Welcome to this week’s New Release Spotlight!
The Middle Grades and Picture Book lists were both small lists this week, so I have combined them in to one post.
The Google Slides Presentations linked at the bottom are still separate. They cover the entire month of January, not just this week.
If you only buy one book on this week’s list, I’d go with Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston. Sadly, many students will see their situation reflected in Kita’s. Give it to students who like books like The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden or How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor. I’ve added Shark Teeth to my TBR, too.
Author: Sherri Winston
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: realistic fiction
Setting: Florida, USA
Recommended for: Grades 4-7
Themes: family problems, single mothers, oldest sibling taking care of younger siblings, trusted teachers, alcoholic mother, unstable home life, foster care, parental neglect, abandonment, fetal alcohol syndrome, bullying, dental problems
Protagonist: female, 7th grader, Black
Starred reviews: Kirkus, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly
Pages: 304
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Sharkita “Kita” Hayes is always waiting.
Waiting for her mama to mess up.
Waiting for social services to be called again.
Waiting for her and her siblings to be separated.
Waiting for her worst fear to come true.
But Mama promises things are different now. She’s got a good job, she’s stopped drinking, stopped going out every night-it’s almost enough to make Kita believe her this time. But even as Kita’s life is going good, she can’t shake the feeling that everything could go up in flames at any moment.
When her assistant principal and trusted dance coach starts asking questions about her home life, Kita is more determined than ever to keep up appearances and make sure her family stays together-even if it means falling apart herself.
As the threat of her family being separated again circles like a shark in the water, the pressure starts to get to Kita. But could it be that Kita’s worst fear is actually the best thing that could happen to her family . . . and to her?
Author: Anne Ursu
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: supernatural, mystery
Setting: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Recommended for: Grades 7-12
Themes: change, starting middle school, new kid in town, stepfamilies, new baby, friendship problems, ghosts, mysterious illness, creepy old Victorian home, anxiety, attics, invisible illness
Protagonists: female, age 11, sixth grader, white
Starred reviews: no starred reviews
Pages: 288
Notes: Inspired by “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
The house seemed to sit apart from the others on Katydid Street, silent and alone, like it didn’t fit among them.
For Violet Hart—whose family is about to move into the house on Katydid Street—very little felt like it fit anymore. Like their old home, suddenly too small since her mother remarried and the new baby arrived.
Or Violet’s group of friends, which, since they started middle school, isn’t enough for Violet’s best friend, Paige. Everything seemed to be changing at once. But sometimes, Violet tells herself, change is okay.
That is, until Violet sees her new room. The attic bedroom in their new house is shadowy, creaky, and wrapped in old yellow wallpaper covered with a faded tangle of twisting vines and sickly flowers.
And then, after moving in, Violet falls ill—and does not get better. As days turn into weeks without any improvement, her family growing more confused and her friends wondering if she’s really sick at all, she finds herself spending more time alone in the room with the yellow wallpaper, the shadows moving in the corners, wrapping themselves around her at night.
And soon, Violet starts to suspect that she might not be alone in the room at all.
Author: Brittany J. Thurman
Illustrator: Shamar Knight-Justice
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: picture book
Setting: family home
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
Themes: anxiety over parent’s safety, anxiety over news stories, family, Black Lives Matter, violence in society
Protagonist: young Black girl
Starred reviews: Kirkus and SLJ
Pages: 40
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Every night when Daddy gets home from work, Olivia gives him a big hug and knows that the evening will be full of love—and fun.
Together, she, Daddy, and Momma will make a feast for dinner, clean up, dance to old-school tunes, and read stories.
But every morning when Daddy goes to work, Olivia worries, worries, worries. Be safe, she and Momma tell him. But what if he isn’t? Sometimes other people aren’t, like the people Olivia sees on the news.
Thud, thud, thud, goes Olivia’s heart. Thump, thump, thump, all through the long day, until she hears the jangle of Daddy’s keys announcing he’s home.
Author: Gary Golio
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: picture book biography
Setting: Harlem, New York, USA; 1940s
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 5
Themes: photographers, simple daily life, “day in the life” stories, everyday joy, a great choice for photography classes for older students
Protagonists: male photographer
Starred reviews: Kirkus and Publishers Weekly
Pages: 48
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
“Life is how you look at it.” And for Black photographer Roy DeCarava, life in his neighborhood was beautiful.
Follow Roy through 1940s Harlem, as he takes out his camera, pops in a roll of film, and opens his eyes to the beauty all around him.
There’s a little boy drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. SNAP! A young man at the bus stop with a baby in his arms. SNAP! Kids playing in an open fire hydrant. SNAP!
Looking at them all, Roy sees beauty everywhere in Harlem, and so do the people who look at his photos.
This deeply researched picture book also includes additional information on DeCarava, a list of places to view his photos, a bibliography, and photos.
Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Illustrator: Cornelia Li
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: informational picture book, humor
Setting: a little girl's home and a museum field trip with school
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
Themes: gravity, falling down, bumps and bruises, STEM, science concepts, physical science
Protagonist: young girl, cues Asian, light brown skin, wears glasses
Starred reviews: no starred reviews
Pages: 40
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
When Leda wakes up by falling out of bed, she knows that gravity is in a very bad mood. Again.
Sure enough, she struggles with stumbles and bumbles at home, trips and blips on the bus, and bashes and crashes in the classroom.
But a lesson on gravity helps her understand what’s really going on. And after a visit to a science center, Leda’s mood is lifted…just in time for her to tumble– happily!–into bed.
Author: Keisha Morris
Illustrator: Keisha Morris
Publication Date: January 16, 2024
Genre: picture book
Setting: two buildings in a city neighborhood
Recommended for: PreS-Grade 3
Themes: creative problem solving, friendship, art, dinosaurs, neighbors
Protagonists: two neighbor children; one is a young boy, Latine; one is a young girl, Afro-Latine
Starred reviews: no starred reviews
Pages: 48
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Between two windows, Kayla and Mateo pass drawings of dinosaurs back and forth, back and forth, back and forth…until a story comes to life and the worlds of two friends come together.
But when the clothesline is taken down, the friends must use their creativity to find a new way to keep their story going.
THE LINKS YOU’LL NEED FOR JANUARY
- January 2024 – Middle Grade Books – Google Slides presentation – click “use template” to make a copy – share with students and teachers! Remember that this presentation will eventually include all Middle Grade Spotlight titles for January 2024.
- January 2024 – Picture Books – Google Slides Presentation – While I posted the picture book and middle grades lists together this week, the presentations are still separate.
- Printable list of all January 2024 Spotlight titles – sorted by genre and grade level group; click “use template” to make a copy
- The Ginormous Book List – this week’s Middle Grade and Picture Book titles are #3781- #3786 on The Ginormous.
MORE JANUARY 2024 NEW RELEASE SPOTLIGHTS
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.
Each week, school librarian Leigh Collazo compiles the New Release Spotlight using a combination of Follett’s Titlewave, Amazon, Goodreads, and Barnes and Noble. Recommended grade levels represent the range of grade levels recommended by professional book reviewers. See the full selection criteria here.
Inevitably, there are far more books that meet my criteria than can make it on the Spotlight. When I have to make the tough decisions on what to include, I just use my “librarian judgment.” Would I buy this book for my own library? Would my students want to read this book? Is the cover appealing? Does it fill a need?