22 Brand New Young Adult Novels That Reimagine Classic Literature And Mythology

    Nothing revitalizes classic literature and mythology quite like seeing it remixed, reimagined, and otherwise retold!

    Dahlia Adler
    by Dahlia Adler

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    1. Waking Romeo by Kathryn Barker

    Macmillan / Via us.macmillan.com, James Green / Via Publisher

    Release date: January 4

    What it's about: Barker bends time and genre for this reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in 2083 London that sees most of the population having time traveled forward and Juliet staying put while she awaits for Romeo to wake from his coma. Then time-traveler Ellis, one of the few able to travel back in time as well as forward, arrives from the future with a plan to wake Romeo, a necessity if he and his gang are to survive. He and Juliet must work together across time while also figuring out what it is they want from the future they're working toward.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    2. This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

    HarperCollins / Via harpercollins.com, Ransom Riggs / Via harpercollins.com

    Release date: February 1

    What it's about: Inspired by Persian folklore, Mafi's new epic fantasy trilogy kicks off with the story of Alizeh, long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced into hiding as a servant to the crown. While for the most part, no one looks twice at her, she catches the eye of the prince himself, Kamran, who can't stop thinking about her. So it's a shame that she's going to totally upend his world, in more ways than one...or is it?

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    3. Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli

    Razorbill / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Madison More / Via jenniferciacopelli.com

    Release date: February 8

    What it's about: Austen's Persuasion takes a sporty turn in Iacopelli's sophomore female athlete-centric YA, this time about a figure skater named Adriana Russo who's going for the gold at the Junior World Championships. When a familial financial issue hits her family and they risk losing their rink, Adriana suddenly finds herself in a weird place with two different guys: Freddie, her first crush, and Brayden, her current partner, who suggests a high-profile fauxmance to bring in sponsors. When the latter works better than she ever dreamed, Adriana will have to weigh the cost of her heart against her future.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    4. Bright Ruined Things by Samantha Cohoe

    Macmillan / Via us.macmillan.com, Alison Mcquain Photography / Via samanthacohoe.com

    Release date: February 15

    What it's about: Cohoe sets Shakespeare's The Tempest in the Roaring '20s in this fantasy about a girl named Mae who lives on a magical island and longs to be loved and valued like the wealthy Prosper family. With the arrival of First Night, it's her best chance, since the Prospers will be returning to the island in celebration of when their power first began. Then, the spirits of the island inexplicably start dying, leading Mae to dig into the Prospers, which promptly leads her back to herself and a life she doesn't remember that may be the key to everything.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    5. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

    Feiwel & Friends / Via us.macmillan.com, Via axieoh.com

    Release date: February 22

    What it's about: Oh's instant bestseller reimagines Korean folktale "The Tale of Shim Cheong" with the story of a girl named Mina, who sacrifices herself to the Sea God in place of the likelier True Bride, her brother's beloved, Shim Cheong. In her journey through the spirit world to seek the Sea God, Mina's stunned to find that the powerful deity is asleep. Determined to wake him and end the storms that plague her homeland, she sets out with an unlikely supernatural crew to do the impossible. But the clock is ticking on her survival in the spirit world, and if it runs out, she'll never make it back to the surface.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    6. Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi

    Feiwel & Friends / Via us.macmillan.com, Two Cats Communications / Via aminahmae.com

    Release date: March 1

    What it's about: The newest installment in the Remixed Classics series has Safi reimagining Robin Hood during the Third Crusade in 1192. Our Robin is Rahma al-Hud, who follows her soldier sister Zeena into the Holy War to keep Jerusalem from Queen Isabella and meets a fun gang along the way. Together, the diverse team will have to work to stop the queen and keep the peace in the Holy Land.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    7. Great or Nothing by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, and Jessica Spotswood

    Delacorte Press / Via penguinrandomhouse.com, Via Author, Via joymccullough.com, Via carolinetrichmond.com

    Release date: March 8

    What it's about: YA seems to be in a golden age of reimaginings of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women these days, and we are definitely not complaining! In this coauthored version, four writers known for their powerful and ingenious female leads shift the March sisters to a different wartime, following Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy through WWII efforts in Concord, Massachusetts, in1942. When Beth dies, the other sisters make grief-stricken moves on their own paths. Jo goes to Connecticut to build planes, Meg stays home with their mother, and Amy begins a secret life in London, volunteering for the Red Cross and pursuing a certain army pilot they all know well. But even from beyond the grave, Beth is with them, and the only way they're going to get through their grief and the war is together.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    8. One For All by Lillie Lainoff

    Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) / Via us.macmillan.com, Astrid Photography / Via lillielainoff.com

    Release date: March 8

    What it's about: In this reimagining of The Three Musketeers, our D'Artagnan is Tania de Batz, a skilled, disabled swordswoman who wants to become a champion at the art. But her goals shift slightly when her father is found murdered, leading Tania to fulfill his dying wish of attending a finishing school...that turns out to be a training ground for musketeers. It's everything Tania could've ever dreamed, until she falls for her target and threatens to ruin everything she's been working toward.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    9. Take Her Down by Lauren Emily Whalen

    Bold Strokes Books / Via boldstrokesbooks.com, Greg Inda / Via boldstrokesbooks.com

    Release date: March 15

    What it's about: What better release date could there possibly be for a contemporary reimagining of Julius Caesar? In this high school revenge story set at a cutthroat magnet school, Bronwyn St. James faces a major fall from grace when her father is arrested and her best friend, Jude Cuthbert, turns the school's queer mafia against the bi teen for dating a boy. When Bronwyn and Jude go head to head for student body president, the former is determined to climb the way back up to the top, no matter whose eyes she has to claw out on the journey. But when she and her new crew go too far and Jude disappears, Bronwyn's left to figure out how to pick up the pieces and reckon with who she's become.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

    10. Debating Darcy by Sayantani DasGupta

    Scholastic Inc., Via sayantanidasgupta.com

    Release date: April 19

    What it's about: DasGupta takes a sharp turn from her bestselling middle grade fantasy with her contemporary YA debut, which reimagines Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of a speech competitor named Leela Bose who meets her match in Firoze Darcy, an elite private school debater. Leela wants nothing more than to show Firoze he's in over his head, but she turns out to be the one with a lot to learn.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    11. An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan

    Emily X.R. Pan / Via exrpan.com, LBYR / Via lbyr.com

    Release date: April 12

    What it's about: Chinese mythology meets Romeo and Juliet in Pan's sophomore novel about two teens named Hunter Yee and Luna Chang who are both feeling stifled by their families and suffocated in general until meeting the other gives them something to be excited about. Of course, the knowledge that their families are in a perpetual feud puts a damper on that, but they won't let it tear them apart. Unless they have no choice...

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    12. Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino

    Page Street / Via toribovalino.com, Lara Counts / Via toribovalino.com

    Release date: May 3

    What it's about: In this absolutely creeptastic reimagining of Christina Rossetti's Goblin Market, two stories 17 years apart intertwine around the mysterious and deadly goblin market, demanding that present-day Luisa learn from the mistakes of the past before she loses her aunt for good. Even if it means believing in a magic she knows can't exist. Or can it?

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    13. Epically Earnest by Molly Horan

    HMH Books / Via hmhbooks.com, David Genik / Via Author

    Release date: June 21

    What it's about: Horan's debut takes on the delightful Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest with the story of Jane, better known as #bagbaby, the girl who went viral when she was just one year old and her father found her in a Gucci bag at a train station. Now, she's a high school senior who's attempting to navigate feelings for her friend's cousin while also trying to decide whether she should track down her bio family and get the story once and for all.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    14. What Souls Are Made Of by Tasha Suri

    Feiwel & Friends / Via us.macmillan.com, Shekhar Bhatia / Via tashasuri.com

    Release date: July 5

    What it's about: Notable adult fantasy author (The Jasmine Throne) Suri makes her YA debut with a twist on Wuthering Heights that reimagines Heathcliff as the abandoned son of an Indian sailor, perpetually ostracized for his identity among the British of the Yorkshire moors tasked with raising him. Our Catherine is the youngest daughter of the estate owner, perpetually being groomed for high society and marriage...a target that is trickier for Catherine than most in her station, given the "shameful" secret of her mother. And so Catherine and Heathcliff find solace in each other and their similarities, until her father dies and Heathcliff is all but thrown to the wolves. Can their love survive if staying with him means Catherine loses everything?

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    15. Accomplished by Amanda Quain

    Wednesday Books / Via us.macmillan.com, Rosalinda Dauval / Via amandaquain.com

    Release date: July 26

    What it's about: Quain's debut puts Pride and Prejudice's Georgiana Darcy front and center in this contemporary YA that has her returning for junior year at Pemberley Academy with a black stain on her record after The Incident with Wickham Foster. Determined to rehab her image and get back into good graces with both the marching band and her big brother, Fitz, Georgie determines to set the latter up with her classmate, Lizzie Bennet. Shouldn't be too difficult, but can Georgie handle everything coming crashing down if it is?

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    16. Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky

    Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) / Via us.macmillan.com, Dana Goldstein / Via goldymoldavsky.com

    Release date: August 30

    What it's about: In this darkly quirky new thriller playing on Lord of the Flies and influencer culture, true crime podcaster Rafi Francisco nabs a ticket to Fly Fest in order to tail a potential subject for her show, only to find the fest itself is a front. Now she's stuck on an island with a whole host of influencers and D-list celebs, all of whom are desperate to fight their way out, and they're not all gonna make it alive...

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    17. Self-Made Boys by Anna-Marie McLemore

    Elliott McLemore, BuzzFeed

    Release date: September 6

    What it's about: McLemore already has some excellent retellings under their belt, but it's particularly exciting to see them spin classic American lit with this remix of The Great Gatsby that sees Nick as a Latino trans boy from Wisconsin whose only plan in1922 New York is to build up his career. When a house rental moves him to West Egg, he meets his neighbor, Jay Gatsby, another trans boy, who's built up his entire life in the pursuit of impressing Nick's cousin, Daisy. Suddenly Nick, who's never cared about the finer things, is all about that life and trying to connect his new friend with his cousin. But things get a little tricky when he finds that he doesn't want Jay for Daisy, but for himself.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    18. Tragic by Dana Mele and illustrated by Valentina Pinti

    Simon & Schuster / Via simonandschuster.com, Via danamele.com, Via Artist

    Release date: September 13

    What it's about: This contemporary YA graphic novel take on Hamlet centers on Harper Hayes, whose father has just been murdered (of course) and whose uncle (of course), Clayton — who's been sleeping with her mother (of course), Greta — is her prime suspect. Together with her ex and BFF, Harper sets out to find the killer, only to find another body and a way deeper rabbit hole than she bargained for.

    Get it from Bookshop or a local bookstore through Indiebound here.

    19. Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

    Simon & Schuster / Via simonandschuster.com, Jon Studio / Via thechloegong.com

    Release date: September 27

    What it's about: You've got until September to recover from Gong's bestselling These Violent Delights duology before she dives back into Shakespeare with a spinoff duo inspired by As You Like It. Foul Lady Fortune follows immortal assassin-turned-spy Rosalind as she poses for the wife of spy Orion in 1930s Shanghai, aiming to solve a string of murders while the Japanese Imperial Army poises for invasion. With both Rosalind and Orion desperate to keep their own secrets, neither is prepared for what they find behind the truth of the murders.

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.

    20. Prince of Song & Sea by Linsey Miller

    Disney Press, linseymiller.com

    Release date: October 4

    What it's about: Miller's latest kicks off a new series dedicated entirely to the princes of Disney, beginning with Prince Eric of Little Mermaid fame. While we all know of Ariel's curse, this book focuses on Eric's: If he were to kiss anyone other than his true love, he would die. Desperate to break it, he has two options: find his love, or kill the sea witch who cursed him.

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

    21. Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth, Stephanie Kate Strohm, and illustrated by Jamie Green

    Disney-Hyperion / Via stephaniekatestrohm.com, Via mollyhortonbooth.com, Braden Nesin / Via stephaniekatestrohm.com, Via jamiegreenillustration.com

    Release date: October 11

    What it's about: What happens when two YA writers known for delightful romance and Shakespeare retellings (including Nothing Happened by Booth and The Taming of the Drew by Strohm) team up with a skilled artist to take on the Bard in full color? You get the gorgeous new Arden High graphic novel series (up next is 2023's King Cheer), which kicks off with this take on Twelfth Night, set in high school with an extremely queer cast.

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.

    22. Strike the Zither by Joan He

    Via joanhewrites.com, BuzzFeed

    Release date: October 25

    What it's about: Reimagining the Chinese military epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, He's latest opens a duology about a strategist named Zephyr (modeled on the original Zhuge Liang) tasked with aiding her warlordess to victory against rival kingdoms encroaching from both directions, all while avoiding her own god-decreed fate. Throw in some rivals-to-lovers, found family, and general stabbery, and we are ready.

    Get it from Bookshop or your local bookstore via Indiebound here.