Readers can welcome a new season and exciting new titles out this month, including a picture book about an anticipated arrival, a middle grade novel grappling with grief, a YA book tracing a bisexual teen’s road trip, and more.
Picture Books and Early Readers
Amina Banana and the Formula or Friendship
Shifa Saltagi Safadi, illus. by Aaliya Jaleel. Putnam, $16.99 hardcover (128p) ISBN 978-0-593-69922-5; $6.99 paper ISBN 978-0-5936-9914-0. Ages 6–9. Optimistic about her family’s move from Syria to Indiana, science-minded third grader Amina creates a four-step formula for making friends. See our Q & A with Safadi. The book received a starred review from PW.
Trish Cooke, illus. by Ken Wilson-Max. Charlesbridge, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-6235-4622-9. Ages 3–6. A game of catch turns into a daylong attunement practice in this playfully conceptual picture book. The book received a starred review from PW.
Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World)
Corey R. Tabor. Greenwillow, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-337358-7. Ages 4–8. The stoic corvid at the center of this picture book constantly denies bids for friendship with fellow animals. He’s far too busy with a top-secret mission. See our Q & A with Tabor. The book received a starred review from PW.
Drawing Is... Your Guide to Scribbled Adventures
Elizabeth Haidle. Tundra, $19.99 (72p) ISBN 978-1-7748-8503-1. Ages 8–12. Haidle takes an expansive approach to drawing that covers much more than the mechanics of putting pencil to paper. The book received a starred review from PW.
Cynthia Leitich Smith, illus. by Kate Gardiner. Heartdrum, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06327-444-0. Ages 4–8. Seven-year-old Piper, an only child, enjoys visiting extended family and returns home with a strong bond with her younger cousin. The book received a starred review from PW.
Matthew Burgess, illus. by Cátia Chien. Clarion, $19.99 (44p) ISBN 978-0-06-321672-3. Ages 4–8. Writing in limpid prose and illustrating in sunny, softly stroked multimedia spreads, previous collaborators Burgess and Chien follow two East Asian–cued children through a hot city Fourth of July. The book received a starred review from PW.
Antwan Eady, illus. by London Ladd. Knopf, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-48060-1. Ages 4–8. In an artfully rendered picture book that spans numerous events, a child recounts a Black family’s tradition of standing around a table under a river birch tree that’s draped with Spanish moss. The book received a starred review from PW.
The Glass Pyramid: A Story of the Louvre Museum and Architect I.M. Pei
Jeanne Walker Harvey, illus. by Khoa Le. Atheneum, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-6659-5333-7. Ages 4–8. In spare, rhythmic prose and digital illustrations that combine architectural elements with vector-like precision, Walker Harvey and Le weave together Pei’s biography and the pyramid’s creation story. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jason Chin. Holiday House/Porter, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-8234-5849-3. Ages 4–8. In impeccably crisp signature-style illustrations, Caldecott Medalist Chin traces a whirling hurricane forming over the Atlantic and heading for North Carolina’s Hattaras Island. The book received a starred review from PW.
Varian Johnson, illus. by Reggie Brown. Orchard, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-338-80743-1. Ages 4–8. Johnson and Brown encapsulate the tension of being both a young child and an older sibling in this story about family responsibility. See our In Conversation with collaborators Johnson and Brown on Black joy and father-son bonds.
Daniel Salmieri and Sophia Haas. Rocky Pond, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-46200-3. Ages 3–5. Married team Salmieri and Haas, making her picture book debut, invite readers to look closely at the artwork, checking what they see against the narrator’s stated perceptions. The book received a starred review from PW.
One Day in June: A Story Inspired by the Life and Activism of Marsha P. Johnson
Tourmaline, illus. by Charlot Kristensen. Putnam, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-5935-2537-1. Ages 4–8. This picture book introduces activist Marsha P. Johnson (1945–1992), a Black trans woman, describing in reverent lines and anecdotes the way she moved through the world. The book received a starred review from PW.
Chasten Buttigieg, illus. by Dan Taylor. Philomel, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-69398-8. Ages 3–7. Twins Rosie and Jojo and their father eagerly await Papa’s return home in Buttigieg and Taylor’s amiable picture book.
Catherine Thimmesh, illus. by Shanda McCloskey. Chronicle, $19.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-4521-4422-1. Ages 8–12. This nonfiction account highlights the life of Rube Goldberg (1883–1970), who employing his talent in cartooning and what he learned studying mining engineering, created convoluted, comical contraptions with enduring cultural impact. The book received a starred review from PW.
So Many Years: A Juneteenth Story
Anne Wynter, illus. by Jerome Pumphrey. Clarion, $19.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-063-08114-7. Ages 4–8. Wynter takes a question-oriented look at Juneteenth’s past and present. The book received a starred review from PW.
Some of Us: A Story of Citizenship and the United States
Rajani LaRocca, illus. by Huy Voun Lee. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-3165-7175-3. Ages 5–9. In this elegantly limned work about U.S. citizenship, Newbery Honoree LaRocca underlines the responsibilities and rights of citizens. The book received a starred review from PW.
Tomie dePaola, illus. by Barbara McClintock. Simon & Schuster, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-5344-1850-9. Ages 4–8. This picture book by late Caldecott and Newbery Honoree dePaola honors grief and the author’s late dog Brontë. See our Cover Reveal for more on dePaola’s posthumous picture book, illustrated by McClintock. The book received a starred review from PW.
Middle Grade
Athlete Is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ People in Sports
Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby, illus. by Jess Vosseteig. Little, Brown/Ottaviano, $19.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-3165-7200-2. Ages 9–14. Previous collaborators Locke and Melleby collect first-person narratives of queer athletes—including authors Erik J. Brown, Marieke Nijkamp, and A.J. Sass—and profile impactful figures in this affirming sports assemblage. The book received a starred review from PW.
Pam Muñoz Ryan, illus. by Joe Cepeda. Scholastic Press, $18.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-3380-6855-9. Ages 8–12. Eighth grader Kai Sosa contends with grief following his older sister’s death in this powerful tale by Newbery Honoree Muñoz Ryan. See our Cover Reveal here.
The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon
Grace Lin. Little, Brown, $18.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-316-47832-8. Ages 8–12. Lin combines ancient and contemporary Chinese lore in this visually stunning tale about a girl, a lion cub, and a worm who must retrieve a lost sacred object to reconnect the mortal and spirit worlds. The book received a starred review from PW.
A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation
Pablo Cartaya. Kokila, $18.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-4514-7975-4. Ages 8–12. Grieving the loss of his father, 12-year-old Cuban American Gonzalo, who loves to paint, is sent to spend time with his curmudgeonly grandfather, famous author Alberto. The book received a starred review from PW.
Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft, illus. by Jerry Craft. Little, Brown, $16.99 hardcover (240p) ISBN 978-0-316-58268-1; $10.99 paper ISBN 978-0-316-59710-4. Ages 8–12. Alexander and Craft emphasize the importance of nurturing creative expression and healthy competition in this meta illustrated collaboration. See our Cover Reveal for more about their collaboration. The book received a starred review from PW.
Erin Moonyeen Haley. Storytide, $18.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-06-336001-3. Ages 8–12. Weather-obsessed Savvy dreams of following in her older sister’s footsteps by winning the Miss Liberty pageant but struggles when the pageant is under threat of being canceled. The book received a starred review from PW.
The Mystery of the Haunted Dance Hall
Charis Cotter. Tundra, $17.99 (392p) ISBN 978-1-77488-555-0. Ages 9–12. Bee has a hard time making friends at Camp Blue Heron, but starts investigating the older campers who sneak off at night, returning exhausted with dead flashlight batteries. The book received a starred review from PW.
The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls
Judith Rossell. Dial, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 979-8-2170-0240-5. Ages 8–12. Tween Maggie Fishbone is unceremoniously whisked away from Mud Harbor Orphanage to the Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways, and Wayward Girls in this subversive and captivating examination of adventure, lifelong learning, and sisterhood. The book received a starred review from PW.
Vera Brosgol. Roaring Brook, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 978-125029218-6. Ages 8–12. In Caldecott Honoree Brosgol’s prose debut, Oliver discovers a wish-granting mail slot in his apartment, but upon realizing how the wishes adversely affect others, he scrambles to undo the damage. The book received a starred review from PW.
Reem Faruqi. HarperCollins, $18.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-0632-8499-9. Ages 8–12. Zarina and her Muslim family flee from India to the newly formed Muslim country of Pakistan and while attending a religious academy run by a British administration, Zarina blossoms. The book received a starred review from PW.
Young Adult
Becky Albertalli. HarperCollins, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-06-304592-7. Ages 14 and up. When bisexual teen Amelia learns that her favorite YouTube star is hosting an in-person event at a college that’s three hours away from her Westchester, N.Y., home, she persuades her best to accompany her on a road trip upstate.
Michelle Jabès Corpora. Sourcebooks Fire, $19.99 (528p) ISBN 978-1-4642-2458-4. Ages 14 and up. A prophecy brings together four teens in an Egyptian kingdom destined for upheaval.
Victoria Zeller. Levine Querido, $19.99 (344p) ISBN 978-1-6461-4502-7. Ages 12–up. After coming out as transgender at her Buffalo high school and getting kicked off the Division I football team, Grace navigates changes when she’s asked to come back for their senior season. The book received a starred review from PW.
Sawyer Lovett. Disney Hyperion, $18.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-368-10895-9. Ages 14 and up. Three teens, podcaster Brian, closeted football player Greg, and newly out trans student Leslie are brought together by the titular podcast. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jennifer Dugan. Putnam, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-59369-689-7. Ages 12 and up. While in a new town for the summer, wealthy influencer Birdie Gordon and lifeguard Cass share a connection but navigate their class differences. See our Q & A with Dugan on writing across genres.
Frederick Joseph. Candlewick, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-5362-3346-9. Ages 14 and up. When a career-ending injury jeopardizes his college prospects, a teenage athlete rethinks his future. See our Q & A with Joseph. The book received a starred review from PW.
Nova Ren Suma. Little, Brown, $18.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-61620-672-7. Ages 14 and up. A teen recovered from an off-grid Catskills commune of female fugitives struggles to adapt to society in this evocative and empowering novel from Suma. The book received a starred review from PW.
Mary Shyne. Holt, $25.99 hardcover (224p) ISBN 978-1-250-85184-0; $17.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-85185-7. Ages 14 and up. After entering a strange rainbow portal at a big-box store, estranged childhood friends Chris O’Brien and Alicia Ochoa find themselves stuck in a time loop of their graduation day. The book received a starred review from PW.
