New Book Tuesday
Read on to hear about some amazing new books for children and teens hitting shelves on September 17th.
A School Library Journal Best Children's Book of 2024!
Explore story structure with narrator-in-training Bitsy and her grumpy wizard protagonist, Boozle, in this entertaining, educational chapter book graphic novel brought to you by cartooning experts Sara Goetter and Natalie Riess.
Once upon a time there was a narrator named Bitsy, and all she wanted to do was tell a story. Thankfully, she had just the right protagonist to help her with that—Boozle, a grumpy old wizard without a lot to say. Join them both on the adventure of a lifetime as they make the journey up Story Mountain, discovering the magic of storytelling along the way.
With a handy glossary chock-full of educational terminology at the end, readers will fall in love with storytelling and be excited to tell their own by the end of this delightful tale.
Duck, duck, goose! Moose? From acclaimed author-illustrator John Hare, this funny picture book follows two ducks, a goose, and their unexpected friend, Moose, on a surprising journey. For fans of Suzanne Lang’s Grumpy Monkey and Kelly Bingham and Paul O. Zelinsky’s Z Is for Moose.
Join Duck, Duck, and Goose as they soar through the skies, leaving the cold weather behind on their annual migration south. Will Goose and friends catch a ride on a caboose? Will Duck’s truck get stuck in the muck? And why is there a moose in this book? Wait, where did Moose go?
John Hare, the acclaimed author-artist of A Mouthful of Minnows, has crafted a hilarious picture book full of rhyming wordplay, exuberant illustrations, and friendship—and featuring a sly nod to seasonal migration. Duck, Duck, Goose! is an innovative, playful, and unpredictable picture book that begs to be read again and again, making it a wonderful choice for emergent readers as well as family and storytime sharing.
A living legend roosting in the backyard. An unmissable game. A hair-raising mystery. A road trip full of adventure and danger. And all the overlapping circles that connect us throughout Creation.
Melanie “Mel” Roberts and Ray Halfmoon may be from different Indigenous Nations, but the friends have become like siblings since the Robertses moved in with the Halfmoons. And they soon welcome a distinguished guest: Great-grandfather Bat, whose wing is injured, has taken refuge in their old oak tree.
A rematch of the legendary Great Ball Game is coming up, with Bat as the star player. Grampa Charlie Halfmoon offers to drive Bat from Chicago down to the traditional playing field outside Macon, Georgia, and Mel and Ray are determined to help out.
Together, they all set off on a road trip—facing adventure, danger, and a hair-raising mystery—on the way to the historic game.
With loving care and boisterous humor, acclaimed author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee) tells a modern folklore story about friendship, embracing the unexpected, and all the overlapping circles that connect us throughout Creation. Perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo, Brian Young, and Elana K. Arnold!
An empowering story from #1 New York Times bestseller and Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park starring a young snorkeling enthusiast who draws inspiration for fighting climate change from interacting with her pesty little brother.
Inspired by her own experience, beloved author Linda Sue Park tells the story of a girl learning how to impact a cause she cares about while navigating the ups and downs of a sibling relationship and turning disappointment into opportunity.
Gracie loves snorkeling! She loves it so much, she convinces her parents to let her plan a family vacation to Roatán, Honduras, where they can all snorkel together. She even makes a new friend there. Now, if only her irritating little brother would leave her alone, everything would be perfect. Then Gracie hurts her leg, and all her carefully made plans start to come apart. Worse still, she learns the reef itself is in serious danger. Gracie wants to help the reef . . . but she’s just a kid. What can she do to make a difference? Fortunately, her new friend has a few ideas!
Wry humor and sharp insight capture the distinctive voice of a young teen forced by his mother’s unstable mental health to recalibrate his outlook and build a new life with found family. For fans of Gary D. Schmidt and Rebecca Stead.
Quagmire Tiarello prides himself on not needing anything from anybody. Sure, his mom is skipping work again and showing signs of going into one of her full-out spins, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. He’s used to her up-and-down moods, even if this time it feels a little different.
Then his mom disappears, and Quag must find shelter with an uncle he didn't know he had. Should he come clean about his mother’s mental health challenges? Or can he use his carefully honed skills to bluff long enough to find his mom and get home? Readers will root for Quag as he finds himself rethinking his world and learning to accept help from the people who love him.
In this magical middle grade adventure by Cindy L. Rodriguez, a Guatemalan American girl fights to stop her cursed worry dolls before they blanket her friends and neighbors in anxiety—and the grief she carries over the loss of her father. Perfect for fans of The Doll People and The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez!
Lola Reyes doesn’t want to leave Guatemala, a place full of warmth and sun, laughter and music—where her abuela and prima and tíos and tías surround her with love. Back in Sunnyside, it’s cold. There’s schoolwork and chores. And her mama transforms into Lola’s super-serious school principal, Dr. Reyes.
Back at home...Lola can see, crystal clear, the empty place where Pop used to be. So Lola decides to bring a little bit of Guatemala—and Pop—back with her. She discovers his box of childhood worry dolls and sneaks them into her luggage, ignoring the warnings on the box not to use them. Later, when she tells them all her worries, from her friendship woes to the way Mama won’t talk about how sad she is, the worry dolls come to life. Worse—they escape.
Lola has to enlist her neighbor and nemesis, Chance Townsend, to recapture the dolls because she discovers they’re cursed. And as they absorb worries, they’ll grow bigger and bigger. If Lola can’t find a way to stop them, they’ll burst, releasing all the worries they’ve absorbed a hundredfold on everyone in town. But when breaking the curse might mean confronting her own anxieties and grief, will Lola be able to face her emotions before it’s too late?
From Abdi Nazemian, the award-winning author of Like a Love Story and Only This Beautiful Moment, comes a suspenseful contemporary YA novel about loss and love.
Fifteen-year-old Kam is head over heels for Ash, the boy who swept him off his feet. But his family and best friend, Bodie, are worried. Something seems off about Ash. He also has a habit of disappearing, at times for days. When Ash asks Kam to join him on a trip to Joshua Tree, the two of them walk off into the sunset . . . but only Kam returns.
Two years later, Kam is still left with a hole in his heart and too many unanswered questions. So it feels like fate when a school trip takes him back to Joshua Tree. On the trip, Kam wants to find closure about what happened to Ash but instead finds himself in danger of facing a similar fate. In the desert, Kam must reckon with the truth of his past relationship—and the possibility of opening himself up to love once again.
Desert Echoes is a propulsive, moving story about human resilience and connection.
In this thrilling paranormal YA romance debut steeped in folklore, two estries—owl-shifting female vampires from Jewish tradition—face New York's monstrous underworld to save the girl one of them loves with help from the boy one of them fears before they are, all of them, lost forever.
Clara loves rules. Rules are what have kept her and her sister, Molly, alive—or, rather, undead—for over a century. Work their historic movie theater by day. Shift into an owl under the cover of night. Feed on men in secret. And never fall in love.
Molly is in love. And she’s tired of keeping her girlfriend, Anat, a secret. If Clara won’t agree to bend their rules a little, then she will bend them herself.
Boaz is cursed. He can’t walk two city blocks without being cornered by something undead. At least at work at the theater, he gets to flirt with Clara, wishing she would like him back.
When Anat vanishes and New York’s monstrous underworld emerges from the shadows, Clara suspects Boaz, their annoyingly cute box office attendant, might be behind it all.
But if they are to find Anat, they will need to work together to face demons and the hungers they would sooner bury. Clara will have to break all her rules—of love, of life, and of death itself—before her rules break everyone she loves.
In this stand-alone debut, A. R. Vishny interweaves mystery, romance, and lore to create an unputdownable story about those who have kept to the shadows for far too long.