Twins Rosie and Jojo and their daddy eagerly await Papa’s return home in Buttigieg and Taylor’s amiable picture book. As the children, portrayed with brown skin, anticipate leaving for the airport to pick up Papa, they overzealously prepare, feeling that “I think we might be missing something.” Not content with festooning a handmade welcome sign in glitter, the pair pick a bouquet, then bake a many-layered chocolate cake. The ideas keep coming even when it’s time to go, and the car is soon stuffed with Papa’s favorite things. Cool coloring and contemporary settings help Taylor’s slick digital artwork capture the happy chaos of family life in this satisfying work that ends with a joyful reunion. The children’s dads are portrayed with pale skin; background characters have various skin tones. Ages 3–7. (May)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Cusolito (Diving Deep) starts this gripping real-time picture book account with a splash: as the work opens, a dinghy of people looking for sperm whales spots a clan, and a free diver slips over the edge. The diver’s long, arcing flippers make him look like an aquatic creature himself as he approaches. Lanan (Jumper) captures with elegance the way the whales’ massive bodies dwarf that of the diver, who realizes with amazement that the whales are guarding a newborn calf—“with wrinkled skin and folded fluke.” Like the infant whale, who needs to be nudged to the surface to take its first breath, the diver, too, must head upward in “a rush of bubbles as he exhales, ‘Hwaaahh!’/ breathes in, ‘whooooh!’ ” When he dives again, he witnesses the whales joining in a moment of underwater communion that sees him involved, too. This breath-by-breath glimpse offers a magnificent snapshot of an otherwise hidden moment that conveys with deep emotional impact the parallels of creaturely life. Ample back matter includes creators’ notes. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Six-year-old Tabitha Laurie believes that love conquers all. Then her parents divorce, leaving her heartbroken. To help distract her, Tabi’s father takes her to the Disney-esque Sommerland, where she meets Princess Madeline, a theme park character who renews her faith in true love. Now 17, Tabi plans to audition for a Sommerland princess role while participating in the park’s seasonal employment program; she refuses to let her snobby summer roommate, pessimistic coworkers, and a less than desirable gig tending a nacho stand shake her resolve. Despite mean-spirited comments that she’d be better suited to a costumed animal character, she auditions for a princess role anyway. And when she doesn’t get the part, she devotes all her efforts, energy, and free time to preparing for the next audition opportunity. She also bonds with James, a park character attendant who shares her love for the magic of Sommerland despite his own complicated past. Meyer (With a Little Luck) charms in this touching graphic novel tale about chasing one’s dreams, overcoming obstacles, and believing in magic. Jewel-toned artwork by Murray (A Day at Abbott Elementary) evokes fairy tale vibes, making for a cozy and appropriately swoony read. Tabitha is Black; James is white. Ages 12–up. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Lyall (Waking the Dead and Other Fun Activities) teams up with illustrator Faber in this shenanigans-filled graphic novel, a dual comics debut, that reimagines quintessential sibling rivalry. Nine-year-olds Lexi, Mo, and Eli are trainees in the League of Littles, a covert resistance group that aims to uplift younger siblings globally. Their first mission is to find a missing pet before their longtime rivals, the Band of Bigs. As the Littles navigate their clandestine operation, they realize that outsmarting the Bigs will take teamwork, quick thinking, and a lot of luck. Lyall skillfully transforms quotidian sibling dynamics into a thrilling spy adventure complete with secret missions, opposing organizations, and high-stakes rescues. Keen worldbuilding—along with the LOLs and the BOBs is the Middles and Onlys Guild—adds nuance to this playful spin on perceived familial hierarchies. Faber’s energetic artwork complements the book’s blend of comedy and derring-do, which emphasizes teamwork, problem-solving, and learning to recognize individual strengths, making for an amusing romp that’s chock-full of heart and laughs. Back matter includes character profiles rendered as top secret agent dossiers. The protagonists are depicted with varying skin tones. Ages 8–12. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Cat reluctantly joins chum Duck on a riverboat cruise that turns dire in this early reader graphic novel by Panckeri, making his children’s book debut. When the vessel’s cook falls ill and the evening’s meal and entertainment are canceled, the protagonists are trapped with an increasingly hungry crocodile family who start eyeing their fellow passengers. The bulldog captain initially dismisses the friends’ concerns until realizing, in Duck’s words, that “we could be dinner, and you would be dessert!” The solution? While Cat heads to the kitchen to whip up a meal, Duck provides emergency entertainment. Just as Duck exhausts her repertoire and the crocs reach for the saltshaker, Cat’s culinary creation saves the day, leading to the friends’ shared toast, “to not being on the menu.” Clear-line illustrations and steady-as-she-goes framings serve as a comic foil to Cat and Duck’s mounting panic. Readers with a taste for grim, understated humor should gobble this one up. Ages 4–8. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Edgmon (The Flicker) dazzles in this supernatural mystery novel in which a traveling caravan hidden from human society provides community for magical creatures with no memory of who they are or where they’re from. Then, the morning after the caravan celebrates a new moon, Bird—the pale-skinned half-human grandchild of the caravan’s leaders—wakes to find that most of the community has disappeared without a trace. Left behind are pessimistic, pyrokinetic Hugo and his reality-manipulating brother Felix; Calliope, a wolf girl with a venomous bite; and Eamon, a boy made of shadow. Each of them is harboring feelings of frustration, resentment, and distrust, as well as hiding secrets from the others. As they try to solve the mystery of the caravan’s disappearance, they must also navigate fraught relationships and the fallout of uncovering the community’s darkest truths—all while being hunted by a horrific entity. Alternating POVs are interspersed with occasional cryptic, unaddressed messages and nonlinear flashbacks from before the vanishing. Depictions of the ripple effects of people’s choices on their community’s most vulnerable members are at the core of this captivating fable of belonging and intergenerational trauma. Ages 14–up. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

A missing Utah teen resurfaces to the surprise of her murderer in this gleefully twisted psychological thriller from Power (Burn Our Bodies Down). It’s been a year since Nan Carver’s best friends—Edie, Jane, and Luce—vanished during a moonlit trip into Saltcedar Canyon. Many think someone abducted the trio, but Nan knows the truth; though she told everyone she stayed with the boat while the girls went hiking, she actually accompanied them to a secret, fathomless swimming hole, where she bashed in Luce’s head before drowning Jane and Edie. Nan is attending a lakeside vigil on the anniversary of the alleged disappearance when boaters find Luce floating in the water, alive but with no recollection of what happened or where she’s been. A panicked Nan struggles to appear supportive of Luce and the newly reopened police investigation while scrambling to obscure the facts—or at least the facts as Nan remembers them. Power’s tale unfolds via Nan’s increasingly troubled—and troubling—first-person-present narration, and flashbacks provide context and proffer clues surrounding the event. Frantic pacing catapults readers past occasional plotting pitfalls while fostering anxiety and unease. All characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jessica Mileo and Kim Witherspoon, InkWell Management. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Having been chosen to marry powerful and wealthy Count Leonid in exchange for resources for her small village, teenage Valla sets off with her brother and his wife to make the difficult journey to her betrothed’s castle home. Along the way, the trio must venture through the dangerous Gottyar, an enchanted forest from which the count makes his fortune selling lumber. But when Valla’s face is clawed by one of the wood’s creatures, her anticipated arrival turns sour. Disgusted and no longer perceiving her as beautiful, Count Leonid starves her and cages her to her bed at night. The days grow long and unbearable for Valla, who’s forced to endure the count’s torment even as she begins hearing voices urging her to kill him and return to the forest. As the physical and mental abuse worsens, Valla searches for a way to escape the castle alive, even if that means submitting to the darkness of the Gottyar. Though a slow third act puts a pause on the novel’s earlier riveting action and break- neck pacing, Roux (Much Ado About Margaret) conjures a raw horror narrative using deliciously grisly moments that subvert traditional fairy tale fare and exemplify Valla’s rage. Characters cue as white. Ages 13–up. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Two teens from different backgrounds become unlikely friends and allies in this engaging historical adventure set in 870 Denmark. Fifteen-year-old Yrsa—who was born with a crooked foot and walks with a limp and who recently uncovered a gift for prophecy—has only ever known her home of Mimir’s Stool, in which she has been raised by her father, Toke the Helmsman, to fulfill her reluctant duty of marrying a wealthy man. Then her father returns from a raid with Sister Job, a teen nun claiming to be descended from Charlemagne, hoping to exchange Job for a massive ransom from her affluent family. While he awaits their response, Yrsa and Job bond, despite their religious and cultural differences. And when they’re forced to kill the village captain’s son in self-defense following an act of sexual violence, the girls flee the village, seeking safety from those pursuing vengeance. Van Rijckeghem (Ironhead, or Once a Young Lady) offers a sweeping, atmospheric story of faith and friendship set against a tumultuous world that juxtaposes the violence of Yrsa’s peoples’ Viking raiding parties with the perceived serenity of Job’s station. Though the slow-burning tale features a large cast, it never loses sight of its two heroines and their steadfast bond. Ages 12–up. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink

Every 10 years, the three major gods of the Continent host the Celestial Banquet, a competition in which five teams, each sponsored by a minor god, risk everything for a priceless reward. Determined to honor her deceased father’s memory, 16-year-old noodle chef Cai convinces the local god, Kama, to assemble a team for the first time in a century. Joined by wealthy playboy Seon and wandering warrior Tala, Cai competes against the best chefs on the Continent in a tournament designed to test her like never before, as the gods are capricious and cruel and the losers of the contest rarely leave in one piece, if at all. As each round claims new victims, Cai must reexamine the role of cooking in her life and contend with competing affections for Seon and her childhood friend Bo. In this dazzling East Asian–influenced fantasy, Lim (Night for Day, for adults) weaves together deadly magic, deliciously described dishes, and intensely personal stakes to deliver a tale that satisfies all the senses. The inclusion of a love triangle sometimes detracts from the heightened atmosphere of the banquet; nevertheless, the story’s ingredients blend seamlessly. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 03/21/2025 | Details & Permalink