Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a middle grade novel inspired by Greek mythology, a vampiric YA anthology, a picture book about a goat escaping from a farm, a contemporary adaptation of Little Women, and more.
Spindlefish and Stars by Christiane M. Andrews. Little, Brown, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-316-49601-8. Drawing from Greek mythology, Andrews constructs a lyrical middle grade debut exploring the nature of destiny and sacrifice. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite Ed. by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker. Imprint, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-23001-0. In their introduction to this bloodthirsty anthology, Córdova (The Way to Rio Luna) and Parker (the Seafire trilogy) note that, “despite queer subtext and outstanding nonwhite examples,” the most famous vampires are “predominantly men, white, cisgender, straight, and able-bodied.” This boundary-pushing collection seeks to upend the default with 11 toothsome stories. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Escape Goat by Ann Patchett, illus. by Robin Preiss Glasser. HarperCollins, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-288339-1. In this follow-up to Lambslide, Patchett and Glasser return to the Farmers’ busy farm. This time, the focus is a happy-go-lucky unnamed goat who’s a serial escapee.
Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) by Kathleen Gros. Quill Tree, $22.99; ISBN 978-0-06-287596-9. While repackaging Jo’s story for a contemporary readership, this graphic novel adaptation will remind readers why the March family is long beloved. In Gros’s update, the heroine is a white 13-year-old blogger who faces mild challenges with the support of her sisters and Marmee; chats via video with their deployed father; and harbors a crush on classmate Freddie, a bespectacled Black girl.
Sun Flower Lion by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-286610-3. Simple words and repeating forms draw beginning readers into this iterative volume by Henkes (Summer Song). Its central visual element, a circle with a ruffled edge, could signify the sun, a flower, or a lion with a mane—and here, it’s all three.
Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Graphic Novel by Cynthia Levinson, Sanford Levinson, and Ally Shwed. First Second, $28.99; ISBN 978-1-250211-61-3. This jaunty graphic adaptation of the Levinsons’ 2017 youth guide to “the framers, their fights, and the flaws that affect us today” highlights the enduring problem points in the foundational document of the United States.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix. HarperCollins/Tegen, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-268325-0. Nix (Angel Mage) immediately thrusts readers into the action in this immersive fantasy, set in 1983, as Susan Arkshaw, an 18-year-old art student, is forced to flee a London flat with bookseller Merlin St. Jacques, who deals in works of myth, legend, and folklore.
Moo-Moo, I Love You! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld, illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4706-9. Moo proves an extremely malleable term of affection in text co-authored by the late Krouse Rosenthal, with previous collaborator Lichtenheld (Duck! Rabbit!).
Kitties on Dinosaurs by Michael Slack. Dial, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-10838-3. A rascally trio of cats who live on cat-shaped Kitty Island have “climbed everything there is to climb” and now have a lofty new goal: scaling the three dinosaurs they’ve spotted on nearby Dinosaur Island.
Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4655-0. Every Wednesday, an inclusive pickup team of volunteers gathers in a small community kitchen to prepare a weekly dinner for their neighbors, combining vegetables they harvest from a garden. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom by Colleen AF Venable, illus. by Lian Cho. Greenwillow, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-249437-5. The oboe, of course, does not go “Boom Boom Boom.” But each time jolly-looking band director Mr. V., who sports bright red suspenders, gives a student the opportunity to play their instrument of choice, he’s interrupted by little Felicity, who has already discovered her love of whaling on an enormous drum.
The Teachers March!: How Selma's Teachers Changed History by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, illus. by Charly Palmer. Calkins Creek, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-62979-452-5. The married coauthors present a vivid nonfiction narrative that illuminates the January 1965 Teachers’ March to Selma’s Dallas County Courthouse. The book earned a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of September, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
