The Best Children’s and YA Books of September 2020

by the Brightly Editors

Background image credit: heykun/Shutterstock

September will bring with it the first day of fall, and with fall comes a veritable treasure chest of the year’s best new books. (We may or may not believe that about every season!) For the picture book fans, chapter book readers, and teens in your life, we’ve rounded up the month’s best new titles — from a dino-lover’s dream to YA must-reads.

  • Young Adult

  • American Royals II: Majesty

    by Katharine McGee

    Available from:

    In this juicy series that reimagines an America with a royal family at the helm, newly crowned Beatrice is adjusting to her seat on the throne and everything she gave up for it, while the country is adjusting to their first queen. Meanwhile, Samantha’s leaning a little too far into the partying princess trope, and the princes’ love interests are also getting up to trouble.
    (On Sale: 9/1/20)

    Also available from:
  • Watch Over Me

    by Nina LaCour

    Available from:

    When she ages out of the foster care system, Mila gladly accepts a teaching job in a remote part of the Northern Californian coast. But the farm is haunted by its past, and causing Mila's own to surface in this modern-day ghost story that's sure to send chills down your teen's spine.
    (On Sale: 9/15/20)

    Also available from:
  • Every Body Looking

    by Candice Iloh

    Available from:

    In this compelling coming-of-age novel written in beautiful verse, Ada is living through her freshman year at a historically black college far from home. She’s also asking herself difficult questions about how past trauma, her mother’s addiction, and her immigrant father’s expectations have shaped her, and how she’ll shape the rest of her life.
    (On Sale: 9/22/20)

    Also available from:
  • Breathless

    by Jennifer Niven

    Available from:

    Eighteen-year-old Claude is looking ahead to the future when all of a sudden her world comes crashing down in the form of her parents’ painful split. Claude’s mom reacts by taking her daughter to a remote island off the coast of Georgia, where Claude meets Jeremiah. Claude is ready to have sex, but she’s not willing to fall in love — especially not after what happened with her parents. But can Claude really plan it all out?
    (On Sale: 9/29/20)

    Also available from:
  • Dear Justyce

    by Nic Stone

    Available from:

    Quan Banks doesn’t understand how he got here, here being the Fulton Regional Youth Detention Center. As he writes letters to his old friend Justyce — the protagonist of the bestseller Dear Martin — readers observe a young lifetime of systemic racism and a broken criminal justice system. A must-read for teens, parents, and educators alike.
    (On Sale: 9/29/20)

    Also available from: