Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles including a YA retelling of Peter Pan, a high-stakes fantasy, a musical mystery, an ensemble love story, and more.
Darling by K. Ancrum. Imprint, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-26526-5. In this contemporary YA Peter Pan reimagining, Ancrum (The Weight of the Stars) reframes the fantasy as an after-hours adventure set in the shadows of Chicago.
A Season of Sinister Dreams by Tracy Banghart. Little, Brown, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-3164-6040-8. Banghart’s (Queen of Ruin) YA fantasy novel offers gripping conflict while gender dynamics, power plays, and unexpected romance maintain intrigue.
Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani. First Second, $21.99; ISBN 978-1-250-15637-2. In this middle grade graphic novel, Chanani (Pashmina) writes a love letter to music through the decades, sharing the message of connectivity that, through song, transcends generations.
Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton et al. Quill Tree, $19.99; ISBN 978-0-06-308809-2. Young Black love glows throughout this collaboration by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon, which follows six couples through a summer blackout in New York City. The book earned a starred review from PW. See our Q&A with the authors here.
Darcy’s First Sleepover by Julie Fortenberry. Holt/Ottaviano, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-75590-2. In this picture book, a girl’s comforting bedtime routine gets a shift during her first sleepover.
Beatrice Was a Tree by Joyce Hesselberth. Greenwillow, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-274126-4. Protagonist Beatrice conjures a verdant life and begins to meld with her favorite hanging spot in this faintly fantastical picture book by author-illustrator Hesselberth.
My Own World by Mike Holmes. First Second, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-2502-0828-6. Debut author Holmes demonstrates a child’s profound loneliness in nine-year-old Nathan’s journey into an alternate dimension away from a bully, in this middle grade graphic novel.
How to Wear a Sari by Darshana Khiani, illus. by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff. Versify, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-328-63520-4. Simple, multi-patterned line art drawings in a lively color palette by Lew-Vriethoff pilot young readers through Khiani’s picture book guide to sari-wearing.
Haylee and Comet: A Tale of Cosmic Friendship by Deborah Marcero. Roaring Brook, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-250-77439-2. A girl and a comet develop an affectionate friendship in Marcero’s (In a Jar) gentle emerging reader, a graphic novel series starter.
Sister Wish by Giselle Potter. Abrams, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-4197-4671-0. In this picture book meditation on the complicated dimensions of sisterhood, an older and younger sister work through their thoughts on the topic.
Fish and Sun by Sergio Ruzzier. HarperAlley, $16.99; ISBN 978-0-06-307663-1. It’s dark and cold and boring under the ocean in this early reader comic by Geisel Honoree Ruzzier (the Fox & Chick series), and Fish makes friends with Sun on the surface. The book earned a starred review from PW.
I Want a Boat! by Liz Garton Scanlon, illus. by Kevan Atteberry. Holiday House/Porter, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-8234-4715-2. The draw of this picture book about a girl and a box is the young protagonist’s ability to bring needs to life via imagination—power that Scanlon emphasizes with the punch of repeating, easily memorized prose.
Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas. Bloomsbury, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-5476-0463-0. In this YA novel, 15-year-old Dani, who is transgender, joins up with a new friend to rescue the ghosts of teens departed under traumatic circumstances in their Michigan town.
Monster Friends by Kaeti Vandorn. Random House Graphic, $12.99; ISBN 978-1-9848-9682-7. This candy-colored comic featuring shape-shifting and adorable monsters offers a winning friendship and gentle encouragement: “It takes a lot of practice to be brave.”
All We Need by Kathy Wolff, illus. by Margaux Meganck. Bloomsbury, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-61963-874-7. Accompanying Wolff’s (What George Forgot) verses about what people need to live, Meganck (The Marvelous Mustard Seed) paints loving, attentive families of varying ages and ethnicities in a bustling city neighborhood.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of June, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
