Hitting shelves next week are a picture book about an odd-looking dog, a middle grade novel in which a sixth grader starts a reading club, and a YA novel in verse about a son breaking his family’s disturbing cycles.
Boo Who? by Ben Clanton. Candlewick, $15.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-8824-0. The friends from Clanton’s Rex Wrecks It!—Rex the dinosaur, Sprinkles the unicorn-rabbit, Wild the furry monster, and Gizmo the robot—welcome a ghost into their group in this picture book reminiscent of Pac-Man.
The Losers Club by Andrew Clements. Random House, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-399-55755-2. Sixth grader Alec Spencer starts a club for readers like himself, in order to escape bullying.
Solo by Kwame Alexander, with Mary Rand Hess. Blink, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-310-76183-9. In this YA novel from Newbery Medalist Alexander, 17-year-old Blade Morrison, betrayed by those closest to him and stunned by a family secret, flees his comfortable but chaotic life as the son of a drug-addicted rock star.
Truthers by Geoffrey Girard. Carolrhoda Lab, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5124-2779-0. In this YA thriller, a young woman delves into the world of 9/11 conspiracy theorists to help her father, who’s been remanded to a mental institution following a breakdown.
This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson, illus. by Suzy Lee. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $15.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-4139-1. A boy makes the most of the moment while going for a walk in the rain. The book earned a starred review from PW.
The Bad Seed by Jory John, illus. by Pete Oswald. Harper, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-246776-8. A sunflower seed is certain that he’s bad, though as the story progresses, it doesn’t seem the protagonist is so irredeemable.
The Authentics by Abdi Nazemian. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-248646-2. What begins as an English class assignment transforms into a messy but fulfilling journey of self-discovery for a Beverly Hills teen in this first YA title from screenwriter and novelist Nazemian (The Walk-in Closet).
A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illus. by Thi Bui. Capstone Young Readers, $15.95; ISBN 978-1-62370-803-0. Phi, a poet whose parents were Vietnamese refugees, draws from childhood memories in this story about fishing with his father before sunrise on the lakes of Minneapolis. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-243683-2. In this debut novel from literary agent Popovic, which is set in Montenegro, two teenage sisters have supernatural abilities. The book is first in a planned duology.
Nothing Rhymes with Orange by Adam Rex. Chronicle, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-5443-5. In this picture book, an orange is stuck on the sidelines while his fruit friends rhyme amongst themselves. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Caps for Sale and the Mindful Monkeys by Esphyr Slobodkina and Ann Marie Mulhearn Sayer. Harper, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-249988-2. As she did in 2015’s More Caps for Sale, Sayer continues to build out the story of Pezzo the peddler and the monkeys that both frustrate and help him.
Dogosaurus Rex by Anna Staniszewski, illus. by Kevin Hawkes. Holt, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8050-9706-1. Readers will instantly know that Sadie, Ben’s new shelter pet, isn’t a dog but an enormous green Tyrannosaurus rex. To all of the characters, however, Sadie is just a very big pooch, albeit one who is “kind of funny looking.” The book earned a starred review from PW.
Say Zoop! by Hervé Tullet, trans. from the French by Christopher Franceschelli. Handprint, $15.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-6473-1. Tullet adds to his collection of books (Press Here, Mix It Up!, et al.) in which readers interact with dots on the page. This time, the painted dots designate sound.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of August, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
