Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, everyone! We’ve got another great Spotlight on tap this week, with new titles from Ibi Zoboi, Dave Eggers, Aisha Saeed, Lamar Giles, Jessixa Bagley, and S.D. Nelson.
I’ve also got a “Spotlight of the Spotlight” video for you! This is a 12-minute YouTube video where I talk about a few of my favorites from the Spotlighted titles below.
This week’s top picks:
- The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz (YA)
- The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers (MG)
- Simon and the Better Bone by Corey R. Tabor (picture book)
This week’s Spotlight titles are #3285-#3299 on The Ginormous book list.
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Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
Warrior Princess. That’s what Nigeria Jones’s father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. Nigeria is homeschooled and vegan and participates in traditional rituals to connect her and other kids from the group to their ancestors. But when her mother–the perfect matriarch of their Movement–disappears, Nigeria’s world is upended. She finds herself taking care of her baby brother and stepping into a role she doesn’t want.
Nigeria’s mother had secrets. She wished for a different life for her children, which includes sending her daughter to a private Quaker school outside of their strict group. Despite her father’s disapproval, Nigeria attends the school with her cousin, Kamau, and Sage, who used to be a friend. There, she begins to flourish and expand her universe.
As Nigeria searches for her mother, she starts to uncover a shocking truth. One that will lead her to question everything she thought she knew about her life and her family.
From award-winning author Ibi Zoboi comes a powerful story about discovering who you are in the world–and fighting for that person–by having the courage to be your own revolution.
Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): realistic fiction
- Setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Recommended for: Grades 7+
- Themes: homeschooled students, vegans, Black separatist movements, mother’s disappearance, parental secrets, homophobia, racism, gender roles, misogyny
- Protagonist description: female, age 16, African American
The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz
Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert.
But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?
A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese.
Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): rom-com, romance, humor, fairy tale, graphic novel
- Setting: fictional Kingdom of Fromage; capital city of Fondue
- Recommended for: Grades 7+
- Themes: gender roles, woman disguised as a man, kingdoms, royalty, cheese, LGBT+
- Protagonist description: female, white; most characters cue as white
Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido
Debut author! Self preservation. That’s Bobby’s motto for surviving his notoriously violent high school unscathed. Being out and queer would put an unavoidable target on his back, especially in a Filipino community that frowns on homosexuality. It’s best to keep his head down, get good grades, and stay out of trouble.
But when Bobby is unwillingly outed in a terrible way, he no longer has the luxury of being invisible. A vicious encounter has him scrambling for a new way to survive–by fighting back. Bobby is inspired by champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao to take up boxing and challenge his tormentor. But when Pacquiao publicly declares his stance against queer people, Bobby’s faith–in his hero and in himself–is shaken to the core.
A powerful and unflinching debut that will both shatter and uplift hearts with every read.
- Genre(s): realistic fiction
- Setting: Los Angeles, California, USA
- Recommended for: Grades 7+
- Themes: LGBT+, homophobia, being outed, fighting, boxing, sports, defending oneself, brothers, secrets, Manny Pacquiao (professional boxer), violence, intolerance, bullying
- Protagonist description: male, Filipino American, queer
*Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian
2019. Moud is an out gay teen living in Los Angeles with his distant father, Saeed. When Moud gets the news that his grandfather in Iran is dying, he accompanies his dad to Tehran, where the revelation of family secrets will force Moud into a new understanding of his history, his culture, and himself.
1978. Saeed is an engineering student with a promising future ahead of him in Tehran. But when his parents discover his involvement in the country’s burgeoning revolution, they send him to safety in America, a country Saeed despises. And even worse–he’s forced to live with the American grandmother he never knew existed.
1939. Bobby, the son of a calculating Hollywood stage mother, lands a coveted MGM studio contract. But the fairy-tale world of glamour he’s thrust into has a dark side.
Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this tale of intergenerational trauma and love is an ode to the fragile bonds of family, the hidden secrets of history, and all the beautiful moments that make us who we are today.
Kirkus and Booklist starred.
- Genre(s): historical fiction, realistic fiction
- Setting: Tehran, Iran and Los Angeles, California, USA; alternating timelines–2019, 1978, and 1939
- Recommended for: Grades 9-12
- Themes: LGBT+, old Hollywood, immigrant families, prejudice, racism, homophobia, Iranian Revolution
- Protagonist description: three generations of men in the same family; all age 17-18 in their own timelines; Iranian Americans
If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude
Debut author! Avery Byrne has secrets. She’s queer; she’s in love with her best friend, Cass; and she’s suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. But on the morning Avery plans to jump into the river near her college campus, the world discovers there are only nine days left to live: an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it.
Trying to spare her family and Cass additional pain, Avery does her best to make it through just nine more days. As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery would do anything to save the ones she loves. But most importantly, she learns to save herself. Speak her truth. Seek the support she needs. Find hope again in the tomorrows she has left.
Publishers Weekly starred. Timeline alternates between past and present.
- Genre(s): romance, survival
- Setting: Ivy League college campus
- Recommended for: Grades 9-12
- Themes: depression, mental health, suicide ideation, apocalypse, asteroids, secrets, finding emotional support, being queer in a conservative religious family
- Protagonist description: female, age 19, white, queer, Catholic, college student
Charisma’s Turn: A Graphic Novel by Monique Couvson (Author), Amanda Jones (Illustrator), and Susan Arauz Barnes (Foreword)
Charisma’s Turn is a graphic novel that follows the dynamic story of Charisma, a Black high school student who is grappling with mounting pressures from home and school. When frustrations with her family intersect with a conflict at school, she reaches a crossroads, facing a choice that could change her future.
Featuring vibrantly illustrated art from Amanda Jones and a foreword by poet, artist, and arts educator Susan Arauz Barnes, this book will appeal to teens, parents, educators, librarians, and more. Charisma’s Turn exemplifies how Black girls can be truly empowered to reach their full potential when they have supportive educators and community members in their corner.
- Genre(s): graphic novel, realistic fiction
- Recommended for: Grades 7+
- Themes: problems at school, school suspension, racism, single parents, caretaking younger siblings, feeling overlooked
- Protagonist description: female, age 16, HS senior, Black
*The Eyes & the Impossible by Dave Eggers (Author) and Shawn Harris (Illustrator)
Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes–to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends–a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican–work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance.
But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats–an actual boatload of goats–who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world.
THREE starred reviews!
- Genre(s): animal stories, animal fantasy, adventure
- Setting: large park by the sea
- Recommended for: Grades 3-7
- Themes: dogs, nature, animals, parks, conservation, unique narrators
- Protagonist description: a dog narrates the story
Indigenous Ingenuity: A Celebration of Traditional North American Knowledge by Deidre Havrelock and Edward Kay
Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded history and folklore. Life-saving disinfectant. Forest fire management. Our lives would be unrecognizable without these, and countless other, scientific discoveries and technological inventions from Indigenous North Americans.
Spanning topics from transportation to civil engineering, hunting technologies, astronomy, brain surgery, architecture, and agriculture, Indigenous Ingenuity is a wide-ranging STEM offering that answers the call for Indigenous nonfiction by reappropriating hidden history.
The book includes fun, simple activities and experiments that kids can do to better understand and enjoy the principles used by Indigenous inventors. Readers of all ages are invited to celebrate traditional North American Indigenous innovation, and to embrace the mindset of reciprocity, environmental responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life.
Booklist starred. Includes photos, black-and white illustrations, captions, mechanical drawings, charts, lists, and source notes.
- Genre(s): narrative nonfiction
- Setting: North America
- Recommended for: Grades 4-11
- Themes: inventions, discoveries, science, history, technology, STEM, engineering, astronomy, medicine, experiments, Native Americans
- Protagonist description: Indigenous North Americans
Grounded by Aisha Saeed, S. K. Ali, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Huda Al-Marashi
When a thunderstorm grounds all flights following a huge Muslim convention, four unlikely kids are thrown together.
Feek is stuck babysitting his younger sister, but he’d rather be writing a poem that’s good enough for his dad, a famous poet and rapper.
Hanna is intent on finding a lost cat in the airport–and also on avoiding a conversation with her dad about him possibly remarrying.
Sami is struggling with his anxiety and worried that he’ll miss the karate tournament that he’s trained so hard for.
And Nora has to deal with the pressure of being the daughter of a prominent congresswoman, when all she really wants to do is make fun NokNok videos. These kids don’t seem to have much in common–yet.
- Genre(s): realistic fiction
- Setting: Zora Neale Hurston Airport (fictional?)
- Recommended for: Grades 3-8
- Themes: alternating viewpoints, airports, family problems, stuck in the airport
- Protagonist description: four Muslim Americans, ages 11-13, 2 male and 2 female
Epic Ellisons: Cosmos Camp by Lamar Giles (Author) and Morgan Bissant (Illustrator)
School’s out, and Wiki and Leen Ellison are facing a new challenge…their first summer apart! Genius inventor Leen has been accepted to Petey Thunkle’s world-famous summer training program for STEM prodigies with their eyes on the stars. Meanwhile, Wiki is looking forward to her first summer on her own, running the family corn stand and outclassing Otto and Sheed Alston.
But the night before Leen’s departure, the twins find out that Wiki has also been accepted into the same camp (even though she didn’t apply). And they are…not thrilled. This summer was never supposed to be a Twin Thing! The situation soon goes from bad to worse–because the Ellisons haven’t been invited just to participate in the program.
They’re there to solve a mystery.
Someone (or something) has been tampering with the company’s upcoming big-deal rocket launch. Now, the sisters are undercover, dealing with hyper-competitive campers by day and trying to stop the mysterious saboteur by night.
All is not as it seems at PeteyTech. There are bigger, badder forces at play than the girls could’ve imagined. And if Wiki and Leen don’t get their act together fast, their first epic adventure away from Logan County could end up an epic fail…for the entire world.
- Genre(s): mystery
- Setting: summer
- Recommended for: Grades 3-7
- Themes: summer academies, STEM, summer camp, twins, science, saving the world, technology
- Protagonist description: twin sisters, age 12, African American
Select by Christie Matheson
Twelve-year-old Alex loves playing soccer, and she’s good at it, too. Very good. When her skills land her a free ride to play for Select, an elite soccer club, it feels like a huge opportunity. Joining Select could be the key to a college scholarship and a bright future–one that Alex’s family can’t promise her.
But as the team gets better and better, her new coach pushes the players harder and harder, until soccer starts to feel more like punishment than fun. And then there comes a point where enough is enough, and Alex and her teammates must take a stand to find a better way to make their soccer dreams come true.
- Genre(s): sports
- Setting: San Francisco, California, USA
- Recommended for: Grades 3-8
- Themes: soccer, girls in sports, elite soccer clubs, standing up for oneself, teamwork, sisters, overzealous coaches, strong female protagonists, single mothers, financial problems
- Protagonist description: female, age 12, white
*Simon and the Better Bone by Corey R. Tabor
One day, down by the pond, Simon meets another dog just like him.
And that dog has a bone just like his, only better!
How will Simon ever get him to trade, when the other pup knows all the same tricks…?
Kirkus and Publishers Weekly starred. Based on Aesop’s fable of “The Dog and his Reflection.” Book opens vertically, allowing readers to see the dog at the top and his reflection at the bottom.
- Genre(s): picture book, humor, fables
- Setting: shore of a lake
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
- Themes: dogs, jealousy, reflections, Aesop’s fables, making a new friend
- Protagonist description: cute brown dog
Maurice by Jessixa Bagley
Meet Maurice: a gifted canine who was born to share his songs with the world. Whether selling out the Palais Garnier or delighting Parisian pedestrians, music is Maurice’s love language. But time and things change, and when the world stops paying attention, those notes fall flat.
This transcendent journey of one busking dog, who combines the power of inner strength and the gift of friendship to arrive at true self-discovery, is sure to inspire young dreamers and lift all souls in a stirring celebration of the world’s inherent beauty, welcoming all who seek it.
As readers follow Maurice through good times and bad in this children’s book, his story shows that there’s light at the end of the tunnel and even when we feel like we’re at our lowest, we still have the power to meaningfully contribute to the world.
Publishers Weekly starred.
- Genre(s): picture book
- Setting: Paris, France (entirely populated by dogs)
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
- Themes: dogs, birds, music, busking, friendship, sadness, passage of time
- Protagonist description: anthropomorphic brown dog
Maribel’s Year by Michelle Sterling (Author) and Sarah Gonzales (Illustrator)
New country, new school, new friends.
A lot can happen in a single year. But one thing’s for certain: Maribel won’t forget her Papa, even when he’s 8,000 miles away in the Philippines.
After all, Papa is all around. He is the memory of feeding koi fish in their pond every morning. He is the constellation map as Maribel dreams of showing him her new world. He is the packages and letters sent back and forth.
He is everywhere except the place he’s wanted the most. But the bond between Maribel and Papa transcends oceans. So as the snow melts and turns to rain, as flowers blossom and welcome sun-kissed days, and as the leaves start to change and snow begins to fall once more, can Maribel wait just a little bit longer?
Kirkus starred.
- Genre(s): picture book
- Setting: takes place over a one-year separation of father and daughter
- Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
- Themes: fathers and daughters, immigrants, refugees, Asian Americans, Filipino traditions
- Protagonist description: young female, Filipino American
Grandma’s Tipi: A Present-Day Lakota Story by S. D. Nelson
Now that Clara is almost in third grade, she’s finally old enough to spend her first summer away from home visiting her grandma, Unci, and her cousin at their home in Standing Rock Reservation.
To welcome her visit, Uncle Louie brings an extra-special surprise in his pickup truck: the tipi that’s been passed down through their family for generations. The girls learn how to stack the poles and wrap the canvas covering around them, how to paint spirit pictures on its walls, and how the circle of the tipi tells its own story, reminding us to how to live in the great Circle of Life.
Over long days spent playing outside, doing beadwork together, telling stories, singing songs, and sleeping under the stars, the tipi brings the family closer together. As summer draws to an end, goodbye comes all too soon, but Clara will always cling to the memories of summer days and starry nights…and Grandma’s tipi.
BCCB starred.
- Genre(s): picture book
- Setting: Standing Rock Reservation (Lakota Sioux), North Dakota, USA
- Recommended for: Grades K-5
- Themes: Indigenous North Americans, Native Americans, grandmothers, reservation life, tipis, how to raise a tipi, family stories, heritage
- Protagonist description: young girl and her grandmother, both Lakota Sioux
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS (YA):
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS (MIDDLE GRADES):
THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS & FAVORITE CHARACTERS (ELEMENTARY):
ABOUT THE SPOTLIGHT
The New Release Spotlight began in May 2016 as a way to help librarians keep up with the many new children’s and YA books that are released each week. Every Tuesday, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Titles with a * by them received two or more starred professional reviews. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers.