Burning
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Elana K. Arnold. Delacorte, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-385-74334-1
In a coming-of-age romance driven by a vivid sense of place, Ben Stanley is preparing to head to college, and he's not the only one leaving. His entire town of Gypsum, Nev., is about to be abandoned with the shuttering of the local mine. Lala White, meanwhile, has traveled to the desert for the Burning Man festival, where her Romani family plans to make money by telling Burners' fortunes. Lala is unhappily betrothed to another gypsy, Romeo; when she meets Ben while telling fortunes, she considers the possibility of a different life. Arnold (Sacred) conveys Ben and Lala's growing attraction through their alternating perspectives; Ben also grapples with feelings of obligation and increasing detachment from his best friends, as well as worry over the welfare of his gay younger brother. In Arnold's effort to affect a gypsy dialect and show cultural difference, Lala's voice can be stilted and formal, yet the stirrings of an unconventional first love and the new freedoms that lie in wait for Lala and Ben provide readers ample reason to keep turning pages. Ages 14–up. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, East West Literary. (June)
Joe and Sparky Go to School
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Jamie Michalak, illus. by Frank Remkiewicz. Candlewick, $15.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7636-6278-3
When a group of "noisy short people" (aka schoolchildren) arrives at Safari World, Sparky the turtle and Joe the giraffe take an immediate interest. With Sparky riding on Joe's head, they peer through the window of the kids' school bus—and inadvertently get taken on a field trip of their own. In the third chapter book to star this unlikely duo, Michalak will have readers giggling over the silly exchanges and comedic misunderstandings that follow as Sparky and Joe attempt to fit in at school. Their discovery of a toilet makes for an especially amusing sequence, as they watch it mysteriously refill: "Do you know what we have learned, Sparky?" asks Joe. "That schools have a magic pond." The vibrant watercolor and colored pencil cartoons and well-targeted humor (the children know that Sparky and Joe are animals, but their nearsighted teacher, Miss Hootie, believes they are students) will entertain growing readers. A final image hints that Sparky and Joe's next adventure might be just on the horizon. Ages 5–7. Illustrator's agent: Kendra Marcus, BookStop Literary. (June)
Lupus Rex
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John Carter Cash. Rebellion/Ravenstone (S&S, dist.), $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-78108-114-3
Nature is indeed red in tooth and claw in this epic animal adventure, musician and picture book author Cash's fiction debut. Reminiscent of the Redwall books and Watership Down, the story follows a variety of woodland creatures who are swept up in a brutal territorial dispute after the death of the King Crow leads to a power vacuum. While the crows descend into civil war, a ruthless wolf leads an army of predators in an attempt to seize power. Meanwhile, a small group of quail set out to find allies, including a legendary yet terrifying hawk, leading to an all-out battle for supremacy that will claim innumerable lives. Cash writes with an almost poetic style, his narrative mythic in scope and tone, though occasionally prone to purple prose. Furthermore, his musical background shows in the form of the rich oral tradition practiced by several species, even if some of the songs can come close to doggerel. It's a strong story with a high body count, some graphic scenes of animal-on-animal violence, and a sprawling cast. Ages 8–up. (June)
My Big World
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OKIDO. Thames & Hudson (Norton, dist.), $18.95 (64p) ISBN 978-0-500-65016-5
In this companion to Head to Toe, also from the creators of the British children's magazine Okido, a girl named Koko, her friend Alex, and three impish "explorers" help kids explore the outside world, both near and far from home. Reader-directed questions pepper the pages, presenting many opportunities for interaction and conversation, whether the topic is family ("Do you have any brothers or sisters?"), the backyard ("Which kinds of vegetables is Alex growing?"), or day vs. night ("Can you spot who is awake during the night?"). Games and activities are incorporated into discussions of forests, towns, and the weather, and the quirky digital graphics give personality to this wide-ranging introduction to the way the world works. Ages 4–8. (June)
Openly Straight
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Bill Konigsberg. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-545-50989-3
Konigsberg (Out of the Pocket) raises compelling questions about stereotyping and self-actualization through the story of openly gay high school junior Rafe Goldberg. Though Rafe has a supportive family and community in progressive Boulder, Co., he still feels stifled by being known as "the gay kid." In order to try to live a "label-free life," Rafe transfers to an East Coast boarding school with the intention of keeping his sexuality a secret ("The only way I would actually lie was if I were asked directly, ‘Are you gay?' "). At school, Rafe is quickly befriended by a group of jocks, and even kissed by a girl at a party, but he begins to question his experiment when his feelings for a friend develop into something more. Introspective essays Rafe composes about his life for a writing seminar seem overly scripted, and the plot becomes predictable long before Rafe faces a crisis of conscience. Even so, Rafe's story about seeking a different kind of acceptance should spur readers to rethink sexual identity and what it means to be "out." Ages 14–up. Agent: Linda Epstein, Jennifer DeChiara Literary Agency. (June)
Firecracker
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David Iserson. Razorbill, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-59514-370-9
Film and TV writer Iserson debuts with the story of privileged, caustic 17-year-old Astrid Krieger, whose recent expulsion from preppy Bristol Academy has forced her to enroll in public school. Astrid will do anything to be readmitted to Bristol, and she hatches a deal with the school's therapist: if she successfully completes a series of selfless acts, the school might reconsider her suspension. For this chauffeur-driven master manipulator—who's learned everything she knows from her ethically dubious ex-senator grandfather—altruism is a foreign concept. As Astrid strikes up a friendship with a hair-chewing misfit and a modest boy who is intrigued by her, she begins to understand the source of her own isolation. Astrid's narrative vacillates between moments of wicked hilarity and details that shoot into bombastic territory (Astrid casually mentions that JFK once shot her grandfather during a game of Russian roulette and that she has robbed several convenience stores). Iserson doesn't ask readers to feel sorry for his spoiled and outlandish heroine, but urges them to trust that beneath her explosive tendencies is a kernel of compassion. Ages 12–up. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (May)
Game On
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Monica Seles with James LaRosa. Bloomsbury, $17.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-59990-976-9
Seles won nine Grand Slam titles before her 20th birthday, and she bases her first novel on her experience at an elite sports school. But this first book in the Academy series fails to deliver, most fundamentally by including disappointingly little about tennis. Instead, Seles and coauthor LaRosa serve up a lackluster melodrama about backstabbing rich kids. Maya Hart, a "sixteen-year-old have-not from central New York with absolutely no connections whatsoever," wins a scholarship to the Academy, "without question, the greatest sports training facility in the world." She immediately runs afoul of reigning school doyenne Nicole King, already a world-class tennis player, but catches the eye of star quarterback Travis Reed. Maya bunks with another scholarship student, a conflicted Chinese golfer, until a makeover from a rich classmate reveals Maya's stunning beauty and new doors open for her. Seles touches on the expectations for female athletes to conform to a certain standard of beauty, but readers may sense a missed opportunity to gain greater insight into the psychological and physical pressures of competitive sports. Ages 12–up. Agent: John Steele, IMG. (May)
Mermaid in Chelsea Creek
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Michelle Tea, illus. by Jason Polan. McSweeney's, $19.95 (240p) ISBN 978-1-938073-36-6
Cult memoirist and adult fiction author Tea (Valencia) makes her YA debut with a gripping, though bleakly imagined fantasy. Sophie Swankowski drifts along in the still and depressing backwater of Chelsea, Mass., numbing her pain by holding her breath by the creek until she passes out, along with her friend Ella. This becomes a dangerous but seductive game. In one such reverie, teetering between death and unconsciousness, Sophie awakens to see a mermaid, "unreal but unmistakable." After Sophie's mother learns of her daughter's habits, she forces Sophie to work for her scary, mean grandmother in the local dump. A mysterious cast of characters leads Sophie on a bizarre and enchanting quest to uncover the truth about her identity. Even through the veil of magical realism, the world of Sophie's adolescence remains ugly, hopeless, and suffocating, a mood that's amplified by Polan's b&w line drawings. Still, readers will be impelled to explore this tangled web of human beings and beasts while awaiting Sophie's redemption, whatever form it may take. Ages 12–up. (May)
HOn a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein
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Jennifer Berne, illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Chronicle, $17.99 (56p) ISBN 978-0-8118-7235-5
Berne (Manfish) and Radunsky (Hip Hop Dog) create an inspired tribute to Einstein, a man who "asked questions never asked before. Found answers never found before. And dreamed up ideas never dreamt before." The book moves briskly through Einstein's quiet, inquisitive childhood (a magnetic compass helped trigger his interest in the "mysteries in the world—hidden and silent, unknown and unseen") to his accomplishments as an adult. Radunsky's loose, hulking ink caricatures capture the gleam in Einstein's eye at every age. When Berne explains how Einstein helped prove the existence of atoms, Radunsky uses dots to underscore the idea in the accompanying image ("Even this book is made of atoms!" the scientist gleefully explains, breaking the fourth wall). Einstein's lifelong curiosity sings through every page, and Berne emphasizes that readers are heir to that same spirit of discovery. In the closing scene, Radunsky pictures a boy, girl—and dog!—wearing rather Einsteinian plaid suits, staring at a field of question marks with a familiar gleam in their eyes. Ages 6–9. Author's agent: Caryn Wiseman, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (May)
The Eternity Cure
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Julie Kagawa. Harlequin Teen, $16.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-373-21069-5
Following hard on the heels of the events of 2012's The Immortal Rules, Kagawa's robust sequel increases both the tension and the body count. Having left her friends in the human sanctuary of Eden, Allison Sekemoto is searching for Kanin, her vampire sire and mentor. Following the draw of her blood-tie, she instead finds her ruthless, pirate-raider blood brother, Jackal, who has a tempting proposal: help him find a hidden laboratory that might contain a cure for the Red Lung plague, and he'll help her find Kanin. Instead, they discover that their common enemy—the psychotic vampire Sarren—has Kanin, has beaten them to the lab, and is prepared to release an even deadlier strain of the virus. When Sarren's trail leads Allie back to her hometown, unlikely allies race to stop Sarren before vampires and humans alike are wiped out. Allie doesn't get much development, and her romantic interactions lack chemistry, but Jackal reaps the benefit of Kagawa's attention and becomes an intriguingly complex character. While neatly setting up the final book, Kagawa's vivid prose and unexpected plot developments will keep fans entranced. Ages 14–up. Agent: Laurie McLean, Larsen Pomada Literary. (May)
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