Eager to make her own comics, middle schooler Makayla, a budding writer, joins forces with bespectacled artist Howard to establish the Cartoonists Club. They’re joined by nonbinary versatile creator Art and shy, talented Lynda, who’s working on a comic about her late father. As library media specialist Ms. Fatima helps them prepare to attend a local comics convention with their creations, each faces personal hurdles, such as Howard’s father’s assertion that comics are a waste of time and Lynda’s hesitance to share her work. Ms. Fatima guides them in creating mini comics, emphasizing that there are no rules, advice that proves invaluable both for the club’s comics-making and social navigating. This adroitly rendered graphic novel by Telgemeier (Smile) and McCloud (Understanding Comics) doubles as a manual for aspiring comics makers. Creative prompts, tips, instructions, and definitions feature throughout, delivered in a cheeky tone that seamlessly integrates heartfelt narrative with approachable how-to guides. An afterword provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creators’ energizing and informative collaboration. Characters are depicted with varying skin tones; Ms. Fatima wears a hijab. Ages 8–12. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Our story begins deep in the bowels of the evil institoot in Professor Groovypants’s secret laboratory,” intones the omniscient narrator of this goofy graphic novel, as Groovypants and sidekick Egor stand before the Phart-Maker-5000—a bean-fueled, green-smoke-spewing mechanical behemoth. The machine creates a prodigiously farting baby named Phartolomew, whose Superman-like origin story unfolds via uproarious clear-line drawings from Holub (The Eye of Cyclops) and Rosado (Call Me Iggy). In this spoof of classic superhero comics, Phartolomew is adopted by loving, bean-farming human couple Nancy and Newt Normal, who try to help their son fit in by living a legume-free life. But destiny is inexorable and, in fourth grade, Phartolomew eats a bean taco. With the help of Reeky Dog—a transmogrified Egor—Phartolomew embraces the identity of Fart Boy and aims to defeat evil Professor Groovypants by emitting “A NUCLEAR AIR BAGEL OF EPIC PROPORTIONS.” An “Are You Evil?” quiz and a banjo-backed lesson on fart science add more gas to a story that approaches bottom-shelf derrière jokes with the gravity of the finest and fanciest of odors. Fart Boy and Professor Groovypants read as white. Ages 7–10. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Named after the daughter of famed 1990s couple Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, high school junior Frances “Bean” Ellis is proud of the outcast identity she and her friends have developed among the students at New York’s Talentum, an exclusive private school. Then her crush Julia invites Bean to a party hosted by Julia’s mother, founder of wellness and lifestyle company Deep. As her relationship with Julia blossoms, Bean immerses herself in Julia’s mother’s teachings, ignores her friends, and enjoys newfound popularity. With help from charismatic Deep leader Kai, Bean confronts her feelings of inadequacy and her grief surrounding her alcohol-dependent father’s death. But when a tragedy occurs, Bean enlists her friends to probe Deep’s facade. Krischer (The Falling Girls) spins a tense and fast-paced plot full of ’80s and ’90s references and allusions to the #MeToo movement and Jeffrey Epstein scandal as a cautionary tale. Despite Bean and Julia’s underdeveloped romance and a convenient reveal, this page-turning novel highlights the way gaslighting and peer pressure can have devastating consequences. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Raised on fantastical stories spun by her free-spirited single mother, an artistic 15-year-old must face a harsh reality when a family secret is discovered in Li Bi’s melancholy novel. Chinese Filipina Jasmine Cheng, who has only known a life in small Midwestern Briarplace with her ill mother, is responsible for keeping their precarious lifestyle intact. According to her mother, Jasmine’s father is Pangu, the world’s creator. Her mother’s stories bring her solace as she contends with her mother’s refusal to divulge anything more about her father and the frequent comings and goings of ill-intentioned boyfriends who bring nothing but chaos and fear into their lives. Then Child Protective Services takes an interest in their household and starts asking questions, the answers to which could upend Jasmine’s whole life. The sudden arrival of her mother’s old flame sets a series of emotionally tumultuous events into motion, sending the mother-daughter duo across the country to face the past. Throughout, Jasmine contends with racism, the prospect of foster care, first love, and complicated feelings surrounding her mother’s condition, circumstances which Li Bi depicts in dreamlike, Chinese mythology–tinged prose. Ages 14–up. Agent: Linda Camacho, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sisters and previous collaborators Maika and Maritza Moulite (One of the Good Ones) lean on Haitian folklore to examine class and racial inequality in this biting novel. While 17-year-old Haitian American Miami native Brielle dreams of being a chef, her primary focus is supporting her immigrant mother. Due to a workplace accident four years ago, her mother experiences chronic pain. Brielle, meanwhile, struggles to pay for her medication, developed by the affluent Banks family for whom she works. But their medical and financial challenges aren’t the only things Brielle finds difficult to manage: Brielle, born a zombie, craves human flesh, an appetite that strains her relationship with her mother. When the Banks patriarch offers Brielle an internship at his company, she readily accepts. Upon uncovering the inequities between her world and the Banks’, however, she utilizes her taboo zombie powers to devise a sinister plan to benefit her family. Her schemes are complicated by a romance with a member of the Banks family, and by the mystery behind her affliction and its ties to her ancestors’ history. Though the pacing and plot structure feel stilted, Brielle’s fluidly rendered narration and the novel’s ambitious premise result in a captivating look at one immigrant family’s experience via a fantasy lens. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Lukens (Spell Bound) dazzles in this paranormal adventure about a psychic teen attempting to stop a murder before it occurs. In a world where beings such as vampires, werewolves, and faeries live among mortals, Cam is a human whose only goal is to fly under the radar at his new school. Though Cam’s parents urge him to avoid paranormal students, he’s excited to attend school with his witch best friend Al and develops a crush on werewolf classmate Mateo. Things take a turn when, following a fight between students, Cam is caught in the ensuing chaos; he falls, hits his head, and has a vivid dream from the POV of an unknown, knife-wielding assailant about an injured girl he doesn’t recognize. Realizing his dream was a psychic glimpse into the future, he must reckon with the fact that he’s not human—and he’s the only one who can stop this would-be murder. Lukens delivers a riveting mystery via propulsive and carefully balanced plotting, distinctly rendered characters, and immersive worldbuilding that believably examines themes of prejudice, social pressures, family strife, and navigating unrealistic expectations. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

There are few chances for upward mobility in 17-year-old Hollis Brown’s hometown; he fears that struggling to make ends meet like everyone else in his small town—run ragged and forced to commute long distances for job opportunities—is the only future he’ll ever know. After Hollis is wrongfully accused of inflicting severe, mysterious injuries on a classmate, he strikes a deal with an apparent unhoused teen who offers to help Hollis navigate the situation in exchange for food and shelter. Too late Hollis realizes he’s been tricked when he’s possessed by Walt, a spirit that takes over his life and body and banishes Hollis to the recesses of Hollis’s own mind. What begins as a supernatural horror scenario takes a turn as the duo learn more about each other and Hollis’s desire to expel Walt fades away. With the two of them together, perhaps they can create something new, both in their under-standing of personhood and the lives of the people around them. Ancrum (Icarus) employs subtle and lyrical prose via accessible vignettes to craft a psychologically thrilling and emotionally intimate tribute to bettering one’s own circumstances—and those of one’s community—and the selflessness of love. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 13–up. Agent: Eric Smith, P.S. Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Sixteen-year-old Mari Novak is dead. She’s not sure how that happened, but to her horror, her estranged mother—who died six weeks ago—is beside her as she regains awareness. They and countless others linger in Paradise Gate, a place for religiously unaffiliated souls to work through intense 90-day self-help regimens so that they may ascend to the Ever After. Mari has long been the adult in her relationship with her erratic mother, and the embittered teen yet again becomes caretaker, attending ridiculous Youga classes (“I’m sure real yogis would be horrified by this”) and therapy sessions to accumulate points toward redemption. When the circumstances of Mari’s death are made public, bizarrely casting her as a hero, she becomes an unwilling “true soul model” to inspire others; her desperate search for answers about her death and the truths of this so-called paradise take her into the realm’s rebellious underbelly. This innovative and existential novel by Bayerl (A Psalm for Lost Girls)—reminiscent of The Good Place—offers raw, realistic insights into Mari and her mother’s troubled relationship. Mari and her mother are white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

When her family’s home is engulfed by fire one autumn night, seventh grader Amber Price’s older brother Gage carries her out of the burning house in an act of heroism he seems reluctant to own. As the family copes with the aftermath of the tragedy, underlying tension between Amber’s parents comes to the forefront. Amber, her mother, and her six-year-old sister settle into her aunt Nor’s warm, chaotic household while her stern, always-working father moves with Gage into an apartment several miles away. Amber is disconcerted by her new popularity—is her crush Lucas suddenly being nice to her because of the fire?—and her classmates’ enthusiastic undertaking of a fundraiser for her family; she’s also disturbed by her growing distance from her brother and the sudden necessity of keeping secrets and telling lies. This thoughtful portrayal of a preteen navigating postcatastrophe life by Springstubb (Looking for True) offers a quietly suspenseful exploration of morality; particularly compelling is perceptive Amber’s questioning of truth and loyalty as both family and friendship dynamics unravel around her. All characters read as white. Ages 12–14. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

When her father’s death forces Petra to leave school and shell pecans in a factory with her stepmother, Amá, the 13-year-old mourns her lost dreams of graduating and becoming a writer. In 1930s San Antonio, Tex., many pecan factories employ mainly Mexican immigrants such as Amá, who work for pennies in poorly ventilated rooms where tuberculosis spreads. Despite her dismay at leaving school, Petra accepts her new responsibilities, including helping Amá raise her younger siblings, and soon makes friends at the factory with two girls her age. But when tragedy occurs, Petra must weigh her family’s needs with the changes promised by a strike and union, should she join other laborers’ efforts. Visceral descriptions of the financial insecurity faced by pecan shellers and police brutality encountered during the strikes are balanced by Petra’s optimistic spirit and determination to make changes for herself and her community. Using short chapters with quick pacing, Ruiz-Flores (Piece by Piece) unveils intimate and well-researched depictions of the Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938 and its impact on Mexican descendants and beyond. An author’s note provides additional historical context. Ages 10–14. Agent: Kayla Cichello, Upstart Crow Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink