Below is a varied and exciting list of new novels coming out this month. Stories filled with werewolves, a floating mountain, a con game, magicians, magical spells, monster invasions, a quest for freedom, changing friendships, dangerous worlds, a haunted house, and a parrot talking about murder. Wow! Can it get any better than that?
So … I think I’ll spend my summer reading. How about you?
Faker by Gordon Korman. 197 pp. July 2.
Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there’s the con, where Trey’s dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money’s in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run… until they set up somewhere else and start again.
Trey believes his father when he says no one’s getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare. But Trey’s getting tired of running… and lying… and never having a friend for longer than a few months. Yet how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?
Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate by Deeba Zargarpur. 336 pp. July 2. 
Farrah sees her father just one day every year—her birthday. But this year, her wish to bring them closer goes wildly awry when Farrah discovers she is a half-jinn…and her father is one of the seven great jinn kings. Her wish traps her father inside a legendary ring, and the other six jinn kings will follow unless Farrah can rectify her mistake.
Pursued by menacing shadow jinn, Farrah’s quest takes her to a floating mountain range. Joined by Idris, the jinn boy whom she inadvertently freed from the ring, and her newly discovered half-brother, Yaseen, Farrah must find a way to navigate the mysteries and dangers of her new world in order to save her father and face the most devious jinn lord of all.
Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton. 304 pp. July 2.
Benji Zeb has a lot going on. He has a lot of studying to do, not only for school but also for his upcoming bar mitzvah. He’s nervous about Mr. Rutherford, the aggressive local rancher who hates Benji’s family’s kibbutz and wolf sanctuary. And he hasn’t figured out what to do about Caleb, Mr. Rutherford’s stepson, who has been bullying Benji at school, despite Benji wanting to be friends (and maybe something more). And all of this is made more complicated by the fact that, secretly, Benji and his entire family are werewolves who are using the wolf sanctuary as cover for their true identities!
Things come to a head when Caleb shows up at the kibbutz one night . . . in wolf form! He’s a werewolf too, unable to control his shifting, and he needs Benji’s help. Can anxious Benji juggle all of these things along with his growing feelings toward Caleb?
Read an interview with the author here.
Majestica by Sarah Tolcser. 320 pp. July 2. 
Hattie Swift is a maid-in-training at Majestica, a resort and nature preserve where visitors come face-to-face with rare magical flora and fauna. She’s thrilled to be invited along on the park’s famous wilderness train excursion for the first time, but there’s a catch: She has to accompany Evelyn Ridgewell, the hotel owner’s haughty niece, who wants nothing to do with her.
Soon after embarking, Evelyn overhears a man who aims to hunt the park’s creatures for sport, and Hattie meets Jacob Threadborne, an apprentice magician sent by a foreign government on a top-secret mission. Then the magical fences keeping guests safe stop working, and the train breaks down in the most treacherous part of the jungle. Faced with poachers, man-eating trees, and a dragon on the loose, Hattie, Evelyn, and Jacob must stick together to figure out what’s gone wrong at Majestica . . . that is, if they want to make it out alive.
The 66th Rebirth of Frankie Caridi by Johnny Marciano. 240 pp. July 9.
Frankie is used to living in her younger brother’s shadow. Lucie is outgoing, smart, kind, and has horns. Yes, horns. Frankie’s life has always revolved around Lucie, so when she’s told she must attend a new boarding school because Lucie has been given a full scholarship, she knows she has no other choice. But something about The Pythagorean Institute is off. The building looks like a prison, half of the students have horns like her brother, and the headmaster acts more like a cult leader than a principal. Even weirder are the dreams Frankie has been having since she moved into her dorm. Dreams that sometimes seem more like… memories.
Trapped in this new school with no way home, Frankie must get to the bottom of why the place is so unsettling. What she discovers brings her out of her brother’s shadow and gives her powers beyond belief, but being in the spotlight comes with its own set of troubles.
Felix Powell, Boy Dog by Erin Entrada Kelly. 160 pp. July 16. 
Felix Powell can talk to animals. Just ask his dog, Mary Puppins! They talk all the time. When a mysterious, magical spell turns Felix into a dog, Mary Puppins is amazed. But not as much as Felix! Will his tail ever stop wagging? Will he ever see in full color again? How will he deal with Gumbo, the snobby neighborhood cat? Most importantly, will he ever return to being a regular boy?
With short, high-interest chapters and illustrations by the author on almost every page, Felix Powell, Boy Dog celebrates curiosity, ingenuity, imagination, and friendship. For readers of Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Meg Medina, and Megan McDonald, and all kids who love animals.
Mind over Monsters by Betsy Uhrig. 302 pp. July 16.
FACE YOUR FEARS! That’s what the meditation app with the cheesy name De-stress-o-rama is telling Lena to do. She’s one of seven always-worrying middle schoolers trying out this new app to see if it can help students handle stress. But something is going wrong—very, very wrong.
The group’s fears are becoming all too real, first lurking and dangling, then chasing them around and threatening to swallow them whole. From a stubborn inky blob that is fear of the dark, to the queasy giant in sweaty underpants that is fear of public speaking, monsters are invading Cranberry Bog Middle School! Can Lena’s group of worriers figure out how to conquer their fears before the whole school is swarmed?
Bodega Cats: Picture Purrfect by Hilda Eunice Burgos. 144 pp. July 23. 
Miguel Rosado wants nothing more than to see and draw the world… or, at least anywhere beyond the four walls of his family’s bodega in Washington Heights. Too bad his mami and papi have him working long hours after school, hoping he’ll appreciate the sacrifices they’ve made to keep the store afloat. For street-savvy and newly-adopted cat Lolo, that sounds just perfect if it means he’s far, far away from the hungry, lonely nights he once spent in the freezing cold outdoors.
But when Miguel ditches his responsibilities and lies to his parents about joining art club, his dream of juggling it all comes crashing down. Lolo will have to decide if he’s willing to be there for his new friend Miguel through anything―even venturing back into the frightful outdoors and busy New York City sidewalks. Can they trust each other enough to take on this adventure together?
This Opening Sky by Kelly Hollman & Charlotte Watson Sherman. 160 pp. July 23.
The Civil War is over. Aurelia, the daughter of a destitute plantation owner, reels from the aftermath of a war that has torn her life apart. While Halle, a newly freed slave, looks for a family she fears is lost forever.
When fate brings the two girls together, they head north in a joint quest for freedom: one from human shackles, the other from pride. Differences and judgment soon give way to an unexpected friendship between two girls who have more in common than meets the eye, as do we all. Heartwarming and life-changing, This Opening Sky is a tale of hope proving that when love overcomes prejudice, we’re all set free together.
Grow Up, Luchy Zapata by Alexandra Alessandri. 256 pp. July 23. 
Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she’s muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they’re all together, Luchy can handle anything.
But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She’s making new, “cool” friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.
Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They’ve been BFFs their whole lives, and that can’t just disappear in a poof of glitter! But…what if Cami doesn’t even want to be friends anymore?
Hart & Souls by Lisa Schmid. 304 pp. July 23.
On Stix’s first day of sixth grade, his anxiety is off the charts. It doesn’t help when he spots a kid who reminds him of his old bully, Xander Mack. Soon after, he encounters two other students who take a keen interest in him. He quickly learns the spooky truth—the trio are lost souls in need of a solid. When the ghosts tell him they’ve been stuck in middle school for decades, it’s up to Stix to figure out how to help these not-so-normal new friends.
Solving this paranormal predicament will take some serious sleuthing and tremendous bravery. Can Stix solve this mystery and help these spirits move on before it’s too late?
Read an interview with the author here.
The Twisted Tower of Endless Torment (Book 2 of The Horrible Bag Series) by Rob Renzetti. 256 pp. July 23. 
Zenith Maelstrom knows he’s forgetting something, but he can’t quite remember what. He wakes up to notes in his handwriting with messages like, “Prepare for battle!” and his sister Apogee seems to grow angrier with him by the day. It’s not until he finds Apogee sneaking back into the horrible bag hidden away in their basement that all the dreadful details about GrahBhag resurface. The spiderlike Shlurps. The foul mouths that hunger for blood. Eldritch horrors around every corner.
Desperate to save Apogee from her attempt to right the wrongs of their last trip into the bag, Zenith must follow her into the bizarre world that has certainly not forgotten them. Between old foes set on vengeance like Raggedy Albert and terrifying new ones like the haunting Wraith, Zenith will have to put things right with his sister without falling into the clutches of those who would do him harm. For if he is caught, Eternity Tower awaits…
Find more spooky reads here.
The Creepening of Dogwood House by Eden Royce. 272 pp. July 30.
At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house—abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair—is his home too.
Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom never told him about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House—secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie…
Fowl Play by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb. 288 pp. July 30. 
Chloe Alvarez has never been to the reading of a last will and testament before, but she hopes it is just like the movies. Lies! Intrigue! But the reading of her Uncle Will’s will is pretty standard, until it announces his gift to Chloe: his African grey parrot, Charlie.
Uncle Will was Chloe’s best friend. Without him, she’s left with only her memories of them together and her new friend, Charlie. The parrot has a vast vocabulary, and soon Chloe hears her say something odd: It was murder, followed by homicide and cyanide. Chloe becomes convinced her uncle Will’s death was foul play.
With the help of her family, Chloe begins the investigation to uncover Uncle Will’s murderer. The suspects: His nosy neighbor. An ex-girlfriend. A rude landlord. A loan shark. But it all leads to more questions than answers. Did someone really kill Uncle Will? Or could this journey help reunite Chloe’s grieving family?
Kristin O’DOnnell Tubb is award winning author of Selling Hope.
The Night Librarian by Christopher Lincoln. 256 pp. July 30.
Twins Page and Turner know about the magic a library holds—they’ve been going to their beloved New York City public library for years, especially since their parents are always traveling for work.
But a secret mission involving their dad’s rare and valuable edition of Bram Stoker’s Dracula uncovers a world they’ve never known, featuring a mysterious Night Librarian, famous heroes (and villains) that have broken free from classic books, and an epic battle to save the library from total destruction.
And a few extra:
And much to the excitement of our boys, I recently had the opportunity to ask Royden some questions about his latest venture into the world of graphic novels. Our interview is below, and while I neglected to ask him for advice about our risky reading dilemma, his insights about the creative process are absolutely worth a look!
them. Photography was a really nice divergence from drawing and comics in my early 20’s. It’s such a refreshing art form. Photography led very naturally into videography. And strangely it’s all had an influence on my drawings. In RUST I would often think about the shutter speed or the aperture setting of the image I was working on. I also have a very encouraging and supportive wife that pushes me into exploring things.