Middle grade and teen readers can expect a wave of fiction this spring with the launch of HarperCollins’s newest imprint, Storytide. With more than 30 books slated for 2025, along with several backlist titles that will now be housed under this brand, Storytide is committed to bringing more dynamic literary voices to the forefront.
Leading the imprint is VP and publisher Tara Weikum, whose expertise is helping to lay Storytide’s foundation. Weikum explained how the idea for Storytide came to fruition. “While Storytide was taking shape, we spent a lot of time focusing on what makes each of our imprints at HarperCollins unique,” she told PW. “As the pieces fell into place, it became clear to us that the list that became Storytide, and the editors who work on these books, share a common point of view and sensibility.”
Surf’s Up
The Storytide name evokes the development of good storytelling. “The best stories ebb and flow, just as tides do—with beginnings and endings, highs and lows—and offer readers renewal, hope, and change,” Weikum said. “While readers will find a broad variety of stories and perspectives on our list, that shared belief in the power of story is a common thread through the titles we’re acquiring and publishing.”
“With over two decades of bestselling, award-winning, and critically acclaimed books to her credit, Tara has built a stellar list with a clear point of view that consistently delivers,” Rich Thomas, senior VP and executive director of publishing, HarperCollins Children’s Books, said in a statement. She is supported by executive editors Amy Cloud and Kristin Rens, editor Sarah Homer, and editorial assistants Christian Vega and Briana Wood, all of whom make up the imprint’s team.
Featured authors include Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate (The One and Only Ivan) and National Book Award finalist Katherine Marsh (The Gods’ Revenge). “I’m so thrilled to see Tara at the helm of this exciting new imprint,” said Applegate, whose The One and Only Family will be published under the Storytide name. “She’s a dream editor: brilliant and kind, with an extraordinary understanding of the marketplace.”
Among Storytide’s 2025 releases are romance novels It’s a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson (Jan.) and The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick by S. Isabelle(July); fantasy novels That Devil, Ambition by Linsey Miller (June) and I Killed the King by Andrea Hannah and Rebecca Mix (Sept.); and The Lemonade War Graphic Novel by Jacqueline Davies, illus. by Karen De la Vega (Apr.).
To promote Storytide’s launch, book creators including Davies, Drew Daywalt, Terri Libenson, and Lexi Ryan will be on tour throughout the year. In addition, Tahereh Mafi will host a midnight launch party at Barnes & Noble Union Square on April 14 for her new book, Watch Me, which starts a new series set 10 years after her Shatter Me series.
