Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a picture book biography about an influential folk singer, a YA retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” a middle grade novel about a girl adapting to a new home, and the story of an autistic boy and the friendship he forges.
Joni: The Lyrical Life of Joni Mitchell by Selina Alko. HarperCollins, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-267129-5. This loose picture book biography of the legendary singer-songwriter centers on Mitchell’s feelings, while tying popular songs (“Chelsea Morning,” “Woodstock”) to biographical moments.
Red Hood by Elana K. Arnold. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-274235-3. Arnold artfully spins a dark, magic-tinged “Little Red Riding Hood” retelling in which a young woman discovers the power that is her birthright. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.
A Home for Goddesses and Dogs by Leslie Connor. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-279678-3. After her single mother’s protracted illness and death, 13-year-old narrator Lydia moves to a rural Connecticut town to live with her matter-of-fact aunt Brat, her buoyant wife Eileen, their greyhound, and their elderly landlord, Elloroy. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
We Could Be Heroes by Margaret Finnegan. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-4525-3. Debut author Finnegan, parent to a child with autism and epilepsy, deftly captures Hank’s difficulties in dealing with emotions—his own and others’—in this good-natured tale of two unlikely friends determined to save a life.
The Between by David Hofmeyr. Delacorte, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-385-74475-1. In this dimension-hopping YA adventure novel, a young woman must use her newfound ability to “Fall” between alternate worlds in order to rescue her kidnapped friend from evil forces who wish to rebuild and rule over the multiverse.
Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus. Holt, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-15167-4. Kraus’s blend of sci-fi and horror offers a terrifying examination of grief, othering, and the price of vengeance in this YA novel.
What Will These Hands Make? by Nikki McClure. Abrams, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-2576-0. This celebration of citizenry and craft is a poignant reminder of the objects and places that makers weave. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
Village of Scoundrels by Margi Preus. Amulet, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-0897-8. Preus’s WWII novel, based on historical accounts, takes place in a remote village in southeastern France where Jewish teenagers rescued from concentration camps are hiding in plain sight. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Don’t Feed the Coos! by Jonathan Stutzman, illus. by Heather Fox. Holt, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-30318-9. Married collaborators Stutzman and Fox (Llama Destroys the World) present the darkly comic—and maybe even existential—hazards presented by a whole flock of pigeons (“coos”) in this send-up of cause-and-effect titles like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Rebelwing by Andrea Tang. Razorbill, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-3509-3. This YA debut set in an alternate North America follows teens unraveling a political conspiracy.
Bike & Trike by Elizabeth Verdick, illus. by Brian Biggs. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-1517-1. Growing pains abound in this vehicular picture book about change and new beginnings.
Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children by Jonah Winter, illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Random House/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-449-81291-4. This picture book biography tells the story of the woman who organized protests to stop U.S. child labor in 1903.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of February, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
