In a buoyant, species-focused picture book, Gianferrari (Rain and the Reading Horse) and Wicks (You and the Bowerbird) take readers on a comics-style trip to Maine’s Eastern Egg Rock Island. Matter-of-fact narration and digitally colored pencil-drawn panels portray a puffin colony that’s “as noisy as a city,” the air above dotted with onomatopoeic seabird cries. While lightly anthropomorphized puffins are endearingly portrayed—a heart pops between one pair’s striped orange beaks as they bond—the harsh realities of survival and puffin parenting come through clearly. Butterfish, too big for pufflings to manage, now dominate the warming waters where smaller, swallowable fish once thrived, and the gulls who share the island steal fish and, in one unflinching panel, even snatch a puffling from a burrow. But the primary family’s young puffin perseveres, and one starlit night while the gulls sleep, slips away, diving gracefully to join a raft of other puffins in “a floating city on the sea” before nature’s cycle begins anew. Honest, hopeful, and brimming with visual drama, this fondly rendered puffin primer offers budding naturalists an instantly accessible introduction to wildlife resilience. An afterword provides more detail about the birds. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Aevitas Creative. Illustrator’s agent: Bernadette Baker-Baughman, Victoria Sanders & Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Sisters learn to appreciate each other while navigating an extraterrestrial invasion in this entertaining graphic novel exploration of sibling bonds. Ten-year-old Mary Seaver is creative and passionate about her interests, even if her classmates ostracize her because of her dedication to method acting the role of flying monkey in the school production of The Wizard of Oz. Mary’s older sister Al, a high school freshman, will do anything to avoid conflict, including following her mean-girl bestie’s directives on what Al should wear to the upcoming Spring Fling and who would be an acceptable date. The siblings’ quotidian interpersonal challenges take a fantastical turn when Mary is chased by a large blue arachnid-dragon creature. As Mary and Al find themselves stuck in the path of a motley crew of space invaders seeking an unknown person, Al must learn to accept her sister—and herself—to save the day. Action packed panels by Jones (The What-If Wonderfest), making a solo debut, burst with dynamic onomatopoeia and propulsive, fast-paced plotting that alternates heartening character moments with madcap alien antics, food fights, and superpowered battles. Mary’s own crayon comics feature throughout. The siblings are portrayed with pale skin. Ages 8–12. Agent: Nicole Tugeau, Tugeau 2. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

In this witty and acutely observed graphic novel that recalls The Breakfast Club, Steinkellner (Nell of Gumbling) skillfully captures the whirlwind of emotions that a group of teens confront amid their social transition from middle school to high school. During eighth grade graduation roll call, Orange Grove’s principal skips Rose Sangalang-Sweet’s name, cementing for Rose her belief that she’s “basically invisible.” Determined to start summer off on the right foot, she attends classmate Dustin’s infamous last-day-of-school pool party. Rose isn’t the only kid arriving to the party with a plan. Having just learned that her bestie, Juhi, is moving to London, artistic Liv holds “best friend auditions” with other attendees, while popular dancer Maya—at her mother’s insistence—attempts to apologize to former friend Dustin for a past betrayal. Illustrations rendered in a warm, sun-soaked color palette evoke a relaxed summertime glow as they chronicle the protagonists’ efforts to cultivate confidence, reinforce friendships, and learn to navigate new, sometimes overwhelming feelings and experiences. Clean paneling and brisk pacing keep the story light while interactions between the expressive characters, portrayed with various body types and skin tones, feel authentic, genuine, and heartfelt. The result is a gentle and charming story of belonging and finding the courage to start anew. Ages 8–12. Agent: Dan Lazar, Writers House. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Via a kindhearted frog protagonist, Diné cartoonist Fiveash draws on their heritage to spotlight the importance of community, elders, land management, libraries, and self-representation in this endearing debut graphic novel. Adolescent frog Anura, who still has vestiges of their tadpole tail, is visiting their grandmother for the summer in desert town Soggy Stump. With Grandma’s encouragement, Anura secures a part-time job at the library, where they’re tasked with creating a community archive that “captures what makes Soggy Stump so special.” As they journey around town, Anura learns about cultivating a relationship with the land, the link between weaving and storytelling, and using zines to share information and connect with others. When Anura expresses shame for not knowing everything about their culture, elderly weaver Olive reassures them: “You have SO much time to learn new things, tadpole. You don’t have to be in such a rush.” Amusing details enhance fantastical animalian worldbuilding, in which boba tea comes with fly eggs instead of tapioca pearls, and library book recommendations include Chainsaw Newt and Frogmetal Alchemist. Rounded illustrations with rich earth tones highlight landscapes and architecture inspired, per an endnote, by Tucson Navajo reservations. Bonus comics and a glossary conclude. Ages 8–12. Agent: Britt Siess, Britt Siess Creative. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Slapstick adventure, middle school hijinks, and churlish humor drip from this literal fish-out-of-water tale by Santat (Thick as Thieves). On a mission to find others who look like him, lonely but good-natured, mermaid-raised Sashimi—a boy with a fish head and a scale-covered humanoid body—leaves his underwater home. Upon arriving in Barnacle Bay, Sashimi travels ashore and enrolls himself at a nearby school. Donning a pilfered red hoodie, Sashimi inserts himself into a sixth grade class, claiming to be a “real kid” (his makeshift student ID hilariously features an IRL headshot of a fish). With help from the class’s pet goldfish, Kevin, Sashimi dodges suspicion from his peers, who question his inexplicably overactive sweat glands, cold dead eyes, and aquatic odor. But when he’s caught in a figurative net of conspiracy surrounding the legend of the Beast of Barnacle Bay sea monster, he’ll have to work overtime to avoid blowing his cover. Sashimi’s eager gaze immediately draws readers into this laugh-out-loud graphic novel series opener, which features a steady stream of jokes and bitingly funny asides accompanied by straightforward comics panels rendered using soft black line art and dusty earth tones. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 6–10. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

In a measured gothic fantasy, Grabo (Call Forth a Fox) offers a fresh take on “The Dwarf, the Fox and the Princess,” collected by the Brothers Grimm. Having gotten lost while hunting, Lord Barras of East Kernshire makes a deal with the Redwood Man, fabled sovereign of the forest: as compensation for the enigmatic entity’s safely guiding Barras out of the woods, the lord must send his stepdaughter, Lady Zaviera, as an offering. Zaviera and her sisters instead train a servant as an imposter. After the pretender’s violently murdered corpse is found at the edge of the woods—and two subsequent attendants meet similar fates—the siblings approach indentured kitchen maid Katrien, who agrees to the role following the ladies’ promise to free Katrien’s cousin, Helsa, from her own contract. Though the sisters’ training is grueling, Katrien finds herself unexpectedly drawn to Zaviera. When circumstances force Katrien into the woods ahead of schedule, though, Helsa endeavors to rescue her cousin from the Redwood Man. Following her departure, resolute Katrien’s sympathetic first-person narration seamlessly shifts to Helsa, whose wrestling with alcohol dependence and self-worth offers a cerebral counterpoint. Both are relayed via atmospheric prose underscored by visceral instances of body and ecological horror. Main characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Tricia Lawrence, Aevitas Creative. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

A scholarship student uncovers a conspiracy while working at an elite microbiology research laboratory in this uneven yet intriguing YA debut by Hati (And the Sky Bled). Seventeen-year-old Aarya—who describes herself as “the saddest teenager, obsessed with microbes and genetics instead of... ‘fun’ ”—is thrilled to join the Elizabethan Institute’s yearlong intensive program, which offers six high schoolers a shot at receiving a life-changing grand prize: industry connections and a job doing cutting-edge research. But rumors of mutated animals appearing both on and off the San Francisco campus suggest to Aarya that the institute’s lab experiments have taken a sinister turn. Her suspicions are soon confirmed when she begins receiving threatening letters, discovers a tree house filled with creepy messages hidden in children’s drawings, and encounters a mysterious girl with an ultrarare autoimmune disease, who claims to be the lab’s unwitting test subject. As Aarya reluctantly recruits her research partners’ help in unraveling their employers’ secrets, she’s plagued by unsettling memory gaps and flare-ups of personal health issues that could link her own murky past to the institute. Though an abrupt conclusion leaves many questions unanswered, smart twists propel this slow-building and provocative mystery. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Allegra Martschenko, BookEnds Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

A house’s dark past seems determined to repeat itself in this nightmarish gothic horror novel from Baguchinsky (So Witches We Became). Seventeen-year-old Catie East lives in the Heights, a half midcentury mansion, half medieval-castle keep that sits on 200 acres of private redwood forest in Ellis Pass, Calif. Built in the 1950s by reclusive architect Patrick Earnshaw for his wife and daughter, the house now belongs to Catie, her laid-back older brother Leigh, and their pharmaceutical company CEO mother. Loner Catie regards the family’s forest as her sanctuary, so she initially bristles when her mom invites redwood scientist Dr. Solis to stay in the guest cottage for a six-month research endeavor. Then Catie meets and falls for Dr. Solis’s teen son, Hunter. As Catie and Hunter’s romance blooms, the Heights is plagued by strange happenings, whose explanations lie in the house’s dark history. Baguchinsky peppers Catie’s first-person narration with Earnshaw ephemera—including articles and diary entries as well as illustrations of old photographs, rendered in grayscale by Heidersdorf (Odd Occurrences)—which reveal the family’s tragic tale and connect it to the Heights’ present-day haunting. While a necromancy subplot feels somewhat shoehorned in, it paves the way for uniquely terrifying imagery, and the tale’s intersectionally diverse characters are richly wrought. Ages 14–up. Author’s agent: Eric Smith, PS Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Salisbury (The Foundation) warns against potential dangers lurking inside seemingly helpful wells of technology in this gripping thriller. Fourteen-year-old Ruby Brookes and her best friend Deva have been warned by their parents that if they don’t perform better in school, they won’t be allowed to attend performing arts summer camp. Therefore, when Ruby notices that Deva’s grades have drastically improved, she assumes that her bestie is somehow blackmailing their teacher—until Deva admits that she’s using a secret AI-powered app called EchoStar to help her complete schoolwork. Ruby’s own research into EchoStar directs her to an anonymous forum user named OdinPerfect. The stranger claims that he needs Ruby’s name and home address to set up the app, which Ruby provides, rationalizing that doing so worked out positively for Deva. When a perceived betrayal dissolves the teens’ friendship, Ruby seeks companionship from the EchoStar AI, who suggests increasingly devious ways for Ruby to get back at Deva. Ruby’s wrestling with ethical quandaries surrounding cheating and online stranger danger—emphasized by her perceptive first-person narration—proves relatable and cements her as a layered and conflicted protagonist. Ruby reads as white; Deva has brown skin. Ages 14–up. Agent: Pete Knapp, Park, Fine and Brower Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

The unsolved decades-old murder of local Ashling teen Veronica Green has long been treated as lore in the small rural town—until a Halloween party on the anniversary of her death sparks a chain of events that culminate in a quest for ruthless vengeance in this chilling thriller with a supernatural bent. After 17-year-old self-described “loser” Hazel Whitman, who is queer, and her popular twin Beth attend the party, Beth vanishes, reappearing hours later claiming to be Veronica. Hazel indulges her sibling’s identity shift, but the longer Beth’s strange behavior persists, the more uncertain Hazel becomes about whether Beth is pretending or possessed by Veronica’s ghost. Teaming up with other students, Hazel seeks to uncover answers about Veronica’s past and stop the source of the horrors haunting Ashling. Strategically placed diary entries from Veronica heighten tension and expose instances of brutal bullying and violence perpetuated by the town’s conservative values. A rushed climax somewhat undercuts carefully built suspense; nevertheless, thoughtful portrayals of queer teens navigating small-town politics emerge as a standout strength of this unsettling murder mystery by Mele (Summer’s Edge). The twins cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Ginger Clark Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink