There are so many amazing books this week! We found more than a dozen titles being released and it’s pretty exciting.
How the Word is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers): Remembering Slavery and How It Shaped America by Clint Smith adapted for young readers by Sonja Cherry-Paul
Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads young readers through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks–those that are honest about the past and those that are not–offering an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation’s collective history, and ourselves.
How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view–whether in places we might drive by on our way to school, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods (like downtown Manhattan) on which the brutal history of the trade in enslaved people has been deeply imprinted.
Informed by scholarship and brought alive by the story of people living today, this adaptation of Clint Smith’s #1 bestselling, award-winning work of nonfiction offers kids a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country, and shows how they can reckon with the past and present to become better stewards of their future.
On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining
Abrams Fanfare
Alex Wilson hasn’t been back to Indigo Harbor, the seaside village where she grew up, in years. In fact, she can barely remember anything about it. But when her grandmother dies unexpectedly, Alex will have to return to her childhood home to say goodbye.
Accompanied by her best friend, Grim, Alex travels back to her hometown and begins cleaning out her grandmother’s house, but the longer they stay, the stranger things get. Indigo Harbor isn’t your average town—there are falling stars, witches running tea shops, and a name that comes up again and again: Elizabeth. Who was this woman, and how did she know Alex’s grandmother?
As she explores the town and sorts through her grandmother’s belongings, Alex reconnects with her past and tries with increasing desperation to uncover the greatest secret of all, the identity of the mysterious Elizabeth. Tackling grief, acceptance, and how to honor a loved one’s life, Bex Glendining has crafted a beautiful and moving graphic novel perfect for readers who loved The Dark Matter of Mona Starr, Girl From the Sea, and the Magic Fish.
Joy to the Girls: A She Gets the Girl Novella by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
For Alex and Molly, the last three years have felt like Christmas every day. So what better way to celebrate winter break of their senior year than a romantic getaway in a town right out of a Christmas card?
Aside from sampling all the holiday cheer Barnwich has to offer, Alex and Molly have an important mission this weekend: to help their friend Cora get her crush to fall for her. But in between ice skating, snowball fights, and matchmaking schemes, it becomes obvious that Alex and Molly have another mission this weekend: to not reveal the huge secrets they’re keeping from the other. Secrets about their post-college plans that threaten to tear them apart.
Will these two be able to help Cora get the girl and keep theirs—or will this be the last Christmas of Alex and Molly’s love story?
What We Did to Each Other by Josuee Hernández
Flux
It’s the early 2010s, and seventeen-year-old Yesenia Rivera hates everything about herself: her brown skin and wide nose, her curly hair and hand-me-down clothing, and her inability to fit in with either the Mexican girls or the white girls at her school. So when her mother’s new job requires them to uproot their lives and move to the Pacific Northwest, Yesenia devises a plan to remake herself completely. Cloaked in skin lightening cream, blue contact lenses, dyed-blonde hair, and a “whiter” name, Yesenia’s–aka Jessie’s–newfound ability to pass as white in her new school gets her the popularity she’s always dreamed of. Yet as her brazen confidence morphs into hubris, all it takes is a couple of slip-ups for someone to take notice. Guillermo Rivera—aka Willy, an easier-to-pronounce nickname bestowed upon him by his classmates—is no stranger to sticking out at their predominantly white high school, right down to his too-small wrestling shoes. Bothered by how little he’s able to help his low-income mother and seduced by the prospect of financial stability, he reluctantly settles into a flattened, stereotyped version of himself in exchange for being needed by his white peers. But when selling to Jessie’s new friends pushes him farther out of his comfort zone and, dangerously, into theirs, both he and Jessie begin to suffer the mounting cost of what whiteness demands of them. The more they’re forced together, the more their tenuously crafted double lives threaten to crumble. Until one day, when those lives collide . . .
Fireblooms by Alexandra Villasante
Nancy Paulsen Books
When seventeen-year-old Sebastian agrees to come to New Gault to care for his absent and abusive mother after her cancer diagnosis, he is not prepared for the strange new community that awaits him or the distressing state he finds his mother in. He tries to help, but despite being ill, her tongue is as sharp as ever, finding all Sebas’s tender places. But he promised his Abuela he’d try to make this work.
Unfortunately trying also means attending TECH, New Gault’s high school. His first day, he’s assigned to enthusiastic TECH student ambassador, Lu, who introduces him to all TECH can offer—a safe space, free from bullying. But all this safety and technology comes with a catch—not only do you have to watch what you say, but you have to stay within a strict word limit. Sebas declines. To him New Gault feels more like the Stepford Wives than freedom.
For Lu, who suffers from anxiety and has a history of being bullied, TECH is a lifeline somewhere they can be safe. They can’t understand why Sebas would refuse. When Sebas rejects TECH, it feels as if he’s rejecting Lu.
But when Sebas learns if he doesn’t accept the TECH phone and abide by the rules, his mother will be denied cancer treatment, he changes his tune. Slowly, Lu and Sebas form a friendship that morphs into something more, but the closer they get, the more Sebas challenges Lu’s beliefs about TECH and what it means to be safe. Meanwhile, Sebas contemplates how to forgive his dying mother for being no mother at all.
This thought-provoking, tender love story examines what we’re willing to give up to feel safe as two broken teens navigate emotional trauma and discover what blooms may come from the ashes.
All the Way Around the Sun by Xixi Tian
Quill Tree Books
Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother for years in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions her brother left behind.
So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be—popular, gregarious, unburdened—and a reminder of how lost she is.
As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.
You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao
Dutton Books for Young Readers
It’s been a year since his best friend, Sam, died. Even though Oliver knows he won’t get a response, he can’t stop texting Sam’s number, especially as the anniversary of his death approaches.
Then one day he accidentally hits the call button, and someone picks up.
The voice on the other end isn’t Sam. Sam’s number was reassigned and a stranger has been receiving Oliver’s private and vulnerable messages for months. But Ben, a college student in Seattle, won’t remain a stranger for long. When they finally meet in person, their spark is undeniable. Everything seems perfect until Oliver discovers something strange might be keeping them apart.
Dustin Thao’s star-crossed return to Ellensburg, WA is a sliding-doors romance sure to break your heart wide open.
Black History for Every Day of the Year by David Olusoga, Yinka Olusoga, & Kemi Olusoga
The Experiment
Did you know that Aretha Franklin was the first woman to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Or that the first accounts of a Black samurai in Japan date back almost 500 years ago? Written by historian and broadcaster David Olusoga and his siblings, professor Yinka Olusoga and artist Kemi Olusoga, Black History for Every Day of the Year is an illuminating overview of consequential people, places, and events in Black history. Accompanied by photos, quotes, and illustrations, these 366 entries will take you on a journey across global history, from the ancient Kingdom of Kush to the Black Lives Matter movement.
You’ll learn about unsung heroes from history, as well as contemporary figures and events.
Activists: Toussaint L’Ouverture, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X
Athletes: Jackie Robinson, Venus and Serena Williams, Simone Biles
Authors and Poets: James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Amanda Gorman
Musicians: Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé
Public Figures: Kofi Annan, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Kamala Harris
Scientists: Alice Ball, Katherine Johnson, Neil deGrasse Tyson
Movies and Art: the Benin Bronzes, Hamilton, Black Panther
Events: the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Selma to Montgomery Marches
With accounts of triumph and celebration, ingenuity and creativity, alongside tales of racism and oppression, hope and resistance, Black History for Every Day of the Year gives you something new to learn every day—a rich history that is relevant to us all.
Showstopper by Lily Anderson
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
TAKE YOUR FINAL BOW
The Ghostlight Youth Theater Camp isn’t the best program in the world, but to Faye, it’s home. Every summer since junior high, Faye and her friends have come together for a monthlong musical-theater intensive. For her last year before graduation, Faye’s finally ready to take center stage as her true Afro-Latina self and break out of her white-passing roles.
But as Faye steps into her spotlight, complications arise. Suddenly, she’s competing with her BFF for lead roles and distracted by the attentions of the new camp hottie. Even when the drama turns deadly, Faye remains determined to make this the best production the Ghostlight has ever seen. It must be a coincidence that the stagehands keep disappearing and having gruesome accidents, right? But dark secrets are hiding behind the scenes, and opening night might turn out to be a bloodbath.
To the Stars and Back Vol. 1 by Peglo
Little, Brown Ink
Introverted university student Kang Dae spends most of his time alone, and he prefers it this way. So he’s initially unhappy when bubbly new student Bo Seon moves into his apartment complex and sets out to befriend him. But before Kang Dae realizes it, his life has changed irrevocably.
As the two become closer, they slowly realize they have romantic feelings for each other; but neither has been in a real relationship before and both have trauma in their pasts. Will they be able to embrace the possibilities of what could be, or will they find that a new romance is a bridge too far?
A top ten slice-of-life WEBTOON with over one million subscribers, this beloved webcomic is now available in a beautiful new format, where you can see episodes 1-101 of Kang Dae and Bo Seon’s relationship unfold— in all its beautiful, awkward, and heartwarming glory—with this can’t-miss collectible edition.
Every Spiral of Fate (This Woven Kingdom #4) by Tahereh Mafi
Storytide
At long last, the wedding day has arrived.
The Jinn queen and the enigmatic ruler of Tulan are to be married in a magical, enchanted ceremony—but Cyrus, tethered by a blood oath to his bride-to-be, can find nothing to celebrate in this union. He’s falling ever more deeply in love with the one person oathbound to kill him.
Sworn to an ancient, unbreakable magic, Alizeh can only fulfill the prophecy to free her people by ensuring Cyrus dies by her own hand. And Cyrus is forced to await his end all while Prince Kamran inches closer, ready to take his place by Alizeh’s side.
The countdown to murder coils tensions ever tighter, but the historic wedding has already drawn deadly attention. To prepare for war and protect her people, Alizeh must finally discover her magic—and outrun the enemies trying to stop her.
Alizeh and Cyrus, along with Kamran and their friends from Ardunia, must flee on dragon-back to begin the perilous journey into the legendary mountains of Arya, where a firestorm of revelations, magical discoveries, and fresh allies awaits them. Every allegiance will be tested, every darkness uncovered, and when the shattering secrets of the Tulanian king are finally revealed . . .
Nothing, and no one, will be the same.
Nubia: Too Real written by L.L. McKinney illustrated by Robyn Smith
DC Comics
After a turbulent school year, Nubia is both thrilled and anxious as she embarks on a transformative summer training with the Amazons on Themyscira! Amid the mounting pressure of expectations, she grapples with feeling like an outsider, letting the weight of her self-doubt strain her most important relationships.
Just when she thought her life couldn’t get more complicated, her biggest fear threatens the safety of everyone on Paradise Island. Will Nubia rise above the chaos and embrace her true self as the hero she was destined to be?
Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury YA
Meka is used to death. After all, it’s the family business.
As a newly certified mortician’s assistant at her parents’ funeral home, her days are not for the faint of heart. Luckily her boyfriend Noah isn’t squeamish, and Meka is finally feeling ready to say the three little words that will change everything.
But then tragedy strikes, and Meka’s world is torn apart. Nothing makes sense, especially the strange things start happening. Ravens are circling her home. Strangers are following her. Someone is leaving mysterious items at her door. And worst of all . . .
The dead don’t seem to be staying dead.
Meka thought she understood death better than anyone. Turns out, the family business is a bit more complicated than it seems. And Meka isn’t the only one desperate to unearth their secrets . . . because the truth may be worth dying for.
Bad Boy: A Graphic Memoir by Walter Dean Myers & Guy A. Sims with illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile
Quill Tree Books
Legendary author Walter Dean Myers was once a troublemaker and a truant.
Just how bad was he? From instigating mischievous pranks at home to fighting in the classroom—especially when teased about his speech impediment—irrepressible Walter was more than a handful. Underneath it all, he had a tremendous love for books, and by high school he longed to become a writer. But financial troubles at home made him feel his options were so limited that he dropped out of school. Still, his desire to write was as irrepressible as Walter himself. If he could only be given the chance…
Walter recounts what growing up in Harlem was like in the 1940s and 1950s—when seeing Langston Hughes and Sugar Ray Robinson on the street was the norm and Jackie Robinson ruled the baseball field.
Gripping. Funny. Heartbreaking. Walter Dean Myers’s memoir is unforgettable. This is the award-winning story of one of the strongest voices in children’s and young adult literature.