Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a middle grade book about a boy seeking a fresh start, a picture book about a refugee, a love story between two teens from different worlds, and a middle grade novel about identity.
The Water Bears by Kim Baker. Random/Lamb, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-5220-5. Ever since surviving a bear attack that scarred his leg, Mexican-American Newt Gomez, 13, has considered leaving tiny Murphy Island, a resort turned artist community, in hopes that moving to the mainland to stay with his extended family will alleviate his nightmares and give him a fresh start. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
Wherever I Go by Mary Wagley Copp, illus. by Munir D. Mohammed. Atheneum, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-1919-3. Debut author Copp, who has worked in refugee resettlement, creates a hero in this picture book whose life in an Ethiopian refugee camp is the only one she’s ever known.
Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan. Putnam, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-51628-6. It’s indie vs. mainstream when star-crossed comics enthusiasts Jubilee and Ridley, both bisexual, meet at FabCon prom.
Rick by Alex Gino. Scholastic Press, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-338-04810-0. In this standalone companion to Gino’s George, 11-year-old Rick grapples with his identity while navigating shifting relationships and learning about allyship. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
Unscripted by Nicole Kronzer. Amulet, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4084-8. Seventeen-year-old Zelda Bailey-Cho is ready to spend her summer at a Colorado improv camp with her stepbrother, Will, and his boyfriend. Landing a spot on the camp’s varsity team is the first step toward her goal of landing on SNL by age 25, but she quickly realizes the camp, while founded by a notable female comic, is rife with sexism and toxic masculinity.
Ronan the Librarian by Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie, illus. by Victoria Maderna. Roaring Brook, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-18921-9. This fractured history picture book will tickle the funny bones of bookworms and reluctant readers.
The Three Little Kittens by Barbara McClintock. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-12587-0. McClintock (Vroom!) notes that TV cartoons were among the inspirations for her latest picture book, and she cheerfully channels them in single-plane compositions; vivid, stripped-down characterizations; and pencil, watercolor, and gouache vignettes.
Mom’s Sweater by Jayde Perkin. Eerdmans, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-8028-5544-2. Perkin’s firmly inked drawings, punctuated by bright colors, offer a visual consistency that serves as an anchor amid the emotional turmoil, authenticating the story’s trajectory from sadness to acceptance to loving remembrance of a deceased mother.
Kent State by Deborah Wiles. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-35628-1. Via many perspectives, this powerful free verse work explores the Kent State University shootings that shocked the U.S. in May 1970. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.
Peter & the Tree Children by Peter Wohlleben, illus. by Cale Atkinson. Greystone Kids, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-77164-457-0. A lonely squirrel and an opinionated forester go on an idiosyncratic forest journey in this picture book.
Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk. Dutton, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-525-55556-8. A girl realizes her standout gifts as a healer in this historical novel set in Depression-era Maine. The middle grade novel earned a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of April, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
