WHAT TO READ NEXT IN YOUNG ADULT
AUGUST 2026
by Sydney Spell
Welcome to Texas Reads YA! As a teen who loves to read YA, I sometimes have a hard time finding quality YA novels.
These novels contain paranormal aspects and an air of mystery to them. The characters go through a journey of discovery about themselves, their families, and the world around them while experiencing different challenges and mysteries.
A seventeen-year-old Texan from the wrong side of the tracks starts a supernatural detective agency—this is Fear Street for a diverse America.
Erasmo Cruz is from the wrong side of the tracks. His dad was a junkie who overdosed. His mom chose to run off rather than raise him. His only passion is the supernatural and his only family is his grandmother, whose aches and pains, he soon learns, aren’t just from old age but cancer.
Desperate to help his grandmother pay for treatment, Erasmo sets up shop as a detective. But he won’t be investigating burglaries or missing pets. Instead, Erasmo sets up San Antonio’s first supernatural detective agency. From hauntings to exorcisms, he soon finds that San Antonio is a much scarier place than even he knew.
The Ghost Tracks contains 3 intertwining paranormal cases that weave together and unfold with perfect pacing to keep you guessing. It is a solid horror book with gore and many surprises and is darker than you might be expecting.
Celso Hurtado was born and raised in San Antonio, TX. He has been a punk guitarist, worked in the political arena, and has played entirely too many hours of The Legend of Zelda. In his writing, he strives to surprise his readers, and make them think twice before investigating that creak in the hallway.
Stephen Graham Jones & Paul Tremblay (P.T. Jones)
Things Mary doesn’t want to fall into: the river, high school, her mother’s life. Things Mary does kind of want to fall into: love, the sky. This is the story of a girl who sees a boy float away one fine day. This is the story of the girl who reaches up for that boy with her hand and with her heart. This is the story of a girl who takes on the army to save a town, who goes toe-to-toe with a mad scientist, who has to fight a plague to save her family. This is the story of a girl who would give anything to get to babysit her baby brother one more time. If she could just find him. It’s all up in the air for now, though, and falling fast. . . .
Floating Boy and the Girl Who Couldn’t Fly has a compelling writing style with interesting characters and an interesting concept. The story is engaging and raises questions about religion, science, and relationships all while solving a mystery.
Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It’s a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.
Sydney Spell is a college freshman at UT Austin. She has enjoyed reading through adolescence and is a big fan of YA novels specifically.