New Release Spotlight: January 6, 2026

Welcome to 2026! This week, we officially have 5000 titles on The Ginormous Booklist! I started The Ginormous back in October 2019 as a way to search my weekly Spotlights by theme, genre, protagonist description, setting, etc. Every New Release Spotlight title since October 2019 is on this list.

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This week’s titles are #4994 – #5003 on The Ginormous Booklist.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Prince Arris knows that marriage means murder. Thanks to a poorly worded wish to a sea witch, all one needs to rule the Isle of Malys is the heart and hand of the kingdom’s heir. Historically, this has been construed quite literally.

Thus, Arris expects that the day after his marriage and murder he will wake up as a sentient tree alongside the rest of his predecessors. His only chance at a long life is finding true and lasting love. When Arris’s parents announce a tournament of brides to compete for his hand and heart, a slew of eligible, lovely and (possibly murderous) bachelorettes make their way to Rathe Castle. Amidst glittering balls in ozorald caves, strolls through menageries of daydream trees and pearl crocodiles, tea time on glass boats and kisses that leave his head spinning, Arris cannot tell who is here out of love for him…or lust for power.

Until he meets Demelza.

As a veritas swan, Demelza’s song wrings out the truth. Forced into hiding, Demelza strikes a deal. Arris will provide her with safekeeping in exchange for her truth-telling song to sort through his potential brides.

While Arris is used to dodging death threats and Demelza is accustomed to fighting for her voice to be heard, to survive the tournament of brides requires a different kind of bravery. And perhaps the bravest thing one can do is not merely protect one’s life, but find the courage to chase a life worth living.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When Beth March is found dead in the woods on New Year’s Day, her sisters vow to uncover her murderer.

Suspects abound. There’s the neighbor who has feelings for not one but two of the girls. Meg’s manipulative best friend. Amy’s flirtatious mentor. And Beth’s lionhearted first love. But it doesn’t take the surviving sisters much digging to uncover motives each one of the March girls had for doing the unthinkable.

Jo, an aspiring author with a huge following on social media, would do anything to hook readers. Would she kill her sister for the story? Amy dreams of studying art in Europe, but she’ll need money from her aunt—money that’s always been earmarked for Beth. And Meg wouldn’t dream of hurting her sister…but her boyfriend might have, and she’ll protect him at all costs.

Despite the growing suspicion within the family, it’s hard to know for sure if the crime was committed by someone close to home. After all, the March sisters were dragged into the spotlight months ago when their father published a controversial bestseller about his own daughters. Beth could have been killed by anyone.

Beth’s perspective told in flashback unfolds next to Meg, Jo, and Amy’s increasingly fraught investigation as the tragedy threatens to rip the Marches apart.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When the walls close in, the truth comes out.

When Indy’s life came crashing down, she made a rule: no one could know. To the world, she’s still the same Indy—cool, calm, unshaken. But behind the scenes? It’s chaos.

Her tight-knit crew—Beau, Caroline, and Ava—were once her everything. Now they’re strangers she can’t seem to reach—especially Beau. And the only person she talks to these days is Cody, a skater-boy she used to think was so not her type. Funny how everything changes when your world flips upside down.

And then, as if things couldn’t get weirder, Indy finds herself literally stuck in a school bathroom with Beau. After months of silence, and there’s no escape. If they want out, they’ll have to face the messy truth about what happened between them and find a way back to what they once had. Or maybe even more…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

England, 1919. Alyce—with a Y—is sent to live with her grandmother, the original Alice, after having lost her father in war.

When a mysterious invitation to a tea party hits her square in the face, Alyce realizes that her grandmother’s strange stories of a place called Wonderland might have some truth to them after all.

Soon Alyce is tumbling down into Wonderland herself, but the place she finds is not the colorful world she’s heard stories of, but a world trapped in its own war.

The Sun King and the Queen of the Moon are fighting over a stolen hour, and soon Alyce is tasked with setting it right. With the help of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and a Sailor Fox, Alyce will have to solve Wonderland’s problems and, eventually, find her way back home.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Thanks to his mother’s job at a local graveyard, twelve-year-old Will Stone has some unique talents. For one, he knows exactly how a burial vault works and why they’re used. For another, he’s great at genealogy and can decode centuries old records. Not your normal every day after school activities, that’s for sure!

But when a centuries old crypt key is lost, his normally peaceful existence at Graceland cemetery is shattered. Trees wither and die. The lake becomes covered with a sinister green slime that threatens to choke out anything living in it. And suddenly, the graveyard’s reputation isn’t the only thing in jeopardy . . . Will and his friends’ safety is, too.

Suddenly, Will is forced to consider that the lost key might be an even bigger problem than he originally thought. A dark force has been unleashed within the cemetery gates, and along with his friends Stash, Michelle, and Henry, Will must use his unique skill set to figure out which restless spirit is draining the graveyard of life, and how to end the haunting for good.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

There’s one road in Gatchett’s Gluch―population forty-five―a silver mining town in the high Colorado desert. That means there’s only one way in and one way out.

Fourteen-year-old Ollie feels trapped and restless, desperate to find his own lode of silver, so he can gain riches and get his family out of the town. As the man of the house, he feels that’s his job, just as his younger brother Gus’s job is to ask question after question.

Though Ollie is unwilling to admit it, he doesn’t have all the answers. He can’t even read, unlike Alys, the only girl and only friend he has outside of Gus.

Meanwhile, a man who calls himself a geologist has arrived in town. Not only can he read books, he can read rocks, the first person that Ollie has ever seen who looks at rocks with fascination, not desperation. Most important, he knows how to stake a silver claim.

So when Ollie, Gus, and Alys stumble upon a cave rich with silver and form a friendship with that geologist, the future suddenly looks good.

The problem: Elijah Gatchett runs the Gulch and claims all its silver. Men have been kicked out―or shot at―for seeking it on their own. But for the kids, the only thing worse than their families staying under Gatchett’s thumb is getting run out of town with not so much as a penny in their pockets.

The kids are desperate to find an answer. It may lay in that dark cave. How Ollie, Gus, and Alys navigate all this―with a surprising ending―is an old-west adventure that has never been told before.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In the small, southern town of Everson, goats can run for mayor, the mail is always late, and nothing all that bad ever happens. That is, until thirteen-year-old Tucker finds Miss Geraldine dead at the bottom of her stairs.

At first glance, it looks like an accident. But Tucker has always had a knack for noticing details that others overlook, and the details surrounding Miss Geraldine’s death just aren’t adding up.

Miss Geraldine was miserable and mean. Miss Geraldine was murdered.

The whole town seems to have reason to want her dead, which makes Tucker’s search for the truth nearly impossible.

The more he investigates for clues, the more danger he finds himself in, and the more he realizes that maybe Everson was never as safe as he once thought it was. Anyone could be the killer, and in a small town that loves to gossip, if Tucker isn’t careful, he could be the next one to have an “accident”.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

In a speech delivered in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. provided his young audience with life lessons:

• You count.
• Black is beautiful.
• Achieve excellence.
• Make a better world.
• Believe in nonviolence.
• Keep going!

Today, award-winning author Alice Faye Duncan reinterprets King’s speech as a motivational erasure poem in The Dream Builder’s Blueprint, accompanied by spirited and inspired art by Philadelphia-born illustrator E. B. Lewis.

Highlighting principles of excellence, activism, and compassion that remain relevant and necessary today, this book has a universal message that’s ideal for parents, librarians, and teachers looking for a book that distills Dr. King’s principles to a level that kids can understand.

Included in the book is an author’s note that explains found poetry forms like the erasure poem and provides background information on the Civil Rights movement and Dr. King’s inspiring speech at Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High School.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Malak can’t wait to help her grandmother make iftar for their family. But when they decide to make makloubeh, everyone has a favorite ingredient to add, and Malak isn’t sure how they’ll fit it all in! This iftar is sure to be one to remember!

Packed with warm, vibrant illustrations and the beautiful chaos of a bustling kitchen, Upside Down Iftar is a heartwarming celebration of family, food, and culture.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Is it getting stuffy in there?
Has your yolk dwindled to a smidge?
Is the beak in your wingpit cramping your style?
Gosling, it’s time to . . .
HATCH!

With humorous, spare text that reads as an instructional “how to”, this story is a delight to read aloud and walks children through every step of the hatching process.

Includes bonus facts on gosling hatching and growth, as well as an author’s note from the author, an experienced librarian and educator who has done many hatching projects with chicks and quails in both the classroom and library. Perfect for Easter baskets!