36 Must-Have Books from Award-Winning Michaela Goade, María Dolores Aguila, and More | Web Starred Reviews, October

Purchase these web-exclusive titles, including a celebration of libraries, gorgeous picture books, and stirring YA novels. 

A Spoonful of the Sea (Yum) ©2025 by Hyewon Yum

 

Picture Books

DAYWALT, Drew. Forty the Fortune Teller. illus. by Kevin Cornell. Philomel.
FINISON, Carrie. Even Steven: A Book About Sharing. illus. by Daniel Wiseman. Putnam.
GOADE, Michaela. Moon Song. Little, Brown.
RAMSEY, Calvin Alexander. The Library in the Woods. illus. by R. Gregory Christie. Lerner/Carolrhoda.
RIDOLFI, Danielle. When the Dark Clouds Come. HarperCollins/Quill Tree.

WYNNE-JONES, Tim. King of the Dump. illus. by Scot Ritchie. Groundwood.
YUM, Hyewon. A Spoonful of the Sea. illus. by Hyewon Yum. Norton.

 

Transitional

BARROWS, Annie. Stella & Marigold: Mermaids and Mix-Ups. illus. by Sophie Blackall. Chronicle. 

 

Middle Grade

ÁGUILA, María Dolores. A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez. Roaring Brook.
BLOOR, Edward. Goalkeeper. HarperCollins/Clarion. 
BRASHARES, Ann & Ben Brashares. Into the Fire. (Westfallen). S. & S.
BRINER, Karen. Starry, Starry Heist. Holiday House.
GOLDEWIJK, Yorick. The Tree That Was a World. tr. from Dutch by Laura Watkinson. illus. by Jeska Verstegen. Eerdmans.
HOYLE, McCall. Forever Ripley. Shadow Mountain.
MACKAY, Jack. Gloam. Viking. 
MARINO, Andy. Escape from the USS Indianapolis. (Escape From: Bk. 5). Scholastic. 
REYNOLDS, Jason. Coach. (Track). S. & S./Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

 

YA

ARNOLD, Marie. Split the Sky. Little, Brown. 
COOPER, Emily. Season of Fear. Little, Brown/Christy Ottaviano. 
DEO, Jesmeen Kaur. Reasons We Break. Disney-Hyperion.
GILL, Nikita. Hekate: The Witch. (Goddesses of the Underworld: Bk. 1). Little, Brown.
GOODWIN, Idris. King of the Neuro Verse. S. & S./Atheneum.
GRAY, Jordan Stephanie. Bitten. Little, Brown.
MCKAY, Kirsty. Seven All Alone. Sourcebooks/Fire. 
OLLESTAD, Norman & Brendan Kiely. Sole Survivor. Farrar. 
SMITH, Lyssa Mia. Gilded in Vengeance. Harper/Storytide.
STRATTON, L.S. Sundown Girls. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.
VALENTINE, Stefany. Love Makes Mochi. (Love in Translation: Bk. 3). Random/Joy Revolution.


Graphic Novels

YAN, Stan. The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang. S. & S./Atheneum.

 

Go Tell It!: How James Baldwin Became a Writer (Harris) ©2025 by Gordon C. James

 

Nonfiction

HARRIS, Quartez. Go Tell It!: How James Baldwin Became a Writer. illus. by Gordon C. James. Little, Brown.
PAZNER, Anita Fitch. Words Matter: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, and the White Rose Resistance. illus. by Sophie Casson. Groundwood. 
PERRY, Caroline L. Messi’s Magic: How Lionel Messi Became the G.O.A.T. illus. by Luciano Lozano. Scholastic. 
PRIEBST, Thekla. The Voyage That Changed the World: The Epic Story of the First Crew to Sail Around the Globe. Quarto/Wide Eyed Eds.
SEKANINOVA, Stepanka. Poops and Farts: The Bottom Line. illus. by Miroslava Gomolcakova & Daniel Handak. Albatros.
SLADE, Suzanne. Women on a Mission: The Remarkable Heroes Who Put Men on the Moon. illus. by Molly Magnell. Charlesbridge.

 

Reference

SKERRY, Brian & Stephanie Warren Drimmer. The Ultimate Book of Whales: Up-Close Encounters with Earth’s Mightiest Mammals. (Ultimate Books). National Geographic. 

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