Back to school means back to great stories! Here’s a variety of books coming out in September—from mysteries to magical worlds to sci-fi—to pique your imagination and curiosity this school year.
BAD THINGS HAPPENED HERE by Moniza Hossain. 208 pp. (Sept 1)
Lonely twelve-year-old Sam Wells has never known his mother. So when his maternal grandmother calls with a plane ticket to Singapore, he hopes the trip will give him the answers he’s been looking for. But her imposing family home isn’t what he expected. Grandmother is a stranger. Spiders crawl over impassable mounds of hoarded mementos. And, the house is such a labyrinth that Sam can barely make his way through the boxes, let alone find out anything about his mom.
Until he meets his mom’s ghost, frozen in time at age twelve.
Sam learns that children went missing decades earlier and the closer he gets to the terrifying truth about what happened to his mom, the more Sam is in danger of becoming the next ghost. To save himself, he’ll have to untangle the mystery. But if he does, he might lose his mom forever.
THE CURSE OF THE SILVAN OAKS by Georgia Channon. 272 pp. (Sept 1) 
All is not well in the kingdom of Silvanland. An ancient feud between Queen Titania and King Oberon started a merciless war, and a deadly curse festers in the sacred woods.
When Oberon’s ruthless soldiers kidnap young Prince Cory, the Silvan forces think all hope is lost. But fate has other plans. In the mortal world, hidden away in an old oak tree, there lies a portal. Through this portal, a girl named Oli will soon fall. Her arrival in the magical land will change everything.
Thrown together unexpectedly, Oli and Cory find the fate of the Silvan kingdom now rests on their shoulders. Together they must escape the clutches of the wicked Queen Hellebore and travel to the very ends of the magical kingdom on a dangerous quest. They will face ruthless monsters and old wicked magic, but will find help in the strangest of places.
HIDING FROM THE DARK: A STAR WARS HORROR NOVEL by Kiersten White. 240 pp. (Sept 1)
Pursued by Imperial forces, a young girl named Bia must flee her home planet of Coruscant and find her mother. But constantly, a figure in black more horrifying than anything she’s encountered in the past hunts her. Can Bia escape—and what does she have that the Empire wants so badly?
Horror readers and Star Wars fans of all ages will thrill to this fright-filled middle grade novel.
MERRY CHRISTMESS by Tegan Quin. 288 pp. (Sept 1) 
Stevie and Jordan Clementine just want to enjoy the Christmas holiday with both of their parents—something they haven’t done since they were too young to remember. Instead, the sisters find themselves spending this season like they always do … hopping between their uncle’s motel where they stay with their Grinchy rock star dad while he’s in town, and home where their frazzled mom is busy running the local community center during its hectic winter season.
But when their dad arrives with news that could wreck the halls, mischief-minded Stevie ropes her reluctant sister into a plan to save the holiday — get their parents under one roof for a movie-worthy Christmas. For their scheme to work, the girls will need plenty of holly-and-jolly cheer … and enough messy white lies to land someone on Santa’s naughty list. Will Stevie and Jordan find a way to be honest with their parents (and themselves) before everything is Scrooged?
THE NEVERFEAR by Katherine Rundell. 336 pp. (Sept 1)
It’s the Midsummer Feast on the Islet of Glimt, and on this magical moonlit evening, the word on everyone’s lips is bandits. Reports of masked men burning villages have spread throughout the Archipelago, but worse is still to come. Christopher and Anya get ambushed and one of the people closest to them is put in terrible danger.
Now Christopher must face fearsome giants, win a daring race, and outwit deadly enemies, all to save the people he loves most.
QUETZAL’S LABYRINTH by Karla Arenas Valenti. 352 pp. (Sept 1) 
Diego never believed his abuelo’s stories of gods and monsters and the ancient magic woven through Mexican history. Not until he finds himself sprinting down a dark hallway, chased by a beast straight out of lore—its fur as coarse as iron with five human hands clawing furiously at his throat.
Turns out, the myths are real, and their magic is erupting into Diego’s world. As shadowy creatures besiege his apartment, Abuelo’s dog, Cholo, fixes Diego with a human gaze and speaks. Cholo reveals they’ve been unwittingly ensnared in a centuries-old rivalry between the great God Quetzal and his ruthless brother Tezca. Tezca is rising, summoning an army of minions, while Quetzal, the only one strong enough to stop him, has vanished.
Humanity hangs by a thread, and Diego has no choice but to enter Quetzal’s labyrinth—accompanied by Cholo, his friend Violeta, a sassy rubber chicken, and a bloodthirsty kitten—to face a power older than civilization itself. The stakes are legendary, but maybe, deep down, Diego is too.
Read an interview with this author here.
SCRAP by Guy Bass. 320 pp. (Sept 1)
When you build a new world, you always send in the robots first. You just don’t expect them to take over. After the robots revolt on Somewhere 513, humanity itself is outlawed. Only the mighty K1-NG remains loyal to the core.
But he is one robot against a thousand.
Defeated and stripped of his magnificent case, K1-NG consigns himself to living as junk among the Piles. But when the last two humans on the planet ask for his help to get off-world, the robot must confront his past.
Does he have what it takes to be the hero he once was? Or is he just “Scrap.”
BRAVEPAW AND THE HEARTSTONE OF ALLURIA by L.M. Wilkinson. 191 pp. (Sept 3) 
When the sky fills with shadows — And all is turned to grey — Bravepaw will come
When hope turns to ashes — And all have lost their way — Bravepaw will come
The heart will light the dark — Night will turn to day — When Bravepaw comes
Brought up on tales of the gallant mouse hero Bravepaw, Titch has always dreamed of adventure, but she never thought it would actually happen to her. Afterall, she is nobody special. She is the smallest mouse in her family, living in a peaceful little village where nothing exciting ever happens.
But when dire trouble comes to the Plateau, Titch and her best-friend Huckleberry must set out on a dangerous quest to take the Heartstone to the heart of Alluria and repair the crack in the sky before the whole world breaks apart. Can Titch ever hope to live up to the legend of Bravepaw?
SISTERS ALONE by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. 336 pp. (Sept 8)
Two sisters. One storm. A fight for their lives.
Rama is all fire—fierce, quick to anger, and trying to hold her family together while battling the monster of intrusive thoughts. Leena is all ice—quiet, numbed to the vibrancy of the world, as she silently blames herself for their mother’s death.
When their father must travel for work, a sudden blizzard traps the sisters alone at their rural home. As the storm tears through their house, they’re left without power, without food, without shelter—and with no one to rely on but each other.
Told in powerful, poetic verse, Sisters Alone is a heart-stopping story of sisterhood, survival, and the quiet strength it takes to keep going, even when the world feels like it’s falling apart.
Read an interview with the author here.
THE BURN BEAST by Mary Averling. 256 pp. (Sept 15) 
As the daughter of private detectives, Pira is used to moving around a lot. So when her mothers’ newest case brings them to the small town of Eyrewood, she expects to find a town just like all the others she’s left behind.
But Eyrewood is nothing like she expects. Ash falls from the skies, the local wildlife is nowhere to be found, and it’s impossible to light a fire anywhere inside the town limits. Worst of all, monsters lurk in the woods—monsters that none of the adults believe in.
When Pira joins up with a group of kids intent on fighting the beasts, she discovers that the monsters may be linked to a series of missing kids going back decades—including the older sister of her new friend Jackie. As Pira and Jackie work with their friends to solve the mystery of the disappearances, they must confront the secrets at the heart of Eyrewood and the danger lurking in every corner.
AN ENCANTADORA’S GUIDE TO LEGENDS & LIES by Sarah J. Mendonca. 352 pp. (Sept 15)
Rosa Coelho has traveled far from trapping monstros in the lowest city streets of Lua. Ever since her thief crew, the Tea Leaves, successfully heisted from the Ministério dos Monstros, she’s been trying to put her trapping skills behind her to become a full-fledged keeper, master of locks and puzzles.
Now she’s up against the puzzle of a lifetime. Driven to untangle the cryptic message her lost pai left behind, Rosa and her friends must travel to Sol, the City of Thieves, to compete in a series of challenges that would win her access to the answers she’s been looking for.
But when familiar faces return to sow chaos in the competition, the Tea Leaves discover the darkness within the Garden of Monstros is much more treacherous than they ever imagined. Caught between past and future, Lua and Sol, her knowledge as a trapper and her duty as a keeper, Rosa will need to choose the right path to save her found family—and the entire city—before it’s too late.
A MESS OF MONSTERS by Carissa Turpin. 212 pp. (Sept 15) 
A Mess of Monsters takes readers across the United States where every stop hides a different cryptid. From a wish-granting Mothman in West Virginia to a mischievous jackalope in Arizona to an orange-loving Swamp Ape in Florida, each cryptid comes with new complications for our young heroes. And the monsters aren’t the only things they have to face. There’s also family drama, friendship troubles, and figuring out where they belong. After all, monsters may be scary, but growing up can be even scarier.
RILEY DARE: SLIGHTLY WITCHY SLEUTH by M.K. England. 256 pp. (Sept 15)
Riley Dare is a master of solving puzzles. After all, she helps run her aunt’s beloved escape room, Level Up, and makes it extra special thanks to the flicker of magic she’s gifted with. Need some extra shadows? Some spooky lighting? She’s got it covered.
But when a celebrated author of children’s mysteries vanishes during the latest, greatest escape room she’s designed with her aunt—one themed after the biggest unsolved heist in her small town’s history—things get complicated fast.
And maybe … there’s a ghost inside the escape room. With reservations being canceled left and right alongside the police investigation, there’s a chance Level Up might not survive. Riley must team up with her closest friends to figure out what’s going on, and how all this might be tied to the same unsolved heist from twelve years ago. A heist that happened on the day she was born . . .
To read more about this author, click here.
SPELLS TO MEND BROKEN HEARTS by Marissa Macy. 256 pp. ( Sept 15) 
Alex is pretty sure the universe is conspiring against her. Friendless in a new town, with her parents constantly fighting, Alex spends her birthday unpacking alone and comes upon her grandmother’s book of small magic. Alex doesn’t believe in that stuff, but with no birthday plans and nothing to lose, she performs a ritual from the book to attract a friend.
It’s just a coincidence that Tess crashes into her life the very next day, right? Their friendship forms fast and strong, and the way Tess makes Alex’s heart flutter definitely feels like some kind of magic. Together, they make their way through the book’s spells and rituals, healing Tess’s recently broken heart and trying to mend Alex’s broken family.
But it feels as though the book is turning on Alex when her parents announce they’re separating. And when Tess uses a ritual to win back her ex-boyfriend, Alex must face a truth she had not considered. Maybe the magic she felt with Tess was more than friendship …
I AM A GOOD DOG: A DOGTOWN BOOK by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko. 352 pp. (Sept 22)
Dogtown is a shelter for all dogs — real and robot. Metal Head, a robot dog who’s a longtime resident of Dogtown, yearns for a forever home. When a girl named Esme begins visiting Dogtown, Metal Head goes on a mission to get her to adopt him.
But Esme doesn’t like robot dogs. She has her heart set on taking home a gangly wolfhound mix named Ghost with one blue eye and one yellow eye. Sadly, Ghost’s former owner mistreated him, so he’s terrified of everyone. Can Esme, Metal Head, Mouse, and Molly (a dog who fosters stray kittens) figure it out?
And what about Metal Head? When will he get his forever home?
To view more Dogtown books, click here.
THE SWIFTS: A GARDEN OF VIPERS by Beth Lincoln. 400 pp. (Sept 22) 
After catching a murderer at the family reunion and solving a century-old art caper, the Swift children have built a reputation as expert sleuths. But when cousin Atrocious needs help to solve a murder in New York City, Shenanigan is wary … until she finds out the victim is connected to their old friend Daisy DeMille and her family’s flower empire. Trapped by a snowstorm in the DeMille’s high-rise greenhouse headquarters, Shenanigan will have to weed out the poisoner hiding among the plants.
For their new adventure, Shenanigan and the beloved Swifts are joined by another eccentric, and fabulously fatal, family — the American DeMilles, including flamboyant heir-apparent Dandelion, ambitious brother Basil, and tenacious siblings Moss and Delphinium.
BUILDING 903 by Lois Lowry. 240 pp. (Sept 29)
Twins Tessa and Theo live in a world ruled by the tyrannical Koziris, where there are no dangers and nearly no rebels. In this world, citizens live long lives, and while many hate Koziris, they are comfortable and safe. So, when Tessa’s brother disappears, this anomaly is quickly swept under the rug.
Soon after, when Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam Osterman, is bound for the retirement community, she sneaks Tessa a key — not only to her brother’s disappearance, but to the source of all real magic … books.
As Tessa and her parents begin their search for Theo, Tessa learns that books not only tell us stories, they open portals and unlock our humanity through our most powerful tool: the imagination. Once that truth reveals itself, Tessa won’t be able to rest until she retrieves her twin and society is transformed.
WHERE THE LIGHT SHINES IN by Jenny Mattern. 224 pp. (Sept 29) 
Despite being adopted into a loving family, thirteen-year-old Gloria feels as if her life is a bit too much like the crossword puzzles she and her dad enjoy solving together — too many empty spaces and not enough clues. For as long as she can remember, Gloria has studied the faces of random women in the hopes of finding her birth mother. But when she finally lands on the perfect candidate, it’s in a place she never could have expected — an obituary photo.
Determined to learn more about this dead woman who looks just like her, Gloria embarks on a secret mission to fill in the gaps of her origin story. At first, finding answers about her past feels exactly right. But as the lies Gloria tells keep piling up, and as each step toward her biological family takes her farther from the parents who have loved her forever, she starts to wonder if she’ll ever be able to fill her empty spaces. Because how can you feel truly whole when you’re shattered from the inside out?
THE WILD ZONE by Rick Riordan. 320 pp. (Sept 29)
Katie Kim may be a newcomer to Camp Half-Blood, but even she knows they’re not supposed to be running through the Wild Zone. The forest is off-limits to campers and staff. Why, then, did Clarisse, head counselor of the Ares cabin, take her and four other newbies there in the dark of night and tell them to race back to camp by morning?
Clarisse’s threat was scary enough, but when Katie’s half-brother Grant goes missing, his disappearance sparks the arrival of vicious monsters and a mysterious curse. It’s up to Katie and the three remaining newbies—the Wild Omada—to brave the Wild Zone again and uncover its dark and deadly secrets.
in! As for yourself, what was it about Little Women that pulled you into writing a spooky version of it?
Last summer, Tiffany D. Jackson published her middle-grade debut 
