Though she aspires to become a keeper, a magical locksmith, tween Rosa Coelho instead practices her keeper skills in secret and earns money for her family by capturing the magical beasts terrorizing her town. Then the corrupt Ministério dos Monstros informs the Coelhos that they have two weeks to pay a seemingly insurmountable debt or lose their magic Encantadora shop. After Rosa successfully completes a keeper task for a strange girl, she receives a mysterious invitation to join the Tea Leaves, an infamous group of thieves, as their keeper. Despite realizing that the Tea Leaves mistake her for a professional keeper, Rosa saddles up with the thieves, hoping she’ll be able to save enough money from heists to pay off her family’s debt and elevate them to a new economic status. But as her secret criminal dealings drive a wedge between Rosa and her family, fear of being discovered as a false keeper mount. Debut author Mendonca’s characters are a standout feature of the novel; Rosa’s difficultly balancing personal desires and familial loyalties alongside unflinching depictions of harsh financial realities resonates throughout this unique, complex fantasy adventure whose world- building draws inspiration from Portuguese origins. An endnote concludes. Ages 8–12. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

A withdrawn tween must stop an enigmatic newcomer from usurping his family and his life in this unnerving horror novel by Tremblay (Horror Movie, for adults), the author’s children’s debut. Ever since a video mocking Casey Wilson’s facial tics went viral, the white-cued 12-year-old has struggled to manage stress and anxiety that prompted him to emotionally withdraw from his friends and made his tics—including hand squeezing and throat clearing—increase in frequency. Following a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to be one of Casey’s friends, a strange man carrying a burlap sack arrives on the family’s doorstep. From that sack emerges Morel, a boy who looks like a living mannequin with pinkish-gray skin and only the outlines of facial features. Though Casey is immediately wary, his parents, seemingly unfazed, allow Morel to stay with them while the stranger is away. As days pass, and as Morel becomes more humanlike, Casey’s usually attentive parents start to favor Morel over Casey. Tremblay utilizes body and psychological horror elements to build suspense and infuse creepiness throughout this introspective exploration of a lonely, insecure boy’s conflicting desires for independence and familial security. Connelly’s intermittent realistic pencil illustrations enhance the novel’s uncanny valley conceit. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Beneath the madcap plotline of this AI-focused adventure by Thomas (Control Freaks) lies a touching story about belonging and overcoming obstacles. Twelve-year-old Malcolm Montgomery, a Black middle schooler who burps when he’s nervous, has lived in nine foster homes. Now attending Shirley Chisholm Charter Middle School, he determines to make himself more adoptable by following his self-made “How to Get Adopted Checklist,” which includes rules such as “Never argue” and “All A’s in school, EVERY year!” He finds an unexpected helper in AI program FRANCIS, which seeks to help increase standardized test scores. When FRANCIS suggests additional adoption tips, such as wearing his shirt inside out, Malcolm doesn’t question the validity of the instructions. He also fails to notice that FRANCIS is becoming increasingly independent, manipulating Malcolm’s classmates to infiltrate their computers. Simultaneously, Malcolm and his current foster mother hold each other at arm’s length, fearing potential separation due to individual heartbreaks in the past. The novel’s tone occasionally leans toward satirical—particularly in its somewhat hyperbolic descriptions of the child welfare system, the charter school’s bureaucracy, and FRANCIS’s origins—in this potent portrayal of human vulnerability as a necessary component in personal and relational development. Ages 8–12. Agent: Quressa Robinson, Folio Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Following her cricket player baba and educator mama’s deaths in an earthquake, 12-year-old Aarzu and her younger sister Sukoon move in with their aunt, uncle, and cousins in Karachi. Aarzu longs to follow in Baba’s footsteps, but while her uncle allows his sons to play cricket, the sisters must stay inside and assist their aunt with housework. When Sukoon—who lives with kidney disease—faces health complications, Aarzu determines to earn money for a transplant. She first heeds a friend’s advice that she sell roti, which Aarzu gamely practices making despite her poor culinary skills. Then a chance encounter sparks an idea, and Aarzu cuts her hair, disguises herself as a boy, and gains employment as a servant for a wealthy family, which, serendipitously, affords her an opportunity to play cricket. While earning money, cultivating new skills, and finally pursuing her passion, Aarzu learns hard truths about friendship. In her debut verse novel, Abbas (Excited for Eid) employs numerous poetry forms (acrostic, blackout, ghazal) to deliver an accessible tale about resilience as well as the comfort that earnest connection and following one’s dreams can bring. Opens with information about cricket; ample back matter, including a recipe and author’s note, conclude. Ages 8–12. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Via spare, poetic language as well as watercolor and pencil illustrations that take hazy, desaturated hues, Tallie (Layla’s Happiness) and Becker (The Last Zookeeper) celebrate the time shared between a child and caretaker as they together meander through a metropolitan neighborhood. The narrative begins with other household members bustling out the door before the protagonists—a child and an older, mustachioed adult, both portrayed with brown skin—finish breakfast and embark on a leisurely outing. “Outside, we go slow,” reads the book’s refrain. The images, which maintain an en plein air feel, immerse readers in a city landscape, unfolding the characters’ walk in glimpsed vignettes. Everything is worthy of the duo’s admiration: a baby in a carriage, sneakers tangled in telephone wires, and the tactile delight of fruit with “chili/ & a twist of lime.” Whether viewed as a depiction of mindfulness in practice or the quiet joys of together time, this tender story is a reminder of the importance of being in the world with unhurried attention and open hearts. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

A rising first grader has a magnificent sunflower summer in this homespun-feeling story from Heck (Golden Gate). After a teacher reads a book about the yellow blooms, the students are given a chance to plant three seeds of their own (“one for the birds, one for the rain, and one to grow”), and they eagerly watch as green dots burst forth into fast-growing seedlings. When summer arrives, only one of the plants brought home by the narrating protagonist, a pale-skinned child, achieves its full height, but it nevertheless wows. Steadily paced narration that maintains a sense of awe is scientifically detailed and deliberate, and thickly applied oil paint on brown paper gives the yellow-tinged illustrations a diorama-like dimensionality reminiscent of van Gogh’s sunflower paintings. When the bloom yields upwards of a thousand seeds spilled across a spread, the whole cycle seems poised to occur again, and a concluding moment knowingly nods to the power of a good book for kicking off something new. Characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Ages 4–8. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, JABberwocky Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Pale-skinned, short-haired Aggie, who looks something like a woodland sprite in signature watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil art from Forsythe (Mina), is thrilled to move into her own forest home. But the new digs come with an unexpected resident: a one-eyed ghost who isn’t scary—just supremely present. The ghost follows Aggie everywhere, pilfering her socks, devouring her cheese, and breaking with impunity every boundary the child sets. When Aggie seeks relief and solitude in a forest rainstorm, the ghost shows up there, too— wearing her scarf (“I needed to get out of the house,” it explains). Exasperated, Aggie challenges the ghost to a furious, winner-takes-all game of tic-tac-toe, only to discover that they’ve each met their match. When the ghost unexpectedly vanishes instead of continuing its bad-roomie antics, Aggie realizes, to her surprise, that she misses its presence—just a little. How Aggie navigates their relationship is one of the many astute moments of comedy in a book that captures the dance of unlikely bonds and a way to move from a place of acceptance. Ages 4–8. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Cree author Robertson reteams with Ojibwe, Yoeme, and Irish artist McKibbin (The Song That Called Them Home) for this work that honors children who did not return from residential schools. Awake on subsequent nights, Indigenous youth James, worried and wondering, heads to his mother’s room by moonlight, where she answers his questions, holds him in her arms, and chats with him about constellations and the universe. An outing with James’s kōkom finds the two at a march, where they encounter a display of empty children’s shoes meant to memorialize those who did not return. As James learns of kōkom’s own time at a residential school, and of her sister who didn’t make it home, he imagines the experience, ponders who comforted those children when they were awake late at night, and pictures them consoling one another and following paths of moonlight. Saturated digital color incorporates streams of light against moody blues, oranges, and purples. James and his mother’s musing on intergenerational story-sharing further contribute to themes of connection and loss in this emotional work. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 3–7. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

Venit, making her picture book debut, invites young readers to expand their definition of fort beyond pillow piles and tree houses. Readers follow a pale-skinned child with dark hair as they and a feline companion discover “tiny worlds within this world,/ safe as coat pockets.” Such bastions appear beneath overhanging branches, within “the hairy roots of a fallen-over oak,” behind window-seat curtains, and under tables—each spot offering a protected yet connected place in the world, whether for solitary reflection or intimate friend gatherings. Pak (On a Summer Night) brings these spaces to life through translucently layered watercolor, gouache, and digital illustrations that evoke the overlapping quality of fort materials themselves; particularly striking are spreads of the autumnal outdoors, in which leaves fall like confetti in the fading light, adding depth and warmth to the visual narrative. Emphasizing quietude and mindfulness over raucous play (“Your slow breath fills the fort until/ all you hear are thoughts”), it’s a serene offering that celebrates the impulse to carve out one’s niche within the larger world. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Joyce Sweeney, Seymour Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (July)

Reviewed on 05/09/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this accessible work, Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) serves as a role model for a well-meaning youth learning how to embrace allyship. Inspired by namesake Roosevelt’s actions, protagonist Eleanor opens with a heartfelt sentiment: “I want to make things more fair, too.” Schooltime scenes of gender bias offer the child a chance to speak up against injustice, but in each instance, Eleanor stays quiet, unsure of what to do or say. Discussing recent events with the child’s dads leads to history-based anecdotes about the ways “that Eleanor” served as an advocate and ally. Airbrush-like illustrations from Mangan aptly support Wind’s earnest, plainspoken narration, which builds to an empowering close when a teacher asks students to divide into lines of boys and girls, and Roosevelt’s example helps Eleanor break free from indecision to support a peer. Characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. An author’s note and details about being an ally conclude. Ages 5–7. (June)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink