Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a time loop YA book about a teen reliving his 16th year, a middle grade riff on Alice in Wonderland, a picture book about siblings bonding through sports, and more.
Week of January 5
16 Forever by Lance Rubin. HarperCollins, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-333036-8. A teen stuck in a time loop is forced to relive his 16th year while the world moves on without him in this speculative love story.
Alice with a Why by Anna James, illus. by Matthew Land. Flamingo, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-69199-1. The granddaughter of a familiar heroine embarks on her own magical quest in this beguiling reimagining of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
Best Bunny Brother Ever by Marilyn Sadler, illus. by Tim Bowers. Random House, $9.99; ISBN 979-8-217-03246-4. Honey Bunny Funnybunny learns how to play T-ball from her older brother and finds that the power of sports comes from the ability to connect.
Beth Is Dead by Katie Bernet. S&S/Barley, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-6659-8869-8. Making her debut, Bernet riffs on Louisa May Alcott’s work in this YA mystery, which centers high school senior Jo March and her siblings—15-year-old Amy and Harvard freshman Meg—as they investigate the violent murder of their 17-year-old sister Beth. The YA book received a starred review from PW.
A Book of Loves by Cynthia Rylant. Beach Lane, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-66598-794-3. Unadorned lists spotlight concepts and things loved by cats, dogs, and human children in an affectionately observant picture book that captures loving’s universality.
Bored by Felicita Sala. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-6114-1. Young Rita grapples with boredom in this amusingly imaginative picture book portrait of childhood ennui.
Bunny and Clyde by Megan McDonald, illus. by Scott Nash. Candlewick, $6.99, paper; ISBN 978-1-536-23819-8. Titular best friend Bunny and Clyde decide they’re done being good and decide to partake in some mischievous activities.
Carlotta’s Special Dress by Carlotta Walls LaNier and Lisa Frazier Page, illus. by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-316-57254-5. Underlining the intersection of everyday and historic moments, the authors take a child’s perspective to recount Walls LaNier’s experience in integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957.
The Claiming (The Last Resort #2) by Jasmine Warga. Scholastic, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-546-16284-1. In the second installment of the multi-platform, multi-author series The Last Resort, Teddy’s nightmares return, and his close friend Lila shows signs of being summoned from the other side of a dangerous portal.
The Dream Builder's Blueprint: Dr. King's Message to Young People by Alice Faye Duncan, illus. by E.B. Lewis. Calkins Creek, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-66268-031-1. To create this moving erasure poem about nonviolent protest and more, Duncan works with the text of an October 1967 talk that Martin Luther King Jr. gave at South Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
More Than a Million by Grace Farris. Bloomsbury, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-5476-1791-3. In a simply worked picture book debut, Weekend Mom newsletter creator Farris transforms the minor chaos of daily caregiving into single-plane vignettes accompanied by rhyming declarations of devotion.
The Road from Nowhere by Avi. Scholastic Press, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-5461-7947-4. This rousing historical novel highlights the Silver Crash of 1893, a consequential moment in American history whose economic implications dramatically impact the protagonists’ dreams of cultivating a better future for themselves.
Room to Breathe by Kasie West. Delacorte Romance, $12.99 paper; ISBN 978-0-593-89772-0. After a fallout causes a fracture between teens Indy and Beau, the two get trapped in the school bathroom together and the only way out is to address what’s happened between them.
The Swan’s Daughter: A Possibly Doomed Love Story by Roshani Chokshi. Wednesday, $22; ISBN 978-1-250-87310-1. Prince Arris enlists the help of Demelza, a young woman who can uncover the truth through song, as he meets potential brides who could threaten to kill him. The YA book received a starred review from PW.
The Wildest Thing by Emily Winfield Martin. Random House, $19.99; ISBN 979-8-217-02398-1. Nature-based play unleashes a sense of possibility in this meditative picture book about a wilderness-lover’s path to embracing the “something/ wild inside of her,// waiting to come out.”
You and Me, Baby by Aisha Saeed, illus. by Ebony Glenn. Penguin/Paulsen, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-40545-1. Writing in the past tense and addressing a child in a tone of wonder, Saeed highlights maternal bonds via this simple chronicle of early parenthood.
Your Truck by Jon Klassen. Candlewick, $8.99; ISBN 978-1-5362-4822-7. A red pickup truck prompts reader empowerment in Klassen’s standout board book series starter, which expands upon his Your Places series. The board book received a starred review from PW.
Week of January 12
The Gift of Freedom: How Harriet Tubman Rescued Her Brothers by Glennette Tilley Turner, illus. by Laura Freeman. Abrams, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-419-76929-0. This picture book biography illuminates a lesser-documented episode in the life of Harriet Tubman via a narrative that draws on interviews with the figure’s last surviving relative to personally know Tubman.
A Good Hide by Karina Iceberg, illus. by Natasha Donovan. Heartdrum, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-063254-93-0. An Indigenous community works together to tan a large hide by hand in this captivating portrait of joyful collaboration. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
How to Hatch: A Gosling’s Guide to Breaking Free by Sara Holly Ackerman, illus. by Galia Bernstein. Knopf, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-593-81106-1. In an exhilarating read that’s part nature documentary and part pep rally, Ackerman and Bernstein take readers along as a goose embryo curled up inside an egg begins the laborious process of hatching. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
How to Have a Thought: A Walk with Charles Darwin by Nicholas Day, illus. by Hadley Hooper. Holiday House/Porter, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-5850-9. Day offers up an anecdote from the life of Charles Darwin as permission to do something downright rebellious: slow down and let their thoughts wander. The picture book received a starred review from PW.
The Moon Without Stars by Chanel Miller. Philomel, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-62455-5. A seventh grader jeopardizes everything she likes about herself for a chance at popularity in this sensitive novel by Newbery Honor author Miller. The middle grade book received a starred review from PW.
A Tale of Plagues and Perfumes by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski. Roaring Brook, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-91108-7. Twelve-year-old Nia has an extraordinary sense of smell, making her a Sinsory, a person with supernaturally strong senses. When a plague strikes, Nia must help develop an antidote by determining the right blend of scents but fears the consequences of getting it wrong.
Unfunny Bunny by Kenan Thompson with Bryan Tucker, illus. by Tony Neal. Feiwel and Friends, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-2503-6481-4. In a double picture book debut, veteran SNL funny guys Thompson and Tucker communicate how a casually delivered tight set can require ample effort from the person holding the microphone.
A Year Without Home by V.T. Bidania. Penguin/Paulsen, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-59369-720-7. Narrated in evocative verse by 11-year-old Gao Sheng, this historical novel traces the year during which she and her extended family of 20 lived as refugees following the end of the Vietnam War. The middle grade book received a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of January, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
