Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a harrowing story of one indomitable child, a picture book to ease anxiety, the story of a community garden, a graphic novel about Japanese internment, a YA fantasy infused with mythology, and many more.

Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero by Kelly J. Baptist. Crown, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-593-12136-8. Isaiah’s optimism, drive, and loyalty to friends and family make him a hero to cheer for, and lend a feeling of hope to this exploration of difficult topics including grief, alcoholism, and homelessness. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Raj’s Rule (for the Bathroom at School) by Lana Button, illus. by Hatem Aly. Owlkids, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-77147-340-8. Early childhood educator Button depicts an anxiety that many school-age children share: using a bathroom that’s not their own. This rhyming picture book aims to allay reader’s anxieties.

Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illus. by Jessie Hartland. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-0231-7. Hartland’s gouache illustrations colorfully capture the children’s triumph in creating their own neighborhood garden, and the kinetic energy and colorful vibrancy of the city neighborhood.

Displacement by Kiku Hughes. First Second, $24.99; ISBN 978-1-2501-9353-7. Mixing fact and fiction in this autobiographical graphic novel, debut author Hughes follows a teen experiencing Japanese internment firsthand through time travel to the WWII era.

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko. Amulet, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3982-8. In Ifueko’s stunning fantasy debut, a woman known as “the Lady” commands a djinn to build her an invisible stronghold and impregnate her with a child who must someday grant her third wish. The YA graphic novel earned a starred review from PW.

Stealing Mt. Rushmore by Daphne Kalmar. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-250-15500-9. Twelve-year-old Nellie lives with her father, a short-order cook who struggles to support Nellie and her three brothers since his wife left. After discovering that her mother took the $500 meant for the family’s summer trip, Nellie decides to raise the money herself in this middle grade novel.

Alicia Alonso Takes the Stage by Nancy Ohlin, illus. by Josefina Preumayr. Rebel Girls, $12.99; ISBN 978-1-7333292-2-4. Cheerful persistence and chatty relatability recur in this fictionalized biography of Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso (1920–2019).

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor. Viking, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-593-11352-3. Blending Nigerian culture and American comics, Okorafor (the Akata series) has created a Black hero struggling to work toward justice while navigating inequitable power structures and others’ definitions of who he is.

A Thousand Glass Flowers: Marietta Barovier and the Invention of the Rosetta Bead by Evan Turk. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-1034-3. Byzantine masterworks and period costumes give a sense of luxury to this picture book biography by Turk (You Are Home) about Venice’s first female glassblower, Marietta Barovier. The book earned a starred review from PW.

The Egg by Geraldo Valério. Owlkids, $18.95; ISBN 978-1-77147-374-3. Working in crisp collages of cut and painted paper, Valério (At the Pond) creates a wordless origin story in this picture book.

The Nerviest Girl in the World by Melissa Wiley, illus. by Mike Deas. Knopf, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-375-87038-5. Wiley’s (The Prairie Thief) middle grade novel, set in the early 20th century and inspired by real-life silent-film star Pearl White, offers a vivid snapshot of cinema’s early days.

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