It’s no lie that the month of July offers exciting new titles for young readers, including an interactive picture book starring a competitive duck; a reworking of a Tyrolean folktale; a YA thriller centering on a cutthroat contest; and more.
Picture Books
Rennie Dyball, illus. by Mia Saine. Clarion, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-3586-8365-0. Ages 4–8. In this upbeat alphabet book, the creators use the ABCs to offer up body-related affirmations. From A to Z, each letter stands for a word relating to human physicality, while stylized cartoons from Saine depict beings with various abilities, body types, gender presentations, and skin tones.
Alex Latimer. Roaring Brook, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-250-88599-9. Ages 3–6. An unseen narrator conspiratorially invites readers into a staring contest with a wide-eyed unflinching duck. Readers attempt everything from distractions to surprise to get the duck to blink.
Breanna Carzoo. HarperCollins, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-06-305406-6. Ages 4–8. Stationed at the bottom of a traffic signal by the sea, Greenlight sees all the brightly colored vehicles speeding beneath it, but it feels deeply unappreciated. Fed up, Greenlight stops shining; but this self-imposed time-out actually proves salutary. The book received a starred review from PW.
Carin Berger. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-4986-6. Ages 3–6. Berger meditates on the magic that unfolds around an ordinary house at night. A gingham-clad child and a black cat traipse through the garden, appreciating the lush beauty of nature on their midnight trip. The book received a starred review from PW.
Gideon Sterer, illus. by Charles Santoso. Little, Brown, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-316-59261-1. Ages 4–8. In preparation for bedtime, a child requests that his mother read him a bedtime story they have not read before. The storytime may be a distraction to stave off bedtime, but together the pair find a story that will put him to rest with sweet dreams.
Bob Holt. HarperCollins, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-323760-5. Ages 4–8. In this wish-fulfillment fantasy, lonely Bob the seagull wanders off solo and is given a red jacket with French fries in its pocket by another bird. Bestowed with these new threads, Bob exudes a new confidence granted by his new jacket, which he hopes to pass on to another bird. The book received a starred review from PW.
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
Jon Klassen. Candlewick, $19.99 (112p) ISBN 978-1-5362-2336-1. Ages 6–9. Caldecott Medalist Klassen gives an eerie reworking of a Tyrolean folktale, opening with young Otilla who stumbles upon a mansion in the forest with a talking skull as its host. Otilla strikes a deal to carry the skull around, but their friendship comes under threat when a headless skeleton pursues them. The book received a starred review from PW.
Gracey Zhang. Orchard, $18.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-338-64826-3. Ages 4–8. Young Rubin admires his sister and her peers, all members of a young orchestra. When Rubin gets the opportunity to learn how to play the violin, he takes to the forest, where he can practice freely and with abandon. The book received a starred review from PW.
Why Did the Monster Cross the Road?
R.L. Stine, illus. by Marc Brown. Orchard, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-3388-1525-2. Ages 4–8. In the third collaboration from bestselling horror author Stine and Brown, the originator of the Arthur series, two monsters Hunny and Funny sit on a tree branch overhanging water. When Hunny announces they’re in a bad mood, Funny attempts to cheer them up with jokes. See our In Conversation with Stine and Brown.
Middle Grade
The Chaos Monster (Secrets of the Sky #1)
Sayantani DasGupta, illus. by Sandara Tang. Scholastic Press, $17.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-338-76673-8. Ages 8–12. In this middle grade fantasy series starter, 10-year-old New Jersey native Kinjal and his sister Kiya accidentally unleash a monster and are whisked to the realm of the Sky Kingdom. There, the two learn of the kingdom’s missing bees and resolve to unravel the mysterious disappearance before harm comes to the kingdom and Earth.
Karyn Parsons. Little, Brown, $16.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-3164-8407-7. Ages 8–12. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor and children’s author Parsons pens a 1970s middle grade tale about Stevie, a biracial tween struggling with shifts in her home life, including the arrival of her cousin, who wants to join the Black Panthers. Stevie starts to see connections to the Black Panthers sprouting up in many aspects of her life and begins finding her own voice.
Eerie Tales from the School of Screams
Graham Annable. First Second, $22.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-250-19504-3; $14.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-19503-6. Ages 8–12. In this graphic novel collection, when a teacher challenges her students to tell the eeriest tale, students deliver haunting stories of sea creatures kidnapping residents, a girl finding her deceased father, a space crew struggling to survive a time loop, and more. The book received a starred review from PW.
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn
Sally J. Pla. Quill Tree, $19.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-326879-1. Ages 10 and up. Autistic 13-year-old Maudie McGinn loves spending summers with her father in his California cabin; but this year, she carries a terrible secret, one that her mother insists Maudie not tell him. Her trauma deepens when a wildfire forces Maudie and her father to evacuate and they retreat to the Southern California beach town where Dad grew up. The book received a starred review from PW.
Remy Lai. Holt, $22.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-81041-0; $14.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-81043-4. Ages 8–12. Lai navigates questions of fate and friendship via Chinese mythology in this graphic novel ghost story. Twelve-year-old July Chen goes largely unnoticed by kids at school and ven her own father, making her feel invisible. But thanks to her ability to see ghosts, she meets tween William Xiao, her first friend, whose soul is trapped between life and death following a near-fatal experience. The book received a starred review from PW.
Ellen Oh. HarperCollins, $18.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-0632-7229-3. Ages 8–12. Haru Haru the canine learns of a chemical fire at Sinclair, a local research laboratory that has been polluting a nearby lake. When an altercation protecting his human Luke gets him seized by animal control and taken to Sinclair, Hari Hari is determined to get back to Luke no matter what. The book received a starred review from PW.
Mitali Perkins. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-374-38851-5. Ages 8–12. Aspiring poet Pandita Paul is grieving the loss of her mother, but still visits their special spot at an apricot orchid. When the orchard is being demolished to build new apartments, Pandu works with members of her community to preserve it from being destroyed. See our q&a with Perkins. The book received a starred review from PW.
International House of Dereliction
Jacqueline Davies. Clarion, $18.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-06-325807-5. Ages 8–12. In her new neighborhood, Alice comes across an abandoned house where several ghosts with unfinished business reveal themselves to her. Alice tries to help the ghosts transition but must find a way to save the house when it is scheduled to be torn down. The book received a starred review from PW.
Sharon G. Flake. Knopf, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-59348-098-4. Ages 8–12. In this novel in verse set in Jim Crow-era North Carolina, twins James and Hattie Mae are still reeling from their mother’s recent hospitalization. Their shared interest in astronomy leads to the discovery of a rare wishing moon, and the twins will have to rely on each other to go find it.
Gail Donovan, illus. by Elysia Case. Atheneum, $17.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-665916-69-1. Ages 7–10. Sparrow Robinson utilizes her enthusiastic attitude to help find new homes for her neighbor’s seven cats. But Sparrow struggles with perceptions of self when she finds herself lying to impress a new friend. The book received a starred review from PW.
Young Adult
Malavika Kannan. Little, Brown, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-316-44732-4. Ages 14 and up. Kannan’s debut follows queer Indian American artist Maya Krishnan, who has grown tired of her Florida high school’s racist policies. She joins forces with a secret society of rebellious students who fight injustice with their art, but Maya soon becomes distant from the community she wants to protect.
Nicki Pau Preto. McElderry, $21.99 (464p) ISBN 978-1-66591-059-0. Ages 14 and up. From the author of the Crown of Feathers trilogy, Bonesmith kicks off the House of the Dead duology. Wren Graven, a bonesmith able to sense and move bone, is with House of Gold prince Leo when he is attacked and kidnapped, and she makes it her responsibility to hunt down the assailant and bring him home. See our q&a with the author.
Julio Anta, illus. by Jacoby Salcedo. HarperAlley, $26.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-063-05495-0. Ages 13 and up. Though his parents hired a coyote to smuggle him across the Mexico-U.S. border, impatient Mateo goes alone and is pursued by border patrol—then is saved by Guillermo, a ghost in a cowboy hat. Guillermo, unable to move on, helps Mateo travel across the Sonoran Desert safely, and Mateo resolves to help Guillermo cross over to the afterlife. The book received a starred review from PW.
Francisco X. Stork. Scholastic Press, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-33873-626-7. Ages 14 and up. Teen Alberto grapples with a tumultuous homelife, an abusive relationship, pressure to help his family back in Mexico, and worries over his own undocumented status. When a resident at his job dies, Alberto is wrongfully accused, and Grace, an affluent teen and new friend, works with him to prove his innocence.
Shannon C.F. Rogers. Feiwel and Friends, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-250-84566-5. Ages 15 and up. Rogers’s debut centers Albuquerque native Marisol Martin and her volatile relationship with her mother, when her mother dies in a car accident. Reeling with the grief and loss of their difficult relationship, Marisol leans into her anger, isolating herself from her friends, until she lands in juvenile detention. The book received a starred review from PW.
Karen M. McManus. Delacorte, $19.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-593-48501-9. Ages 14 and up. In the last installment in the popular One of Us Is Lying series, the Bayview Crew find themselves racing against the clock to rescue one of their own after an anonymous enemy holds them hostage. The book received a starred review from PW.
Rana Joon and the One and Only Now
Shideh Etaat. Atheneum, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-66591-762-9. Ages 14 and up. This YA debut, a PW Summer Reads selection, follows high school senior Rana Joon as she struggles to hide her queer identity from her strict Iranian parents while navigating the loss of her best friend. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jessica Mary Best. Quirk, $18.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-68369-351-2. Ages 14 and up. In this novel set in a fantastical outer space, Cass and her group of lawbreaking friends take the risk of a lifetime when she decides to rob the Ascension Ball, a gathering of society’s crème de la crème to celebrate a new emperor’s coronation. When the emperor turns up dead, all fingers point to Cass and her crew as the culprits. The book received a starred review from PW.
Joelle Wellington. Simon & Schuster, $19.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-6659-2242-5. Ages 14 and up. After a physical altercation destroys her reputation and leaves her with no college prospects, Adina Walker turns to The Finish, a competition for young women of promise, held by the rich Remington family. However, the competition turns deadly and her wish to earn back her future may cost Adina her life in this buzzy debut.
R.M. Romero. Peachtree Teen, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-68263-483-7. Ages 14 and up. Hilde, one of Odin’s sons blessed with the ability to shape shift and pull souls away from their bodies, abandons her home to follow Maximillian von Richter, baron of the Munich royal court. But Hilde must keep her identity a secret, and as she tries to evade detection, she questions the baron’s intentions for bringing her along. See our q&a with Romero.
