Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a YA novel about a teen who is whisked off to Seoul, a semi-autobiographical picture book on the creator of beloved cookies, a YA novel in verse about a queer boy’s love life, a picture book featuring a girl who is more than ready for her first day of school, and many more.
I Guess I Live Here Now by Claire Ahn. Viking, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-40319-8. After an incident at school spurs Melody’s parents to move her from New York to Korea, she begins to discover more about her Korean heritage and embrace Seoul culture. But in coping with family secrets, betrayals from friends, and losing her passion, Melody must decide if her new life is worth it.
Cookies & Milk by Shawn Amos. Little, Brown, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7595-5677-5. Based on Amos’s life with his father, Wally “Famous” Amos, this semi-autobiographical tale centers an endearing father-and-son relationship in 1976 Hollywood, Calif.
Only on the Weekends by Dean Atta. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-315798-9. Atta’s free verse novel follows the tumultuous love life of Mack, a gay Londoner of Nigerian Yoruba descent, whose new relationships unpack themes of young love and self-acceptance alongside intersections of body image, gender identity, race, and sexuality.
The Queen of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes; illus. by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Putnam/Paulsen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-11142-0. In this companion to the bestselling The King of Kindergarten, MJ is excited for her first day of school, not just because of her new hair and tiara crown, but for all of her qualities she can bring to the classroom and her peers.
The Whale Who Swam Through Time: A Two-Hundred-Year Journey in the Arctic by Alex Boersma and Nick Pyenson, illus. by Alex Boersma. Roaring Brook, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-250-80302-3. This debut picture book centers the world’s longest living mammal, while focusing attention on environmental changes that threaten it and other species.
Little Houses by Kevin Henkes, illus. by Laura Dronzek. Greenwillow, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-296572-1. In this picture book, a child’s visit to their grandparents’ small beach house allows them space to contemplate big questions about the world.
How We Ricochet by Faith Gardner. HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-302235-5. When a shooting takes place at a Bay Area mall, with her mother and sister trapped inside, Betty and her family’s lives are left untethered by the experience.
Yoshi and the Ocean: A Sea Turtle's Incredible Journey Home by Lindsay Moore. Greenwillow, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-306098-2. Readers follow along on a rescued sea turtle’s dramatic 25,000-mile marine journey, in this story paying homage to the real-life turtle released with a tracking tag in 2017 after 20 years in a South African aquarium.
Two Truths and a Lie by April Henry. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-32333-8. When a vanload of Midwestern high school theater kids gets snowed in at a local motel, and a game of Two Truths and a Lie ends with dead bodies turning up, student Nell must get to the bottom of this Agatha Christie-esque mystery.
Break This House by Candice Iloh. Dutton, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-55623-7. Sixteen-year-old Yaminah thought she put her Michigan life behind her when she left for Brooklyn, but news of her estranged mother’s death leads her back to her hometown, where she discovers the true cause of her difficult relationship with her mother as well as her death.
Fight + Flight by Jules Machias. Quill Tree, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-305394-6. When Maple Creek Middle School’s principal fabricates an active shooter situation, leaving students shaken, students Avery and Sarah come together to fight the administration and help their traumatized classmates.
Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda. Feiwel and Friends, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-2508-2205-5. Bisexual Maggie Gonzalez is focused on her career as a photographer, not dating, but needing a date for her sister’s quinceañera has her considering new and old love interests alike.
Primal Animals by Julia Lynn Rubin. Wednesday, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-2507-5729-6. Arlee hopes for a fresh start at her mother’s alma mater summer camp, but when she’s invited to join a secret horse-girl sisterhood that must “protect” the camp, Arlee’s summer becomes a fight for her mental stability—and perhaps her life.
Hot Dog by Doug Salati. Knopf, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-30843-1. On one sizzling summer day a city-dwelling dachshund, the titular hot dog, escapes the sweltering city for a day at the beach. This book received a starred review from PW.
Queer Ducks (and Other Animals) by Eliot Schrefer, illus. by Jules Zuckerberg. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-306949-7. In this illustrated YA nonfiction book, Schrefer explores same sex behavior in animals through the lens of science, history, anthropology, and sociology.
Milo and Marcos at the End of the World by Kevin Christopher Snipes. HarperTeen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-306256-6. Milo Connolly’s first day of senior year features a giant sinkhole and the return of Marcos, his former church camp crush. The boys must overcome worsening apocalyptic circumstances and the judgment of conservative families to be together.
Broadway Bird by Alex Timbers, illus. by Alisa Coburn. Feiwel and Friends, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-78457-5. Despite her lovely voice and aerial skills, parakeet Louisa lacks confidence but dreams of singing on Broadway until she’s given some helpful advice to help her make her big break.
The Lantern House by Erin Napier, illus. by Adam Trest. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-316-37960-1. A house reminisces on its days when there was the hustle and bustle of a family, and though it has grown dark and no longer shines like it used to, it hopes for a new family to bring light to it once again.
Does a Bulldozer Have a Butt? by Derick Wilder, illus. by K-Fai Steele. Chronicle, $15.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-8212-4. A father and son consider the important question “Which things do and don’t have butts?” in this comedic picture book. The book received a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of May, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
