New Release Spotlight: October 7, 2025

Middle grades are outstanding this week, with new titles from popular authors like Dan Gemeinhart, Holly Goldberg Sloan, Alan Gratz, Jennifer Holm, and Dusti Bowling.

This week’s top picks:

• Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen (YA graphic romance)
• Outside by Jennifer L. Holm (MG dystopia)
• A Friend for Lucy by Jen-Ai Elena Molineaux (picture book ghost story)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Angelica was the girl who could do it all—until suddenly, she couldn’t. Burnout hit hard. Now, after some very low moments, she’s ready to get her life back together, thanks to her friends, and one very surprising source of comfort.

A bear.

Peri is the mascot of the local theater. He’s been sending Angelica supportive messages from his social. They’ve become friends, and Angelica might even have…a crush?

Determined to find the human behind the bear costume, Angelica gets an internship at the theater. She might never go back to being the girl who can do everything, but perhaps she is becoming the girl who can magically have it all.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

The Philippines, 1904 – Sixteen-year-old Luki is the best hunter in her village, but she has to keep it a secret. Hunting is a man’s skill. She’s expected to marry and raise a family instead.

Chafing against these restrictions, she impulsively accepts an offer from the local American authorities: they’re looking for volunteers to travel to the United States for the World’s Fair, where Indigenous peoples from around the world will be represented.

Luki and others make the long journey to Saint Louis, Missouri, for the fair, where they’re “exhibited” in a replica village. But even as Luki makes friends and discovers a wider world that intrigues her, she learns dangerous secrets and difficult truths.

Facing pressures from all sides, she must decide what kind of future she wants after the fair.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Although scientists estimate that only 10 percent of fungi have been discovered, these findings have proved fantastic. Some fungi are toxic. But others are tasty sources of protein or drive the production of bread, cheeses, and fermented drinks. Some make up medicines to treat health conditions.

Others connect vast swaths of trees, capture pollutants in the water and soil, or grow into sturdy but lightweight building materials. Many fungi are even fun to look at—they might ooze blood-like sap, glow at night, and more. What else might fungi be able to do?

Karen Latchana Kenney digs deep into the expansive fungal world. Learn about how fungi evolved and became their own kingdom. Then explore the many known fungi and how we use them in food, medicine, technology, and more. Entire communities have sprung up around identifying mushrooms—maybe you’ll even be the next member of your local mycological society. From the most well-known mushrooms to the mycelium hidden beneath our feet, this in-depth text digs deep into the incredible fungal world.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Outsmarting deadly video games, hunting the predatory monster in the woods, rooting out evil within their community, finding love and revenge with their newly turned vampire friend―this anthology upends expectations of the roles disabled people can play in horror.

With visibly and invisibly disabled characters whose illnesses include Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, PTSD, and more, each entry also includes a short essay from the author about the conditions portrayed in their stories to further contextualize their characters’ perspectives. From breaking ancient curses to defying death itself, these 13 horror stories cast disabled characters as heroes we can all root for.

Contributors include bestselling and award-winning as well as emerging authors: Dana Mele, Lillie Lainoff, Anandi, Soumi Roy, Fin Leary, S.E. Anderson, K. Ancrum, Pintip Dunn, Lily Meade, Mo Netz, P.H. Low, and Carly Nugent.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When her older sister is found mysteriously drowned in the river that cuts through their small coastal town, Soojin Han disregards every rule and uses her ancestral magic to bring Mirae back from the dead. At first, the sisters are overjoyed, reveling in late-night escapades and the miracle of being together again, but Mirae grows tired of hiding from the world. She becomes restless and hungry…

Driven by an insatiable desire to finish what she started in life, to unravel the truth that crushed her family so many years ago, Mirae is out for revenge.

When their town is engulfed by increasingly destructive rain and a series of harrowing, unusual deaths, Soojin is forced to reckon with the fact that perhaps the sister she brought back isn’t the one she knew.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Oscar Aberdeen is a bit of an oddball. He’s an ace at playing bridge, loves Frank Sinatra, and attends a whole lot of funerals. He’s also the youngest resident of Sunny Days retirement home by more than a half-century―and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

So when his grandpa’s suddenly served an eviction notice that threatens their place at Sunny Days, he needs to find some cash. Fast.

Enter Jimmy Deluca, a shady elderly man with a reputation for being bad news, who makes Oscar an offer he can’t refuse. He’s got the drop on riches hidden away on the “outside” and he’ll share the loot with Oscar on one condition: he busts him out of Sunny Days.

In this humdinger of an adventure, the ultimate odd couple, along with an uninvited stowaway, go from high-stakes escape to rollicking escapade as they search for the secret stash―and forge an unlikely friendship along the way. Will Oscar succeed in saving the only home he’s ever known? Or will he have to fuggedaboutit and return a failure?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In 1936 Berlin, nothing is what it seems…

Evie Harris can’t believe her luck: She’s competing in the Olympics, along with fellow American athletes like Jesse Owens. True, there’s something creepy about Germany’s leader, Adolf Hitler, who watches over the games with his Nazi henchmen. But Evie’s just here to win a gold medal in gymnastics.

Until she discovers a horrible secret.

Behind all the Olympic fanfare, the Nazis have Berlin in an iron grip of terror and violence–and war is brewing. When Evie becomes embroiled in a mysterious plot to help steal Nazi gold, she must navigate the city’s darkest corners and hidden passageways, never knowing who she can trust.

With lives on the line and her family’s future at stake, Evie has to choose between following her Olympic dreams and standing up to evil…before it’s too late.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Cordy Jenkins is searching for something that will change her life, and for the safety that vanished when her father died. She is convinced that if she just tries hard enough, she will find part of what her family lost, and that it will stop her mom from wanting to leave the small town she and her little brother have always called home. What Cordy finds is a muddy, hungry little dog with bad breath. And he’s the start of her family’s new beginning.

Holly Goldberg Sloan writes novels about family and friendship that open your heart and make you laugh out loud. You will fall in love with Cordy and her family as quickly as they fall in love with the stray pup named Lost. Full of unforgettable moments, this is a tender story of making peace with the inevitable truth that change is a constant, and that after profound loss there is still always the possibility of unexpected joy.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Whatever you do, don’t leave home.

Razzi has always been told: Don’t go Outside. It isn’t safe. There are people and creatures out there that will harm you. The walls of the Refuge will protect you from them.

Razzi’s friend Ollie was curious about Outside… and it led to his death. So Razzi is trying to be on her best behavior. She is the oldest kid left, the one the younger kids look up to. She has to follow the rules.

But Outside has a way of getting in, and Razzi, guided by a dog she has a strangely close connection with, wonders what it’s like to run free beyond the walls.

If she steps away from everything she’s ever known…what will she find?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old Canyon loves bull riding, but the sport doesn’t exactly love him back. His body is in constant pain and doctors have warned him about the dangers of his repeated concussions, but bull riding is the only thing he and his dad connect on ever since Canyon’s mom died.

Canyon is convinced winning the Junior World Bull Riding championship will be the thing to bring them together again, that once he has that shiny belt buckle all the pain will be worth it. Besides, Canyon has a secret way to help his hurt: playing the fiddle.

When Canyon is unexpectedly chosen for a music competition show, a new dream begins to form. But Dad is getting worse, and Canyon feels more pressure than ever to hold his family together–even if it means choosing to hurt himself bull riding over healing through music.

Soon Canyon begins to wonder if he’s holding on to all the right things, or if there are some he needs to let go of.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Home to catfish and crawdads, shrimp and spoonbills, even a gator or two, Lake Peigneur—pronounced “your pain,” only backward—bustles also with human life.

Each day, the bean-shaped freshwater lake and its shores hum with folks going about their work: a devoted gardener’s apprentice and his dogs, fishermen, oilmen drilling at Well P-20, and the fifty-one miners employed by the Diamond Crystal Salt Mines.

For most, November 20, 1980, began as “just another day on the lake.” But as the lake itself reflects, humans had, over time, left behind a honeycomb of salt highways deep beneath its surface, and water and salt mix all too well.

Bracing, suspenseful, and packed with dramatic illustrations and dense end matter, this story of a catastrophic accident—narrated with the homespun voice of a “tall” tale, but true nonetheless—will amaze science and history buffs alike.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Olive collects words. Rare words, common words, fancy words, funny words. She expresses herself by writing poetry, making crossword puzzles, and creating dictionary definitions for what she refers to as “neologisms.”

Her sister, Mattie, could not be more different. Mattie struggles with words and so instead prefers pictures, expressing herself through cartoons and sketches.

Despite their differences, the two girls are inseparable. Or at least, they were. After their dad moves away and Olive develops her first crush, the sisters’ dynamic changes. Olive wants to spend more time with people who aren’t related to her, but Mattie doesn’t want anything to change.

When their dad starts acting suspiciously and Mattie’s grades begin to fall, the sisters’ relationship fractures. Olive and Mattie must discover that love isn’t always how we envision it.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Karuppu Raja dearly loves his small village of Pothakudi. He takes great pride in being responsible for its only source of light, switching the circuit breaker on every night to power the streetlamps.

But one evening, he discovers a bird’s nest buried deep inside the box. He’s faced with a terrible dilemma: to turn the switch on and destroy the nest or to leave the village in darkness until the fledgelings are born.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Lately, Ana has been worried about her sister Lucy. It’s been a long time since Lucy left the house, or someone came to visit. Maybe Ana can help her find a friend?

There’s just one problem: Ana is a ghost. How can she help her sister when no one can even see her?

And then one afternoon, someone does…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

All week, Emmylou’s classmates get up and present their family trees. These trees are thick with branches, and there are stories to go with each face and name. Emmylou’s tree is almost bare. There’s her, Mama, and the names Mama won’t say—the stories she doesn’t tell.

By the end of the week, Emmylou wants the project to be over. She doesn’t want to think about her family tree at all. After all, she only has one family recipe, the one she trades with Mrs. Patel for her mango chutney. She has no aunts or cousins—only Rosa next door to watch Emmylou after school. No siblings—only Rosa’s baby twins for Emmylou to play peek-a-boo with. No zayde like Eli’s to teach her to ride a bike—only Mr. Li, who doesn’t complain when she runs over his foot.

Finally Emmylou knows what to tell her class. Her family isn’t so small—she just had to look for it.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Before you lift the cover, be sure you’re ready to meet Zrk and Blrg. They’re not so different from you—but to them, you’re the alien!

After their initial shock at seeing you through the portal, they’re eager to see what kind of teeth you have, compare home planets, and maybe team up for a prank. You met as aliens, but by the time the portal closes, maybe you’ll be friends.

To Activate Space Portal, Lift Here is an interactive treat sure to delight young galactic explorers. Antoinette Portis’s bright lines and bold colors pair perfectly with humor that also offers a subtle message of acceptance. Whether for bedtime or circle time, this is a portal you’ll want to open!