So many BOOKS, so little time. That’s an appropriate mantra for New Releases this month. Below you’ll find a large and varied collection of novels to look for this July.
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson. July 1. 272 pp. 
Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She’s spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha’s Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly.
Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable — murder?
Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery. But her investigation leads her to uncover shocking secrets that could change her own life as she knows it … if she survives.
The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks by Katie Kirby. July 1. 432 pp.
A Warning to Future Readers:
Hi, I’m Lottie Brooks! I’m 11 (and 3/4) years old and this is my diary. Before you read, though, you should be warned. This book is going to include mortifying moments like bra shopping with your mom and your seven-year-old brother, showing up to class with cereal in your hair, watching your dad sing horrible karaoke, standing awkwardly at your first school dance, and so many more humiliating occurrences.
Turn away now if you’d rather not read about such excruciating experiences. It would be entirely understandable and highly recommended!
Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner. July 1. 256 pp. 
The piano is free, but fame has a price.
On the sleepy streets of Cascade Cove, lonely Margot knows that when she stumbles across a discarded synthesizer with a “not haunted” sign, she’s discovered the key to realizing her dreams. Determined to become a real songwriter and earn her absent father’s admiration, Margot dives headfirst into trying to gain followers and fans online. But her musical journey takes an unexpected turn when she realizes the (not haunted) piano is very much haunted.
Enter Vision, teen pop sensation of 1979 whose untimely demise left her spirit intertwined with the keys of her synthesizer. Though Margot and Vision couldn’t be more different, the girls form an unlikely bond fueled by their shared passion for music. But as Margot’s obsession with fame and recognition grows, she comes dangerously close to losing what she loves about music and herself.
Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina. July 1. 256 pp.
In the deepest recesses of the ocean, Graciela—once an ordinary girl—now makes sea glass and assists her friend, Amina, in welcoming newly awakened sea ghosts from their death sleep. Though Graciela’s spirit is young, she has lived at the bottom of the ocean for more than a hundred years.
Meanwhile, in the mortal world on land, twelve-year-old Jorge Leon works in his family’s forge. He’s heard of the supernatural spirits living beneath the ocean’s waves—tales that do nothing to quell his fear of the water. But when Jorge discovers a hand-wrought harpoon with the power to spear a sea ghost, he knows he must destroy it any way he can.
When the harpoon is accidentally reunited with its vengeful creator, unlikely allies Graciela and Jorge have no choice but to work together to keep evil spirits from wreaking havoc on both the living and the dead.
Mooncussers by Eli Brown. July 1. 288 pp. 
Despite Clover’s victory over the destructive Seamstress, war continues to rage between the fledgling Unified States and Napoléon Bonaparte.
Clover and Nessa, a former snake-oil salesgirl, join the Women’s Service League expecting to dole out soup and socks to invalids and orphans. Instead, under the direction of the wealthy and mysterious Miss Yamada, they’re tasked with rooting out the last of the pestilential Vermin—vicious creatures animated by magic— who terrorize the countryside. But when a new kind of monster, a sharp-toothed harehound with bloodshot eyes, attacks the group, they discover a much greater threat — the grotesque Underking and his army of twisted creatures. With the help of several strange allies, Clover and Nessa must defeat the Underking before he conquers the whole land.
Peachaloo in Bloom by Chris Raschka. July 1. 304 pp.
Two very major things have just happened to Peachaloo Piccolozampa. First, she discovered a plot to ruin her favorite swimming hole and replace it with a golf course. Second, a wasp sting has given her the superpower to understand the truth behind what people say.
Peachaloo knows a golf course is the wrong destiny for the grounds of the Ajax Mansion, a former monastery whose jump-roping denizens proclaimed it freely open to all. But the mansion’s new owner has other ideas and buried the evidence of the Brothers and Sisters’ true wishes. Now it’s up to Peachaloo to use her superpower to prove this villain a liar, star in the annual pageant, and somehow get her town back the way it’s supposed to be.
Snoop by Gordon Korman. July 1. 208 pp. 
If Carter hadn’t been checking his phone, he might have seen his brother coming down the ski slopes in his direction. And if Carter had seen his brother in time and avoided the crash, he might not have two broken legs right now.
Oops. Now Carter’s stuck at home for weeks, with both his legs in casts. Bored, he starts checking out the live feeds from police cams around his town. Before he knows it, he’s obsessed — watching his classmates when they don’t know he’s looking and discovering some other VERY STRANGE things going on that no one else notices.
But what happens when Carter is found out … and the people he’s watching know where he lives?
The Dog Who Made It Better by Katherin Nolte. July 8. 240 pp.
Dr. Blob has the best life a dog could ask for. He eats and he sleeps and he plays. He loves his family and they love him back. Life is pretty perfect.
Then the Very Bad Thing happens. Suddenly life doesn’t seem so perfect and Dr. Blob is more afraid than he ever remembers being. How can he help his family get past the tragedy when what’s hurting them can’t be bitten or growled at? To make matters worse, there’s a new pet in the house and a growing threat outside the house in the form of an animal-hating neighbor with a sinister plan. Will Dr. Blob be able to protect all he loves and save his family from grief?
An Encantadora’s Guide to Monstros and Magic by Sarah J. Mendonca. July 8. 368 pp. 
Rosa Coelho spent her whole life hunting monstros, wandering the city streets with her best friend Tiago, and dreaming of a better life for herself and her grandmother. And in a society that favors the rich and educated, even the most basic books that Rosa’s family needs to trap monstrous come with a hefty price.
So when the powerful Ministério dos Monstros threatens her family’s struggling Encantadora shop, Rosa only has two weeks to scrape together the money for their debts. It seems like an impossible task…until Rosa tricks her way onto an infamous thief crew as their magical safecracker.
Thrust into the world of high class luxury and betrayal, Rosa enters into a scheme with the highest possible stakes: stealing from the Ministry itself. She must learn to trust her magical abilities and her crew—for if the heist goes wrong, everything she loves is forfeit.
The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class: Olive Little Gets Crafty by Linda Urban. July 8. 128 pp.
Olive Little loves making things, but she’s still working out how to make friends. After she spies some other kids checking out crafting books from the school library, Olive gets a brilliant idea — she’ll start a crafting club!
With a super-extraordinarily crafty invitation, everyone will surely want to join Olive’s new club. And she knows just the invitation to make. All she needs is a perfect poem, some colorful confetti, a dozen eggshells, and some crafty know-how. Easy peasy!
Until Olive discovers a local skunk has made its home in her family’s backyard henhouse! Can she craft a solution to the stinky situation in time to save her club?
The Thread of Destiny by Aimee Lim. July 8. 288 pp. 
Evie Mei Huang has literally been to hell and back alongside her friend Kevin. And while the trip to Dìyù, the Chinese underworld, was a grueling journey filled with endless horrors, nothing compares to the fact that she was unable to bring her mother back. It’s now her responsibility to assume the role her mother once held: head of the Weavers Guild, But spinning people’s fates is easier said than done, and Evie finds herself buried in Guild duties while trying to maintain a strained relationship with her best friend.
What could make a twelve-year-old’s life even more complicated? Escaped monsters from the underworld that broke through when she returned to Earth. A mysterious yellow fog that seems to be turning their city upside down, hinting at an approaching massive force they aren’t prepared to fight. Not to mention the looming threat of the man who sent her mom to the underworld in the first place (who’s also her aunt’s fiancé). Can’t a girl catch a break?
Way Off Base (The Area 51 Files) by Julie Buxbaum. July 8. 256 pp.
For the first time since Sky arrived at Area 51, things seem to be under control. No bunker hideouts, no incoming space toilets, and no kidnappings of beloved relatives. In fact, everyone is in a celebratory mood because a special government visitor is coming to Area 51!
But on the morning of the visit, a UFO goes missing from the science lab. And then a mysterious whistleblower goes to the media saying they have evidence of a UFO landing! Did someone steal the UFO in order to reveal it to the whole wide world? Sky and her friends have less than a week to solve the mystery of the missing UFO, or all of Area 51’s secrets will be at risk. Guess things aren’t so calm after all!
Jazzy the Witch in Broom Doom by Jessixa Bagley. July 15. 232 pp. 
In her town full of witches, Jazzy’s always been a little bit different. She’s not excited about magic. She forgets the steps to spells. And even though her parents run the town’s broom shop, she doesn’t want to fly.
Then, one day, she discovers what she was born to do — cycling! Now she just has to find a way to get a bicycle and, of course, learn how to ride it. But will her new passion come between her and her best friend? And possibly get her in big trouble?
Another by Paul Tremblay. July 22. 256 pp.
When Casey Wilson’s parents tell him that his friend is coming for a sleepover, he has no idea who that might be. Ever since the Zoom Incident, everyone treats him like a pariah, and his tics are worse than ever.
Then Morel appears and he’s not like any friend Casey has ever met. His skin is like clay, and he doesn’t speak. But Casey’s parents are charmed by the strange kid. Plus, it’s nice to have someone to talk to besides his sister, Ally, who’s away at college.
But his normally loving parents grow distant from Casey as they gush and fawn over Morel. Casey knows something is wrong but with no end in sight to the sleepover, he’s exhausted. And in the dark, out of the corner of his eye, Morel doesn’t look like a kid at all.
The Library of Curiosities by Jenny Lundquist. July 22. 256 pp. 
After being expelled from boarding school—again—Rowan isn’t sure what to expect upon arriving at Fitzgerald Manor. The estate is opulent. Lush. Grand. Mind-boggling. And at the heart of it all is her grandfather, Cillian Fitzgerald, and his pride and joy — the Library of Curiosities.
The Library of Curiosities is the best of the best, because it contains a vast trove of magical objects that lucky patrons can borrow to fix their everyday problems. Stuck on that language arts assignment? Try writing it on the enchanted typewriter and see if that doesn’t get the words flowing. Hoping to land the lead in the school musical? Check out a wishing sock. It doesn’t take long for Rowan to realize that in this wondrous place, her own heart-wrenching problems might actually be solved for the first time in her life.
The trouble is … library curiosities have started going missing, and suspicion is falling squarely on Rowan’s shoulders. And, Cillian’s dangerous archenemy, the vengeful Silverjack, has Rowan in his sights, too. Plus, there’s the ongoing matter of the Everhart curiosity (which hasn’t been seen in years) but if found could help Rowan unsnarl her family’s strange, tangled history.
To clear her name, to avoid capture, and to locate the Everhart, Rowan will have to fight forces that threaten everything she now holds dear.
The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter by Barbara Carroll Roberts. July 22. 240 pp.
If Bunny Baxter were an insect, she’d have so many ways to slip through seventh grade unnoticed. But she’s tall instead of tiny, has flaming red Medusa hair instead of camouflage, and she suffers from social anxiety, which makes it hard to be part of a swarm. Worst of all, she has to switch to a new middle school away from her best friend who she could always hide behind when her anxiety got the best of her.
The first day at E.D. Britt Middle School does not go well. Bunny trips on the steps, falls into the cutest boy in the school, and causes a kid domino pile-up. At lunch, she unintentionally causes an uproar in the cafeteria, which lands her and another girl in the principal’s office. Bunny decides there is only one option — to get expelled so she can transfer back to the school her best friend attends.
Bunny soon discovers that it’s easy to get in trouble, but not so easy to live with a reputation as a troublemaker. And even more confusing, when it looks like her plan to get expelled might work, she’s no longer sure what to do.
The Scott Fenwick Diaries: A Novel by Kristin Nilsen. July 22. 272 pp. 
Is Millie ready to graduate from posters on the wall to a living, breathing boy who sits next to her in Social Studies? By herself, absolutely not. But with a little help from her friends—maybe! Feeling comically unprepared for this next phase of middle school, Millie calls on an adorkable cast of characters for instructions and support: Shauna, her wise bestie who uses her Magic 8 Ball for advice; her two cranky grandmas who call cute boys “foxes”; Pringles, her beloved bulldog; and her bunny-loving neighbor, Tibbs, who dedicates herself to getting Millie an invite to the bar mitzvah of her dreams.
But when a secret game of Truth or Dare at the bar mitzvah leads to her ultimate fantasy—Millie and Scott swaying together on the dance floor—the moment is ruined in humiliating fashion. Millie doubts she’ll ever be ready for real-world middle school love after all.
The Blossoming Summer by Anna Rose Johnson. July 29. 288 pp.
Life in England is all Rosemary knows, but as WWII changes the world, no one’s life is left unscathed. Suddenly, she’s sent away to escape the devastation of London. Her grandmother’s house on Lake Superior is safe, but unfamiliar, especially as she discovers her parents have kept a tremendous secret.
Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe—a group of Indigenous peoples in the Great Lakes region—and no one is supposed to know.
Far from home but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her family, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with her grandmother and a local boy whose love of gardening helps her see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought.
The Haunting of Bellington Cottage by Laura Parnum. July 29. 272 pp. 
The last time Iris’s and Violet’s families went on a trip together, the girls turned their rental home into an epic haunted house. Now Iris has brought all her spookiest supplies to the cottage they’re calling home for the next week, ready to re-create the magic they shared. But in the years since, Vee (don’t call her Violet) has become closed off and short-tempered and wants nothing to do with anyone, especially not her mom’s new boyfriend.
Vee’s bad mood casts a cloud over the cottage. Strange things start happening that make it seem like the house itself is angry, too. Doors slamming. Tidy rooms turning into complete messes in seconds. The sound of pacing footsteps long after everyone’s gone to sleep. Iris and Vee soon discover that the cottage has a secret history and that there’s no need to stage a haunted house after all . . . because they’re already in one.
Here are even more new titles for the month of July.
Exactly one year ago today, my greatest author achievement was unlocked as SKYLIGHT, my debut middle grade fantasy novel, became officially published. I had high hopes and to be completely honest, the moment felt extremely surreal. Truthfully speaking, even a year later, it still feels like a dream to say, “I’m a published author!”
Casey, can you tell us a little about why you chose to write a graphic novel and if you worked together to create the story and illustrations?
