Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a science fiction drama, a YA novel about a socialite, a middle grade story about friendship and loss, and a picture book about the seasons.

The Darkest Star by Jennifer L. Armentrout. Tor Teen, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-17573-1. This SF drama for teens picks up four years after the events of Armentrout’s Lux series.

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Freeform, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-368-01413-7. In this YA novel, 18-year-old Sawyer—a car mechanic and daughter of a single mom in the South—is offered a deal she cannot refuse: her estranged maternal grandmother, Lillian, a wealthy socialite, will give Sawyer half a million dollars if she agrees to live with her for one year and become a debutante.

Blended by Sharon M. Draper. Atheneum/Dlouhy, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4424-9500-5. Timely and genuine, this novel chronicles a biracial girl’s struggle to define her identity and find her voice amid personal and societal expectations. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Sometimes Rain by Meg Fleming, illus. by Diana Sudyka. Beach Lane, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4814-5918-1. Playing children and snow-covered evergreens illuminate verse by Fleming (Ready, Set, Build) that celebrates play throughout the seasons.

The Resolutions by Mia García. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-265682-7. In this YA novel, four best friends in Denver—Nora, Lee, Jess, and Ryan—write New Year’s resolutions for each other, designed to make them “do the things [they] always talk about but never do”: open up to new experiences and take risks on their passions and talents.

In Your Shoes by Donna Gephart. Delacorte, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-5247-1373-7. In this middle grade novel about friendship, loss, and bowling shoes, Gephart (Lily and Dunkin) traces how two miserable middle schoolers strike up an unexpected friendship.

Horse Meets Dog by Elliott Kalan, illus. by Tim Miller. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-279110-8. Kalan, who has written for The Daily Show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Marvel Comics, makes a picture book debut, moving the wonderfully narcissistic dialogue along quickly as two huge—and hugely mistaken—egos battle it out. The book earned a starred review from PW.

The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just by Mélina Mangal, illus. by Luisa Uribe. Millbrook, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-5124-8375-8. In this illustrated biography geared at middle graders, school librarian and biographer Mangal (Anne Hutchinson: Religious Reformer) highlights Ernest Everett Just, a little-known African-American scientist from the turn of the 20th century who unlocked the mysteries of “how the different parts of the cell worked together as new life developed.”

Don’t Touch My Hair! by Sharee Miller. Little, Brown, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-316-56258-4. Aria is an African-American girl who’s proud of her showstopping hair “that grows up toward the sun like a flower.” But people keep confusing admiration with acquiescence: strangers, she laments, “are so curious about my hair that they try to touch it without even asking for permission!” The book earned a starred review from PW.

The Eye That Never Sleeps: How Detective Pinkerton Saved President Lincoln by Marissa Moss, illus. by Jeremy Holmes. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3064-1. Moss (Kate Warne, Pinkerton Detective) revisits the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in this picture book, deftly folding the story of a thwarted assassination attempt on then-president-elect Abraham Lincoln into the larger tale of the famous agency’s beginnings. The book earned a starred review from PW.

For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of October, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.