Thompson (The Age of Exploration) meticulously probes the centuries-long history between the Russian and Ukrainian governments and its impact on the countries’ present-day citizens in this thorough accounting. The latest escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian war “began with a thirty-two-second selfie video that changed history forever,” the author explains in a prologue, employing lively, casual text. The video—showing Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelensky addressing rumors that he’d fled following Russia’s invasion—“inspired the citizens of his country to stand up to the invaders and battle for their freedom.” Subsequent chapters, divided into four parts, examine Russia and Ukraine’s respective political landscapes from the early 20th century and onward, including the fall of the Russian Empire and Ukraine’s vying for statehood. Each historical benchmark is contextualized via the intertwining backstories of Zelensky, Russian president Vladimir Putin, and the figures’ ancestors. A recurring motif—the Russian proverb “I fled from a wolf, but ran into a bear”—offers cultural insight into the countries’ perspectives on life, politics, and freedom across a dense volume, best suited for history aficionados, that impressively highlights the cascading events leading to today’s conflict. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

This offbeat graphic novel by Walshe (Abby: Curled Up and On a Roll) follows young Froggy, a lovable and clumsy amphibian with a big heart and even bigger feelings, as he experiences moments of loneliness, wonder, frustration, and joy across a series of bravery-inspiring and connection-inciting events. “Today’s the day,” Froggy shouts as he gathers his belongings and makes his way to the stream, where his parents and neighbors see him off on an adventure. Though he’s immediately snatched up by a hungry bird, Froggy manages to escape certain doom and soon finds himself journeying to the bottom of a pond with new friend Fishtopher. As Froggy later makes his way through the forest—depicted as a whimsical land of magic and wonder—he happens upon various other smiling, gently rounded woodland inhabitants across an episodic narrative that balances dry humor (in a letter to his parents, Froggy notes that he’s “too young for my spine to be so angry”) with quiet moments of emotional reflection. Fluid and vibrantly colorful jewel-toned illustrations enhance the plucky, positive spirit of this series-starting adventure that feels like a splash of refreshing water on a hot summer’s day. Ages 7–up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

A teen ghost endeavors to solve the mystery behind her death in this supernatural tale of grief and redemption by Fox (Real Friends vs. the Other Kind). When 16-year-old Nicole wakes up as a spirit, she’s corralled by mysterious, purple-vested entities and shepherded to Substation Fifteen, a limbo-like way station for teens who die by suicide. There she meets Substation Fifteen mentor Grace, who explains that Nicole must pass an evaluation meant to measure her personal character before she can move on to her next life. Though Nicole insists that she died by accident, she doesn’t remember anything about the circumstances surrounding the event, a phenomenon that Grace claims is abnormal for the recently deceased. Now Nicole must find a way to communicate with her living friends—estranged witch-obsessed bestie Iz and romantic rival Cassie—who know more about her last day than they’re letting on. Simultaneously, Nicole seeks to repent for past mistakes in preparation for her evaluation. Thin characterizations somewhat deflate poignant ruminations on mental health and personal responsibility, but Fox’s intriguing interpretation of the afterlife earns readers’ investment in this introspective read. The protagonists cue as white. Ages 14–up. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Transfer student Charley is the new kid at Harrogate School for Girls, a former 13th-century monastery turned boarding academy off the coast of Ireland. Charley thinks she’s lucked out with her assigned roommate Olive, who shares Charley’s passion for all things horror. They strike up a tradition called Slasher Saturday, during which they watch old horror movies and Charley pretends she doesn’t miss the life she left behind on the mainland. One such Saturday, Charley sees a figure in black standing outside in the rain before the school loses power. The next day, she finds classmate Hannah dead at the bottom of a cliff. The discovery becomes the first in a series of deaths the school claims are accidents, though Charley believes them to have supernatural causes. Each chapter of Dunmore’s delightfully meta debut opens with a tip on how to stay alive in a horror film: “Rule #1 Team Up”; “Rule #2 Beware of Storms and Isolated Islands.” Plentiful wry humor keeps things light, even as confident text unveils gruesome violence, gory deaths, and genuinely frightening scares, making this a standout addition to the canon of teen slasher novels. Main characters read as white. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Madalina Sinet, the teenage princess of Radix, prefers tending carnivorous, sentient grave flowers over attending court and enduring her king father’s cruelty. When her twin sister Inessa is betrothed to Prince Aeric of Acus, Madalina assumes Inessa’s role as heir to the Radix throne. Then Inessa appears to Madalina as a spectral apparition trapped in limbo-like realm Bide. She reveals that she was sent to Acus to assassinate Aeric in a plot that would enable his mother and uncle to seize power, simultaneously promising profits that would save Radix from starvation. To rescue her sister and her kingdom, Madalina takes Inessa’s place to complete the deadly task. But Madalina finds more than one dark scheme at work, and as secrets unfurl, she’s unexpectedly drawn to Aeric. Inspired by multiple Shakespeare plays and Tudor history, as addressed in an author’s note, Krause (Before the Devil Knows You’re Here) blends gothic fantasy and courtly intrigue into a story of love, betrayal, and power. Playful repartee turns electric as Madalina and Aeric fight a growing attraction. Depictions of grave flower species and character journal entries are interwoven in the narrative. Madalina is described as mixed-race. Ages 14–up. Agent: Susan Hawk, Upstart Crow Literary. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

The magical titular food truck of this reverent compendium provides the setting for 17 loosely linked stories about Indigenous teens navigating evergreen concerns about love, life, and identity. Featuring works by authors such as K.A. Cobell, Jen Ferguson, Cheryl Isaacs, and more, the assemblage, edited by Smith (Harvest House), centers Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In, a food vendor outside of time and space that seemingly appears wherever and whenever a teen requires wisdom. In genre-hopping selections spanning varying narrative formats and international locales, characters meet at Sandy June’s to spend time with deceased grandparents and estranged cousins, as well as confront situations of abuse and reconciliation. Byron Graves’s amorous story “Love Buzz” follows a musician hoping to woo his crush with a special Valentine’s Day performance; Brian Young’s tale “I Love You, Grandson” sees a grieving teen finding comfort in communing with the food truck’s staff. Smith’s uplifting poem “Open Mic at the Drive-In” closes this liminal-feeling collection, which pays tribute to the Native traditions and intergenerational relationships preserved by the “run-down, neon” drive-in, including frying bread, sipping sweetgrass tea, and “jammin’ to Redbone./ Uncles tunin’ sharp fiddles.” A glossary concludes. Ages 13–up. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Jack the Ripper isn’t the only monster stalking the streets of 1888 New York City in this overstuffed but inventive Greek mythology-infused thriller from Berry (Lovely War). Eighteen-year-old Tabitha Woodward leaves Troy, N.Y., for the city, joining the Bowery chapter of the Salvation Army intending to make friends and help people. Instead, she and her peevish, pious roommate, Pearl Davenport, spend long days inviting disinterested saloon customers to worship gatherings and hawking newsletters to the disenfranchised. Pearl refuses to deviate from their assigned mission—until a teenage girl is swept up by a brothel madam and Pearl insists on mounting a rescue. Meanwhile, things in London are getting too hot for Jack the Ripper after he commits five murders, so he relocates to N.Y.C. to continue his work. Little does he know, a metropolitan sisterhood of Medusas seeks vengeance for the women he’s killed. Berry intersperses Tabitha’s first-person narration with third-person chapters from Jack and Pearl’s perspectives, their stories and fates entwining in tandem. Lengthy setup mires initial pacing, but witty banter, intrepid female characters, and thoughtful meditations on faith reward readers’ patience. Primary characters cue as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Birch Path Literary. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Orphaned 13-year-old Tom Morgan has spent years perfecting the art of thievery. With no knowledge of his parents beyond his mother possibly being from Egypt, he survives by picking strangers’ pockets on the streets of London, all the while avoiding snatchers who would lock him up in a workhouse if caught. Things look grim when his friends are captured by snatchers. Then Tom receives the chance of a lifetime after a mysterious man hands him a card that reads, “Wanted: the clever, the cunning, and the fearless. Must be willing to risk death daily. Fortunes available for the most daring and capable.” Tom soon finds himself whisked away to Beaufort’s School for Deceptive Arts, an elite boarding academy for thieves, where he hopes to learn the skills necessary to save his friends. But as he immerses himself within this new world of sneak and cunning, it becomes clear that there is more to Beaufort’s than meets the eye. In his children’s debut, Burns (This Is Your Everest, for adults) deploys propulsive pacing and action-packed plotting to spin a page-turning, edge-of-the-seat adventure. Meticulously unraveled secrets and personable characters will have readers clamoring for the next volume of this enthralling series starter. Ages 10–up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Ever since her mother’s recent death, 13-year-old Lavender has been experiencing peculiar memory lapses. She can’t recall specific apothecary terms, which are pertinent to her apprenticeship with her medicine man father; the reasons she no longer talks with her best friend, baker’s son Guste; and worst of all to Lavender, memories of Mama. Disregarding Guste’s advice and her father’s distrust of magic, Lavender, seeking a remedy, visits Frey, a sorcerer who sews enchantments into clothing. In Frey, the teen finds renewed purpose, maternal care, and the restoration of her lost memories. But there is a price Lavender must pay, one that may doom her home, Hattertown. Cornwell approaches Lavender’s grappling with grief via richly detailed depictions of love and redemption as the teen navigates emotionally complex relationships. Lavender and Frey’s dynamic is a standout feature of this gentle tale; their individual responses to loss are layered and age-appropriate, culminating in an auspicious debut from an up-and-coming talent. Main characters read as white. Ages 8–12. Agent: Mary Cummings, Great River Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink

Eleven-year-old Oliver Robles and his best friend, Garen Jackson, are the only kids living at Area 53, a government-run desert location where their scientist parents study anomalies, or mythological creatures, such as goblins and wyverns. When Ollie accidentally sets a bunch of dangerous creatures free one night, he and Garen must find a way to recapture them before they leave the compound. The youths attempt to enlist station golem Henry, who escapes into the Shadowland, a parallel magical world from which the anomalies hail. Forced to give chase, the tweens, now in the Shadowland, learn that their own lives are more full of secrets than they realize. Now they must unravel the truth behind the Shadowland’s history—and the realm’s connection to their own lives—to save both the mortal and mythical worlds. The jam-packed plot and rapid-fire pacing occasionally overwhelm, leaving readers and characters with few opportunities to process the events. Nevertheless, Cervantes (The Cursed Moon) balances quippy dialogue, resourceful protagonists, and pulse-pounding action to establish this series launch with flare. Characters have varying body types and skin tones. Ages 8–12. Agent: Adriana Dominguez, Aevitas Creative Management. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/30/2025 | Details & Permalink