Sorted By: Dramatic
Randy Ribay
NEST OF TONGUES
Spring 2026, Random House Books for Young Readers, TBD pp
NEST OF TONGUES is a lyrical, slow burn, YA paranormal/horror that inverts the monster-hunter trope to explore questions of sibling relationship, identity, otherness, familial duty, and the dangers o ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Tracey Baptiste
MOKO MAGIC 02: MUSEUM MAYHEM
Fall 2025, Disney-Hyperion/Freedom Fire, TBD pp
After cousins Misty, Aidan, and Brooke learn to wield their ancestral power as descendants of moko healers from west Africa, they are eager to experiment with their abilities. Unfortunately, that lead...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
THIS BOOK IS DANGEROUS
June 2025, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, TBD pp
Take the plunge into this interactive picture book spin-off of the Narwhal & Jelly series featuring the beloved anxious jellyfish, Jelly, who readers will attempt to safely navigate through the danger...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Lee Wind
LIKE THAT ELEANOR: THE AMAZING POWER OF BEING AN ALLY
April 2025, Cardinal Rule Press, 32 pp
What can you do when you see unfair things happening to other people? Eleanor’s not sure, but she wants to make things more fair, like her namesake Eleanor Roosevelt. Robin’s excluded from a boys-only...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
PAPILIO
March 2025, Viking/Penguin, 48 pp
A tale told in three parts by three friends! Powerhouse creators, Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, and Andy Chou Musser, have come together to create a wholly inventive picture book that is perfect for fa...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Daria Peoples
BE THE LIGHT: HOW SHE BECAME ANGELA DAVIS
June 2025, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 56 pp
Somewhere between soil and sky, spirit and flesh, Angela imagined a new world that had not been seen yet. In BE THE LIGHT: How She Became Angela Davis, acclaimed author and artist Daria Peoples illumi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ariel Slamet Ries
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
March 2025, Harper Alley/HarperCollins, 288 pp
In this stunning graphic novel by two-time Ignatz award–winning graphic novelist Ariel Slamet Ries, Oberon must choose between fantasy and reality when he develops the ability to conjure his dreams in...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ann Dávila Cardinal
YOU'VE AWOKEN HER
June 2025, HarperCollins, TBD pp
All Gabi wants is to spend the summer in his room, surrounded by his Funkos and books, but with his mom traveling, his bags are packed for the last place he wants to visit—the Hamptons. Staying with h...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kacen Callender
WE ARE VILLAINS
March 2025, Amulet/Abrams, 288 pp
From bestselling and award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a thrilling, dark academia YA about murder, blackmail, and the one person determined to discover the truth, no matter the cost...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kacen Callender
CHAOS KING
April 2025, Tor Teen/Macmillan, 384 pp
WHEN THE WORLD BURNS, ASH WILL RISE. The explosive sequel to instant New York Times bestselling YA debut Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender. Ever since he rose up against his father and saved New...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jess Callans
OLLIE IN BETWEEN
April 2025, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 256 pp
As endearing as it is humorous, this debut middle grade novel by Jess Callans is a tender, queer coming of age story about the courage it takes to find your own voice and choosing to just be. Puberty...
Sorted By: Dramatic
K. O’Neill
A SONG FOR YOU AND I
March 2025, Random House Graphic/Random House, 240 pp
From the bestselling author of The Moth Keeper and the Tea Dragon Society comes a must read MG graphic novel for fans of soft sweeping fantasy romances. Rowan knows exactly what they want: to be a ra...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Yamile Saied Méndez
THE REEL WISH
April 2025, Tu Books/Lee and Low, 368 pp
After a panic attack prevents Florencia from performing as Clara in The Nutcracker and her best friend takes the lead, a new dance style helps her face her anxiety as well as a troubled friendship. B...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Camryn Garrett
THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF SENECA
April 2025, Amulet/Abrams, 256 pp
From acclaimed author Camryn Garrett comes a middle-grade mystery with a magical twist. Everything is changing, and twelve-year-old Rowan Robinson hates it. She’s dreading having to spend her summer ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Nina Crews
BIG FAMILY BEACH DAY
Summer 2025, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 32 pp
An extended family enjoys a day at the beach in this intergenerational tribute to family, friendship, new experiences, and summertime fun by the acclaimed author-artist Nina Crews. A fresh take on Cyn...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Tameka Fryer Brown
ALL THE GREATNESS IN YOU
November 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan, 32 pp
Bursting with warmth and words of encouragement, this lyrical picture book celebrates growing up and believing in yourself—the perfect gift for graduations, birthdays, the first day of school, and bey...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Alexis Castellanos
GUAVA AND GRUDGES
September 2024, Bloomsbury, 336 pp
Ana Maria Ybarra dreams of becoming a world-famous pastry chef, but dreams have a cost. Her family can barely keep the family business running, let alone pay for culinary school. Ana Maria helps out a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Robin Yardi
THE MIDNIGHT WAR OF MATEO MARTINEZ
March 2016, Carolrhoda Books/Lerner, 184 pp
Life is confusing for Mateo Martinez. He and Johnny Ramirez don’t hang out anymore, even though they used to be best friends. He and his new friend Ashwin try to act like brave, old-time knights, but...
Sorted By: Dramatic
H.D. Hunter
SOMETHING LIKE RIGHT
August 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan, 336 pp
Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s only hope for redemp...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON AND THE WRATH OF THE TRIPLE GODDESS
September 2024, Disney-Hyperion, 288 pp
Percy Jackson, now a high school senior, needs three recommendation letters from the Greek gods in order to get into New Rome University. He earned his first one by retrieving Ganymede’s chalice. Now ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randi Pink
UNDER THE HERON'S LIGHT
October 2024, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 352 pp
On a damp night in 1722, Babylou Mac and her three siblings witness the murder of their mother at the hands of the local preacher’s son—so Babylou kills him in retaliation. With plantation dogs now on...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Sarah Dvojack
WELCOME TO FEAR CITY
September 2024, Union Square Kids, 464 pp
New York City, summer of '77—in a city on the edge and obsessed with a serial killer, Sylvie Stroud is dealing with an entirely different kind of evil when she awakens a dark magic hellbent on consumi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Yamile Saied Méndez
THE BEAUTIFUL GAME
September 2024, Little Brown/Hachette, 336 pp
A powerful story about family, fútbol, and playing like a girl from the award-winning author of Furia. At thirteen years old, Valeria "Magic" Salomón is already the best soccer player her town has ev...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
NOT ANOTHER BANNED BOOK
September 2024, Delacorte/Random House, 320 pp
A ripped from the headlines middle grade novel about a group of students who must fight book banning at their school to save their club…and their world as they know it. No matter what was going on i...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Tracey Baptiste
BOY 2.0
October 2024, Hachette, 304 pp
Win “Coal” Keegan has just landed in his latest foster home, with a big, noisy, slightly nosy family named the McKays. They seem eager to welcome Coal, but he’s wary of trusting them. So, he doesn’t t...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
PAINT WITH PLOOF
October 2024, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 56 pp
From the co-creator of Science Explorers Andy Chou Musser and NYT bestselling author of the Narwhal and Jelly series Ben Clanton. Ploof is a little cloud who’s eager to make their first rainbow! But ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
PLOOF
September 2023, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 56 pp
Come play with Ploof! Meet a friendly cloud full of feelings in this interactive picture book for fans of Hervé Tullet’s Press Here. Ploof is a puffy cloud who’s a little lonely — but now you’re here...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Shakirah Bourne
BEWARE THE HEARTMAN
September 2024, Scholastic, 336 pp
Ten months after her terrifying escape from a sea spirit, Josephine is happy to settle back into life in Fairy Vale, playing on her cricket team, and spending time with her Dad, Miss Alleyne......
Sorted By: Dramatic
Aida Salazar
MY LIVING WORLD
WHEN WATER FLOWS
October 2024, Penguin Workshop/Penguin Random House, 26 pp
Derived from Mexican Indigenous wisdom, this is the second title in a series of poetic board books centering around establishing an authentic, heartfelt connection with nature. Using Mexican concepts...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Brittany J. Thurman
FOREVER AND ALWAYS
January 2024, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 40 pp
In this lyrical picture book from two breakout picture book creators, a young Black child waits for—and worries about—her father while he’s away from home. A sensitive, poignant portrayal of a family’...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
TATER TALES: THE KING OF THE WORLD
April 2024, Simon and Schuster, 88 pp
Rot is ready for another adventure and this time he’s going “Spudlunking!” But while Rot is excited to dig through the muck for treasure, all his friends seem to be more interested in their own plans....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
THE COLLIDING WORLDS OF MINA LEE
January 2024, Crown/Random House, 304 pp
When a Korean American teenage artist gets sucked into the world of her own web comic, she must find a way out with the help of a cute boy all while facing off against a villainous corporation. Inspir...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Tracey Baptiste
MOKO MAGIC 01: CARNIVAL CHAOS
August 2024, Freedom Fire/Disney, 400 pp
Cousins Misty, Aidan, and Brooke discover that they carry the ancestral power of real moko healers from west Africa, and are the descendants of the first moko jumbie who followed a slave ship across t...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randy Ribay
EVERYTHING WE NEVER HAD
August 2024, Kokila/Penguin Random House, 288 pp
From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, mascul...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
YOU'RE BREAKING MY HEART
January 2024, Levine Querido, 304 pp
Harriet Adu knows that her brother's death is her fault. I mean, it's not actually her fault, but it still kinda is, isn't it? She would do anything to live in a world where she could take back what...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
OPERATION SISTERHOOD: STEALING THE SHOW!
January 2025, Crown/Random House, 272 pp
The Operation Sisterhood series continues as the four sisters decide to put on a community musical! The creative sister Sunday is the director and writer, but she has lost her spark. Can she find her ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Bianca Xunise
PUNK ROCK KARAOKE
April 2024, Viking/Penguin Random House, 256 pp
A debut young adult graphic novel from Ignatz Award-winning and nationally syndicated cartoonist, Bianca Xunise. School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jone When life gives you guitars, smash them!...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Aida Salazar
ULTRAVIOLET
April 2024, Scholastic, 256 pp
Can love break your heart-literally? For Elio, eighth grade fizzes with change. In his body. With his pops, who makes them join a father-son group to talk about puberty and manly stuff and being Mexi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Wendy Xu
THE INFINITY PARTICLE
August 2023, Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 272 pp
This thought-provoking limited palette graphic novel by the co-creator of Mooncakes explores big questions through the eyes of an aspiring inventor and the lifelike AI she finds herself falling for. ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON AND THE CHALICE OF THE GODS
September 2023, Disney-Hyperion, 256 pp
The original heroes from The Lightning Thief are reunited for their biggest challenge yet: getting Percy to college when the gods are standing in his way. After saving the world multiple times, Percy...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jeanne DuPrau
PROJECT F
October 2023, Random House Children's Books, 224 pp
WHAT IS PROJECT F? It’s life-changing! It’s an adventure! It’s freedom! It’s dangerous. From the author of The City of Ember comes a tension-filled post-apocalyptic novel like nothing you’ve read befo...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
GOBLIN SECRETS
January 2012, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 256 pp
In the National Book Award–winning Goblin Secrets, a boy joins a theatrical troupe of goblins to find his missing brother. Rownie, the youngest in Graba’s witchy household of stray children, escapes ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
GHOULISH SONG
April 2014, Margaret K. McElderry/Simon & Schuster, 192 pp
Set alongside the National Book Award-winning Goblin Secrets, Ghoulish Song weaves a story of music and mystery through the charmed, cursed world of Zombay. The last day of Kaile’s life does not star...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
AMBASSADOR
September 2015, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 256 pp
Gabe Fuentes is in for the ride of his life when he becomes Earth’s ambassador to the galaxy in this alien sci-fi adventure from the National Book Award–winning author of Goblin Secrets. Gabe Fuentes...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
NOMAD
September 2016, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 288 pp
When we last left Earth’s ambassador, Gabe Fuentes, he was stranded on the moon. Things don’t get better after he gets rescued by another young diplomat. The Outlast—a ruthless and spacefaring civiliz...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
A PROPERLY UNHAUNTED PLACE
August 2018, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 208 pp
From National Book Award–winning author William Alexander comes a wryly humorous story about two kids who try to save their town by bringing back its ghosts. Rosa Ramona Díaz has just moved to the sm...
Sorted By: Dramatic
William Alexander
A FESTIVAL OF GHOSTS
May 2019, Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, 228 pp
National Book Award winner William Alexander conjures up a spooky adventure full of excitement in this entertaining sequel to A Properly Unhaunted Place, which was a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Ro...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Bessie Flores Zaldívar
LIBERTAD
August 2024, Dial/Penguin Young Readers, 432 pp
A queer YA coming-of-age set during the rigged Honduran presidential election, about a young poet discovering the courage it takes to speak her truth about the people and country she loves. As the c...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
HARU, ZOMBIE DOG HERO
July 2023, HarperCollins Children's Books, 176 pp
An evil laboratory causes a zombie apocalypse through illegal animal testing and a kidnapped dog, Haru. When Haru turns into a zombie, it is his love for his human boy that keeps him from turning into...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Sean Rubin
THE IGUANODON'S HORN
March 2024, HarperCollins, 48 pp
Highlighting the role of artists in the scientific process, this crowd-pleasing look at dinosaurs explores how new discoveries deepen our understanding of the world. Ever since mysterious bones were ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
A PLACE CALLED AMERICA: A STORY OF THE LAND AND PEOPLE
August 2023, Abrams Books for Young Readers, 52 pp
Much of the story of human history has been about the quest for land and who controls it. A PLACE CALLED AMERICA: A STORY OF THE LAND AND PEOPLE explores the complex history of how the United States o...
Sorted By: Dramatic
C.G. Esperanza
KICKS IN THE SKY
September 2023, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 40 pp
Pura Belprè Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor winner C. G. Esperanza delivers color, rhythm, and style in this rollicking tale about everyday treasures turned magical! Red kicks, green kicks, yellow...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
YOU ARE HERE
March 2023, Allida/HarperCollins, 272 pp
An incident at a TSA security check point sows chaos and rumors, creating a chain of events that impacts twelve young Asian Americans in a crowded and restless airport. As their disrupted journeys cri...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kacen Callender
INFINITY ALCHEMIST
February 2024, Tor Teen/Macmillan, 400 pp
Infinity Alchemist is a spellbinding novel about a quest that leads three young alchemists toward unexpected love and unimaginable power. With their signature "prowess" (FIYAH) and "unbridled creativ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Justin A. Reynolds
HOUSE PARTY
June 2023, Joy Revolution/Random House, 384 pp
Welcome to HOUSE PARTY. The biggest event of the year is happening tonight, and you’re invited! Join us for Florence Hills High seniors’ last hurrah before graduation. Over a few wild, transformativ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Amparo Ortiz
LAST SUNRISE IN ETERNA
March 2023, Page Street Publishing, 368 pp
Seventeen-year-old goth Sevim Burgos would love to spend all day watching music videos, but to help support the family she has to scavenge and sell elf corpses to a sketchy university professor. On o...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
VIVIAN LANTZ' SECOND CHANCES
June 2023, HarperCollins, 320 pp
Vivian Lantz is cursed. Every year, terrible things happen on her first day of school—and her first day of eighth grade makes the rest of them look like child’s play. Her family’s house floods in a su...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Shakirah Bourne
NIGHTMARE ISLAND
May 2023, Scholastic, 304 pp
Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmare, where a silver butterfly leads her to a shadowy, silent monster. Her parents already favor her little brother, Peace, and as the "dif...
Sorted By: Dramatic
K. O’Neill
THE MOTH KEEPER
March 2023, Random House Graphic, 272 pp
Being a Moth Keeper is a huge responsibility and a great honor, but what happens when the new Moth Keeper decides to take a break from the moon and see the sun for the first time? A middle-grade fanta...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
TATER TALES: THE GREATEST IN THE WORLD
November 2022, Simon & Schuster, 88 pp
Two spud siblings face off in a series of epic challenges in this first installment of a new and hilariously silly graphic novel chapter book series from the bestselling creator of the Narwhal and Jel...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Sorted By: Dramatic
Megan Brennan
Magic Girls
KIRA AND THE (MAYBE) SPACE PRINCESS
March 2024, Random House Graphic, 225 pp
Welcome to Neo-Earth Junior High school, where the corridors are filled with heroines, geniuses and magic! 6th grader Kira just wants to escape her horrible fate: being totally and completely average....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Madeline McGrane
THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE: CURSE AT WITCH CAMP
February 2023, HarperCollins, 256 pp
Vampires at witch camp? What could go wrong? It’s summertime in Baneberry Falls and Drago and their vampire pals Eztli and Quintus are heading to witch camp where they’ll learn spells and magic along...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Aida Salazar
A SEED IN THE SUN
October 2022, Dial/Penguin Random House, 304 pp
A farm working girl with big dreams meets activist Dolores Huerta and joins the 1965 protest for migrant workers’ rights in this tender-hearted middle grade novel in verse, perfect for fans of Rita Wi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
THE INDESTRUCTIBLE TOM CREAN
January 2023, Viking/Penguin Random House, 55 pp
At the turn of the 20th century, Antarctica is the last unexplored continent. The ice is unforgiving. It can break the human spirit. It takes many men willing to face hardship, danger, and years away ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Camryn Garrett
OFF THE RECORD
May 2021, Knopf/Random House, 320 pp
Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds her when everything else is a garbage fire. So when she wins a contest to write a celebri...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Camryn Garrett
FULL DISCLOSURE
December 2020, Knopf/Random House, 320 pp
Simone Garcia-Hampton is absolutely positive that having a crush is more dangerous than having HIV; after all, she’s got her viral load under control. Simone knows that her status isn’t a death senten...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
THE SUN AND THE STAR
May 2023, Disney-Hyperion, 480 pp
The best-selling author behind Percy Jackson and the Olympians will soon be returning to Percy Jackson's world, this time in a book focused on Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades who first appeared way b...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Camryn Garrett
FRIDAY I'M IN LOVE
January 2023, Knopf/Random House, 288 pp
A love letter to romantic comedies, sweet sixteen blowouts, black joy and queer pride—this is a novel about finding yourself, falling in love, and celebrating what makes you you. Sixteen-year-old Mah...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randi Pink
WE ARE THE SCRIBES
October 2022, Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, 320 pp
Ruth Fitz is surrounded by activism. Her mother is a senator fighting for legislative social change, her father, a professor of African American history, is a walking encyclopedia, and her sister is a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Lin Thompson
THE HOUSE THAT WHISPERS
February 2023, Little, Brown, 336 pp
From the author of The Best Liars in Riverview comes a subtle exploration of gender identity, family, and the personal ghosts that haunt us all, perfect for fans of Kyle Lukoff and Ashley Herring Blak...
Sorted By: Dramatic
E.L. Shen
THE QUEENS OF NEW YORK
June 2023, Quill Tree/HarperCollins, 336 pp
Three best friends have one life-changing summer in this contemporary, Asian American Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Jia Lee, Ariel Kim, and Everett Hoang have been best friends since their paren...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Shveta Thakrar
THE DREAM RUNNERS
June 2022, HarperTeen/HarperCollins, 431 pp
Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, charged with harvesting ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kacen Callender
LARK AND KASIM START A REVOLUTION
September 2022, Abrams, 336 pp
From National Book Award–winner Kacen Callender, a contemporary YA that follows Lark's journey to speak the truth and discover how their own self-love can be a revolution Lark Winters wants to be a w...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kacen Callender
MOONFLOWER
September 2022, Scholastic, 272 pp
The award-winning author of Hurricane Child and King and the Dragonflies brings another unflinching story of identity and hope to young readers. Every night, twelve-year-old Moon leaves for the spiri...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
OPERATION SISTERHOOD
January 2022, Crown/Random House, 272 pp
ans of the Netflix reboot of The Babysitters Club will delight in this blended-family story about four sisters who band together in the heart of New York City. A jubilant novel about the difficulties ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Anne Quirk
LARGER THAN LIFE
July 2021, Norton Young Readers/W. W. Norton, 168 pp
An accessible, informed, and timely biography of Lyndon Johnson that centers his life and presidency around the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Keenly known for both his triumphs and his failures,...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Victoria J. Coe
MAKE WAY FOR FENWAY
FENWAY AND THE GREAT ESCAPE
October 2023, Putnam/Penguin Random House, 96 pp
The little dog with a GIANT personality from Fenway and Hattie is starring in his own chapter book series! The little dog with the GIANT personality from Fenway and Hattie just knows he is meant to r...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Nina Crews
I'm Not Small
March 2022, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 32 pp
What makes you big? What makes you small? From acclaimed author-illustrator Nina Crews comes a picture book that introduces young children to the concepts of size and comparisons. A great choice for e...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Andy Chou Musser
A Home Under the Stars
October 2021, Sasquatch, 40 pp
Magical and heartfelt, A Home Under the Stars explores the difficulties and anxieties that accompany moving, as well as the journey to find a sense of belonging in a new place and to call it home. Mo...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
DAUGHTER OF THE DEEP
October 2021, Hyperion, 416pp
New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan pays homage to Jules Verne in his exciting modern take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a fiv...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Alexis Castellanos
ISLA TO ISLAND
March 2022, Atheneum/S&S, 192 pp
A wordless middle grade graphic novel following a girl growing up in 1960s Cuba and New York City. Marisol loves her colorful island. Cuba is vibrant with flowers and food and people… but things are ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Daria Peoples
AMERICA, MY LOVE, AMERICA, MY HEART
April 2021, Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 40pp
America, do you love me? My black. My brown. My pride. My crown. Acclaimed author-artist Daria Peoples-Riley invites readers to answer timely—and timeless—questions beating inside the hearts of child...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Amparo Ortiz
DRAGONBLOOD RING (Blazewrath #2)
October 2021, Page Street Kids, 320 pp
After the Sire’s capture, teen athletes Lana Torres and Victoria Peralta travel to Puerto Rico with their former Blazewrath team. While Lana discovers her roots, nothing fills the void Blazewrath’s ca...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Schuyler Bailar
OBIE IS MAN ENOUGH
September 2021, Crown/Random House, 352 pp
A coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie who didn't think being himself would cause such a splash. For fans of Alex Gino's George and Lisa Bunker's Felix Yz. Obie knew his transition would ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Lin Thompson
THE BEST LIARS IN RIVERVIEW
March 2022, Little, Brown/Hachette, 336 pp
In the woods of a small Kentucky town, Aubrey sets off on a journey about growing up, self-discovery, and acceptance while searching for their missing best friend—perfect for fans of KING AND THE DRAG...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
The House in Poplar Wood
August 2018, Chronicle Books, 344 pp
Simultaneously heartwarming and delightfully spooky, The House in Poplar Wood is a story about a boy's desire to be free, a girl's desire to make a difference, and a family's desire to be together aga...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
NARWHAL AND JELLY BOARD BOOK SERIES
BLANKIE
February 2021, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 22 pp
Dive into a brand new Narwhal and Jelly story for the youngest readers! A big, yellow blankie is one of Narwhal's favorite things; not only because it keeps Narwhal warm and cozy, but also because it'...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Madeline McGrane
THE ACCURSED VAMPIRE
July 2021, HarperCollins, 176pp
A spooky and funny graphic novel debut that’s perfect for fans of Molly Knox Ostertag’s THE WITCH BOY and Kristen Gudsnuk’s MAKING FRIENDS. Dragoslava is a vampire kid. And that’s not even the worst ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
CANDIDLY CLINE
November 2021, HarperCollins, 320pp
Born in Paris, Kentucky and raised on her Gram’s favorite country music, Cline dreams of making it big with her own songs—even if her mother has always told her that music won’t pay the bills. So whe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Sarah Dvojack
ROSIE THE RIVETER
October 2021, Imprint/Macmillan, 40 pp
A picture book illustrating how the iconic image of Rosie the Riveter has evolved and inspired generations of women to make history....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Sorted By: Dramatic
C.G. Esperanza
BOOGIE BOOGIE Y'ALL
August 2021, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 40pp
A rhythmic picture book celebrating the Bronx and street art culture....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Selina Alko
ONE GOLDEN RULE AT SCHOOL: A COUNTING BOOK
Summer 2020, Henry Holt/Macmillan, 40 pp
Award-winning creator Selina Alko's One Golden Rule at School is a charming story that's two books in one―a counting book and a school primer for little ones. Set against the familiar and dynamic back...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kelly Quindlen
SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY
April 2021, Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 304 pp
From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance. After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first basketball game since their break ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kat Cho
VICIOUS SPIRITS
August 2020, Putnam/Penguin, 416 pp
Miyoung and Jihoon are picking up the pieces of their broken lives following the deaths of Miyoung’s mother, Yena, and Jihoon’s grandmother. The events at the end of Wicked Fox have upended the forces...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kat Cho
WICKED FOX
June 2019, Putnam/Penguin, 448 pp
An addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul. Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret--she's a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so fe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
THIEF EYES
Spring 2010, Random House, 272 pp
After her mother mysteriously disappears, sixteen-year-old Haley convinces her father to take her to Iceland, where her mother was last seen. There, amidst the ancient fissures and crevices of that vo...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
EMPTY
Fall 2010, Scholastic, 192 pp
A dystopic look at what happens to one American town when all the fossil fuels run out... It's the future - the very near future - and the fossil fuels are running out. No gas. No oil. Which means no...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
FACES OF THE DEAD
Summer 2014, Scholastic, 213 pp
When Marie-Therese, daughter of Marie Antoinette, slips into the streets of Paris at the height of the French Revolution, she finds a world much darker than what she's ever known. When Marie-Thérèse ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
January 2010, Hyperion, TBD pp
It’s the handbook no half-blood should be without: a fully illustrated, in-depth guide to gods, monsters, and all things Percy. This novelty companion to the best-selling series comes complete with tr...
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Rick Riordan
THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS: THE DEMIGOD DIARIES
August 2012, Hyperion, 224 pp
What dangers do runaway demigods Luke and Thalia face on their way to Camp Half-Blood? Are Percy and Annabeth up to the task of rescuing stolen goods from a fire-breathing giant who doesn't take kindl...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE DEMIGOD FILES
February 2009, Hyperion, 160 pp
How do you handle an encounter with Medusa on the New Jersey interstate? What's the best way to take down a minotaur? Become an expert on everything in Percy's world with this must-have guide to the P...
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Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF ILLUSTRATED EDITION
August 2018, Hyperion, 240 pp
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school . . . again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight ou...
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Rick Riordan
THE LAST OLYMPIAN
May 2009, Hyperion, 400 pp
The series that started it all. Join the adventures of Percy Jackson and his demigod friends as they fight mythological monsters and the forces of the titan lord Kronos....
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Rick Riordan
CAMP HALF-BLOOD CONFIDENTIAL
May 2017, Hyperion, 192 pp
A Heroes of Olympus Companion Guide – An inside look at a demigod’s home-away-from-home....
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Rick Riordan
BLOOD OF OLYMPUS
October 2014, Hyperion, 608 pp
A new Great Prophecy, a new generation of demigods – the adventures have just begun! Expect to see old friends from the Percy Jackson books along with a great new cast of main characters, as the heroe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
THE KANE CHRONICLES SURVIVAL GUIDE
March 2012, Hyperion, 144 pp
A gorgeous primer on the people, places, gods and creatures found in The Kane Chronicles series, featuring enough information and extras to satisfy avid followers and budding Egyptologists alike....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
BROOKLYN HOUSE MAGICIAN’S MANUAL
May 2018, Hyperion, 192 pp
Packed with quizzes, stories, and insights about Ancient Egyptian deities, creatures (the friendly and the deadly), the mysterious Duat, and more, this primer will prepare those with the blood of the ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
THE SERPENT’S SHADOW
May 2012, Hyperion, 416 pp
When a magical accident unleashes the Egyptian gods into the modern world, Carter and Sadie Kane discover that they are descended from the most powerful Egyptian magicians, and only they have the powe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
CROWN OF PTOLEMY
April 2015, Hyperion, 40 pp
Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Sadie Kane and Carter Kane, together at last!...
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Rick Riordan
STAFF OF SERAPIS
April 2014, Hyperion, 40 pp
Sadie Kane meets Annabeth Chase...
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Rick Riordan
SON OF SOBEK
May 2013, Hyperion, 40 pp
Carter Kane meets Percy Jackson...
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Rick Riordan
DEMIGODS AND MAGICIANS
April 2015, Hyperion, 224 pp
Bind-up of three crossover short stories...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON'S GREEK GODS
August 2014, Hyperion, 318 pp
Who could tell the origin stories of the gods of Olympus better than a modern-day demigod? Percy Jackson provides an insider’s view and Riordan delivers it in the same voice we have all grown to know ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
PERCY JACKSON’S GREEK HEROES
August 2015, Hyperion, 416 pp
Percy Jackson can fill you in on the all the daring deeds of Perseus, Atalanta, Bellerophon, and the rest of the major Greek heroes. Told in the funny, irreverent style readers have come to expect fro...
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Rick Riordan
THE HOTEL VALHALLA GUIDE TO THE NORSE WORLDS
August 2016, Hyperion, 160 pp
A Magnus Chase Companion Guide – An introduction to deities, mythical beings and fantastic creatures....
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Rick Riordan
9 FROM THE NINE WORLDS
October 2018, Hyperion, 176 pp
The Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard trilogy may have concluded, but we haven’t heard the last of our favorite einherji and his friends. The nine Norse worlds are rich with lore, as this collection...
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Rick Riordan
MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD
THE SHIP OF THE DEAD
October 2017, Hyperion, 432 pp
Loki is free from his chains. He’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, complete with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Asgardian gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s u...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Rick Riordan
CAMP JUPITER CLASSIFIED
May 2020, Hyperion, 192 pp
A Trials of Apollo Companion Guide – Mysterious incidents are wreaking havoc throughout Camp Jupiter. If the Romans don’t figure out who--or what--is behind the episodes soon, the Twelfth Legion could...
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Rick Riordan
THE TRIALS OF APOLLO
THE TOWER OF NERO
September 2020, Hyperion, 448 pp
At last, the breathtaking, action-packed finale of the #1 bestselling Trials of Apollo series is here! Lester and his demigod master Meg must follow a prophecy uncovered by Ella the harpy. Lester’s fi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
IT CAME IN THE MAIL
June 2016, Simon & Schuster, 40 pp
Liam really wants some mail, so he writes a letter to his mailbox asking for something in return. His mailbox delivers, sending Liam more than he could have hoped for…and how! But as the mail starts t...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
REX WRECKS IT!
March 2017, Candlewick, 32 pp
Uh-oh! Here comes Rex! Every time Gizmo, Sprinkles, and Wild build something with their blocks, Rex wrecks it! That’s just the way Rex plays. Is there a way to make playtime fun for everyone?...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
BOO WHO?
August 2017, Candlewick, 32pp
A shy little ghost who’s new to the group has trouble fitting in — until his special talent comes to the fore. Boo is new. And even if the other kids are welcoming, it can be scary being new, especia...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
MO’S MUSTACHE
October 2013, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 32 pp
Mo is a monster who just got a mustache. A big, black, beautiful mustache. Everybody likes Mo’s mustache. Now Knot, Dot, Nib, Tutu, Bob, Bill, and Ben all have mustaches too. In fact, soon EVERYBODY h...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY
October 2014, Simon & Schuster, 32 pp
An autobiographical picture book which explores the world, wishes and ingenuity of a very imaginative boy....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
VOTE FOR ME!
February 2020, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 32 pp
Donkey and Elephant both want YOUR vote and will do just about anything to get it. Soon their efforts devolve into literal mud-slinging. Can they clean up their campaigns or will a third candidate (Mo...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
ROT: THE CUTEST IN THE WORLD
Spring 2018, Simon & Schuster, 32 pp
A fun and silly picture book about a mutant potato named Rot who enters a beauty pageant and must overcome the doubts of the other contestants (a baby bunny, cuddly kitten, and jolly jellyfish) as wel...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
ROT: THE BRAVEST IN THE WORLD
June 2020, Simon & Schuster, 32 pp
In this second Rot book, we meet Rot’s big brother Snot, who is a bit of snot to poor Rot. He’s made up a creature called the Squirm that has Rot feeling super scared. But with the help of a cape, bro...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ben Clanton
NARWHAL AND JELLY SERIES
NARWHAL'S SWEET TOOTH
July 2024, Tundra/Penguin Random House Canada, 76 pp
In the hilarious ninth book of this blockbuster graphic novel series, Narwhal’s sweet tooth leads to some very funny feelings! Dive into four new stories so sweet they’ll make your teeth tingle! Ever...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Betty G. Birney
OG THE FROG SERIES
WILDLIFE ACCORDING TO OG THE FROG
Book 3 – May 2020, Putnam/Penguin, 144 pp
In the third book in the spinoff of the Humphrey series, Og and Humphrey head to summer camp to see what’s hopping in the wilderness! Og didn’t know where he would end up when school was over, but it...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Betty G. Birney
HUMPHREY SERIES
SPRING ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY
Book 12 – January 2016, Putnam/Penguin, 160 pp
Join Humphrey, the classroom hamster, as he navigates the wilds of school with the students of Room 26. Each book is a funny and unique look at life from the perspective of an adorable and caring cla...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
CHARLES DARWIN’S AROUND THE WORLD ADVENTURE
October 2016, Abrams, 40 pp
This picture book biography of Charles Darwin’s adventures on the Beagle features spectacular maps illustrating the route and tells the story of Darwin’s travels and his discoveries in each location....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
GRANDMA GATEWOOD HIKES THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
May 2018, Abrams, 40 pp
Emma Gatewood’s life was far from easy. In rural Ohio, she managed a household of 11 kids alongside a less-than-supportive husband. One day, at age 67, she decided to go for a nice long walk…and ended...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
MANHATTAN: THE STORY OF AN ISLAND
August 2019, Abrams, 64 pp
A nonfiction picture book about the history, humans, and natural events that have shaped Manhattan for over four hundred years. Through dramatic illustrations and detailed maps, the island’s story com...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Thermes
HORSE POWER: HOW HORSES CHANGED THE WORLD
April 2021, Abrams, 48 pp
Horse and human life were intertwined for thousands of years, yet the role of the everyday horse throughout history is rarely mentioned. In HORSE POWER: HOW HORSES CHANGED THE WORLD, follow the horse ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
INVISIBLE WORLD
August 2012, Scholastic, 240 pp
For 15-year-old Sarah Owen, having a scientist father is a blessing and a curse. He doesn’t bat an eye at her psychic abilities, since he researches them; and she knows more about the invisible worlds...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
THE BAR CODE PROPHECY
October 2013, Scholastic, 208 pp
The third book in the Bar Code series, in which one girl struggles to escape the conformity of a dystopian world. Grace lives a normal life. She goes to school during the day and works part-time at th...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Suzanne Weyn
DR. FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTERS
January 2013, Scholastic, 250 pp
Giselle and Ingrid are the twin daughters of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, but they are very different people, and when they inherit his castle in the Orkney Islands, Giselle dreams of holding parties a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Hilary Wagner
NIGHTSHADE CHRONICLES
LORDS OF TRILLIUM
Book 3 – March 2014, Holiday House, 250 pp
Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, a kingdom of remarkable rats of superior intellect. Following the Bloody Coup, the once peaceful democracy has become a dictatorship, ruled by deca...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Andy Rash
ARCHIE THE DAREDEVIL PENGUIN
Fall 2015, Viking/Penguin, 32 pp
A humorous read-aloud about a daredevil penguin with a secret fear. There’s a fish-fry on Iceberg 9 and all Archie’s friends are swimming over. But Archie’s afraid of the water and the strange creatu...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Andy Rash
THE HAPPY BOOK
Winter 2019, Viking/Penguin, TBD pp
A funny and sweet story about not always being happy, and how that’s okay. It isn’t always sunny for Happy Camper and Clam. But when the best friends fight over their newly discovered feelings, can S...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
THE DRAGON KING CHRONICLES
KING
Book 3 – December 2014, HarperCollins/HarperTeen, 288 pp
This thrilling and romantic conclusion to the Prophecy series brings Kira her final quest. Kira, once an outcast in her home village of Hansong, is now the only one with the power to save her kingdom....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
SPIRIT HUNTERS
SPIRIT HUNTERS: SOMETHING WICKED
July 2022, HarperCollins, 240 pp
Harper is dealing with a lot of new changes in her house. Her cousin Leo is now living with them, her sister Kelly has started a new job at a local makeup store, and Harper’s abilities have grown incr...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
THE DRAGON EGG PRINCESS
March 2020, HarperCollins, 256 pp
A must-have middle grade novel perfect for fans of the Wing & Claw series by Linda Sue Park. In a kingdom filled with magic, Jiho Park and his family are an anomaly—magic doesn’t affect them. Jiho co...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ellen Oh
FINDING JUNIE KIM
May 2021, HarperCollins, 368pp
From We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh comes an extraordinary story about a girl who must understand her family’s past to embrace her present, finding herself along the way. Junie Kim just wan...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Janni Lee Simner
BONES OF FAERIE SERIES
FAERIE AFTER
Book 3 – May 2013, Random House, 272 pp
Janni Lee Simner’s young adult novels are a dark fairy-tale twist on apocalyptic fiction, as familiar as a nightmare, yet altogether unique. The three books in the Bones of Faerie series take readers...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
YAKS YAK
March 2016, Clarion/HMH, 40 pp
At once funny and informative, Yaks Yak presents animals acting out the verbs made from their names. Illustrations rich in comic details show hogs hogging, slugs slugging, and other spirited creatures...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
BLUE ETHEL
May 2017, Margaret Ferguson Books/Macmillan, 40 pp
Ethel was old. She was fat. She was black. She was white. And she was very set in her ways – until the day she turned blue. Ethel, with the help of her friend Fluffy, learns to appreciate the wonders ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
PLAYING POSSUM
July 2020, Clarion/HMH, 32 pp
Alfred the possum, who plays dead, and Sophia the armadillo, who rolls up in a ball, stand in for shy or anxious humans whose discomfort keeps them from fitting in. Jennifer Black Reinhardt has cast a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jennifer Black Reinhardt
ALWAYS BY MY SIDE
March 2021, Random House, 32 pp
A sweet story about a boy and his stuffed animal (standing in for a guardian) that has seen him through his ups and downs, and will always be there for him as he grows up....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
LUCKY FEW
June 2016, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
A quirky black comedy about oddball teens facing mortality. Focused on strong friendships and madcap adventures, this is a John Hughes movie in novel form. The life of homeschooler Stevie Hart gets a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
TASH HEARTS TOLSTOY
June 2017, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
A refreshing LGBTQ+ coming-of-age novel about Internet fame, peer pressure, and YouTube. After a shout-out from one of the Internet’s superstar vloggers, Natasha “Tash” Zelenka suddenly finds herself...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
THE GREAT UNKNOWABLE END
February 2019, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 400 pp
A humorous, lightly speculative novel for fans of “Welcome to Nightvale” with points of view from two teens with opposing beliefs who come together at what might be the end of the world in a small Ame...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kathryn Ormsbee
THE SULLIVAN SISTERS
May 2020, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 384 pp
For readers who were riveted by mysteries like SADIE by Courtney Summers and TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET by Karen McManus. The Sullivan Sisters used to be close, sharing secrets inside homemade blanket cas...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Yamile Saied Méndez
ON THESE MAGIC SHORES
April 2020, Tu Books/Lee & Low, 288 pp
Twelve-year-old Minerva Soledad Madrid does not believe in fairies (or peques, as mamá calls them), despite the fact that her family insists peques followed them from Argentina to the US watch over th...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Yamile Saied Méndez
FURIA
September 2020, Algonquin/Workman Publishing, 368 pp
Camila “Furia” Hassan has a dream—to play professional fútbol. She lives in the cradle of fútbol legends, Rosario, Argentina, but Rosario only exports fútbol players of the male kind. No one believes ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
THE MISADVENTURES OF THE FAMILY FLETCHER
July 2014, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 260 pp
Modern Family meets modern classics like Beverly Cleary’s Quimbys and Judy Blume’s Hatchers in this heartwarming and hilarious middle grade novel. Four adopted brothers, two dads, and an ever-changing...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
THE FAMILY FLETCHER TAKES ROCK ISLAND
May 2016, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 272 pp
Fans of The Penderwicks and other summer tales will enjoy this stand-alone companion novel to the acclaimed Misadventures of the Family Fletcher. Set on a fictional New England island, the boys, ages ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
THIS WOULD MAKE A GOOD STORY SOMEDAY
Spring 2017, Penguin Random House, 260 pp
Fans of Dan Santat’s Are We There Yet and Geoff Rodkey’s The Tapper Twins will enjoy this cross-country train trip of a middle grade novel. Twelve-year-old Sara loves her family, but she’s less than t...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
IT WASN’T ME
November 2018, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 336 pp
The Breakfast Club meets middle school in this story of six 12-year-old students — five potential perpetrators and Theo, one seriously annoyed victim — forced to spend vacation week together in school...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Dana Alison Levy
ABOVE ALL ELSE
April 2020, Charlesbridge, TBD pp
Into Thin Air meets The Sun is Also a Star in this tale of two teens who trained their whole lives to summit Mount Everest. High school seniors and best friends Rose and Tate have always climbed toget...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Aida Salazar
THE MOON WITHIN
Spring 2019, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 250 pp
This free verse middle grade novel tells the story of 11-year-old Cely, whose life swirls with questions about her changing body, her first attraction to a boy, her best friend’s exploration of what i...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Aida Salazar
LAND OF THE CRANES
September 2020, Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, 256 pp
This free verse middle grade novel, inspired in part by the author’s own childhood as an undocumented immigrant, tells the story of 9-year-old Betita, who believes that she and other migrants follow a...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randi Pink
INTO WHITE
September 2016, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 288 pp
Sixteen-year-old Latoya Williams, who is black, attends a mostly white high school in the Alabama. In a moment of desperation, she prays for the power to change her race and wakes up white. Randi Pink...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randi Pink
GIRLS LIKE US
October 2019, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 320 pp
This historical fiction novel set in the summer of 1972, months before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe vs. Wade, is an introspective look into abortion rights. The novel weaves togethe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randi Pink
ANGEL OF GREENWOOD
January 2021, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, 304pp
ANGEL OF GREENWOOD is a historical fiction novel set in the Tulsa, Oklahoma neighborhood of Greenwood, affectionately known as Black Wall Street, in which sixteen-year-old Angel and seventeen-year-old...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ashley Woodfolk
THE BEAUTY THAT REMAINS
March 2018, Delacorte/Penguin Random House, 336 pp
Autumn always knew exactly who she was: a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister and her love of music. And Logan has always turned to writin...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Ashley Woodfolk
FLYY GIRLS
TOBYN: THE IT GIRL
Book 4 - August 2021, Penguin Workshop/Penguin, 144 pp
Meet the Flyy Girls. The group of girls who seem like they can get away with anything. Veteran author Ashley Woodfolk pens a gorgeous and dynamic series about four Harlem highschoolers, each facing a ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Randy Ribay
PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING
June 2019, Kokila/Penguin Random House, 304 pp
A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder. Jay Reguero plans to spend the last semester of his...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kate Samworth
AVIARY WONDERS
March 2014, Clarion/HMH, 32 pp
Since 2031, Aviary Wonders Inc. has offered bird lovers a unique opportunity: Assemble your own bird from stunningly beautiful and carefully hand-crafted parts. The birds can even be taught to fly and...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Shveta Thakrar
STAR DAUGHTER
August 2020, Harperteen/HarperCollins, 448 pp
The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Her mother returned to the constellation Pushya when Sheetal was just a child, and since then, Sheetal has hidden her true iden...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Justin A. Reynolds
EARLY DEPARTURES
September 2020, Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins, 320 pp
Jamal’s best friend Q does not know he’s about to die . . . again. He also doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save his life, rescuing him from drowning only to watch Q die in the hospital. Even more co...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kelly Quindlen
LATE TO THE PARTY
April 2020, Roaring Brook/Macmillan, 304 pp
A story of friendship and first love, featuring a diverse cast of LGBTQ+ characters. Codi wants to score her first kiss—with a girl—but she may have to expand her social world first. Can she fall in ...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Amparo Ortiz
BLAZEWRATH GAMES
October 2020, Page Street Kids, 368 pp
Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangero...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Megan Jean Sovern
THE MEANING OF MAGGIE
May 2014, Chronicle, 220 pp
Twelve-year-old Maggie lives in a house too small for all the big problems plaguing a shy girl just trying to survive adolescence armed with Little Debbies and deep thoughts. When her father’s legs p...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jim Murphy
BREAKTHROUGH: HOW THREE PEOPLE SAVED “BLUE BABIES” AND CHANGED MEDICINE FOREVER
December 2016, Clarion/HMH, 144 pp
In 1944 a groundbreaking operation repaired the congenital heart defect known as blue baby syndrome. The operation’s success brought the surgeon Alfred Blalock international fame and paved the way for...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Laura Williams McCaffrey
MARKED
February 2016, Clarion/HMH, 368 pp
Sixteen-year-old Lyla lives in a bleak, controlling society where only the brightest and most favored students succeed. When she is caught buying cheats in an underground shadow market, she is tattooe...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Josanne La Valley
THE VINE BASKET
April 2013, Clarion/HMH, 256 pp
Things aren’t looking good for fourteen-year-old Mehrigul. She yearns to be in school, but she’s needed on the family farm. The longer she’s out of school, the more likely it is that she’ll be sent of...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Josanne La Valley
FACTORY GIRL
January 2017, Clarion/HMH, 256 pp
In order to save her family’s farm, Roshen, sixteen, must leave her rural home to work in a factory in the south of China. There she finds arduous and degrading conditions and contempt for her minorit...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kristin Kladstrup
THE BOOK OF STORY BEGINNINGS
March 2006, Candlewick, 368 pp
This wonderfully transporting fantasy - featuring a ship full of orphaned pirate children, a pair of warring royals, and plenty of magic potions - is sure to thrill all those who dare turn its pages....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kristin Kladstrup
GARDEN PRINCESS
March 2013, Candlewick, 272 pp
Dig in to this middle-grade fantasy featuring a horticulturally-minded princess, a beautiful but evil witch, and a magpie with a shameful secret....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kristin Kladstrup
NUTCRACKER MICE
October 2017, Candlewick, 336 pp
Hidden in Saint Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theater are the world’s tiniest ballet fans: the Mariinsky mice, including Esmeralda, a rising dancer in the Russian Mouse Ballet Company. Despite being un...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Carolyn Hennesy
MYTHIC MISADVENTURES SERIES
PANDORA GETS FRIGHTENED
Book 7 – July 2013, Bloomsburg, 288 pp
Mythic Misadventures series in which Pandora tries to recapture all the great evils of the world and return them to the infamous box....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Stephanie Greene
PRINCESS POSEY SERIES
PRINCESS POSEY
Multiple Dates, Putnam/Penguin, Each 96 pp
In her 12th chapter book, everyone’s favorite first grade friend, Princess Posey, learns that sometimes exciting news comes with big changes. When Posey’s grandpa announces that he’s marrying her nei...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Stephanie Greene
SOPHIE HARTLEY SERIES
SOPHIE HARTLEY AND THE FACTS OF LIFE
Book 4 – November 2013, Clarion/HMH, 144 pp
The indomitable, quirky, passionate Sophie faces challenges and challengers with determination and resourcefulness. She does so with down-to-earth, realistic, humorous take on friendships and family r...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Cynthia Leonor Garza
LUCÍA THE LUCHADORA
April 2017, POW!, 32 pp
Girls can be superheroes, too. When the boys on the playground tell Lucía that girls can’t be superheroes – despite her high-flying leaps – she comes up with a plan to disguise herself as a masked luc...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Cynthia Leonor Garza
LUCÍA THE LUCHADORA AND THE MILLION MASKS
October 2018, POW!, 32 pp
A splendiferous sisterhood adventure in the follow-up to Lucía the Luchadora. Lucía’s little sister Gemma wants to be a luchadora too, but she seems to find trouble wherever she goes. When Gemma makes...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Daria Peoples
THIS IS IT
February 2018, Greenwillow/Harper, 40 pp
A young ballerina, uncertain of her talent, follows the poetically compelling voice of her shadow to discover the courage she needs to audition....
Sorted By: Dramatic
Daria Peoples
I GOT NEXT
July 2019, Greenwillow/Harper, 40 pp
A perfect read-aloud for all young athletes on game day, featuring text that mimics spoken-word poetry. When a young basketball player wants to play in the next game at the local playground, his shad...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Wook Jin Jung
BLACK CAT, YELLOW BUNNY
October 2019, Newmark/Reycraft Books, 32 pp
This nearly wordless book shows the slowly developing friendship between a cat and a bunny who meet on a chance encounter in the park. Through small acts of kindness, they reveal the powerful effect t...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kayla Harren
HANNAH’S TALL ORDER: AN A TO Z SANDWICH
August 2018, Sleeping Bear Press, 32 pp
Hannah is feeling just a bit peckish and knows exactly what she wants to eat: an A to Z sandwich on thick whole wheat bread! From avocado to zucchini, Hannah’s whims throw Mr. McDougal at the cafe int...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kayla Harren
THE BOY WHO GREW A FOREST
March 2019, Sleeping Bear Press, 32 pp
As a boy, Jadav Payeng was distressed by the destruction deforestation and erosion was causing on his island home in India’s Brahmaputra River. So he began planting trees. What began as a small thicke...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Kayla Harren
A VOICE LIKE YOURS
March 2024, Sleeping Bear Press, 32 pp
Each of us has a unique and powerful voice, whether we speak loudly or softly, sing or sign, or without any words at all. What matters is how we use that voice--because voices are meant to be used. So...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Mary E. Lambert
FAMILY GAME NIGHT AND OTHER CATASTROPHES
February 2017, Scholastic, 256 pp
A novel about throwing things out -- and letting people in. Annabelle has a secret so big she won’t allow friends within five miles of her home. Her mom collects things. Their house is overflowing wi...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Mary E. Lambert
DISTRESS SIGNAL
October 2020, Scholastic, 272 pp
In this edge-of-your-seat survival story, four classmates are stranded in a desert wilderness after a flash flood separates them from the rest of their grade. Can they make it to safety? Lavender’s c...
Sorted By: Dramatic
David Kreizman
THE YEAR THEY FELL
September 2019, Imprint/Macmillan, 384 pp
In the wake of their parents’ tragic plane crash, five very different teenagers must find a way to navigate their senior year of high school and forge a new family. Josie, Jack, Archie, Harrison, and...
Sorted By: Dramatic
David Kreizman
THE UNEXPLAINABLE DISAPPEARANCE OF MARS PATEL
October 2020, Candlewick, 304 pp
When his friends begin disappearing, eleven-year-old Mars Patel uncovers a mystery that will take him to the stars…and beyond.The first novel in a series written by Sheela Chari based on the award-win...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jessie Haas
RESCUE
April 2018, Boyds Mills, 200 pp
In this coming-of-age story perfect for horse fans, twelve-year-old animal lover Joni clashes with her new neighbor and animal rights activist Chess. Their bumpy friendship reaches a crisis when Chess...
Sorted By: Dramatic
Jessie Haas
THE HUNGRY PLACE
October 2020, Boyds Mills, TBD pp
A middle-grade novel told in 2 points of view. Rae grows up longing for, and working to afford, a pony, until at age twelve she crosses paths with Princess, a show-ring champion left to starve by an u...