New Book Tuesday
Read on to hear about some amazing new books for children and teens hitting shelves on January 9!
Celebrate the Spring Lantern Festival! This gentle picture book explores the special bond between children and their grandmothers, all against the backdrop of Chinese mythology and holiday celebration. A must-read for fans of Drawn Together or I Dream of Popo!
There’s nothing Lili loves more than celebrating the Spring Lantern Festival with her family. But this will be the first time she attends the festivities without her beloved lăolao. Though it’s one of Lili’s favorite days of the year, she can’t help but wish, as she drifts off to sleep, that Lăolao were still there to enjoy bowls of sweet rice balls and solve fun riddles with her.
Then, that night, the first full moon of the new year invites Lili on an incredible journey.
Lili will travel to the bottom of the sea to visit the Dragon King and past the misty clouds to see the Jade Emperor. But will she get to see the one person she wants to see most in the entire world before the night is over?
In this photographic picture book, the authors record and transcribe the words of displaced children, raising up their voices—who they are, where they came from, and the many different reasons that they had to leave their home countries.
My parents told me we had to leave to stay safe. I was scared.
We left in a hurry. We could hardly bring anything. I could only take what fit in my backpack.
One day there was everyone and the next day there was almost no one. We had to go too.
This book celebrates the resilience, hope, and joy of children and their families who are seeking asylum. Stunning photographs capture children doing everyday things like playing on the playground, going to school, and meeting new friends alongside their stories of having to leave to their home countries in order to stay safe. The authors transcribed and photographed children from around the world to share their experiences on moving to a new place under extremely difficult circumstances as a way to raise up their voices and humanize people seeking asylum.
Countries include Afghanistan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Bosnia, Tibet, Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Mexico, Syria, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Ukraine. The authors have included backmatter with further information for kids, parents, and educators.
From Gordon Korman, the New York Times bestselling author of Restart, comes a hilarious new story about a group of underdogs who come together when they are forced to attend summer school—for failing PE.
Yash is the best athlete at Robinette Middle School—so good, in fact, that he’s already playing on the high school’s JV sports teams. Imagine his shock when he learns that his JV practices have kept him from earning a state-mandated credit for eighth-grade PE. To graduate, he has to take Physical Education Equivalency—PEE, also known as “Slugfest”—in summer school.
Yash gets to know his fellow “slugs”: Kaden, an academic superstar who’s physically hopeless; twins Sarah and Stewart, who are too busy trying to kill each other to do any real PE; Jesse, a notorious prankster; Arabella, who protests everything; and Cleo, a natural athlete who has sworn off sports.
But when one of them tries to blow the lid off a scandal that could make all their time in summer school a waste, Yash is forced to take drastic action.
Teaming up with the most hapless crew in school can really surprise a person. And their teacher might be hiding the biggest surprise yet. . . .
In this fast-paced, thrilling middle grade fantasy rooted in Tagalog mythology, a young Filipino girl discovers realms beyond our own full of monsters and gods, a terrible evil who wants her magic, and even a talking duck! The first book in a duology from Gail D. Villanueva (My Fate According to the Butterfly) that’s perfect for fans of Tristan Strong and Aru Shah.
Lulu Sinagtala can’t wait for a fun Christmas break. She’s excited to hang out with her sister, Kitty, and best friend, Bart; to reenact her favorite legends from Tagalog folklore (like the amazing tale of Bernardo Carpio); and, of course, to eat as much yummy street-side inihaw as possible!
But when a vicious wakwak attacks her neighborhood and kidnaps Mom, Lulu discovers the creatures and deities of Tagalog myth are real and that two additional Realms exist beyond our own. To make it worse, Lulu has superhuman strength and the ability to wield magic, meaning she's the only one powerful enough to stop the evil spirit who’s determined to rule the three Realms at all costs. No pressure, right?
Lulu, Kitty, and Bart set off on a quest to rescue Mom, where they outsmart cunning enemies, battle vengeful beings, and form unlikely alliances. Soon they find themselves swept into a centuries-long fight, unraveling secrets about Lulu and her past that threaten to upend everything and throw the whole universe into chaos. Can Lulu muster the strength (superhuman or not) to find out who she really is and who she can trust to save Mom and the three Realms before it’s too late?
WINNER OF THE PURA BELPRÉ YA AUTHOR AWARD
* A Morris Award Finalist * Parade Best Young Adult Books of All Time * Indie Next List Pick *
An unforgettable YA debut about two Latina teens growing up in East Oakland as they discover that the world is brimming with messy complexities, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Erika L. Sánchez.
Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant—by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.
Things are hella complicated.
Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?
From debut author Carolina Ixta comes a fierce, intimate examination of friendship, chosen family, and the generational cycles we must break to become our truest selves.
“A complete knockout. Readers will be thinking of this story long after they finish the final page.” —Adalyn Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Belladonna
“Utterly compelling and impossible to put down.” —Rachel Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of Bring Me Your Midnight
“I’ve never read a book that felt so much like picking up pieces of a broken heart—powerful, poignant, and true.” —Axie Oh, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea and XOXO
Atlas has lost her way.
In a last-ditch effort to pull her life together, she’s working on a community service program rehabbing trails in the Western Sierras. The only plus is that the days are so exhausting that Atlas might just be tired enough to forget that this was one of her dad’s favorite places in the world. Before cancer stole him from her life, that is.
Using real names is forbidden on the trail. So Atlas becomes Maps, and with her team—Books, Sugar, Junior, and King—she heads into the wilderness. As she sheds the lies she’s built up as walls to protect herself, she realizes that four strangers might know her better than anyone has before. And with the end of the trail racing to meet them, Maps is left counting down the days until she returns to her old life—without her new family, and without King, who’s become more than just a friend.
