This sapphic YA graphic novel takes place in the ’80s, but its story of teenage alienation is timeless. Wilberton Academy’s resident It Girl, Elizabeth Woodward, is found dead the morning after she starred in the school’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet. She’s said to have died by suicide, but something about that doesn’t feel right. Outcast Abby Kita is determined to find out what really happened to one of the few girls at Wilberton who was ever nice to her. Turns out, Elizabeth had secrets—secrets that might have gotten her killed. —Erica Ezeifedi

A perfectly blended family drama with a past and present missing person’s mystery that sinks readers into a small town by the Salton Sea. I was equally invested in Mal and her family—from her mother blaming her for her sister’s disappearance when they were in high school to Mal keeping the father of her teen daughter’s identity a secret—and finding out what happened to the missing women, then and now. Throw in nightmares about a horse-headed woman, a politician brother aligned with the rich, and a race to find another missing person, and this atmospheric mystery is all-absorbing. Bonus: Victoria Villarreal is an excellent audiobook narrator.

I was still preaching the gospel of The Weight of Blood when I got around to reading The Scammer, and let me tell you, Tiffany D. Jackson does not, cannot miss. I was engrossed from the moment I saw where this story was headed (it’s inspired by the events surrounding the Sarah Lawrence cult, but set on an HBCU campus), and the ending left me in open-mouthed appreciation of a well-executed twist. If you like suspenseful books set on college campuses, explorations of cult dynamics and manipulation, and stories ripped from the headlines, you’re going to want to read this one now. —Vanessa Diaz