New Releases

New Releases

Posted onAuthorCrystal
The covers of the three books are next to each other. The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick, Love Spells Trouble and Island Creatures. Each are described in detail in the alt text on the individual images within the post.

There seems to be more than a bit of love to be found in the new releases this week.

Illustrated cover for The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick. Three Black teens are dressed in 1860s clothing on the cover. In the center is a girl wearing a blue dress with large puffed sleeves and what looks like bronze earrings and a bracelet. Her hair is up in what might be a bun, and she is glancing over her left shoulder. The girl on the right is more fancily dressed in orange, yellow, and pink. She is carrying a parasol and a fan, and she has her hair curled down along her neck and is wearing gloves. The boy on the left has longer natural hair and is wearing a green jacket, yellow cravat(?), and a light gray-brown suit. The background is a college of flowers.The Great Misfortune of Stella Sedgwick by S. Isabelle
HarperCollins

Eighteen-year-old Stella Sedgwick is a lost cause. While 1860s England offers little opportunity beyond marriage for a sharp-tongued, dark-skinned housekeeper’s daughter, Stella dreams of a writing career and independence.

When her late mother’s former employer—the wealthy Thomas Fitzroy—summons Stella to London, he bequeaths her one of the family’s great estates on his deathbed. But such an inheritance will precipitate a legal battle, one that would be much easier if Stella were married. Suddenly thrust into lily-white London society with the goal of finding a husband, Stella also reunites with the Fitzroy heir Nathaniel, her childhood best friend, now somewhat of a stranger.

But even though she doesn’t want a husband, London presents other opportunities, like picking up her mother’s old advice column, where “Fiona Flippant” anonymously guided readers through upper-class perils. It turns out the dresses and balls aren’t so bad, though the stares and insults sometimes feel impossible to navigate. Things only grow more complicated with the attention of handsome suitors and Stella’s increasingly tempestuous relationship with Nathaniel. As new opportunities arise and old secrets are uncovered, Stella must decide when to play by the rules, when to break them, and when to let herself follow her heart.

Cover of the book Love Spells Trouble has a young Black woman and young Black man standing in the center. They each have a hand out to the side with a star above it.Love Spells Trouble by Nia Davenport
Bloomsbury YA

Witches and humans have always had issues.

Cayden is well aware of that: her witch mom was shunned by her high-society parents when she fell in love with Cayden’s human dad. Now, the family business is in trouble due to wealthy witches gentrifying her historic Texas neighborhood. So Cayden is appalled when she realizes she unknowingly went on a date with Coven it-boy Khy Carter. But when her father’s bakery has an influx of new customers, she realizes Khy might just be a solution to her family’s problems: Cayden absolutely cannot be with a Coven boy, but that doesn’t mean she can’t pretend to be.

Suddenly, Cayden is thrown into the Coven system she grew up despising, but it turns out embracing the witchy side of herself is actually…fun. As she spends more time with Khy, their fake dating starts to feel like real feelings. And even though she’s doing this for her family, Cayden knows she’s also betraying them. Her parents may have put love before everything else, but is Cayden willing to do the same?

Cover of book Island Creatures centers two young people. On the left is a young woman with brown wavy hair and light brown skin. On the right is a young man with an afro and slightly darker skin. They are surrounded by foliage of different colors. There is a sun in the background high in the sky above two palm trees.Island Creatures by Margarita Engle
Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Every day, Vida reads to the creatures at the wildlife rescue center and dreams of her childhood in Cuba, where she and her best friend Adán adventured through the island rescuing animals from harm. Unbeknownst to her, Adán has also moved to Florida and is feeling trapped in his new home, buffeted by the stormy fights between his abuelo and papi. When a chance encounter with a captive fox leads to their reunion, Vida and Adán are able to find refuge from the cruelty that surrounds them in their soaring, rekindled romance.

Their love reaches new heights as they work together at the zoo that rescues rare species, but soon they realize that this peace is only temporary. Much like the wildlife they want to protect, Vida and Adán are caught in a cycle of distrust and heartlessness. As old family grudges and painful memories come to light, can they and their families learn to heal and forgive each other for a brighter, kinder future?