Your YA Book News Roundup for May 2025

May has been a busy month in the world of young adult book news. There’s plenty here about adaptations, including series renewals, but there’s also a lot here highlighting new and forthcoming books you’ll definitely want to drop on your TBR.

Before we get to this big linkopalooza, something you might be interested in is Book Riot’s roundup of the Best Beach Reads of All Time. This piece is in the true Book Riot spirit, meaning that it isn’t necessarily the list of books you’d immediately think of when it comes to “beach reads.” It’s a look at the books which have been popular reading in summers gone by. There are two YA books on this list. One is a title you’d likely be able to guess and which celebrates a big sparkly birthday this year. The other is the first in a wildly popular manga series. Check ’em out.

Now, onto some more YA news!

Publishers Weekly has your roundup of 2025 graphic novel adaptations of beloved children’s and YA books. Love the Charlotte Holmes series by Brittany Cavallaro? Then you’re going to love knowing there’s a TV series adaptation of it coming. Netflix has ordered series renewals for two YA book adaptations: Forever and My Life With The Walter Boys. What a shocker, given that YA adaptations rarely see this, especially now. A couple more pieces of interest related to the adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic Forever . . .: Mara Brock Akil talks about making the main characters in the book Black in her adaptation and if you’re looking for the soundtrack to the series, here’s the list of songs. Another series getting renewed at Netflix is Geek Girl. Clown in a Cornfield brought IFC’s biggest opening box office weekend. I’m so eager to see this one! Speaking of Clown in a Cornfield, for those who loved the books (like me!), some good news: there’s a fourth installment coming. Some casting news for the 2026 adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping. How about a little more, too? Elle Fanning is getting a pretty special role in the adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping, too. And here’s a teaser for the upcoming We Were Liars series. While we’re on the trailer train, here’s the trailer for the upcoming adaptation of RL Stine’s The Prom Queen. I don’t believe that Elle Kennedy’s “Off Campus” series is actually a YA series–it’s definitely contemporary romance with older teen/young adult characters–but it’s being adapted and angled as a YA series. Everything there is to know so far about season two of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. The Guardian is doing a series on “feelgood” movies, and one of the most recent entries is on the YA adaptation of Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging. I thought this was a super fun one back when it came out. No idea how it holds up! Billy Ray, who is one of the screenwriters for Sunrise on the Reaping, will publish a YA dystopian novel next spring. This new romance series from the Joy Revolution imprint, which features diverse characters falling in love across the globe, looks so fun. Here’s another story about this line of books and their creator (not writer, to be clear), Dhonielle Clayton. 23 YA fiction series you’ll want on your TBR. “The African American Literature Book Club (AALBC) has launched the BLK Bestseller List showcasing the bestselling books by Black authors going back 16 months. The list, sourced from Circana BookScan data, consists of monthly stats on the top 20 hardcover and paperback fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, as well as lists for young adult and poetry.” This is a great idea. The most anticipated science fiction and fantasy YA releases for May and June are here. When Julie Murphy announced her next YA book was a cowritten work with Jonathan Van Ness, I could think of few neater collaborations. Here are the two of them in conversation about their book. Here’s the latest Reese Witherspoon YA book club pick. Did you peep the 10th anniversary edition of Nimona hitting shelves? My colleague Danika writes about why that book is as necessary now as it was when it published. Okay, this is news that’s both really rad and surprising. There’s a Scooby Doo YA book coming this summer. Speaking of Scooby Doo, there’s a bestselling UK YA title that’ll hit the US soon pitched as Scream meets Scooby Doo…and it’s got an adaptation in the works. This is the first time I have seen this happen–Claire Legrand will be rereleasing her “Empirium” series, which was originally published for YA, as an adult series. American readers may not be as familiar with Aiden Chambers as those in the UK, but the YA author has died at the age of 90. His books were always in my library collections when I worked with teens.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got to clear some space for catching up on all of the adaptations. What a good excuse for staying indoors when the weather gets just a little bit too toasty this summer.