Book Mail: Feral girls, ghosts, period activism, a robot vacuum cleaner, and more!

The book mail. It never ends. I know, I know—poor me, I get so many fun books to consider. But the problem is I can’t read everything. And I really want to. Like, literally everything. I’ve got an SLJ article deadline looming and I’m hoping after that, when I have spring break taking care of my mom post-surgery and then lots of 4-day weekends at her house after that, maybe, just maybe, I’ll make a dent in my pile.

A big thanks to all of the publishers that keep me rolling in good books. All descriptions of the books from the publishers.

Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology by Amber McBride, Erica Martin, Taylor Byas, LLC Ashwin Writing (Photographer) (ISBN-13: 9780063225282 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 01/30/2024, Ages 13-17)

Starring thirty-seven poets, with contributions from acclaimed authors, including Kwame Alexander, Ibi Zoboi, and Nikki Giovanni, this breathtaking Black YA poetry anthology edited by National Book Award finalist Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin celebrates Black poetry, folklore, and culture.

Come, claim your wings.

Lift your life above the earth,

return to the land of your father’s birth.

What exactly is it to be Black in America?

Well, for some, it’s learning how to morph the hatred placed by others into love for oneself; for others, it’s unearthing the strength it takes to continue to hold one’s swagger when multitudinous factors work to make Black lives crumble. For some, it’s gathering around the kitchen table as Grandma tells the story of Anansi the spider, while for others it’s grinning from ear to ear while eating auntie’s spectacular 7Up cake.

Black experiences and traditions are complex, striking, and vast—they stretch longer than the Nile and are four times as deep—and carry more than just unimaginable pain—there is also joy.

Featuring an all-star group of thirty-seven powerful poetic voices, including such luminaries as Kwame Alexander, James Baldwin, Ibi Zoboi, Audre Lorde, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks, this riveting anthology depicts the diversity of the Black experience by fostering a conversation about race, faith, heritage, and resilience between fresh poets and the literary ancestors that came before them.

Edited by Taylor Byas, Erica Martin, and Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner Amber McBride, Poemhood will simultaneously highlight the duality and nuance at the crux of so many Black experiences with poetry being the psalm constantly playing.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection pick!

Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda (ISBN-13: 9780593529492 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 02/06/2024, Ages 14-17)

A searing debut YA poetry and essay collection about a Black cancer patient who faces medical racism after being diagnosed with leukemia in their early twenties, for fans of Audre Lorde’s The Cancer Journals and Laurie Halse Anderson’s Shout.

When Walela is diagnosed at twenty-three with advanced stage blood cancer, they’re suddenly thrust into the unsympathetic world of tubes and pills, doctors who don’t use their correct pronouns, and hordes of “well-meaning” but patronizing people offering unsolicited advice as they navigate rocky personal relationships and share their story online.

But this experience also deepens their relationship to their ancestors, providing added support from another realm. Walela’s diagnosis becomes a catalyst for their self-realization. As they fill out forms in the insurance office in downtown Los Angeles or travel to therapy in wealthier neighborhoods, they begin to understand that cancer is where all forms of their oppression intersect: Disabled. Fat. Black. Queer. Nonbinary.

In Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir, the author details a galvanizing account of their survival despite the U.S. medical system, and of the struggle to face death unafraid.

Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, Ekua Holmes (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9780593461709 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 02/13/2024, Ages 12-17)

A thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood by award-winning author and poet Renée Watson.

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.

Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.

Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.

The Boyfriend Wish by Swati Teerdhala (ISBN-13: 9780063279155 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 02/13/2024, Ages 13-17)

A charming romantic comedy about a South Indian American teen girl who makes a wish upon a flower for her perfect boyfriend…and then a new boy moves in right next door. With love triangles, prank wars, and a sizzling sweet romance—this is perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Jenny Han.

There’s only one item left on Deepa Josyula’s high school bucket list: finding the perfect boyfriend. But when her meticulously planned Homecoming proposal crashes and burns thanks to Vik Mehta—both neighbor and long-term nemesis ever since he started their neighborhood prank war—she’s not sure how she’s going to finish the list. To make things even worse, she’s stuck working with Vik on a Student Council committee. So when her grandmother gifts her a jasmine flower and tells her to make a wish, Deepa doesn’t see the harm. She wishes for her dream boyfriend, just like she had imagined when she was younger. The next morning a new neighbor moves into their cul-de-sac, and Rohit D’Souza crosses off everything on her ideal boyfriend wish list down to a tee: thoughtful, handsome, and romantic as hell.

She can hardly believe it. But according to her grandmother, the wish is only the beginning. To earn it, to complete it, the wish must be sealed with a kiss. But Rohit is quickly becoming the most popular new guy both in school and in her friend group, and Deepa hasn’t kissed a boy since freshman year. The more Deepa plans the perfect kiss with Rohit, the less sure she is of what her heart truly wants. Is it the perfect boy brought by magic—or the uncertainty of the boy who’s always been next door?

The Someday Daughter by Ellen O’Clover (ISBN-13: 9780063255081 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 02/20/2024, Ages 13-17)

Perfect for fans of Rachel Lynn Solomon, Mary H. K. Choi, and Alex Light! From the critically acclaimed author of Seven Percent of Ro Devereux comes another heartrending and nuanced novel about family, love, and the cost of ambition.

“A compelling, beautifully drawn exploration into complicated family and personal relationships and the frailty and fortitude of a girl simply trying to succeed, love, and thrive. I’m proud to live in a book world where Ellen O’Clover is writing contemporary young adult fiction. The Someday Daughter is a forever treasure.” —Laura Taylor Namey, New York Times bestselling author of A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow 

Audrey St. Vrain has grown up in the shadow of someone who doesn’t actually exist. Before she was born, her mother, Camilla St. Vrain, wrote the bestselling book Letters to My Someday Daughter, a guide to self-love that advises treating yourself like you would your own hypothetical future daughter. The book made Audrey’s mother a household name, and she built an empire around it.

While the world considers Audrey lucky to have Camilla for a mother, the truth is that Audrey knows a different side of being the someday daughter. Shipped off to boarding school when she was eleven, she feels more like a promotional tool than a member of Camilla’s family. Audrey is determined to create her own identity aside from being Camilla’s daughter, and she’s looking forward to a prestigious summer premed program with her boyfriend before heading to college and finally breaking free from her mother’s world.  

But when Camilla asks Audrey to go on tour with her to promote the book’s anniversary, Audrey can’t help but think that this is the last, best chance to figure out how they fit into each other’s lives—not as the someday daughter and someday mother but as themselves, just as they are. What Audrey doesn’t know is that spending the summer with Camilla and her tour staff—including the disarmingly honest, distressingly cute video intern, Silas—will upset everything she’s so carefully planned for her life.

The Partition Project by Saadia Faruqi (ISBN-13: 9780063115811 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 02/27/2024, Ages 8-12)

In this engaging and moving middle grade novel, Saadia Faruqi writes about a contemporary Pakistani American girl whose passion for journalism starts a conversation about her grandmother’s experience of the Partition of India and Pakistan—and the bond that the two form as she helps Dadi tell her story.

When her grandmother comes off the airplane in Houston from Pakistan, Mahnoor knows that having Dadi move in is going to disrupt everything about her life. She doesn’t have time to be Dadi’s unofficial babysitter—her journalism teacher has announced that their big assignment will be to film a documentary, which feels more like storytelling than what Maha would call “journalism.”

As Dadi starts to settle into life in Houston and Maha scrambles for a subject for her documentary, the two of them start talking. About Dadi’s childhood in northern India—and about the Partition that forced her to leave her home and relocate to the newly created Pakistan.

As details of Dadi’s life are revealed, Dadi’s personal story feels a lot more like the breaking news that Maha loves so much. And before she knows it, she has the subject of her documentary.

Free Period by Ali Terese (ISBN-13: 9781338835830 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 8-12)

This middle-grade Moxie centering period equity is Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret for the next generation!

Helen and Gracie are pranking their way through middle school when a stinky stunt lands them in the front office — again. Because nothing else has curbed their chaos, the principal orders the best friends to do the unthinkable: care about something. So they join the school’s Community Action Club with plans to do as little as humanly possible.

But when Helen is caught unprepared by an early period and bleeds through her pants — they were gold lamé! — the girls take over the club’s campaign for maxi pads in bathrooms for all students who menstruate. In the name of period equity, the two friends use everything from over-the-top baked goods to glitter gluing for change. But nothing can prepare them for a clueless school board (ew), an annoying little sister (ugh), and crushes (oh my!).

As Helen and Gracie find themselves closer to change and in deeper trouble than ever before, they must decide if they care enough to keep going . . . even if it costs them their friendship.

Forsynthia: Rise of the Cupcakes by Rachel DiNunzio (ISBN-13: 9781223187167 Publisher: Paw Prints Publishing Publication date: 03/05/2024 Series: Forsythia #1, Ages 7-9)

In Forsynthia: Rise of the Cupcakes, the first installment in a brand new funny and fun-loving early reader graphic novel series, author-illustrator Rachel DiNunzio introduces us to Forsynthia, a young dragon, and her family, and puts them in all sorts of adventures that blend science, fantasy, mystery, and fun.

Forsynthia and her little sister Daisy bake their Mom (a scientist for the Secret Magical Bureau) cupcakes for her birthday. But they all get more than they bargained for when a cupcake merges with the magical artifact Mom has been studying and a villainous mega-cupcake forms, multiplies, and then attempts to take over their town of New Harmony! Will Forsynthia and family capture Megacupcake, save mayor Loren, put stop to the chaos, and save the day?

All is Nat Lost: A Graphic Novel (Nat Enough #5) by Maria Scrivan (ISBN-13: 9781338891096 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 8-12)

A companion to the New York Times bestselling series that began with Nat Enough!

Nat’s class trip is a bigger adventure than she imagined!

Nat is on an overnight class trip to Philadelphia, which is her first time in a big city without her parents. And it’s a big deal because Nat’s mom and dad are finally giving her the independence she’s been longing for. But the trip is off to a bad start — with one disaster after another — and if things keep up, Nat’s on track to lose her newfound freedom for good!

Can she turn things around in time, or will her first chance with liberty be her last?

Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice by Anna Lapera (ISBN-13: 9781646143719 Publisher: Levine Querido Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 10-14)

For fans of Donna Barba Higuera’s Lupe Wong Won’t Dance and Aida Salazar’s The Moon Within, comes Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice – a contemporary middle grade novel full of spunk and activist heart.

Life sucks when you’re twelve. You’re not a little kid, but you’re also not an adult, and all the grown-ups in your life talk about your body the minute it starts getting a shape. And what sucks even more than being a Chinese-Filipino-American-Guatemalan who can’t speak any ancestral language well? When almost every other girl in school has already gotten her period except for you and your two besties.

Manuela “Mani” Semilla wants two things: To get her period, and to thwart her mom’s plan of taking her to Guatemala on her thirteenth birthday. If her mom’s always going on about how dangerous it is in Guatemala, and how much she sacrificed to come to this country, then why should Mani even want to visit?

But one day, up in the attic, she finds secret letters between her mom and her Tía Beatriz, who, according to family lore, died in a bus crash before Mani was born. But the letters reveal a different story. Why did her family really leave Guatemala? What will Mani learn about herself along the way? And how can the letters help her to stand up against the culture of harassment at her own school?

49 Days by Agnes Lee (ISBN-13: 9781646143740 Publisher: Levine Querido Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 12-18)

Day 1

Gotta get up. Gotta keep moving. This map – it says I have to cross over here. Wait, what’s that…?

And so begins a graphic novel story unlike any other: 49 Days. In Buddhist tradition, a person must travel for forty-nine days after they die, before they can fully cross over. Here in this book, readers travel with one Korean American girl, Kit, on her journey, while also spending time with her family and friends left behind.

Agnes Lee has captivated readers across the world for years with her illustrations for the New York Times Metropolitan Diary. Her debut graphic novel is an unforgettable story of death, grief, love, and how we keep moving forward.

Making Friends: Together Forever: A Graphic Novel (Making Friends #4) by Kristen Gudsnuk (ISBN-13: 9781338630824 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 8-12)

Kristen Gudsnuk takes readers on a magical adventure about friendship in this fourth and final installment of her imaginative Making Friends series.

No magic. No sketchbook. No friends. Again?!

Dany’s magical sketchbook has steered most of her middle-school life so far — it even helped create her best friend, Madison. But now that the sketchbook is gone, and Madison with it, Dany’s back to being a loner. Then one day, Dany tunes in to the new hit TV show My Magical Best Friend, and it’s starring her magical best friend, Madison! The show is clearly based on Dany’s life, and she watches it regularly with a mix of horror and fascination. But lately there’s something else about the show that’s captured her attention: Madison seems to be dropping hints for Dany to come rescue her. With no magical sketchbook at her fingertips, can Dany find a way to save her best friend?

Nothing Special, Volume One: Through the Elder Woods by Katie Cook (ISBN-13: 9781984862822 Publisher: Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 14-18)

Two not-so-human teenagers and a friendly ghost radish face the fantasy adventure of a lifetime in this captivating graphic novel, featuring exclusive behind-the-scenes material, from the inimitable Katie Cook.

“Smart, sweet, and totally original, Nothing Special is sure to captivate.”—Sarah Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Fangs, Sarah Scribbles, and Cryptid Club

In the grand scheme of the worlds at large, Callie thinks she’s nothing special. Sure, she’s friends with the ghost of a radish and her dad owns a magical antique shop—but she’s spent her life in the human world. Her dad won’t let her join him on his collection trips in the magical realm “for her own protection,” so she’s only caught glimpses of that world through the gates of the town where her father’s store is.

On her seventeenth birthday, Callie goes home with her friend Declan to find her home in disarray and her dad missing. Signs of a struggle point to the portal to the magical realm and when there are signs, you follow them. Now it’s up to Callie, Declan, and Radish to band together and bring him home. As they face creatures good and bad, and all sorts of adventure, Callie and Declan may just find out that they are both special in their own ways after all.

The first season of mayhem, magic, vegetables, and adventure from Katie Cook’s beloved Webtoon, Nothing Special, is collected in this gorgeous graphic novel, which also features exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

Uprising by Jennifer A. Nielsen (ISBN-13: 9781338795080 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 03/05/2024, Ages 8-12)

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Iceberg, Jennifer A. Nielsen inspires readers with a brand-new thriller based on the remarkable true story of a young Polish girl who bravely fought, participating in the Warsaw city uprising, and took a stand in the name of freedom.

Twelve-year-old Lidia is outside her grandfather’s house when planes fly overhead, bearing the Nazi cross on each wing. Before the bombs hit the ground, Lidia realizes her life is about to change forever. Poland has fallen under German occupation, and her father makes the brave decision to join the Polish army to fight against the Nazis. Lidia wants to follow him into war, but she’s far too young, and she’s needed by her mother and brother.

After her family returns to Warsaw, where life has changed irrevocably, Lidia continues to play the piano, finding comfort in Chopin, Bach, and Beethoven. But she also wants to aid the Jewish people held captive in the Warsaw Ghetto. With the help of a friend, Lidia begins to smuggle wheat and food into the ghetto. Still, she feels like she could be doing so much more. She wants to fight. After her brother joins the resistance, Lidia wants only to follow in his footsteps. Soon, she begins to work as a courier, smuggling weapons and messages for the resistance throughout the city.

When the Warsaw city uprising begins—one year after the more well-known Warsaw Ghetto uprising by Polish Jews—with gunfire and bombs echoing throughout the streets, Lidia joins the Polish nationalists’ fight, too, and she and her peers fight with everything they’ve got. Life will continue to surprise Lidia, as she and the resistance fighters do their best to defeat the German soldiers. No matter the consequences, they’re willing to defend their freedom and their homes from the Nazi invaders—even with their lives.

Drawing on the extraordinary real-life story of Polish teenager Lidia Zakrzewski, bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen presents an inspiring and dramatic account of the Polish resistance fighters who struggled to force out their Nazi occupiers and reclaim their nation’s freedom from tyranny.

These Bodies Between Us by Sarah Van Name (ISBN-13: 9780593646175 Publisher: Random House Children’s Books Publication date: 03/12/2024, Ages 12-17)

A wistful coming-of-age story with a haunting twist about four friends who spend their summer learning to become invisible—but disappearing comes at a cost.

Four girls. Four girls skating home, both sides of the road, fearless. Four girls at the mouth of an infinite ocean, sugared and salted with sand and seawater, the tide licking their sunburned feet.

This summer, they’re going to disappear.

For seventeen-year-old Callie and her best friends Talia and Cleo, every summer in their small North Carolina beach town is as steady as the tides. But this year, Cleo has invited enigmatic new girl Polly to join them, creating waves in their familiar friendship. And Cleo has an idea, gleaned from private YouTube videos and hidden message boards: they’re going to learn how to make themselves invisible.

Callie thinks it’s a ridiculous, impossible plan. But the other girls are intoxicated by the thought of disappearing, even temporarily—from bad boyfriends, from overbearing families, from the confusing, uncomfortable reality of having a body altogether. And, miraculously, it works.

Yet as the girls revel in their reckless new freedom, they realize it’s getting harder to come back to themselves… and do they even want to?

Strong Like You by T. L. Simpson (ISBN-13: 9781635830941 Publisher: North Star Editions Publication date: 03/12/2024, Ages 12-18)

I haven’t cried one time since you disappeared. Not even at football practice when Paton Roper told the whole team you were probably dead. He said, “You know how sometimes a dog gets sick or bites somebody and you have to put it down?”

Somebody said, “Yep.”

“That’s probably what happened to Walker’s daddy.”

Walker Lauderdale hasn’t cried once since his daddy went missing. And even though everyone says he’s dead, Walker won’t give up hope. He knows his father is out there, somewhere, cutting a wild trail through the Ozarks like always. But when a relative threatens to kick Walker and his momma out of the family home, Walker realizes he has no choice but to look for his daddy—a search that leads him straight to a drug-addled and dangerous man named Lukas Fisher. While attempting to balance life as a normal fifteen-year-old boy and star player on the football team, Walker begins a desperate search across the hills of the Ozarks for the man who, for better or worse, taught him everything he knows about strength.

Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari (ISBN-13: 9780593530498 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 03/12/2024, Ages 14-17)

Best friendship blossoms into something more in this gorgeously written queer literary romance.

“The heartache and longing of witnessing a beloved character pine hopelessly over her best friend has never brought me this much unadulterated joy.” –National Book Award Finalist Sonora Reyes, author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

Over the past five years, Mitra Esfahani has known two constants: her best friend Bea Ortega and The Book—a dogeared moleskin she and Bea have been filling with the stanzas of an epic, never-ending poem since they were 13.

For introverted Mitra, The Book is one of the few places she can open herself completely and where she gets to see all sides of brilliant and ebullient Bea. There, they can share everything—Mitra’s complicated feelings about her absent mother, Bea’s heartache over her most recent breakup—nothing too messy or complicated for The Book.

Nothing except the one thing with the power to change their entire friendship: the fact that Mitra is helplessly in love with Bea.

Told in lyrical, confessional prose and snippets of poetry Just Another Epic Love Poem takes readers on a journey that is equal parts joyful, heartbreaking, and funny as Mitra and Bea navigate the changing nature of I love you.

Pieces of a Girl by Stephanie Kuehnert (ISBN-13: 9780525429753 Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Publication date: 03/26/2024, Ages 14-17)

A raw and bold memoir about abuse and addiction, and the power of expression and community that helped Stephanie Kuehnert, the author of Ballads of Suburbia and regular Rookie contributor, survive and thrive. Told in varied narrative styles, including journal entries, original illustration, and pages torn from her actual diaries and zines, this is the memoir of Stephanie’s life as a struggling outsider who survived substance and relationship abuse to become a strong young woman after years and years trapped in a cycle that sometimes seemed to have no escape.

Timid by Jonathan Todd (ISBN-13: 9781338305722 Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. Publication date: 04/02/2024, Ages 8-12)

A semiautobiographical middle-grade graphic novel about frenemies, fitting in, and finding your voice.Cecil Hall and his family have just moved from Florida to Massachusetts, near Boston. Cecil is anxious about making friends because he doesn’t know where he’ll fit in. His older sister, Leah, thinks he should befriend the other black kids at his new school, but Cecil isn’t sure how he’d go about doing that. He wants to be known for his comics-making talent, anyway. But the few kids who are impressed by Cecil’s art aren’t always nice to him. When one of his drawings is misused and gets him into serious trouble, can Cecil stand up for himself and figure out who his real friends are?

Sheine Lende: A Prequel to Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781646143795 Publisher: Levine Querido Publication date: 04/16/2024, Ages 12-18)

Bookpage Most Anticipated YA of 2024

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can’t afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood – and the loss of Shane’s father and her grandparents. They don’t think they’ll ever get their home back.

Then Shane’s mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent – who isn’t to be trusted – set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world – or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.

DeadEndia: The Divine Order by Hamish Steele (ISBN-13: 9781454949015 Publisher: Union Square & Co. Publication date: 04/23/2024 Series: DeadEndia #3, Ages 14-18)

Eisner Award–winning creator Hamish Steele’s DeadEndia series is Steven Universe meets Adventure Time for fans of Scott Pilgrim, Rick and Morty, Adventure Time, and Pumpkinheads.

In this diverse YA graphic novel, third in the DeadEndia trilogy, Barney, Norma, and friends team up with unlikely heroes to fight a battle for the fate of the universe, all while dealing with their greatest challenge of all: their love lives.

The battle between angels and demons rages on, and Courtney finds themselves restored to former glory in the realm of the angels with a new mission: bring about a new Divine Order and create a fourteenth plane of existence to keep the demons at bay. On the seventh plane, known to us as Earth, Norma Khan and Barney Guttman have allied with the demons in a search for both freedom and peace. There’s just one thing standing in their way: the Guttman family reunion. Badyah has joined the resistance as well, honing her martial arts skills and getting ready to protect Norma in battle.

But Pael, the Divine’s lead angel, has tricks up their sleeve that throw everything into chaos as Norma, Barney, and Badyah learn the truth behind everything. The three friends struggle to stop Pael before their lives are changed forever, and a familiar friend returns with a power that just might save them all in this stunning conclusion to the DeadEndia series.

Loch Ness Uncovered: Media, Misinformation, and the Greatest Monster Hoax of All Time by Rebecca Siegel (ISBN-13: 9781662620232 Publisher: Astra Publishing House Publication date: 04/23/2024, Ages 10-13)

An extensively researched, myth-busting account of the world’s most famous monster hoax—the Loch Ness Monster—and a cautionary tale on the dangers of misinformation.

In 1934, a man was walking by a lake in the Scottish Highlands when he saw a long-necked creature swimming in the water. He grabbed his camera and snapped a photo. When the photo landed on the front page of the Daily Mail, it shattered the belief that paranormal creatures were pure fiction. But amid the monster-hunting craze, complex conspiracies soon emerged. The Loch Ness Monster became more than a mysterious sea creature—it became a phenomenon that caused people to question their assumptions and dig for the truth.

Meticulously researched through primary sources and in-depth interviews with key figures, Loch Ness Uncovered is the fascinating true story of the conspiracy that sparked intrigue worldwide. Complete with archival images, an engaging narrative, and a guide to media literacy, here is a nonfiction book that will transport young readers to the thrilling world of monster mania.

Emma McKenna, Full Out (The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class #1) by Kate Messner, Kat Fajardo (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781523525713 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Publication date: 04/30/2024 Series: The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class #1, Ages 6-9)

Emma McKenna can’t wait for third grade at the brand-new Curiosity Academy. She’ll have a cool teacher who wears high-tops and science earrings. She’ll meet interesting classmates from all over Peppermint Falls. Best of all, she’ll get a fresh start after last year’s talent-show disaster left her with that awful nickname. It’s going to be the best year ever!

Then Lucy walks into Mrs. Z’s room.
Lucy, Emma’s best-friend-turned-enemy.
Lucy, who gave Emma that nickname and spread it all over school!
Emma’s fresh start is doomed . . . unless she can make friends before Lucy ruins everything.

So Emma sets out to be pals with everyone, just like her favorite animal, the capybara. As her classmates argue over the choice of a new school mascot, Emma stays quiet and doesn’t pick sides. (The last thing she needs is another enemy.) But maybe speaking up could be the thing that helps her really connect with her class—and saves her at last from third-grade doom.

Both sweetly poignant in its attention to kids’ worries and friendships and laugh-out-loud funny in its storytelling, with black-and-white illustrations throughout by Pura Belpré Honor artist Kat Fajardo, Emma McKenna, Full Out is the perfect launch for the exciting new Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class chapter-book series.

Rohan Murthy Has a Plan (The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class #2) by Rajani LaRocca, Kat Fajardo (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9781523526581 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Publication date: 04/30/2024 Series: The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class #1, Ages 6-9)

Rohan Murthy dreams of running a successful business like his creative and kind mom. When Mrs. Z announces that Curiosity Academy needs to raise money for a school garden, Rohan sees the chance to launch his dreams right away! He’ll start a pet care company to help the people of Peppermint Falls look after their dogs, hamsters, fish, snakes, lizards . . . anything but cats. With hard work, some glittery posters, and the help of his friends from Mrs. Z’s class, Rohan knows he can do a lot for the school garden. 

His parents point out just one small problem: Rohan has never taken care of an animal before. They think he doesn’t even like touching animals. (There is a reason cats aren’t on his list.) To prove his parents wrong, Rohan volunteers to spend a weekend watching over Honey, the class guinea pig. But Honey appears surprisingly anxious, which makes Rohan nervous as well. When his big dreams meet his secret fears, what will Rohan do? 

The Mine Wars: The Bloody Fight for Workers’ Rights in the West Virginia Coal Fields by Steve Watkins (ISBN-13: 9781547612185 Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Publication date: 05/14/2024, Ages 10-14)

For fans of Steve Sheinkin and Deb Heiligman, a riveting true story of the West Virginia coal miners who ignited the largest labor uprising in American history.

In May of 1920, in a small town in the mountains of West Virginia, a dozen coal miners took a stand. They were sick of the low pay in the mines. The unsafe conditions. The brutal treatment they endured from mine owners and operators. The scrip they were paid-instead of cash-that could only be used at the company store.

They had tried to unionize, but the mine owners dug in. On that fateful day in May 1920, tensions boiled over and a gunfight erupted-beginning a yearlong standoff between workers and owners.

The miners pleaded, then protested, then went on strike; the owners retaliated with spying, bribery, and threats. Violence escalated on both sides, culminating in the 1921 Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest labor uprising in United States history.

In this gripping narrative nonfiction book, meet the resolute and spirited people who fought for the rights of coal miners, and discover how the West Virginia Mine Wars paved the way for vital worker protections nationwide. More than a century later, this overlooked story of the labor movement remains urgently relevant.

Not If You Break Up with Me First by G.F. Miller (ISBN-13: 9781665950015 Publisher: Aladdin Publication date: 06/04/2024, Ages 10-14)

Two friends who have unhappily found themselves in an accidental relationship try to drive the other one to call things off in this tongue-in-cheek middle grade romance.

Childhood friends Eve and Andrew are destined to be together—everyone says so, especially their friends and classmates who are all suddenly crush-obsessed. So when Eve and Andrew’s first eighth grade school dance rolls around and Eve, feeling the pressure, awkwardly asks Andrew to go with her, everyone assumes they are Officially Dating and Practically in Love. Overwhelmed, Eve and Andrew just…go with it.

And it’s weird. Neither of them wants this dating thing to mess up their friendship, and they don’t really see each other that way. But they also don’t want to be the one to call things off, the one to make things super awkward. So they both—separately—pledge to be the worst boyfriend or girlfriend ever, leaving it to the other person to break up with them. It would be genius…if the other person weren’t doing the exact same thing.

Better Must Come by Desmond Hall (ISBN-13: 9781534460744 Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books Publication date: 06/04/2024, Ages 14-18)

Barely Missing Everything meets American Street in this fiercely evocative, action-packed young adult thriller that looks at the darker side of light-filled Jamaica and how a tragedy and missing drug money helplessly entangle the lives of two teens who want to change their fate.

Deja is a “barrel girl”—one of the Jamaican kids who get barrels full of clothes, food, and treats shipped to them from parents who have moved to the US or Canada to make more money. Gabriel is caught up in a gang and desperate for a way out. When he meets Deja at a party, he starts looking for a way into her life and wonders if they could be a part of each other’s futures.

Then, one day while out fishing, Deja spies a go-fast boat stalled out by some rocks, smeared with blood. Inside, a badly wounded man thrusts a knapsack at her, begging her to deliver it to his original destination, and to not say a word. She binds his wounds, determined to send for help and make good on her promise…not realizing that the bag is stuffed with $500,000 American. Not realizing that the posse Gabriel is in will stop at nothing to get their hands on this bag—or that Gabriel’s and her lives will intersect in ways neither ever imagined, as they both are forced to make split-second choices to keep the ones they love most alive.

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin (ISBN-13: 9781638931003 Publisher: Zando Publication date: 06/11/2024, Ages 14+)

An unflinching YA debut about a troubled teen who discovers a pack of feral girls in the woods and is swept up in the ensuing mystery: Are the Wild Girls of Happy Valley lost princesses from a faraway land, as they believe, or are they brainwashed victims of a deranged kidnapper?

In her ambitious debut perfect for fans of Sadie and The Hazel Wood, Madeline Claire Franklin crafts a gripping exploration of how the world teaches young girls to cage their wildness—and what happens when they claw themselves free.

After being placed in foster care, Rhi is hungry for a fresh start and begins working at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve. While in the woods, she stumbles upon a surreal sight: a pack of wolves guarding four feral and majestic girls. After Rhi gains their trust, they reveal that they’re princesses from another land, raised by a magical prophet they call Mother—and they’re convinced Rhi is their lost fifth sister.

Unsure what to believe, Rhi ushers the girls to civilization, where they’re met with societal uproar and scrutiny, dubbed by the ravenous media and true crime junkies as “The Wild Girls of Happy Valley.” Desperate to return to their kingdom, the girls look to Rhi for help. Rhi knows the girls are deluded, but at the same time she’s drawn in by their boldness and authenticity—traits she is afraid she has lost within herself. And when Rhi witnesses strange phenomena she can’t quite explain, the line between fantasy and reality grows blurry.

As the hunt for answers intensifies, Rhi must make a decision that will change the course of her lives and the lives of her Wild Girls forever.

The Lost Souls of Benzaiten by Kelly Murashige (ISBN-13: 9781641295741 Publisher: Soho Press, Incorporated Publication date: 07/23/2024, Ages 14-17)

This heartfelt and quirky young adult fantasy debut follows a young outcast on a journey of transformation . . . into a robot vacuum cleaner.

A fresh twist on Japanese mythology that doubles as a deep, honest dive into mental health.

“I wish to become one of those round vacuum cleaner robots.” That’s what Machi prays for at the altar of Japanese goddess Benzaiten. Ever since her two best friends decided they want nothing to do with her, Machi hasn’t been able to speak. After months of online school and a carousel of therapists, Machi can no longer see the point of being human. But she doesn’t expect Benzaiten to actually hear her prayer, much less offer a counter-prayer: to show Machi the beauty of humanity, ultimately restoring her to her previous self.

Benzaiten is enamored with the human world—possibly too enamored—and, as she’s the goddess of love, humanity is enamored right back. Being second-best to another friend isn’t helping Machi move past her trauma, and with each adventure they share, Machi is reminded of everything she’s lost. It isn’t until Machi starts interacting with the souls of the dead—a byproduct of being around Benzaiten—that she starts to rediscover her place among the living.

From an author to watch, The Lost Souls of Benzaiten is a highly original debut about the nature of happiness and the potential for healing.

A Bite Above the Rest by Christine Virnig (ISBN-13: 9781665946575 Publisher: Aladdin
Publication date: 08/06/2024, Ages 8-12)

A boy moves to a Halloween-themed town only to realize there may be more to the tourist trap than meets the eye in this fast-paced romp of a middle grade novel perfect for fans of The Last Kids on Earth and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library!

When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween.

Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weirder.

But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf—right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving?

The Ghost Rules by Adam Rosenbaum (ISBN-13: 9780823456581 Publisher: Holiday House Publication date: 08/13/2024, Ages 8-12)

Twelve-year-old Elwood McGee never asked to have “ghost-sight,” and it involves a lot more drool-dodging than he expected. Ghosts are the WORST—and they’re all over the place in this sharp-witted middle grade debut novel.

Did you know that ghosts love coffee? They’re not trying to be scary. They’re just deprived of an appropriate amount of caffeine! They also bump into things by accident, are occasionally nosy, and get a little nervous when they’re seen by the living.

Elwood McGee knows these ghost facts because he’s one of those rare people with the gift of ghost-sight. And it turns out ghosts are everywhere! Especially in the small Tennessee town where Elwood and his family had to move following the death of his big brother Noah, which Elwood thinks was his fault.

Once Elwood figures out he can see ghosts, he becomes single-mindedly determined to use his powers to see Noah and talk to him once last time. With the help of two girls who live on his street, Elwood embarks on a journey through the surprisingly funny world of ghosts and faces the realities of letting go.

At once hilarious and heart wrenching, Adam Rosenbaum makes his middle grade debut with a supernaturalish novel about grief that’s perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Dan Gutman.

Once They See You: 13 Stories to Shiver and Shock by Josh Allen, Sarah J. Coleman (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9780823456321 Publisher: Holiday House Publication date: 08/20/2024, Ages 9-12)

There’s no escaping these deliciously creepy tales of everyday horror, perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Once you open this book, you’re doomed . . . Cursed to stay up late, savoring every line of these terrifying stories. Go ahead and try to resist. The Night Things won’t let you get far.

Master storyteller Josh Allen, hailed as the “heir-apparent to Alvin Schwartz,” brings thirteen nightmare scenarios to life in this page-turning collection. From a shiny abandoned bike, to an innocent classroom icebreaker, to a piano recital that requires unusual sacrifices, there’s no end to the shocking twists on everyday reality.

In Allen’s wondrous world, which looks an awful like our own, danger waits behind every doorway . . . even in the most ordinary places.

Eerie illustrations by award-winning artist Sarah Coleman accompany the stories, packaged in a stunning hardcover edition complete with glow-in-the-dark jacket. Readers will sleep with one eye open!

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