Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a picture book about a confident cat, a wordless comic set in New York City, a YA novel about a Taiwanese teen and her parent’s expectations, and a novel featuring teen sisters who have transformative powers.

Down and Across by Arvin Ahmadi. Viking, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-425-28987-7. First-time author Ahmadi writes a humorous coming-of-age novel about an impulsive teen’s quest to be more persistent. The book earned a starred review from PW.

I Am a Cat by Galia Bernstein. Abrams, $16.95; ISBN 978-1-4197-2643-9. A stout, green-eyed cat named Simon meets a gang of much larger cats: a lion, cheetah, puma, panther, and tiger. “I am a cat,” announces Simon. “Just like you!” The book earned a starred review from PW.

Grace for Gus by Harry Bliss. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-264410-7. This early reader comic book from Bliss (Bailey) is a mostly wordless love letter to New York City, classic cartoons, and entrepreneurial ingenuity. The book earned a starred review from PW.

American Panda by Gloria Chao. Simon Pulse, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-9910-1. Mei is only 17 and already a freshman at MIT, but her Taiwanese immigrant parents won’t be satisfied until she becomes a successful doctor. Chao’s YA debut earned a starred review from PW.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Freeform, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4847-2849-9. Clayton, COO of We Need Diverse Books, offers up her latest novel, in which 16-year-old sisters Camellia, Edelweiss, Ambrosia, Padma, Valeria, and Hana are a new generation of Belles, young women who are responsible for keeping the citizens of Orléans beautiful, magically transforming their appearances to align with the latest trends.

Petra by Marianna Coppo. Tundra, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7352-6267-6. Change may be the only constant for the peripatetic rock protagonist of this picture book, but her bubbly optimism is as solid as Gibraltar. “I’m a rock,” she concludes, “and this is how I roll.” The book earned a starred review from PW.

Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen by Candace Fleming, illus. by Eric Rohmann. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-101-93410-4. Based on a true story, this absorbing novel from the duo behind Giant Squid and other books introduces Strongheart, a German shepherd that worked as a police dog in Germany until his discovery by Hollywood director Larry Trimble in the early 1920s.

Broken Beautiful Hearts by Kami Garcia. Imprint, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-07920-6. Peyton Rios thinks that receiving a letter from her first-choice college to play Division I soccer is the start of a perfect day. But things go south after she confronts her boyfriend, Reed, about his use of steroids as a shortcut to becoming a professional mixed martial arts fighter.

The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson. Simon Pulse, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-9854-8. In this YA novel, Elena hears voices that urge her to heal others, but people disappear from the planet every time she does. The book earned a starred review from PW.

I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-6955-0. In this powerful wordless tale by the French duo Kerascoët (Paul and Antoinette), a child reaches out to a fellow pupil who has been bullied. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.

The Big Bed by Bunmi Laditan, illus. by Tom Knight. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-374-30123-1. The woman behind the viral social media account “Honest Toddler” delivers a humorous picture book take on getting a toddler to sleep.

All We Can Do Is Wait by Richard Lawson. Razorbill, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-448-49411-1. Lawson’s empathetic, wrenching debut zeroes in on five teenagers from various demographics and family situations, who meet in the waiting room at Boston General Hospital, seeking news about whether their loved ones survived a bridge collapse. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller, illus. by Jen Hill. Roaring Brook, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-62672-321-4. Miller’s (Sophie’s Squash) latest picture book is about two friends exploring ways of being kind to each other. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Fly Girls: The Daring American Women Pilots Who Helped Win WWII by P. O’Connell Pearson. Simon & Schuster, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-0410-6. Pearson’s accessible portrait of the women aviators whose organization became known as the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) highlights the courage and tenacity that bound them together during WWII.

Tempests and Slaughter (The Numair Chronicles, Book One) by Tamora Pierce. Random House, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-375-84711-0. In the first book of Pierce’s Numair Chronicles, set in the medieval fantasy world of her Tortall books, she provides an in-depth look into the magical education and youth of Arram Draper, who later becomes a powerful mage.

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon, illus. by Lee White. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-101-93479-1. In this picture book, a girl plants trees to help protect her neighbor from the wind. The story is truthful about the long wait for results; as the pages turn and the trees grow, Kate becomes a teenager, and the man’s beard goes silver.

The Last to Let Go by Amber Smith. S&S/McElderry, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-8073-4. Smith (The Way I Used to Be) takes up domestic violence and its far-reaching consequences in this empathetic novel of learning to live with painful realities.

Nobody’s Duck by Mary Sullivan. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $14.99; ISBN 978-0-544-79250-0. For no apparent reason, an idiosyncratic duck takes up residence on a fussy alligator’s lawn. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.

Becoming Madeleine: A Biography of the Author of A Wrinkle in Time by Her Granddaughters by Charlotte Jones Voiklis and Léna Roy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-374-30764-6. L’Engle’s granddaughters have produced, in this middle grade biography, a perceptive account of the prolific author’s solitary childhood, gawky adolescence, and early adulthood, concluding in 1961 with FSG acquiring the manuscript of the book that would become A Wrinkle in Time.

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