Hitting bookshelves next week are a picture book exploration of a city through the eyes of a girl, a middle grade novel about three classmates who want to do something special for their terminally ill teacher, and a YA novel in which a facsimile of our planet is discovered in space.

Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson. HarperCollins/Walden Pond, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-233817-4. Three sixth-grade boys embark on a tragicomic quest to do something special for their beloved teacher, who has announced that she won’t be able to finish out the year following her cancer diagnosis. The book earned a starred review from PW.

School of the Dead by Avi. HarperCollins, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-174085-5. In this middle grade ghost story from the Newbery Medalist, Tony’s octogenarian great uncle moves in and they become fast friends, but their intergenerational friendship turns dark when Uncle Charlie dies but doesn’t leave.

It Came in the Mail by Ben Clanton. Simon & Schuster, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-0360-3. In this picture book, after Liam wishes for more mail, he starts to receive an assortment of objects and creatures, including a dragon.

Maybe Mother Goose by Esmé Codell, illus. by Elisa Chavarri. S&S/Aladdin, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-4036-3. Codell and Chavarri reprise the irreverent conceit of 2011’s Fairly Fairy Tales, offering condensed versions of six nursery rhymes followed by call and response.

Mirror in the Sky by Aditi Khorana. Razorbill, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-59514-856-8. In this YA novel, the discovery of another planet that nearly mirrors Earth, right down to inhabitants who are close facsimiles of both well-known writers and average citizens, heralds a cosmic shift in Tara’s life just as she begins junior year.

A Boy, a Ball, and a Dog by Gianna Marino. Roaring Brook/Porter, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-62672-287-3. In this picture book, a boy and his dog play fetch, are momentarily parted, and eventually reunite.

City Shapes by Diana Murray, illus. by Bryan Collier. Little, Brown, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-316-37092-9. Newcomer Murray’s verses about a girl finding shapes around New York City are paired with Caldecott Honoree Collier’s artwork.

The Day the President Was Shot: The Secret Service, the FBI, a Would-Be Killer, and the Attempted Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Bill O’Reilly. Holt, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-6277-9699-6. Television pundit O’Reilly offers up a young readers adaptation of his book Killing Reagan.

Bear’s Big Day by Salina Yoon. Bloomsbury, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-8027-3832-5. Bear, previously seen in picture books Found and Stormy Night, considers himself to be a “big bear” now, and he’s ready to leave his much-loved stuffed rabbit, Floppy, at home when he goes to school. Or is he?

For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of June, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.