A lockpick’s handiwork and a fascinating list of bequests launch a magic-fueled investigation in this entrancing standalone mystery from Milford (The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book). When the Vicar siblings, 12-year-old artist Dahlia and 14-year-old mystery fan Ivy, travel with their parents from Brooklyn to Rialto, Mo., for their mother to research its long-shuttered theme park, their arrival coincides with a loss for their hosts, the Forwanders. As 14-year-old Remy Forwander begins dispersing letters and objects left behind by his honorary aunt Jess, the missives reveal details about a 40-year-old mystery rooted in Rialto Park’s history and the dense local forest, rumored to have sprung up fully formed overnight. Appreciative descriptions of pattern-based arts (change-ringing, lacemaking, paper-cutting) and pop culture references (Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Unicorn) twine with sturdy in-world lore in a work that’s jam-packed with elegantly limned costumes, props, and settings. Though the sprawling cast is occasionally unwieldy, organic-feeling characterization incorporates nuanced interpersonal tensions and portrayals of living with anxiety. Musing on themes of gatekeeping and subjective truth, it’s a winking whirlwind adventure that serves as both welcoming entrée to and continuation of the author’s carefully engineered oeuvre. Ivy and Dahlia read as white; Remy is Black. Ages 10–up. Agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

The theft of a priceless artifact coincides with a tween’s unexpected upcoming relocation to a foreign country in this bustling caper by DasGupta (The Ghost Forest). After Bengali American seventh grader Ria Bailey’s museum curator mother mysteriously loses her job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the youth is devastated to learn that the family is moving from New York City to “Nowheresville, Germany,” for Ma’s new job. When Ria opens a package addressed to her mother containing a ruby that was recently stolen from the Met, Ria—suspicious that Ma took the jewel herself to repatriate it to India—sets out to uncover the truth. Accompanied by her BFFs Miracle and Annie, Ria travels around N.Y.C. seeking clues surrounding the ruby’s origins. Upon discovering that the museum already intended to return the jewel to India, the trio attempts to covertly deliver it back to the Met through a series of reverse-heist-like maneuvers, along the way unearthing information about an underground organization specializing in repatriation. Steady pacing and cinematic prose renders an affectionate ode to immigrant families in N.Y.C. that takes a thoughtful and considered approach to colonization’s impact on the artifacts and history of the Global South. Ages 8–12. Agent: Brent Taylor, Triada US. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this hopeful middle grade debut from Tew (An Ocean Apart), a Black 13-year-old who lives with anxiety struggles to manage her diagnosis as she grapples with adolescent trials surrounding crushes, periods, and establishing agency. Rayana Johnson makes lists to help mitigate heightened feelings of panic brought about by her anxiety. While preparing to leave for a 10-day sleepaway camp at the National Center for Space and Rocketry in Woodsboro, Ala., list-making distracts her from her nervousness about a mysterious tension between her parents and leaving behind her best friend Kaya, who is grieving her own recently deceased father. At camp, Ray determines to pass the program’s challenging final mission, the reward being a coveted NASA bomber jacket, but mishaps leading up to the test—including getting her first period and contending with arrogant peer Travis—jeopardize her success. And even as Ray befriends her bunkmates and learns how to be a team player, she finds that her lists aren’t always enough to ferry her through the unexpected. Ray’s notes punctuate significant plot beats, offering humor—about Travis, “Hold your breath as soon as he pops an Altoid. Pretend you’re on a spacewalk and oxygen levels are critical”—that lightens the protagonist’s earnest and urgently rendered attempts to navigate intense emotions and follow her passion. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jennifer Azantian, Azantian Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

A dictatorial regime’s robot creation provides unexpected comfort to down-and-out tweens in this affirming contemplation of mortality and the necessity of community from Kelly (The Last Resort). Twelve-year-old Zuzu lives in Barren, Tex., a dusty wasteland governed by a technological mega-conglomerate called the Lockwood Corporation. When Zuzu’s father is laid off from Lockwood, he receives a robot (sans charger) as severance; to Zuzu’s dismay, it’s revealed to be programmed as a Lockwood-sponsored chaperone. Meeting up with her friends at a local salvage yard, Zuzu and her technophile bestie Elias reprogram the robot, awakening within it a new sensibility: rather than admonishing the group for breaking Lockwood rules, it bends the truth on their behalf and displays unexpected curiosity in and compassion for its human charges. The group dubs it Snap, who becomes a friend, but its battery is slowly dying, and the kids have been unable to salvage a new charger. Succinct and immersive prose renders a futuristic tale that touches on timely subjects such as climate change, technological classism, and the increasing integration of AI into everyday life, populated by racially diverse characters whose ingenuity and capacity for optimism model replicable behaviors for children navigating similar ordeals. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Sara Crowe Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Preus (Windswept) channels animal sleuth classics such as The Great Mouse Detective in a radiant series opener. Pygmy shrew Minerva usually reserves her investigative prowess for cases close to her woodland abode, until her cousin Tenacity summons her to a human house, hopeful that the detective can help prevent potential animal murder: the homeowner believes that mice have stolen her pearl necklace, and if it’s not recovered, she’ll hire an exterminator to fumigate the building. Donning her spectacles and deerstalker hat, and tapping into her vast vocabulary—learned from reading the dictionary definitions that wallpaper her quaint den—“shrewd shrew” Minerva interviews acrobatic squirrels, a bumbling dog, and other denizens in and around the house as she seeks out suspects and evidence to find the pearls before it’s too late. The unique biology of the novel’s adorable sprawling animalian cast proves vital to plot momentum, as when Minerva uses echolocation to explore too-dark surroundings and a chipmunk’s large mouth offers the key to reclaiming the pearls. Shaded graphite illustrations by Wu (The Girl Who Tested the Waters), reminiscent of Syd Hoff’s, are sprinkled with clues, allowing readers to join in as Minerva’s investigation encounters household perils, punctuated by her many meals (shrews will die if they don’t eat every hour). Human characters present as white. Animal facts conclude. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Stephen Fraser, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In a playfully rhyming picture book, Ferry (The Peddler of Puddles) and Kang (I Worked Hard on That!) create a fanciful realm populated with hometown heroes who sport fabulously flowing manes in assorted colors. While residents including gnomes, pixies, sprites, and trolls go about their days, unicorns lean into community engagement, filling critical civic and business roles from mail carrier to ballet teacher, florist, public works employee, first responder, farmer, and, of course, hairdresser. “We’re unicorns in uniforms!/ We know just what to do,” proclaim these prancing pillars of daily life; “We’re hoofed and horned and well-informed/ and ready to help you!” When a dragon ignites a raging fire, the unicorns abandon their specialized roles to unite as one superhero-suit-clad firefighting force that vanquishes the threat and earns a fabulous gratitude parade. Though the village’s other inhabitants seem remarkably content to let their horned neighbors handle practically everything, lively artwork depicts the arrangement as a candy-colored civic partnership. Ages 4–8. Agent (for Ferry and Kang): Elena Giovinazzo, Heirloom Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

With compassionate prose, haunting artwork, and an open, mythic ending, Newbery Honoree Wolk, making her picture book debut, and Adam (The Urban Owls) capture what it means to face a literal sea change. A brown mouse “in love with her life” shares with an old man the Outermost House, a ramshackle cabin perched on a beach “where the land slipped away.” Nature provides for the mouse’s needs, and the house supplies creature comforts, including a clock that “tick-tocked her to sleep at night.” But the waters are rising nearer the residence, and while other animals prove unconcerned and the house itself seems resigned to its fate, the mouse attempts to build rodent-size defenses. When the human owner finally abandons the abode, the ocean rushes in, and sweeping digitally finished watercolors turn genuinely frightening as the mouse, clinging to a post, is enveloped in stormy darkness. Then realism gives way to legend: the protagonist lashes her tail to the porch—now her prow—and standing with hands on hips, heads into open waters, “the sea itself singing her name as she joined the ranks of captains everywhere.” The creators acknowledge real loss—climate change, displacement, homes that can’t be saved. But they also offer young readers navigating their own “outermost” futures a path forward, defined by courage and a sense of adventure. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. (May)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

In a classroom presentation turned picture book from Tabor (Cranky, Crabby Crow), one creative storyteller—a pale-skinned student ID’d by their notebook as “Corey Tabor”—delivers a subversively comedic report on living for one day as a bear. Rather than offering facts pertaining to the natural world, though, the presenter narrates a surprisingly human-like day-in-the-life—the furry brown mammal wears pajamas and clothes, and brushes teeth for “one hundred and twenty Mississippis”—while incorporating fanciful elements such as the bear’s befriending a troublemaking mouse. Classmates interject with incredulous protests: “Bears don’t wear clothes!” But the undaunted child persists in describing an increasingly elaborate day featuring motorcycle rides, lunch at a panda-run mall restaurant, the appearance of a suit-wearing elephant, and a dramatic hot air balloon rescue. Digitally finished ursine’s-eye view artwork depicts each scenario with instructional seriousness throughout panels rendered in the creator’s signature style. And a deadpan delivery gradually transforms the skeptical spectators into enthusiastic participants; at report’s end, they demand more details, then beg for an encore “with more elephants!” It’s a read for every kid who’s turned homework into performance art—and the audience that cheers them on. Ages 4–8. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (May)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

McGrath emphasizes free expression in this admiring account of the origins of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, an all-male ballet company known for its artistic and comedic spin on classic ballets. The tale opens in 1970s New York City, as tutu-clad male ballerinas practice en pointe. Introducing the dancers as “Trocks,” energetic prose commends the group’s intensive physical training as they prepare to tackle male and female ballet roles, and highlights their artistry as “the dancers in drag add a dash of unexpected humor to the choreography.” Though audiences initially seem critical, “the Trocks hold true to what they believe in,” and their persistence eventually pays off with a break-through performance and tour. Mostov’s unlined digital renderings spotlight the troupe’s physicality as the creative team successfully convey the talents of a group that has “kicked through barriers to follow their dreams.” An author’s note and more information conclude. Ages 7–up. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink

Frankel’s starry-eyed portrait of composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021) places curiosity at the heart of the musical theater virtuoso’s success. Staccato introductory lines establish Sondheim as an expert puzzle solver (“Choosing notes/ Choosing words/ Putting it all together”), and inquisitive text proceeds to spotlight the protagonist’s effort, passion, and empathy. As probing storytelling gradually pieces together the incremental steps the subject takes toward his craft: mentorship by Oscar Hammerstein II, the chance to collaborate on West Side Story, and lots of time puzzling out how music can convey emotion and more. Innerst incorporates puzzle piece shapes (some overlaid with question-driven notes—“What is the sound for loneliness?”) throughout emotive, limited-palette acrylic paint, colored pencil, and ink spreads. Emphasizing process over life-writing, this incisive biography focuses firmly on Sondheim’s gift for assembling the pieces. Back matter includes an author’s note and timeline. Ages 7–10. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 02/06/2026 | Details & Permalink