New young adult books for October

Inspired by faery myth and folklore, the haunting, heart wrenching tale of a girl called Nettle in a dark, foreboding faery kingdom. A wild misfit in the human world, Nettle is enthralled by the glamour of the faery realm, with its two moons and scarlet stars. She grows close to Conor, a human stolen centuries before, and she also falls under the spell of mysterious Ellion, a Shadow Faery. To try to help her beloved grandmother who is fading in her world, Nettle makes a pact with the faery king. He'll heal her grandmother in exchange for Nettle completing three tasks. She agrees, not realising that deception lurks in this enchanted place, and that she has been tricked. In this dangerous fantasy kingdom Nettle discovers, too late, her part in an age-old love story and the price she will pay.

Seventeen-year-old Neon is about to have sex with his girlfriend, Aria, for the first time. In 24 seconds to be precise. He's hiding in the bathroom, nervous, wanting to do everything right. Rewind. To 24 minutes earlier where Neon rushes from work, taking the gift of fried chicken to Aria's house. Rewind again. To 24 hours earlier when Neon's big sister has advice about sex which makes him think he probably shouldn't be listening to his friends. To 24 days earlier. To 24 weeks earlier. To 24 months earlier, when he and Aria first met. This tender, sweet, wholesome piece of fiction discusses how to approach first sex, how to respect women, how to be gentle, how to make it about love. It shows us a refreshingly different side to male sexuality.

As the winter solstice blankets the Pembrokeshire landscape in an otherworldly glow, sisters Kit and Libby are drawn to a mysterious white tower to test a prophecy they have heard talked about. But when the magic of the tower causes Libby to vanish, they find themselves caught in a mystery that takes them in to the deep past.

On a dark and stormy night a pair of ghost-hunting podcasters arrive at the most haunted house in Britain - the Hollow Hotel. They're here to interview the Dark King of television magic, Romeo Gideon. Instead, they discover the body of a murdered man hanging from the rafters - the work of a killer who wields actual magic as viciously as he does his blade. With the storm closing in, all exit routes cut off, and the killer taking them out one by one, their only hope lies with the two mysterious Irish detectives who seem quite at home with all this bloodshed.

It's not fair. Kim's always lived in the shadow of his younger sister, Eila - which is not how it's supposed to be. Eila is a prodigy, and everyone talks about how smart she is but, in Kim's eyes, she has no common sense. One day Kim and Eila are walking in the woods, and Eila finds an enigmatic, otherworldly object. Kim thinks it's bad news - but Eila begins to commune with it. Kim has every reason to be worried, because soon Eila is able to control the minds of everyone around her - in ways she says is the best for everyone. Kim needs to put his problem-solving mind to the ultimate test. How can he save his sister, and also save the world from the thing his sister has become and the forces she has unleashed?