The new year kicks off with an exciting slate of books for young readers to enjoy this month, including a picture book debut about high-flying construction workers, a historical middle grade book following a tween across Oklahoma, a YA escape novel turned road trip rom-com, and more.
Picture Books and Early Readers
Dream a Dress, Dream a Poem: Dressmaker and Poet, Myra Viola Wilds
Nancy Johnson James, illus. by Diana Ejaita. Abrams, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-951836-53-5. Ages 4–8. Mellifluous verse from Johnson James chronicles the life of dressmaker and poet Wilds (1875–1935) from her Kentucky town to a city where she eventually soars. The book received a starred review from PW.
The House on the Canal: The Story of the House That Hid Anne Frank
Thomas Harding, illus. by Britta Teckentrup. Candlewick Studio, $19.99 (56p) ISBN 978-1-5362-4070-2. Ages 7–10. Today, the tall narrow house on an Amsterdam canal is known worldwide as both a museum honoring the life of Anne Frank and the Frank family’s hiding place during World War II. But as previous collaborators Harding and Teckentrup convey, the house is also part of a “remarkable history” that spans four centuries and myriad reasons for seeking shelter. The book received a starred review from PW.
Kwame Alexander, illus. by Charly Palmer. Little, Brown, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-316-44249-7. Ages 4–8. Black musical greats populate dramatic, color-drenched muralistic pages of Alexander and Palmer’s entrancing history of Black music. The book received a starred review from PW.
Gianna Marino. Philomel, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-5935-2880-8. Ages 3–7. Marino takes readers to a sunny, rolling meadow ringed by mountains and shady trees, where horses run free, in this affectionate picture book. See our q&a with Marino here.
Olivia Abtahi, illus. by Monica Arnaldo. Kokila, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-5936-2044-1. Ages 4–8. Cecilia serves as an interpreter between her Spanish-speaking parents and their English-speaking community, and eventually reflects on her load, communicating how interpreting is impacting her day-to-day. The book received a starred review from PW.
Make a Pretty Sound: A Story of Ella Jenkins—The First Lady of Children’s Music
Traci N. Todd, illus. by Eleanor Davis. Chronicle, $19.99 (60p) ISBN 978-1-4521-7064-0. Ages 5–8. Todd and Davis’s melodic paean to performer Ella Jenkins follows a figure who “wants/ to make/ a pretty sound.” The book received a starred review from PW.
Liana Finck. Rise x Penguin Workshop, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-5936-6042-3. Ages 3–5. Many emotions, Finck smartly asserts through minimal text and a series of squiggly-inked, spot-colored vignettes, are a mixed bag. The book received a starred review from PW.
One Day: A True Story of Survival in the Holocaust
Michael Rosen, illus. by Benjamin Phillips. Candlewick Studio, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5362-3894-5. Ages 7–10. After two Hungarian Jewish resistance fighters are arrested in 1942 Nazi-occupied Paris, they survive with a singular focus: “Get through one day and then on to the next. One day at a time.” The book received a starred review from PW.
Kristin Mahoney, illus. by E.B. Goodale. Knopf, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-42854-2. Ages 3–7. A child enjoys the pleasure of collecting rocks throughout the seasons in this picture book debut by Mahoney. The book received a starred review from PW.
Kari Percival. Chronicle, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-7972-1456-6. Ages 5–8. Sumptuous in text and image, this story of environmental and civic engagement opens as an unnamed child narrator and family don headlamps, rain jackets, and reflector vests to join the local Amphibian Migration Team. The book received a starred review from PW.
Seina Wedlick, illus. by Camilla Sucre. Random House Studio, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-64763-9. Ages 4–8. Wedlick and Sucre spotlight a welcoming family table in this bighearted tale. The book received a starred review from PW.
Matthew Cordell. Random House Studio, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-593-64989-3. Ages 4–8. Young narrator Janie has long been fascinated by owls though she has never seen one in real life, and she follows a teacher’s advice to spot one in the wild. The book received a starred review from PW.
To Walk the Sky: How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering Cities
Patricia Morris Buckley, illus. by E.B. Lewis. Heartdrum, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-0630-4697-9. Ages 4–8. Mohawk author and PW contributor Buckley, making her picture book debut, and Lenni-Lenape artist Lewis honor the contributions of Iroquois steelworkers, known as “skywalkers” for their ability to balance atop narrow beams in construction sites. The book received a starred review from PW.
Cheryl Willis Hudson, illus. by London Ladd. Holiday House, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-5380-1. Ages 6–9. Willis Hudson movingly exalts the power of African American spirituals in a lyrics showcase that pairs existing verses with feelings they can evoke. The book received a starred review from PW.
Middle Grade
A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools
Debbie Levy. Bloomsbury, $19.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-5476-1221-5. Ages 10–14. Levy crafts a riveting work about The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial.
Cinderella and the Beast (Or, Beauty and the Glass Slipper) (The Princess Swap #1)
Kim Bussing. Random House, $17.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-593-70803-3. Ages 8–12. Twelve-year-old Ella, who has a glass leg, takes the place of a merchant with a mysterious beast in the woods. Meanwhile the merchant’s daughter 12-year-old daughter Belle finds herself trapped in Ella’s cellar and is magically compelled to act as a servant to Ella’s cruel stepmother. The book received a starred review from PW.
Tate Godwin. Andrews McMeel, $22.99 (192p) ISBN 978-1-5248-9022-3; $12.99 paper ISBN 978-1-5248-9021-6. Ages 7–11. In this gentle graphic novel debut, Godwin spins a sweet tale of learning to embrace one’s true self. The book received a starred review from PW.
Tamika Burgess. HarperCollins, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-0631-5966-2. Ages 8–12. Panamanian middle schooler Danilo struggles with his relationship to baseball when his father immigrates to the U.S. for work and severs contact. The book received a starred review from PW.
Girls to the Front: 40 Asian American Women Who Blazed a Trail
Niña Mata. HarperCollins, $19.99 (96p) ISBN 978-0-06-321628-0. Ages 8–12. Mata makes her authorial debut in this illuminating illustrated anthology that highlights the lives and achievements of 40 women of the Asian American diaspora. The book received a starred review from PW.
Meticulous Jones and the Skull Tattoo (Inkbound #1)
Philippa Leathley, illus. by Brie Schmida. Clarion, $19.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-06-337651-9. Ages 8–12. “Metty” Jones’s future is set by the magical tattoo manifested on her 10th birthday: she will murder someone via magic. But when her father disappears, Metty focuses on a long journey to find him. The book received a starred review from PW.
Mr. Muffins: Defender of the Stars
Ben Kahn, illus. by Georgeo Brooks. Oni, $14.99 paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-62010-832-1. Ages 8–12. When 11-year-old Reuben Mahmud’s corgi, Mr. Muffins, becomes embroiled in alien politics, Reuben’s life turns upside down in this humorous graphic novel space adventure. The book received a starred review from PW.
Gordon Korman. HarperCollins, $19.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-06-323814-5. Ages 8–12. Just when he’s starting to fit in, new to public school student Dexter is suspended for breaking a rule he never knew existed. Now it’s up to his new friends to prove just how much he’s had an impact on their lives with his old-fashioned influences. The book received a starred review from PW.
Lori Alexander, illus. by Rebecca Santo. Clarion, $18.99 (128p) ISBN 978-0-0632-4599-0. Ages 8–12. Alexander uses short chapters and quoted material to chronicle the exuberant life and work of Nobel Prize–winning scientist and cytogeneticist Barbara McClintock. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jewell Parker Rhodes. Little, Brown, $17.99 (208p) ISBN 978-0-316-29933-6. Ages 8–12. Black 12-year-old Will sets out with his mule Belle and his sharecropper father to claim land in this riveting historical saga by Rhodes. The book received a starred review from PW.
Young Adult
Gayle Forman. Quill Tree, $19.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-334614-7. Ages 14 and up. High school senior Amber Crane learns that she’s been dead for seven years, though Amber’s family can still see, hear, and touch her. The book received a starred review from PW.
Dani Diaz. Top Shelf, $19.99 paper (312p) ISBN 978-1-60309-546-4. Ages 13–17. New couple Amber and Nico become consumed by their relationship. When they fall asleep and awaken in a jointly created dreamscape, the pair must confront the consequences of their self-isolating behavior. The book received a starred review from PW.
Joy McCullough. Dutton, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-5938-5587-4. Ages 14 and up. Sixteen-year-old Carmela aspires to become an apprentice in her mother’s apothecary, but must reconcile her own desires with her mother’s personal decisions and how they affect the women who rely on the shop as a last refuge. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jennifer Salvato Doktorski. Fitzroy, $18.95 paper (186p) ISBN 978-1-646-03563-2. Ages 12 and up. Gemma Leonardo, diagnosed with anorexia, breaks out of the eating disorder floor at the children’s hospital with a new friend, and they head out on a road trip to find every U.S. town called Normal. The book received a starred review from PW.
Lily Braun-Arnold. Delacorte, $19.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-89948-9. Ages 12 and up. After acid rain destroys civilization, Liz Flannery shelters in the only place that feels safe: the bookstore where she used to work. When she encounters Maeve, a teen survivor searching for help, Liz lets her stay and begins a new friendship. The book received a starred review from PW.
Kaitlyn Cavalancia. Disney Hyperion, $18.99 (400p) ISBN 978-1-368-09908-0. Ages 12 and up. Mullory Prudence accepts an invitation to take part in the Mystery Royale, an illusion-infused game in which participants must deduce the culprit of billionaire recluse Xavier Stoutmire’s death by unraveling the details of his murder to inherit his magic and wealth. But Mullory is stunned when the game turns deadly. The book received a starred review from PW.
Vanessa L. Torres. Knopf, $19.99 (352p) ISBN 978-0-59342-617-3. Ages 12 and up. Noche’s job as a Lechuza, who shepherds the souls of the dead into the beyond, grows complicated when her girlfriend Dante dies and Noche struggles to usher her off this temporal plane. The book received a starred review from PW.
Maria van Lieshout. First Second, $25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-86981-4; $17.99 paper ISBN 978-1-250-86982-1. Ages 14 and up. Young girls are united through the decades in this touching and tender graphic novel exploration of grief, family, and the vital importance of artistic expression, told by van Lieshout through intertwining stories set in Amsterdam between 2011 and the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in 1943. The book received a starred review from PW. See our q&a with van Lishout.
