Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a picture book starring a pigeon, a book about a girl and her dog, a picture book centered on mysterious items from the sea, a YA novel about teens navigating mental illness and gender identity, and many more.
Hugo by Atinuke, illus. by Birgitta Sif. Candlewick, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5362-1275-4. Hugo, the dapper, attentive pigeon who stars in this picture book by Atinuke (Too Small Tola), is warden of a park in a city that feels like Paris.
What Comes Next by Rob Buyea. Delacorte, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-525-64802-4. After sixth-grader Thea Ettinger witnesses the death of her friend, Charlie, who is struck by a car while the two are fishing, she withdraws into herself, hardly speaking and experiencing guilt- and trauma-fueled nightmares even after she, her parents, and younger sister move away to get a “fresh start.” But after adopting a dog, she finally begins to heal.
Faraway Things by Dave Eggers, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-316-49219-5. In this picture book, a boy who lives in a defunct lighthouse collects found items on the beach that help him remember his lost father.
The Sea Is Salt and So Am I by Cassandra Hartt. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-61924-2. This YA novel alternates perspectives among three teens who use art to cope as they navigate mental health and gender identity.
The Marvelous by Claire Kann. Swoon Reads, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-19269-1. In Kann’s (If It Makes You Happy) high-concept YA escape room drama featuring an inclusive cast, a socialite and six of her fans embark on a mysterious expense-paid trip.
Pillow Places by Joseph Kuefler. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-295673-6. In this picture book, sleepover boredom is averted when two friends start to build a physics-defying pillow fort.
Both Can Be True by Jules Machias. Quill Tree, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-0630-5389-2. Ash’s and Daniel’s different but intertwined experiences with gender identity and stereotypes lead to a celebration of allyship and fluidity that’s a joy to read.
The Rescuer of Tiny Creatures by Curtis Manley, illus. by Lucy Ruth Cummins. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-24671-4. This substantive picture book by Manley (Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet) is both a STEM tale about insects and a lesson in staying true to oneself. The book earned a starred review from PW.
How to Talk Monster by Lynn Plourde, illus. by Mike Lowery. Putnam, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-51580-7. With visual and verbal directness and broad humor that gently tackles themes of assumption and exclusion, Plourde (The Boy Whose Face Froze Like That) and Lowery (Wood Could) tell the story of a boy’s imagination in a comics-like picture book.
Unbound: The Life and Art of Judith Scott by Joyce Scott with Brie Spangler, illus. by Melissa Sweet. Knopf, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-64811-6. Scott (Entwined, for adults) and Spangler (Beast) begin this powerful picture biography of Scott’s twin sister Judith (1943–2005), who had Down’s Syndrome, with a description of their early childhood. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Hollow Chest by Brita Sandstrom, illus. by Dadu Shin. Walden Pond, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-287074-2. With moody occasional illustrations by Shin, a relaxed pace, and tender prose, this historical fantasy set in an alternate England during WWII employs anxiety and empathy to demonstrate war’s devastating effect on individuals and families.
We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon. Simon & Schuster, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-4027-2. Solomon (Today, Tonight, Tomorrow) shows how mental illness affects the teen protagonist of this novel, expertly weaving anxiety and depression with the love and the pleasures and terrors of trying to find one’s path.
Love & Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura. HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-299123-2. Alongside swoony first kisses, Sugiura steeps this YA romance in cultural and generational specificity, exploring traditional Baba’s unwillingness to accept same-sex relationships and the heartbreak that poses for her family.
Ciao, Sandro! by Steven Varni, illus. by Luciano Lozano. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4390-0. In this picture book, Sandro is a little dog who wears a jaunty, blue-striped shirt and red bandana like his human Nicola, a white gondolier in Venice.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of June, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
