Holiday House and Pixel+Ink Showcase: October 2024 Through April 2025 Titles

Time moves so fast! I’ve started getting a fair amount of 2025 titles mixed in with all the book mail. (As I type this, one of my chiweenies, the loud boss of the neighborhood one, is having a tantrum because UPS is here dropping off yet more book mail!) 2025! It’s coming!

Today I’m sharing some upcoming titles from Holiday House and Pixel+Ink. All descriptions from the publishers.

The Winterton Deception 2: Fault Lines by Janet Sumner Johnson (ISBN-13: 9781645952053 Publisher: Pixel+Ink Books Publication date: 10/29/2024, Ages 8-12)

A kidnapping, a clue hunt, lots of family tension, and a literary find for the ages weave together in the thrilling second book of the Winterton Deception. Perfect for fans of Knives Out, The Inheritance Games, and The Westing Game.

After the incredible events of the last official Winterton Bee, Hope and Gordon Smith have discovered that having an extended family isn’t so bad . . . and maybe their famous relatives’ lives aren’t so charmed. But Hope is still hiding a secret, and it’s a big one.

When Elizabeth Springer goes missing just before the Winterton’s big Thanksgiving celebration—their first reunion since the spelling bee—Hope knows it’s time to come clean. Her secret may be the only thing that can save Ms. Springer. But none of the Winterton clan want to hear it. Worse, they accuse Hope of making up the whole thing as an attention-grab.

Poised to give up on her new-found family, Hope gets a cryptic coded letter with instructions on how to find James Winterton—her long-estranged grandfather. Whatsmore, the letter hints that the Wintertons had more secrets than just a hidden treasure. Now Hope and Gordon face the impossible task of convincing their family to follow a shifty clue to find the man they want to see least, in order to save the woman who’s been lying to them for years.

With even more family intrigue and peppered with delicious literary what-ifs, the second installment in the middle grade The Winterton Deception series delivers another twisty, electric puzzle mystery young sleuths will eagerly devour.

Scattergood by H. M. Bouwman (ISBN-13: 9780823457755 Publisher: Holiday House/Neal Porter Books Publication date: 01/21/2025, Ages 10-12)

In rural Iowa in 1941, twelve-year-old Peggy’s quiet life is turned upside down by refugee arrivals, first love, and a heartbreaking diagnosis.

Growing up a farm girl, Peggy’s life has never been particularly exciting. But a lot changes in 1941. Her friend Joe starts acting strange around her. The Quaker hostel nearby reopens to house Jewish refugees from Europe, including a handsome boy named Gunther and a troubled professor of nothing. And her cousin and best friend, Delia, is diagnosed with leukemia—and doesn’t even know it.

Peggy has always been rational. She may not be able to understand poetry and speak in metaphors like Delia, but she has to believe she can find a way out of this mess, for both of them. There has to be a cure. And yet the more she tries to control, the more powerless she feels. She can’t make Gunther see her the way she sees him. She can’t help the Professor find his missing daughter. She’s tired of feeling young and naive, but growing up is proving even worse.

A historical coming-of-age novel that feels as alive and present as today, Scattergood offers even readers familiar with World War II a fascinating new glimpse of history, far from the battlefields of Europe and the shores of New York City. H.M. Bouwman presents a raw and unapologetic snapshot of a girl battling her own shortcomings and the random nature of life.

Casey’s Cases: The Mysterious New Girl by Kay Healy (ISBN-13: 9780823456505 Publisher: Holiday House/Neal Porter Books Publication date: 02/11/2025 Series: Casey’s Cases, Ages 7-10)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Nancy Drew meets Amelia Bedelia in this hilarious young graphic novel series featuring an aspiring detective who will solve any case . . . usually accidentally.

Casey wants nothing more than to be a detective. No mystery is too big or small for her to tackle! OK, so she doesn’t see everything coming—mean girl Dina always has the last word, and Casey is constantly falling into embarrassing disasters in front of cute boy AJ.

But now, it’s Casey’s eleventh birthday, and she’s just been given a magnifying glass and a pair of binoculars—perfect gifts for today’s mystery: Mr. Muffin, a cat Casey’s parents insist is too big to be a hungry stray. Will Casey manage to convince them he belongs with her? More importantly, could that new girl in school be the perfect contender for a new best friend? Casey’s on the job, and she won’t stop till all cases are closed.

Fresh talent Kay Healy’s winsome heroine, crackling wit, and charmingly geometric characters alchemize to comedy gold. Voracious young comics fans won’t want to miss Casey’s laugh-out-loud debut.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

The Extraterrestrial Zoo 1: Finding the Lost One by Samantha van Leer (ISBN-13: 9781645952930 Publisher: Pixel+Ink Books Publication date: 03/04/2025, Ages 10-14)

A middle grade debut by New York Times bestselling co-author of Between the Lines stars 13 year old Ava, who helps run her family’s refuge for extraterrestrials. But a sudden attack on the zoo leads to her discovering a government conspiracy that upends everything she believed to be true.

When meteors suddenly dropped to earth containing eggs in which alien babies were growing, the government called in the experts. Ava’s parents hatched, cared for, raised, and researched these unique beings. When Ava was born, she became part of the team. So many extraterrestrial living beings (ELBs) came, that the government funded the Alien Zoo, where visitors could come and see the ELBs. It was a huge success in its day.

But now Ava is 13, and so much has changed. A terrible car accident claimed her mother. And her father, in deep despair, left Ava and the Zoo in the care of his brother, who’s still healing emotional wounds from his wartime. Then the alien babies stopped coming, and so did the public.

So when 15 year old Harley shows up as an intern for the Zoo, Ava feels blindsided. This is her show. And then a terrible storm changes everything. The once beloved ELBs are loose, and being hunted. Ava’s uncle, MIA. All she has is this strange new boy to help her save everything she loves.

The Boy Who Lived in a Shell: Snippets for Wandering Minds by John Himmelman (ISBN-13: 9780823458455 Publisher: Holiday House/Margaret Ferguson Books Publication date: 03/18/2025, Ages 7-10)

From the venerable John Himmelman comes something new—a collection of story poems perfect for fans of Shel Silverstein.

Ivo lived in a great big shell.
That floated in the sea.
He wrote stories to make the time pass.
Millions and millions of stories.
More than a shell could hold.
More than a boy’s life could hold.

A boy named Ivo lives in a giant moon snail shell on a beach. One day, a wave carries him out to sea. While he waits to be rescued, he makes the best of his time writing story poems on the walls inside the shell. In his poems, Ivo introduces you to characters such as dolphin, the nicest creature in the ocean who brings him a crayon when he needs a new one. Crab who takes over when Ivo sleeps and writes crabby poems. There’s carrot boy who eats so many carrots that he turns into a rabbit. And two sibling pups taken in by different owners and can’t stop looking for each other.

John Himmelman’s masterful collection of poems—each illustrated in full-color art—is filled with unforgettable characters and begs to be read time and time again.

Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler and Sunshine Bacon (ISBN-13: 9780823456970
Publisher: Holiday House Publication date: 04/15/2025, Ages 10-14)

To rebuild their broken family, a pair of audacious tween cousins must confront the long-buried secrets that destroyed it in this upper middle grade novel told from dual perspectives.

Twelve-year-olds Alice and Bee are practically strangers when their grandparents’ anniversary party reunites their estranged families and ignites their own fast friendship.

But their reunion doesn’t last long—Bee’s mother and grandfather are dead set on keeping the liberal Seattle faction of the family away from the conservative Minnesota crew. “It’s complicated,” the grown ups tell them over and over (and over!) again.

Bee and Alice grow closer despite their geographical distance, determined to keep their friendship going—and to uncover the big family secret. What happened all those years ago, and why did it tear their family apart?

Just when they’ve started to make progress, the COVID pandemic strikes. Bee and Alice watch as the world shuts down and their loved ones grow further divided along their fractured lines. Somehow, it’s up to the twelve-year-olds to clean up the mess that the grown ups have made.

This powerful, timely story cuts deep, touching on recent historic events and intimate family details alike. With an age-appropriate approach, Rabbit Rabbit tackles religion, sexuality, bodily autonomy, and other juicy stuff you’re not supposed to talk about at Thanksgiving.

Readers will fall headfirst for Alice and Bee as the unforgettable tweens make space for their friendship and shifting identities while standing up to their far-from-perfect family, with all the love and grace they can muster.

The Tontine Caper by Dianne K. Salerni, Matt Schu (Illustrator) (ISBN-13: 9780823458103 Publisher: Holiday House Publication date: 04/22/2025, Ages 8-12)

Clue meets Knives Out in this twisty-turny middle grade mystery-comedy with delightfully dry humor and impeccable plotting.

Eleven-year-old orphan Nico Lombardi has been unfairly indentured at a remote mountain inn for five years now.

Just as he gathers the courage to escape, the inn gets booked by the remaining members of a “tontine,” an investment scheme where a cash prize is awarded to whomever lives the longest. In other words, every guest wants access to the fortune. Preferably as soon as possible.

During their stay, a chaotic race to control the fate of the tontine takes over the normally sleepy inn. Nico watches in horror as a series of comically disastrous events unfolds—some of which might aid his escape, and some of which might get him in big trouble. Before he can even put the right clues together, three unexpected revelations change the course of everyone’s future!

Arch humor and an incredible cast of strange and calculating characters keep the pages turning in this Wes Anderson-esque mystery filled with funny mishaps and misunderstandings. Perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and The 39 Clues series.

Filed under: new books