I’m so curious about the discussions that went into bringing a Barbie story to a YA audience, as that’s not typically where I’d think Barbie is popular (even with the movie a few years ago!). But the popularity of Aster and of franchise stories may make this a solid decision.

In Heartland, everyone has a role and a job. Barbie has been preparing for it her whole life, and she’s looking forward to being assigned her Fate. But something unexpected happens: she’s the first person ever in Heartland not to be assigned a Fate.

Now completely unsure of what the future holds, she’s worried and nervous. But it’s a mysterious pulse from a necklace that draws Barbie out of Heartland and into the wild worlds around her. Here, she enters and explores numerous realms, each testing her strength and courage. As she moves through these places, she’s coming to discover what her own path forward will really look like.

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Lucia lives in a small town on the Mississippi River that is steeped in lore and history, as well as regular threats of storm and flood. Unlike many of her peers, she plans to stay after graduation. She’s going to help her grandfather run the Viking Museum of Black Point. Lucia hopes she can help protect it from possible ruin in the event of ever-threatening floods.

But the entire town is talking when the local Black Point Hotel–rumored to be haunted–is bought by an outsider. Lucia can’t help but be drawn to the nephew of the new owners of the landmark, either. She’s beginning to see new things about her beloved town, thanks to his fresh perspectives. They aren’t all good things, either. The town has a lot of history it has secreted away.

The town is beginning to experience the much-feared flood, and now, Lucia must decide where and how to grapple with the legacy she loves and the dark secrets and history she’s uncovered about Black Point.

Evie’s best friend died, and now everything she’s worked so hard for in high school feels pointless and meaningless. Even her friends can’t understand why Evie has become so withdrawn.

That’s when Evie turns to Children of Hypnos. It’s an online role-playing game that her deceased best friend used to spend hours and hours playing. Evie never got the appeal, until now.

This is a book that includes illustrations, and while it is set in the same world as Eliza and Her Monsters, readers can pick it up as a stand-alone. It’s a story about the power of online communities to build connections and emotional support systems.

Elle Fields’s family is one of thieves. Their specialty? Heading into the Afterlife and stealing secrets, magic, and more from the dead.

But Elle’s parents have disappeared, and her brother has died. She’s unsure what to do, as she no longer has a crew to keep up the work.

So when a stranger makes her an offer–head to the Afterlife and steal a soul, and Elle will have everything of her old life restored as it once was–she’s in a tough position. It’s a promise that would help her so much, but it’s a job that feels impossible without her team by her side. Elle sucks up as much confidence as she can. The carrot is dangling before her, even if it’s going to be a dangerous job.

This one’s getting comparisons to Ocean’s Eight and Six of Crows. If you like fantasy heist books, pop this on ye ole TBR.

Zakiyyah is in her senior year of high school and wants to quit. She knows there are other ways of going to college, and by quitting, she can live like it is Ramadan all year long. Her goal? To live free.

Now she wants to find someone to join her on her get free plan. This comes in the form of Zakiyyah wanting to get married–but that’s tricky when she’s never met a guy she likes. She has no idea how you even find someone you can like enough to live with the rest of your life.

She’s got friends who eagerly support this marriage decision, as well as a family that is reluctantly supporting it. Through some mutual friends, she begins to connect with Musa. It’s clear from the start that marriage may be the end goal here for both of them, and it seems like they will be a great match for one another.

But it is 2013, and Boston experiences a tragedy that leaves both Zakiyyah and Musa rattled . . . and deeply at odds with one another. Whether or not they will continue their budding relationship remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Zakiyyah has to learn where and how she can live on her own terms.

This sounds like such a wholly fresh and unique contemporary coming-of-age novel, centering a Black Muslim main character. Contemporary realistic YA books with a marriage plot are few and far between–for reasons that seem straightforward–but when they do appear, they offer a lot to think about.

Earning comparisons to The Weight of Blood and The Black Queen, Travis’s latest thriller follows Ida and JJ. The couple should’ve been Banneker High’s power couple, especially as they both hold leadership positions in the Black Student Union. But when JJ learns Ida also likes girls, he’s quick to exit and enter into a new relationship. Ida’s not happy about this, and she’s also not happy about the all-white “hottest girls” list making its way around school. It’s wrong for a million reasons.

With prom on the horizon and a history of the school never seeing diversity among its prom queen candidates, the Black Student Union decides to change things.

Now competing? Ida and JJ’s new girlfriend. Ida wants to win, and she’s hoping her campaign manager will make it happen. But one by one, candidates for prom queen are dropping. Will either of them live long enough to see who wins?

Embry Woodcross is really popular and really beloved. She’s a witch and the head prefect her senior year at Raven’s Head School for the Magically Gifted. If ever there was a generous person, it’s Embry.

So when a new transfer student, Oakley Riddle, arrives, Embry wants to help her fit in. That’s not only because Embry is generous. It’s because Oakley is an ultrarare vampire, and she needs to know who is and is not safe at Raven’s Head.

But then the unimaginable happens: Embry is the prime suspect in a murder investigation. The people who once loved her endlessly are turning against her, not wanting to be associated with a killer. Now, Embry has to befriend the one person who has never fallen for her charms before: Rye Knighton. Embry will need Rye’s help to clear her name. That is, if she doesn’t fall head over heels in love first.

You can grab this fun-sounding book in either hardcover or paperback.