teen with a secret ability must unravel a deadly mystery — before she becomes the next victim.
Mendocino is not the quaint coastal California town Zayn Pereira imagined. It’s shrouded in a fog that never lets up. Posters of a missing teen girl are plastered everywhere, and just offshore is an island called Rainsong, rumored to be haunted.
At her new school, everyone is tense and suspicious of each other. So when charismastic Ollie takes Zayn under her wing, it’s a relief — but is her charm hiding something? People assume brooding Tiago, the missing girl’s ex-boyfriend, is responsible for her disappearance… but Zayn can’t keep her eyes off him. Is he really who everyone says he is?
Besides, Zayn has a secret of her own. And when Tiago is struck by a car one night, she is forced to reveal it to save him. In doing so, Zayn discovers her connection to a generations-old feud that still rages today. Can she break herself from the grip of Mendocino’s past tragedy? Or will she become the next girl on the missing poster?
Filled with angsty romance, supernatural powers, murder, and vengeance, this is a chilling and propulsive read.
