Here we round up new and forthcoming children’s titles, including a story about trolls, a YA novel infused with Japanese mythology, a novel about magic and music, a book in which social media plays into conflict, and more.
The Legend of Brightblade by Ethan M. Aldridge. Quill Tree, $23.99; ISBN 978-0-06-299552-0. In crisp, bright washes of watercolor and ink, Aldridge (Estranged) paints a world that is equally indebted to The Hobbit and Jem and the Holograms, in which trolls and elves of various skin tones render music as candy-colored magic.
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee. Clarion, $18.99, ISBN 978-0-358-46998-8. Inspired by Japanese mythology, National Book Award finalist Chee’s lavish quest narrative follows plain, clumsy, and “uncommonly loud” Otori Miuko, 17, who lives with her innkeeper single father as part of the serving class in a crumbling village in the realm of Awara, where mortals exist alongside spirits and demons. The YA novel earned a starred review from PW.
Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli. Wednesday, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-82152-2. Aspiring folk-pop artist Emeline Lark leaves Edgewood to pursue her dreams in Montreal in this standalone fantasy from Ciccarelli that weaves a tale of magic, music, and sacrifice.
The Rumor Game by Dhonielle Clayton and Sona Charaipotra. Disney-Hyperion, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-368-01414-4. Evaluating the role social media can play in conflict, this YA novel from previous collaborators Clayton and Charaipotra (the Tiny Pretty Things series) addresses the ways that damaging information can affect individuals based on intersections of beauty, gender, race, and other factors of privilege.
Big Dreams, Small Fish by Paula Cohen. Levine Querido, $17.99; ISBN 978-1-64614-126-5. This Yiddish-punctuated slice-of-life picture book, Cohen’s picture book debut, follows an indomitable protagonist and the loving family who dotes on her. Back matter includes a glossary of Yiddish words and a gefilte fish recipe.
Once Upon a Tim by Stuart Gibbs, illus. by Stacy Curtis. Simon & Schuster, $12.99; ISBN 978-1-5344-9925-6. Diverting from anything seen at the Round Table, the latest from Gibbs (the Spy School series) hops to medieval times in this energetic middle grade series starter.
The School for Whatnots by Margaret Peterson Haddix. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-283849-0. Born into different circumstances on the same night, two middle schoolers encounter their respective upbringings’ mysteries in Haddix’s (the Greystone Secrets series) class-conscious middle grade thriller.
Rosie the Truffle Hound by Jessie Hartland. Penguin/Paulsen, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-399-54875-8. In this picture book, a dog’s super sense of smell proves profitable when she hunts for truffles—“not the chocolate kind!”
Wingbearer by Marjorie Liu, illus. by Teny Issakhanian. Quill Tree, $22.99; ISBN 978-0-0627-4115-8. Young Zuli searches for the souls that have stopped coming to the soul tree in which she was raised in this epic fantasy adventure with a classic feel. The middle grade graphic novel earned a starred review from PW.
Good Job, George! by Jane O’Connor, illus. by Andrew Joyner. Flamingo, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-593-20563-1. O’Connor (the Fancy Nancy series) and Joyner (Love Was Inside) ground their picture book in a loving environment and reassure readers that praise isn’t empty words; on the contrary, positive reinforcement can help kids strive to be their best selves.
Loveless by Alice Oseman. Scholastic Press, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-338-75193-2. Combining the plotting of a college sex romp with a queer sensibility that foregrounds aro-ace identity, Oseman’s YA novel follows Georgia Warr, a white British college freshman curious about finding romance of the sort she reads about in fanfiction.
Somewhere in the Bayou by Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey. Norton Young Readers, $17.95; ISBN 978-1-324-01593-2. Told in comics-style panels and woodblock-style artwork that befits the story’s folktale feel, this story by the Pumphrey brothers (The Old Boat) opens as a rabbit, an opossum, a squirrel, and a mouse look for a place to cross a bayou.
Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall. Holt, $16.99; ISBN 978-1-250-77410-1. Vividly built Dominican mythology distinguishes Randall’s (Refuse, for adults) middle grade debut, an adventure that interweaves historical and current affairs. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Ironhead, Or, Once a Young Lady by Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem, trans. from the Dutch by Kristen Gehrman. Levine Querido, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-64614-048-0. In this historical YA novel, Stance—who is attracted to women, both identifies as a woman and is most comfortable presenting male, experiencing both gender dysphoria and euphoria—avoids marriage by assuming a spot in Napoleon’s army. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Me and Ms. Too by Laura Ruby, illus. by Dung Ho. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99; ISBN 978-0-06-289433-5. In Ruby’s picture book debut, it takes time for a girl to adjust to her new librarian stepmother.
Travelers Along the Way: A Robin Hood Remix by Aminah Mae Safi. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-250-77127-8. Safi (This Is All Your Fault) transposes the myth of Robin Hood from Nottingham to Jerusalem in this addition to the Remixed Classics series, an imaginative YA retelling set during the height of the 12th-century Third Crusade.
What Do You See?: A Conversation in Pictures by Barney Saltzberg, illus. by Barney Saltzberg, photos by Jamie Lee Curtis. Creston, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-954354-05-0. Two friends mount an ongoing creativity challenge in this collaborative picture book. When “she” takes a photograph of something ordinary that seems ripe with imaginative possibilities, “he” adds economically applied—and often comically inspired—lines and color, turning the photo’s subject into something new, shown in pages that picture the photographs and drawings but never the friends.
Turning by Joy L. Smith. S&S/Millner, $19.99; ISBN 978-1-534-49582-1. Three months after falling from a roof, teenage Genie, who was recently featured on the cover of a dance magazine as a promising Black ballerina, is learning to navigate her disability.
Gallant by V.E. Schwab, illus. by Manuel Šumberac. Greenwillow, $18.99; ISBN 978-0-06-283577-2. In this standalone YA novel, gothic horror sensibilities infused with warmth and dark whimsy follow protagonist Olivia, who communicates by sign language and is embroiled in a mystery. The book earned a starred review from PW.
Elephant Island by Leo Timmers, trans. from the Dutch by James Brown. Gecko, $18.99; ISBN 978-1-77657-434-6. When a “boisterous wave” sinks Arnold the elephant’s boat, he’s stranded on a tiny rock barely the size of his foot. The picture book earned a starred review from PW.
For more children’s and YA titles on sale throughout the month of March, check out PW’s full On-Sale Calendar.
