SOCIETY OF LIES
by Laura Ling Brown
Available now

Maya's return to Princeton was meant to be a double celebration: her class reunion and the graduation of her little sister Naomi. But upon Maya's arrival, the unthinkable happens: Naomi is found dead, supposedly in an accidental drowning. But Maya refuses to believe this was an accident. And through three perspectives—Maya now, Maya ten years ago, and Naomi in the months leading up to her passing—readers learn the shocking truth.

Both Maya and Naomi were members of Sterling, one of Princeton's prestigious "eating clubs." They were also members of Greystone, a secret society run from deep within Sterling, through which lifelong favors were earned, granted, and paid off. While Maya despises the underhanded dealings of Greystone, she does what she must to give her sister a better life—even if it means accepting bribes and acting dishonestly. Eventually, the club's activities lead to the supposedly accidental death of a girl named Lila. But after Naomi's tragic death, Maya learns that her little sister was digging deep into Sterling's (and her own) history. And that digging could lead to more deaths before this case is solved.

SHOESTRING THEORY
by Mariana Costa
Available October 8

Cyril Laverre was once a grand mage. Now, he's watched his world fall apart, and even his loyal cat  familiar Shoestring has passed on. With nothing left to lose, he sacrifices himself to cast one last-ditch spell: one that will take him back in time to the beginning of the end of the kingdom of Farsala. But when he awakens in his twentysomething body again, things are awry. Shoestring is back, but he's acting more like a normal cat than a wise familiar. The wedding ring he wears around his neck has somehow followed him to the past. And Eufrates Margrave—who in Cyril's original timeline became both Farsala's despotic king and Cyril's husband—has been pulled back in time, too.

With his plans to assassinate his former lover now scrapped, Cyril enacts a mad plan to prevent Eufrates from taking the throne once again. His first goal is to prevent the death of Eufrates's sister Tigris, allowing her to marry her fiancé Atticus and take the throne. But as Cyril peers further into the weave of magic around him, he discovers that there's more to the kingdom's downfall than even he knew. More troubling still, it seems he's still madly in love with his wicked husband.

Ingrid Ant is a shy, nerdy 13-year-old with a secret: she runs "Bye Forever, I Guess," a super-popular Scrollr blog dedicated to the funny wrong number texts she constantly receives. Her best friend Rachel is obsessed with this status symbol, but criticizes everything else about Ingrid—her love of the Ancient Tomes Online MMO, her long-distance friendship with fellow gamer Lorren, and her obsession with a line of fantasy novels. When Rachel crosses an uncomfortable line when introducing her to new kids Alyx and Oliver, Ingrid decides she's had enough... and with an attempt to make a clean break comes what seems like a school-wide spurning.

Fortunately she still has Lorren, ATO, and her new friend "Traveler." Initially a wrong number trying to profess his love to a Rachel of his own, this astronomy lover (who only knows Ingrid as "Stitches") joins Ingrid in game and becomes a source of friendship as her few friends at school (including Oliver and Alyx) seem to gravitate toward Rachel. But Traveler has a secret that he's convinced will destroy everything he and Ingrid have. And as Ingrid prepares to finally meet her favorite author face-to-face, all those secrets start to come out.

Bye Forever, I Guess is an adorable story that, beyond just being a fun and sweet read, has a lot to recommend it. Parents will be more than happy to hand this off to teen readers, as it's packed with excellent advice about how to stay safe online while still forming meaningful friendships. The character of Rachel is a very clear depiction of a narcissistic personality, and will help young people navigate people like this in their own life. Best of all, it's great to see niche hobbies—from knitting to MMOs to Tumblr (here rebranded as Scrollr)—presented as aspects of a well-rounded and happy person's life, rather than some sort of silver bullet of weirdness. (Huge respect for Ingrid's grandma the skilled knitting YouTuber, too.) It's refreshing to see a story like this told with earnestness and authenticity, and it will speak to kids and adults alike.

THE CRACK IN THE CRYSTAL

For all her life, Sollis has been weird: taller than normal and possessed of strange wild magic. After making use of her abilities as best she can for some time, she is recruited into a mission with four other gifted individuals. Aidan can communicate with wood, coaxing it into new shapes; Nyelle has bardic powers that can shape sound itself; Lormek is a beloved of Thor haunted by strange dreams; and the gnome Garrett uses his roguish talents to help the party out of tight spots. But what starts as a normal heist soon turns into a battle for reality itself.

As the five new companions navigate conspiracy, magical history, and mysterious writings from a far-off world, Sollis and Lormek attempt to make sense of a strange connection between them. A power beneath the city calls to Sollis, and it soon becomes clear that there is more to her even than already meets the eye.

As mentioned in the Author's Note, The Crack in the Crystal was inspired by a pandemic-era D&D campaign. This is evident for better or for worse—for better in that there's clearly a great deal of care put into character voices, worldbuilding, and giving everyone a satisfying ending; for worse in that characters will occasionally underreact to major revelations. The latter can sometimes pull the reader out of what is otherwise an enthralling read. That said, The Crack in the Crystal is still fun fantasy with a spirit of escapism and camaraderie that D&D players will enjoy and an admirable twist in the tale at the end.

It's a normal morning for Beckett Mariner—until it isn't. Things have gone weird aboard the USS Cerritos. Boimler has adopted a pregnant tribble... or Khan is back... or the Borg are invading. It depends on which path you, the reader, choose. But whichever direction you go, one thing stays the same: everyone seems to think Beckett knows the ship's highly confidential prefix code. Which, as she states time and again, she doesn't.

Wait, "time and again"?... That's right. It doesn't take long to find out that, whatever is happening, it keeps happening. Someone is very intent on getting this code. And to break the cycle, you're going to have to do some seriously out of the box thinking.

It's been great to see "interactive novels" making a comeback recently, and this is the first interactive comic I've read personally. Going with Lower Decks was a great choice for a title like this, where the bendiness and genre-savvy actually come in handy. How quickly you find your way out of the cycle will be largely down to chance; for me it took a while, but even then I didn't catch all the potential plot lines. This is one you'll want to cheat your way through when you're finished, just to see what you missed. It's a heck of a lot of fun, and a great way of embracing this classic choose-your-own-adventure style.