Historical Korean Romance, Ghostly Scammers, and More New YA Books for May 27, 2026

Yassir Al-Azzawi’s life is not exactly turning out how his parents had hoped. He’s 17, a single dad, and about to drop out of high school. He’s also two clicks from being sent back to his parent’s war torn coutnry, Iraq. Then there’s his bestie, Khaled. Khaled is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He’s a devout Shia Muslim, makes straight A’s, and excels in after-school activities. But his parents don’t want him hanging out with Yassir. Once their friendship comes to light, some other truths concerning their families come out, too, as the boys navigate coming-of-age as Muslims in modern-day America. —Erica Ezeifedi

I’m definitely adding this to my pile of Perfect Summer YA for 2026. Normally, Maya loves spending the summer in Spruce Lake in her favorite cabin, but she’s currently down in the dumps since confessing her love to her best friend, Rashida. She’s in direct contrast to Gabe, who got sent to Spruce Lake for the summer for being bad af. Gabe thinks the quirky little lake town will be super boring, but then she meets Maya, and the two decide to unleash a little chaos: they’ll pretend to date each other to make Rashida jealous, while also convincing Gabe’s mother that she’s changed her ways. But then, through protests and a couple of romantic happenings, Gabe and Maya realize that being together might be what they want after all. —Erica Ezeifedi

If I have one bookish weakness, it’s slice-of-life graphic novels, and To The Stars and Back is one of the most popular of the genre on WEBTOON. It features the neighbors-to-lovers romance trope, which I don’t see often, but which makes perfect sense in a slice-of-life story. In it, introvert Kang Dae is happy to while the hours away in his own little isolated bubble, but then ray of sunshine, Bo Seon, moves into the same apartment complex and sets out to befriend him. That befriending soon turns into boyfriending, except the two have never been in real relationships before, and don’t know how to get over the trauma they’ve experienced. —Erica Ezeifedi

High school senior Mayte has a lot going on—in a bad way. Because of her abuelita’s cancer and her half-sister moving in, who is disabled, she can’t even begin to think about going to college. She keeps her problems to herself at school, though, and still tries to go on dates and do all the social things. That’s how she ends up going on a terrible, no good, very bad date with Auggie, who is set to begin attending a renowned creative writing program. Never mind that he can’t even write a short story for his college applications. But then he gets closer to Mayte and feels inspired to write about a tragedy that befalls her. The question is, should he be the one to write it, and are his intentions pure? —Erica Ezeifedi

Love is bottled and sold as Desire on the Greek island of Zakynthos by the powerful descendant of Eros, Leandros. When Leandros’ wife dies suddenly, twins Eirene and Phoebe find themselves in danger. The only way to keep Pheobe from Leandros is if Eirene completes four complicated tasks. But the tasks are connected to Leandros’ daughter, Lamie, whom he keeps locked away. Not only that, but there is something hungry and deadly that stalks the night that the twins will have to contend with if they are to escape the island. —Erica Ezeifedi