“I
pledge to use books to open windows to a thousand different worlds…”
―
Cornelia Funke
I love discovering
new books and the worlds within them. And I especially love the stories that draw
me in right away. The ones that push the real world into the background before
I’ve reached the end of the first page. The ones I just have to read because
I’m completely invested in what happens next.
Once a
year, I dedicate a blog post to YA books with amazing beginnings. It gives
me an excuse to spend a very happy afternoon in a local bookstore adding to my TBR
list! This time, however, I decided to do something different.
At the end
of October, I will be attending YALC (the Young Adult Literature Convention) for
the fifth time, and today’s post seemed like
a great opportunity because there are so many amazing authors in the 2026
lineup! I knew I would easily be able to find ten Awesome Openers from amongst
their books. In fact, the challenge was keeping it to only ten!
I hope there
are a few opening lines on my list that you find interesting, and thank you
very much for visiting my blog today 💕.
1️⃣ If
there’s a better way to wait for Farron Banks to be murdered, I haven’t found
it.
The Enemy's Daughter,
by Melissa Poett
2️⃣ I wrap
the curtain around my body. It’s blush-pink velvet, soft like the skin of a
peach. A repetitive triangular pattern is woven through the fabric in fine gold
thread. The penthouse lights are off and I’m lurking in the shadows, watching them
for once, tiny black dots in the street below. They carry their cameras on
straps across their shoulders. I carry their presence around my neck.
Darkening Song, by Delphine Seddon
3️⃣ Lost
cause, that’s me.
Heard
it, know it, live it.
If there
are sides, pick the other one.
Runaway Road,
by Sue Divin
4️⃣ On a
cold Sunday evening in early 1957—the very day, in fact, that Dwight David
Eisenhower took the oath of office for the second time as President of the
United States of America—Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking
lot of the Chevron gas station for the dragon he’d hired to help on the farm.
“He’s
late,” Sarah said, quietly.
“It,”
said her father, spitting on the oiled dirt, hitting the cracks of a frozen
puddle. “Don’t call it by its name. Don’t tell it yours. It. Not he.”
Burn, by
Patrick Ness
5️⃣ As we
all learnt from the 2003 musical Wicked, appearances can be deceptive.
Showstopper, by Tom Ramsay
6️⃣ Overture
For as
long as I can remember, we have feared the Players.
Prologue
The
mortals made a treaty, to keep the Players South
And when
the treaty ended, a wall to keep them out
And if
the wall should crumble, then marks will keep us safe
And if
our marks should fail us, gods have mercy on our fate
A Stage Set for Villains, by Shannon J. Spann
7️⃣ First-day-back
assemblies are the most pointless practice ever.
And
that’s saying a lot, seeing as Niveus Academy is a school that runs on
pointlessness.
Ace of Spades, by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
8️⃣ Our
selection of Romeo-and-Juliet packages are discreet, professional, and tailored
to your needs, with options ranging from meaningful friendship to true love
with someone facing similar end-of-life issues.
Just Another Dead Boy, by Kelly McCaughrain
9️⃣ Once
upon a time…
…there
was a girl who knew everything there was to know about fairytales.
Or at
least… she thought she did.
Brielle and Bear, by Salomey Doku
🔟 The
horrors gain strength when things in our world are broken.
A bone.
A promise. A heart.
So much
of what happened took place on the page, in words typed, or scrawled, or
carefully composed. I’ve gathered up all the remnants I have, and it seems only
right that I finally document everything that happened in between, even if my
heart aches to write it. The record must be kept. There is a gap in the archive
where this story belongs.
I could
start with the horrors. But I won’t.
For me,
this story starts …
With
him.
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