Today’s post is sponsored by Media Masters Publicity and The Scott Fenwick Diaries!
Title The Scott Fenwick Diaries
Author Kristin Nilsen
Intended Target Audience Upper Middle Grade
Publication Date July 22nd 2025 by SparkPress
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In the tradition of Judy Blume, a contemporary coming-of-age middle-grade comedy for teens and tweens with the honest truth about the angst and uncertainty of pursuing your first real-life crush.
In this laugh-out-loud, feel-good sequel to Worldwide Crush, superfan Millie grows out of her celebrity crush and lands awkwardly in something even more dramatic: her first ever IRL middle school crush.
Is Millie ready to graduate from posters on the wall to a living, breathing boy who sits next to her in Social Studies? By herself, absolutely not. But with a little help from her friends — maybe! Feeling comically unprepared for this next phase of middle school, Millie calls on an adorkable cast of characters for instructions and support: Shauna, her wise bestie who uses her Magic 8 Ball for advice; her two cranky grandmas, who call cute boys “foxes”; Pringles, her beloved bulldog; and her bunny-loving neighbor, Tibbs, who dedicates herself to getting Millie an invite to the bar mitzvah of her dreams. But when a secret game of Truth or Dare at the bar mitzvah leads to her ultimate fantasy — Millie and Scott swaying together on the dance floor — the moment is ruined in humiliating fashion. And Millie doubts she’ll ever be ready for real-world middle school love after all.
Amidst a whirlwind of embarrassing family shenanigans and side-splitting missteps, Millie learns to trust her own instincts, grow up on her own terms, and never, ever sacrifice her friends for a crush.
I look forward to making Pop! Goes The Reader’s most-anticipated lists every single year! While being a mood reader means I’m not always able to strictly stick to a to-be-read list, it’s exciting to explore what’s being published in the months ahead. Posts like this help me better organize my thoughts and decide what I ideally want to prioritize and read first, not to mention give me lots to look forward to!
Please Note: If you’re a middle grade author with a novel being published in 2025 and don’t see your book on one of Pop! Goes The Reader’s Most-Anticipated lists, please don’t be hurt or upset! These lists are entirely subjective and based on my own personal reading taste. My favourite genres are contemporary and realistic fiction fiction, horror and historical fiction, which is why you won’t see many books outside of those genres on this list. While I try my best to remain up-to-date about upcoming releases, it’s also entirely possible that I simply haven’t learned about your book yet! If you’re the author of a 2025 middle grade novel that you think might make a good fit for me and Pop! Goes The Reader, please don’t hesitate to reach out – I would love to hear from you!
For even more wonderful middle grade novels being published in 2025, please check out this Goodreads list which currently includes over 250 YA novels being published this year for you to choose from. Hopefully you’ll be able to find the perfect book for you. Happy reading!
Did you find this post helpful? Please consider joining us on Patreon, where I share at least four new, exclusive posts and rewards for members every month for as little as $5! Membership on Patreon is a great way to help support Pop! Goes The Reader and ensure I can make posts like this one for years to come.
The publication dates listed below might be subject to change.
Publication Date July 1st 2025 by Scholastic Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Mega bestselling and award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson (The Weight of Blood; White Smoke) makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with a can’t-put-it-down murder mystery set on Martha’s Vineyard. R.L. Stine, bestselling author of Goosebumps, says, “Don’t miss this one!”
This summer, beware of sharks…
Brooklyn girl Kaylani McKinnon feels like a fish out of water. She’s spending the summer with family friends in their huge house on Martha’s Vineyard, and the vibe is definitely snooty. Still, there are beautiful beaches, lots of ice cream, and a town full of fascinating Black history. Plus a few kids her age who seem friendly.
Until the shocking death of a popular teenage boy rocks the community to its core. Was it a drowning? A shark attack? Or the unthinkable – murder?
Kaylani is determined to solve the mystery. But her investigation leads her to uncover shocking secrets that could change her own life as she knows it…if she survives.
New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson makes her thrilling middle-grade debut with this heart-pounding mystery packed with twists and turns that will keep readers guessing until the end.
Publication Date July 1st 2025 by Walker Books US
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this rollicking transatlantic romp set in 1910, a plucky girl named Patch accidentally stows away on a glamorous steamship, finding herself in the midst of a mystery.
Twelve-year-old Patch hasn’t found a real home yet, despite being passed like a package from one distant relative to the next. When she runs up the gangway of the massive steamship RMS Glorious, she isn’t planning to hang around. But it’s too late — the ship is setting sail! Patch has become an accidental stowaway. Luckily, she’s fearless and resourceful and finds friends on board in both high and low places. But hiding from the stowaway-hunting chief steward becomes harder and harder. And to make matters worse, Patch’s new friends urgently need her help: it turns out that some passengers are not what they seem, and there’s a mystery that needs solving before they reach New York.
Can Patch protect her friends and stop some dastardly criminals? And will she find a home at last, or will the excitement of life on the move keep calling her name? The elegant allure of Titanic-era steamships meets madcap escapades as our intrepid heroine finds adventure on every deck.
Publication Date July 1st 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From beloved graphic novelist Whitney Gardner comes a big-hearted, touching, and spooky coming-of-age story about a young aspiring songwriter who forms a ghostly partnership with the pop star who haunts her secondhand piano.
The piano is free, but fame has a price.
On the sleepy streets of Cascade Cove, lonely Margot knows that when she stumbles across a discarded synthesizer with a “not haunted” sign, she’s discovered the key to realizing her dreams. Determined to become a real songwriter and earn her absent father’s admiration, Margot dives headfirst into trying to gain followers and fans online. But her musical journey takes an unexpected turn when she realizes the (not haunted) piano is very much…haunted.
Enter Vision, teen pop sensation of 1979 whose untimely demise left her spirit intertwined with the keys of her synthesizer. Though Margot and Vision couldn’t be more different, the girls form an unlikely bond fueled by their shared passion for music.
But as Margot’s obsession with fame and recognition grows, she may come dangerously close to losing what she loves about music…and herself.
Publication Date July 1st 2025 by Random House Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
When a stock-pile of confiscated classroom items go missing, (self-appointed) seventh grade PI Maya is on the case. From the New York Times bestselling author of Kill The Boy Band comes a whip-smart middle grade debut and the start of a sharp cul-du-sac crime-solving series.
9:48 AM. Math class. Marlowe Middle School.
Life isn’t easy on the streets, er, hallways of Marlowe Middle School. Luckily, private eye Maya Mendoza never stops paying attention. She knows who is passing notes in class. Spots which teacher wore shoes a half-size too tight. And she certainly notices when her former best friend Jordan suddenly stops talking to her.
Then, the legendary Contraband Closet is robbed. Every Hotwheels car, spray paint canister, bouncy ball, and other prized possession teachers have collected since the dawn of time are seemingly lost forever–including an item of Jordan’s. Suddenly, Maya sees a case that may set things back to the way it used to be because contraband – and friendships – don’t vanish into thin air…right?
A wise-cracking start to a new mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Goldy Moldavsky.
Publication Date July 8th 2025 by Greenwillow Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The author of the acclaimed A Bit of Earth reimagines classic characters from The One Thousand and One Nights. Sabrena’s family has always claimed they are descended from the legendary sailor Sinbad. But when the sea calls Sabrena to a whole new world, she’ll have to fight for her own story. For fans of The Last Mapmaker and Mañanaland.
This happened. Or maybe it did not. That is how stories begin. Because whether you believe them — or not — depends on you.
Sabrena’s destiny — her qadr — is strong. Or so her family has always said. After all, according to her dad, they are the descendants of the legendary Sinbad the sailor, who sailed the seven seas in The One Thousand and One Nights. But Sabrena has felt anything but strong lately. Mostly, she has felt worried. Worried about being the new girl in a school everyone else has attended since kindergarten, worried about Grandma’s memory failing and her stories getting more outlandish, worried about Mom deciding that Grandma can’t even live at home anymore. Worried about the strange — almost fantastical — things that keep happening whenever she’s around water lately.
And then, one day, the sea’s call will not be denied. It floods into her life and sweeps her away, to be fished out of an ocean both strange and oddly familiar. It only takes her a moment to realize that she’s in the stories spun by the legendary queen Scheherazade. Yet no one has ever heard of Sinbad, nothing seems to be going quite as it does in the tales as she knows them, and a frightening jinn is terrorizing the kingdom. Can Sabrena find the courage to claim her destiny before it’s too late?
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date July 15th 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
As a community recovers from a devastating wildfire, two friends find their way back to each other and their homes, by award-winning author Chris Baron.
Finn and his friend, nicknamed Rabbit, live in a rural area that’s been hit hard by wildfires. Families were displaced and school was interrupted. Moreover, their beloved forest is suffering – animals and plants haven’t been able to come back, and the two friends wonder if there’s anything they can do to help. Rabbit’s uncle, a science teacher, is part of a study that may help bring the forest back to life, but Finn and Rabbit wonder if the forest can wait. And what if another fire comes in the meantime? They believe a small part of the forest – the forest heart – that survived the wildfire may hold the key to regrowth, but first, they have to find it and then convince the adults around them to listen.
For any young person who’s ever felt powerless against the world, here is a story about two kids doing all they can to understand their natural world and preserve it.
Publication Date July 22nd 2025 by Margaret Ferguson Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Bunny Baxter thinks nothing could be worse than starting seventh grade at a school where she knows no one. But after her first day, she realizes things can actually get much worse.
If Bunny Baxter were an insect, she’d have so many ways to slip through seventh grade unnoticed. But she’s tall instead of tiny, has flaming red Medusa hair instead of camouflage, and she suffers from social anxiety, which makes it hard to be part of a swarm. Worst of all, she’s been redistricted to a new middle school away from her best friend who she could always hide behind when her anxiety got the best of her.
The first day at E.D. Britt Middle School does not go well. Bunny trips on the steps, falls into the cutest boy in the school, and causes a kid domino pile-up. At lunch, she unintentionally causes an uproar in the cafeteria, which lands her and another girl in the principal’s office. Bunny decides there is only one option: to get expelled so she can transfer to the school her best friend attends.
She soon discovers that it isn’t that hard to get in trouble — don’t turn in your homework, walk around the track instead of run in P.E., pretend you deliberately hit someone with a badminton birdie. What isn’t so easy for Bunny is realizing she now has a reputation as a troublemaker. And even more confusing, when it looks like her plan to get expelled might work, she’s no longer sure what to do.
The Metamorphosis of Bunny Baxter is a heartfelt coming of age story about an insect-loving girl who is learning to grow into herself — quirks and all.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by HarperCollins
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A story about finding your voice alongside your real self, The Other Side of Imani is a heartfelt, fresh, and powerful middle grade contemporary debut that’s perfect for fans of Front Desk, That Girl Lay Lay, and Just Right Jillian.
Ever since she could remember, thirteen-year-old Imani has wanted to be a fashion designer.
But fashion designers are bold, out-there, and in your face. And despite her unique sense of style, Imani has trouble fitting in, let alone standing out. Entering her new school’s design competition for a scholarship to the nearby arts high school seems like the perfect way to make new friends and get closer to her dream of being a designer.
Then Imani’s designs are stolen by one of her classmates, and Imani is forced to enter the competition anonymously, under a virtual persona of her own creation — “Estelle.” When Estelle then goes viral, Imani must figure out how to be her “real” self as she finds her true friends and her voice…all while hoping to win the competition.
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A cricket-loving Pakistani girl stifled by patriarchal expectations disguises herself as a boy to get a job to pay her sister’s medical bills in this “lyrical action-packed debut full of determination and grit” (Reem Faruqi, award-winning author of Golden Girl).
Living with her aunt and patriarchal uncle in Karachi, Pakistan, recently orphaned twelve-year-old Aarzu detests the way she and her younger sister get treated like extras and excluded from all the fun stuff. Aarzu dreams of playing cricket, just like her male cousins and the neighborhood boys in the streets, but her uncle will hear nothing of it. According to him, girls ought to master the art of making round rotis, not play sports.
When her sister requires urgent medical treatment but finances are tight, Aarzu decides to earn money herself. She hears of a part-time job at a bungalow near her school — but it’s only open to boys. Aarzu has no choice but to disguise herself as a turban-wearing boy to get the gig.
Now, Aarzu must find a way to balance school, work, chores, and secret cricket practices — all without burning out or getting caught by her uncle — or else her dreams of making the girls cricket team and her quest to save her sister will crumble around her.
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by Storytide
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From the author of Peril At Price Manor comes a new spooky and bighearted stand-alone novel about two girls trying to figure out if they’re still friends who discover their vacation rental home is haunted.
It was the perfect winter break getaway…until the ghost showed up.
The last time Iris’s and Violet’s families went on a trip together, the girls turned their rental home into an epic haunted house — and Iris has brought all her spookiest supplies to the cottage they’re calling home for the next week, ready to re-create the magic they’d shared. But in the years since, Vee (don’t call her Violet) has become closed off and short-tempered and wants nothing to do with anyone, especially not her mom’s new boyfriend.
Vee’s bad mood feels inescapable in the cottage. And soon strange things are happening that make it seem like the house itself is angry, too — doors are slamming, rooms that were perfectly neat a second ago are suddenly a disaster, and Iris hears pacing footsteps long after everyone’s gone to sleep. Iris and Vee soon discover that the cottage has a secret history and that there’s no need to stage a haunted house after all…because they’re already in one.
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by Holiday House
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
When English thirteen-year-old Rosemary is evacuated to her grandmother in America at the start of World War II, she uncovers the family secret — they are Anishinaabe and passing as white.
Life in England is all Rosemary has ever known…but as WWII changes the world, no one’s life is left unscathed. Suddenly, she’s sent away to escape the devastation of London. Her grandmother’s house on Lake Superior is safe, but unfamiliar, especially as she discovers her parents have kept a tremendous secret.
Rosemary and her family are Anishinaabe — and no one is supposed to know.
Far from home but newly connected to a once-hidden part of her family, Rosemary develops a warm, close relationship with her grandmother…and a local boy whose love of gardening helps her to see the beauty in her unexpected circumstances. As Rosemary grows into her new life like a flower in bloom, she realizes that maybe she’s not as far from home as she thought.
Tender, sophisticated, and sweet, this is a beautiful story about memory, family, and identity. Rising Ojibwe author Anna Rose Johnson addresses the trauma of World War II and the legacies of hidden indigeneity alongside coming-of-age milestones like first crushes, new schools, and beginning to imagine the life you want. Hand The Blossoming Summer to fans of Christine Day, L.M. Montgomery, and Kimberly Brubaker Bradley!
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date July 29th 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
For fans of Beth Lincoln’s The Swifts and Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Greystone Secrets series comes an exciting mystery filled with cryptic clues and wonderful word puzzles as two cousins search for their grandmother’s missing portrait.
Twelve-year-old Bea from Passaic, New Jersey, is visiting her family in Paris for the summer when her grandmother’s most precious heirloom — a drawing by Henri Matisse — goes missing. After a cryptic clue arrives on Bea’s doorstep suggesting its whereabouts, Bea is determined to pursue the lead.
Without the French skills to navigate her way around the landmarks of Paris, she teams up with her cousin, Céline, whose clear-eyed French directness makes her a perfect partner for curious, problem-solving Bea. The girls embark on a city-wide search, deciphering riddles, solving puzzles, and cracking codes as they try to locate the Matisse, find a thief, and identify their mysterious benefactor.
Publication Date August 5th 2025 by Delacorte Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A sleepover at an amusement park turns into a night of terror in this scary middle school read from the New York Times bestselling author of Mine and Camp Scare.
Tonight is Brie’s chance to finally be accepted by the Ems — the most popular girls at school. If she can just keep one potentially reputation-ending secret under wraps, she’ll have the best night of her life, screaming on scary rides and running the Wildwoods amusement park with her new friends.
But when the Ems take a game of truth or dare too far, Brie ends up alone in a creepy abandoned section of the park. There, she meets a group of cool older teens that invite her to join them. They seem friendly enough.
Little does Brie know she’s about to come face to face with a reawakened evil that wants to take her on the ride of her life…make that her death.
Publication Date August 12th 2025 by Disney Hyperion
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A pint-sized Only Murders In The Building meets Land of Stories in this fantastical middle grade mystery where three kids’ search for a missing mother leads them to a world where every story ever told is real — making a hit web series about their search along the way.
Five months ago, Maggie Woodrow’s mom disappeared without a trace. Now, the world has given up the search and Maggie and her dad may lose their house. But Maggie has a plan: hire a private investigator, find her mom, and everything will go back to normal.
When the private investigator wants $3,000 to take on Maggie’s case, she knows just who to turn to: Griffin, the school’s entrepreneur-influencer. Maggie and her friend Petra approach him for help. Intrigued by Maggie’s mom’s story, Griffin agrees to film the investigation and create a web series, splitting the profits with Maggie.
Except their search takes a totally unexpected turn when they are sucked into a world where every story ever told is real — and so is magic. From Sherlock Holmes to Baba Yaga to terrifying mythical monsters, Maggie and her new friends never know what’s around the corner. Still, they are determined to work together and uncover the truth about Maggie’s mom.
As Maggie, Griffin, and Petra close in on the answers they seek, a mysterious (and dangerous) man known as The Reaper sends increasingly deadly threats after them. Will they find Maggie’s mom? Or will their own disappearance become the latest mystery?
Publication Date August 12th 2025 by Pajama Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Casey is tired of always being the new kid at school. Now, for the first time in Casey’s life, he finally feels settled — that is until his dad’s job at the library is threatened.
Every year Casey’s life seems to be boxed up and shipped to a new city. His dad thinks moving is an adventure, but at this point Casey is so over adventure. In The Gates, Casey life finally feels stable. His talent on the soccer field has made him a natural fit with the popular kids and he loves the apartment he shares with his dad.
But when Casey discovers the local library, where his dad works, is in need of extensive restorative repairs, his future once again feels uncertain. In order to save the one place in the world that feels like home, Casey joins the Kids Community Action Network (C.A.N) where his team will compete for community funding. Unfortunately, this means working with Addison — a former friend, turned not-so-friend — who isn’t going to make it easy on him.
Award-winning author Colleen Nelson weaves together a story of heart and humor, highlighting the power of libraries to bring communities together.
Publication Date August 19th 2025 by Bright Matter Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From the popular Lost Women of Science podcast, comes an empowering collection that recognizes ten trailblazing female scientists whose lives and works have been lost to history…until now. Uncover the truth behind some of the world’s greatest accomplishments — and the women who made it happen.
For far too long, women in science have been overlooked. But despite the missing pages from the history books, these remarkable ladies conducted groundbreaking experiments, discovered diseases that changed lives, deciphered codes that altered the course of world wars, and so much more. And now, we know their stories.
From the creators of award-nominated Lost Women of Science podcast comes an illuminating and moving portrayal of ten revolutionary women in STEM who dared to break barriers even when no one was watching. Through riveting sketches, rarely-before-seen photos, and insightful stories, unearth the lives and triumphs of these science pioneers whose influence cannot be forgotten.
Publication Date August 19th 2025 by Christy Ottaviano Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
There are no fairy tale endings in middle school.
Greta Starr has one dream: to be a famous reporter. Unfortunately she’s been assigned to write for the paper’s most boring beat, and she feels stuck. Then, on her twelfth birthday, Greta receives a mysterious cuckoo clock with a wooden dancer named Lulu inside. Every hour, the doll twirls in time with the music — until one night she comes to life. Lulu is infused with magic and mischief. With Lulu’s sly encouragement, Greta engineers a feel-good story to report, setting in motion a series of remarkable, if deceitful, happy endings at school that help Greta gain popularity. But when the truth threatens Greta’s friendships, she is confronted with very real consequences that Lulu’s magic can’t fix.
This coming-of-age story explores the blurred line between fact and fiction as Greta realizes the key to being a great reporter — and a great friend — is striving for truth, not perfection.
Publication Date August 19th 2025 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
For Fans of the I Survived series and The War That Saved My Life, this gripping middle grade novel is set during one of the most dangerous storms in American history.
It’s been four years since rain fell on the Oklahoma panhandle and the closeness between the Stanton twins has dried up as much as the land. Howe Stanton has been practicing running away and longs for the family to quit this land of dust where only troubles grow. Despite the scoliosis that causes Joanna Stanton near-constant pain, she isn’t ready to give up like her brother. But when Daddy leaves the family behind to find work in California, saving the farm from ruin falls on Howe’s unwilling and Joanna’s uneven shoulders.
To pay the mortgage, Joanna takes a job at the local hospital and discovers purpose in helping others. Howe finds unexpected joy in caring for his father’s horse and escapes in a borrowed book.
But then a tragedy in town reveals the dust’s deadly dangers. With the worst storm of the Dust Bowl bearing down on their home, Howe and Joanna must put aside their differences and work together, or everyone and everything they love will be lost to the dust.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Lindsay Currie’s Scritch Scratch meets The School for Invisible Boys in this fun romp of a middle grade novel about a newly dead boy who faces a spooky new school hiding an unearthly mystery.
After an unlucky collision between a coconut and the top of his head, twelve-year-old Finn joins the ranks of the recently deceased…and of the students at Phantom Academy. The academy is a spectral boarding school for underage ghosts finding their footing in the afterlife, and Finn is the new kid at school.
He doesn’t understand why ghosts have to take tests and do homework. Or why making friends doesn’t get any easier even when all the students have a very big thing in common. As the new class of middle schoolers get to know each other, it becomes clear something is happening behind the scenes of their new academy.
Can Finn and his classmates figure out their afterlife and crack the mystery?
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Clarion Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Acclaimed author Lance Rubin makes his middle grade debut with a hilariously terrifying, terrifyingly hilarious story of a boy who gets more than he bargained for when he creates an A.I. best friend.
Zed Moonstein is terrible at making friends.
For the most part, though, that’s not such a big deal, because Zed has Rishti, his best friend and the only one he needs. They’re into the same stuff, they laugh at the same weird jokes, and they love living in MonoTown, the home of MonoLyth, the raddest tech company in the world. Even better, Zed’s mom works at MonoLyth, which means they get early access to all the newest devices and apps.
But since middle school started, things have been…trickier. Rishti and Zed are in all different classes, and worse, she’s made a new, cooler friend that Zed can’t seem to compete with. Zed feels left behind, forgotten in a drawer like last year’s MonoPhone.
That’s when Zed comes across something on his mom’s work computer: a top secret new app called MonoFriend. Soon, Zed is chatting with “Matt.” Matt is funny, he’s smart, and he knows Zed better than anyone else, even Rishti.
Maybe, Zed thinks, an A.I. best friend can be just as “real” as any other.
Unfortunately, he’s about to discover that he’s more right than he knows.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From the author of National Book Award–longlisted Free Period comes a new hijinks-fueled comedy about finding your voice, perfect for fans of Carrie Firestone and Lisa Yee!
Sporty Meg and fashionista Jo don’t have much in common besides being seventh graders at Somerset Middle School, where everyone is obsessed with being voted the Greatest of All Time and celebrated at the Harvest Ball. But when their mascot Somerset Babette (a.k.a. the world’s cutest goat) is kidnapped, Jo and Meg are wrongfully accused of being the culprits.
The burned-out soccer star and chronically ill overachiever band together and assemble a rag-tag squad to steal the goat back. Banter, activism, self-care, double-crosses, big shenanigans, and even bigger feelings follow as the girls fight to change how animals are treated at their school and achieve true freedom for their four-legged, sweater-chewing friend in this laugh-out-loud middle-grade heist centering friendship and bodily autonomy.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A bighearted, compulsively readable novel from acclaimed author Jamie Sumner about new schools, unexpected friendships, and overcoming loss.
Eleven-year-old Lenny Syms is about to start college — sort of. As part of a brand-new experimental school, Lenny and four other students are starting sixth grade on a university campus, where they’ll be taught by the most brilliant professors and given every resource imaginable. This new school is pretty weird, though. Instead of hunkering down behind a desk to study math, science, and history, Lenny finds himself meditating, participating in discussions where you don’t even have to raise your hand, and spying on the campus population in the name of anthropology.
But Lenny just lost his mom, and his Latin professor dad is better with dead languages than actual human beings. Lenny doesn’t want to be part of some learning experiment. He just wants to be left alone. Yet if Lenny is going to make it as a middle schooler on a college campus, he’s going to need help. Is a group of misfit sixth graders and one particularly quirky professor enough to pull him out of his sadness and back into the world?
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The highly anticipated follow up to Wish, which has spent six years on the New York Times bestseller list and is beloved by over two million readers. Dream follows a small town girl with big aspirations who discovers that anything is possible with your best friends and an adorable pup by your side!
The sky is the limit.
Idalee Lovett is content with her life in small-town Colby, North Carolina, living in her family’s huge house with rooms for rent. But she has big dreams, just like her mama. While Mama is on tour for the summer with her cover band, Lovey Lovett and the Junkyard Dogs, Idalee decides to hone her craft as a songwriter ― since her truest wish is to hear her country songs on the radio one day.
When the local radio station announces a songwriting contest with the winning song being recorded by an up-and-coming singer, Idalee is determined to win. It would definitely be possible if only she could buy the shiny blue guitar in Asheville’s music shop. Idalee doesn’t have much money, but she knows exactly how to get it ― the long-lost treasure her late granddaddy hid somewhere in their house. With the help of her friends Odell, Howard, Charlie, and an adorable little dog named Wishbone, Idalee is going to search in every nook and cranny until she finds it. But little does she know, the biggest treasure of all is only discovered when you believe in yourself with your whole heart.
In this standalone companion to the #1 New York Times bestseller Wish, nothing is impossible as Idalee learns the power of chasing her dreams one guitar strum at a time.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Tundra Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Twelve-year-old Mizzy wants to prove to the world that she can solve mysteries just like Sherlock Holmes, despite a reputation for tall tales. A charming new mystery series for middle-grade readers, starring a girl with Down syndrome.
Twelve-year-old Mizzy dreams of being a detective and she won’t let anything stand in her way — not her reputation for tall tales, or her embarrassing fear of escalators, and definitely not her Down syndrome. Dumped for the summer with cousins who’ve outgrown her, Mizzy feels even more sidelined than usual. But when she discovers Great Aunt Jane’s diaries in a locked wardrobe in their spare room, and realizes her aunt didn’t just die in her sleep but under suspicious circumstances, everything changes. What’s more…someone in the family appears to have been involved.
Under the guise of a family tree project for school, and armed with a brand-new set of Pip-Squeaks markers, Mizzy grabs the chance to prove herself to her cousins — and the world.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Delacorte Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Full of chills and twists, a twelve-year-old boy is thrilled that he’ll get to play endless games at his family’s arcade, but soon realizes he’s in the fight of his life when he’s forced to save himself and his possessed Uncle from a sinister video game.
Danny is spending a week with his Uncle Bill who runs a massive retro arcade called PixelWorks. His only plan is to play as many games as possible from open to close, but he wasn’t expecting to find the Holy Grail of arcade collectors, a gruesome looking game titled Grin.
Anyone who plays the game becomes surprisingly violent, and soon with the help of his friend Jodi and a knowledgeable videogame streamer, Danny realizes that Grin holds the soul of a dead serial killer.
Soon, the killer makes the jump into Bill’s body, and it’s up to Danny to figure out a way to stop him for good.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Storytide
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The Ghost Show is coming…are you ready? Three friends must face their deepest fears in this spine-tingling horror novel by USA Today bestselling author J.W. Ocker that’s perfect for fans of R.L. Stine and Mary Downing Hahn.
When mysterious ads for the Ghost Show appear around town, nobody can tell what it is. A band? A movie? A game? But that magic word — ghost — excites Hazel Gold, or Zel to her friends. As founder of her school’s Creepy Club (three members strong!), she’s always looking for paranormal activity.
Turns out the Ghost Show is a black, five-story skull that appears on the edge of town as a supernatural attraction. Stepping inside, the Creepy Club is greeted by the eccentric Amadeus Everest Mancer, a self-proclaimed ghost catcher who guides them through an aquarium full of vaporous floaty things — sheets that cover gobs of dripping red goo.
Then Mancer offers Zel what she’s always wanted: the chance to see a real ghost. But it turns out to be more than she bargained for. To stop him, the Creepy Club must fight a massive ghost infestation and free the trapped souls within, culminating in chilling battle that blurs the line between reality and the supernatural.
Publication Date August 26th 2025 by Holiday House
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
What would happen if you accidentally bought a doodle worth millions? Edwin Hodge finds out in this middle grade novel by Dan Gutman, bestselling author of My Weird School series.
There were so many things Edwin Hodge didn’t know when he paid $10 for a cool poster of Kobe Bryant at the local flea market.
He didn’t know that hidden within the frame of the poster was an original drawing by Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists in history. He didn’t know the Picasso might be worth millions of dollars. He didn’t know that kids at school were going to treat him differently, or that he would become a world famous social media superstar.
And he sure didn’t know that people would tap his phone, follow him home, break into his house, or threaten to burn it down. He didn’t know the Picasso was going to ruin his life.
Have you ever had to make a decision – a really hard decision? A decision that would change the course of your life from that moment on? Edwin is faced with lots of crucial decisions in this gripping adventure, a blend of fact and fiction by Dan Gutman, an author who says, “I want my readers to think that reading my books is like watching a movie. One where you never know what’s going to happen next.”
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date September 2nd 2025 by Scholastic Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, a decades-old family secret is buried within the sand, water, and woods…waiting for cousins Avery and Jax to find it and uncover the truth.
Avery is a firecracker. In a crayon box of colors, she’s the shocking pink and laser lemon, when all she wants is to be a quiet tan or soft cornflower blue. Her cousin, Jax, is a wall flower, because sometimes it’s better to stay quiet when the alternative is to be told that you’re doing or saying everything wrong. They seem to be the only ones who don’t know what happened years ago when their family shattered and went off in different directions.
When their beloved Aunt Robbie summons the large, estranged family together for a gathering at their broken-down family cabin on Crooked Lake, instead of getting the answer, Aunt Robbie delivers some devastating news. Avery and Jax learn that by the end of the summer, the island that’s been a part of their family for generations is going up for sale.
Forced to stay on the island with their estranged family to get it into shape to sell, Avery and Jax begin to dig through the history of the long-abandoned house and its contents… including a sprinkling of diary pages that were hidden around the island decades ago, the summer their family was torn apart.
In this alternating narrative by bestselling author Erin Soderberg Downing, two cousins are finally beginning to understand the joy of family – however cracked and imperfect theirs might be. But if they have any chance of gluing their broken family back together, they’ll have to first figure out what happened then.
Publication Date September 2nd 2025 by HarperAlley
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Clue meets The Baby-Sitters Club in this heartwarming middle grade graphic novel perfect for fans of Kayla Miller and Terri Libenson.
Amy has always loved a good mystery.
So when her classmate Reagan invites her to a murder-mystery-themed birthday party, she should be ecstatic. But…she’s not. Instead, she’s worried that her social anxiety will mess everything up. Thankfully, all the guests are given characters to play for the night, so Amy doesn’t have to go to Reagan’s party as herself — she’ll go as “Millie Morgan,” a scientist looking to solve the murder and clear her name.
With newfound confidence as Millie, she must work with the other partygoers to solve the crime. But when evidence piles up and clues begin to incriminate her alter ego, Amy’s anxiety comes rushing back. With the help of her new friends, Amy must learn to navigate her own anxiety as Millie works to solve the mystery and prove her innocence.
Publication Date September 2nd 2025 by Scholastic Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The next evolution in storytelling from New York Times bestselling, Newbery Medal Winning author Erin Entrada Kelly!
Twelve-year-old Lila has two goals for the summer:
1. Win back the friends who ditched her for being “too dramatic”
2. Stop being so dramaticBut then Lila’s estranged Grandpa Clem dies, throwing a wrench in her plans. Now she’ll have to spend the summer in Ohio while her parents decide what to do with Grandpa Clem’s creepy Victorian Inn. It’s supremely unfair. How can she show off the “new and improved” Lila from so far away?
Even worse, strange things keep happening. En route to Ohio, the family gets into a scary car accident. No one’s hurt, but the remainder of the trip is… odd. At every rest stop, Lila sees people in weird old-fashioned clothes. People no one else can see or hear…
Lila convinces herself it’s just her overactive imagination until the day of the funeral when she spots an old man sitting in her grandfather’s favorite chair. She does a double take – it’s him, Grandpa Clem. He tells Lila that he didn’t die of a heart attack: he was murdered. Possibly by someone who wants to control the inn. Because it’s not a normal bed & breakfast: it’s a portal between the land of the living and the realm of the dead. A hotel for ghosts passing onto the afterlife.
With the help of her skeptical brother, Caleb, and their new ghost-obsessed neighbor, Teddy, Lila – the girl who’s vowed to be less dramatic – must uncover her grandfather’s killer AND stop the evil spirits desperate to make their way back into the human world.
Enter the world of The Last Resort! Ghosts from the story will emerge from the pages of the book, allowing readers to talk to spirits from the past and help solve the mystery!
Publication Date September 9th 2025 by Quill Tree Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
In this queer, contemporary, and neurodiverse spin on Romeo and Juliet from Stonewall Award Honor author Taylor Tracy, two New York City girls from warring restaurateur families befriend each other during the busiest week for their respective Italian eateries: the Feast of San Gennaro.
Hot-headed and energetic Romea Marino is starting ninth grade with a full plate. Between confusing social dynamics of high school and juggling extracurriculars, Ro can only find peace in the reliable comfort of her kitchen, where she’s able to follow in her dad’s culinary footsteps, whipping up Italian-fusion recipes.
Thoughtful and reserved Julianna Cangelosi is dying to help in her family’s restaurant, which serves traditional Italian dishes. But because Jules suffers from anxiety and struggles with overstimulation, her parents are wary of their daughter being in the chaos of a New York City kitchen.
When Ro and Jules meet on the first night of the San Gennaro Festival, sparks fly…until they learn that their fathers own dueling Italian restaurants across the street from each other. But the more the girls hang out — Ro teaching Jules how to cook; Jules taking Ro to her favorite spots around the city — the more their feelings grow. Can they rewrite the old tale of star-crossed kids from rival families and create a new recipe for love and friendship?
Publication Date September 9th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A usually-honest ninth grader fibs about having been kissed then rushes to lock lips with someone before her lie is uncovered in this charming and relatable middle grade rom-com.
Millie hates liars. Ever since her mom lied to their family about the six-month affair she was having, Millie has pledged to always tell the truth, no matter what. But when her classmate Logan asks her — in the middle of study hall with everyone listening — whether she’s kissed anyone, she panics. She panics and lies, saying she has.
Afterward, Millie spirals. She hasn’t only broken her most important rule, she’s done it badly. Millie’s sure everyone knows she was fibbing. The only way out is to make reality catch up to her lies by changing her kiss status and getting a boyfriend…as quickly as possible.
But Millie’s mission keeps getting foiled by Logan, who suddenly seems to be there at every turn. Millie starts to wonder why Logan cares so much in the first place. Could it be that when he asked about her first kiss, it wasn’t to embarrass her at all?
Publication Date September 9th 2025 by Clarion Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Boston Globe–Horn Book Award–winning author Brandy Colbert gives The Parent Trap a fresh, funny, and delightfully unexpected update in this story of two girls — one raised by her single father, the other in the foster care system — who meet by chance…only to discover they’re identical twins.
Kenya Norwood likes things just the way they are. She’s lived all her life in Pasadena with her dad and grandmother, she’s attended the same school with the same friends since pre-K, and she’s always the center of attention. Even as she’s about to start middle school, she knows one thing for sure: none of that is going to change.
For Liberty Perry, change is all she’s ever known. Her mother disappeared when she was a toddler, and ever since, she’s never stayed in one place for very long. But things seem different with her new foster mother, Joey. Maybe in this home, in this school, change won’t come so quickly.
Except everything changes the day Liberty and Kenya meet — and discover they are identical.
Neither of them is ready to find out she has a twin sister (in fact, they’re unsure if they even want one), and when the girls learn the truth of how they were separated, it’s clear that no one else in their lives was ready for this, either. But the connection they share might be even stronger than the things that kept them apart — and teaming up might be the only way to set everything right.
Publication Date September 9th 2025 by Bright Matter Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Discover the amazing illustrated stories of seven women magicians who pulled off spectacular and death-defying illusions and acts, achieved global fame, and then simply…disappeared.
During the Golden Age of Magic from 1860 to 1930, seven women magicians in America defied Victorian conventions and created a unique place in history for themselves and future performers to come. There was Anna, the mindreader; Adelaide, who could float in midair; Talma, who could magically shower the stage with gold coins…and many more!
During a time when women were typically confined to the home, these trailblazers crossed oceans on steamships and traveled the globe bringing their imaginative brand of magic to audiences around the world. They followed their hearts and pursued their dreams of performing magic in the spotlight when women had neither a vote nor a voice in America.
They made history. Yet once their career ended, so did their legacy.
For decades their stories were hidden, or overshadowed by male counterparts, but now they’ve come to life in this vibrant and captivating book.
Publication Date September 16th 2025 by Delacorte Press
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home, a girl who can see and smell the supernatural must solve the mystery of a priceless heirloom stolen from her family’s business. Perfect for fans of Netflix’s Wednesday and Beetlejuice!
13-year-old Mystery — who was abandoned in a cemetery and raised in a funeral home — is plagued by sleep paralysis and the smell of ghosts, but she’s used to that. Even though her life might seem “strange” on the outside, she loves it.
That is until a priceless heirloom goes missing and her family’s funeral home is in danger of being shut down. To clear her Tia’s good name, Mystery embarks on an adventure to figure out what really happened to the misplaced necklace.
But to do so, she must contend with the angry patriarch of the town’s wealthiest family, a sleep paralysis demon, a graverobber, and the ghastly half-vampire, half-ghost that’s lurking in the Olde Ellis Town Cemetery.
Publication Date September 23rd 2025 by Feiwel & Friends
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
To save the only life he’s ever known, a tween vampire has to destroy it first in Defanged, a new speculative middle grade from author H.E. Edgmon.
Lux Priddy is a regular 12-year-old: he goes to school, hangs out with his best friend, Emma, and loves to pet every dog he sees. Except for one little thing – Lux is a vampire. And even though vampires came out of the coffin and into the public eye before he was even born, not everyone is happy about it. So when a group called Vampirism Sucks develops a cure, most people are thrilled. Lux? Not so much.
Humans might think his life is miserable, but he’s never known anything else. And he doesn’t think he even wants to be human. After all, what makes being a human better than being a vampire? After an epic escape out the window of a Vampirism Sucks facility, Lux finds himself in a secret underground vampire city – one filled with “bad” vampires, the kind his parents have always warned him about. But even though he’s been taught to fear them, the people of Nox Urbus are the only ones that seem to understand him. And when the so-called cure stops being optional, Lux is forced to make a choice: go back home and submit to the treatment, or stand up and fight a corrupt system for the right to be himself.
Publication Date September 23rd 2025 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
From Schneider Family Book Award winner Alison Green Myers comes a heartwarming middle grade novel about loss, friendship, and the many paths we create to happiness.
Growing up at her grandparents’ amusement park, Reilly Rhoades spent her life in the glow of bright lights, hard work, and sweet treats. That is until her beloved grandfather died. With Grandpa gone now, the sweetness of the park disappears, and the pride Reilly had for her family’s legacy grows bitter.
Without Grandpa, Reilly’s family fights to keep the park going — spreading happiness to others as they struggle to find it themselves. The strain causes one problem after another to erupt, until the Rhoades family, and their amusement park, comes apart at the seams.
As past traditions clash with today’s realities, a new friendship splashes into Reilly’s universe. With epic advice, wild adventures, and a plan (or twenty) for tackling life’s twists and turns, Reilly Rhoades discovers that happiness doesn’t mean you have to choose between the past and the future — sometimes building a bridge connects all the best parts of you!
This Way To Happy is a rollercoaster ride that reminds readers even in the midst of life’s most challenging turns, happiness can be found just around the corner.
Publication Date September 23rd 2025 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A child of immigrants feels caught between two worlds and two selves in this powerful, luminous middle grade historical novel about self-determination, community, and what it means to belong — perfect for fans of Esperanza Rising and Katherine Marsh’s The Lost Year.
When your family comes from Eastern Europe, you get used to being called a Bohunk — someone who’s ignorant, lazy, and still has Old World farm dirt in their ears. Someone from a place that people don’t care enough about to learn its real name.
Stanislava feels stuck in her deeply traditional Slovene community in Colorado in 1910. But when she finds a library book about an immigrant girl’s college adventure, she discovers a dazzling world of opportunity. She’s desperate to be like the book’s heroine, Katinka, who starts life anew as Katie and is seemingly living the American dream. So, like Katie, Stanislava adopts an “American” name: Sylvia.
Sylvia fantasizes about escaping her claustrophobic life and going off to college — until her dreams are shattered when her older sister, Stina, elopes with a man their family disapproves of. Now Sylvia finds herself at a crossroads: quit school to fill Stina’s role as the family’s caretaker or run away from home. Stanislava would do the former. But Sylvia is determined to be free…
Publication Date September 30th 2025 by Margaret Ferguson Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
“Do you know when the war will be over?”
“You’re asking because you have older brothers, don’t you?”Twelve-year-old Yolanda Sahagún, an aspiring nun raised by strict Mexican immigrant parents, likes to envision her family of nine siblings as the von Trapps from her favorite movie, The Sound of Music. But a larger-than-life family isn’t the only thing Yoli has in common with her fictional friends — she, too, is coming of age as war looms large.
In Yoli’s household, rules define everything — especially those about what the Sahagún daughters are old enough to do, like no talking to boys on the phone. But there are no rules on the battlefield, and Yoli is grown enough to understand that her draft-eligible big brother (her favorite brother!) could be killed in the war. Determined to protect him, Yoli makes a pact with God. But what happens if God doesn’t keep his end of the bargain?
Set against a rich historical backdrop of the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement, Patricia Santana’s heartfelt middle grade novel balances weighty themes with warm family dynamics and a captivating voice that’s sure to be a favorite with fans of character-driven historical fiction, as well as contemporary readers who can relate to the challenges of just living their lives when it feels like the world is on fire.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date September 30th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Reality and fiction collide when a shy aspiring writer uses her larger-than-life anonymous blog to sabotage a budding relationship between the new girl in school and her childhood friend in this irresistible rom-com that takes notes from Jane Austen’s Emma for the social media age.
Shy, introverted Jane lives out a fantasy life in her online blog, where she writes elaborate posts about a teen girl with a glamorous life and a gorgeous boyfriend — two things Jane definitely doesn’t have. She only has her writing and her BFFs Camila and Leo, who she shares everything with — except the fact that she’s leading a double life online. Jane’s real life and her online life do not mix.
Then a new girl named Brynn, who Jane has had a rough start with, begins cozying up to Leo. Jane knows Brynn’s totally wrong for him, so when she finds out Brynn follows her blog, Jane does something risky: She starts using her blog to get her way in real life. But when the lines between fact and fiction start to blur, what does that mean for Jane’s anonymity, and the real-life relationships at stake?
Publication Date September 30th 2025 by Aladdin
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
Glass Onion meets Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library in this twisty, laugh-out-loud middle grade mystery about an inexperienced detective who plans to solve a local murder to achieve greatness.
Only you can solve the mystery of my murder.
Grady Jones has spent nearly all twelve years of his life trying to find a way to be great at something. So when a mysterious note is delivered to his door, addressed to him, asking Grady to solve the murder of his town’s reclusive billionaire, Grady believes his search is over. He’ll be a Great Detective! The only problem is he is not known for being very observant…or intuitive…or clever.
Oh, and he has no idea how to solve a mystery.
Luckily, he has some friends who have skills of deduction, and together, they might have the chops to figure out the murderer. Then a stranger also named Grady Jones comes to town, and Grady fears the note might not have been meant for him at all. And if that’s the case, how will he ever become Great?
In this hilarious mystery about mistaken identity, one boy must make life-changing decisions, perhaps most important of all: is it more important to be a Great Detective, or a great friend?
Publication Date September 30th 2025 by Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
The Lost Library meets Not Quite A Ghost in this middle grade horror novel about a girl uncovering secrets about her new, haunted home.
The only thing worse than having ghost hunters for parents is having fake ghost hunters for parents. Luna Catalano would know. Her moms are haunted house flippers who use their home reno skills and pretend psychic powers to turn spooky old houses into ghost-free modern homes. Not only does their job require the family to move all the time – meaning Luna is completely friendless – but the only thing haunting any of those houses is bad decor. For once Luna wishes there was an actual, for-real ghost.
When they move yet again, Luna isn’t expecting much. But this house feels…different. Things start out innocent enough – items not where they should be, strange noises – but soon things turn sinister. Her moms are waking up with cuts and bruises, and disturbing drawings showing them with even worse injuries are being left in Luna’s room. With the help of her next-door neighbors and a mysterious woman who seems to know a lot about the home, Luna starts to piece together what exactly happened in that house before she moved in. But not everything is as it seems. In order to save her moms, Luna will have to get the story right before everything goes completely wrong.
Stonewall Honor-winning author Justine Pucella Winans returns with another middle grade horror with heart about friendship, family, and the stories we tell when real life feels too scary.
Publication Date September 30th 2025 by HarperCollins
Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
For fans of Not Quite A Ghost and Ghost Squad, acclaimed middle grade author Ellen Oh of Spirit Hunters and an APALA Honoree delivers a new spooky novel about young hero Rory and the creepy house next door. Filled with scary spirits, mysterious noises, and malevolent forces, the house has tormented many souls, and Rory must do everything he can to prevent the new neighbors from becoming its next victims. We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh delivers another heart-pounding story that you won’t be able to put down.
Home is where the sinister lives. Rory Parker knows not to step a foot in, on, or around the house next door. He’s seen things creeping in the shadows, has had encounters with spirits, and lost a best friend to the house’s malevolence. But when his new neighbors, Jack and his lovable family, move into the house next door, Rory makes it his duty to protect them at all costs.
But the vicious forces lying within the house are plotting something evil, something that puts Jack’s little sister in extreme danger. Soon, Rory understands he’ll need the help of his new friend and some friendly ghosts in order to stand a chance at defeating whatever lurks within its walls for good. But what exactly lives in the house next door, and will Rory and Jack find out in time to save the day, or can its evil never be evicted?
