New Release Spotlight – June 4, 2024

Welcome to the June Spotlight! I did something new this week! I have added a “My thoughts” section to each entry on the Spotlight. This paragraph explains why I selected each book for inclusion on this Spotlight.

My top picks this week:

• Shift Happens: The History of Labor in the United States by J. Albert Mann (YA)
• Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley (MG)
• Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle (picture book)

PRESENTATION LINKS:

All three presentations are in Canva and editable! Just click below, then go to File-Make a Copy in your Canva account. If you do not have a Canva account, you can get a free educator account here (must be verified).

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 #4107 – #4122 on The Ginormous Booklist.

 

MY THOUGHTS

I debated on including this one on the Spotlight. I have very strict criteria regarding at least two positive professional book reviews for every title I include. Titlewave lists only two reviews currently, and one of them – The Kirkus review, of course – really isn’t very positive.

Amazon includes positive excerpts from Booklist and BCCB, but I could not find those full reviews online. Not to mention that Amazon also includes a positive excerpt from Kirkus, which sounds nice but is not the context of the entire Kirkus review.

On the other hand, Publishers Weekly starred it, and the story sounds like something I could easily booktalk. I have also long felt that Kirkus reviews are the sourface of the bunch, and I take all their reviews with a grain of salt. You can read more about that here (scroll about halfway down to the section “More on Kirkus Reviews”).

What really clinched inclusion of Take All of Us for me is the 73 Goodreads reviews, with a 4.03 average rating. Most of the reviews are positive and seem to come from real readers (not artificially-inflated reviews from people who have not read the book). Multiple reviewers thank Netgalley or the publisher for sending an ARC, which also tells me these are real reviews.

So I’ve included this title on the Spotlight, but I am not 100% certain it meets my “2 positive reviews” criteria. If your school or district requires two positive professional reviews for title purchases, please check to verify the full-text of Booklist and/or BCCB are actually positive. I’m sure those reviews will eventually be available online, but they are not there just yet.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Five years ago, a parasite poisoned the water of Ian’s West Virginia hometown, turning dozens of locals into dark-eyed, oil-dripping shells of their former selves. With chronic migraines and seizures limiting his physical abilities, Ian relies on his best friend and secret love Eric to mercy-kill any infected people they come across.

Until a new health report about the contamination triggers a mandatory government evacuation, and Ian cracks his head in the rush. Used to hospitals and health scares, Ian always thought he’d die young… but he wasn’t planning on coming back. Much less face the slow, painful realization that Eric left him behind to die.

Desperate to find Eric and the truth before the parasite takes over him, Ian along with two others left behind—his old childhood rival Monica and the jaded prepper Angel—journey to track down Eric. What they don’t know is that Eric is also looking for Ian, and he’s determined to mercy-kill him.

MY THOUGHTS

I chose this one mainly because of two things: the summary and the author.

There have been many books coming out in the past year or so that deal with the Covid lockdowns. I don’t think history is going to look kindly on the (over)reactions of governments that locked cities down for weeks or even months.

As someone who had to start over completely during Covid (I lived in Shanghai and traveled to Mexico 2 days before Wuhan shut down), I am happy to see authors talking about the lockdowns and their affect on teens. Whether you agree with the lockdowns or not, people were and still are very much affected by them.

The author, Jordan Sonnenblick, is a well-known veteran to books for teens. Some of his titles include Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, After Ever After, and Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip. As a former Texas middle school librarian, I know all three of these (plus two more) were once on the Lonestar Reading List. I’m a big fan of the Lonestar list!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Jesse Dienstag’s favorite sweatshirt says, “The real world isn’t real.” That’s the slogan of the vacation-home community in Pennsylvania where his family has always spent every vacation and weekend for as long as he can remember.

In the summer of 2019, as Jesse is about to enter his junior year of high school in New York City, he desperately wants to believe the slogan is true. For one thing, the two girls he loves — equally and desperately — are in Pennsylvania, and all the stresses and pressures of his daily life and school are in New York.

But when his parents stop talking to each other, it gets harder and harder for Jesse to maintain his dream life in Pennsylvania.

And when Covid shuts New York City down in March 2020 just days after Jesse’s mother leaves his father, Jesse’s worlds collide.

MY THOUGHTS

I’ve already added this to my list of Spotify audiobooks to read. It looks like the audiobook also comes out on June 4th. I love books about social problems in the USA, so I definitely plan to read this.

Note that this title currently has three starred reviews, which is no small feat.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

You need to work to live.

That’s the truth for most people, and plenty of people in power have been abusing that truth for centuries.

Long before the first labor unions were formed, workers still knew what exploitation looked like. It looked like the enslavement of Black people. It looked like generations of children dying in dangerous jobs. It looked like wealthy people hiring private militaries to attack their employees.

But workers have always found a way to fight back. Lokono tribespeople resisted Columbus and his colonizers. Enslaved people led walkouts and rebellions. Textile workers demanded a wage that would let them have fun, not just survive. Miners died for the right to unionize. From 30,000 young seamstresses striking in the early 1900s to Uber drivers organizing for change today, people have learned we’re stronger when we are united.

Shift Happens is a smart, funny, and engaging look at the history of the worker actions that brought us weekends, pay equality, desegregation, an end to child labor, and so much more.

MY THOUGHTS

A monster in the basement drinking blood from a teen? This summary will be very easy to booktalk. Bonus because it’s a graphic novel, and double-bonus because it’s from Molly Knox Ostertag.

You probably already have Molly Knox Ostertag’s graphic novels in your library. Her titles include The Witch Boy (read my review here) and The Girl from the Sea.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Everyone has secrets. Mags’s has teeth.

Magdalena Herrera is about to graduate high school, but she already feels like an adult with serious responsibilities: caring for her ailing grandmother; working a part-time job; clandestine makeouts with a girl who has a boyfriend.

And then there’s her secret, which pulls her into the basement each night, drains her of energy, and leaves her bleeding. A secret that could hurt and even kill if it ever got out ― like it did once before.

So Mags keeps her head down, isolated in her small desert community. That is, until her childhood friend Nessa comes back to town, bringing vivid memories of the past, an intoxicating glimpse of the future, and a secret of her own. Mags won’t get attached, of course. She’s always been strong enough to survive without anyone’s help.

But when the darkness starts to close in on them both, Mags will have to drag her secret into the daylight, and choose between risking everything . . . or having nothing left to lose.

MY THOUGHTS

Another YA monster-in-a-small-town story! This is from debut author Matteo L. Cerilli, and it sounds cool-creepy!

This is the second title this week that might not technically meet my criteria of “two positive reviews.” Titlewave lists a Kirkus review and a starred Publishers Weekly review. Just like with Take All of Us (near top of this post), the Kirkus review is somewhat negative.

Just like with Take All of Us, I’ve included Lockjaw anyway because of the ease of booktalking – the summary has a Stephen King feel to it – and because of 35 mostly positive early Goodreads reviews. Many of the early Goodreads reviews thank NetGalley or the publisher for the ARC, which to me, adds authenticity to the reviews. These are unlikely to be reviews from the author’s family members or people saying “This sounds so great! 5 stars” without reading it.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Chuck Warren died tragically at the old abandoned mill, but Paz Espino knows it was no accident — there’s a monster under the town, and she’s determined to kill it before anyone else gets hurt.

She’ll need the help of her crew — inseparable friends, bound by a childhood pact stronger than diamonds, distance or death — to hunt it down. But she’s up against a greater force of evil than she ever could have imagined.

With shifting timeframes and multiple perspectives, Lockjaw is a small-town ghost story, where monsters living and dead haunt the streets, the homes and the minds of the inhabitants. For readers of Wilder Girls and The Haunted, this trans YA horror book by an incredible debut author will grab you and never let you go.

MY THOUGHTS

This is a Korean-inspired space opera that reminds me a bit of Star Wars.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Hwa Young was just ten years old when imperial forces destroyed her rebel moon home. Now, six years later, she is a citizen of the very empire that made her an orphan.

Desperate to shake her rebel past, Hwa Young dreams of one day becoming a lancer pilot, an elite group of warriors who fly into battle using the empire’s most advanced tech—giant martial robots. Lancers are powerful, and Hwa Young would do anything to be the strong one for once in her life.

When an attack on their boarding school leaves Hwa Young and her classmates stranded on an imperial space fleet, her dreams quickly become a reality. As it turns out, the fleet is in dire need of pilot candidates, and Hwa Young—along with her brainy best friend Geum, rival Bae, and class clown Seong Su—are quick to volunteer.

But training is nothing like what they expected, and secrets—like the fate of the fleet’s previous lancer squad and hidden truths about the rebellion itself—are stacking up. And when Hwa Young uncovers a conspiracy that puts their entire world at risk, she’s forced to make a choice between her rebel past and an empire she’s no longer sure she can trust.

MY THOUGHTS

This book speaks to me. Not only did I grow up with a beloved Black Lab named Sam, I also am a dog person in general. I love that the dog in this story is a rescue pup. And anyone who has ever had a pup that was consistently “naughty” will certainly identify with the family’s frustration with their new little dog.

This is an illustrated chapter book about a cute little pug who is most definitely protecting his family from all kinds of nefarious goings-on. It reminds me a little of the Pinkerton picture books from when I was a kid. Do you remember the story where Pinkerton, a dog who was constantly in trouble and failed out of dog school, saved the family from the scary robber? I LOVED that book!

This is a new fiction title from the author of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Mike Lowery is the illustrator of Mac B., Kid Spy and Bug Scouts series of fiction for young readers. Put them together with a funny little pug named Sam, and you’ve got a title that will be especially popular with dog lovers.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Meet Sam: an insolent pug—and incidental hero—who will stop at nothing to protect his family!

When scientists Elaine and Gary Peterson adopt Sam to keep their son, Justin, company in the midst of a top-secret research project, they never imagine the precocious pup will cause more harm than good.

But from chewing up Elaine’s hair dryer (the “brain-melting heat cannon”) to his inability to be house-trained (who could resist the “pooping rug”?), the Petersons aren’t sure how much more they can take.

And that’s before Sam starts harassing Justin’s crush (and potential new friend), Phoebe, who Sam is sure is an evil wizard out to harm Justin.

But when a pair of crooks encroaches on the Peterson household in an attempt to steal their confidential findings, Sam’s actions—never mind his reasoning for them—just may save the day.

MY THOUGHTS

Four starred reviews! That’s awesome, but I’m not so sure of the kid appeal here. It’s definitely one that will need some booktalking.

The professional reviewers’ grade level recommendations vary widely with this title. Kirkus recommends Grades 5-10. Publishers Weekly recommends Grades 3-7. I have not yet read this title, so I can’t give my opinion on that. I’ve added it to my TBR though. I think this title will win awards next January.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Ariel and Tomah have lived in the city’s intertribal housing complex all their lives. But for both of them, this Dagwaagin (Autumn) season is different than any before.

From his bench outside the front door of his building, Tomah watches his community move around him. He is better at making people laugh than he is at schoolwork, but often it feels like his neighbor Ariel is the only one who really sees him, even in her sadness.

Ariel has always danced ballet because of her Auntie Bineshiinh and loves the way dance makes her feet hover above the ground like a bird. But ever since Auntie went missing, Ariel’s dancing doesn’t feel like flying.

As the seasons change and the cold of winter gives way to spring’s promise, Ariel and Tomah begin to change too as they learn to share the rhythms and stories they carry within themselves.

MY THOUGHTS

Looking for new mythology stories with female protagonists? This one delves deep into Chinese mythology. We’ve got a Chinese American tween girl going into Diyu, the Chinese netherworld, to save her mother. The mother has a power similar to the Three Fates of Greek mythology – she can cut strings to change a person’s destiny (and I’m betting her daughter can, too).

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Twelve-year-old Evie Mei Huang never did like helping in her mom’s tailor shop. She hated helping to mend fraying clothes, how the measuring tape got all twisted up, and how pushy her mother’s clients were. Most of all, she hates that her mother is dead and isn’t here to help anymore.

But when the universe sends a life preserver, Evie knows to grab it. So yes, it’s weird when a talking monkey shows up and tells her that her plainspoken, hardworking tailor mother was actually the head of a Guild of magical weavers who can change the fate of a person with only a spool of thread. Very weird. But he also comes bearing news that her mother is trapped in Diyu, the Chinese underworld, and that only Evie can get her back. No pressure.

The important thing is that Evie’s mom isn’t dead. And if she’s got this one shot to bring her back and save her family, she’s got to take it.

Inspired by Chinese mythology, Aimee Lim’s debut middle grade peers into the dark and gritty underworld, while showcasing the unbreakable bond between a family and the lengths we’ll go to save them.

MY THOUGHTS

If you need clean romance for middle school, give this one a look!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Childhood friends Eve and Andrew are destined to be together—everyone says so, especially their friends and classmates who are all suddenly crush-obsessed.

So when Eve and Andrew’s first eighth grade school dance rolls around and Eve, feeling the pressure, awkwardly asks Andrew to go with her, everyone assumes they are Officially Dating and Practically in Love.

Overwhelmed, Eve and Andrew just…go with it.

And it’s weird. Neither of them wants this dating thing to mess up their friendship, and they don’t really see each other that way. But they also don’t want to be the one to call things off, the one to make things super awkward.

So they both—separately—pledge to be the worst boyfriend or girlfriend ever, leaving it to the other person to break up with them.

It would be genius…if the other person weren’t doing the exact same thing.

MY THOUGHTS

This middle grade alien abduction story is great for readers who like their science fiction with a side of adventure and humor. Love the idea of being kidnapped by bumbling aliens!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Eleven-year-old Roswell Johnson is obsessed with conspiracies about extraterrestrial life, an interest he inherited from his late father, who aptly named Roswell after the infamous UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico.

When Roswell is accidentally abducted by aliens, his biggest dream comes true—he learns that aliens are real! 

But when he discovers Earth is in grave danger, he must join forces with a team of quirky extraterrestrials, including two bickering Grays, a humorless Cyborg, a germophobic Mantis, an overly confident Furgarian, and an over achieving Pleiadean to save his planet from a tyrannical invasion. 

But can Roswell restore his own faith in humanity and Earth in time to save the world?

MY THOUGHTS

Sibert Medal watchlist! I’m really trying to keep on top of my award winner predictions all year this year (rather than just in Dec and Jan as I usually do!). Here’s why I think so…

• 5 starred reviews, pre-publication. There could be more – I don’t see any reviews from SLJ just yet.
• Illustrator: Jason Chin – He’s won the Caldecott and the Sibert before, and previous award winners often have an edge over those who haven’t ever won.
• The story itself is unique. This is about the end of a blue whale’s life and what happens to the carcass over the next 150 years.
• Pair this book with last week’s informational picture book I Was: The Stories of Animal Skulls by Katherine Hocker (another possible Sibert 2025?).

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

All living things must one day die, and Earth’s largest creature, the majestic blue whale, is no exception. But in nature, death is never a true ending. When this whale closes her eyes for the last time in her 90-year life, a process known as whale fall is just beginning.

Her body will float to the surface, then slowly sink through the deep; from inflated behemoth to clean-picked skeleton, it will offer food and shelter at each stage to a vast diversity of organisms, over the course of a century and beyond.

Caldecott Medalist Jason Chin’s astonishing artwork enriches and amplifies engaging, well-researched text by Bill Nye the Science Guy writer Lynn Brunelle. Young lovers of the macabre will relish each page of Life After Whale.

Meanwhile, those grappling with the hard subject of death will take solace in this honest look at the circle of life, which closes on a young whale enjoying the same waves as her ancestor. Additional back pages offer further info and reading recommendations on whales, whale falls, and ecosystems.

MY THOUGHTS

Another picture book with multiple starred reviews! This one is great for nature-lovers. It’s about the “music” created by nighttime desert animals. Sounds lovely.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

As the blush of sunset gives way to night in the desert, coyotes, cicadas, and barn owls emerge, each calling out to the moon. Watching from their porch, the family joins the song. One by one, each relative offers their drums, flute, maracas, strings, and voices.

They sing with the insects, birds, snakes and toads; and they sing with their ancestors, an audience glittering in the stars overhead. With each strum of passed-down instruments, memories renew, and those gone are alive and near again.

Desert Song hums and chimes with all the music a front porch and the desert beyond can hold.

Pura Belpré Honor author Laekan Zea Kemp’s masterfully stirring text dances through Beatriz Gutierrez Hernandez’s enchanting and dynamic artwork. Readers will be left with the soothing sense that when creativity flourishes, the past is never out of reach, and the bonds that matter never break.

Simultaneously published in Spanish as Canción del Desierto.

MY THOUGHTS

I had a look at the preview of this title on Amazon. The preview is a decent-sized sample of the book, and WOW, does it look beautiful! Lots of rich colors to go with Carnival and the beaches of Brazil.

This is about a young dancer who is deaf. She hears the music through her feet, but she isn’t allowed to go onstage without shoes on.

There really aren’t many picture books about the deaf community, so this will be a welcome addition to elementary libraries. The author is part of the deaf community as well. It also received three starred professional reviews.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Cesaria is going to perform for the seaside Carnival. She skips past the beach barefoot, dressed in her favorite peacock leotard.

But when her dance director tells her she must put on her shoes to go on stage, Cesaria signs, “Peacocks don’t wear shoes!”

You see, Cesaria hears the music through the soles of her feet, but no one seems to understand…

…That is, until all the dancers take off their shoes, and learn to feel the music, just like Cesaria.

Cesaria Feels the Beat is a lyrical and heartfelt story about deafness, community, and Carnival.

MY THOUGHTS

This book sparks conversation around the phrase “I don’t see color,” which I know I’ve heard before, and I bet you have, too.

This informational picture book is a history of race and activism in the USA, including Asian Americans, Native Americans, and African Americans.

Illustrations reflect a wide variety of skin tones.

I have added this to my Sibert Medal 2025 watch-list. I haven’t seen enough of the book yet to decide if I want to add it to my Sibert predictions, but maybe…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

For fans of The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Little Leaders by Vashti Harrison, I See Color is a picture book that affirms people of color—of all shades—by celebrating their achievements and contributions to society.

Highlighting people such as Madonna Thunder Hawk, Basemah Atweh, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., incredible leaders are honored, seen, and heard on every page.

Part ode to an array of beautiful skin tones and part introduction to change-makers in history, this book is a perfect conversation starter for readers everywhere.

MY THOUGHTS

Author and illustrator – Linda Sue Park and Chris Raschka – are powerhouses of children’s lit!

This is an ode to the pleasure of reading. It would make a great, tone-setting, first week of school read-aloud for Kindergarten and first grade.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Meet the child who loves books in this lyrical tribute to the joys of books and reading by Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park and featuring the jubilant illustrations of celebrated Caldecott artist Chris Raschka.

My Book and Me invites us to reflect on beloved books which are friends we hold dear; books we read over and again; books that may take us to places afar to experience the world in different ways, and books that comfort and reassure us.

This jubilant paean to literature is a celebration of our favorite authors, characters, and stories; those that we cherish the most and are friends for life…which books are your favorite? My Book and Me features a diverse group of children, all enjoying their favorite books.

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?