A feline’s generosity both propels and complicates her efforts to deliver a “marvelous” cake to her ursine bestie in this smoothly delivered fable-like story. Heading out, Margot pops the cake into a little red wagon, and “off she goes. Bump, bump, bump across the road,” Peacock writes. A pattern emerges en route as she repeatedly encounters acquaintances in need, then resolves their problems with a can-do attitude and a slice of cake. Bolded text highlights significant phrases while Margot cheers a lion about his haircut and fixes a fox duo’s tandem bicycle. By the time she knocks on her friend’s door, she’s surprised to find that only crumbs of the treat remain, but best bud Oscar reacts with appreciation for his pal’s good deeds. Arrhenius’s shape-based cartoons give readers plenty to observe as Margot’s actions play out across bustling town streets. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

A picnic-day theft begets a chaotic game of seek-and-find—and cause for collaboration—in this wordless picture book from Tjong-Khing. Swooping down upon an animalian picnic, an eagle makes off with a blanket holding the group’s belongings, including a cloche-enclosed layer cake. A crane-like bird soon attacks the eagle, sending the objects earthward and propelling the picnickers on a search. But each chase comes with its own interactions, many involving characters outside of the original crew. A squirrel kicks a soccer ball to its owners, two young frogs, who successfully aim it at an ape intent on another character’s hat. Pleasingly fragmented and comically cohesive, spreads rendered in fine lines follow the antics, making for a set of brain-teasing mini-quests that invite readers to consider who arrived first, what belonged to whom, and how they’ll all arrive at the titular conceit. Ages 4–7. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

A boy with an affinity for animals, a girl who can fly when the wind blows, and a secreted-away world in need of saving propel this realms-roving dazzler, a trilogy opener from Rundell (The Good Thieves). When Christopher Forrester is sent to Scotland to stay with his maternal grandfather, he quickly makes for the only area forbidden to him: the top of a nearby hill. Meanwhile, in the Archipelago—“the last surviving magic place”—Mal Arvorian works to understand why marvelous creatures have begun dying and the soil is turning gray. Following a terrifying encounter and a near escape for Mal, the children meet, kicking off a valorous, island-hopping quest to uncover why the Archipelago’s magic is fading—a journey that has far-reaching implications. Along the way, Christopher and Mal engage with sympathetic adult secondaries and a cast of wittily rendered mythological beasts, including a cherished griffin and a watchful ratatoska. Employing plotting reminiscent of works by Ursula Le Guin and Philip Pullman, Rundell deploys fresh language, epic stakes, bonds both tender and devastating, and fierce kid characters. It’s a thoughtfully lore-informed narrative about the kinship of living things and the marvels of being alive—a story that, above all, takes children seriously. Light-tinged illustrations from Mackenzie (The 66th Rebirth of Frankie Caridi) include a map and bestiary. Cover art portrays the child protagonists with pale skin. Ages 10–up. Agent: Peter Knapp, Park & Fine Literary. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this collection of 27 poems, Saltzberg (A Delicious Story) employs both canine and human perspectives to explore the age-old cross-species connection—a relationship characterized by a blend of fondness, bewilderment, and, as the evocative title suggests, effluvia. In “Who,” a dog playfully queries, “Who sleeps on your bed/ like a huge armadillo?/ Who steals all the covers?/ Who drools on your pillow?” A few pages later, “Bed” offers a brief glimpse of a human counterpart’s view of bedtime: “My dog is very happy/ snoozing on my bed./ Sometimes I am her pillow/ when she sleeps on my head.” While some of the rhymes feel more perfunctory than polished, the poems emanate from a place of keen adoration and observation. And each of the accompanying digital illustrations is spot-on, with line drawings used for humans, whose skin tone reflects the white of the page, and textured, collage-like shapes portraying a panoply of very good dogs, all with eager, googly eyes. Ages 4–8. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

Five major currents in the Atlantic Ocean “swirl billions of gallons of water clockwise around and around,” creating an immense body of water, called the Sargasso Sea after the floating sargassum forests within it. Though it’s known as seaweed, Rosenstock (Mornings with Monet) explains in clear, punchy prose that sargassum is an algae that reproduces when small pieces break off and then photosynthesize, growing stipes and blades as “gas-filled globes keep the weed on the surface.” In carefully drafted naturalistic watercolors, Roy (The Fire of Stars) paints the sargassum floating in the blue sea as sunlight streams down, then focuses on the tiny creatures that settle upon it, in turn supporting more sophisticated life-forms: “Pinching Crabs,/ Skittering Shrimp.” These beings tidy the weed, which keeps “floating,/ around and around,” a phrase whose repetition reinforces the sea’s sense of movement. As the title indicates, seas don’t need seashores to be distinct, nor do thriving ecosystems require land. Around a series of ever larger creatures depicted—fish, turtles, and whales, all sustained by sargassum-supported life—are images of people of various skin tones interacting with the algae. Ample back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

In a world bound by rules and conventions, what’s it like to be someone “content to do his own thing, in his own way, in his own time”? Burgess (Sylvester’s Letter) and Majewski (The Art of Rewilding) provide an answer in this splendid biography of creator Edward Gorey (1925–2000). Via concise, deeply affectionate prose and lush, playfully elegant acrylic illustrations, the creators divide their subject’s life into three “acts”— a nod to Gorey’s love of ballet and theater. Act I portrays the figure’s early years and emergence as a “delightfully peculiar” personality given to “painting his toenails green and strutting down a fancy street in bare feet.” Act II finds Gorey in New York, discovering a great passion for the New York City Ballet (attending “nearly every performance for over twenty years”) and achieving professional success on his own terms. Act III depicts Gorey’s later years on Cape Cod, where his artmaking continued unabated among six cats and a plethora of collections (“sea stones, skeletons... and books”). Prolific and one-of-a-kind, Gorey stands out from these pages as profoundly fulfilled—a figure of unwavering authenticity and creativity. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Erica Rand Silverman, Stimola Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

Accompanied by orange cat Frankie, young Tim relishes recording the sounds of his new neighborhood—chirping birds, croaking frogs, and an engine’s “PUTTPUTTPUTT.” But older sister Martha is languishing in the unfamiliar surroundings—she feels friendless, lacks energy to make the “creepy” songs that are her creative passion, and takes face-down naps. Tim stumbles into a solution upon following Frankie into a seemingly abandoned mansion. After encountering two spectral residents, the cat communicates Martha’s plight via a dramatic display of feline charades. In sympathy, the skeletal inhabitants conjure up a cacophonous symphony of sounds: a spatula flies through the air with a “FWWSH,” bathroom bubbles go “BLUB,” chess pieces “CLACK,” and in a bravura spread, Sears (the Double+ Adventures series) shows the living room as a swirl of animated objects emitting sounds. When the bounty of eerie recorded sounds shakes Martha out of her funk and into bonding with Tim, she even suggests a visit back to the source. Ghostly shenanigans take center stage in this graphic novel, illustrated in the creator’s signature thin-lined layers, which also offers an intriguing picture of a sibling relationship—low-key in its expression but deep in its connection. Ages 5–7. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this laugh-out-loud horror adventure, 16-year-old twins Soren and Eira must get their cardio game on-point if they hope to survive the zombie apocalypse that’s descending upon a small Alaskan town. Deciding to strike out on their own away from their fundamentalist parents (who don’t know that both siblings are queer), Soren and Eira leave their prepper family’s remote homestead. Upon their arrival to the nearest town, Marion Gap, the sisters discover it has been ripped apart by zombies. The only survivor seems to be their friend Racer, a Special Olympics gold medalist who has his work cut out for him in training the twins to outrun and outpace the infected hordes. As the trio attempt to make sense of this new and ravaged world, they venture out in search of help and community amid the collapse of society and find like-minded (and not-so-like-minded) survivors. Fans of zombies and comedic horror novels will find a lot to enjoy here; snappy prose by Mac (Wildfire) drives the subversive plot at a brisk clip, bouncing from place to place and introducing new and intriguing characters while maintaining focus on the girls’ catalyzing plight. Though the ending is somewhat abrupt, the emotional punch it delivers is well earned. Main characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jess Regel, Helm Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

In an exhilarating thriller reminiscent of The Descent, Urban (Lying in the Deep) follows four teens who find themselves fighting for their lives in the catacombs of Paris while on a class trip abroad. When Ruby arrives in the city, her best friend Val quickly befriends a mysterious French boy who invites Val to a party deep within the catacombs. Believing that this exclusive view of the underground site will provide great content for her burgeoning YouTube channel, Ruby—as well as friends Selena and Olivia—tags along. But they soon become lost and stranded—and a group of skull-masked, knife-wielding strangers starts pursuing them. As media attention surrounding the girls’ disappearance unfolds topside, classmate Sean, who’s in love with Ruby, struggles to piece together information to help exhume her from the vast necropolis before it’s too late. Without sacrificing nuanced character relationships, Urban utilizes propulsive prose to imbue the fascinating setting with haunting atmosphere. Punchy dialogue, drum-tight pacing, and tense stakes permeate this nail-biting adventure, a delight from start to finish. Protagonists read as white. Ages 14–up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink

King (Attack of the Black Rectangles) delivers a searing, surreal novel about toxic relationships and systemic abuse. Since the Covid pandemic began, Jane Vandermaker-Cook has been homeschooled by her dictatorial father, Vernon. After banning electronics and music from their “pristine Victorian prison” home in West Philadelphia, Vernon purports that Jane’s mother, celebrated punk musician Mina Placenta, is a murderous, unloving “witch”; when she’s not touring, he isolates Mina using an elaborate system of pneumatic tubes within the house to restrict her physical and social interactions. Now 16, Jane covertly accesses decades of security camera footage that undermines Vernon’s accusations, compelling her to rally for both her mother’s freedom and her own. Metaphors for the entrapment of women in situations that foster abuse crystallize in an actual system of fabricated tubes, underground stations, and spider-webbing truths that Jane processes by composing a mobilizing, original punk opera. Helmed by Jane’s penetrating commentary, this unconventional narrative melds punk anthems and bewildering interludes from a shape-shifting rat with King’s quirky blend of present-day issues and mind-bending twists to unlock complex, thought-provoking insight. The Vandermaker-Cooks read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/31/2024 | Details & Permalink