Audience
Category
Tags

Some of These Are Snails

Carter Higgins

Press Here meets Eric Carle in a concept book that makes familiar ideas exciting and surprising.

 

From the creative mind behind Circle Under Berry comes this deceptively simple concept book that explores sorting, classification, and patterns as it teases the brain in unusual ways. With an elegant and simple approach, this thought-provoking book shows young readers that even the most familiar things can be seen from infinite perspectives. As with the best classic children's books, you read it once, read it ten times--and see something new every time.

 

MULTIPLE WAYS TO READ: The author has provided creative and helpful suggestions for different ways in which to read this book for varying reading levels and age ranges, making it truly versatile.

PACKED LEARNING VALUE: The unusual approach to colors, shapes, and animals intelligently introduces young readers to patterns, classification, and problem solving. The imaginative language, rich with rhythmic phrasing and playfulness, begs to be read aloud.

WIDE APPEAL FOR SCHOOL AND LIBRARY USE: Carter Higgins presents engaging learning with a variety of concepts. With its clear read-aloud qualities, this is ideal for teachers and librarians who organize reading events in their classrooms and communities.

UNIQUE DESIGN: The art style for this book, with playful nods to Eric Carle and Hervé Tullet, stands out from the pack in ways that will resonate with children as well as adults. It sits beautifully on any shelf--
from classroom to home libraries.

TALENTED AUTHOR: Carter Higgins has many successful titles across multiple age groups, including Circle Under Berry, Everything You Need for a Treehouse, This is Not a Valentine, Bikes for Sale, Big and Small and In-Between, and Audrey L and Audrey W.

Circle Under Berry
[star]​ "[V]isually striking . . . positively begging to be read aloud." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
[star]​ "[D]rawing readers' attention while achieving real grace . . ." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"[S]parkling and ingenious . . . positively tingles." --The Wall Street Journal
"A triumph of design and a beacon of possibility." --The Horn Book Magazine
"[A] striking exploration of shapes, colors, and patterns . . ." --Booklist Reviews

Everything You Need for a Treehouse
"Get ready for your imagination to explode!" --NPR Best Books of the Year
"[A] feast for the imagination." --Book Page
"This book urges adventure and creativity." --School Library Journal

This is Not a Valentine
"An enduring message of friendship." --School Library Journal
"A perfect book for kids who find the whole Valentine's Day holiday icky and overrated." --Book Riot
"Recognizes that you can don't need sugary hearts and mushy sentiment to show you care." --Newsday
"Heartwarmingly funny." --Entertainment Weekly

Bikes for Sale
"Celebrates the ways in which serendipity can lead to friendship and sharing." --Booklist
"A sweet, quiet, different take on new-friendship." ---Kirkus Reviews

Big and Small and In-Between
[star]​ "[V]isually stunning and emotionally rich . . ." --School Library Journal, starred review
"[A] profoundly moving, charmingly crafted picture book." --The New York Times
"[A]n abstract journey with many turns and surprises." --Publishers Weekly

Audrey L and Audrey W
"Funny and engaging." --Kirkus Reviews
"This sweet series-starter holds plenty of promise." --Booklist
"[S]ensitive and gently humorous." --Shelf Awareness
"A great addition to libraries where memorable girls like Ivy + Bean and Judy Moody are popular." --School Library Journal
"[Readers] will find their sweet spot with this easy reader." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Perfect for:

  • Parents and grandparents seeking engaging, interactive books for kids
  • Teachers, librarians, educators, and caregivers of children ranging from toddlers to emerging readers
  • Classroom gift book for preschool, kindergarten, art teachers
  • Baby shower, birthday, and holiday gift giving
  • Fans of Carter Higgins, Eric Carle, and Laura Vaccaro Seeger
  • Fans of fun educational books
View Details >>

My Proudest Moment

Lindsay Achtman

"My Proudest Moment" is a diverse story that follows two characters side by side as they grow up following their passions. The strength, perseverance, dedication, and heart that is highlighted throughout the book comes with a special surprise that shatters gender norms and stereotypes. By sharing this story with your family, friends, and students you will be helping to build a more inclusive world where all children are encouraged to chase after their dreams.

View Details >>

Sally's Big Day

Andrew Larsen

Sally is excited for the first day of puppy school, but it isn't easy when there are so many new things to see (and sniff!).

It's hard to focus at puppy school when there are all kinds of pups to play with, water to splash in...and so many smells! But Sally doesn't give up and keeps trying, ending the day triumphantly.

Just like children, puppies have a lot to explore in and learn about the world around them. This sweet story will give confidence to young readers as they venture into the world to learn and try new things.

View Details >>

Dungeons and Dragons: Behold! a Search and Find Adventure

Wizards of Wizards of the Coast

Embark on a search-and-find adventure within THE WORLD OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS!

Dive into a dozen intricately illustrated Dungeons & Dragons worlds and realms, including the frozen winds of Icewind Dale, Waterdeep and the City of Splendors, Neverwinter, the Jewel of the North, and the legendary Baldur's Gate!

Will you be able to discover the Dungeon Master as he guides you to the end, or will you remain lost forever within the Forgotten Realms? Join fighters, wizards, knights, and other iconic characters as they journey through the Forgotten Realms in search of the legendary Dungeon Master!

Get ready to explore the iconic Dungeons & Dragons franchise like never before with this 48-page search-and-find filled with magically detailed full-color illustrations, guaranteed to give hours of search-and-find fun!

View Details >>

Kiki Can! Go to School

Susie Jaramillo

From the Emmy-nominated, award-winning Canticos preschool series comes a brand-new heartwarming story about the magic of trying new things and the importance of being yourself that follows the beloved Kiki, Nicky and Ricky Chickie siblings as they embark on their first day of school. With adorable, candy-colored art, this endearing picture book is perfect for fans of I Will Be Fierce and The Pigeon Has to Go To School!

It’s Kiki’s first day of school, and she’s ready to go! Her backpack is full, and she’s picked the perfect bow to wear. Even better? Her brothers, Nicky and Ricky, are going to be with her all day!

But wait a minute—why are Nicky and Ricky going to another classroom?

Kiki’s excitement rapidly turns to nerves, but as her different classmates begin to share their favorite things, Kiki learns that as long as she’s herself, she can always make new friends.

View Details >>

My Pocket Bathroom

Yan Du

A sweet story about the importance of self-care and having a place of one's own.

Po is a small girl living in a BIG, loud city who has always had to share her favorite relaxing retreat--her bathroom--with her busy family. But when a mysterious visitor arrives one night, everything changes.

Po's bathroom is a place where she can be herself, enjoy quiet time, and do anything she dreams of: put on shows, dance and sing, and create whatever she imagines. But her mom, dad, and brother always barge in and interrupt her alone time. She wishes for a sanctuary all her own. Then one night, Lady Violet, a beautiful toilet guardian, appears with a magical gift. Things for Po will never be the same. But maybe she isn't the only one who needs her very own private bathroom.

Author Yan Du and illustrator Erin Vanessa bring to life a sweet story about the importance of self-care and having a place of one's own.

View Details >>

The Shape of You

Muon Thi Van

A thoughtful and unique meditation on the shapes found in everyday life. A mother tells her daughter about the shapes that make up their lives. At first, they are literal shapes. The shape of their door is a rectangle, their table, a square. Water can be shaped like a cube or a cloud. Then, she moves into the figurative. The shape of learning is a question. The shape of warmth is a space waiting to be filled. Some shapes change, like a child growing up, while others remain the same, like the mountain behind their house. While the shape of her heart “will always be you.” With the feel of a classic, this book will shape readers’ minds and expand their thinking.

View Details >>

Yoga Adventure

Jamaica Stevens

Travel to all seven continents and the oceans, too, with an energetic yoga sequence set to an irresistible original song. Sweet illustrations guide children into more than a dozen yoga poses, some mimicking a distinctive animal from each global region, others paired with modes of transportation to connect them all. Written by a children's yoga expert, the playful story concludes with step-by-step instructions for each yoga pose and a world map with a fun fact about each animal. Includes audio and animation.

View Details >>

Norton and the Borrowing Bear

Gabriel Evans

A Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book.

 

"Readers who have been in Norton's or the bear's shoes will emerge enlightened. A sound lesson in making friends--and setting boundaries." Kirkus Reviews

 

Wouldn't it be fun to have a friend living right next door to you? Well, as Norton discovers, it can certainly pose some challenges when that friend wants to borrow all your favorite things, even your special fuzzy slippers.

 

This is a story about setting limits and learning to accept you friends, flaws and all. It introduces readers to the important skill of boundary-setting in a funny, accessible way that will help them share and borrow without regrets.

View Details >>

Too Many Hugs

Yvonne Pearson

"The story's gentle humor and warm, friendly illustrations make this book a welcome SEL tool for homes and classrooms."--Elizabeth Verdick, author of the "Best Behavior" series (Teeth Are Not for Biting, Voices Are Not for Yelling, Words Are Not for Hurting)

Sticky hugs. Tight hugs. Smooching hugs. Too MANY hugs! Theo loves his family, but too many hugs is, well, too many.

"When he feels overhugged, Theo takes action....The important message about bodily autonomy is clearly stated and further articulated for parents in the backmatter...given that all children should learn to ask before giving a hug and to expect the same from others, it's one that many little ones will benefit from reading."--Kirkus Reviews

In this adorable--but important--book on consent, Theo teaches his family about the need for respect and personal boundaries. After a day of too many hugs, he writes his five rules for hugging and puts them on the refrigerator. When Grandma comes in for a smacking, smooching hug, she sees the rules and stops. "How about a hug?" she asks. Theo can't wait to say, "YES!"

Why does consent matter? Research shows that helping kids learn to take charge of their bodies and decide for themselves what is welcome (or unwelcome) touch is a critical step to empowering them against abuse. Asking--not demanding--a hug from a child teaches him that he matters as a person and that he is as deserving of respect as a grownup.

Too Many Hugs is a funny, powerful way to get that life-changing lesson started!

View Details >>

My Indigo World

Rosa Chang

This gorgeous celebration of the color blue and the indigo plant, by a Korean American debut artist and storyteller, powerfully connects art and the natural world.

With lavish mixed-media art including watercolor painting and hand-dyed textiles, debut author-illustrator Rosa Chang pays tribute to the science and art of growing the indigo plant and making indigo dye. Woven throughout is a poetic tribute to the color blue, Chang’s favorite since her girlhood in Korea, and an appreciation of the indigo plant as a valued source of blue dye in cultures around the world. Informative back matter tells more about the science behind indigo dye production, with an “indigo map” of the shades of blue produced by indigo around the world, and simple instructions for growing your own indigo plants and making homemade blue dye.

View Details >>

I'm a Prince!

A. H. Benjamin

Bossy Pig is about to learn something important in this
light-hearted story about respecting others and being yourself.

When Pig finds a crown one day, he puts it on and says he is a prince. He soon gets bored just sitting on his throne, so decides to play at being royalty - fighting his friend Lizard, 'saving' Squirrel and commanding Rabbit and Badger to dance and bow to him. But when his friends get fed up with his princely antics, Pig learns an important lesson about humility and being yourself.

View Details >>

Anti-Racist Art Activities for Kids

Anti-Racist Art Teachers

Harness the power of creativity to celebrate your community and change the world with Anti-Racist Art Activities for Kids.

Do you think, “I’m just a kid. What can I do to make a difference?” Be an anti-racist artist! Have fun with 38 creative projects that empower you to use your art, actions, and words to create meaningful change.

Start your anti-racist art-making journey by defining ideas like race, racism, and anti-racism. Dive into six sections, beginning with self-reflection before seeking justice and taking action! Each section’s theme includes an array of activity choices, including:
 

  • Identity – Who you are and what makes you unique.
    • Explore your identity and create a symbol that represents you.
  • Culture – Your way of life and honoring what others value about theirs.
    • Make a textile design inspired by your home and culture.
  • Community – Connecting to people and places.
    • Challenge your implicit biases and discover how to draw diverse people.
  • Empathy – Understanding others and having compassion.
    • Learn the meaning of equity by solving real-world math problems with art.
  • Justice – Making a society that is fair for all.
    • Create a miniature billboard that comments on a social issue.
  • Activism – Creating change and transforming our communities.
    • Mail a postcard to a politician that informs them of what you would like to see change.


Other activities include designing a community mural and organizing people to make a positive change. As you work through the pages and explore the many parts of being an anti-racist artist, you will learn various art-making skills and engage with different materials such as paint, clay, textiles, and recycled materials. At the back, a helpful glossary defines terms that come up in anti-racist discussions, from “activism” to “white supremacy.”

This book is just a starting point, and the possibilities are endless. There is no limit to your imagination and your impact!

Contributors include: Abigail Birhanu, Khadesia Latimer, Paula Liz, Lori Santos, Tamara Slade and Anjali Wells.

View Details >>

Bug Sandwich

Brady Smith

It’s time to bite those bugs back, in this funny tale of a bitten-up boy who’s not going to take it anymore!

The kid in this story has had it with how much bugs love him—love to bite him, that is! Now he’s determined to return the favor. But as he eagerly hunts the bugs in his backyard, he can’t help noticing how impressive they are, too—they’re basically master builders with super-strength! But will that remarkable quality be enough for him to change what’s on the menu? This wacky tale will delight young readers, who will be itching to find out who wins the buggy battle!

View Details >>

10 Cats

Emily Gravett

Award-winning, bestselling author and illustrator Emily Gravett follows a group of playful cats as they turn a mess of color into an engaging display of art and text in this early learning picture book, perfect for anyone looking for books for 3-year-olds and up.



Follow the lives of ten kittens as they playfully pounce, bat, and swat while their mother sleeps. Buckets of paint quickly turn the kittens--and their sleeping mother--into brilliant works of art. When mama cat wakes up, playtime turns into bath time.



Full of playful and engaging art, this inventive cat book creates page after page of spot-the-difference fun perfect for repeat reading.



This charming counting book is perfect for helping young readers learn their colors as well as how to count to ten. Emily Gravett's adorable cat art makes 10 Cats just as appealing to those looking for gifts for cat lovers as to anyone searching for kids books ages 3-5.
 

View Details >>

Nothing Could Stop Her

Rona Arato

Ruth Gruber didn't want to live an ordinary life, and she wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Born to a Jewish American family in 1911, she grew up to become a renowned journalist and activist. Her career spanned seven decades and led her to places that other reporters wouldn't or couldn't go, from Nazi Germany to the remote Arctic regions of the Soviet Union. At a time when women were expected to stay at home and raise families, Ruth told the stories of people in need and fought for their rights to live in safety and freedom.

View Details >>

The Big Rock

Jian Li

Grandpa builds a beautiful little vegetable garden, but a big ugly rock is in the way. He digs it with a shovel. Thinking that it is as big as a car, he decides to bypass it when planting vegetables. Grandma nearly trips over the rock when watering the seedlings, so she digs it with a shovel. Thinking that it is as big as a house, she decides to walk across it when she is there. Papa stumbles over the rock when he is going to trim the seedlings, so he digs it with a shovel. Thinking that it is as big as an airplane, he decides to let it stay. Mama is worried about her sons tripping over the rock, so she digs it with a shovel. Thinking that it is as big as a mountain, she decides to keep her sons out of the vegetable garden. One day, the two brothers see the big rock and decide to dig it out together. Both their grandparents and parents tell them to give it up, because the rock can be bigger than they ever imagine. However, in just one afternoon, the two brothers dig out the rock successfully. It is not as big as they think. Sometimes the things in front of us are not as simple as they look.

View Details >>

The Forest Keeper– The True Story of Jadav Payeng

Rina Singh

Trees don’t grow on sandbars . . . but a boy from India grew a forest.

What can one person do in the face of global environmental degradation? Indian Jadav Payeng has proven that each and every one of us can make a difference. As a boy, he began planting trees on a sandbank in the state of Assam. Nobody believed that he would succeed in doing so. But since 1979, a forest the size of Central Park has emerged, offering a home to countless animals and plants. It was not until 2007 that a photographer accidentally discovered the forest and made Payeng known to the world beyond India.

Rina Singh has sensitively retraced the story of young Jadav. In Ishita Jain's picture book debut as illustrator, readers feel immersed in the spectacular habitat whose existence borders on a miracle come true.
 

View Details >>

Domino's Tree House

Dawn Patitucci

Join one boy's quest to build the ultimate tree house in this imaginative picture book about the good things we might be missing in our never-ending pursuit of "better."

Domino's backyard isn't enough for him, so he builds a tree house. When the tree house isn't quite enough, he builds a tree cottage, then a tree mansion, and on and on, pursuing something "more"--something that he can't put his finger on and can't quite reach. In a series of escalating feats of tree-house engineering, Domino builds and builds, until he finds himself alone on the moon, still not satisfied.

Gorgeous illustrations of a gravity-defying tree house will capture little ones' imaginations, while the satisfying conclusion will remind young readers that wanting more might cause us to miss the sweetness of what we already possess.

View Details >>

Bridges

Marc Majewski

Explore bridges around the world--and how they unite us--in this gorgeously illustrated nonfiction picture book

Bridges can be high or low, long or short, straight or curvy. Some are designed to blend in, while others stand out. But each one tells a story: a reminder of our history, a testament to ingenuity and engineering, an invitation to imagine the possibilities of the future. Literally and symbolically, bridges connect us--to new places, new cultures, and new people.

With poetic text and sweeping illustrations, Marc Majewski delivers a unique, accessible look at bridges all around the world: from San Francisco's incredible Golden Gate to the Victoria Falls Bridge connecting Zambia and Zimbabwe to England's Tower Bridge and Japan's Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and many in between. Both informational and thought-provoking, Bridges shows how these awe-inspiring structures unite the manmade and natural worlds, and how they bring humanity together.

View Details >>

The Lobster Lady

Alexandra S.D. Hinrichs

This intriguing picture-book biography tells the true story of Virginia Oliver—the Lobster Lady—who at 102 years old is the oldest person lobstering in Maine.

Still hauling lobsters at over 100 years old, Virginia Oliver is admired in the state of Maine and beyond. She has been lobstering on and off for over 93 years and is fondly known as the Lobster Lady among locals. Virginia is a native of Rockland, Maine.

The Lobster Lady chronicles a day in Virginia's life while illuminating all that she remembers from growing up and starting a family on the mainland in Maine and on her family’s island, called the Neck. Readers get a sense of Virginia’s life and an idea of all that goes into lobster harvesting.

Lyrically told and beautifully illustrated, The Lobster Lady is a tribute to the incredible life of a Maine icon and female pioneer.

View Details >>

The Third Daughter

Adrienne Tooley

A sweeping YA fantasy about legacy, betrayal, sisterhood, and politicizing emotion in the quest for power--all balanced by a slow-burn LGBTQ romance.



For centuries, the citizens of Velle have waited for their New Maiden to return. The prophecy states she will appear as the third daughter of a third daughter. When the fabled child is finally born to Velle's reigning queen all rejoice except for Elodie, the queen's eldest child, who has lost her claim to the crown. The only way for Elodie to protect Velle is to retake the throne. To do so, she must debilitate the Third Daughter--her youngest sister, Brianne.



Desperate, Elodie purchases a sleeping potion from Sabine, who sells sadness. But the apothecary mistakenly sends the princess away with a vial of tears instead of a harmless sleeping brew. Sabine's sadness is dangerously powerful, and Brianne slips into a slumber from which she will not wake. With the fates of their families and country hanging in the balance, Sabine and Elodie hurry to revive the Third Daughter while a slow-burning attraction between the two girls erupts in full force.



A must-read for fans of the BookTok sensations ​Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, and These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong.


 

View Details >>

The King Is Dead

Benjamin Dean

In this romantic thriller perfect for fans of Ace of Spades, James--the shy, handsome, mixed-race heir to the British throne--must choose between love and duty amidst a dangerous scandal and a tabloid media desperate for his downfall.



Heavy is the crown James has been born to wear, especially as the first Black heir to the British throne. But with his father's recent passing, and with a new boyfriend to hide, James is woefully unprepared for the sudden shine of public scrutiny.



When his secrets come spilling forth across tabloid pages and the man he thought he loved has suddenly disappeared, James finds himself on the precipice of ruin. As every detail of his life becomes public knowledge, his sense of safety is shattered and the people he trusts the most become the likeliest suspects.



What dangers lurk behind the palace walls--and will the new king find out before it's too late?

View Details >>

I'm Not Here to Make Friends

Andrew Yang

Terrace House meets Loveboat, Taipei in this fun, frothy, incisive YA debut, following two teens and their unforgettable summer on a reality show.

When Sabine Zhang is picked for Hotel California, a teen reality show with an all-Asian cast, she jumps at the opportunity. As one of few Asians at her high school in the Midwest, she's always felt as if she was playing a side character in someone else's story. But on this show, she'll finally have a chance to step into the spotlight.

All Yoona Bae wants is to get away. The girls at church think she's mean, her mom thinks she's a troublemaker, and she's tired of fighting against her unearned bad reputation. So when she's invited to appear on Hotel California, Yoona sees it as an opportunity to chill out, make some friends, maybe even get a tan.

But life on the show isn't all sunshine and self-actualization. The producers want drama at all costs, even if it means pitting Sabine and Yoona against each other. With the season finale looming, can the girls figure out a peaceful way forward, before they lose control of their own narratives?

View Details >>

Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other)

Livia Blackburne

You've Got Mail gets a fresh YA twist in this irresistible rom-com that spotlights the power of activism and community organizing in the face of gentrification, perfect for fans of Tweet Cute and Yes No Maybe So.

Clementine Chan believes in the power of the written word. Under the pseudonym Hibiscus, she runs a popular blog reviewing tea shops and discussing larger issues within her Chinatown community. She has a loyal, kind following, save for this one sour grape named BobaBoy888.

Danny Mok is allergic to change, and the gentrification seeping into Chinatown breaks his heart. He channels his frustration into his internet alter ego, BobaBoy888, bickering with local blogger Hibiscus over all things Chinatown and tea.

When a major corporation reveals plans that threaten to shut down the Mok's beloved tea shop, Clementine and Danny find themselves working together in real life to save this community they both love. But as they fall hard for this cause--and each other--they have no clue that their online personas have been fighting for years.

When the truth comes to light, can Danny and Clementine still find their happily-ever-after?

 

View Details >>

All That’s Left to Say

Emery Lord

A poignant and powerful story of a grieving girl willing to risk everything, perfect for fans of Robin Benway and Jandy Nelson.

On prom night, Hannah MacLaren sits in the headmaster's office in her fanciest dress, soaked to the bone. She is in huge trouble after pulling the fire alarm right as the prom was about to be crowned. But Hannah had her reasons . . .

One year ago, her cousin Sophie, who was also her best friend and the person she loved most in the world, died of an overdose. Drowning in grief, Hannah became obsessed with one question: Who gave Sophie those pills? Who is refusing to give her family the closure they deserve?

Then she concocted a plan: enroll at her cousin's fancy private school with a new look and a mouthful of lies, and finally uncover the truth.

But Hannah didn't expect all the lines to blur. She didn't expect Sophie's friends to be so complicated. She didn't expect to fall for her longtime enemy. Now, she must choose to either let herself really mourn Sophie and move on, or see her search through to its explosive end--even if it means destroying herself.

View Details >>

Give Me a Sign

Anna Sortino

Jenny Han meets CODA in this big-hearted YA debut about first love and Deaf pride at a summer camp.

Lilah is stuck in the middle. At least, that’s what having a hearing loss seems like sometimes—when you don’t feel “deaf enough” to identify as Deaf or hearing enough to meet the world’s expectations. But this summer, Lilah is ready for a change.

When Lilah becomes a counselor at a summer camp for the deaf and blind, her plan is to brush up on her ASL. Once there, she also finds a community. There are cute British lifeguards who break hearts but not rules, a YouTuber who’s just a bit desperate for clout, the campers Lilah’s responsible for (and overwhelmed by)—and then there’s Isaac, the dreamy Deaf counselor who volunteers to help Lilah with her signing.

Romance was never on the agenda, and Lilah’s not positive Isaac likes her that way. But all signs seem to point to love. Unless she’s reading them wrong? One thing’s for sure: Lilah wanted change, and things here . . . they're certainly different than what she’s used to.

View Details >>

I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom

Shannon C. F. Rogers

Packed with voice, Shannon C.F. Rogers' I'd Rather Burn than Bloom is a powerful YA novel about a Filipina-American teen who tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's death.

Some girls call their mother their best friend. Marisol Martin? She could never relate. She and her mom were forever locked in an argument with no beginning and no end. Clothes, church, boys, no matter the topic, Marisol always felt like there was an unbridgeable gap between them that they were perpetually shouting across, one that she longed to close.

But when her mother dies suddenly, Marisol is left with no one to fight against, haunted by all the things that she both said and didn’t say. Her dad seems completely lost, and worse, baffled by Marisol's attempts to connect with her mother's memory through her Filipino culture. Her brother Bernie is retreating further and further into himself. And when Marisol sleeps with her best friend's boyfriend - and then punches said best friend in the face - she's left alone, with nothing but a burning anger, and nowhere for it to go.

And Marisol is determined to stay angry, after all, there’s a lot to be angry about– her father, her mother, the world. But as a new friendship begins to develop with someone who just might understand, Marisol reluctantly starts to open up to her, and to the possibility there’s something else on the other side of that anger– something more to who she is, and who she could be.

View Details >>

Bellegarde

Jamie Lilac

Ooh la la! A historical rom-com with a modern twist--perfect for fans of Bridgerton, A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, and She's All That.

Evie Clement has perfected the art of avoiding attention as she works at her family's bakery and dreams of a life where she can trade dusting flour for designing dresses. Her focus is on honing her sewing skills--she doesn't need to be fawned over by some teenage boy.

Least of all Beau Bellegarde--the playboy of Paris, the second son of the ultra-wealthy Bellegarde family, the most popular guy in their prestigious high school. Others may swoon over his rakish charm and winning smile, but not Evie.

Unfortunately for Evie, Beau needs her. His conniving step-brother has roped him into an impossible bet: turn the biggest wallflower they know into the winning Bellegarde Bloom at the annual Court of Flowers Ball, or lose his entire fortune.

Evie can't understand why Beau has taken an interest in her, but she can't help but be intrigued...

Can love bloom in the most unexpected of places?

"The She's All That historical romance retelling of my dreams! When I wasn't savoring the lush, descriptive prose, I was eagerly devouring the smart, perfectly paced, heart-pounding romance. There's no doubt about it: Jamie Lilac makes a sparkling debut." --Brian Kennedy, author of A Little Bit Country

View Details >>

Tiger Rock: an AFK Book (Five Nights at Freddy's: Tales from the Pizzaplex #7)

Scott Cawthon

Five Nights at Freddy's fans won't want to miss this collection of three chilling stories that will haunt even the bravest player...

 

Have you ever had something stuck in your head . . . ? After a session in the VR Booth at the Mega Pizzaplex, Kai can't shake the feeling that the tiger animatronic somehow has stayed with him . . . A new attraction at the Mega Pizzaplex leaves Kane's mind full of intrusive thoughts not his own . . . And Danny's idea to get the attention of his high school crush comes with unimaginable consequences. . . In the world of Five Nights at Freddy's, truth is often scarier than fiction . . .

 

In this seventh volume, Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon spins three sinister novella-length tales from uncharted corners of his series' canon.Readers beware: This collection of terrifying tales is enough to rattle even the most hardened Five Nights at Freddy's fans.

View Details >>

Mirrorverse: Pure of Heart

Disney Books

Step into the Disney Mirrorverse, a brand-new realm full of endless adventure, where mirrored reflections of beloved Disney and Pixar characters are amplified and transformed, becoming battle-ready Guardians that must unite to defeat a powerful evil that threatens their home worlds and beyond.

Step into the Disney Mirrorverse, a brand-new realm full of endless adventure, where mirrored reflections of beloved Disney and Pixar characters are amplified and transformed, becoming battle-ready Guardians that must unite to defeat a powerful evil that threatens their home worlds and beyond.
Set in a fantasy land that is familiar but slightly changed, the story begins as Snow White helps a young deer in the forest. This isn’t the Snow White that Disney fans know: she has been recently transformed by the creation of the Disney Mirrorverse and given magical powers that she does not yet know how to wield. Despite her new abilities and the strange things happening in her world, Snow White, or “Snow” as her friends often call her, has been carrying on as normal…until now.
As she returns to her cottage, Snow spots her seven friends with dark, angry expressions, and glowing white eyes. They attack her, claiming they need to capture “the heart of Snow White.” Snow desperately tries to reason with her friends, but they refuse to listen to her, and she ultimately has to use the strange magic she has recently acquired to fend them off.
Snow is horrified when it seems that she has accidentally killed her friends in her attempt to protect herself. It is only when a strange talking creature, who she learns to be Sorcerer Mickey, the ruler of the Disney Mirrorverse, arrives and explains that the creatures she defeated were not her friends. They were a group of Fractured: evil copies created by Dark Magic. Snow believes that the evil Queen has taken her friends, and it is up to Snow to retrieve them and the Fractured Mirror, the source of the Mirrorverse’s power, before it can be used to destroy Snow’s home world forever.
But Snow doesn’t need to face the Queen alone. Mickey assigns her a team of Guardians, powerful beings from many different worlds who have committed to thwarting the Fractured and protecting the Mirrorverse from evil. Snow meets Tiana—an expert potion-maker—Rapunzel—a fighter who knows how to wield a frying pan—Stitch—a chaotic blue alien who can change forms—Sully— a monster with a big heart—and Hades—the lord of the underworld, who has offered to join the mission to see what this whole “Guardian gig” is about.
This unlikely crew ventures into Snow’s world, where they find growing Fractured, a determined huntsman, and a newly poisoned dark forest. On the way to the palace, each character faces a challenge seemingly created just for them.

View Details >>

Love and Resistance

Kara H. L. Chen

Moxie meets Mary H.K. Choi in this funny, whip-smart YA debut about love, resistance, and the enduring friendships that make it all worthwhile.

Seventeen-year-old Olivia Chang is at her fourth school in seven years. Her self-imposed solitude is lonely but safe. At Plainstown High, however, Olivia's usual plan of anonymity fails when infamous it-girl Mitzi Clarke makes a pointed racist comment in class. Tired of ignoring things just to survive, Olivia defends herself.

And that is the end of her invisible life.

Soon, Olivia joins forces with the Nerd Net: a secret society that's been thwarting Mitzi's reign of terror for months. Together, they plan to unite the masses and create true change at school.

But in order to succeed, Olivia must do something even more terrifying than lead a movement: trust other people. She might even make true friends along the way . . . if Mitzi doesn't destroy her first.

A cheeky, thought-provoking force of a book, perfect for fans of E. Lockhart's The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks.

View Details >>

You Won't Believe Me

Cyn Balog

Brace yourself for the unexpected in this chilling novel that will thrill suspense and horror readers alike! Willow can't remember what landed her in captivity, but she'll do anything to survive. For fans of Natasha Preston and Stephen King.

Willow is alone, confined to a bed with restraints. She can't remember how she got there...or how long she's been there.

An old lady appears in her room to feed her twice a day. Granny doesn't talk, but Willow can hear thumping from somewhere beyond her door. It's not Granny's shuffling steps. It's too loud to be Granny's cat. Is it someone? Something?

Then Granny's cat dies in Willow's room. And Granny follows a few days later. Willow will do anything to survive. But freeing herself from her bed is only the beginning... Because there is someone else in the house. Who is this mysterious teen who calls himself Elijah? And is he the reason she's hostage or the key to her escape?

Don't miss these other gripping novels from Cyn Balog:

Alone

That Night

Unnatural Deeds

View Details >>

The Quiet Part Out Loud

Deborah Crossland

For fans of You’ve Reached Sam and A Heart in a Body in the World, this searing and heartrending teen novel follows an ex-couple as they struggle to reunite in the wake of a devastating earthquake.

High school sweethearts Mia Clementine and Alfie Thanasis had a plan to escape their town for college in the east. Mia would leave her hard-core evangelical home for Sarah Lawrence College, and Alfie would have a new place to pursue his three loves: baseball, poetry, and Mia. But when Alfie got offered a scholarship to the University of San Francisco the same week the entire town found out about Mia’s mom’s affair with their church’s pastor, Mia’s world imploded and she pushed everyone away…including Alfie.

Five months after the worst summer ever, Mia is crashing at her best friend’s dorm at San Francisco State, just a few miles away from the University of San Francisco, praying she never runs into the boy whose heart she broke. And Alfie is trying to make the most of his freshman year while struggling to reconcile with the abrupt ending of his first love.

When Mia and Alfie’s paths cross for the briefest of moments, Mia realizes she never should have let him go and Alfie’s suppressed memories and feelings boil to the surface. But their reunion is cut short when a massive earthquake rocks San Francisco, leaving them to stumble desperately across the rubble in search of the ex they still love before the city crumbles—taking one, or both, of them with it.

View Details >>

Invisible Son

Kim Johnson

From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love.

Life can change in an instant.
When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime.
When a virus shuts everything down.
When the girl you love moves on.

Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased.

The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids—especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra’s brother Eric is missing, and the facts don’t add up as their adoptive parents fight to keep up the act that their racially diverse family is picture-perfect. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.

Critically acclaimed author Kim Johnson delivers another social justice thriller that shines a light on being young and Black in America—perfect for fans of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Dear Justyce by Nic Stone.

View Details >>

We Ship It

Lauren Kay

This rom-com debut has the fierce girl energy of the movie Booksmart, blended with the awkwardness of Kelly Quindlen's Late to the Party, topped with a thrilling international meet-cute a la Love and Gelato.

Olivia Schwartz has a plan. It's even color-coded.

And the plan is this: a perfect SAT score, a prestigious college, and a straight path towards her dream of becoming a doctor.

The last thing she wants to do--the summer before her senior year of high school, no less--is go on a cruise. Especially with her parents, younger brothers, and all the unspoken things between them since her older brother's death so many years ago.

Then Olivia meets Sebastian. He's everything she's not: charming, exciting, willing to take risks and run with them. For the first time, Olivia feels like she can have fun...

But there's a lot bubbling up under the surface on this cruise, and when past secrets begin to come to light, Olivia must face all the truths that she's ignored for so long: about herself, Sebastian, her brother, the past she thought she understood, and the future she's always planned.

View Details >>

Stay Sweet

Siobhan Vivian

From the author of The Last Boy and Girl in the World and The List comes a bold and sweet summer read about first love, feminism, and ice cream.

Summer in Sand Lake isn’t complete without a trip to Meade Creamery—the local ice cream stand founded in 1944 by Molly Meade who started making ice cream to cheer up her lovesick girlfriends while all the boys were away at war. Since then, the stand has been owned and managed exclusively by local girls, who inevitably become the best for friends. Seventeen-year-old Amelia and her best friend Cate have worked at the stand every summer for the past three years, and Amelia is “Head Girl” at the stand this summer. When Molly passes away before Amelia even has her first day in charge, Amelia isn’t sure that stand can go on. That is, until Molly’s grandnephew Grady arrives and asks Amelia to stay on to help continue the business…but Grady’s got some changes in mind…

View Details >>

Postcards from Summer

Cynthia Platt

The Notebook meets Love & Gelato in this heart-wrenching novel “full of deep romance and searing tragedy” (Kirkus Reviews) about a teen girl who travels to her late mother’s majestic summertime home to learn of the romance—and the tragedy—that changed her life forever.

Seventeen-year-old Lexi has always wanted to know more about the mother who passed away when she was only a child. But her dad will barely talk about her. He says he’d rather live in the present with Lexi, her stepmom, and her half-brother. Lexi loves her family, too, but is it so wrong to want to learn about the mom she never got to know?

When Lexi’s grandma dies and secretly leaves her a worn blue chest that belonged to Lexi’s mother, Lexi is ecstatic to find a treasure trove of keepsakes. Her mom held onto letters, pamphlets, flyers, and news articles all from the same beautiful summertime getaway: Mackinac Island—plus a cryptic postcard that hints at a forbidden romance. If Lexi wants answers, this island is where she needs to go.

Without telling her dad, Lexi goes to the gorgeous Mackinac Island in Lake Huron, reachable only by ferry. Cars are forbidden and bikes are the number one mode of transportation along the quaint cobblestone streets, and the magical hotel that rests alongside cozy cafés and bookshops. While following her mother’s footsteps, Lexi befriends an elderly former Broadway star and a charming young hotel worker while quickly falling in love with her surroundings.

But though the island may be beautiful, it’s hiding unfortunate secrets—some with her mother at the center. Could some questions be best left buried beneath the blue waters?

View Details >>

The Matchbreaker Summer

Annie Rains

A pitch-perfect summer camp rom-com about two teens with nothing in common who come together to help break up a romance and unexpectedly start one of their own...

Sixteen-year-old Paisley Manning has been attending Camp Starling since she was a little girl, when her parents ran it together. For the last few years, since her father’s death, she’s been the one helping her mom run the camp behind the scenes. This year, however, will be Camp Starling’s last hurrah because Paisley’s mom has met a guy online and they’re getting married.

Enter Hayden Bennett, who is working alongside Paisley. Paisley and Hayden are like oil and water. She follows the rules, and he seems to live to break them all. But when Hayden catches wind of Paisley's predicament, he has an idea. If a matchmaker in some computer algorithm caused the issue, a couple of real-life matchbreakers can fix it.

As they work to break up the happy couple, Paisley discovers that maybe Hayden's not so bad after all. Has she met her own perfect match in her fellow matchbreaker?

View Details >>

Those Summer Nights

Laura Silverman

After recovering from a life-changing injury, a teen girl must navigate a new job, an ex-best friend, and two surprisingly attractive coworkers in this “sweet, romantic summer tale” (Kirkus Reviews) for fans of Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian.

Hannah used to be all about focus, back before she shattered her ankle and her Olympic dreams in one bad soccer play. These days, she’s all about distraction—anything to keep the painful memories of her recent past at bay, including the string of bad decisions that landed her at boarding school for a year.

Enter Bonanza, the local entertainment multiplex and site of Hanna’s summer employment. With its mini golf course, bowling alley, and arcade—not to mention her hot, flirty coworker Patrick—Bonanza seems like the perfect way to stay distracted. Until her boss announces the annual Bonanza tournament, a staff competition that brings her past Olympic nightmares crashing back into her present.

On top of that, the Bonanza staff includes Brie, the ex-best friend she cut off last year, and Ethan, her brother’s best friend who became unreasonably attractive in her year away and who accepts her, even knowing her worst secrets. Under the neon lights of Bonanza, Hannah must decide whether she can find a way to discover a new self in the midst of her old life.

View Details >>

Love & Other Great Expectations

Becky Dean

An American girl embarks on a competitive scavenger hunt in England—and along the way, meets up with a bookish British boy who can't help her with the clues . . . but might make the trip take some unexpected turns.

Britt Hanson has always preferred scoring goals on the soccer field to analyzing dusty old books. But when an injury ends her dream to play in college, she jumps at the chance to compete in a scavenger hunt in England that takes her to the locations of classic novels—the prize money would change her life!

Once in the UK she meets bookish and very British Luke Jackson. He can’t actually help her with any of the clues (against the rules), but something about Luke compels her to invite him to join her. She wouldn’t mind getting to know him—and listening to his accent.

To win, Britt must outsmart three competitors who aren’t afraid to play dirty while solving clues and traveling around the English countryside. Along the way, Britt learns that sometimes you have to follow the map and other times, you need to throw caution to the wind and see where the cobblestoned road leads you.

View Details >>

My Life Next Door

Huntley Fitzpatrick

A gorgeous debut about family, friendship, first romance, and how to be true to one person you love without betraying another

The Garretts are everything the Reeds are not. Loud, numerous, messy, affectionate. And every day from her balcony perch, seventeen-year-old Samantha Reed wishes she was one of them . . . until one summer evening, Jase Garrett climbs her terrace and changes everything. As the two fall fiercely in love, Jase's family makes Samantha one of their own. Then in an instant, the bottom drops out of her world and she is suddenly faced with an impossible decision. Which perfect family will save her? Or is it time she saved herself?

A dreamy summer read, full of characters who stay with you long after the story is over.

"A summer romance with depth." —The Boston Sunday Globe

"Fitzpatrick's excellent first novel movingly captures the intensity of first love." —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An almost perfect summer romance." —Kirkus Reviews

"On par with authors such as Sarah Dessen and Deb Caletti." —SLJ

View Details >>

Never Coming Home

Kate M. Williams

The beach read you have been dying for! When ten of America's hottest teenage influencers are invited to an exclusive island resort, things are sure to get wild. But murder isn't what anyone expected. Will anyone survive?

Everyone knows Unknown Island—it’s the world’s most exclusive destination. Think white sand beaches, turquoise seas, and luxury accommodations. Plus, it’s invite only, no one over twenty-one allowed, and it’s absolutely free. Who wouldn’t want to go?

The mysterious resort launched with a viral marketing campaign, and now the whole world is watching as the mysterious resort opens its doors to the First Ten, the ten elite influencers specifically chosen to be the first to experience everything Unknown Island has to offer. You know them. There’s the gamer, the beauty blogger, the rich girl, the superstar, the junior politician, the environmentalist, the DJ, the CEO, the chef, and the athlete.

What they don’t know is that they weren’t invited to Unknown Island for their following—they were invited for their secrets. Everyone is hiding a deadly one, and it looks like someone’s decided it’s payback time. Unknown Island isn’t a vacation, it’s a trap. And it’s beginning to look like the First Ten—no matter how influential—are never coming home.

View Details >>

The Edge of Summer

Erica George

Fans of Sarah Dessen and Morgan Matson will be swept away by this big-hearted novel about one girl navigating first loss and first love during her summer on Cape Cod.



Saving the whales has been Coriander Cabot and her best friend Ella's dream since elementary school. But when tragedy strikes, Cor is left to complete the list of things they wanted to accomplish before college alone, including a marine biology internship on Cape Cod.



Cor's summer of healing and new beginnings turns complicated when she meets Mannix, a local lifeguard who completely takes her breath away. But she knows whatever she has with Mannix might not last, and that her focus should be on rescuing the humpback whales from entanglement. As the tide changes, Cor finds herself distracted and struggling with her priorities.



Can she follow her heart and keep her promise to the whales and her best friend?

View Details >>

The Summer of Broken Rules

K. L. Walther

A romance novel inspired by the songs of Taylor Swift!

*NOW A USA TODAY BESTSELLER*

This BookTok sensation is perfect for fans of Jenny Han's The Summer I Turned Pretty and Sarah Dessen's Along for the Ride.

Meredith's family's annual game of assassin at Martha's Vineyard during a summer wedding is the perfect chance to honor her sister's legacy, and finally join the world again. But when she forms an alliance with a cute groomsman, she's at risk of losing both the game ... and her heart.

When Meredith Fox lost her sister, Claire, eighteen months ago, she shut everyone out. But this summer she's determined to join the world again.

The annual family vacation to Martha's Vineyard seems like the perfect place to reconnect. Her entire extended family is gathering for a big summer wedding, and although Meredith is dateless after being unexpectedly dumped, she's excited to participate in the traditional Fox family game of assassin that will take place during the week of wedding festivities. Claire always loved the game, and Meredith is determined to honor her legacy.

But when Meredith forms an assassin alliance with a cute groomsman, she finds herself getting distracted. Meredith tries to focus on the game and win it for her sister, but she can't help falling for him. And as the week progresses, she realizes she's not only at risk of losing the game, but also her heart.

"The feel-good summer read of my dreams!"-Alicia, Goodreads Reviewer
"Boy, did it also give me all the summer feels."-Larissa, Goodreads Reviewer
"This book is bound to become a favorite of all who love contemporary romance."-Kelly, Goodreads Reviewer
"If beachy contemporary romances are your jam, then trust me-you do NOT want to miss this book."-Jessica, Goodreads Reviewer

View Details >>

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Jenny Han

Now an Original Series on Prime Video!

Belly has an unforgettable summer in this stunning start to the Summer I Turned Pretty series from the New York Times bestselling author of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (now a major motion picture!), Jenny Han.


Some summers are just destined to be pretty.

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer—they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one wonderful and terrible summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

View Details >>

Sunkissed

Kasie West

A swoony contemporary YA romance by fan-favorite author Kasie West about a girl who finds that a summer spent at a family resort isn't as bad as she imagined . . . and that falling in love is filled with heartache, laughter, and surprises!

Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can't help her forget what happened. To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of "fun." Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks--mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks--who just happens to be on staff--which means he's off-limits.

What starts as a disaster turns into. . . something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery. And when Brooks offers her the chance of a lifetime, she must figure out how far is she willing to go to find out what she wants and who she wants to be.

Fan favorite Kasie West is back with another unforgettable summer romance that reminds us falling in love is full of wonder, heartache, and--most of all--surprises.

View Details >>

Along for the Ride

Sarah Dessen

 

 

Soon to be a Netflix film!

From the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Once and For All
 
Nights have always been Auden’s time, her chance to escape everything that’s going on around her.
 
Then she meets Eli, a fellow insomniac, and he becomes her nocturnal tour guide.
 
Now, with an endless supply of summer nights between them, almost anything can happen. . . .
 
“As with all Dessen’s books, [this] is a must-have” —VOYA, starred review

Sarah Dessen is the winner of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her contributions to YA literature, as well as the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award.
 
Books by Sarah Dessen:
That Summer
Someone Like You
Keeping the Moon
Dreamland
This Lullaby
The Truth About Forever
Just Listen
Lock and Key
Along for the Ride
What Happened to Goodbye
The Moon and More
Saint Anything

Once and for All

 

 

View Details >>

When We Had Summer

Jennifer Castle

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants meets 13 Little Blue Envelopes in this new young adult novel about a tight-knit, daring, and eclectic group of friends who dedicate every summer to completing their #SummerSistersBucketList together – that is until one of their own passes away.

Best friends Carly, Daniella, Lainie, and Penny – aka the self-proclaimed #SummerSisters – have been coming to the New Jersey shore town of Ocean Park Heights ever since they could remember. And every year, the girls make a bucket list and dedicate their entire summer to completing every item on it, documenting their wacky escapades on FotoSlam for everyone to see. It’s their tradition, and as long as the Summer Sisters had each other, the rocky jetty on the shore, and their bucket list, that would never change. Right?

But then, tragedy strikes after Carly – the mastermind behind the bucket list– unexpectedly passes away. As the remaining Summer Sisters try to wrap their heads around their best friend’s death, life seems determined to throw more curveballs at the girls, threatening to split the Summer Sisters up for good. Daniella is accepted to a prestigious music academy in New York City, Lainie finds out her family is moving to Florida and leaving Ocean Park Heights for good, and Penny struggles to find her footing as she feels ready to leave childhood behind more quickly than either of her friends. What will hold them together with Carly gone and the Summer Sisters seemingly over?

Then, Daniella finds Carly’s final bucket list. And just like that, the Summer Sisters are back! But of course, things don’t always go as planned, and the girls try their hardest to navigate grief, loss, and coming-of-age woes while keeping the Summer Sisters – and Carly’s memory – alive.

View Details >>

Small Town Hearts

Lillie Vale

Fresh out of high school, Babe Vogel should be thrilled to have the whole summer at her fingertips. She loves living in her lighthouse home in the sleepy Maine beach town of Oar’s Rest and being a barista at the Busy Bean, but she’s totally freaking out about how her life will change when her two best friends go to college in the fall. And when a reckless kiss causes all three of them to break up, she may lose them a lot sooner. On top of that, her ex-girlfriend is back in town, bringing with her a slew of memories, both good and bad.

And then there’s Levi Keller, the cute artist who’s spending all his free time at the coffee shop where she works. Levi’s from out of town, and even though Babe knows better than to fall for a tourist who will leave when summer ends, she can’t stop herself from wanting to know him. Can Babe keep her distance, or will she break the one rule she’s always had - to never fall for a summer boy?

View Details >>

Alex, Approximately

Jenn Bennett

In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.

View Details >>

Ghosts, Toast, and Other Hazards

Susan Tan

"Susan Tan's writing is funny, fun, and hits straight to the heart."—Christina Soontorvat, two-time Newbery Honor recipient

From APALA Honor award-winning author Susan Tan, a middle-grade novel about a girl who must overcome her worries to find the truth behind her town's urban legend.

Mo is not afraid of toast. Just to be clear. She is afraid of fires, though. Which can be caused by everyday appliances, like toasters. So toast isn’t the problem, but you could say it’s the start of a slippery slope. Since her family's recent move, Mo's been eating oatmeal for breakfast.

Moving to a new town is never easy, but it’s even harder when you’re dealing with a stepdad who just left and a mom who can’t get out of bed long enough to find a new a job.

But Mo doesn’t have time to dwell on these things. Because it’s her job to keep her family together. To keep them safe.

So when an elephant starts to haunt her dreams—and a mysterious spirit attacks her home—Mo knows it’s up to her to intervene before things get too dangerous.

With her new friend, Nathaniel, she embarks on an investigation, searching for the truth about the town, its people, and their history. But things are much more complicated and tangled than she thought.

To find out what’s really going on, Mo might have to live a little dangerously after all.

View Details >>

Captain Skidmark Dances with Destiny

Jennifer A. Irwin

This laugh-out-loud middle-grade novel follows thirteen-year-old Will— who hates hockey and loves dancing—as he navigates school, bullies, and his father’s expectations.

Will is a Canadian eighth grader who hates hockey—and he stinks at it, too. Will is bullied at school, doesn’t have any friends, and is generally miserable.

When Will's seventeen-year-old hockey-star cousin, Alex, arrives to stay with Will’s family, Will and Alex quickly realize they can't stand each other. Then Will stumbles into a local dance school. He fights the urge to cha-cha, but he's good! When Will’s dad finds out about the dancing, he basically forbids it. And Alex’s dad refuses to listen to what Alex wants to do with his life.

Will takes readers on a journey through noogies, awkward conversations, and epic farts. He worries, dances, and makes messes. Filled with humor, nuance, and emotion, this novel asks what makes a family and what makes a man.

View Details >>

A Vanishing of Griffins

S.A. Patrick

The epic, middle grade fantasy continues in Book Two of the Songs of Magic trilogy!

Having upset the Hamelyn Piper's dastardly plan to build an army through songs of mind control, 13-year-old Piper, Patch Brightwater, must foil the escaped villain's next sinister plot: assembling a suit of immortal armor. Accompanied by Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and Barver, a fire-breathing dracogriff, Patch seeks the aid of old friends, legendary heroes, and a near-dead sorcerer.

Embark on another adventure with the motley trio as they clash with pirates of the Eastern Seas, uncover secrets of the griffins, and dabble with magic to undo past wrongs and forge their own offense before it's too late.

S. A. Patrick’s Songs of Magic trilogy is a brilliant retelling of one of the darkest legends of all time, "The Piper of Hamelyn." Combining folklore with the very best of modern storytelling, the books will delight young fantasy fans who are hungry for perilous quests, friendships forged on the road, and an inventive magic system that thrills the imagination.

View Details >>

Festergrimm

Thomas Taylor

In the fourth tale in this beloved series, villainous Sebastian Eels returns to Eerie-on-Sea, thrusting Herbie and Violet into a new adventure involving a missing girl, a spooky wax museum, and a dangerous clockwork robot.

Herbie Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his fearless friend Violet Parma have unearthed many secrets in their village of Eerie-on-Sea: secrets lurking beneath the waves, lapping onto the beaches, and lying behind locked doors. When their brilliant and ruthless nemesis, Sebastian Eels, returns with a plan to open the long-shuttered waxworks museum, Herbie and Violet suspect nefarious motives. Their investigation leads them into the dark Netherways below the town—and into the tragic past of the famous toymaker and inventor Ludovic Festergrimm and his doomed daughter, Pandora. Sebastian Eels is convinced that within the story of Festergrimm is the key to Eerie’s deepest secret—a secret in which Herbie himself plays a crucial part—and he’ll stop at nothing to uncover it, including bringing a terrifying clockwork legend back to life. With echoes of fairy tales and monster movies, plus a dismembered finger or two, this is a deliciously creepy addition to a fantastical mystery series that is perfectly calibrated to thrill middle-grade readers.

View Details >>

We the Future

Cliff Lewis

I'm from the future. We need you.

Ever since he learned about climate change, twelve-year-old Jonah has dreaded a weather-beaten future where not even his asthma medication can save him. Luckily, a girl from that future arrives just in time to throw Jonah a lifeline.

Sunny traveled back to the 2020s with a mission: help Jonah launch a climate strike big enough to rewrite history. To do it, he'll have to recruit his entire school before Halloween. Why so soon? Sunny won't say. But how can Jonah win over 600 classmates when the only thing he dreads more than the end of the world is talking to other kids?

View Details >>

Once There Was

Kiyash Monsef

A New York Times bestseller!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them meets Neil Gaiman in this thrilling novel about an Iranian American girl who discovers that her father was secretly a veterinarian to mythical creatures—and that she must take up his mantle, despite the many dangers.

Once was, once wasn’t.

So began the stories Marjan’s father told her as a little girl—fables like the story of the girl who sprung a unicorn from a hunter’s snare, or the nomad boy who rescued a baby shirdal. Tales of extraordinary beasts that filled her with curiosity and wonder.

But Marjan’s not a little girl anymore. In the wake of her father’s sudden death, she is trying to hold it all together: her schoolwork, friendships, and keeping her dad’s shoestring veterinary practice from going under. Then, one day, she receives a visitor who reveals something stunning: Marjan’s father was no ordinary veterinarian. The creatures out of the stories he told her were real—and he traveled the world to care for them. And now that he’s gone, she must take his place.

Marjan steps into a secret world hidden in plain sight, where mythical creatures are bought and sold, treasured and trapped. She finds friends she never knew she needed—a charming British boy who grew up with a griffon, a runaway witch seeking magic and home—while trying to hide her double life from her old friends and classmates.

The deeper Marjan gets into treating these animals, the closer she comes to finding who killed her father—and to a shocking truth that will reawaken her sense of wonder and put humans and beasts in the gravest of danger.

View Details >>

The Little Ice Cream Truck

Margery Cuyler

The Little Ice Cream Truck is loaded up with tasty treats in this new addition to ever-popular The Little Dump Truck, The Little School Bus and The Little Fire Truck series.

Join the little ice cream truck and its cheerful driver, Sue, as they trot all over their diverse town to deliver everyone’s favorite flavor of ice cream on a hot sunny day. With little ice cream truck’s jingly tune and pitstops at a birthday party, a park, and the zoo, this is a joyful new installment in the Little Vehicle series, which focuses on the many daily tasks of working trucks.

Christy Ottaviano Books

View Details >>

The Remembering Stone

Carey Sookocheff

Alice keeps a perfectly round skipping stone in her pocket to remember her grandfather by -- but the stone goes missing.

It looked just like a regular stone, but Alice knew it was different: It was perfectly round so you could use it to trace circles, and sometimes she could trick her dad into thinking it was a quarter. It was also how Alice remembered her grandpa, who taught her how to skip stones, and who passed away last winter.

Alice brings the stone to school for Show and Share, but when her classmate asks to see it again at recess, Alice discovers that the stone is gone! Her friends search high and low and can't find the stone--but their friendship gives Alice an idea of another way that she can remember.

A gentle look at loss, grief, and how small everyday actions can connect us to those we love.

 

Key Text Features

Illustrations

 

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3

With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

View Details >>

Dounia and the Magic Seeds

Marya Zarif

"Dounia is the story of a little girl who loves her home city of Aleppo, Syria, and its many smells, sights, and traditions. But when war breaks out, Dounia and her grandparents must flee Aleppo to find safety. Before they go, their neighbour reads their future in a cup of coffee - she sees a long difficult journey ahead of the family and a blue house awaiting them at the end. Taking only a bird carved from Aleppo soap and four little barake seeds in her pocket, Dounia faces dangerous waters, a camp surrounded by barbed wire, and unfriendly soldiers, and she wonders where she and her family belong in the world. Remembering the ancient knowledge that barake seeds ward off evil, she pulls one from her pocket to use for each of the threats they face. Magically, the seeds from their faraway home help them along their way, until they finally find the blue house at the end of their journey. In her new home, Dounia plants her final seed in a pot so it can grow and offer more seeds, while also keeping a piece of Aleppo with her. The baraké seeds represent the Syrian culture -- although Dounia is fleeing her country, she carries with her the strength of her people. It is by tapping into her roots, represented by the seeds, that she finds her own strength and resilience. The magical moments brought about by the baraké seeds can be interpreted as Dounia's imagination - it's a way of seeing the war and the migration from a six-year-old's perspective. Dounia does not understand everything that is going on, but she is not a powerless victim. By using the seeds, she feels she is taking an active part in her own destiny. In the end, whether it is magic or Dounia's imagination at play, it's a story about obstacles faced by migrants and about the courage they have in facing these obstacles. As Marya puts it in her article for TBI Magazine, it reverses the common narrative in North American media that "Syria" is synonymous with devastation and destruction, and that Syrian refugees can only be victims of their circumstance, rather than brave, vibrant heroes who can take charge of their own stories."--

View Details >>

An Earth Song (Petite Poems)

Langston Hughes

Discover the power and joy of poetry in this simple, modern introduction to Langston Hughes, featuring an ode to spring and long-awaited new beginnings



In this illustrated adaptation of a beloved Langston Hughes poem, a child delights as the world around him awakens from winter and comes to life with the long-awaited arrival of spring and new beginnings of all kinds.

View Details >>

The Last Two Crayons

Leah Freeman-Haskin

Sienna looks forward to drawing a picture for her school's spring art show, until she ends up with the last two crayons ...

By the time Sienna arrives at the art table in her classroom, all the crayons are gone except dark brown and light brown. Now how can she make a special picture for the art show? Andy teases that all she'll be able to draw is mud and dog poop. Her teacher tries to cheer her up, telling her that lots of wonderful things are brown. So Sienna imagines some of her favorite things -- her grandma's rose garden, her new bicycle, rainbows -- but none of them are brown! Her friends remind her that chocolate ice cream is brown, and so is the grizzly bear at the zoo. Sienna draws both, with the help of her friends, but neither picture seems special enough. In the end, inspired by an early memory, Sienna comes up with her own idea for a drawing that's perfect for the art show.

The Last Two Crayons looks at the beautiful world of brown, with a heartwarming and empowering ending that celebrates diversity, creativity and family.

 

Key Text Features

dialogue

illustrations

vignettes

 

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2

Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

View Details >>

Missing Violet

Kelly Swemba

Life is full of sunshine for inseparable friends Violet and Mia. Until one day, Violet leaves school sick and doesn't get better. Without her best friend, Mia slips into a gloomy existence. As she moves through the stages of grief like the colors of a rainbow, Mia wonders if she will ever feel like herself again. When Mia reaches out to her classmates, she remembers what she loved most about Violet.

A sensitive and poignant story about the loss of a friend and experiencing the different stages of grief.

View Details >>

A Girl Can Build Anything

e.E. Charlton-Trujillo

A brilliant, inclusive ode to self-expression, girl power, and the many things readers can create.

Have you ever dreamed of building something? Maybe something little—like a birdhouse? Or something big—like a skyscraper? If you can envision it, you can build it! A Girl Can Build Anything is a playful celebration of all the different ways girls can make things—from tinkering to tool wielding, from ideas on paper to big, lived-out dreams that require brick and mortar. This fun and empowering ode to self expression will inspire readers to jump up and immediately start to build. Because they can. They can do anything!

View Details >>

Imara's Tiara

Susan R. Stoltz

Imara's Tiara was written with the intent to feature a minority girl in the roll of a budding scientist/zoologist. Minority women are greatly under-represented in the field of zoology and as zookeepers in particular. Naomi is learning fast that it isn't an easy job, but one that she can accomplish if she tries hard enough.

A science-based book that introduces zoology and how to be a zoologist to children. While Naomi is learning all the facts about giraffes the one she's looking for is elusive, but her persistence pays off and she finally realizes she's got a big problem. How will she solve it so that both she and the giraffe are happy? Observation and patience are skills that are routinely overlooked in today's world of computers, on-line information, and instant gratification. How can we bring these skills back to students?

View Details >>

The Fastest Tortoise in Town

Howard Calvert

The fable of the tortoise and the hare receives a charming new spin in this wonderfully illustrated, cheering tale about a lovable and relatable trouper.

Barbara Hendricks, a tortoise, has entered a road race, but what was she thinking? With only a week to go before the big day, she worries that she doesn’t stand a chance against the other animals competing. Barbara’s friend and owner, Lorraine, inspires her to train a little bit more each day and coaxes her out of her shell when the race day arrives. How intimidating to line up next to the slow loris, the snail, the sloth, and the walrus! But Barbara realizes that if she just tries her best, she’s already won. Adorably illustrated in rich color and detail and told with splashes of dry humor, this touching story of perseverance celebrates all that can be accomplished with a little preparation and a lot of self-love.

View Details >>

Meet Frank

Mavis Lui

Meet Frank is a picture book about our unique and beautiful qualities. Frank is a curious little alien who comes from a planet where everyone looks the same: same box shape, same green color. Convinced there must be something more, Frank explores the universe and lands on Earth, where he befriends three little Earthlings who all look very different. By celebrating their unique qualities, they help Frank answer his questions about how humans come in a kaleidoscope of colors. Inspired, he returns to his home planet, determined to help his fellow beings identify and explore their differences too.

View Details >>

What's That, Jack?

Cédric Ramadier

A fun read-aloud picture book to spark imaginative play and have preschoolers joining in with delight.

Jack and George are resting quietly when BOOM! A huge and strange ball lands beside them.

"What's that, Jack?" "I don't know, George. Maybe it's a rock?" No--too soft. But it rolls. Fast! Jack, George and the ball roll right off the cliff and now it's a parachute. But watch out, they're going to land in the river...

Jack and George have a brilliant day full of adventure with this object that changes with the landscape, then turns into a blanket to keep them warm.

This bright and funny book is a game of twists and turns, with a joyful refrain and vivid artwork to capture every toddler's imagination. With thick, rounded-edge paper and a hardback cover, little hands can easily help turn the pages at storytime.

This book encourages interactive reading by inviting toddlers and preschoolers to join in with the energetic catchphrase, "I don't know, George!" as call and response on every page.

Cédric Ramadier studied at the Camberwell College of Arts in London, before moving to Paris to work as an art director, graphic designer, editor, and author. He has written a number of popular French children's books. Vincent Bourgeau lives in Marseilles, France, where he works fulltime as a children's book illustrator. Together they have published nearly 50 children's books.

Translated from the French edition by Antony Shugaar.

Praise for What's That, Jack?

"Will inspire youngsters to embrace uncertainty--and adventure."--Kirkus Reviews

"Kids will enjoy the simple, repetitive text . . . fun to read with a group who enjoys interactive books."--Youth Services Book Review

Praise for Help! The Wolf is Coming!

"The interactive element is a rush that's sure to elicit squeals, shrieks, and many, many repeated readings."--Booklist

"The fun kids will have tilting, turning and shaking the book as they try to tumble the approaching wolf off a cliff."--New Zealand Herald

View Details >>

All in a Day

Chihiro Takeuchi

"Be sure to make time for this charmer; kids will want to return to it time and again." Kirkus Reviews

Follow the comings and goings of everyone who lives and works in the same building and enjoy the interactive search-and-find as we see what happens throughout the day.

Look in the windows and track each character's journey over the course of a day. And we can't forget what happens when (almost) everyone is sleeping.

Chihiro's detailed, kid-friendly paper cut artwork engages readers and includes them in her work. Here, she smartly focuses on what happens on the hour, which is the way children are first introduced to the concept of reading clocks.

View Details >>

The Invitation

Stacey May Fowles

Stacey May Fowles' debut picture book is a whimsical, warmhearted story of how a super-special surprise can lead to anxiety -- or invite imagination.

One beautiful fall day, Fern opens her mailbox and finds an envelope. After much worrying about what it could possibly contain, her friend Fawn encourages her to open it. Inside, she finds an invitation to a super-special surprise at the museum -- but Fern doesn't like surprises!

Luckily, Fawn offers to come with her to the party. What could possibly happen, he asks. Along the way, Fern voices her worries: What if they can't make it in time? What if they don't know anyone there?

Fawn playfully follows his friend's way of thinking, while gently suggesting twists to her story and a fun new cast of characters -- the chipmunk who could show them a shortcut, the grumpy bear who could clear their path, the brave dentist who might treat the bear's toothache -- until at last they arrive, and Fern is able to enjoy the wonderful surprise happening around her.

Marie Lafrance's delightfully dreamy illustrations bring the imagined world of Fern and Fawn to life in this super-special story about catastrophic thinking.

 

Key Text Features

illustrations

 

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3

Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.4

Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7

Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.

View Details >>

The Song That Called Them Home

David A. Robertson

From the award-winning author of On the Trapline comes a cinematic fantasy-adventure story inspired by Indigenous legends.

One summer day, Lauren and her little brother, James, go on a trip to the land with their Moshom (grandfather). After they've arrived, the children decide to fish for dinner while Moshom naps. They are in their canoe in the middle of the lake when the water around them begins to swirl and crash. They are thrown overboard and when Lauren surfaces she sees her brother being pulled away by the Memekwesewak — creatures who live in and around water and like to interfere with humans. Lauren must follow the Memekwesewak through a portal and along a watery path to find and bring back James. But when she finally comes upon her brother, she too feels the lure of the Memekwesewak’s song. Something even stronger must pull them back home.

View Details >>

I'm Happy-sad Today

Lory Britain

This friendly picture book helps young children make sense of mixed-up emotions.

Happy, and also sad. Excited, but nervous too. Feeling friendly, with a little shyness mixed in. Mixed feelings are natural, but they can be confusing. There are different kinds of happy--the quiet kind and the "noisy, giggly, jump and run" kind. And there are conflicting feelings, like proud and jealous, frustrated and determined. With gentle messaging and charming illustrations, a little girl talks about her many layered feelings, ultimately concluding, "When I have more than one feeling inside me, I don't have to choose just one. I know that all my feelings are okay at the same time." A special section for adults presents ideas for helping children explore their emotions, build a vocabulary of feeling words, know what to do if they feel overwhelmed, and more.

View Details >>

When PB Met J

Katelyn Aronson

The best friendship since sliced bread!

Once upon a kitchen, the Fridgers chilled on one side.
The Cupboard Crew loafed about on the other.

The kitchen may look like a peaceful place, but there was never more division than between the Fridgers and the Cupboard Crew. The Fridgers could be a little too cool. The Cupboard Crew—well, they often got stale. It was clear that the two should never mix. But that was until Peanut Butter (PB, for short) met Jelly. When Jelly finds herself in a sticky situation, it's Peanut Butter to the rescue. And the result is the best friendship since sliced bread.

When PB Met J is the deliciously funny origin story of every child's favorite lunch. Readers will cheer that these sweet and salty characters should always stick together.

View Details >>

Be Wild, Little One

Olivia Hope

This gorgeous, inspiring picture book-a perfect gift for new babies or for graduations-celebrates the magic in our world and the wildness in each of us.

Embark upon an uplifting journey through the wonders of nature: from lush pine forests to awe-inspiring mountains, and from sparkling seas to starry skies, each page is exquisite. Fly across oceans, run with wolves through winter snow, dance with fireflies, and dare to BE WILD!

With a lyrical text from debut author Olivia Hope and immersive illustrations by acclaimed artist Daniel Egnéus, this stunning book brims with joy and possibility.

Cross the ocean, sail the seas . . .
Trek in jungles, climb up trees.
Swing along with chimpanzees!
Be wild, little one.

View Details >>

Isabel and the Invisible World

Alan Lightman

Renowned physicist Alan Lightman, author of Ada and the Galaxies, turns his focus to light waves in a second story for children.

There’s only one gift Isabel wants for her sixth birthday: a way to see invisible things. She can hardly think of anything else! Finally, the day of her party arrives. Unwrapping a big box, Isabel finds a surprise inside—a glass prism—and a dazzling world of previously invisible color emerges, lighting up the room around her. What else could be out there, waiting for her eyes to discover? In simple, engaging language, complemented by luminous artwork from best-selling illustrator Ramona Kaulitzki, author and physicist Alan Lightman unveils the hidden world of light waves—the ones you can see and the ones you can’t. Back matter delves briefly into the subject of wavelengths, radio waves, and X-rays for readers curious to know more.

View Details >>

The Loud Librarian

Jenna Beatrice

A little librarian with a larger-than-life voice finds her place in this sweet and uproarious picture book about being true to yourself—no shushing required!

Penelope is perfect for the job of student-librarian. Friendly? Check. Helpful? Check. Book lover? Check. There’s just one snag. Penelope is...LOUD. Bookcases may topple and the ground may quake at the sound of her voice, but Penelope is determined to prove she’s perfect for the job and stay true to herself. Can a little librarian with a big voice find a place where she belongs?

View Details >>

The Very Best Hug

Smriti Prasadam-Halls

A delightful picture book about the power of hugs, from the mega-bestselling creators of I Love You Night and Day, You Make Me Happy and I'll Never Let You Go.

Have you ever wondered who gives the very BEST hug?
The kind that's warm and cozy and snug?
Extra squeezy, but never too tight,
the kind that fits you COMPLETELY right?


From bear hugs to koala cuddles, hippo huddles to walrus wiggles, penguin pecks to porcupine prickles, there are a LOT of hugs to choose from.

But the perfect hug may not be far-in fact, it might be right where you are!
Who gives the best hugs? Have you guessed? It's the ones at home, who love you the best!

Full of silly and snuggly animal cuddles, this irresistible story from the bestselling creators Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Alison Brown is perfect for sharing and reading aloud.

View Details >>

Our Roof Is Blue

Sara E. Echenique

This heartfelt story of resilience follows two siblings as they work to recover and rebuild after Hurricane Maria destroys their home in Puerto Rico.

Before an intense hurricane hits their home in Puerto Rico, Antonio told his sister vibrant stories each night. During the storm, they huddled with their parents in a closet and hear the storm blow the roof right off their home. After the storm, their family uses a temporary blue tarp for a roof, and Antonio stops speaking. Gradually the siblings imagine their blue roof playfully—as the ocean above them or a parachute helping them fall from the sky. As the narrator helps her little brother feel safe once more--and after the family and community build a new roof--the little boy begins to speak again.

View Details >>

Kitty and Cat: Opposites Attract

Mirka Hokkanen

Meet Kitty! Kitty wants to play! Meet Cat. Cat just wants to nap. Bold, whimsical artwork and plenty of humor engage little ones in a sly and stylish introduction to opposites.

This deceptively simple concept book introduces readers to grumpy, old, exhausted Cat, who just wants to be left alone, and to happy, new, energetic Kitty, who longs to make friends. In a story told entirely through well-chosen pairs of opposites and drolly expressive artwork, author-illustrator Mirka Hokkanen manages to elevate the humble concept book into a true work of art—one that is bound to have readers giggling and crying for more!

View Details >>

Hush-A-Bye Night

Thelma Lynne Godin

As the sun sets on Lake Superior and the moon begins to rise, all kinds of creatures--from the solitary loon to a tumble of fox kits to a family like yours--begin their nighttime routines. This lyrical lullaby to the lake, and the flora and fauna that call its shores home, is a beautiful ode to the most beautiful lake. Backmatter includes science and nature facts.

View Details >>

Sari-Sari Summers

Lynnor Bontigao

In this love letter to the Philippines (and to grandmothers), a young girl comes up with a brilliantly delicious way to attract customers after a heat wave leaves her lola’s store empty.

Nora loves spending summers with Lola at her sari-sari store, a treasure trove filled with everything you could need, from hair accessories to toys, creamy yema to sour tamarind candy. And this year, Nora is big enough to help her grandmother. But when a heat wave strikes and no one comes to the store, Nora worries that she won’t get to spend the rest of the summer with her lola—until she gets a sweet idea. After all, the mangoes on the tree outside are finally ripe, and with a bit of measuring, mixing, and a good deal of tasting, Nora and Lola have a refreshing way to bring people together—and to the sari-sari store. With soft, heartfelt illustrations, Lynnor Bontigao’s endearing picture book—featuring a recipe for making mango ice candy like Nora’s—is an ode to ingenuity and to intergenerational relationships that’s as sweet and gentle as a kiss on the cheek.

View Details >>

We Play Soccer / Jugamos al fútbol

René Colato Laínez

Joe speaks English. He loves soccer. José habla español. A José le gusta el fútbol. This story is in English and Spanish!

Hola, Joe. / Hi, José.
I have my uniform. /Tengo mi uniforme.
I am ready. / Estoy listo.

Two boys, an English speaker and a Spanish speaker, are on the same soccer team. They have their uniforms and their cleats. They can both juggle the ball. At first, the boys must wait on the bench. But when the coach lets them in the game, both Joe and José score goals. “We win,” says Joe. “Ganamos,” says José.

Perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners, and first and second graders who are learning to speak or read English and Spanish. A delightful reading experience for bilingual families.

René Colato Laínez, a teacher in a bilingual kindergarten classroom, has crafted an ingenious story that authentically and naturally uses conversation to introduce children to English and Spanish. The fun friendship story engages children, while simple words, short sentences, and a glossary reinforce learning.


Nomar Perez, illustrator of best-selling children’s books as well as greeting cards, has a bright, bold, colorful, kid-pleasing style that invites readers to befriend the characters in this book.


René was raised in El Salvador and Nomar in Puerto Rico.

You will also like Let’s Be Friends, Seamos Amigos, by René Colato Laínez; illustrated by Nomar Perez.

 

View Details >>

Who Will U Be?

Jessica Hische

From New York Times bestselling creator of Tomorrow I'll Be Brave comes a delightful picture book following an inquisitive little letter "u" as she goes on a class field trip to find out all the ways letters are seen and used in the world.

It's the annual "Find Yourself Field Trip" at Ms. Bracket's School of Little Letters, and "u" couldn't be more excited. She can't wait to see all the ways letters are used in the world—they're on everything from books to boats, from sidewalks to spaceships! And it's starting to make her wonder one important question: Who will she be when she grows up?

With clever storytelling and vibrant, powerful illustrations, bestselling author-illustrator Jessica Hische has created an enchanting picture book that is not only an accessible introduction to typography for kids, but also a wonderful reminder to embrace one's individuality and curiosity as they grow older.

This story is perfect for fans of Emily Winfield Martin, and it makes an excellent gift book for big moments like graduation and birthdays with its empowering question to little ones—who will you be?

View Details >>

The Flock

Margarita del Mazo

Being part of a flock is easy, you just have to do what the others do. But when Sheep Four decides not to follow the others, how will Mike, the boy counting sheep, get to sleep?

 

Being a sheep is easy. All they have to do is graze, snooze and help people fall asleep now and again. Every person is assigned their own personal flock... The drill is always the same, first Sheep one jumps over the fence, then Sheep two followed by Sheep three and so forth.

 

When a little boy called Mike can't sleep one night, he starts to count his personal flock.. Sheep One, Sheep Two, Sheep Three... but then something strange happens... Sheep four doesn't want to jump!

 

How will Mike be able to get to sleep now?

 

View Details >>

Weather Together

Jessie Sima

Nimbus learns how to weather her cloudy moods and accept help from her best friend, Kelp, in this charming and gently encouraging picture book companion to the New York Times bestselling Not Quite Narwhal and Perfectly Pegasus.

Nimbus has so much fun being Kelp’s friend! Their days are filled with games, sunshine, and a whole lot of rainbows. Only, Nimbus can’t stay sunny all the time; in fact, some days she’s downright cloudy.

Nimbus hides her cloud from Kelp and tries to make it go away, only nothing works! Not ignoring the cloud, not running from the cloud, and not bottling up the cloud. It just grows and grows.

And when Nimbus’s cloud turns into a storm, there’s no way to keep it from others anymore. But maybe getting to know her cloud could make it a little less scary…and maybe friends like Kelp are there to share the weather together.

View Details >>

I Really Want to Make Lemonade!

Harriet Ziefert

 

Join Really Bird and friends as they learn to make a unique fresh lemonade and use it to do some good around the park where they live.Meet Really Bird, a small bird who lives in a large city park with his friends, Cat, Rabbit, and Pup. In each story, Really Bird finds himself really wanting something - to be bigger, to have his fair share, or to be a leader - to be really silly, funny, strong, cool, happy or brave. And when he feels something, he really feels it.
Each story is an entertaining, character-driven caper based on relatable social/emotional themes, delivered with surprise twists, high drama, and expert comic timing. Along the way, lessons are learned about qualities such as teamwork and compassion. The emphasis is on character growth and development through creative problem solving, Friendship and emotional engagement are at the heart of every story.
In I Really Want to Make Lemonade! Really Bird comes up with the great idea to make an interesting batch of lemonade and share it with all the friends in the park, in return for some community service that will benefit the park.

 

View Details >>

Tiny T. Rex and the Grand Ta-Da!

Jonathan Stutzman

In the newest picture book in the bestselling Tiny T. Rex series, lovable friends Tiny and Pointy challenge themselves when they enter the school talent show.

Kids love dinosaurs--and dinosaur books! Tiny T. Rex is a dinosaur kids especially love because he's a tiny dinosaur in a big world--just like them.

Tiny and his friend Pointy really want to win their school's talent show. And they think they know just how to do it: They will become great magicians, just like their hero, The Amazing Presto. Together they work hard on their act, including the grandest trick of all: to make something disappear. But it isn't easy to become magicians, and just when they've mastered their skills, they face the even greater challenge of performing in front of an audience!

With their trademark humor and warmth, beloved duo Tiny and Pointy prove that every problem can be overcome as long as it's met with patience and understanding.

EVERYONE LOVES TINY: The first book about Tiny, Tiny T. Rex and the Impossible Hug, was an immediate bestseller from the moment it was published. All the books in the Tiny T. Rex series have been indie bookstore bestsellers, Amazon top titles, and Amazon best books.

GREAT MESSAGE: Tiny and Pointy persist in pursuing their dream despite obstacles, and despite doubts about being good enough. This is a positive book that will get kids excited about trying new things.

GREAT VALUES: Every Tiny book features Tiny solving common childhood challenges with love, a positive attitude, and friendship.

ENGAGING READ-ALOUD: Funny, charming text and cute, colorful art will make this book a storytime favorite kids will want to read again and again.

Perfect for:

  • Dinosaur-loving kids from babies and toddlers through ages 4-6
  • Parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers seeking funny kids' books
  • Fans of sweet, warm-hearted family picture books
  • Baby shower, children's birthday, holiday, or classroom gift
View Details >>

Benny the Bananasaurus Rex

Sarabeth Holden

"Deliciously playful and imaginative."--Kirkus

Benny loves bananas. He eats them morning, noon, and night. He even rides a bike with a yellow banana seat. In fact, Benny has a secret, he hopes one day he will turn into a banana! And if there is one thing Benny knows, it's that with a little imagination anything is possible.

View Details >>

Hurry, Kate, or You'll Be Late!

Janice N. Harrington

A young girl stops to call out all the sights and sounds on her morning trip to pre-school, but that’s not what makes her late—it is her dad’s goodbye hug.

Kate was late for preschool, but not for the reasons you might expect. It wasn’t because her daddy brushed her hair into poofs, or because they slowed to say hello to neighbors on the way to the bus stop. It wasn’t even because she had to wave to all the trucks, cars, and street cleaners on the road. No, Kate was late because just after they arrived at school, her daddy swooped in to give her a great big goodbye hug that lasted a very long time.

Janice N. Harrington is the Ezra Jack Keats Award winning author of Going North. With Hurry Kate or You’ll be Late, she has teamed up with illustrator Tiffany Rose to create a delightful picture book about a vehicle obsessed girl and her very patient father.

View Details >>

The Nigerwife

Vanessa Walters

GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

In this twisty and electrifying debut novel, a young woman goes missing in Lagos, Nigeria, and her estranged auntie will stop at nothing to find the truth behind her disappearance. Perfect for fans of My Sister, the Serial Killer and The Last Thing He Told Me.


Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a hand­some husband; a palatial house in the heart of glittering Lagos, Nigeria; and a glamorous group of friends. She left gloomy London and a troubled family past behind for sunny, moneyed Lagos, becoming part of the Nigerwives—a com­munity of foreign women married to Nigerian men.

But when Nicole disappears without a trace after a boat trip, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. As the investigation turns up nothing but dead ends, her auntie Claudine decides to take matters into her own hands. Armed with only a cell phone and a plane ticket to Nigeria, she digs into her niece’s life and uncov­ers a hidden side filled with dark secrets, isolation, and even violence. But the more she discovers about Nicole, the more Claudine’s own buried history threatens to come to light.

An inventively told and keenly observant thriller where nothing is as it seems, The Nigerwife offers a razor-sharp look at the bonds of family, the echoing consequences of secrets, and whether we can ever truly outrun our past.

View Details >>

The Daddy Diaries: The Year I Grew Up

Andy Cohen

New York Times bestselling author Andy Cohen goes from bottle service to baby bottles in a hilarious, heartwarming, and name-dropping account of the most important year of his life.

Andy Cohen has taken on the most important job of his life—father— and boy (and girl!) does he have a lot to say about it!

One of Andy Cohen’s most momentous years starts off with a hangover the morning after an epic New Year’s Eve broadcast. But Andy doesn’t have time to dwell on the drama, as his role as media mogul is now matched with the responsibilities, joys, and growing pains of parenthood.

This fast-paced, mile-a-minute look behind the scenes of living the so-called glamorous life in Manhattan now takes firm aim at life at home. With a three-year-old son, Ben, and a daughter, Lucy, born in May, stories of late-night parties are replaced by early mornings with Ben, drama at the play-ground, and the musings of a single dad trying to navigate having it all. All this is set against the backdrop of constant Housewives drama, hijinks behind the scenes at Watch What Happens Live, a revolving door of famous faces, and a worried mother (and newly minted grandmother) in St. Louis.

Buckle up, bottle up, and get ready for a laugh-out-loud and surprisingly poignant look at the ways in which family changes everything and the superficial gets very real. Watch what happens!

View Details >>

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

Tom Hanks

From the Academy Award-winning actor and best-selling author: a novel about the making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film . . . and the humble comic books that inspired it. Funny, touching, and wonderfully thought-provoking, while also capturing the changes in America and American culture since World War II.

Part One of this story takes place in 1947. A troubled soldier, returning from the war, meets his talented five-year-old nephew, leaves an indelible impression, and then disappears for twenty-three years.

Cut to 1970: The nephew, now drawing underground comic books in Oakland, California, reconnects with his uncle and, remembering the comic book he saw when he was five, draws a new version with his uncle as a World War II fighting hero. 

Cut to the present day: A commercially successful director discovers the 1970 comic book and decides to turn it into a contemporary superhero movie.

Cue the cast: We meet the film’s extremely difficult male star, his wonderful leading lady, the eccentric writer/director, the producer, the gofer production assistant, and everyone else on both sides of the camera.

Bonus material: Interspersed throughout are three comic books that are featured in the story—all created by Tom Hanks himself—including the comic book that becomes the official tie-in to this novel’s "major motion picture masterpiece."

View Details >>

Talk of Champions: Stories of the People Who Made Me: a Memoir

Kenny Smith

A poignant, humorous, behind-the-scenes memoir  from Kenny “The Jet” Smith—superstar basketball commentator, host of top-rated Inside the NBA, and two-time NBA champion. Smith reveals memorable inside stories of his playing and broadcasting careers, focusing on the star players, coaches, and mentors who inspired him along the way.
 
Kenny Smith was a star at the University of North Carolina before his storied NBA run, in which he won two championships with the Houston Rockets. His tremendous popularity skyrocketed when he joined TNT’s new show, Inside the NBA, which has thrived for twenty-four years and won multiple Emmy awards, receiving enormous acclaim for the insight, humor, social commentary, and unrivaled basketball coverage from Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, and Ernie Johnson, Jr. Kenny is known to fans for his laser-sharp analysis and eloquent observations of the basketball scene and culture.
 
In this honest and deep memoir, Kenny writes chapters about each of the extraordinary people who taught him invaluable life lessons. He illuminates the personalities, affections and quirks of friends such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kobe Bryant, among others, and what he learned from each of them. He writes about his legendary UNC coach, Dean Smith, and other indelible role models through his career. And he interweaves poignant material about his upbringing in Queens, NY, his parents, his children, and his marriage, explaining the rich knowledge he obtained from the important figures around him. Kenny is also a strong, intelligent voice on race, as his fans and TV viewers will know. Ultimately this is a revealing, humorous, powerful memoir, offering a candid glimpse inside the rarified world of elite sports and broadcasting, with inspiring takeaways.

View Details >>

Summer on Sag Harbor

Sunny Hostin

Following her New York Times bestseller Summer on the Bluffs, The View cohost and three-time Emmy Award winner Sunny Hostin spirits readers away to the warm beaches of Sag Harbor for the compelling second novel in her acclaimed Summer series.

In a hidden enclave in Sag Harbor, affectionately known as SANS--Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Nineveh--there's a close-knit community of African American elites who escape the city and enjoy the beautiful warm weather and beaches at their vacation homes. Since the 1930s, very few have known about this part of the Hamptons on Long Island, and the residents like it that way.

That is, until real estate developers discover the hidden gem. And now, the residents must fight for the soul of SANS.

Against the odds, Olivia Jones has blazed her own enviable career path and built her name in the finance world. But hidden behind the veneer of her success, there is a gaping hole. Mourning both the loss and the betrayal of Omar, a surrogate father to her and her two godsisters, Olivia is driven to solve the mystery of what happened to her biological father, a police officer unjustly killed when she was a little girl.

Untethered from her life in New York City, Olivia moves to a summer home in Sag Harbor and begins forging a new community out in SANS. Friendships blossom with Kara, an ambitious art curator; and Whitney, the wife of an ex-basketball player and current president of the Sag Harbor Homeowners Association; and a sexy new neighbor and single father, Garrett, who makes her reconsider her engagement with Anderson. She also takes to a kind, older gentleman named Mr. Whittingham, but soon discovers he too is not without his own troubles.

As the summer stretches on, each relationship teaches her more about who she really is. Though not without cost, Olivia's search for her authentic identity in the secret history of her family of origin and her fight to preserve her new Black utopia, will lead her to redefine the meaning of love, friendship, community, and family--and restore her faith in herself, her relationships, and her chosen path.

View Details >>

The Little Flower Shop

Lori Foster

"Full of healing, hope and, most importantly, love."
--Maisey Yates, New York Times bestselling author, on Cooper's Charm

How did her love life become a community affair?

Since her divorce, Emily Lucretia--affectionately known as the flower lady to the people of Cemetery, Indiana--has been focused on her flower shop and taking care of her aging aunt and uncle. Her love life is hardly the centerpiece of her busy days.

Saul Culver, the town's favorite bachelor and owner of the local barbecue joint, has been interested in Emily for a while. But as much as Emily knows about flowers, she can be a little oblivious to her own appeal. Saul is determined to show her just how special she is.

Saul isn't the only one trying to get Emily out of her shell. Well-meaning locals have started tagging photos of Emily with #theflowerlady on social media--and now the entire town is involved in finding her Mr. Right. Saul won't give up easily. He's finally caught her attention, and he's determined to convince Emily--and the town--that this is the real deal and not just some passing trend.

 

View Details >>

Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy

Carl Sferrazza Anthony

An illuminating new biography of the young Jackie Bouvier Kennedy that covers her formative adventures abroad in Paris; her life as a writer and photographer at a Washington, DC, newspaper; and her romance with a dashing, charismatic Massachusetts congressman who shared her intellectual passion.

Camera Girl brings to cinematic life Jackie’s years as a young, single woman trying to figure out who she wanted to become. Chafing at the expectations of her family and the societal limitations placed on women in that era, Jackie pursued her dream career as a writer. Set primarily during the years of 1949 to 1953, when Jackie was in her early twenties, the book recounts in heretofore unrevealed detail the story of her late college years and her early adulthood as a working woman.

Before she met Jack Kennedy, Jacqueline Bouvier was the Washington Times-Herald’s “Inquiring Camera Girl,” posing compelling questions to members of the public on the streets of DC and snapping their photos with her unwieldy Graflex camera. She then fashioned the results into a daily column, of which six hundred were published.

Carl Sferrazza Anthony, a historian and leading expert on First Ladies, draws on these columns and previously unseen archives of Jackie’s writings from this time, along with insights gleaned from interviews he conducted with the former First Lady’s friends, colleagues, and family members. Camera Girl offers a fresh perspective on the woman later known as Jacqueline Kennedy and Jackie O, introducing us to the headstrong, self-assured young woman who went on to be one of the world’s most famous people. It’s a glamorous and surprisingly hard-charging story of a person determined to define herself, told with admiration, empathy, and journalistic rigor.

View Details >>

The Nightingale Affair

Tim Mason

In this twisty new Victorian detective thriller from the author of The Darwin Affair, Inspector Charles Field hunts a serial killer with a sinister signature targeting Florence Nightingale's nurses in Crimea and women in London.



Who is stalking Florence Nightingale and her nurses? Is it the legendary Beast of the Crimean, or someone closer to home? In 1855, Britain and France are fighting to keep the Russians from snatching the Crimean Peninsula from the Ottoman Empire, and Nightingale, a wealthy young society woman, has made it her mission to improve the wretched conditions in the British military hospitals in Turkey--despite fierce objections from the male doctors around her. When young women start turning up dead, their mouths sewn shut with embroidered fabric roses, Inspector Charles Field (the real-life inspiration for Charles Dickens's Inspector Bucket in Bleak House) is sent from England to find the killer among the doctors, military men, journalists, and others swarming Turkey's famous Barrack Hospital. Here Field meets both the famous Nightingale as well as Nurse Jane Rolly, the woman who will become his wife, and as he races to protect them, the prime suspect takes his own life.



Case closed. Or is it?



Twelve years later, back in London, amid the turmoil surrounding the expansion of voting rights, women again start turning up dead, their mouths covered by that telltale embroidered rose. Did Field suspect the wrong man before, or is he dealing with a deviant copycat? Either way, he must race against time to stop the killer before more bodies are discovered, and before his own family gets pulled into danger. Populated by real figures of the day, from Benjamin Disraeli to novelist Wilkie Collins to, of course, Florence Nightingale herself, and steeped in historical details of 1860s London, The Nightingale Affair plays out against a backdrop of a rapidly changing society. Most of all, it is a pure reading delight, offering shocks, unforgettably vivid scenes, and surprising twists.

View Details >>

The Half Moon

Mary Beth Keane

Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, BookPage, LitHub and more

I adored this compelling, touching, exquisitely crafted story about a marriage in crisis.” —Liane Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies

From the bestselling author of Ask Again, Yes, a masterful novel about a couple in a small town who must navigate the complexities of marriage, family, and longing.

Malcolm Gephardt, handsome and gregarious longtime bartender at the Half Moon, has always dreamed of owning a bar. When his boss finally retires, Malcolm stretches to buy the place. He sees unquantifiable magic and potential in the Half Moon and hopes to transform it into a bigger success, but struggles to stay afloat.

His smart and confident wife, Jess, has devoted herself to her law career. After years of trying for a baby, she is facing the idea that motherhood may not be in the cards for her. Like Malcolm, she feels her youth beginning to slip away and wonders how to reshape her future.

Award-winning author Mary Beth Keane’s new novel takes place over the course of one week when Malcolm learns shocking news about Jess, a patron of the bar goes missing, and a blizzard hits the town of Gillam, trapping everyone in place. With a deft eye and generous spirit, Keane explores the disappointments and unexpected consolations of midlife, the many forms forgiveness can take, the complicated intimacy of small-town living, and what it means to be a family.

View Details >>

Walking With Sam: A Father, a Son, and Five Hundred Miles Across Spain

Andrew McCarthy

An intimate, funny, and poignant travel memoir following New York Times bestselling author and actor Andrew McCarthy as he walks the Camino de Santiago with his son Sam.



When Andrew McCarthy's eldest son began to take his first steps into adulthood, McCarthy found himself wishing time would slow down. Looking to create a more meaningful connection with Sam before he fled the nest, as well as recreate his own life-altering journey decades before, McCarthy decided the two of them should set out on a trek like few others: 500 miles across Spain's Camino de Santiago.



Over the course of the journey, the pair traversed an unforgiving landscape, having more honest conversations in five weeks than they'd had in the preceding two decades. Discussions of divorce, the trauma of school, McCarthy's difficult relationship with his own father, fame, and Flaming Hot Cheetos threatened to either derail their relationship or cement it. Walking With Sam captures this intimate, candid and hopeful expedition as the father son duo travel across the country and towards one another.

View Details >>

The Joy of Politics: Surviving Cancer, a Campaign, a Pandemic, an Insurrection, and Life's Other Unexpected Curveballs

Amy Klobuchar

An intimate and revelatory memoir—on personal challenges, political turmoil, and the state of American democracy—from one of the most effective voices in politics, Amy Klobuchar.

During the past few years, as our country has faced unprecedented challenges, Senator Klobuchar has been in the room where it happens—on the Senate floor for critical votes during the pandemic, at the debate podium during one of the most critical presidential elections in US history, and in the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when insurrectionists stormed the building, interrupting the certification of the electoral college. It was well past midnight when Klobuchar stood beside then-Vice President Pence to officially certify President Biden's victory.


In her candid, honest, and at times bitingly funny memoir, the pragmatic senator shares insider stories from these historic moments, while also inviting readers into her personal life. An underdog in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign, she built surprising early momentum--only to suspend her candidacy in order to support Joe Biden. Within weeks of returning to work in the Senate, the sudden onslaught of COVID-19 hit her family directly. Her husband got very sick and spent a week in the hospital on oxygen and a month in isolation. Klobuchar shares her experience facing a cancer diagnosis while watching her beloved father succumb to Alzheimer's. She recounts the dramatic narrative of January 6 and how close we came to losing our democracy. And, with her signature humor, she reveals what it's like to work with some of her more...well, interesting...colleagues.


At the crux of these stories is a narrative of resilience – of personal resilience and the resilience of a nation – and, improbably, joy.

View Details >>