Hitting shelves next week are a picture book biography of an influential artist, a metafictional tale featuring a frustrated protagonist, and a historical YA novel that blends fairy tales with the Russian Revolution.

Boy Robot by Simon Curtis. Simon Pulse, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-5929-7. A cyber-dystopian future America is the scene of musician Curtis’s first novel, in which a teen discovers he was made by the government.

The Shady Tree by Demi. Holt, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-62779-769-6. Acclaimed for her elegantly illustrated picture-book biographies, Demi revisits another of her signature genres – Chinese folktales – in this graceful story of generosity trumping selfishness.

Be Who You Are by Todd Parr. LB/Tingley, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-26523-2. Working in his vibrantly colored drawing style, Parr balances bold proclamations with playful humor in this picture book call to embrace one’s individuality.

The Bear Who Wasn’t There by LeUyen Pham. Roaring Brook, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-59643-970-2. Despite the title, the increasingly frustrated narrator of this lighthearted metafictional tale clearly expects a bear to show up: there are bear footprints all over the pages.

Glitter by Aprilynne Pike. Random House, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-101-93370-1. The series opener from the author of the Wings series blends Baroque-era sensibilities with futuristic realities in the 22nd-century country of Sonoman-Versailles, which consists of the French palace at Versailles. Now owned by a multinational conglomerate, the palace and its grounds act as the company’s headquarters and the last bastion of courtly life. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Little Penguins by Cynthia Rylant, illus. by Christian Robinson. Schwartz & Wade, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-553-50770-6. Five small penguins and their mother chill out in this minimalist winter picture book.

Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-62672-547-8. British children’s author Arthur Ransome captured Printz winner Sedgwick’s (Midwinterblood) imagination with his 1916 book, Old Peter’s Russian Tales. These stories, coupled with Ransome’s involvement in the Russian revolution as a journalist, inspired this multifaceted historical novel, written in three parts and originally published in 2007.

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe. Little, Brown, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-21388-2. In this narrated picture book biography, Steptoe (In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall) charts the childhood of Brooklyn-born artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960–1988). The book earned a starred review from PW.

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