Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a picture book about embracing one’s body, a middle grade sequel following two demigods investigating disappearances at a summer camp, a middle grade novel in which a tween vampire discovers an underground scene, and more.
Body Beautiful by Susan Verde. Abrams, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-7746-2. This picture book encourages young readers to appreciate their bodies in all shapes and sizes.
The Court of the Dead: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro. Disney Hyperion, $21.99; ISBN 978-1-368-10911-6. Demigods Nico di Angelo and Will Solace take up residence at Camp Jupiter and investigate when monsters start to go missing in the sequel to The Sun and the Star.
Defanged by H.E. Edgmon. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-87400-9. Tween vampire Lux Priddy escapes a Defanging program and seeks the safety of Nox Urbus, a secret city of rogue vampires somewhere under Brooklyn. The middle grade book received a starred review from PW.
Family Feast! by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Frank Morrison. Crown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-89829-1. Boston Weatherford and Morrison reteam for this joyful celebration of food, family, and tradition. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
Flip by Ngozi Ukazu. First Second, $25.99 hardcover; ISBN 978-1-250-17951-7; $18.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-17952-4. A Black teen and her white crush swap bodies in this nuanced riff on Freaky Friday riff. The graphic novel received a starred review from PW.
Holly Jolly Kitty-Corn by Shannon Hale, illus. by LeUyen Pham. Abrams, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-6879-8. In the latest installment of the Kitty-Corn picture book series, Kitty and Unicorn are both excited to spend time prepping for the holidays but can’t decide which festive activity to partake in that satisfies them both.
If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone by Gideon Sterer, illus. by Emily Hughes. Clarion, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-0633-7522-2. Sterer asks readers to entertain the notion of a gorilla answering a call by picking up a banana receiver on the line’s other end.
The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes. Viking, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-984836-75-5. Barnes weaves together stories of spirituality, injustice, unrealistic expectations, and police brutality into a powerful tale. The middle grade book received a starred review from PW and has been longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Outside in and the Inside Out: A Story About Arnold Lobel by Emmy Kastner. Viking, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-5936-9250-9. This tender look at the life of beloved children’s book creator Arnold Lobel launches with a defining moment: a serious childhood illness that kept Lobel home for an entire year, and his later sense that he was “a bit of an outsider, which was often hard on the inside.”
Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson. Quill Tree, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-321034-9. In this riveting series-opening prose debut from the author of Nimona, 15-year-old Wilmur and 14-year-old Viola protect a book of esoteric knowledge after being abandoned by their caretaker on the isolated outpost Caveat. When captain Cadence Chase arrives in search of the tome, Wilmur and Viola strike a deal: they will relinquish the volume if Chase ferries them to a fabled city.
Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr. Amulet, $21.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-7683-0. Seventeen-year-old Truth Bangura navigates an unplanned pregnancy and discovery of a slam poetry team in this National Book Award longlist selection. The YA book received a starred review from PW.
Try Your Worst by Chatham Greenfield. Bloomsbury, $20.99; ISBN 978-1-5476-1393-9. High school seniors and rivals Sadie Katz and Cleo Chapman must work together when the pair are accused of school vandalism. The YA book received a starred review from PW.
The Unexpected Lives of Ordinary Girls by J. Anderson Coats. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-66596-861-4. In 1910 Cold Creek, Colo., tween Stanislava is expected to take over the housekeeping role when her sister leaves, but rebels, running away to Denver and going by the name Sylvia as she tries to forge a different life.
This Way to Happy by Alison Green Myers. Dutton, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-32570-4. Twelve-year-old Riley is grieving the loss of her amusement park owner grandfather, but her grandmother, mother, and aunt are determined to carry on the family tradition and open the park for the summer. Underneath the strain of keeping up appearances, however, hairline fractures appear in each of their lives.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of September, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
