New Release Spotlight – Week of April 23, 2024

Welcome to the New Release Spotlight for April 23rd! We’ve got lots of great new titles this week, including new books from E.K. Johnston, Alicia D. Williams, Wendy Orr, Brendan Wenzel, and a short story anthology edited by Hena Khan.

YA looks strongest to me this week!

This week’s top picks

• Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta (YA)
• Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams (MG)
• Two Together by Brendan Wenzel (PB)

PRESENTATION LINKS:

All April Spotlight presentations are all designed in Canva. The three presentations linked below will grow each week in April. By the last Spotlight of this month (April 30), each presentation will have 25-30 or so new titles.

You can edit the presentations by opening them in Canva using the links below. Click FILE, then Make a Copy. You will need a Canva account (free for educators) to edit the presentation.

YA Presentation Link – Grades 7+

Middle Grades Presentation Link – Grades 3-8

Picture Book Presentation Link – PreS-Grade 5+

This week’s Spotlight titles are #4008 – #4023 on The Ginormous Booklist.

 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In Calico Springs, Willie’s life has been defined by two powerful forces: God and the river. The “miracle boy” died for five minutes as a young child, and ever since, Willie is certain he survived for a reason, but that purpose didn’t become clear until he found the Game.

The Game is called Manifest Atlas, and the concept is simple: enter an intention and the Game provides a target—a blinking blue dot on the map. Willie’s second time playing Manifest Atlas, his intention takes him to an ominous target: three empty graves. Willie is sure the Game is telling him he’s going to die.

Willie’s older brother, Bones, doesn’t believe him, but their friends are intrigued. Sarai, a girl from across the river, sets the next intention: something bloody. The group follows the Game’s coordinates and they discover something even more unsettling than the graves: a dead body. Sarai’s stepfather’s body. The Game is suddenly personal.

Willie is dedicated to proving the Game works while Sarai is set on finding out what happened to her stepdad. Bones just wants to enjoy his last summer before real life begins. As the group digs deeper into Manifest Atlas, stranger and wilder things begin to appear, unlocking a much deeper mystery running like an undercurrent through the small town.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In their comics debut, Theo Parish masterfully weaves an intimate and defiantly hopeful memoir about the journey one nonbinary person takes to find a home within themself.

Combining traditional comics with organic journal-like interludes, Theo takes us through their experiences with the hundred arbitrary and unspoken gender binary rules of high school, from harrowing haircuts and finally the right haircut to the intersection of gender identity and sexuality—and through tiny everyday moments that all led up to Theo finding the term “nonbinary,” which finally struck a chord.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In a world where Saints are monsters and Wonderland is the dark forest where they lurk, it’s been five years since young witches and lovers Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle were both sentenced to that forest for a crime they didn’t commit—and four years since they shattered one another’s hearts, each willing to sacrifice the other for a chance at freedom.

Now, Caro is a successful royal Saint-harvester, living the high life in the glittering capital and pretending not to know of the twisted monster experiments that her beloved Red Queen hides deep in the bowels of the palace.

But for Icca, the memory of Caro’s betrayal has hardened her from timid girl to ruthless hunter. A hunter who will stop at nothing to exact her vengeance: On Caro. On the queen. On the throne itself.

But there’s a secret about the Saints the Queen’s been guarding, and a volatile magic at play even more dangerous to Icca and Caro than they are to each other…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

School is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jones is determined to make it one for the books! Together with their bestie bandmates, Michele and Gael, Ariel believes they’re destined to break into the music industry and out of Chicago’s Southside by singing lead in their garage punk band, Baby Hares.

But before Baby Hares can officially get into the groove, the realities of post grad life start to weigh on this crew of misfits. Ari begins to worry that it’s time to pull the plug on their dreams of making it big.

Just when all hope feels lost, a fellow punk and local icon takes an interest in their talent. It seems like he might be the only one Ariel can rely on as frustrations between bandmates reach at an all-time high.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Xue, a talented young musician, has no past and probably no future. Orphaned at a young age, her kindly poet uncle took her in and arranged for an apprenticeship at one of the most esteemed entertainment houses in the kingdom.

She doesn’t remember much from before entering the House of Flowing Water, and when her uncle is suddenly killed in a bandit attack, she is devastated to lose her last connection to a life outside of her indenture contract.

With no family and no patron, Xue is facing the possibility of a lifetime of servitude playing the qin for nobles that praise her talent with one breath and sneer at her lowly social status with the next. Then one night she is unexpectedly called to the garden to put on a private performance for the enigmatic Duke Meng. For a young man of nobility, he is strangely kind and awkward, and surprises Xue further with an irresistible offer: serve as a musician in residence at his manor for one year, and he’ll set her free of her indenture.

But the Duke’s motives become increasingly more suspect when he and Xue barely survive an attack by a nightmarish monster, and when he whisks her away to his estate, she discovers he’s not just some country noble: He’s the Duke of Dreams, one of the divine rulers of the Celestial Realm. There she learns the Six Realms are on the brink of disaster, and incursions by demonic beasts are growing more frequent.

The Duke needs Xue’s help to unlock memories from her past that could hold the answers to how to stop the impending war… but first Xue will need to survive being the target of every monster and deity in the Six Realms.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Companion to: Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Kirkus review is not very positive, so be sure to read that one before purchasing for the library. I’ve included it on the Spotlight because this is a popular author and topic.

In the small town of Eganston, Ontario, five good girls have had enough.

They’ve experienced the best of what their community has to offer, but they’ve seen the darker side too.

Together, they’ve decided that it’s time for a reckoning and that justice is their privilege to give.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

After their friend Mark’s mum wins the lottery and gets a giant house with an indoor pool, Ali and Sami have been having the time of their lives hanging at Mark’s house. Even their friend Aadam gets a job there, which means he can make more money for his legal battle for UK residency.

But when some money goes missing, Aadam is accused of stealing it–and all three boys are unceremoniously kicked out of Mark’s house in suspicion.

On top of that, Ali’s dad, who abandoned the family when Ali was little, is suddenly turning up everywhere in town, and a half-brother Ali never knew has shown up at Ali’s school. Ali feels miserable and resentful about it, making it hard to be a good friend.

The boys know Aadam is innocent, and if he doesn’t raise thousands of pounds right away, he could get deported back to Syria amidst its civil war. At least Ali has a plan: they’ll host a charity football penalty match to raise money for Aadam so he can stay in the UK.

But can Ali pull together the match–even if he feels his whole life at home is falling apart?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Bay Ann wants to shine. No matter what.

She’s sure her moment in the spotlight has arrived when she wins the school talent show with a showstopping tap routine! But then her classmate and crush, Alyee Maq, causes her to wobble and almost fall.

The video of him catching her goes viral, making Alyee an overnight sensation for “helping her.” Bay Ann is reduced to her disability and her talent is ignored.

Bay Ann doesn’t want her classmate to get all the fame, and she is NOT satisfied being anything but the best. She’ll do everything in her power to beat Alyee at his own attention-seeking game. With the help of her two best friends, Michelle and Davey Matt, she’ll go up against Alyee and his crew to prove she’s number one.

But as Bay Ann tries to find the thing that really makes her stand out, everything she tries goes disastrously wrong. What if the only way to beat her enemy . . . is to join him?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

It’s the last few months of eighth grade, and Isaiah feels lost. He thought his summer was going to be him and his boys Drew and Darius, hanging out, doing wheelies, watching martial arts movies, and breaking tons of Guiness World Records before high school. But now, more and more, Drew seems to be fading from their friendship, and though he won’t admit it, Isaiah knows exactly why. Because Darius is…gone.

A hit and run killed Darius in the midst of a record-breaking long wheelie when Isaiah should have been keeping watch, ready to warn: “CAR!” Now, Drew can barely look at Isaiah. But Isaiah, already quaking with ache and guilt, can’t lose two friends. So, he comes up with a plan to keep Drew and him together­­­—they can spend the summer breaking records, for Darius.

But Drew’s not the same Drew since Darius was killed, and Isaiah, being Isaiah, isn’t enough for Drew anymore. Not his taste in clothes, his love for rock music, or his aversion to jumping off rooftops. And one day something unspeakable happens to Isaiah that makes him think Drew’s right. If only he could be less sensitive, more tough, less weird, more cool, less him, things would be easier. But how much can Isaiah keep inside until he shatters wide open?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Discover stories of fear, triumph, and spectacular celebration in the fictional town of Maple Grove, New Jersey, where the local kids gather at the community center to discover new crushes, fight against ignorance, and even save a life. Cheer for Chaya as she wins chess tournaments (unlike Andrew, she knows stupid sugary soda won’t make you better at chess), and follow as Jeevan learns how to cook traditional food (it turns out he can cook sabji– he just can’t eat it).

These stories, edited by bestselling and award-winning Pakistani-American author Hena Khan, are filled with humor, warmth, and possibility. They showcase a diverse array of talented authors with heritage from the Indian subcontinent, including beloved favorites and rising stars, who each highlight the beauty and necessity of a community center that everyone calls home.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When Remya Jose had to spend many hours washing her family’s laundry by hand, she invented a pedal powered washing machine that could finish the chore in only 20 minutes!

When Tripp Phillips’ Lego creations kept falling apart, he developed a glue strong enough to hold his creations together that would wash off when he was ready to build something new!

And when Fatima Al Kaabi didn’t have anyone willing to teach her about robotics, she turned to the internet to teach herself all the skills she needed―and created multiple crowd-pleasing robots in the process!

From Popsicles® and swim fins to robots and glitter shooting prosthetics, Kailei Pew’s middle grade nonfiction debut is full of fun and inspiring stories, illustrated by Shannon Wright, about real kid inventors who proved that even the youngest people can change the world.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

The valley of horses has been a safe haven for Honey and her family for seven peaceful years, but this seemingly perfect valley has also become their prison.

Trapped by a mysterious magic, and fearing for her father’s life, Honey is determined to find a way out of the valley of horses.

The valley of horses is the only true place Honey remembers since her family stumbled upon it in their converted ice cream truck while escaping from the rest of the world, and the illnesses that was spreading there.

Honey’s parents, her brother Rumi, and her NanNan become self-sufficient, living off the land and sharing the valley with mystical horses who seem to have a wisdom of their own.

But there is a magic in the valley that prevents Honey and her family from ever leaving.

When Honey suspects her father has become ill, Honey knows she must find a way to escape the valley to find help from a world she only knows about through stories.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

It’s been three years since Abuela’s last visit, and Dulce revels in every tiny detail—from Abuela’s maletas full of candies in crinkly wrappers and gifts from primos to the sweet, earthy smell of Peru that floats out of Abuela’s room and down the hall.

But Abuela’s visit can’t last forever, and all too soon she’s packing her suitcases again.

Then Dulce has an idea: maybe there are things she can gather for her cousins and send with Abuela to remind them of the U.S. relatives they’ve never met.

And despite having to say goodbye, Abuela has one more surprise for Dulce—something to help her remember that home isn’t just a place, but the deep-rooted love they share no matter the distance.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Olivette is here to let you in on a secret: you can be anything you want to be. And even better, you can be all of it!

Olivette is energetic, moody, and unique—just like you, Olivette contains multitudes.

Olivette Is You—all of it is you—is inspired by actor, musician, and author Nico Tortorella’s own experience.

Through this buoyant picture book, Nico shows you that you don’t have to choose who or what to be; you are already everything.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Cat and Dog are headed home. A simple route lies ahead of them . . . or does it?

There’s so much to see and smell and hear, and the two of them experience the world very differently. A stream, for instance, is watery fun for Dog, but it may not be so delightful for Cat!

As their journey becomes an adventure full of unexpected twists and turns, Cat and Dog show that it’s possible for two creatures to travel in the world together despite their distinctive perspectives and abilities—and even to appreciate and enjoy them.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Joe and his friend Simone are practicing their best playground tricks, but everyone keeps saying how amazing Joe is, even when he tries to let Simone be the star.

Will he ever get to be just Joe, whether he’s amazing or not?

 

THIS WEEK’S SEQUELS

       

PREVIOUS 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?