With overtones of both Predator and Lord of the Flies, Reintgen’s latest includes a power struggle and multiple secret agendas, which come into play after a storm-tossed disaster leads to a rapidly rising body count among the dwindling handful of survivors. The author’s proven flair for concocting unusual sorts and strains of magic is on full display too. The largely white-presenting human cast includes Marken Burke, a wizard who’s being transported in chains to be tried for mass murder, and Pearl Trask, a young pig keeper who proves to be nursing more secrets than just a sideline in trafficking deadly animals. Plus, in a terrifying embodiment of William Golding’s imaginary beast, there’s a cunning, murderous dragoness who escaped during the crash and whose ability to become virtually invisible by adopting anything she touches—from rocks and water to flesh—as a camouflaging “skin” leads to a thrillingly gruesome climactic battle. Whether Marken is a wronged character who’s worthy of sympathy or a conceited and manipulative crumb, Pearl at least can see right through him to the good heart beneath. By the open-ended finish, the two have found enough common ground for tender, budding romance and mutual respect.

Fourteen-year-old Mikayla Grebe is days away from taking the Fulfilled Genetic Potential test and proving she’s worth society’s investment. The fear of losing Elite status and becoming a Defective or an Expendable always looms. She knows that “you can lose everything in a moment”—like her friend Carmen, who vanished with her family one day. But shortly before the test, Mikayla learns her GRC is lower than she thought, sending her on a high-stakes journey, accompanied by her friend Garith Marquez, out of the Elite zone to see what’s been hidden from her all her life. The more Mikayla learns and the more people she meets, the more she questions her society’s priorities and starts to dismantle her own assumptions, many instilled in her by her brilliant and ambitious mother. The story’s countdown structure, starting six days before the FGP, enhances the tension and makes readers aware of the stakes as Mikayla’s test approaches, a beloved teacher disappears, and steely Dr. Ava, who runs the weekly lab assessment, targets her. Debut author Monders’ detailed worldbuilding includes just enough hints about the past to create a convincing dystopian world. Mikayla develops a strong moral core and inwardly declares “I can make a difference, just by being me.” Dark-haired Mikayla has “medium-light” skin, and Garith has light brown skin.

A violent entity attempts to kill her by possessing anyone Egyptian American Mina is alone with. To protect her friends and family, Mina cuts them off without explanation, retreating as she searches for a solution. The only person who seems to understand what she’s facing is Jesse Talbot, her reclusive classmate and neighbor, who presents white. He reveals that he carries a similar burden. As Mina and Jesse investigate, they discover that the intergenerational curse Mina is living with is tied to her maternal line. Mina struggles under the weight of fear and feelings of cultural dislocation, and as her late mother’s past rises to meet her, she must make an impossible choice between two heartbreaking outcomes. In her YA debut, Hashem delivers an engaging, cohesive, genre-blending novel, executing the concept of a monster that weaponizes isolation with clarity and mounting suspense and seamlessly incorporating Egyptian Arabic and other culturally rooted details. Mina and Jesse’s developing relationship is grounded in mutual vulnerability, bringing a warmth and romantic intimacy that effectively strikes an equilibrium with the horror elements. Mina’s struggle to belong, to understand her family’s past, and to reconcile the parts of herself shaped by two worlds gives the novel a lingering emotional depth.

For the past two years, Driver X has been the getaway driver for the Tiger Syndicate. When he was younger, all he could think about was being a racer and winning glory, but chasing his dreams and going against his father’s wishes led to X getting into a major accident. Now, his family thinks he’s dead, and it’s safer for them if they continue to believe that. But when X’s younger brother, Speed Racer, shows up on the racing circuit, X knows he can’t stay off the track any longer; someone needs to be there to watch his brother’s back. Using the skills his father forced him to master as a teen, X designs the “Shooting Star,” which is more than just a race car—it comes with everything X will need to knock other drivers out of the race and ensure Speed Racer’s win. Just one other minor hiccup: When X left the Tiger Syndicate, he took the money from their latest bank robbery and left them high and dry, and now they’re gunning for him. (“Formula X has the highest mortality rate of any sport,” and it’s even worse when the head of a gang puts a hit out on you.) In this action-packed graphic novel, Russell and artist Nuno Plati deliver an exciting tale that takes place in the world of the famous Speed Racer, featuring Speed’s mysterious sibling, the track phantom formerly known as Rex Racer. The kinetic artwork, depicting chaotic racing scenes and flashy cars, is sure to delight any longtime fans of the series (and attract new ones). The narrative blends a redemption story, a battle between good and evil, and a good old-fashioned racing drama; there’s something here for everyone (even a little romance when X and the mischievous racer Hellkitten share a kiss). Fast, fun, and feisty, this adventure is sure to please. The volume includes a short story, “Episode 0,” at the end of the book.

Every Western historian knows the name of Frederick Jackson Turner, who, in 1893, declared that the American frontier was closed. (It was just a year after Wounded Knee, after all, pretty well the closing shots of the American Indian Wars.) No one remembers Turner’s wife, Mae. Granted that she figures only slightly in Nelson’s narrative, Mae Turner is emblematic of the fact that women are often airbrushed out of Western history, apart from inevitable characters like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane. Nelson restores women to history most vividly in her account of the Sonoran entrepreneur María Gertrudis Barceló, who settled in Santa Fe, at the upper reaches of New Spain, in 1815 and made a fortune as a saloon keeper, gambler, and businesswoman. Another of the seven chief players in Nelson’s account is the “Black Indian” Jim Beckwourth, a reliable go-between among white settlers and Indians along the Front Range of the Rockies until he made the unforgivable error of guiding a murderous militia to the site of a Cheyenne and Arapaho encampment that would give its name to the Sand Creek Massacre. Had he not, Beckwourth later told a group of Cheyenne leaders, “the white chief would have hung me.” The Cheyenne were unconvinced. Still another player in Nelson’s account was Polly Bemis, a Chinese immigrant who “embodied the characteristics of the white pioneer.” All were significant in their time, and all are largely forgotten today, and for various reasons, chief among them, by Nelson’s account, the flourishing of the myth of the frontier in Turner’s time and ever after, one that “whitened the West, and this transformation resulted in the oppression of Indigenous peoples, women of all races and ethnicities, and migrant communities.” While Nelson’s narrative sometimes plods, it makes a valuable corrective.