Today’s post is sponsored by T.C. Kemper and The Ginghams!
Title The Ginghams
Author T.C. Kemper
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Publication Date July 21st 2026 by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
An eerie middle grade mystery debut that follows a young girl who returns home to find the people of her little town, including her best friend, chillingly changed after the arrival of the prim and proper Gingham family.
When 12-year-old Joni Bird returns home from summer camp, it’s clear something strange is afoot in Olive Springs. May, her usually head-banging best friend, now wears her hair in a tight bun and calls playing the drums “unladylike.” The ice cream shop only serves vanilla ice cream. The women and girls of the neighborhood all sport big pearl earrings and crisp cotton dresses.
At the heart of it all? The creepy new family in the neighborhood with their soulless, carnival smiles and retro fashion sense: the Ginghams. Everyone they invite to their Thursday night book club re-emerges as dead-eyed, smiling, Gingham-approved “model citizens,” all thanks to Mr. Gingham’s lifestyle guide, The Pillars of Perfection ― and something even more sinister hidden behind his basement door.
Through quick thinking and cunning, Joni and her friend Tyler set out to fight not only to get their friend May back, but to save their whole town from forever falling under the Ginghams’ control.
Do! Judge A Book By Its Cover is a regular feature on Pop! Goes The Reader in which I pay tribute to some of the best and brightest the publishing world has to offer in the way of book cover design.
Please Note: As always, I’ve done my best to credit the designers and artists responsible for the book covers below, but was unable to find this information for some of those listed. If you know of an uncredited designer and/or artist responsible for any of these book covers or if I’ve credited someone incorrectly, please let me know and I would be happy to edit the post to include their names. Their work is important and deserves attribution!
01. Glory Be by Jamie Sumner
02. On The Road To Happy by Goldy Moldavsky
Cover art by Svetla Radivoeva
03. Mexikid Dreams by Pedro Martín
Cover art by Pedro Martín
04. It Came From The Creek by Amy Sarig King
Cover art by J Yang
05. Brittle Magic by Kate O’Shaughnessy
Cover design by Katrina Damkoehler, Cover art by Yas Imamura
06. The Third Period Comeback by E.K. Johnston
Cover design by Maria Fazio, Cover art by Chelen Ecija
07. A Wish With Wings by Sarah Guillory
Cover design by L. Whitt and Emma Schoeni, Cover art by Julian Plum
08. HeartLand by Jilanne Hoffmann
Cover design by Gabrielle Chang, Cover art by James Firnhaber
09. Griffin Speaker by Jan. M. Flynn
Cover art by Matt Rockefeller
10. Calliope Callisto Clark and The Search For Wisdom by Claudia Mills
Cover art by Matt Rockefeller
11. The Edge of Forever by Meghan P. Browne
Cover design by Rich Deas, Cover art by Tom Cole
12. California or Dust by Mindy Nichols Wendell
Cover art by Loika
13. Sneaks by Amy Tern
Cover art by Charis Jackson Barrios
14. The Burn Beast by Mary Averling
Cover design by Kaitlin Yang, Cover art by James Firnhaber
15. Socks & Secret Quests by Triona Murphy
Cover art by James Firnhaber
16. The Continuation of Summer Dillon by Sarah Everett
Cover art by Geneva Bowers
17. Mystery James Returns From The Grave by Ally Russell
Cover design by Carol Ly, Cover art by Devin Forst
18. Roar by Varsha Bajaj
Cover art by Chaaya Prabhat
19. Detective Beans and The Map of Mystery by Li Chen
Cover art by Li Chen
20. The Unusuals by Gail Carson Levine
21. The Manor Mysteries: The Disappearance and The Diary by Eileen Biltmore
22. Song of the Yellow Dragon by Ying Ping Low
23. Roi and Me and The Double V by Sandra W. Headen
24. The Ginghams by T.C. Kemper
Cover design by Rich Deas, Cover art by Alba Filella
