Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a compilation of diverse short stories, a YA caper, a story about a deaf teen, and a picture book about dancing.

The Hero Next Door by William Alexander et al., ed. by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich. Crown, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-525-64630-3. Compiled in partnership with We Need Diverse Books, this collection of 13 stories by well-known writers for young people showcases everyday heroes of varied gender identity, ethnicity, class, and neurodiversity who resolve a plethora of issues, both otherworldly and mundane.

Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-280342-9. Crime does pay in the latest YA novel by Cavallaro (the Charlotte Holmes series) and Henry (The Love That Split the World), inspired by Thelma and Louise and set in Michigan.

The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais. Blink, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-310-76616-2. Gervais (In 27 Days) uses her own experiences of hearing loss to lend authenticity to this novel about a teenage deaf girl starting over at a new school.

How Do You Dance? by Thyra Heder. Abrams, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3418-2. Heder (Alfie: The Turtle That Disappeared) imagines what happens when ordinary human beings dance everywhere, for any reason. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.

Let’s Call It a Doomsday by Katie Henry. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-269890-2. High school student Ellis Kimball suffers from severe anxiety, which stems from her fixation on how the world might soon end. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.

A Likkle Miss Lou: How Jamaican Poet Louise Bennett Coverley Found Her Voice by Nadia L. Hohn, illus. by Eugenie Fernandes. Owlkids, $16.95; ISBN 978-1-77147-350-7. The poet Louise Bennett Coverley (1919–2006), an influential figure of the Caribbean diaspora, is portrayed in this picture book as a child who loves the melodious and creative lilt of Jamaican patois, the dialect her mother and neighbors speak to each other.

The Promise Basket by Bill Richardson, illus. by Slavka Kolesar. Groundwood, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-77306-089-7. This picture book of steadfast parent-child bonds mixes messages of unending maternal devotion with subtle allusions to life’s challenges.

For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-374-30804-9. In this middle grade debut (told without commas in a mix of narration, letters, and poetry), Lockington (The Lucky Daughter for adults) introduces budding poet Makeda Kirkland, 11, a black girl adopted by a white family. The book earned a starred review from PW.

Not If I Can Help It by Carolyn Mackler. Scholastic Press, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-545-70948-4. Mackler (The Universe Is Expanding and So Am I) delivers an up-close look at Sensory Processing Disorder through this bighearted story about a girl’s tumultuous fifth-grade year.

Two for Me, One for You by Jörg Mühle, trans. from the German by Catherine Chidgey. Gecko, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-776-57239-7. Two hungry friends find themselves at loggerheads in this fablelike picture book about fairness.

I Am a Tiger by Karl Newson, illus. by Ross Collins. Scholastic Press, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-338-34989-4. This readaloud picture book puts a jaunty spin on a timeless, kid-snaring trope: mistaken self-identity.

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. Holt, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-19192-2. In Owen’s visceral fantasy, a young woman from the land’s lowest caste must protect Phoenix Prince Jasimir and his Hawk bodyguard Tavin from the murderous machinations of a queen in order to secure survival for her people. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.

You Are My Friend: The Story of Mister Rogers and His Neighborhood by Aimee Reid, illus. by Matt Phelan. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3617-9. In this quietly moving biography, readers learn that Fred Rogers, the PBS personality beloved by generations of children, started life as an outlier, bullied and often sick, with only his puppets for friends.

Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island by Jennifer Thermes. Abrams, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-3655-1. The latest cartographic picture book from Thermes (Charles Darwin’s Around-the-World Adventure) maps Manhattan Island’s evolution from a glacially carved, flora- and fauna-rich wilderness into a bustling New York City borough. The book earned a starred review from PW.

My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D. Villanueva. Scholastic Press, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-338-31050-4. Debut author Villanueva deftly incorporates a touch of the magical alongside vibrant details about contemporary Filipino life in this middle grade novel about growing up, reconciliation, and family.

A Stone Sat Still by Brendan Wenzel. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7318-4. As in They All Saw a Cat, Wenzel’s poem focuses on how point of view affects experience. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.

Carson Chooses Forgiveness: A Team Dungy Story About Basketball by Tony Dungy and Lauren Dungy, illus. by Guy Wolek. Harvest Kids, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-7369-7322-9. Married coauthors Lauren and football Hall-of-Famer Tony Dungy offer the third installment in a sports-themed series.

Maybe by Kobi Yamada, illus. by Gabriella Barouch. Compendium, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-946-87375-0. An extraordinarily self-possessed child and a tiny pink pig wander through a surreal but benevolent landscape while a narrator contemplates the nature of potential in this picture book.

The Boring Book by Shinsuke Yoshitake. Chronicle, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4521-7456-3. Japanese author and illustrator Yoshitake (Still Stuck) zeroes in on a ubiquitous childhood experience and probes it with dry wit.

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