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

Park (What’s Eating Jackie Oh?) interrogates celebrity culture in a searing novel that tackles body image, misogyny in stand-up comedy, and child parentification. After she’s fired from a popular children’s show at 13 for puberty-related weight gain, Korean American child actor Brosh Lee’s career nosedives. Now 16, she’s auditioning for “Unidentified Asian Female” roles in crime shows and TV commercials when her talent agent drops her, and her divorced father announces that he’s marrying his “Ivy League boss lady” executive girlfriend. Fed up with the pressures of Hollywood, Brosh follows in the footsteps of her idol, brash stand-up comedian Josie Kang, and starts performing at open mic nights, using her foundering acting career, her parents’ divorce, and commentary about Korean stereotyping as material. As romantic tension ignites between Brosh and her teenage comedy coach, Teddy, she must also navigate increasingly frequent unexpected encounters with her ex-boyfriend Liam, a successful actor. Simultaneously, a callback for a role on a top-rated TV series piques Brosh’s interest—but she must be willing to lose weight for the part. Brosh’s sharp-witted, effervescent POV relays a funny, absorbing, and empowering tale of one teen’s embracing truth and integrity over artifice and popularity. Characters are racially diverse. Includes author’s note. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Two teens work to dismantle a government conspiracy in this preternatural duology opener set in a world where the act of creating conjures demons. Magic is banned in the kingdom of Wisteria, an edict that’s upheld by the Iron Guard militia, which is tasked with hunting monsters and innovators alike. Covertly, inventor Aurelie tinkers in her secret laboratory, killing the demons that her machinations invite, while dodging her uncle’s attempts to marry her off. As Aurelie works on a mysterious commission for a potentially world-changing device, her uncle employs Iron Guard member Des to protect her when he leaves for business. Despite Des’s frustration at becoming a glorified chaperone, he’s intrigued by the inexplicable appearances of demons everywhere Aurelie goes. Even more fascinating is how she emerges from these encounters unscathed, defying everything he’s been taught about the creatures. When Aurelie realizes that her commission may cost her more than she bargained for, she recruits Des’s aid in uncovering the truth behind its origins. Despite the white-cued protagonists’ somewhat unbalanced alternating narration—Des’s uncomplicated character arc feels somewhat flat against deft renderings of Aurelie’s sharp intelligence and single-mindedness—they nevertheless combine to present an exciting gaslamp fantasy by Rutherford (A Curious Kind of Magic). Ages 13–up. Agent: Uwe Stender, Triada US. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Evocative prose layered with Chinese folklore guides readers along a fantastical adventure filled with necromancy, political intrigue, and blossoming romance. Teen Kang Siying is a ganshi, a priestess who tracks down missing corpses and reanimates them into obedient puppets whom she guides home. Struggling to provide for her family after an epidemic kills her mother and leaves her father gravely ill, Siying accepts a job from an official of the kingdom of Sian, who offers her an exorbitant sum to retrieve the body of a dead soldier from a hostile territory. Siying capably locates her charge, but when she reanimates him, she’s shocked to learn that he still possesses traces of his own life force, or qi—and that her magic has temporarily resurrected him. Revealing that he is no ordinary soldier but Meng Renshu, the second prince of Sian, he offers to double Siying’s fee to help restore him to life permanently, for if he doesn’t regain enough qi to anchor his soul to his body, he will die for good. Debut author Tsai leverages grumpy-sunshine relationship dynamics to imbue sweet vibrancy into the protagonists’ adventure, which reads like a series of episodic murder mystery quests as the two encounter evil spirits on their life-and-death journey across the kingdom. Ages 13–up. Agent: Laura Crockett, Triada US. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

A sheltered tween embarks on a perilous quest to save her home in this electric novel by Fagan (A Game of Noctis), which recalls elements of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Young Delta is a codex, one of few gifted children capable of housing a memory of the past, called an echo, in their minds. In the grand city of Danak-Tol, it’s considered an honor to become a codex—to keep the city safe from mysterious hazards beyond its walls by protecting its “most powerful knowledge... but also the most dangerous.” All their lives, codexes keep vows of silence, are forbidden from socializing with others, and must never reveal their echo. But when Delta encounters a rebellious minister’s children and they challenge her to use her echo to help stop the deadly bloodstorms plaguing Danak-Tol, she must choose between following her teachings and listening to her instincts, which insist that something sinister is afoot. Expository dialogue and intermittent flashbacks gradually establish the intricate lore of Danak-Tol. Concise, economical storytelling and steady pacing mold a vast dystopian world whose charismatic leads evoke protective warmth from the jump. Characters are described as having various skin tones. Ages 10–up. Agent: Hilary Harwell, KT Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Set in Greenwich Village during Wall Street’s 1929 crash and featuring flashbacks to the Titanic’s 1912 voyage, this increasingly suspenseful historical novel by Smith (Letters to Misty) explores the effects of long-held family secrets. Nineteen-year-old Colette, the middle sibling of three, chafes at being kept home by her overly protective widowed mother who, believing Colette frail, only allows her out for weekly grocery trips. When Colette secretly begins working for grocer Walter, she thrives on the honest communication she has with him and his young employee Claude, both Titanic survivors. As Walter shares his memories of the vessel, its sinking, and a now-deceased friend, the contrast between her family dynamics, which tend toward superficiality, and the openness of her relationships with Walter and Claude—the latter soon taking a romantic turn—inspires Colette to question her mother’s restrictions, as well as her reticence to talk about the siblings’ late father. Colette’s longing for family closeness is clouded by bewilderment at her mother’s despair about the economic crash’s effects. The protagonist’s sympathetic, energetic first-person voice, her probing of her family history, and her growing understanding of injustice make for a satisfyingly absorbing story. Ages 9–12. Agent: Jennifer March Soloway, Starling Literary. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Riew (The Last Tiger) makes her middle grade debut with an expansive fantasy, which a preface notes is partially inspired by the female divers, or Haenyeo, of South Korea’s Jeju Island and the Korean folktale “The Blind Man’s Daughter.” On Shim Jung’s native Haemin Island, it’s tradition for 12-year-old girls to partake in the Dive, a ritual during which they leap into the ocean from a cliffside to collect a specific treasure from the sea. The day of Jung’s Dive, she chooses instead to flee from the event site, wary of the ritual following her renowned Haewomen umma’s death at sea four years ago. When Jung’s parents urge her to open up about her fears, overwhelm prompts the tween to travel back to the cliffside. Inadvertently propelled into the ocean by the stormy weather, Jung stumbles upon a magical underwater kingdom ruled by a vengeful queen intent on destroying the mortal world. To save Haemin Island, Jung must team up with the realm’s rebellious prince and various spirits and creatures of the sea. Riew deploys vivid worldbuilding to flesh out a setting that the preface describes as “somewhere between” Korea and America. Artfully intertwined mystical adventure and grounded depictions of grief and bravery coalesce in a heartening offering. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kevin Lin, CAA. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Via cushiony round shapes, handsome landscapes, and colors that melt together, Parc’s English-language debut creates an extraordinary visual lullaby built around a slumber-granting figure’s nightly rounds. A wakeful child with two wide-open eyes snuggles into bed beside a puff-like feline as text reads, “Hello, Sleep! It’s me. Remember? We’re supposed to get together.” A spread later, blue-eyed Sleep, who sports a black full-body suit and a magic wand, is shown dutifully visiting individuals worldwide, “from the stork to the earthworm.” Sleep works hard, leaving trails of “ZZZ”s floating from the residents of extraordinary geometric dreamscapes, but the being never gets any shut-eye. Questioning the arrangement and determined to rest, Sleep takes a rigid prone form that becomes a funny visual motif as the figure auditions an array of potential snooze spots—a dandelion puff, Santa’s beard, a bulging sack of garbage, and “the Amazon’s sultry current.” When Sleep discovers the soporific power of a purring white cat, whose sound is “like a little train going by, ever so quietly,” both Sleep and the child at last drift off with their feline companions. It’s a rare bedtime picture book that embodies the very feeling it describes: that twilight state in which rollicking consciousness surrenders to dreams. Ages 5–9. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Ostensibly a marine mammal smackdown, this neatly engineered picture book from Messner (Once upon a Book) and Biggs (Hard Hat Hank and the Sky-High Solution) also offers an eye-opening lesson on how rhetoric can be turned on its head. A whale and an otter stand at opposing microphones, each determined to prove who’s “absolutely, positively cooler” by marshalling a bevy of scientific facts. The whale touts its species’ teamwork and communicative singing, the otter notes how its brethren stick together and hold hands while they sleep, and both claim to be superior parents and vital contributors to the ocean ecosystem. The kicker? When the book is read from front to back, the whale’s argument seems most convincing; when read from back to front, the otter gains the upper paw. Digital artwork in coral, navy, and teal amplifies this battle of perspectives with a boldly graphic screen-print aesthetic that feels as direct and punchy as the animals’ competing claims, while scattered dots, splatters, and flowing lines evoke habitat details. It’s a comical back-and-forth that contemplates themes of perception, perspective, and messaging. An author’s note offers more about the included species. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink