Big titles that are hitting shelves this month include the story of a boy and his grandfather on a walk through the forest, a middle school kid who accidentally eats a bowl of ingestible information pills, a Shakespeare retelling set in Shanghai, and many more.
Picture Books
Julia Donaldson, illus. by Sharon King-Chai. Dial, $20.99 (58p) ISBN 978-0-593-32453-0. Ages 3–5.
In this lift-the-flap counting game that pairs parent animals with their babies, early readers will delight in counting and learning unusual scientific names for young animals.
Maggie Pouncey, illus. by Larry Day. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8234-4657-5. Ages 4–8.
Dodge and his older brother, Fox, plan to visit the moon in their homemade rocket. When they land, they set to work on a magnificent fort. It’s hard work and sometimes they face setbacks, but Dodge knows he can always turn to his older brother for inspiration.
Jerry Pinkney. Little, Brown, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-316-44031-8. Ages 4–8.
Caldecott Medalist Pinkney’s recasting of Andersen’s fairy tale affirms girls’ voices and power while offering dazzling undersea magic. Melody, the Sea King’s youngest daughter, spends her time sifting through shipwrecks until a forbidden trip to the ocean’s surface offers her a glimpse of Zion, a human girl she yearns to meet. The book received a starred review from PW.
Liza Woodruff. Holiday House/Ferguson, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-4099-3. Ages 4–8.
Milo wants a story, but his mother is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, he is disappointed, but when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around. The book received a starred review from PW.
Sue Farrell Holler, illus. by Jennifer Faria. Pajama, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-77278-136-6. Ages 4–7.
The boy who narrates this tender story by Holler spends a winter day with his grandfather, who, in English and Ojibwemowin, introduces his grandson to the animals they observe. The child offers information, too: “I show Grandpa how to kick snow into the bit of water under the bridge.” The book received a stared review from PW.
María Wernicke, trans. from the Spanish by Lawrence Schimel. Amazon Crossing Kids, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-5420-2251-4. Ages 6–8.
This brief, wistful exchange between a mother and her child delivers its emotion between the lines, and Schimel’s translation handles the understatement deftly. A girl tells her mother about a passageway in their yard where nothing bad can ever happen—and the person she longs for is with her again. But some days, the passageway is not there. Maybe, together, mother and daughter can find a way to carry that feeling with them always.
Cindy Derby. Roaring Brook, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-250-23254-0. Ages 3–6.
Birds line up to perch on a tree as a monitor shouts rules at them. Eventually, the tree fills to capacity, but what happens when two more are born among the branches? The book received a starred review from PW.
Middle Grade
Sheila M. Averbuch. Scholastic Press, $17.99 (272p) ISBN 978-1-338-61808-2. Ages 8–12.
Roisin hasn’t made a single friend since she moved. In fact, she’s under constant abuse from school bully Zara. Roisin feels alone until she connects online with a girl named Haley, who quickly becomes her lifeline. When Zara has an accident and police investigate, Roisin panics—could the jokes she and Haley shared look incriminating?
Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney, illus. by Eugene Yelchin. Clarion, $17.99 (64p) ISBN 978-0-544-88836-4. Ages 8–12.
A short winter day finds Samuel and Papa walking down a long road on Samuel’s first trading trip. Meeting strangers, practicing good manners, and proud to be in Papa’s company, Samuel watches and learns as Papa trades up from almost nothing to the milk cow Mama is yearning for.
Tanita S. Davis. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-293697-4. Ages 8–12.
Serena is proud to be JC’s best friend, but everything changes when JC returns from the hospital with a new kidney—and a new best friend. Lonely, Serena works on her vlogs, hoping to become a classroom reporter. As Serena discovers her voice through vlogging, she learns that she’s fully capable of shining on her own.
The Smartest Kid in the Universe
Chris Grabenstein. Random House, $16.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-525-64778-2. Ages 8–12.
Jake’s middle school is about to be shut down—unless Jake and his friends can figure out how to save it. When Jake accidentally eats a bowl of ingestible information pills, he becomes the smartest kid in the universe. Now he must use his smarts to save his school.
Jennifer Blecher. Greenwillow, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-274862-1. Ages 8–12.
Artistic Izzy, 12, feels out of place in her rapidly shifting world. Her former best friend is acting distant, and her parents recently moved the family into their garage apartment so they can rent out their Boston home for a week. Figure skater Wren, also 12, plans to spend her school break on the ice; she’s dismayed to learn that her family will instead be heading to Boston, where Wren’s four-year-old sister will undergo surgery for epilepsy. When the rental situation throws the girls together, they discover the power of a supportive friendship.
YA
A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
Laura Taylor Namey. Atheneum, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-5344-7124-5. Ages 12 and up.
For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. But when the “Trifecta” happened, a series of massive losses, everything fell apart. Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan: spend three months with family friends in England to reset. What would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila... until she meets Orion Maxwell. The book received a starred review from PW.
Elizabeth Wein. Little, Brown, $18.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-368-01258-4. Ages 12 and up.
Set in 1940, between the events of The Pearl Thief and Code Name Verity, Wein’s latest immersive dive into a slice of WWII-era history splits the narration among three figures—Flt. Lt. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart; Ellen McEwen, a Traveller. volunteering as a military driver; and Louisa Adair, the biracial daughter of a Jamaican father and a British mother, both recently killed by German explosives. Once again, Wein seamlessly weaves extensive research into a thriller populated by fully dimensional characters.
Marissa Meyer. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends, $18.99 (400p) ISBN 978-1-250-61881-8. Ages 12 and up.
Pru’s dreams of justice are fulfilled when, after a night out with her friends, she wakes up with the sudden ability to cast instant karma on those around her. Pru giddily makes use of the power but Quint, her slacker lab partner, is one person on whom her powers consistently backfire. Read our q&a with Marissa Meyer on her first foray into the rom-com genre.
Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $18.99 (400p) ISBN 978-0-3580-9823-2. Ages 14 and up.
At first glance, the sisters of Kappa Rho Nu—the Ravens—seem like typical sorority girls. But the Ravens are witches. Scarlett is determined to be the sorority’s president. However, a secret from her past might cause her to lose everything. Vivi vows to do whatever it takes to be part of the magical sisterhood. The only thing standing in her way is Scarlett, who doesn’t think Vivi is Ravens material. See our In Conversation between Morgan and Paige here.
Julia Ember. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-374-31335-7. Ages 14 and up.
For years, Cadence has been forced to torture her country’s disgraced nobility at a powerful queen’s bidding. But when she is reunited with her childhood friend, a noblewoman with ties to the underground rebellion, Cadence must make a choice: take a stand to free their country from oppression or follow in the queen’s footsteps and become a monster herself.
David Yoon. Putnam, $18.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-9848-1223-0. Ages 14 and up.
When self-proclaimed nerd Sunny Dae meets Cirrus Soh, he can’t believe how cool and confident she is. So when Cirrus mistakes Sunny’s older brother Gray’s bedroom—with its electric guitars and rock posters—for Sunny’s own, he accidentally winds up telling her he’s the front man of a rock band. The book received a starred review from PW. Read our q&a with Yoon.
Chloe Gong. S&S/McElderry, $19.99 (464p) ISBN 978-1-5344-5769-0. Ages 14 and up.
This fantastical reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet nestles the star-crossed lovers—renamed Roma Montagov and Juliette Cai—in an atmospheric mid-1920s Shanghai, where the Russian Montagovs, head of the White Flowers, and the Chinese Cais, head of the Scarlet Gang, have been embroiled in an age-old blood feud. Gong’s incisive retelling imbues a thoroughly modern richness, with arresting prose and an inclusive cast. The book received a starred review from PW.
Gavriel Savit. Knopf, $18.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-9848-9462-5. Ages 12 and up.
For the Jews of Eastern Europe, demons are everywhere. But the demons have a land of their own, Far Country. When the Angel of Death comes strolling through the little shtetl of Tupik one night, two young people will be sent on a journey through the Far Country. There they will make pacts with ancient demons, declare war on Death himself, and try to make it back alive. The book received a starred review from PW and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
Comics
Jonathan Hill. Oni, $19.99 paper (328) ISBN 978-1-6201-0789-8. Ages 13–17.
Eight years ago, a massive earthquake changed life as we knew it. For Vietnamese American Virginia, life changed shortly after the earthquake, when her mother left and never came back. Ginny has gotten used to a life without her mother. But when a mysterious package arrives for her 18th birthday, her life is shaken again. The book received a starred review from PW.
