Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a YA novel about a teen on steroids, a middle grade novel about gifted friends fighting monsters, an historical YA novel set in France, and a book about a bunny’s brave outing.

The New David Espinoza Fred Aceves. HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-248988-3. This YA novel follows a teen’s use of steroids, masterfully conveyed through frenetic fluctuations between self-doubt and self-admiration.

Twist Sarah Cannon. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-250-12330-5. In this horror-tinged adventure set in 1983 Oklahoma, three classmates in a gifted program band together when their town is invaded by fanciful creatures that adults cannot see. The book earned a starred review from PW.

In the Shadow of the Sun by EM Castellan. Feiwel and Friends, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-22602-0. “We were royals. Our happiness was irrelevant.” Castellan, a Wattpad author, threads magical details into her historical YA novel about French royal life during 1661.

The Bold, Brave Bunny by Beth Ferry, illus. by Chow Hon Lam. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-285031-7. In this picture book, Teetu feels like the odd bunny out in his big, often boisterous family; he can’t find even a corner of the crowded burrow that he can call his own.

Cezanne’s Parrot Amy Guglielmo, illus. by Brett Helquist. Putnam, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-51508-1. Cézanne, the late 19th-century French painter, has lofty ambitions, and he wants his new parrot Bisou to acknowledge them: “Can you say, ‘Cézanne is a great painter’?” he instructs the bird in this picture book.

Pitter Pattern Joyce Hesselberth. Greenwillow, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-274123-3. The creator of Mapping Sam astutely explores another basic concept in this introduction to patterns.

Bug Boys by Laura Knetzger. Random House Graphic, $13.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-9676-6. Knetzger’s graphic novel, the first in a planned duology, stars two friends: Rhino-B, a tenderhearted rhinoceros beetle, and erudite stag beetle Stag-B, who live together in a mushroom cottage.

Sunny by Celia Krampien. Roaring Brook, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-31660-8. In her solo picture book debut, Krampien (My Family Four Floors Up) presents an uplifting tale about the power of positivity.

The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street by Lauren Oliver, illus. by Ethan M. Aldridge. HarperCollins, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-234507-3. In this adventure set in the late 19th century, a girl who helps her veterinarian father to treat wounded monsters must locate him after he is apparently abducted —along with the myriad creatures living in their rambling Boston home. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.

Gloom Town by Ronald L. Smith. Clarion, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-328-84161-2. In this quirky dark middle grade fantasy novel set in a small seaside town known as Gloom, a boy, desperate to help his mother pay the rent on the cottage they share, takes a job as a gentleman’s valet, only to discover that his frightening new master may be an ancient inhuman entity with a sinister agenda.

The Bear Must Go On by Dev Petty, illus. by Brandon Todd. Philomel, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-984-83747-9. When Rabbit suggests they “put on a show,” Bear, pencil in paw, announces that he’s too shy to perform on stage, and instead will be “the note taker,” in this picture book.

Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots by Michael Rex. Penguin/Paulsen, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-1626-9. In this picture book, Rex and his robots ultimately make a fun, cogent argument for informed and civil conversation.

The Box Turtle by Vanessa Roeder. Dial, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-7352-3050-7. Born without a shell, Terrance the box turtle happily makes due with a cardboard box until he meets a hermit crab friend.

One Mean Ant by Arthur Yorinks, illus. by Sergio Ruzzier. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7636-8394-8. Though an even-tempered fly shows signs of being able to break through the ant’s hostile defenses, redemption is fleeting for the vaudevillian pair featured in this picture book.

Dandelion’s Dream by Yoko Tanaka. Candlewick, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-5362-0453-7. This wordless fantasy unfolds at night, and its matte black pages contrast with stylized, crisp-edged artwork and wispy puffs of light that Tanaka (Sparrow Girl) creates in white and yellow.

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