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It’s my hope that young readers, whether you have a name for yourselves or not, feel seen and held by Briar and Finn. Like them, you’re here, and you exist.
Sonora Reyes joins us to talk about their new book. THE GOLDEN BOY'S GUIDE TO BIPOLAR.
All summer I basically just pet my dogs, read my books, and text my friends way too much. But you what I definitely did NOT do in July? Read any of these interesting books on this list, so onto my TBR list they go!
Come for the wacky promotional video for one of the greatest graphic novels of 2025. Stay for the celebrity picture book cameo at the very end.
To echo Guatemalan Archbishop Gerardi’s words, “Knowing the truth is painful, but liberating. Without it, the scars will never heal.”
An inspiring story and a powerful look at what is happening not just to Yuli but in real-life classrooms all around our country. A good addition to high school collections.
My upcoming novel, If Looks Could Kill, pits a modern yet mythical Medusa against the real-life, true-crime, name-unknown murderer we call Jack the Ripper.
PREMIUM
Pizza Witch
Kiki’s Delivery Service with a sauced-up hero’s journey; a funny adventure story for young teens and graphic novel fans.
This powerful tale of race and American culture and history seamlessly weaves a popular middle grade topic, football, with crucial lessons about justice and humanity for tween and younger teens. This is Barnes at his best and is a required purchase for middle school libraries.
PREMIUM
Dear Jackie
A realistic read that will make readers want to know what happens next. Give this to fans of Terri Libenson’s “Emmie & Friends” series and Maria Scrivan’s “Nat Enough” books. Highly recommended.
PREMIUM
The Witch Who Stormed the Palace
A rollicking good tale with all the magic, dragons, and talking cats to recommend to any young fantasy reader who enjoyed the first installment.
PREMIUM
The Ghost of Wreckers Cove
Endearing illustrations combined with a heartfelt mystery make this an easy recommendation for fans of suspense, ghost stories, or both.
PREMIUM
The Winter of the Dollhouse
This is an elegant novel that offers an authentic view of family and community life.
PREMIUM
Folk Remedy
A compelling fantasy with cultural roots and strong emotional arcs, this is an excellent addition for libraries serving preteens and teens looking for adventure, folklore, and a heroine they can cheer for.
PREMIUM
Enchanted Night Before Christmas
While cozy in tone, the story follows a well-worn holiday arc grounded in magic, loss, and wish fulfillment.
PREMIUM
My BIG Playbook: Christmas
A visually appealing introduction to winter and Christmas, perfect for adults to share with toddlers and early school-aged children.
PREMIUM
Dinos Love Valentines
This solid addition to most holiday board book collections will be an extra hit with the youngest dinosaur fans.
PREMIUM
Tiny Bear’s Christmas Prayer
A well-fit addition to any Christmas holiday literature collection.
PREMIUM
Tonight Is Krampus Night!
Sullivan and Persico make these friendly monsters heartwarming; readers will enjoy welcoming them to their holiday storytimes.
Lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy this novel, which is recommended for all junior high and high school collections.
With extensive information and illustrations about relationships in nature, this is an excellent purchase for elementary where poetry and nature books are popular.
Colloquialisms will primarily appeal to readers in upper-elementary and middle school, but teens breaking into crafting zines will benefit from ingesting the story arc and the author’s endnotes. A must-purchase.
This fun, Spanish-language search-and-find is sure to provide enjoyable moments, especially during the holidays. A great addition to picture book collections.
PREMIUM
Ruff Day
A fun, accessible addition to any library serving young readers who enjoy quick, engaging graphic novels.
In creating these Take Five posts, I'm seeing so many books I wish I had read, so the TBR tower grows!
The first of this short manga series introduces a precarious but amiable little adventure with big heart. A worthy successor to the stories it takes inspiration from.
A lively and fantastical spin on the classic pirate adventure, this graphic novel will pull readers in with its enchanting artwork and keep them hooked with its epic story.
A strong addition for library collections looking to expand their Sapphic sports and rom-com offerings.
A big thanks to the publisher for letting me dig into these 8 books.
Apologies to everyone in my life is going to be so sick of me asking if they've heard of Tambora and the climate shock that followed. Tambora might be my whole personality now.
PREMIUM
Todos los besos del mundo
An excellent choice for Spanish-speaking communities and libraries.
PREMIUM
Cuando sepas nadar
A breathtaking picture book about the beauty of the water and the magic of swimming, perfect for Spanish-language collections for children.
A deeply human, absolutely riveting, and expansively inclusive marine biology nightmare.
PREMIUM
A Curious Kind of Magic
A whimsical novel for readers who enjoy more character-driven work. Consider as an additional purchase.
PREMIUM
Mercy
While this story has an interesting conceptual premise around generational trauma, it lacks the thrills many mystery readers crave and an accurate representation of the groups it seeks to portray.
PREMIUM
Last Chance Live!
A serious commentary on the obstacles, institutions, and society that teens face, offering a mirror and important issues. To be recommended with caution.
PREMIUM
Truth Is
Give this to readers struggling with changing friend dynamics and those starting to ask questions that too often are answered with opinions rather than fact.
PREMIUM
If Looks Could Kill
This book will appeal to readers looking for a Christian faith-based historical crime thriller with fantastical elements.
PREMIUM
Canada: We Are the Story
Complex, beautiful, and thought-provoking. The eternal presence and voices of the Old Ones will be a spiritual paean to some and a ghost story to others.
Recommended for general purchase in a holiday board book collection.
A perfect book to include in any young adult holiday display year round.
Not an essential buy for libraries, but may be useful if additional holiday craft and family activities are needed.
Festive and educational, this title is an excellent choice for expanding holiday collections and introducing young readers to the traditions and spirit of Hanukkah.
PREMIUM
My Two Christmas Trees
This sensitive book addresses family change during an emotional time of year. A recommended purchase for social-emotional collections.
PREMIUM
Isabel’s Birthday Surprise
A sweet, realistic story of family, culture, and emotional resilience.
This book about an ambitious Nepali girl detective will capture readers’ attention before the first chapter is done; recommended.
A middle grade must-read highly recommended for fans science fiction and books like A Wrinkle in Time.
PREMIUM
Three Blue Hearts
This heartfelt story takes readers through one boy’s coming of age, and the joy of rescuing an animal mixed with the heartbreak of loving it enough to let it go. Highly recommended for youth fiction collections.
A skillful tale of family lost and found, one that skillfully weaves discussion of heavier and relevant topics into a comedic plot.
PREMIUM
Jane Stays Dreaming
An adventurous novel about family, friendship, love and self-discovery that will be enjoyed by older tweens who find themselves at a crossroads of who they are and who they wish to become.
International in scope, this book provides an opportunity for educators to examine previously held thoughts about the limits of children’s literature. Recommended for researchers.
Purchase this resonant and relevant work for all middle grade nonfiction, Spanish-language collections.
When an author bears witness to the experience of adolescence through a real, living, breathing, complicated, messy protagonist caught in a web of complicated, messy relationships, readers notice.
Join me in the Not-So-Way-Back Machine to catch up on a few May titles!
Chuseok is a Korean harvest festival on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. This year, it falls on October 6. Share these two books with little ones to teach them about Chuseok and celebrate the holiday.
In eighth grade, I was scared of the world finding out the truth about me. But I think, even scarier, was admitting that truth to myself.
PREMIUM
Refugee: The Graphic Novel
The original Refugee remains an important and timely book; this graphic novel adaptation brings the moving stories of Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud to life for a new generation of readers. A good choice for where the original is popular.
A sweet story that uses fantasy elements to explore neurodivergence and learning differences.
A solid purchase, this story will resonate with middle schoolers who have endured similar shifting family structures.
PREMIUM
My Sister the Werebeast
Filled with familial love and high adventure that will leave readers with the warm fuzzies, this is a wonderful addition to middle grade graphic novel collections.
PREMIUM
Millie of the Manor
A comforting, fun, low-stakes middle grade mystery that gains depth in the thoughtful portrayal of Amy’s anxiety.
PREMIUM
The Picasso Curse
Readers will eagerly join Edwin in this twisty, action-packed story that throws in a dollop of financial literacy and art history for good measure.
PREMIUM
Setting the Stage
A plucky, engaging series debut that will resonate with theater-loving tweens. Perfect for middle school collections where Wicked is the musical du jour.
PREMIUM
How to Save a Library
A perfect book for tweens seeking realistic fiction that beautifully captures the emotions and challenges of middle school. Highly recommended for all library shelves as many resonant topics are expertly woven into one satisfying story.
A graceful homage to theater as both a space and an art form, lovingly broken down to its individual parts to give each its moment in the spotlight.
PREMIUM
12 Strays of Christmas
Readers don’t need to be animal lovers to pick up this story about love after loss.
This visually appealing anthology provides interesting new seasonal read-alouds perfect for December story times or family reading traditions. Librarians will appreciate the variety of selections that can be incorporated into holiday programming.
Joyful illustrations and vibrant backgrounds make this a delightful addition to holiday collections.
This is a comprehensive, attractive, and accessible volume, similar in format and scope to Marilyn Singer’s Awe-some Days, Leslie Kimmelman’s Dance, Sing, Remember, and Alfred Kolatch’s Let’s Celebrate Our Jewish Holidays.
PREMIUM
The Gift of Words
A lovely holiday story that speaks to the power of bringing community together during the holidays.
PREMIUM
Christmas Gnomes
A short, sweet holiday board book for babies and toddlers, who may find the book’s odd shape appealing.
This picture book is a good fit for religious collections, especially in schools or libraries seeking Nativity stories with a contemporary flair and a strong, relatable heroine.
PREMIUM
When Santa Wrote Back!
Though a touch saccharine in its conclusion, a charming and vibrant addition to most holiday collections.
PREMIUM
Jingle Bell Jokes for Funny Kids
A fine addition for libraries looking to add some lighthearted Christmas cheer to joke book collections.
PREMIUM
A Very Merry Holiday (Pokémon)
Pokémon enthusiasts can deck the halls with their favorite characters in this interactive work, great to share with a buddy or enjoy independently.
A highly recommended Christmas story that captures the magic of friendship, this title has something for the young at heart of all ages and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
For patrons looking for a heartwarming, comforting Christmas tale, this is perfection.
A gently playful addition for collections needing fresh holiday cheer for babies.
PREMIUM
Fa La La Family
A fun and festive dive into Christmas celebrations with diverse families. Recommended for all libraries, especially where the authors’ other book is popular.
PREMIUM
Once Upon a Kwanzaa
Though the rhyming is sometimes clunky, this book is recommended for all collections, and encourages families to teach small children about Kwanzaa.
PREMIUM
Group Hug at Christmas!
Recommended as a general purchase for a holiday collection for the youngest readers. The unique layout of pages will certainly be appealing to toddlers and beyond.
PREMIUM
Banana Menorah
An engaging book depicting a family’s fun and unique spin on their Hanukkah celebrations.
A heartfelt ode to the celebration of chosen family to welcome into every holiday library collection.
An adorable, romantic, sapphic rom-com perfect for fans of the original, but still accessible for new readers who just want a quick, fun romp.
An appealing and authentic introduction to Dongzhì for readers of any background.
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