Today’s post is sponsored by Candlewick and Confessions Of A Candy Snatcher!
Title Confessions Of A Candy Snatcher
Author Phoebe Sinclair
Illustrator Theodore Taylor III
Intended Target Audience Middle Grade
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Candlewick
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon ● Chapters ● Blackwell’s ● Barnes & Noble ● IndieBound
A night of Halloween fun gone wrong has Jonas wondering if he’s really a wolf in disguise in this fast-paced fiction debut delving into accountability, relationships…and zines.
For the past few years, twelve-year-old Jonas and his friends have competed to see how many bags of candy they can grab from unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. No one’s supposed to get hurt, just lose their treats. So Jonas is taken by surprise when one of his smaller targets fights back against his snatching attempt. He’s even more surprised when he starts to receive anonymous notes from someone who knows what happened that night.
Jonas already has enough on his plate, between his parents’ ill-defined separation and his own guilt — guilt his friend Concepción challenges him to confront in a zine she’s creating around the prompt “What’s the worst thing you ever did?” It’s a complicated question, one that touches on issues of identity, maturity, physical boundaries, and safety.
Featuring zines crafted by award-winning illustrator Theodore Taylor III, Phoebe Sinclair’s debut novel relates an emotive, reflective story about the wonder — and mess — of growing up.
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!
That said, I am doing things a little differently this year! Ordinarily my most-anticipated lists cover a six month time period (i.e January-June, July-December) but this year the lists I share will cover only three months at a time. This is not only because I find it extremely time-consuming and labour-intensive to cover such an enormous number of books at one time (For example, 2022’s January-June YA list was 100 books long!) but also because I think making these into slightly smaller posts will makes it easier for readers to consume. It can be really overwhelming to see a list of 100+ books, and because my goal is to specifically highlight the titles selected for my most-anticipated posts, this seems a little counter-productive. That said, I welcome all feedback about this issue. Did you like it better when the most-anticipated posts covered six months, instead? Please let me know in the comments!
Please Note: If you’re a middle grade author with a novel being published in 2023 and don’t see your book on one of Pop! Goes The Reader’s Most-Anticipated lists, please don’t be hurt or upset! This list is 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 these 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 2023 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 2023, please check out this Goodreads list which currently includes over 250 MG novels being published this year for you to choose from. Hopefully you’ll be able to find the perfect book for you. Happy reading!
The publication dates listed below might be subject to change.
Publication Date July 4th 2023 by Chicken House
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A high-stakes adventure full of heart and the power of words to create change in modern day Mumbai, from debut author Varsha Shah, winner of the Times/Chicken House competition.
Abandoned on the Mumbai railways, Ajay has grown up with nothing but a burning wish to be a journalist. And after finding an abandoned printing press, his dreams might just come true. But when he and his friends Saif, Vinod, Yasmin and Jai create their own newspaper, The Mumbai Sun, and begin to hunt down stories to fill their pages, the children uncover a plan to tear down their slum ― which will leave hundreds of more people homeless.
Can Ajay and his friends really succeed in bringing the truth to light against some of the most powerful forces in the city, fight for justice, and save their slum from bulldozers?
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Chronicle Books
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For fans of The War That Saved My Life and Wolf Hollow, this fast-paced and unforgettable story follows one girl’s journey to overcome her trauma, discover what friendship really means, and learn that being brave is not always about being fearless.
Breanna is certain of a few things: She is strong, tough, and the greatest prankster in her entire district. She doesn’t need to meet new people, not when she already has amazing friends like Pascale and Niraj.
And she WILL NOT be ascending Sky Ropes — the highest ropes course in the state — at her school’s required teambuilding camp. No, she’s not afraid of heights!
Breanna is determined to get through the week of camp as quickly as possible, while planning the most epic prank and avoiding even thinking of the Sky Ropes. And as the week progresses, Breanna can’t help loving her time in nature, fostering a rivalry with the other competitive softball pitcher, and bonding with the other kids. But as much as she likes to pretend that she isn’t afraid of anything, Breanna knows that, come Friday, she will have to face the Sky Ropes — and with it, the fear deeply tied to memories of her father’s abuse that she has been fighting to push away.
Emotionally rich and tumultuously paced, Sondra Soderborg’s debut novel is a story about opening yourself up to new possibilities, understanding what it means to be a true friend, encountering the most difficult truths about your own self, and finding self-acceptance within darkness.
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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In this middle-grade novel, National Book Award Nominee Mitali Perkins explores change, friendship, family, and growing up in a community facing a housing crisis.
Twelve-year-old Indian-American Pandita Paul doesn’t like change. She’s not ready to start middle school and leave the comforts of childhood behind. Most of all, Pandita doesn’t want to feel like she’s leaving her mother, who died a few years ago, behind. After a falling out with her best friend, Pandita is planning to spend most of her summer break reading and writing in her favorite secret space: the abandoned but majestic mansion across the street.
But then the unthinkable happens. The town announces that the old home will be bulldozed in favor of new―maybe affordable―housing. With her family on opposing sides of the issue, Pandita must find her voice ― and the strength to move on ― in order to give her community hope.
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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From the author of the highly acclaimed How High the Moon comes a moving and heartfelt novel about how a girl’s family and friendships are turned upside down — just as the world is changing in 1970s Los Angeles.
Stevie’s life is fluctuating rapidly. She’s starting over in a brand new middle school. Quiet and observant, it’s hard for her to make friends. Plus, her mind is too occupied. The tension in her home is building as her parents’ arguments are becoming more frequent. To top it all off, Stevie’s older cousin Naomi is coming to live with the family in an attempt to keep her from a “bad” crowd — The Black Panthers.
Stevie agrees to keep Naomi’s secrets. She’s the cool big cousin, after all, and Stevie can’t help but notice the happy, positive effect the Black Panthers are having on Naomi’s confidence and identity — just like how Mom is making decisions for herself, even when Dad disapproves.
Stevie feels herself beginning to change as well. But one thing remains the same: she loves both of her parents, and she loves them together. Can her family stay in one piece despite the world shifting around them?
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Quill Tree Books
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Neurodivergent Maudie is ready to spend an amazing summer with her dad, but will she find the courage to tell him a terrible secret about life with her mom and new stepdad? This contemporary novel by the award-winning author of The Someday Birds is a must-read for fans of Leslie Connor and Ali Standish.
Maudie always looks forward to the summers she spends in California with her dad. But this year, she must keep a troubling secret about her home life — one that her mom warned her never to tell. Maudie wants to confide in her dad about her stepdad’s anger, but she’s scared.
When a wildfire strikes, Maudie and her dad are forced to evacuate to the beach town where he grew up. It’s another turbulent wave of change. But now, every morning, from their camper, Maudie can see surfers bobbing in the water. She desperately wants to learn, but could she ever be brave enough?
As Maudie navigates unfamiliar waters, she makes friends — and her autism no longer feels like the big deal her mom makes it out to be. But her secret is still threatening to sink her. Will Maudie find the strength to reveal the awful truth — and maybe even find some way to stay with Dad — before summer is over?
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Sourcebooks Young Readers
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From the Edgar-nominated author of Coop Knows the Scoop comes an exciting mystery perfect for fans of From The Desk of Zoe Washington and Holes.
When Grady and his dad learn that the town oddball, Eudora “Kooky” Klinch left something for them in her will, they can only imagine what it might be. When it turns out it’s an old scrap of 300-year-old tapestry, they are bitterly disappointed. But the cloth comes with a note saying, “This is no ordinary piece of needlework. It’s a treasure map. Riddles and Clues. To the victor go the riches.” Grady’s dad dismisses it, but Grady thinks this could be the chance of a lifetime. With the help of his friends Thad, Clemmie, and the town dog Ophelia, Grady is determined to crack the clues and find the treasure.
But when someone tries to break into Grady’s house one night, and then the local antiques expert who examined the tapestry is found unconscious, Grady realizes that he’s not the only one who knows about the treasure map. There’s more at risk than he bargained for, and solving this mystery just got a lot more dangerous.
Publication Date July 11th 2023 by Holiday House
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Cora Mae Tipton is determined to light up her Appalachian community in this historical fiction novel from an award-winning author and former librarian.
It’s 1937 and the government is pushing to bring electricity to the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. It’s all Cora can think of; radios with news from around the world, machines that keep food cold, lightbulbs by which to read at night! Cora figures she can help spread the word by starting a school newspaper and convincing her neighbors to support the Rural Electrification Act.
But resistance to change isn’t easy to overcome, especially when it starts at home. Cora’s mother is a fierce opponent of electrification. She argues that protecting the landscape of the holler — the trees, the streams, the land that provides for their way of life — is their responsibility. But Cora just can’t let go of wanting more.
Lyrical, literary, and deeply heartfelt, this debut novel from an award-winning author-librarian speaks to family, friendship, and loss through the spirited perspective of a girl eager for an electrified existence, but most of all, the light of her mother’s love and acceptance.
Back matter includes an Author’s Note; further information on the Rural Electrification Act, the herbs and plants of Appalachia, the Pack Horse Library Project, and more; and a “Quick Questions” historical trivia section for readers.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date July 18th 2023 by Scholastic Press
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Award-winning author Wendy Wan-Long Shang brews a frothy and bright story, filled with humor and heart, about friendship, first crushes, and finding one’s own way in Bubble Trouble.
How many problems can a delicious cup of bubble tea cause? Plenty, if you’re Chloe Wong. For starters, Chloe wants to go on the class trip to Broadway – an expense Chloe’s not sure she and her dad can afford since her mom passed away – and those yummy cups of boba cost money. And then there’s the fact that the incorrigible Henry Lee is the bobamaster at Tea Palace, and when he’s not annoying Chloe, he’s usually coming up with the perfect drink for every occasion. For Chloe, lover of neatness and control, the arrival of bubble tea is nothing but trouble!
But bubble tea really wreaks havoc when Chloe finds herself banned from Tea Palace (for dumping boba on someone who really deserved it!). She comes up with the idea to make her own boba and sell it, with the help of her best friend Sabrina, her inventor dad and (whether she wants it or not) her rescue dog. Suddenly neatnik Chloe will have to contend with sticky drinks, the complications of running her own business and…maybe the messiness of admitting that she actually like-likes someone? Will Chloe be able to step out of the bubble she has built around herself and into an exciting new adventure to go along with her boba tea?
Publication Date July 18th 2023 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
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Perfect for fans of Small Spaces and Doll Bones, this spooky, highly illustrated middle grade novel follows a girl who hopes to fix her outcast status through a game in the haunted woods, only to discover that some legends shouldn’t be played with.
Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow — or so the story goes.
Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game — and each other — is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.
Publication Date July 18th 2023 by Little, Brown Ink
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A moving middle grade graphic novel about friendship, belonging, and learning to love yourself despite the voices in your head.
Isaac Itkin can’t get away from his thoughts.
As a lonely twelve-year-old kid with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), everything from studying to looking in the mirror becomes a battle between him and a swarm of unhelpful thoughts.
The strict therapy his mother insists on doesn’t seem to be working, but when a group of friends invites him to join their after-school role-playing game, the thoughts feel a little less loud, and the world feels a little brighter.
But Isaac’s therapist says that exposure to games can have negative effects on kids with OCD, and when his grades slip, his helicopter mother won’t let him play anymore. Now Isaac needs to find a way to prove to himself, to his mother, and to the world that the way to quiet the noise in his head may have been inside him all along.
Publication Date July 18th 2023 by Clarion Books
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In this not-so-scary ghost story from Jacqueline Davies, bestselling author of the Lemonade War series, quirky, tool-wielding Alice Cannoli-Potchnik begins to repair the dilapidated mansion next door — only to discover the old house is home to ghosts, and they need mending, too!
Home is where the heart is. But can a house have a heart of its own?
Ten-year-old Alice is moving for the eleventh time.
She’s lived in so many houses, each more broken than the last, that home to Alice is nothing more than a place you fix and then a place you leave. After all, who needs a permanent home when you’re a whiz at fixing things?
But when Alice arrives at her new home, she can’t take her eyes off the house next door, the stately dark house that hulked in the dimming light. The once-grand mansion, now dilapidated and condemned, beckons Alice; it’s the perfect new repair job!
As Alice begins to restore the House to its former splendor, she senses strange presences. Is there a heartbeat coming from the House’s walls? Is someone looking at her? Soon she realizes she’s not alone. Three ghosts have been watching, and they need Alice’s help to solve their unfinished business.
Will Alice be able to unravel the mysteries of the House and find her forever home…before it’s too late?
Publication Date July 18th 2023 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Disney’s Enchanted gets a Lord Of The Rings twist in this fantastical middle grade adventure about two siblings who must close the portal to a magical realm that inspired a popular movie franchise before their own world is conquered by emerging foes.
Twelve-year-old Ainsley Galloway and her ten-year-old brother, Tobin, have just moved to the small, picturesque mountain town of Lowry. The town is famously the setting for the blockbuster Legend of Greyhallow trilogy and there are traces of the films wherever they go. Ainsley’s parents even bought the film director’s former home, which they dream of turning into an inn that caters to fans eager to check out the local Greyhallow Movie Festival.
But when Ainsley and Tobin are fooling around in the attic of their new home, Ainsley unleashes something. Something she doesn’t quite understand. And suddenly, purple mist is flooding the town, she’s receiving cryptic messages from strangers in medieval garb. Oddest of all, the enigmatic director of the Greyhallow movies, who’s been missing for years, has a message for them.
Ainsley and Tobin have opened a passage between the very real magical world of the movies and their own. In a swirl of shifting loyalties, capricious creatures, and movie trivia, Ainsley and Tobin have to figure out what to do — and who to trust — in order to save them all.
Publication Date July 25th 2023 by Chronicle Books
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What if you switched places with your cat? Mean Girls meets Freaky Friday in this laugh-out-loud story about self-acceptance, learning who your friends are, and coming of age…as a cat.
Fifth-grader Poppy McBean likes rules and order. She’s a follower, and she’s totally okay with that. And if you judge her for that, she’s okay with that too! But after falling prey to her friends’ bullying one too many times, Poppy makes a wish to be happy — and it comes true in a very unexpected way: She wakes up in the body of her cat, Mitten Man.
Mayhem ensues as Poppy-the-girl attempts to navigate the wilds of the wilderness as a cat…and her free-thinking, groundbreaking kitty has had it with his owner’s timidity. He’s out to put the purr in perfectionist and take over middle school — as Poppy.
Hilarious and unexpected, Don’t Trust The Cat is a coming-of-age adventure that will keep readers cringing, cracking up, and reconsidering what it means to be a good person.
Publication Date August 1st 2023 by Heartdrum
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A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor–winning author Christine Day (Upper Skagit), about a girl whose hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples’ Day (and plans to ask her crush to the school dance) go all wrong — until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at an intertribal powwow.
Wesley is proud of the poem she wrote for Indigenous Peoples’ Day — but the reaction from a teacher makes her wonder if expressing herself is important enough. And due to the specific tribal laws of her family’s Nation, Wesley is unable to enroll in the Upper Skagit tribe and is left feeling “not Native enough.” Through the course of the novel, with the help of her family and friends, she comes to embrace her own place within the Native community.
Christine Day’s debut, I Can Make This Promise, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, was named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus, School Library Journal, the Chicago Public Library, and NPR, and was also picked as a Charlotte Huck Honor Book. Her sophomore novel, The Sea In Winter, was an American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Honor Book, as well as named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus and School Library Journal.
We Still Belong is an accessible, enjoyable, and important novel from an author who always delivers.
Publication Date August 1st 2023 by Tundra Books
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Two vampire brothers must set aside their differences to solve a series of murders in this humorous and delightfully spooky novel for young readers. For fans of Too Bright To See.
Adam and Victor are brothers who have the usual fights over the remote, which movie to watch and whether or not it’s morally acceptable to eat people. Well, not so much eat…just drink a little blood. They’re vampires, hiding in plain sight with their eclectic yet loving family.
Ten-year-old Adam knows he has a better purpose in his life (well, immortal life) than just drinking blood, but fourteen-year-old Victor wants to accept his own self-image of vampirism. Everything changes when bodies start to appear all over town, and it becomes clear that a vampire hunter may be on the lookout for the family. Can Adam and Victor reconcile their differences and work together to stop the killer before it’s too late?
Publication Date August 8th 2023 by HarperCollins
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Fans of Ghost Squad will love this lightly scary creature feature standalone novel about a tween aspiring horror movie actress who pairs up with the twin children of her favorite director to defeat zombifying octopus-like creatures!
Halle dreams of becoming a scream queen. She practices her loudest scream every day and has learned a lot from studying the horror movies of her favorite director, Maximus Price. Maximus lives just outside town, and when the chance to go to his home arises, Halle grabs it with both hands. She doesn’t realize that real life horrors await her at Price Manor.
Paisley and Argyle, Maximus’s twin children, think that the creepy, squid-like creatures that have attached themselves to the faces of the manor’s staff, putting them in a zombie-like stupor, are just another one of their prankster dad’s tricks. When Halle arrives and is attacked by one of the creatures, she meets the twins and assures them that this is no joke. The three kids will have to work together using all of their unusual talents to defeat the monsters — and maybe even save the world.
Blending quirky humor and poignant heart with delightfully creepy monsters, this debut middle grade novel is a perfect entry point for young readers to the horror genre.
Publication Date August 8th 2023 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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From Sarah Allen, the acclaimed author of What Stars Are Made Of and Breathing Underwater, comes a chilling middle-grade tale of fear, friendship, and finding courage even in the darkest of moments. In this monster story that’s also an allegory for relentless anxiety, see how far a penny’s worth of hope will take you when you enter The Nightmare House.
I saw a person with blank, colorless eyes…and this time, I wasn’t dreaming.
Penny Hope used to be brave, but that was before she met the Fear Maker. Years later, he still haunts her nightmares ― a tall, thin man with red eyes, in a haunted house in the woods, who devours human souls and leaves their eyes hollow and empty. Penny’s beloved grandma tells her to write down these nightmares as poems in her notebook. But then Penny starts seeing blank-eyed people in the waking world, too. She’s the only one who notices.
As more people around her fall prey to the Fear Maker, Penny must gather her courage once and for all to save the souls of those she loves. With the help of a magic garden and a new friend, she ventures to the Fear Maker’s house. But the house is a labyrinth of shadows and tricks ― and the Fear Maker’s fun is just beginning. Can a pocketful of sunflower seeds and a notebook filled with poems be enough to defeat a master of nightmares? And if Penny sets foot in the Fear Maker’s house, will she ever leave?
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Kokila
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From the author of Stand Up, Yumi Chung! comes a funny and utterly charming novel about friends — how to make them, how to let go of them, and how to be your own BFF.
This is the story of Sunny Park, a seventh-grade student at Ranchito Mesa Middle who loves the K-pop band Supreme Beat, hanging out with her cool grandma, dancing when no one is watching, snacking on shrimp chips, and being there for Bailey, her best friend since third grade. When Bailey decides that she and Sunny should audition for the school dance team in a ploy to parent-trap Bailey’s divorced mom and dad, Sunny agrees even though the thought of performing in public makes her pits sweat. After all, she’d do anything for Bailey.
In a twist of fate, Sunny makes the team and Bailey doesn’t, and when Sunny reluctantly joins, it’s the start of a painful and drawn-out parting of ways for the two girls. As Sunny takes her first steps out from behind her friend’s shadow, she’ll have to figure out who she wants to be when she’s in the spotlight — and who she wants dancing alongside her.
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
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Tae Keller meets Tracey Baptiste in a tale of generational trauma, told with a cryptozoological twist.
When her mom disappears from their small Texas town, paleontology-loving Haven is determined to find her. But as she uncovers truths about her mom’s identity, Haven also uncovers a monstrous family secret. Her mom can take the shape of a human and, in the right environment, also turn into an amphibious creature known as a kitskara. And now that she’s growing up, Haven is discovering she has this ability, too. This newfound identity is her only clue to help her track her mother and bring her back home.
And so she, her older sister Margie, and her new friend Rye set off on a road trip across Texas’s Gulf Coast to her late grandparents’ abandoned home, where they’re sure her mom has disappeared to…along with plenty of family secrets.
Infused with a deep love of fossils and Celtic mythology, West of the Sea is a lyrical, heart-filled coming-of-age story for fans of cryptozoology — and anyone who has struggled to find their place in the world when they feel different.
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Candlewick
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A night of Halloween fun gone wrong has Jonas wondering if he’s really a wolf in disguise in this fast-paced fiction debut delving into accountability, relationships…and zines.
For the past few years, twelve-year-old Jonas and his friends have competed to see how many bags of candy they can grab from unsuspecting trick-or-treaters. No one’s supposed to get hurt, just lose their treats. So Jonas is taken by surprise when one of his smaller targets fights back against his snatching attempt. He’s even more surprised when he starts to receive anonymous notes from someone who knows what happened that night.
Jonas already has enough on his plate, between his parents’ ill-defined separation and his own guilt — guilt his friend Concepción challenges him to confront in a zine she’s creating around the prompt “What’s the worst thing you ever did?” It’s a complicated question, one that touches on issues of identity, maturity, physical boundaries, and safety.
Featuring zines crafted by award-winning illustrator Theodore Taylor III, Phoebe Sinclair’s debut novel relates an emotive, reflective story about the wonder — and mess — of growing up.
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Shadow Mountain
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Juniper Berry knows how to handle bobcats, bears, and mountain lions, but can she survive the toughest predator of all ― middle school?
Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry lives with her family deep in the wild woods. Living off the grid is pretty exciting, but her happy life in the wild ends abruptly when her younger brother gets sick, and they move to the city to be closer to the hospital. Juniper and her older sister end up living with cousins they hardly know and attending public school for the first time, which is harder to navigate than the wild woods ever were. Juniper feels like a wolf cub separated from her pack.
As the hospital bills for her brother start piling up, Juniper knows they’ll need to be paid before the family can go back to the woods, so she decides to make enough money to help out. With her cousin Alayna’s support, Juniper starts posting videos filled with her wisdom from the woods, hoping to get a following. But what if it doesn’t work? What if the bills never get paid? Not going home to the wild is Juniper’s worst nightmare. While she’s stuck in the city, she might as well make the most of it, like sticking up for Alayna, who’s being bullied by her supposed friends, for starters.
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry is a story about perseverance when faced with difficult and unfamiliar challenge, belonging and finding your identity, compassion for others, and learning that our differences can sometimes be our strengths.
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Inkyard Press
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This debut middle grade series stars a Cuban-American tween medium navigating friends, family and ghosts!
Paloma Ferrer is psychic. In fact, everyone in her family line has “the gift.” Now that Paloma has come into her powers, she dreams of becoming a famous medium to celebrities, just like her beloved grandma.
When Paloma’s parents move them from Miami to Los Angeles, she hatches a plan to get her career as a medium up and running:
● Host seances at her new school and stream on social media
● Build her profile and make a name for herself
● Avoid detection from her tattletale of a little sisterBut when a reading gone awry leaves Paloma in a sticky situation with a new friend, she’ll need more than a crystal ball to find her way out of this mess.
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Walden Pond Press
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The Brothers Grimm meets Knives Out in this unexpected, hilarious, and wholly original fantasy-murder-mystery.
The Lilac. The bard songs say that she’s the world’s most fearsome bounty hunter. That there’s no criminal she can’t catch, no mystery she can’t solve.
None of that is true. Yet.
In reality, the Lilac is just a kid, and the bard who wrote all that is her best friend, Dulcinetta. But the Lilac has set her goals on becoming the best bounty hunter in the Thirteen Kingdoms — and when a priceless artifact goes missing from the home of famed monster hunter Baron Angbar, the Lilac and Netta are eager to apprehend the thief and make a name for themselves.
But when their investigation brings them to a dinner party at Castle Angbar, and they meet the Angbar family and their servants and guests — an unsavory group of nobles, mages, and assorted creatures, each more shady than the last — the Lilac begins to wonder if the reward is worth the trouble.
And that’s before the dead body is discovered.
Now, everyone is magically sealed inside the castle — and there is a murderer among them. If the Lilac wants to make it out with her reputation intact, it’s going to be up to her to figure out who the killer is. But everyone in the castle — even the Lilac herself — has secrets to hide, and as the walls literally start to close in around them, the Lilac worries that her first job as a bounty hunter may be her last…
Publication Date August 15th 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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A lyrical and environmentally-focused story about sisterhood, adventure, and activism—perfect for fans of The Last Cuentista and The City of Ember.
Twelve-year-old Erie has never lived life fully in the sunlight. After destructive wildfires wreaked havoc on the world around her, the government came up with a plan — engineer a plant that cannot burn. Thus, the fire-resistant lockwood was born. The lockwood protects Erie and her hometown of Prine, but it grows incredibly fast and must be cut back every morning. Only the town’s youngest and smallest citizens can fit between the branches and tame the plant. Citizens just like Erie.
But one evening, Erie uncovers a shocking secret that leads her to question the rules of Prine. Alongside her older sister, Hurona, she’ll journey from the only home she’s known and realize that the world is much more complicated than she’d ever imagined. Packed with surprising twists and a cast of courageous characters, this gripping novel encourages readers to stand up for justice and challenge the status quo.
Publication Date August 22nd 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
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A thrilling and charming middle grade fantasy steeped in Japanese lore and mythology, perfect for fans of the Zachary Ying series.
Tessa Miyata has never fit in. When she and her two sisters are told they will be staying at their grandparents in Japan, Tessa is thrilled. A summer in Japan could be her chance to go on an adventure worthy of impressing her classmates back home.
Her hopes are quickly dashed when, all too soon, she realizes that life in Japan is just like being in California: her sisters are old enough to go into Tokyo, while she can’t even go to the corner store by herself. Plus, her grandparents want her to stay home with the neighbor kid, thirteen-year-old Jin Uehara, who’s made it clear he’s too cool to spend time with a weirdo like her.
When Tessa is finally allowed to go to Tokyo, it’s only to join her grandpa’s retiree aerobic class with none other than Jin. Their disastrous forced hang out comes crashing to a halt when Tessa and Jin break the Miyata family’s precious heirloom — accidentally releasing the malicious samurai god Taira Masakado and discovering a hidden part of the city where gods and mythological creatures walk among humans — including their new companion, a mythical nine-tailed fox who may be more trouble than he is help.
Despite doing everything to avoid spending another minute together, Tessa and Jin must now work together to stop Taira Masakado before he traps them — and the rest of Tokyo — under his command, forever.
Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and Graci Kim, this brand new fantasy adventure will grip readers from the very first page and never let go.
Publication Date August 22nd 2023 by Philomel Books
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Back To The Future meets When You Reach Me in this powerful novel by National Book Award nominee Lisa Graff.
As far as twelve-year-old McKinley O’Dair is concerned, the best thing about living in Gap Bend, Pennsylvania, is the Time Hop — the giant party the town throws every June to celebrate a single year in history. That one day is enough to make the few things that aren’t so fantastic about McKinley’s life — like her crabby homeroom teacher or her super-scheduled father — worth suffering through. And when McKinley learns that this year’s theme is 1993, she can’t wait to enter the Time Hop fashion show with a killer ’90s outfit she’s designed and sewn all on her own. But when the Time Hop rolls around, nothing goes as planned. In fact, it’s the biggest disaster of McKinley’s life.
Before she knows what’s hit her, McKinley somehow finds herself in the real 1993 — and it’s not all kitschy parachute pants and Jurassic Park. All McKinley wants is to return to the present, but before she can, she’s going to have to make a big change — but which change is the right one?
This humorous and heartfelt novel about destiny and self-discovery shines a poignant light on the way life could play out — if a person is given a chance to rewind.
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Practical Magic meets Hocus Pocus in this sweet and enchanting middle grade fantasy novel about a young witch who must uncover the secrets of her family’s past to end their longstanding internal feud.
Thirteen-year-old Clementine Merlyn lives with her mom, her aunts, and her cousin Mirabelle at Number 15 Pendragon Road. The Merlyns are a family of witches, but because of an ancient falling out with the other branch of the family, the Morgans, they only have powers for a single month of the year: October.
And this October may be the one that Clemmie gets her magic. It should be exciting, except that magic is the reason that Mirabelle never talks to her anymore, Aunt Flissie leaves at the end of every September and doesn’t come back until November, and Aunt Temmie…well, is long gone. And the Merlyn bad luck takes an even worse turn this year. After a disastrous attempt by the aunts to recover their lost magic, 15 Pendragon Road is visited by the creepy and cold Morgans.
In the wake of the ensuing battle, Clemmie and Mirabelle are left on their own. With no other choice, the cousins must bond together and summon their courage and magic to solve the mystery of what happened between the first Merlyn and Morgan all those centuries ago if they’ll have any hope of ending this feud and getting their family back.
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by Christy Ottaviano Books
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A coming-of-age middle grade novel about three best friends born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina who must confront storms of their own 12 years later, from a National Book Award winning author.
Born in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Greer, Joya Mia, and Kiki are seventh graders and the best of friends. After an accident leaves Greer’s little sister paralyzed, Greer is forever changed by the experience and blames herself. Kiki and Joya Mia will do anything to help Greer let go of this emotional burden, and a plan is hatched to compete in a triathlon. Each girl will participate: Kiki will swim, Joya Mia will cycle, and Greer, if they can persuade her, will run — something she once loved to do.
Set on the Westbank of New Orleans, this contemporary coming-of-age novel is a journey of growth, healing, and difficult transitions as the girls navigate their many life challenges: family trauma, body insecurity, and the conflict between ambitions and responsibilities. It’s a powerful and enlightening exploration of how to surmount personal tragedy through friendship and forgiveness.
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by Viking Books for Young Readers
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It’s hard to fight the supernatural when you’re naturally “un-super.” This chilling middle grade is perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark…even if they don’t have any special powers.
Charlie Greer is nothing special — at least not compared to her adopted siblings. Her younger sister is a ghost. Her brother Mateo is a werewolf. Gideon is the product of seriously sketchy experiments that gave him telekinetic powers. Even her parents work for the Division of Extranormal Investigations tracking down all things supernatural, alien, and otherwise unusual.
Charlie’s mom says her superpower is maturity — which doesn’t really count. But what Charlie lacks in powers she makes up for by keeping the household running. Now, with her parents off on their first vacation in years, it’s up to her to take care of her siblings and make sure nothing disrupts the trip.
But then the new neighbors arrive. The Weavers are a nice, normal couple. Too nice and too normal. And for some reason, they don’t seem to want Charlie to see inside their house. She’s certain they’re hiding something. Charlie has to uncover what’s going on with the Weavers and stop their plans — without letting Mom and Dad find out anything is wrong.
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by Kokila
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A dazzling story full of heart about how one twelve-year-old channels her rage into synchronized swimming dreams from The Education of Margot Sanchez author Lilliam Rivera.
Natalia De La Cruz Rivera y Santiago, also known as Nat, was swimming neighborhood kids out of their money at the local Inglewood pool when her life changed. The LA Mermaids performed, emerging out of the water with matching sequined swimsuits, and it was then that synchronized swimming stole her heart.
The problem? Her activist mom and professor dad think it’s a sport with too much emphasis on looks – on being thin and white. Nat grew up the youngest in a house full of boys, so she knows how to fight for what she wants, often using her anger to fuel her. People often underestimate her swimming skills when they see her stomach rolls, but she knows better than to worry about what people think. Still, she feels more like a submarine than a mermaid, but she wonders if she might be both.
Barely Floating explores what it means to sparkle in your skin, build community with those who lift you up, and keep floating when waters get rough.
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by Clarion Books
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Newbery medalist Avi tells the story of a young girl determined to define her own place amidst old rules and new ways in the Roaring Twenties.
Attending high school in Steamboat Springs is Ida Bidson’s dream — it’s her next step toward becoming a teacher and her best shot at escaping a life of milking cows. It’s 1925, and from using telephones to attending movies, Ida is thrilled by her new experiences in Steamboat. She and her school friends even form a club, the Secret Sisters, to celebrate everything modern.
But when they accidentally antagonize the strict, traditionalist principal, Ida’s high school career may be over before it even begins. It’s up to the Secret Sisters find a way to save Ida’s dream!
Readers will cheer for Ida as she continues the adventure begun in the one-room schoolhouse of Avi’s popular The Secret School!
Publication Date August 29th 2023 by
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The New York Times bestselling authors of Bob, Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass, introduce readers to a little free library guarded by a cat and a boy who takes on the mystery it keeps.
When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.
Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.
Told in turn by a ghost librarian named Al, an aging (but beautiful) cat named Mortimer, and Evan himself, The Lost Library is a timeless story from award-winning authors Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. It’s about owning your truth, choosing the life you want, and the power of a good book (and, of course, the librarian who gave it to you).
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Random House Studio
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A propulsive work of narrative nonfiction about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, how the robbery made the portrait the most famous artwork in the world — and how the painting by Leonardo da Vinci should never have existed at all.
On a hot August day in Paris, just over a century ago, a desperate guard burst into the office of the director of the Louvre and shouted, La Joconde, c’est partie! The Mona Lisa, she’s gone!
No one knew who was behind the heist. Was it an international gang of thieves? Was it an art-hungry American millionaire? Was it the young Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, who was about to remake the very art of painting?
Travel back to an extraordinary period of revolutionary change: turn-of-the-century Paris. Walk its backstreets. Meet the infamous thieves — and detectives — of the era. And then slip back further in time and follow Leonardo da Vinci, painter of the Mona Lisa, through his dazzling, wondrously weird life. Discover the secret at the heart of the Mona Lisa — the most famous painting in the world should never have existed at all.
Here is a middle-grade nonfiction, with black-and-white illustrations by Brett Helquist throughout, written at the pace of a thriller, shot through with stories of crime and celebrity, genius and beauty.
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
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From the acclaimed author of Roll With It comes a relatable and deeply moving middle grade novel about a girl who, in a desperate bid to keep her family afloat, takes over her mom’s cleaning jobs after an injury prevents her from working.
Now that Franny and her newly sober mom have moved to a cozy apartment above a laundromat, Franny’s looking forward to a life where her biggest excitement is getting top grades in math class. But when Franny’s mom gets injured in a car accident, their fragile life begins to crumble. There’s no way her mom can keep her job cleaning houses, which means she can’t pay the bills. Franny can’t forget what happened the last time her mom was hurt: the pills that were supposed to help became an addiction, until rehab brought them to Mimi’s laundromat and the support group she hosts.
Franny will not let addiction win again, even if she has to blackmail a school rival to help her clean houses. She’ll make the money and keep her mom sober — there’s no other choice. But what happens if this is one problem she can’t solve on her own?
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Margaret Ferguson Books
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From the author of A Place To Hang The Moon comes another World War II story about three siblings on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
12-year-old Dory Byrne lives with her brothers on New York City’s Lower East Side, waiting impatiently through the darkest hours of World War II for her pop to come home from fighting Hitler. Legally speaking, Dory’s brother, Fish, isn’t old enough to be in charge of Dory and her younger brother, Pike, but the neighborhood knows the score and, like Pop always says, “the neighborhood will give you what you need.”
There’s the lady from the bakery, who saves them leftover crullers. The kind landlord who checks in on them. And every Thursday night, the Byrnes enjoy a free bowl of seafood stew at Mr. Caputo’s restaurant. Which is where Dory learns about the hand-pulled elevator that is the only way to get to Caputo’s upper floors. The elevator that’s so creaky and ancient, nobody’s been in it for decades.
Until now.
The Byrnes’ landlord dies unexpectedly and the new one is anything but kind. When he catches on about Pop being gone, he turns the Byrnes in, hoping they’ll be shipped off to an orphanage. Dory and her brothers need a hideout, and suddenly the elevator and the abandoned hotel it leads to provide just the solution they need.
Based on a very real place in old New York and steeped in the history of the last year of World War II, Nothing Else But Miracles shows how, when things get tough, the neighborhood really will give you what you need… and may even offer up a miracle or two in the process.
Kate Albus is the award-winning author of A Place To Hang The Moon, a JLG Gold Standard Selection, An Indie Pick, An ALSC Notable Children’s Book, A CCBC Choice book, and an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award Winner.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Random House Books for Young Readers
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Dealing With Dragons comes this timeless fantasy, about an ordinary girl who discovers she’s the heir to a dark throne, and must find her place between her life on Earth and her magical inheritance.
Kayla is just an ordinary girl…or so she thinks. When a day at the state fair is interrupted by the news that she’s the daughter of a “Dark Lord,” she and her family are quickly whisked to another world — one that’s chock-full of magic but lacking in technology!
As her family encounters fantastical creatures in place of their Earthly gadgets, Kayla must prepare for the unpreparable: meeting her father, the Dark Lord himself, for the very first time. All Kayla wants is to go home, but she must learn magic to do so. The catch? For the Dark Lord’s daughter, the road to mastering magic is filled with evil traditions.
As she ventures closer to her father, Kayla must decide whether to accept her birthright. Is she destined for darkness? Or can she become a new kind of Dark Lady?
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
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Encanto meets Coraline in this spooky middle grade story that deals with family ties, fear of change, and generational trauma as it follows a girl who must convince an old, haunted house to release its hold on her and her family.
Eleven-year-old Micah has no interest in moving out of her grandfather’s house. She loves living with Poppop and their shared hobby of driving around rich neighborhoods to find treasures in others’ trash. To avoid packing, Micah goes for a bike ride and ends up at Finch House, the decrepit Victorian that Poppop says is Off Limits. Except when she gets there, it’s all fixed up and there’s a boy named Theo in the front yard. Surely that means Finch House isn’t Off Limits anymore? But when Poppop finds her there, Micah is only met with his disappointment.
By the next day, Poppop is nowhere to be found. After searching everywhere, Micah’s instincts lead her back to Finch House. But once Theo invites her inside, Micah realizes she can’t leave. And that, with its strange whispers and deep-dark shadows, Finch House isn’t just a house…it’s alive.
Can Micah find a way to convince the house to let her go? Or will she be forced to stay in Finch House forever?
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Sourcebooks Young Readers
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From the author of Scritch Scratch and The Girl In White comes a new spooky mystery about a girl detective who must decode a series of ominous clues tied to a century-old tragedy to find a missing teenager before it’s too late…
Twelve-year-old Hazel Woods has always had an unusual knack for sleuthing. Some may call it snooping, but all she really wants is to solve mysteries around town. So, when she not-so-accidentally overhears her brother Den planning to sneak into the cemetery at night for an epic game of hide-and-seek, she decides to secretly tag along. This seems like the perfect opportunity to investigate the claims that the cemetery is haunted.
But the moment the game ends, Hazel realizes something is very, very wrong. From her hiding spot in the bushes, she overhears that her brother’s best friend, Everett, is missing. Everyone else was found by the seeker but there’s no sign of Everett anywhere. It’s as if he just…vanished
Hazel and Den are determined to find Everett before it’s too late. But as they begin to unravel the terrifying clues that started appearing since that night in the graveyard – eerie whispers that sound like someone counting, the intermittent smell of smoke, and the cold, lost presence that follows them everywhere, she’s not sure what they are dealing with. But Everett needs more than search parties and scent-tracking dogs to find him, especially if his disappearance is tied to the history of the cemetery, and the lost, century-old spirits that might still be trapped there…
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Holiday House
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The Amadeuses were always considered somewhat strange. Even before the incident.
When six-year-old Beatrice Willoughby vanished at the Amadeuses’ annual All Hallows Eve party, people in the tiny mountain town of Nevermore were quick to whisper: They were always odd. Their house is full of dark magic. And when Mort Amadeus was pegged for the crime, the Amadeuses, once the center of society, retreated. They closed their doors, disappeared from life. People almost forgot. Until thirteen years later, when six envelopes land at the doorstep of six households in town: We cordially invite you to a celebration on the 31st of October this Saturday evening at the Amadeus household.
So begins the mystery of who was really responsible for the missing girl thirteen years ago. Was it Duchess von Pelt, whose face no one has ever seen? Mrs. Raven, the keeper of the local inn? Wormwood, the Amadeuses’ mysterious caretaker? Dr. Foozle, the town pharmacist? Count Baines, who seems to know when unlucky things are about to happen? Judge Ophelius, who presided over Beatrice’s case originally? Mr. and Mrs. H, a couple who no one can ever quite remember? Or somehow, might precocious, thirteen-year-old Dewey and his storytelling dad, Chaucer, be somehow mixed up in all this?
The guests must work together to identify the guilty party among them over the course of the evening — but beware the ticking clock, because at midnight, everything is going to change! Told from different perspectives, this is a sly, darkly funny mystery. Filled with strange characters and set in a mansion deep, deep in the woods. G. Z. Schmidt has crafted an unforgettable puzzle, perfect for reading on a dark autumn night.
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Quill Tree Books
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From Ethan M. Aldridge, bestselling creator of Estranged, comes a gothic middle grade prose novel that follows a nonbinary student who is drawn to their boarding school’s forbidden east wing, where something stalks the shadowy corridors. Perfect for fans of J.A. White and Mary Downing Hahn!
When Guinevere “Nev” Tallow receives an acceptance letter to the exclusive Deephaven Academy, they know it’s the fresh start that they’ve been looking for.
But things are strange from the moment they arrive — the house itself seems to breathe, students whisper secrets in dark corridors, and the entire east wing of the academy is locked away for reasons no one wants to explain. And Nev knows something ragged stalks the shadowy corridors, something that sobs quietly and scratches at the walls, waiting to be released.
With the help of another first-year student, Nev takes it upon themselves to unravel the mysteries hidden in Deephaven’s halls. But will they risk their fresh start to bring the academy’s secret to light?
Publication Date September 5th 2023 by Scholastic Press
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Celebrated author Angela Cervantes’ brand new novel combines a chilling ghost story with her award-winning, heartfelt storytelling style.
One two, the Caretaker’s coming for you. Three-four, you’ll breathe no more. Five-six, you’ll float like sticks. Seven, eight, you’ll meet your fate.
Rafael Fuentes isn’t easily scared. He loves writing ghost stories, reading scary books, and entertaining his friends with terrifying tales he creates on the spot. Rafa has come up against enough real-life scary situations that fictional hauntings seem like no big deal. Rafa’s incarcerated mom is being released from jail soon, and will be coming to live with him, his sister, and their grandparents. For the first time in a while, Rafa feels a pit of fear growing in his stomach.
To take his mind off his mom’s return, Rafa spends an evening crafting the scariest ghost story he’s ever told. As an eerie blood moon hangs in the sky, Rafa tells a group of friends about The Caretaker. The Caretaker is an evil ghost who lures unsuspecting kids into the neighborhood pond…and they don’t ever come out. Rafa is really proud of his latest creation, until strange things start to happen around him. With a sinking feeling, Rafa realizes the Caretaker is real. Rafa has brought the ghost to life ― and only he can stop him.
Publication Date September 12th 2023 by Roaring Brook Press
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A magical realistic middle grade debut about the origin story of the Iñupiaq Messenger Feast, a Native Alaskan tradition.
As his family prepares for winter, a young, skilled hunter must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian for knapping ― the same mountain where his two older brothers died.
When he reaches the mountaintop, he is immediately confronted by a terrifying eagle god named Savik. Savik gives the boy a choice: follow me or die like your brothers.
What comes next is a harrowing journey to the home of the eagle gods and unexpected lessons on the natural world, the past that shapes us, and the community that binds us.
Eagle Drums by Nasuġraq Rainey Hopson is part cultural folklore, part origin myth about the Messenger’s Feast – which is still celebrated in times of bounty among the Iñupiaq. It’s the story of how Iñupiaq people were given the gift of music, song, dance, community, and everlasting tradition.
Publication Date September 12th 2023 by HarperCollins
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A standalone high-stakes middle grade fantasy by Alysa Wishingrad, author of the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection The Verdigris Pawn.
Monsters are still lurking on Barrow’s Bay.
Dare Coates is sure of it. No drifter or ruffian could have killed her father, the Captain of the Guard, while he was on patrol. But everyone insists that monsters have been gone for years now. Dare’s mother. Her classmates. Even the governor, who swiftly marries her mother just months after her father’s death.
Dare’s suspicions grow even stronger when the governor suddenly ships her off to the mainland, away from any hope of uncovering the truth about her father’s death.
Or so she thinks. Soon Dare finds solid proof that monsters still exist and she starts to question everything she’s always known. Was her father who she thought he was? Who can she trust? Where is the line between good and evil?
The truth hides behind danger and deception. But with the help of an unlikely crew of cohorts and a stray beastie, nothing can stop Dare from finding out what happened to her father and exposing who the real monsters are.
Perfect for fans of Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunters and Lauren Oliver’s The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street.
Publication Date September 12th 2023 by Rocky Pond Books
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In this exhilaratingly original novel, a fantastical theatre and its troupe perform a young girl’s dreams, until nightmares take over. Will one devoted stagehand be able to bring joy back into the spotlight?
Have you ever awakened from a dream and thought, what was THAT?! A platypus waddling through my school while singing the word farfanoogle? Well, that dream was performed by a dream theatre, and this is the story of one such place: The Lunarian Grand.
The Lunarian is a magical theatre with a mind of its own, often redecorating on a whim or making it snow from the rafters. The theatre’s troupe call themselves the Dreamatics, and together they grow sets from seeds, sew costumes that can change an actor’s shape, and each night when a girl named Luna goes to sleep, they produce her spectacular dreams: dreams of memories, family, and her beloved dog, Murph.
But when something devastating happens in Luna’s waking life, the theatre falls under new management in the form of the Bad Dreams. Now it’s up to a loyal stagehand named Dormir and the Dreamatics to put things right and restore balance in their world and in Luna’s.
Go behind the scenes of your dreams in this enchanting novel full of cozy magic, humor, and wonder.
Publication Date September 12th 2023 by WaterBrook
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A house full of paintings, a missing sister, and a family secret send a boy and his cousin into a world where art is the key in this fantasy adventure perfect for fans of The Wingfeather Saga and Pages & Co.
After an experience he’d rather forget, Vincent is determined to be done with art. So when he and his little sister, Lili, spend spring break with their art conservator great-uncle, Vincent’s plan is to stay glued to his phone.
That is, until Lili disappears into one of the world’s most famous paintings and Vincent learns his parents have been hiding something from him: Their family is the last of The Restorationists, a secret society with the power to travel through paintings — and a duty to protect them from evil forces.
With Lili’s safety on the line, leaving art behind is no longer an option. Vincent must team up with his know-it-all second-cousin Georgia, wrestle with why his parents lied to him, and confront both his past and a future he never wanted. Young readers are invited into a captivating universe where paintings become a portal — and adventure and danger lurk beyond every canvas.
Publication Date September 12th 2023 by Ablaze
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When things go bump in the night, they bump back.
If you think aliens replaced your teachers or your neighbor might be a vampire, then there’s only one group to call for help: The Nightcrawlers.
The Nightcrawlers take on their first case when a friend from school believes werewolves replaced his parents. They get more than they bargained for when their investigation leads them right in the middle of a confrontation between their caretaker William Jones and a former Nightcrawler out for revenge. This story is about the unlikeliest group of friends coming together to help others…with a spooky twist!
From Ablaze Publishing comes a new all-ages supernatural adventure comic about a group of supernatural kid detectives, by Eisner Award winning writer Marco Lopez and artist on the rise Rachel Distler. For fans of Goosebumps, The Goonies, Monster Squad, Steven Spielberg films & Don Bluth animated films.
Publication Date September 19th 2023 by Roaring Brook Press
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From award-winning author Lindsay Lackey comes Farther Than The Moon, a heartfelt story about a boy who wants to become an astronaut, but wonders if his dreams can include his brother with disabilities, perfect for fans of We Dream of Space and Song For A Whale.
All thirteen-year-old Houston Stewart has ever wanted is to become an astronaut. His dreams feel like they’re finally coming true when he’s accepted to the highly-competitive Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program – if only he could bring his little brother, Robbie, with him.
Ever since their dad left, Houston and Robbie have been inseparable. It’s hard to tell where Houston’s love of space ends and where Robbie’s begins. But Robbie’s cerebral palsy and epilepsy mean he needs medical attention at home, so Houston is forced to take this giant leap for the two of them all on his own.
At camp, Houston is quickly drawn into the orbit of new friends, cosmic adventures, and a long-lost grandfather. But as Houston struggles to meet the program’s rigorous demands, he’s forced to reckon with the truth that Robbie may never visit space like the brothers have always hoped. But Houston is determined to honor Robbie’s dream, even if it seems like an impossible mission. So, like a good astronaut, he dares to make a new plan ― one that shoots for the stars.
Publication Date September 19th 2023 by Scholastic Press
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From the author that gave us The Glass Witch comes a whimsical exploration of disability that is A Snicker of Magic meets The Sixth Sense.
If you have found this book, then you are probably a lover of the dark and twisty. You did pull this book from a cold dead corpse, after all.
This is the story of Begonia, who was abandoned at a retirement home when she was a baby. You might think that’s the worst thing that could happen to someone, but for Bug, the worst is yet to come.
You see, Swamp Root Manor isn’t just any old house. It’s alive, it’s haunted, and everyone in it is…a little bit Odd. Everyone except Begonia. And while she’s waiting for her Oddity to arrive, the manor is running out of money, thanks in no small part to all of Bug’s hospital bills.
But Begonia refuses to let Swamp Root close. If she could just tap into her Oddity, she could use its power to save the manor and all fifty-two of her grandparents. But she is only days away from her 11th birthday and if she doesn’t get it by then, it will never come.
She will be removed from her home and sent to the normal world.
Her memory will be wiped.
And her family will be gone.
So, Bug has to do the unthinkable… join forces with the most annoying boy in the world to track down their Oddities. Together they battle humans, ghosts, their own self-doubt, and sometimes even each other in order to save the only family she’s ever known.
Publication Date September 19th 2023 by Union Square Kids
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Follow clues, solve puzzles, crack the code…find the missing millionaire.
The celebrated museums of the Fairfleet Institute are known for curating the mysteries of humanity. But they don’t solve mysteries. Luckily, twelve-year-old friends Alex Foster and Asha Singh of the A&A Detective Agency do. Or they will…once they get a real case to test their skills as sleuths.
When Dr. Alistair Fairfleet, the institute’s eccentric chairman, disappears on the first day of Alex and Asha’s summer vacation, they receive a letter written by the missing millionaire himself inviting them to a game involving complicated clues and puzzles. It is just the sort of case they’ve been waiting to tackle. But nothing in the Fairfleet case has a simple solution. As the kids track down clues, they uncover art forgeries, archaeological crimes, and Fairfleet family secrets. All of this tests their partnership and forces them to confront the complicated legacies of the people and places they admire most.
