Upcoming Young Adult books that make a statement

The Way Back Home, Allan Stratton (out now)

Zoe tries to rescue her Alzheimer’s-afflicted grandmother from life in a home by taking her on a road trip in search of Zoe’s lost uncle.

The Mosaic, Nina Berkhout (Sept. 1)

A high school senior volunteers to work with a traumatized young marine. Together they build a mosaic depicting the beauty of an ancient Iraqi city, only for it to become a political flashpoint in their small American military town.

The Agony of Bun O’Keefe, Heather Smith (Sept. 5)

Fourteen-year-old Bun O’Keefe winds up on the streets of St. John’s after her mother, a hoarder, decides Bun is the one thing she won’t keep.

The Lives of Desperate Girls, MacKenzie Common (Sept. 19)

This murder mystery is told against the backdrop of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Northern Ontario.

The Nowhere Girls, Amy Reed (Oct. 10)

Three girls — a preacher’s daughter, a queer punk and a science nerd — form a vigilante squad after a group of untouchable popular guys are held blameless when they’re accused of gang rape.