New Release Spotlight – May 7, 2024

Holy moly, May 7th is a whopper date for new book releases for kids and teens! There is no way I can feature every amazing book this week. Titles I skipped this week are still on my list and may pop up on another week’s Spotlight this month.

We have new titles this week from (*deep breath*): Samira Ahmed, Jennifer Donnelly, Paula Yoo, Kekla Magoon, Ying Chang Compestine, Traci Sorell, Lisa Fipps, Vera Brosgol, Lesléa Newman, Reem Faruqi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, Renée Watson, Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, and Newbery winner Matt de la Pena.

And this isn’t even all the new books I wanted to feature. I mean, WOW.

And a bonus shout-out to Kekla Magoon, who released a YA title (Prom Babies) just last week and a MG title this week. Busy writers!

My top picks:

• Rising From the Ashes by Paula Yoo (YA)
• Plain Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol (MS)
• Growing Up under a Red Flag: A Memoir of Surviving the Chinese Cultural Revolution by Ying Chang Compestine (PB)

PRESENTATION LINKS:

All May Spotlight presentations are designed in Canva. The presentations for May 2024 will grow throughout May. By the end of the month, each presentation will have 20-30 titles on it! Play the presentations on a loop to show off the week’s newest book releases. This is a great way to get student and staff input on the books that interest them most.

One small change from April to May: I will be adding the sequels to the Canva presentations instead of putting them in the weekly Spotlights. I am not sure if the way I did the new sequels sections in April was compliant with Amazon’s TOU for image use – I am no lawyer and prefer to err on the side of caution for image use.

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 #4041 – #4061 on The Ginormous Booklist.

 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves.

Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.

But things aren’t so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled “obscene” or “pornographic” and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Noor can’t sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back.

Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics—and small-town love—be her downfall?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In the spring of 1992, after a jury returned not guilty verdicts in the trial of four police officers charged in the brutal beating of a Black man, Rodney King, Los Angeles was torn apart.

Thousands of fires were set, causing more than a billion dollars in damage. In neighborhoods abandoned by the police, protestors and storeowners exchanged gunfire. More than 12,000 people were arrested and 2,400 injured. Sixty-three died.

In Rising from the Ashes, award-winning author Paula Yoo draws on the experience of the city’s Korean American community to narrate and illuminate this uprising, from the racism that created economically disadvantaged neighborhoods torn by drugs and gang-related violence, to the tensions between the city’s minority communities.

At its heart are the stories of three lives and three families: those of Rodney King; of Latasha Harlins, a Black teenager shot and killed by a Korean American storeowner; and Edward Jae Song Lee, a Korean American man killed in the unrest.

Woven throughout, and set against a minute-by-minute account of the uprising, are the voices of dozens others: police officers, firefighters, journalists, business owners, and activists whose recollections give texture and perspective to the events of those five days in 1992 and their impact over the years that followed.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

After the deadly 2011 earthquakes in Christ Church, New Zealand, Eddy Smallbone must navigate the ruins of his hometown along with the ruins of his personal life.

A Catholic-school dropout itching to break free of the eccentric uncle who raised him and newly mourning the death of his dog, Eddy starts his own dog-walking and pet-sitting business.

Through his work, he meets and cares for an extraordinary cast of characters, including a precocious seven-year-old girl and a nun and her unruly parrot.

Meanwhile, Eddy’s former girlfriend, Boo, is back, and their relationship fraught, to say the least. And his best friend, Thomas Moore, who lives in a cabin behind his parents’ house, is suffering from a mysterious and devastating illness.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

What makes a girl “beastly?” Is it having too much ambition? Being too proud? Taking up too much space? Or is it just wanting something, anything, too badly?

That’s the problem Arabella faces when she makes her debut in society. Her parents want her to be sweet and compliant so she can marry well, but try as she might, Arabella can’t extinguish the fire burning inside her — the source of her deepest wishes, her wildest dreams.

When an attempt to suppress her emotions tragically backfires, a mysterious figure punishes Arabella with a curse, dooming her and everyone she cares about, trapping them in the castle.

As the years pass, Arabella abandons hope. The curse is her fault — after all, there’s nothing more “beastly” than a girl who expresses her anger — and the only way to break it is to find a boy who loves her for her true self: a cruel task for a girl who’s been told she’s impossible to love.

When a handsome thief named Beau makes his way into the castle, the captive servants are thrilled, convinced he is the one to break the curse. But Beau — spooked by the castle’s strange and forbidding ladies-in-waiting, and by the malevolent presence that stalks its corridors at night — only wants to escape. He learned long ago that love is only an illusion.

If Beau and Arabella have any hope of breaking the curse, they must learn to trust their wounded hearts, and realize that the cruelest prisons of all are the ones we build for ourselves.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Don “TheDragonWilson” Jones is the finest fighter Benjamin Harrison High School has ever produced. But when he enters the ring against Lincoln High’s Sam Steadman, it’s love at first knockout.

Unfortunately, Sam has a jerky ex-boyfriend…and Don has a seriously terrifying ex-girlfriend. Like, “global crime cartel” terrifying.

From prom to the after-party to graduation, Don and Sam―and an increasingly eclectic cast of supporting oddballs―will have to fight their way through a gauntlet of opponents, all in the name of love (and punching). Did we mention the punching?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Andres Santos of São Paulo was all swinging fists and firecracker fury, a foot soldier in the war between his parents, until he drowned in the Tietê River…and made a bargain with Death for a new life.

A year later, his parents have relocated the family to Miami, but their promises of a fresh start quickly dissolve in the summer heat.

Instead of fists, Andres now uses music to escape his parents’ battles. While wandering Miami Beach, he meets two girls: photographer Renee, a blaze of fire, and dancer Liora, a ray of sunshine. The three become a polyamorous triad, happy, despite how no one understands their relationship.

But when a car accident leaves Liora in a coma, Andres and Renee are shattered.

Then Renee proposes a radical solution: She and Andres must go into the underworld to retrieve their girlfriend’s spirit and reunite it with her body—before it’s too late.

Their search takes them to the City of the dead, where painters bleed color, songs grow flowers, and regretful souls will do anything to forget their lives on earth.

But finding Liora’s spirit is only the first step in returning to the living world. Because when Andres drowned, he left a part of himself in the underworld—a part he’s in no hurry to meet again. But it is eager to be reunited with him…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Jane is incredibly plain.

Everyone says so: her parents, the villagers, and her horrible cousin who kicks her out of her own house.

Determined to get some semblance of independence, Jane prepares to propose to the princely Peter, who might just say yes to get away from his father. It’s a good plan!

Or it would’ve been, if he wasn’t kidnapped by a mermaid.

With her last shot at happiness lost in the deep blue sea, Jane must venture to the world underwater to rescue her maybe-fiancé.

But the depths of the ocean hold beautiful mysteries and dangerous creatures. What good can a plain Jane do?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground.

His mom can’t be depended on as she never stays around long once she gets “the itch,” and now he and his beloved grandmother find themselves without a home.

Fortunately, Joe has an outlet in his journals and drawings and takes comfort from the lessons of comic books—superheroes have a lot of “and then, boom” moments, where everything threatens to go bust but somehow they land on their feet.

And that seems to happen a lot to Joe too, as in this crisis his friend Nick helps them find a home in his trailer park.

But things fall apart again when Joe is suddenly left to fend for himself. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s on his own, as he fears foster care and has hope his mom will come back.

But time is running out—bills are piling up, the electricity’s been shut off, and the school year’s about to end, meaning no more free meals.

The struggle to feed himself gets intense, and Joe finds himself dumpster diving for meals.

He’s never felt so alone—until an emaciated little dog and her two tiny pups cross his path. And fate has even more in store for Joe, because an actual tornado is about to hit home—and just when it seems all is lost, his life turns in a direction that he never could have predicted.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Jerry has serious questions about the town his scientist father drags him to: why did they give up traveling the world to settle down in such a strange spot?

Why won’t his dad talk about his mysterious research or explain what happened to his mother, who disappeared years ago?

And when he sees his friend Pearl transform into a were-squirrel under the light of the full moon, he needs to know: were exactly has he ended up?

But when criminal mayhem turns Jerry’s town—a safe haven for were-creatures—into a not-so-safe haven, Jerry must uncover a twisty conspiracy and take down the instigators who are trying to tear the place that’s become his home apart.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Twelve-year-old Raj is happiest flying kites with his best friend, Iqbal. As their kites soar, Raj feels free, like his beloved India soon will be, and he can’t wait to celebrate their independence.

But when a British lawyer draws a line across a map, splitting India in two, Raj is thrust into a fractured world. With Partition declared, Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim families are torn apart—and Raj’s Hindu and Iqbal’s Muslim families are among them.

Forced to flee and become refugees, Raj’s family is left to start over in a new country. After suffering devastating losses, Raj must summon the courage to survive the brutal upheaval of both his country and his heart.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old Liv’s beloved ninety-two-year-old grandmother, Oma, is moving into a home where she can be cared for as her dementia worsens. As Liv helps her father empty Oma’s house, she finds an old chest which opens up a whole world that Liv never knew about: the hidden world of Oma’s childhood.

Through the letters and other mementos, Liv learns that Oma, given name Mila, had a sister, Eva, that no one in Liv’s family ever knew about. In 1942, Mila and Eva are sent away from their parents to a non-Jewish family so they will survive the war. Twelve-year-old Mila believes that they will soon be reunited with their parents and go back to their normal lives, but fourteen-year-old Eva knows better, and soon gets involved in the Resistance.

Eva takes on more and more dangerous assignments until a betrayal forces her to decide between running away with her sister or fully committing to mission. Tragedy strikes, and Mila goes to England on her own to restart her life from scratch, vowing never to talk about her childhood again.

In the present day, Liv reads how Mila builds something new from the shattered pieces of her childhood while giving beloved Oma all the support she can. Both Liv and Mila grapple with loyalty, family, and love as they discover what it means to be brave and go above and beyond to offer someone else a life of dignity, happiness, and freedom.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Since Grandpa died, Dally’s days are dull and restricted.

She’s eleven and a half years old, and her exacting single mother is already preparing her to take over the family business.

Starved for adventure and release, Dally rescues a mysterious envelope from her mother’s clutches, an envelope Grandpa had earmarked for her.

The map she finds inside leads straight to an ancient vault, a library of secrets where each book is a portal to a precise moment in time.

As Dally “checks out” adventure after adventure—including an exhilarating outing with pirates—she begins to dive deep into her family’s hidden history.

Soon she’s visiting every day to escape the demands of the present. But the library has secrets of its own, intentions that would shape her life as surely as her mother’s meticulous plans. What will Dally choose?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Today is a day of excitement—it’s time to move!

As a young Cherokee girl says goodbye to the swing, the house, and the city she’s called home her whole life, she readies herself for the upcoming road trip.

While her mother drives, the girl draws the changing landscape outside her window. She looks forward to the end of the journey, where she’ll eat the feast her family has prepared, play in the creek with her cousins, and settle into the new rhythm of home.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Gabriel the elephant dreams of being part of the lifeboat crew in his seaside town, but he is too young, and too little. But soon, Gabriel grows up and he is too…BIG!

Disappointed but undaunted, Gabriel makes a plan. He hammers and chops, saws and sands, and builds his very own boat.

One night, a great storm hits, and it’s Gabriel’s time to shine, pulling his oars alone against the crashing waves to save a crew in peril.

Young children will love rooting for underdog Gabriel and will draw inspiration from his determination to achieve his dreams despite hurdles and setbacks.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

What a happy day! Zachary’s baby sister will have her naming ceremony. In the temple! With his moms, the congregation, and all their friends!

He’s so excited he can barely contain it. On the walk from their home, they meet neighbor after neighbor who want to know the baby’s name. But – not yet! – his mothers tell him.

The tradition is to have a great reveal at the ceremony. So they invite each neighbor to come along. A colorful, diverse parade blooms along the route, until…At last it’s time, and Zachary gets to reveal his sister’s name…What is it? A truly joyful moment for everyone.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Lucas goes to the perfect school in the perfect neighborhood.

But life at home is not so perfect.

His dad’s old work truck stalls in front of the school. The electricity is out when he gets home, and he doesn’t even have time to show his mom his report (on which he received a perfect score) before she rushes off to her night job.

That night, Lucas dreams of a strange light, which he follows down the fire escape, into the alleyway, clear out of his neighborhood, all the way to the place where the perfect people live.

Everything there is more beautiful than he could have imagined. But is it possible things aren’t as perfect as they seem?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Ameena feels invisible. It’s been that way since she started at her new school. But now there is another new girl in class. Ameena sees her brownness and her hijab, even though the other kids do not.

Ameena wants to be her friend, but she can’t seem to find the right words or do the right things. Until one day, they find them together: “Assalamu Alaikum, Sister. Welcome.”

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Summer is finally here, and she’s bringing the most perfect day!

From sunup to sundown, there’s so much to do on this lovely summer day.

With summer comes fresh fruit, sweet and tangy, jump ropes for leaping and dancing, and friends at the pool swimming and floating.

Summer brings family cookouts under shady trees, gardens overflowing, and the familiar song of the ice-cream truck.

This beautiful ode to all the season’s sensations follows one girl’s perfect day in an exploration of joy, family, friendship, sunshine, and wonder.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

My name is Salma, which means peace. Islam also means peace. I wish more people knew that.

Salma is Muslim, an identity she takes pride in. But not everyone understands Salma’s religion the way she does, including news reporters, and even a boy in her class, who bullies Salma for belonging to the culture and faith she loves. However, when things go too far, Salma says, “Enough is enough!” and finds the courage to defend herself while also spreading a message of peace.

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?