New Releases

New Middle-Grade releases for June!

Welcome summer! New Releases for a new season. The school year is winding down. Drop the textbooks and pick up a fun read. This list gives you several choices to tuck into your beach bag. Just don’t get any sand in the pages!

Camp Sylvania by Julie Murphy. HarperCollins/Balzer and Bray, June 6,  288 pp.

Magnolia “Maggie” Hagen is determined to be in the spotlight . . . if she can just get over her stage fright. This summer she has big plans to finally attend Camp Rising Star, the famous performing arts camp she’s been dying to go to for three summers. But on the last day of school, her parents break the news: Maggie is being shipped off to fat camp. And not just any fat camp. Camp Sylvania. It’s run by world-famous wellness influencer Sylvia Sylvania, known for her soon-to-be-patented Scarlet Diet.

When Maggie arrives at camp, things are . . . weird. The humiliating weigh-ins and grueling workouts are expected. But campers are encouraged to donate blood! The cafeteria serves only red foods and the odd rules change every day. There are even rumors of a camp ghost.

Despite these horrors, Maggie makes friends and starts to enjoy herself. There are even tryouts for a camp production of The Music Man! This place might not be so bad . . . until campers go missing and other suspicious things happen—especially after dark. A camp ghost might be the least scary thing about this place.

Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic Novel by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong, June 6, 144 pp. June 2023 release

Garvey’s father has always wanted Garvey to be athletic, but Garvey is interested in astronomy, science fiction, reading—anything but sports. Feeling like a failure, he comforts himself with food. Garvey is kind, funny, smart, and a loyal friend. He is also overweight, teased by bullies, and lonely. When his only friend encourages him to join the school chorus, Garvey’s life changes. The chorus finds a new soloist in Garvey. And through the chorus, Garvey finds a way to accept himself and finally reach his distant father—by speaking the language of music instead of the language of sports.

If you enjoy astronomy, check out Where the Sky Lives in this New Releases list.

Greenwild by Pari Thomson. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, June 6, 384 pp.

June 2023 releaseEleven-year-old Daisy Thistledown is on the run. Her mother has been keeping big, glittering secrets, and now she has vanished. Daisy knows it’s up to her to find Ma, but someone—determined to stop her from discovering the truth—hunts her through London. When Daisy flees to safety through a mysterious hidden doorway, she can barely believe her eyes. She steps out of the city and into another world, Greenwild. Bursting with magic and full of amazing natural wonders, it’s almost too astonishing to be true. Not only is this land of green magic real, it also holds the key to finding Daisy’s mother.

But someone wants to destroy it.

Daisy must band together with a botanical genius, a boy who can talk with animals, and a cat to uncover the truth about who she really is. Only then can Daisy channel the power that will change her world and save Greenwild.

Half Moon Summer by Elaine Vickers. Peachtree, June 6, 288 pp. June 2023 release

Two seventh graders discover it takes more than grit and a good pair of shoes to run 13.1 miles. You’ve got to have a partner who refuses to let you quit.

Drew was never much of a runner. Until his dad’s unexpected diagnosis. Mia has nothing better to do. Until she realizes entering Half Moon Bay’s half-marathon could solve her family’s housing problems. And just like that they decide to spend their entire summer training to run 13.1 miles. Drew and Mia have very different reasons for running, but the two twelve-year-olds have one crucial thing in common besides sharing a birthday. Hope for the future. For their families. And for each other.

The Jules Verne Prophecy by Larry Schwarz and Iva-Marie Palmer. Christy Ottaviano Books, June 27, 368 pp.

June 2023 releaseOwen Godfrey spends his summer in Paris studying science fiction writer Jules Verne, the amazing mind behind Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days. When Owen and his new friends find a dusty copy of Verne’s collected works in an old bookshop, they’re intrigued by the hidden codes written inside. As one clue leads to another, the trio gets swept into an epic treasure hunt spanning the city—from the depths of the catacombs to the top of the Eiffel Tower—by way of a skateboard, boat, car, and even a hot air balloon!  But they quickly realize they’re not the only ones searching for the hidden riches. There are others who will stop at nothing to get to them first. This fast-paced larger-than-life adventure is filled with action, high stakes, and three friends dead set on cracking the Jules Verne mystery.

Click here to learn more about Jules Verne.

Nightmare Island by Shakirah Bourne. Scholastic Press, June 6, 304 pp.June 2023 release

Twelve-year-old Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmares — the haunting images of silver butterflies with flapping wings that drive away all sound, leaving suffocating silence in their wake. Her parents already favor her “perfect” younger brother, Peace, and she doesn’t want to be seen as the “problem” child. Instead, Serenity finds a productive way to channel her fears: creating a horror movie as scary as her nightmares.

When Peace becomes afraid of the dark and refuses to sleep alone, their parents take him away for “treatment” on Duppy Island. Serenity has a very bad feeling about the mysterious island and the facility’s creepy leader, Dr. Whisper. And when she sees a silver butterfly from her nightmares in the forbidden forest she realizes that something is seriously, dangerously wrong. But nothing could’ve prepared Serenity for the truth: the island is home to douens — faceless children with backward feet who are trapped in limbo between the world of the living and the land of the dead.

If horror is your thing, check out this book list.

Out There (A Graphic Novel) by Seaerra Miller. Little, Brown Ink, June 27, 232 pp.

June 2023 releaseJulia didn’t always believe in aliens. It was her father who convinced her otherwise. You see—Julia’s dad believes he was abducted by aliens. And ever since then, he’s been obsessed with the extraterrestrial beings. So when a festival commemorating the 75th anniversary of the infamous UFO crash in New Mexico rolls around, Julia turns down a dream vacation to Hawaii with her best friend, Sara, to join her dad for a weekend trip to Roswell, where he expects the aliens to make contact.

But amid the alien-themed goofiness of the festival, Julia finds she isn’t sure whether her father really did get abducted. His memories of alien interference start to sound more and more shaky, and with them, her faith in him. Will this weekend bring the two closer together or drive them apart?

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett. Clarion Books, June 27, 336 pp.

Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It helps her understand the world and her place in it. KemiJune 2023 release knows her odds of being born were one in 5.5 trillion, and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out. But everything she thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with Earth in four days, and if that happens, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.

But over the course of the four days, facts don’t feel true to Kemi anymore. The town they moved to is supposed to be “better for her family.” But it isn’t welcoming. And Amplus-68 is taking over her life. Other people go to school and eat at their favorite diners like nothing has changed. Is Kemi the only one who feels the world is ending? Kemi decides to put together a time capsule that will capture her family’s truth: her mother’s creativity, her inquisitive little sister, and how much Kemi’s whole world revolves around her father. But no time capsule can change the fact that Kemi must face the most inevitable and hardest part of life: saying goodbye.

There are more fun “math” novels at this link.

A Season Most Unfair by J. Anderson Coats. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 20, 288 pp.

June 2023 releaseScholastica, or “Tick,” has grown up helping her father make candles in his shop. The experience has its ups and downs. Constantly smelling like tallow makes it hard for Tick to keep friends, but stray cats love her. Still, she delights in the work and the fact she can help Papa. Every summer, they use the long daylight hours to make as many candles as possible to sell at the Stourbridge Fair, the highlight of their year. And this year Tick will make the special Agnus Dei charms that keep travelers safe.

Because she’s a girl, Tick can never be a true apprentice in the trade, but if she gets to do the job anyway, does it matter what she’s called? But one morning she finds a boy sitting at her workbench. He’s the new apprentice and now Tick is forbidden from helping with the candle-making. Tick isn’t about to stand for this unfairness. She’s going prove to Papa that she deserves to be his apprentice.

The Sinister Secrets of Singe by Sean Ferrell, illus. by Graham Carter. Pixel and Ink, June 6, 384 pp.June 2023 release

Eleven-year-old Noah has grown up in a mysterious house—it grows larger every night—with only his mother and a robot boy for company. He spends his days building robotic devices for the city of Liberty, a place he’s not allowed to visit—not since his father almost destroyed it.

When Noah discovers a message hidden in one of his father’s inventions, he decides to run away and find him. He’s sure that by his father’s side, he’ll finally get the recognition he deserves. With the help of a band of smugglers including second-in-command Winona, he sails to Singe to rescue his father, who he’s certain is as misunderstood as he is. But the man he finds is even more of a monster than his mechanical creations. And when Noah returns home, he accidentally leads his father’s robot army to Liberty once more. Now, it’s up to Noah to rescue the city—but to do so, he’ll have to make a terrible choice.

The Umbrella Maker’s Son by Katrina Leno. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, June 27, 384 pp.

June 2023 releaseOscar Buckle lives in a city where it’s always raining. And when it isn’t raining, it’s about to rain, so the townspeople have learned to embrace it. Oscar’s father is an umbrella maker—appropriate for a place where you can’t leave home without one!—but while Buckle Umbrellas are strong, reliable, and high quality, they’re expensive. Because of this, people are buying from the competitor instead, which is threatening Oscar’s family’s business.

To make ends meet, Oscar must quit school and work in his father’s shop as an apprentice. But when extraordinary events start to occur in their rainy town, Oscar becomes suspicious of their competitor. Desperate to save his town, Oscar must enlist the help of his best friend, Saige, to discover if there’s more than nature involved in their city’s weather.

You can be an umbrella maker, too.

When Giants Burn by Beth Vrabel. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, June 13, 256 pp.

Gerty has a secret: She’s building an airplane. She wants to join the Civil Air Patrol, where pilots as young as twelve help with disasterJune 2023 release relief—but she knows her parents would be outraged. They’re survivalists who raised her to be independent and only enrolled her in middle school to show her why they’ve decided to opt out of society. Still, Gerty is determined to protect her beloved Pando, a nearby ancient aspen forest.

Hayes has his own problems, but they aren’t the kind that can be hidden under a tarp. His mom is back from prison, but he’s not sure he’ll ever stop missing the mom she used to be. One thing is certain: He’s never going to be like her. He follows the rules. But Gerty is the only person at school Hayes doesn’t hate, so after she tells him about her hidden plane, he helps her finish it.

When wildfires break out, Gerty wants to fly to Pando and make sure it’s safe, and Hayes is tempted to escape everything on the ground. But the duo will soon realize that they can’t escape their roots and that holding onto those connections might be the real key to survival.

Is it a rainy day? Looking for more to read on a hot sweltery day? Here’s a bookshelf of other June releases.

June 2023 releases

 

New MG Releases for May!

All kinds of great MG books are sprouting up this May! And we even have some new books from Mixed-Up Files blog contributor Susan Koehler. Grab one of these new books and let your imagination grow!


Black Boy Joy: 17 Stories Celebrating Black Boyhood, Edited by Kwame Mbalia

Celebrate the joys of Black boyhood with stories from seventeen bestselling, critically acclaimed Black authors—including Jason Reynolds, Jerry Craft, and Kwame Mbalia.

Black boy joy is…

Picking out a fresh first-day-of-school outfit.
Saving the universe in an epic intergalactic race.
Finding your voice—and your rhymes—during tough times.
Flying on your skateboard like nobody’s watching.

And more! From seventeen acclaimed Black male and non-binary authors comes a vibrant collection of stories, comics, and poems about the power of joy and the wonders of Black boyhood. Contributors include: B. B. Alston, Dean Atta, P. Djèlí Clark, Jay Coles, Jerry Craft, Lamar Giles, Don P. Hooper, George M. Johnson, Varian Johnson, Kwame Mbalia, Suyi Davies Okungbowa, Tochi Onyebuchi, Julian Randall, Jason Reynolds, Justin Reynolds, DaVaun Sanders, and Julian Winters


Cursed and Innocent Blood by Susan Koehler

Cursed: Eli Hancock is all about facts and scoffs at his friend Freddy’s superstitions. But after the pair find a gold coin in a sinkhole at Broken Brand Ranch and good things start happening to Eli, he thinks it might be lucky. He returns to the ranch and takes an old pocket watch. What’s a little more luck? Then, the coin begins to glow and his dreams turn haunted. Are the coin and pocket watch he found actually cursed?

Innocent Blood: Life has been tough since Rosa Vieja’s dad went missing. On top of the rumors that her dad walked out, the sophomore is haunted by a strange voice coming from the mist. The voice becomes more persistent after a classmate—the football team’s wide receiver and Rosa’s not-so-secret crush—disappears. She finds herself drawn toward the mysterious voice. Does the voice have anything to do with the nearby sinkholes? What does it mean when it says “innocent blood,” and what will make it stop?

 


Camp QUILTBAG by Nicole Melleby

Twelve-year-old Abigail (she/her/hers) is so excited to spend her summer at Camp QUILTBAG, an inclusive retreat for queer and trans kids. She can’t wait to find a community where she can be herself—and, she hopes, admit her crush on that one hot older actress to kids who will understand.

Thirteen-year-old Kai (e/em/eir) is not as excited. E just wants to hang out with eir best friend and eir parkour team. And e definitely does not want to think about the incident that left eir arm in a sling—the incident that also made Kai’s parents determined to send em somewhere e can feel like emself.

After a bit of a rocky start at camp, Abigail and Kai make a pact: If Kai helps Abigail make new friends, Abigail will help Kai’s cabin with the all-camp competition. But as they navigate a summer full of crushes, queer identity exploration, and more, they learn what’s really important. Camp QUILTBAG is a heartfelt story full of the joy that comes from being and loving yourself.

 

 


Singing with Elephants by Margarita Engle

Cuban-born eleven-year-old Oriol lives in Santa Barbara, California, where she struggles to belong. But most of the time that’s okay, because she enjoys helping her parents care for the many injured animals at their veterinary clinic.

Then Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature moves to town, and aspiring writer Oriol finds herself opening up. And when she discovers that someone is threatening the life of a baby elephant at her parents’ clinic, Oriol is determined to take action. As she begins to create a world of words for herself, Oriol learns it will take courage and strength to do what she thinks is right—even if it means keeping secrets from those she loves.

A beautifully written, lyrically told story about the power of friendship—between generations, between humans and animals—and the potential of poetry to inspire action, justice, and acceptance.

 


Lost in Taiwan by Mark Crilley

THIS WASN’T PAUL’S IDEA.

The last thing he’s interested in is exploring new countries or experiencing anything that might be described as “cultural enrichment.” But like it or not, he’s stuck with his brother, Theo, for two weeks in Taiwan, a place that—while fascinating to Theo—holds no interest to Paul at all.

While on a short trip to a local electronics store, Paul becomes hopelessly lost in Taiwan’s twisting, narrow streets, and he has no choice but to explore this new environment in his quest to find his way back to Theo’s apartment.

In an unfamiliar place with no friends—and no GPS!—there’s no telling what adventures he could happen upon. And who knows? Maybe it turns out he has friends in Taiwan, after all.


The Samosa Rebellion by Shanthi Sekaran

Before his grandmother moved from India to the island of Mariposa, Muki Krishnan’s life was good. But now? He has to share his bedroom with Paati, his grandmother, who snores like a bulldozer and wakes him up at dawn to do yoga.

Paati’s arrival coincides with even bigger changes in Mariposa. The president divides citizens into Butterflies—families who have lived in Mariposa for three generations—and Moths, who, like Muki’s family, are more recent immigrants. The changes are small at first. But then Muki and his friends find a camp being built to imprison Moths before sending them away. Soon after, his Paati is captured and taken there.

While devising Paati’s escape, Muki discovers that a secret rebellion is underway, and as he digs deeper, he realizes that rescuing Paati will be the fight of his life.

 


Condor Comeback by Sy Montgomery

In April of 1987 the last wild California condor was captured and taken to live in captivity like the other twenty-six remaining birds of its kind. Many thought that the days were over of of this remarkable, distinguished bird that had roamed the skies of North and Central American for thousands of years.

Sy Montgomery employs her skill for on-the-ground reporting, shrewd observation, and stunning narrative prose to detail the efforts of scientists, volunteers, and everyday citizens to get California condors back in the wild. In particular, Montgomery profiles employees at the Santa Barbara Zoo who have worked tirelessly to raise abandoned chicks, nurse sick birds back to health, and conduct research that can support legislation to ban what is probably the largest threat to the existence of the wild condor: lead bullets. In turns affectionate and frustrated, hopeful and heartbreaking, Montgomery’s powerful prose does justice to these ancient, sociable, and elegant creatures.

Complete with world-class, full-color photography and helpful sidebars that provide details such as the history of the bird’s fight back from extinction, the dangers of lead poisoning, and the relationship of condors to the Chumash nation, Condor Comeback is an inspiring story of groundbreaking science, perseverance, and cooperation.


Room to Dream by Kelly Yang

After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family — to China! A total dream come true! Mia can’t wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China’s going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like . . .

1. Lupe’s taking classes at the high school! And Mia’s own plans to be a big writer are . . . stuck.

2. Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it.

3. New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing.

Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has . . . room to dream!


Just a few of the many MG books coming out in May . . . happy reading!

New April Books for Middle-Grade Readers!

cover art Indigo and Ida

Middle-grade readers will be showered with many new books being released in April.

A middle-grade debut from Angie Thomas. Graphic novels.  A new adventure story by author and illustrator Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret). PLUS, an MG debut from MUF’s very own Heather Murphy Capps: Indigo and Ida! This month’s lineup of new releases for middle-grade readers will help beat the blahs when those April Showers arrive. Enjoy!

I’m Still Here (Adapted for Young Readers): Loving Myself in a World Not Made for Me, written by

Austin Channing Brown, Convergent Books, April  4

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with race in America came at age seven, when she discovered that her parents had named her Austin to trick future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Channing Brown writes, “I had to learn what it means to love Blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.

In this adaptation of her bestselling and critically acclaimed memoir, she explores how America’s racial dynamics show up in the classrooms, friend groups, and conversations kids inhabit every day. “I love being a Black girl,” she writes. “And sometimes being a Black girl in America is hard.” Covering topics like representation, self-love, allyship, and being Black in public, Brown helps kids nourish their identity and make sense of how they fit into the world.

For students navigating a time of racial hostility, and for the adults and educators who care for them, I’m Still Here is an empowering look at the experiences of young Black kids, inviting the reader to confront apathy, find their voice, and discover how Blackness–if we let it–can save us all.

School Trip: A Graphic Novel, written by Jerry Craft, Quill Tree Books, April 4

New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award! In this full-color contemporary graphic novel, the gang from Riverdale Academy Day is heading to Paris, for an international education like you’ve never seen before …

Jordan, Drew, Liam, Maury, and their friends from Riverdale Academy Day School are heading out on a school trip to Paris. As an aspiring artist himself, Jordan can’t wait to see all the amazing art in the famous City of Lights.

But when their trusted faculty guides are replaced at the last minute, the school trip takes an unexpected–and hilarious–turn. Especially when trying to find their way around a foreign city ends up being almost as tricky as navigating the same friendships, fears, and differences that they struggle with at home.

Will Jordan and his friends embrace being exposed to a new language, unfamiliar food, and a different culture? Or will they all end up feeling like the “new kid”?

Indigo and Ida, written by Heather Murphy Capps, Published by Carolrhoda Books/Lerner, April 4

When eighth grader and aspiring journalist Indigo breaks an important story, exposing an unfair school policy, she’s suddenly popular for the first time. 

The friends who’ve recently drifted away from her want to hang out again. Then Indigo notices that the school’s disciplinary policies seem to be enforced especially harshly with students of color, like her. She wants to keep investigating, but her friends insist she’s imagining things.

Meanwhile, Indigo stumbles upon a book by Black journalist and activist Ida B. Wells―with private letters written by Ida tucked inside. As she reads about Ida’s lifelong battle against racism, Indigo realizes she must choose between keeping quiet and fighting for justice.

 

Good Different written by Meg Eden Kuyatt, Published by Scholastic, April 4

An extraordinary novel-in-verse for fans of Starfish and A Kind of Spark about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference.

Selah knows her rules for being normal.

She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it.

Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.

Selah’s friends pull away from her, her school threatens expulsion, and her comfortable, familiar world starts to crumble.

But as Selah starts to figure out more about who she is, she comes to understand that different doesn’t mean damaged. Can she get her school to understand that, too, before it’s too late?

Spy Camp the Graphic Novel, written by Stuart Gibbs, Illustrated by Anjan Sarkar

The second book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series continues in graphic novel form as aspiring spy Ben Ripley must spend his summer in top-secret training–and is thrown back into danger.

Ben Ripley is a middle schooler whose school is not exactly average–he’s spent the last year training to be a top-level spy and dodging all sorts of associated danger. So now that summer’s finally here, Ben would like to have some fun and relax. But that’s not going to happen during required spy survival training at a rustic wilderness camp, where SPYDER, an enemy spy organization, has infiltrated the spies’ ranks. Can Ben root out the enemy before it takes him out–for good?

Warriors: A Starless Clan #3 Shadow, written by Erin Hunter, HarperCollins, April 4

A crossroads for the Clans–and the warrior code!

The warrior code now allows a cat to formally change Clans, but ShadowClan’s newest arrival feels increasingly unwelcome–and though ShadowClan warrior Sunbeam thinks every cat deserves a chance, one of the loudest voices of opposition is her own mother. Meanwhile medicine cat apprentice Frostpaw scrambles to help RiverClan stay afloat under the watchful eye of a second Tigerstar, and the shadow of growing conflict looms over them all…

This seventh epic Warriors series is full of action, intrigue, and adventure–a perfect introduction for new readers and for long-time fans eager to discover what unfolds after the events of The Broken Code.

Big Tree, written by Brian Selznick, Scholastic, April 4

“Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me.”

A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world–filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!–and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined!

Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick’s most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family!

Nic Blake and The Remarkables, written by Angie Thomas, Published by Balzer & Bray/Harperteen, April 4

Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.

It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool–like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much–like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of…to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.

The Little Mermaid: Guide to Merfolkwritten by Erin Geron, Disney Press, April 11

Learn everything you ever wanted to know about mermaids and more from Disney’s new live action film The Little Mermaid inside this gorgeous guidebook!

From Prince Eric’s royal library, this beautiful guidebook deep dives into the legends and lore surrounding the mermaids and their world from The Little Mermaid live action film. Learn more about the Seven Seas and the mermaid princesses who rule them, discover stories of sirens and sea witches, and come to know the legend of the coral moon. With gorgeous full-color illustrations throughout, this book is perfect for any reader who can’t get enough of mermaids.

Creatures of the In Between, written by Cindy Lin, HarperCollins Publishers, April 11

Princess Mononoke meets How to Train Your Dragon in this magical middle grade adventure from Cindy Lin, author of The Twelve, featuring a blend of East and Southeast Asian folklore and mythical creatures, and starring a boy with a hero’s destiny.

Prince Jin is running out of time.

He must find a monster companion before his thirteenth birthday or lose the throne completely.

And that means travelling to the only place where monsters still live: the legendary, dangerous Whisper Island.

But untold perils await Jin there. The magical creatures he seeks are not so easily swayed, and an even greater threat looms on the horizon–one that could threaten everything Jin hopes to achieve.

Fireborn: Phoenix and the Frost Palace, written by Aisling Fowler, HarperCollins, April 18

Twelve journeys to new lands and embarks on even more perilous adventures in this sequel to Fireborn, which B.B. Alston praised as “the best kind of children’s fantasy story.”

Twelve is now a full-fledged hunter, with a new name worthy of her fiery powers: Phoenix.

But with her new powers come new responsibilities. When a plea for help arrives from the long-lost witch clan, it’s clear Phoenix’s newfound fire is their only hope. Phoenix and her friends must travel to Icegaard, the witches’ home, to combat the mysterious darkness there—one that grows stronger each day.

But deep within this darkness lies an enemy that could destroy Ember entirely . . . unless Phoenix can find the strength to stop it.

A thrilling adventure and poignant journey all in one, this second novel in the Fireborn trilogy—perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and the His Dark Materials series—will take Phoenix and her readers to enchanting new worlds, where unexpected friends, untold dangers, and a treacherous new enemy await.