Sequels hitting shelves this month include a couch potato who is forced to venture outside, the return of some favorite bad guys, a Mamma Mia!-esque YA novel about a girl looking for her father in Greece, and more.
Picture Books and Comics
The Couch Potato by Jory John, illus. by Pete Oswald (HarperCollins, Nov. 3 $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-295453-4)
In the fourth installment of John and Oswald’s series—joining The Bad Seed, The Good Egg, and The Cool Bean—the Couch Potato has everything within reach and doesn't have to move from the sofa. But when the electricity goes out, he’s forced to leave the comforts of the living room and venture outside.
The Flaming Carats Evolution by Art Baltazar (Papercutz, Nov. 24 $14.99, ISBN 978-1-5458-0488-9)
The Pyrockians are back in book three of the Gilbert series and they’re planning something strange. It’s up to young prince Gilbert to figure out what they’re really up to, but he’s busy with his best bud, Sherbert, in a strange mysterious place in the ocean.
The Grinny Granny Donkey by Craig Smith, illus. by Katz Cowley (Scholastic, Nov. 10 $7.99 paper; ISBN 978-1-338-69227-3)
In this sequel to the viral sensation The Wonkey Donkey and The Dinky Donkey, readers will meet Dinky Donkey’s grandma—“a grinny granky plunky-plinky swanky clinky-clanky zonky dunky-drinky clunky donkey.”
No Reading Allowed: The WORST Read-Aloud Book Ever by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter, illus. by Bryce Gladfelter (Sourcebooks Explore, Nov. 10 $17.99; ISBN 978-1-728-20659-2)
This follow-up to the bestselling P Is for Pterodactyl places pairs of similar-sounding sentences together and illustrates them in two humorously different ways. Bright illustrations highlight how absurd the English language can be. See our interview with Haldar on the sequel.
Pig the Slob by Aaron Blabey (Scholastic Press, Nov. 10 $14.99; ISBN 978-1-338-71371-8)
Pig, the world’s greediest pug, is back in the fifth installment of Pig the Pug—and he won’t get off the couch. Until one day, something gets Pig up once and for all.
Novels
Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack (HMH/Versify, Nov. 10 $16.99; ISBN 978-0-358-00602-2)
The sequel to Anya and the Dragon picks up one year after a violent Viking terrorized the Zmeyreka, and Anya and Ivan saved a dragon from being sacrificed. After embarking on a journey to bring her father home from war, Anya discovers a powerful creature terrorizing travelers. But she soon learns that there’s an even greater evil that lurks under the city.
The Bad Guys in The One?! by Aaron Blabey (Scholastic, Nov. 10 $6.99 paper; ISBN 978-1-338-32950-6)
Wolf and the gang are back in the 12th book in The Bad Guys series—soon to be a film. They may look like Bad Guys, but these wannabe heroes are doing good deeds. Meanwhile, terrible powers have been revealed, evil allies have materialized, and inter-dimensional doors have opened.
The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White (Delacorte, Nov. 10 $18.99; ISBN 978-0-525-58171-0)
In the second book in the Camelot Rising Trilogy, Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she is still unable to find a place for herself. The more she tries, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: that she doesn’t belong. When a rescue goes awry, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find a threat in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black, illus. by Rovina Cai (Little, Brown, Nov. 24 $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-54088-9)
Black returns to the world of Elfhame with this illustrated story, in which she takes a deeper look into the dramatic history of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan. The book includes details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told from Cardan’s perspective.
Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch (Simon & Schuster, Nov. 10 $18.99; ISBN 978-1-534-44883-4)
In the follow-up to Love & Gelato and Love & Luck, Liv doesn’t have a lot of memories of her father. What Liv does remember is their shared love for Greek myths and the lost city of Atlantis. When Liv receives a postcard from her father asking her if she could fly to Greece—Liv jumps at the opportunity. But not everything on the Greek island of Santorini is as perfect as it seems. Read our q&a with Welch here.
Mind the Gap, Dash & Lily by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Knopf, Nov. 3 $9.99 paper; ISBN 978-0-593-30153-1)
Dash and Lily were feeling closer than ever—it’s just too bad they’re now an ocean apart. The third book in the series, now a Netflix show, follows Dash after he gets accepted to Oxford and Lily decides to stay in New York. When Dash breaks the news that he won’t be coming home for Christmas, Lily, decides to join him in London. Read our In Conversation between the authors here.
Never and Forever by Cressida Cowell (Little, Brown, Nov. 17 $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-70297-3)
In the finale of the Wizards of Once series, Xar and Wish are on the last leg of their journey. First stop: the Mine of Happiness. But first Xar needs to take control of his ever-growing Witchstain, and Wish must achieve her Destiny. Unfortunately, the Tazzelwurm is in their way.
Squishy McFluff: On with the Show by Pip Jones, illus. by Ella Okstad (Faber & Faber, Nov. 17 $8.95 paper; ISBN 978-0-571-35036-0)
The latest in the Squishy McFluff series finds Ava and Squishy going to see the circus. But when one of the acts doesn’t show up, they must perform in his place.
