Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a picture book about a boy reporter, the launch of a fantasy series, a middle grade novel about robots, and a futuristic wild-west YA debut.
What John Marco Saw by Annie Barrows, illus. by Nancy Lemon. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-6336-9. In this picture book, John Marco is a vivid reporter on the world around him.
A Tale of Magic… by Chris Colfer. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-316-52347-9. In this entertaining fantasy series opener, billed as a prequel to Colfer’s Land of Stories series, a girl pursues her destiny, defying the rigid gender roles and draconian laws of a kingdom that has outlawed magic and forbidden women from reading.
Weird Little Robots by Carolyn Crimi, illus. by Corinna Luyken. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-9493-7. This quirkily inventive middle grade debut by Crimi (I Am the Boss of This Chair) introduces Penny Rose, a shy 11-year-old who has made no friends in her new town.
The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis. Tor Teen, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-29970-3. In this YA debut, the historical Old West-flavored landscape of post-Empire Arketta sets the stage for monstrous spirits, men who trade their humanity for power, and shadowless girls with cursed tattoos called favors.
Her Own Two Feet: A Rwandan Girl’s Brave Fight to Walk by Meredith Davis and Rebeka Uwitonze. Scholastic Focus, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-338-35637-3. Born in Rwandan with arthrogryposis, a disease resulting in curled hands and twisted feet, Rebeka Uwitonze flies to America, lives with a host family, undergoes numerous medical procedures, and learns to walk anew. This middle grade nonfiction title earned a starred review from PW.
Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee. Aladdin, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-3237-6. Dee (Everything I Know About You) draws a clear distinction between flirtation and sexual harassment in this timely, sensitively wrought novel about a seventh-grade girl who receives unwanted attention from a group of classmates. The book earned a starred review from PW.
The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake. Disney-Hyperion, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-368-04808-8. In a strong debut loosely based on Twelfth Night, 16-year-old Violet’s family splinters after her brother Sam’s suicide attempt. The book earned a starred review from PW.
I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day. HarperCollins, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-287199-2. Debut author Day (who is Upper Skagit) drew from her own experience as the daughter of a Native American adoptee to create the character of Edie Green, a 12-year-old budding artist who lives in Seattle with her parents. The book earned a starred review from PW.
10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston. Disney-Hyperion, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-368-02749-6. After overhearing her boyfriend tell a friend that he might want to call his relationship off, Sophie, 17, breaks up with him, then heads to Shreveport, La., to spend Christmas with her large, extended Italian-American family.
Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia by Marc Favreau. Little, Brown, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-316-54592-1. Favreau (Crash: The Great Depression and the Fall and Rise of America) weaves vivid, succinct accounts of the volatile U.S.-Soviet relationship into his tension-inducing spy stories, which range from the 1940s to the 1991 collapse of the U.S.S.R. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-8039-0. “The biggest mistake Pokko’s parents ever made was giving her a drum,” begins this dark, hilarious tale by Forsythe (The Brilliant Deep). The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
Ho‘onani: Hula Warrior by Heather Gale, illus. by Mika Song. Tundra, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7352-6449-6. Ho‘onani, a Hawaiian schoolchild, identifies not as wahine (girl) or kāne (boy), but just as herself (she uses she/her pronouns) when she auditions for a male hula chant. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Redwood and Ponytail by K.A. Holt. Chronicle, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7288-0. Holt (Knockout) once again offers keen insight into the social pressures and vulnerabilities of middle schoolers in this novel in verse, which traces the mutual attraction between two seventh grade girls.
Puma Dreams by Tony Johnston, illus. by Jim LaMarche. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-2979-6. The girl who narrates this picture book idyll by Johnston (Loving Hands) lives with her grandmother amid rolling grassland.
Why? by Adam Rex, illus. by Claire Keane. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-6863-0. Part origin story, part therapy session, this high-voltage comedic picture book by Rex (Nothing Rhymes with Orange) pits a supervillain against an inquisitive child.
Roar Like a Dandelion by Ruth Krauss, illus. by Sergio Ruzzier. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-268007-5. This mischievous abecedarian by the late, celebrated Krauss, author of such classics as A Hole Is to Dig and The Carrot Seed, sat unpublished for decades, until Krauss’s longtime publisher and her estate’s executor agreed that Ruzzier (Good Boy) was just the artist to illustrate it. The book earned a starred review from PW.
I Wonder by K.A. Holt, illus. by Kenard Pak. Random House, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-1422-2. Holt’s picture book celebrates children’s bold questions with some of her own, reveling in the pursuit of knowledge that has little to do with pure logic.
The Seventh Voyage: Star Diaries by Stanislaw Lem, illus. by Jon J Muth, trans. from the Polish by Michael Kandel. Graphix, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-545-00462-6. Delicately washed panel artwork by Caldecott Honoree Muth (Zen Shorts) underscores the hilarity of late Polish author Lem’s short story, originally published in 1957.
Throwback by Peter Lerangis. HarperCollins, $17.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-240638-5. After learning that he is a Throwback, who can travel back in time and alter the past, Corey Fletcher, 13, vows to do what his grandfather couldn’t: prevent his grandmother from dying in the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Rebel by Marie Lu. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-22170-4. In this fourth installment of the Legend series, Lu revisits Daniel “Day” Altan Wing; his brilliant younger brother, Eden Bataar Wing; and Day’s love interest, June Iparis.
The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come by Sue Macy, illus. by Stacy Innerst. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-7220-3. This inspired pairing of two top picture book biographers tells the story of Aaron Lansky, an “all-American boy” (a Star Trek poster decorates his bedroom) who in college became convinced that Yiddish books represented the “portable homeland” of the Jewish people. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Smarter Than a Monster: A Survival Guide by Brandon Mull, illus. by Mike Walton. Shadow Mountain, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-62972-610-6. Mull and Walton’s message-heavy picture book aims to diffuse the anxiety of imagined horrors at bedtime.
Dear Sweet Pea by Julie Murphy. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-0624-7307-3. Seventh grader Patricia “Sweet Pea” DiMarco contends with her parents’ divorce, shifting friendships, and newfound self-awareness in this middle grade debut from YA author Murphy (Dumplin’). The book earned a starred review from PW.
Angel Mage by Garth Nix. HarperCollins/Tegen, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-268322-9. Nix (Frogkisser!) builds a Dumas-inspired world filled with angelic legions in this YA fantasy novel. The book earned a starred review from PW.
How I Met My Monster by Amanda Noll, illus. by Howard McWilliam. Flashlight, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-947277-09-0. In this picture book prequel to I Need My Monster and Hey, That’s MY Monster!, Noll and McWilliam reveal how Ethan, a child, chose Gabe as his personal monster when he was younger.
White Bird: A Wonder Story by R.J. Palacio. Knopf, $24.99; ISBN 978-0-52564-553-5. Branded as “A Wonder Story,” Palacio’s well-paced graphic novel debut expands upon a story introduced in Auggie & Me—Grandmère’s tale of her childhood in German-occupied France.
M Is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose. Little Bee, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4998-0916-9. Rose’s A–Z picture book affirmation of black children sings with inclusivity and zest.
The End and Other Beginnings: Stories from the Future by Veronica Roth. HarperCollins/Tegen, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-279652-3. In this combination of YA reprints and original stories, Roth (The Fates Divide) explores, as she expresses in a letter to reviewers, “that pivotal moment when something ends—often painfully...creat[ing] space for new beginnings.”
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-231764-3. This evocative YA tale entwines the lives of two young women—one living, one dead—in Chicago on the cusp of WWII.
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. Philomel, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-399-16031-8. Sepetys’s (Salt to the Sea) latest YA novel deftly explores a painful chapter in history, this time Franco’s Madrid.
Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart. Delacorte, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-4882-6. Enhanced by journal entries and poetry, this first-person YA narrative movingly expresses the protagonist’s lingering sorrow from a tragedy and her changing outlook as she navigates her way toward a new form of normalcy.
Sleepwakers, Book #1 Sam Saves the Night by Shari Simpson. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-368-00761-0. In this middle grade series launch, Sam, 12, is a lifelong sleepwalker who has sleep-sorted recycling and even sleep-built a tree house.
Roll with It by Jamie Sumner. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-4255-9. Headstrong 12-year-old Lily “Ellie” Cowan loves to bake. Diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, Ellie heads to the kitchen when she gets frustrated with her overprotective mother, hovering full-time aide, and absent father. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler. Penguin/Paulsen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-399-16290-9. Somber artwork by Wheeler (When You Are Brave) sets the tone for the opening of her Depression-era picture book of a family forced to start over.
The ABCs of AOC: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from A to Z by Jamia Wilson, illus. by Krystal Quiles. Little, Brown, $13.99; ISBN 978-0-316-49514-1. In Wilson’s introduction to this alphabetical paean, she explains that present-day politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “may just be changing the rules of politics” for future leaders.
A Map into the World by Kao Kalia Yang, illus. by Seo Kim. Carolrhoda, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5415-3836-8. Yang (The Song Poet for adults), a Hmong writer making her picture book debut, offers a story about a girl who notices things. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Now Entering Addamsville by Francesca Zappia. Greenwillow, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-293527-4. In this satisfyingly creepy tale, a girl capable of seeing ghosts in a small Indiana town teeming with them risks everything to hunt firestarters, malevolent spirits who possess the living and feed off the dead.
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, illus. by Charlene Chua. Aladdin, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-1133-3. In this tasty story of tenacity and ingenuity, everyone in the family can make perfect bao except for Amy.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of October, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
