New Release Spotlight – July 30, 2024

This week’s list is kind of small again, and 7 out of the 14 titles are YA. One of the picture books (Prunella) was released in May, but I missed it then. I wanted to be sure to include it because it’s a great one.

This is the last Spotlight of July, so the Canva links below are all complete! I will not add any more titles to the Canva presentations, so if you’ve been waiting to download them, now is the time!

My top picks:

• Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus (YA)
• I Will Never Leave You by Kara A. Kennedy (YA)
• Ode to Grapefruit by Kari Lavelle (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).

All Canva presentations for July are now complete!

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 #4202 – #4215 on The Ginormous Booklist.

 

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along.

What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.

Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other.

Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Lucia Cruz may be turning eighteen this year, but she is not the debutante type. Everything about a traditional Filipino debut feels all wrong for her.

Besides, custom dictates that eighteen friends attend her for a special ceremony on her birthday, and Lucia only has one friend– Esmé Mares. They’ve stuck to each other’s side all throughout high school, content to be friends with only each other.

At least, Lucia thought they were content.

As it turns out, Esmé wants something different out of her senior year. And, on top of that, Lucia’s mom has planned a debutante ball for her birthday behind her back. She’ll be forced to cobble together a court of eighteen “friends” before her beloved lola arrives from the Philippines for this blessed occasion.

How far will Lucia stray from her comfort zone in order to play the role of dutiful daughter and granddaughter? Will she do the unthinkable – participating in a school sponsored activity? Will she discover that her sense of humor can be a way to connect with people, not just push them away?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Devon is always being left behind by her genius twin sister, Drew.

At this point, it’s a fact of life. But Devon has one last plan before Drew leaves for college a whole year early—The Best Summer Ever.

After committing to the bit a little too much, the twins and their chaotic circle of friends learn why you don’t ever mess with a Ouija board if you want to actually survive the Best Summer Ever, and soon find themselves being hunted down by…a demon?

But while there’s no mistaking the creeping, venomous figure is not from around here, their method doesn’t feel very demonic at all.

In fact, it’s downright human—going after them in typical slasher movie kill order. And that means Devon, the blonde, is up first and her decade-long crush, Yaya, is the Final Girl who must kill or be killed to end the cycle.

Devon has never liked playing by anyone else’s rules though, not even a demon’s, and the longer this goes on, the more she feels Drew and Yaya slipping away from her even as she tries to help them all survive.

Can they use their horror movie knowledge to flip the script and become the hunters instead of the hunted? Or will their best summer ever be their last?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Princess Jasalyn has a secret. Armed with an enchanted ring that gives her death’s kiss, Jas has been sneaking away from the palace at night to assassinate her enemies.

Shape-shifter Felicity needs a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, she’s been using her unique ability to evade a fatal prophecy.

When rumors of evil king Mordeus’s resurrection spread through the shadow court, Jasalyn decides to end him once and for all. Felicity agrees to take the form of the princess, allowing Jas to covertly hunt Mordeus—and starting Felicity on the path that could finally take her home.

While Jasalyn teams up with the charming and handsome Kendrick, Felicity sets out to get closer to the Wild Fae king, Misha.

Kendrick helps Jasalyn feel something other than anger for the first time in three years, and Misha makes Felicity wish for a world where she’s free to be her true self. Soon, the girls’ missions are at risk right alongside their hearts.

The future of the human and fae realms hangs in the balance as fates intertwine. Between perilous tasks, grim secrets, and forbidden romances, Jasalyn and Felicity find that perhaps their stars are the most cursed of all.

This title does not yet meet my criteria for the Spotlight. I usually require two positive, professional reviews for every title I include on the Spotlight. But there are always exceptions, and The Grandest Game is one of them.

I’ve only found one review for this title (Publishers Weekly), but that review is positive. There is no way I can exclude this spin-off of the popular Inheritance Games series. If The Inheritance Games books are popular in your library, you need this title!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Welcome to the Grandest Game, an annual competition run by billionaire Avery Grambs and the four infamous Hawthorne brothers, whose family fortune she inherited.

Designed to give anyone a shot at fame and fortune, this year’s game requires one of seven golden tickets to enter. With millions on the line, those seven players will do whatever it takes to win.

Some of the players are in it for the money. Some for power. Some for reasons all their own.

Every single one of them has secrets. Amidst it all is Grayson Hawthorne, tasked with a vital role in this year’s game.

But as tensions rise and the mind-bending challenges push the players to their limits—physically, mentally, and emotionally—it soon becomes clear that not everyone is playing by the rules.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Ruti is Markless. In a society where worth is determined by the mark on your palm and the magic it grants you, this also deems her worthless.

Except she’s also a hardened survivor, a protector of the Markless…and the most powerful witch in Somanchi. With a single song, she can pray to the many gods for unimaginable powers.

Dekala’s Mark is strong, a Mark fit for the future queen of Somanchi, but it’s also unstable. She knows the only solution is to be bonded, but she also knows that this would mean relinquishing control over her throne and kingdom.

So when she is witness to Ruti’s power, Dekala offers the witch a deal: She can be prosecuted for her crimes…or she can help Dekala ascend to the throne, unbonded.

Dekala is cold and brutal and cares only about getting her way. She is also determined, intelligent, and compassionate. Ruti is torn between wanting her to fail or to emerge victorious.

But as the gods are defied, new alliances are forged, and unexpected feelings are unearthed, Ruti realizes the fate of the kingdom––and the survival of the Markless––lies in her unmarked hands.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Maya has always belonged to Alana. After four years of dating, and on the precipice of graduating high school, Maya has been too terrified to consider the idea of life outside of their volatile relationship. Until she finds the courage to break up with Alana while they’re hiking in Southern California.

Then Alana goes missing. As the police get involved and the media run wild with the story, everyone seems to think that Maya is lying about Alana’s disappearance. Secretly, Maya knows they’re right: if Alana’s dead, she’s the one to blame.

But that’s not Maya’s only secret. Alana isn’t gone, not really—and she isn’t going to let Maya go so easily…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Luchy Zapata is starting middle school, and she’s muy excited. She and her two best friends, Cami and Mateo, will finally be at the same school. Luchy and Mateo will be in art class together, and she and Cami can try out for the same soccer team! As long as they’re all together, Luchy can handle anything.

But Cami has been acting weird ever since she got back from visiting family in Colombia. She’s making new, “cool” friends who just seem mean. And suddenly, everything about Luchy and Mateo is too immature for her.

Luchy is determined to help Cami remember how special their friendship is. They’ve been BFFs their whole lives, and that can’t just disappear in a poof of glitter! But…what if Cami doesn’t even want to be friends anymore?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

The Great Zoodini—aka Radar the fennec fox—has never fit in. In fact, his only friend is a stuffed rabbit. Ever since his first family abandoned him, he’s had one goal: become world famous and show everyone how wrong they were about him.

But no matter how many daring escapes Zoodini’s tried, he’s never even made the Association of Animal-Themed Attractions newsletter.

When his latest escape goes wrong, Zoodini winds up at the Twin Buttes Animal Sanctuary and Drive-In Movie Theater. He can’t believe his bad luck. How can he get famous in the middle of nowhere?

But the residents—ranging from a pink-obsessed flamingo to an astrology-loving river otter to a grizzly cub who thinks he’s a superhero—all seem to like Zoodini. Even more surprising, he likes them too.

Then Zoodini overhears a plot to sell the sanctuary and sees his big chance—breaking out by himself would go unnoticed, but breaking everyone out? That would make him world famous. But what if being famous means losing the only family who’s ever accepted him?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Juno and his mom have just moved into a new home, and he hates everything about it – the new school, his new classmates, his new room.

Just outside his window, Juno notices a family of mourning doves have started a nest atop the fence, and they seem to be struggling to make it work, too. Sure enough, Juno concludes this new place is a terrible place to build a nest.

But, as winter turns to spring and the doves grow, so does Juno. And while this new place may be scary and sometimes lonely, they will all make it work, together.

This title actually released in May, but I missed it! It looks like some of the professional reviews didn’t post until June and July, plus that May 7th Spotlight was HUGE, so I guess that’s how I missed it. I so love this author though!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When Prunella is born with a purple thumb instead of a green one like her parents, everyone’s stumped. What could it mean? Before long, they find out. Prunella prefers corpse flowers to carnations, fungi to ferns, and poison ivy to petunias. The stickier and scarier the plant, the more Prunella loves it.

And if her poisonous and noxious garden keeps the other neighborhood kids away, it’s probably for the best. But then one day, a curious weed of a different sort pops up…

Should prickly Prunella uproot this tentative new friendship or allow it to flower?

Did you know that James Earl Jones was once mute and struggled with stuttering? I had no idea, but WOW, what an inspiration for students with similar struggles. This is one picture book biography where students will be well-familiar with his two major characters – Darth Vader (Star Wars) and Mufasa (The Lion King).

Illustrations by Coretta Scott King recipient Bryan Collier are gorgeous, as always!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Before there was Mufasa…Before there was Darth Vader… There was a young boy names James Earl Jones, who spoke with a stutter and dreaded having to talk in class.

Whenever James tried to voice his thoughts, his words got stuck in his throat. But James figured out a solution for his shame: if he didn’t speak, he wouldn’t stutter.

And so he was silent…until he wrote his own poem, Ode to Grapefruit, and found a love for poetry.

These black and white illustrations remind me of Tony DiTerlizzi’s picture book adaptation of Mary Howitt’s 1829 poem,  The Spider and the Fly.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Millie loves her quiet life on the farm, but Mina longs for adventure.

When the Goblin Market comes to town, Millie knows it’s a bad idea. They’ve been told stories their whole lives about the dangers of the Goblin Market. But Mina just can’t resist…

When Mina doesn’t come back, it’s Millie’s turn to brave the market to bring her home. She will use all her smarts and all her courage to try to outwit the goblins and save her sister … but will it be enough?

This would make a great read-aloud for music classes and to talk about the culture around certain musical instruments.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Angélica has spent the summer in the Dominican Republic with her tías and primas, her grandparents, and their parrot, but soon she’ll have to say goodbye. The end of summer means returning home to start school on another shore.

Before she leaves, her grandfather gives her the perfect gift. It’s something with the power to make people dance as fast as the wings of a hummingbird: a güira.

Angélica falls in love with this musical instrument, though nobody shares her enthusiasm at first. “What is that sound,” they say, “pennies inside a tin cup?”

But on a hot, sunny day, in the land of Washington Heights, where the frío frío woman scrapes ice for a long line of customers and the men on the corner plunk dominoes on a makeshift carboard table, Angélica shows her neighbors the power of la güira.

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?