Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a YA novel about a 19th-century convent, a middle grade story about two brothers, a picture book about two rabbits making a cakes, and the story of a girl and her imaginary friend.
The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh. Putnam, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-3817-4. Seventeen-year old dressmaker Celine Rousseau fled Paris with a bloody secret, arriving at the Ursuline convent in 1872 New Orleans to begin anew.
The Space We’re In by Katya Balen. Holiday House/Ferguson, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-4289-8. Balen’s powerfully emotional debut tells the story of 10-year-old Frank and his five-year-old brother Max, who is autistic and nonverbal.
Mini Rabbit Is Not Lost by John Bond. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-4358-1. Jaunty digital artwork by newcomer Bond introduces Mini Rabbit and Mother Rabbit as they set out to make a cake.
Friend or Fiction by Abby Cooper. Charlesbridge, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-62354-108-8. In this lightly fantastical middle grade novel, sixth grader Jade has a history of losing best friends. Jade writes stories about her ideal best friend she names Zoe, and then a girl exactly matching Zoe’s qualities moves in across the street.
Hazel’s Theory of Evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. HarperCollins, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-279117-7. Bigelow (Drum Roll, Please) celebrates intersectional diversity with her cast of well-drawn characters in this middle grade novel, which also addresses universal conflicts adolescents face while paying tribute to their individuality.
The Last Human by Lee Bacon, illus. by Karl Kwasny. Amulet, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3691-9. After global warming and constant war established humans as corrupt, robots wiped them out, replacing them with a machine society linked across a hive in this middle grade novel.
Between Worlds: Folktales of Britain and Ireland by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illus. by Frances Castle. Candlewick, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5362-0941-9. Retold by Carnegie Medalist Crossley-Holland, this collection of 48 British and Irish tales presents both familiar and obscure stories in vivid prose.
Counting the Stars: The Story of Katherine Johnson, NASA Mathematician by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illus. by Raúl Colón. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-0475-5. Cline-Ransome’s picture book biography pays tribute to African-American math prodigy Katherine Johnson, who soared past societal barriers to become one of NASA’s celebrated human computers.
The Traveler’s Gift by Danielle Davison, illus. by Anne Lambelet. Page Street Kids, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-62414-765-4. This picture book, in which a boy mourns the loss of his father, reinforces the transporting power of stories.
I Know You Remember by Jennifer Donaldson. Razorbill, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-59514-854-4. Ruthie, 17, heads back to Anchorage, her hometown until she was 14, after her mother’s sudden death.
The Class by Frances O’Roark Dowell. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-8179-3. Sixth grade has started, and there’s a lot going on in Ms. Herrerra’s class. New girl and budding author Ellie, who struggles to make friends, decides to write a book about her school.
The Hike by Alison Farrell. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7461-7. This picture book about an outdoor adventure by Farrell (Cycle City) introduces Wren, El, Hattie, and Bean the dog, for whom hiking is “our favorite thing to do.”
No Map, Great Trip: A Young Writer’s Road to Page One by Paul Fleischman. Greenwillow, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-285745-3. In this combination memoir and writing handbook, Newbery Medalist Fleischman (Joyful Noise) writes with humor and frankness about growing up in Santa Monica, Calif., in the 1960s.
Just in Case You Want to Fly by Julie Fogliano, illus. by Christian Robinson. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-4344-4. This bubbly excursion by the team behind When’s My Birthday? celebrates parents’ impulse to give their children the world.
A Potato on a Bike by Elise Gravel. Orca, $10.95; ISBN 978-1-4598-2320-4. Gravel’s board book imagines common foods and everyday objects participating in human tasks.
Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-62979-881-3. Grimes (One Last Word) presents a gripping memoir in verse constructed from imperfect recollections of the hardship and abuse she endured as a child. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems by Margarita Engle, illus. by Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez. Holt/Godwin, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-62779-531-9. This historical survey by Engle (Dancing Hands) is ambitious in its scope: to tell the story of the lands now known as the United States through a combination of Hispanic voices and fictionalized composites.
Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of “The Children’s Ship” by Deborah Heiligman, illus. by Lawrence Lee. Holt/Godwin, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-62779-554-8. In this gripping account, Heiligman (Vincent and Theo) relates the September 1940 attack by a German submarine on the British passenger ship SS City of Benares, which killed 258 people, including 77 children.
The Story That Cannot Be Told by J. Kasper Kramer. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-3068-6. Kramer’s mesmerizing middle grade debut focuses on the final months of the reign of Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu in Romania in 1989. The book earned a starred review from PW.
The Library of Lost Things by Laura Taylor Namey. Inkyard, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-335-92825-2. In this complex romance, debut author Namey paints a painfully realistic portrait of a teen playing an adult role in a dysfunctional family.
It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Julie Morstad. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-244762-3. In spare, elegant spreads and graceful prose, frequent collaborators Maclear and Morstad (Bloom) tell the story of Japanese-American illustrator Gyo Fujikawa (1908–1998). The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
Charcoal Boys by Roger Mello, trans. from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn. Elsewhere Editions, $20; ISBN 978-1-939810-19-9. This haunting story from Hans Christian Andersen Medalist Mello explores the life of a Brazilian child laborer who tends a domed oven in which wood is burned to make charcoal.
Frank and Bean by Jamie Michalak, illus. by Bob Kolar. Candlewick, $15.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-9559-0. Over the course of four short chapters designed for early readers, these two campers discover that they make a fine pair.
The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy. Harper/Balzer + Bray, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-286641-7. Actor and debut author Pancholy draws from his own experiences as a young Indian American to create this funny, uplifting story about identity. The book earned a starred review from PW.
In the Hall with the Knife: A Clue Mystery, Book One by Diana Peterfreund. Amulet, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3834-0. In Rocky Point, Maine, mystery and murder descend on elite Blackbrook Academy along with a raging winter storm.
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds, illus. by Alexander Nabaum. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-3828-5. Reynolds (the Track series) packs the 10 blocks surrounding multiple schools with 10 relatable slice-of-life stories that start after school ends, each beginning with a black-and-white drawing by Nabaum. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Banjo by Graham Salisbury. Random/Lamb, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-375-84264-1. Salisbury (Hunt for the Bamboo Rat) sets his latest middle grade novel in Oregon ranch country, where he explores themes of loyalty, honesty, and the delicate balance between livestock and pets.
Dog and Rabbit by Barney Saltzberg. Charlesbridge, $14.99; ISBN 978-1-62354-107-1. Saltzberg (Crazy Hair Day) handily captures the difficulty of making a friend—even one that’s right around the corner—in this picture book.
The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif. HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-284960-1. Sarif’s YA debut about a secret, unsanctioned organization that protects women and children internationally features an inclusive cast, ample action, and escalating stakes.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of October, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
