New Release Spotlight: June 2, 2026

Welcome to the first New Release Spotlight of June! If you happen to live here in North Texas, you already know summer is officially heating up. The sun has been so intense lately that I’ve actually had to shift my daily walks to the nighttime just to avoid getting totally sunburned.

Thankfully, the rising temperatures give us the perfect excuse to stay indoors in the A/C with a good book. We have an exciting lineup to kick off the month with 13 brand-new titles, which officially brings us to books #5253 through #5265 on The Ginormous Booklist!

You can see all the June titles together on this cumulative Amazon list. I will continue to add to this list through the end of June.

While I can’t wait for you to check out the entire list, here are my top three standout picks for the week:

• The Heirs by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: This YA mystery / adventure novel will be popular with the many fans of the Inheritance Games series (Barnes, 2021).

• Really Rubie by Maddie Frost: I’m always a sucker for middle grade summer camp stories! This one is an illustrated journal format and includes plenty of relatable friend drama. It’s a perfect summer read for rising 5th, 6th, and 7th graders!

• Watermelon Pool by Bonsoir Lune: (I see what you did there, with the author name!) This is another fun summer picture book that features both watermelon and swimming. Who wouldn’t want a watermelon pool in their neighborhood?

JUMP-TO LINKS:

• YA books
• Middle grades
• Picture books

YOUNG ADULT (Grades 7+)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Seventeen-year-old Jihad Dabbagh has always seen life with a heightened sense for colors, one of many magical blessings the women in her family possess. But Jihad’s gift changes depending on her mood. When depression sets in, the world is a colorless oasis, and in the wake of her mother’s sudden death, the world has become a permanent shade of grey.

Broken by tragedy, Jihad’s family doesn’t believe her color loss. Her father sends her to the elite Braxton Academy to finish her senior year. There, Jihad’s name and hijab put a target on her back. Her haven comes in the form of an old sketchbook carved from a tree in her hometown in Syria—a country she only knew through her mother’s stories. Jihad hasn’t picked up a brush in over a year, but finds herself channeling the colors of her hurt, pain, and grief as she paints the story of her mother’s journey in Syria.

When graffiti of that same mural starts magically popping up all over New York, her art goes viral and the world takes notice, the threat of legal consequences is imminent. To reclaim her voice, Jihad will have to paint a new future for herself and Braxton, guided by the resilience of her mother’s story.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Calla Quick has no future. At least, that’s how it feels. Her parents disowned her via text message, and now she can’t afford to go to an all-women’s college with her girlfriend Ramona like they planned. But Calla wonders if maybe that’s for the best-because even though Calla told Ramona her parents disowned her because they found out she’s gay, the truth is, Calla has been questioning whether she’s a girl at all.

Calla wishes she had more time to figure everything out, and one night, her wish is seemingly granted. When Calla and Ramona stumble upon a mysterious farmhouse the woods, they meet five teens who claim they’ve lived there for decades. The land, which they call Amaranth, acts as a safe haven for queer kids throughout history-a place free of hate, free of violence, free of time itself.

Here, Calla can be Cal, and they feel instantly accepted. They don’t have to worry about the future because at Amaranth, it will never come-until one night when the clock strikes twelve. Now under a literal ticking clock, the housemates must find a way to stop time again or face going back to their harsh realities, but as Cal learns everyone’s story, they begin to wonder what queer people lose when their history is lost to time.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Ever since Sean’s death, Case’s anxiety has been spiraling. Sean wasn’t just his older brother―he was also Case’s best friend. The only person who really got him.

When his parents suggest “adventure therapy,” Case is desperate enough to agree. Maybe roughing it in the woods with a group of anxious strangers will help him find a way forward. After he boards the bus, he sees the one person he’s been trying to avoid: Diana. Sean’s girlfriend.

Once they set off, there is the expected cringey singing and forced sharing. But when their counselor mysteriously disappears, the trip suddenly turns into a journey of survival. This group of kids, with nothing in common but their prescriptions and lack of social skills, will have to band together to make it back home. In the process, they will change each other’s lives forever.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Five prodigies, one dead father, a mansion full of suspects…

Octavius the Maestro.
Fola the Brain.
Bilal the Olympian.
Perdita the Artist.
Romeo the Failure.

These are the five heirs of the illustrious billionaire Leontes Button. Adopted and viciously trained with their father’s infamous “Button Method” to prove his hypothesis for creating prodigies—child geniuses—the Button siblings have had no choice but to be brilliant according to their father’s impossibly high standards.

Until he is murdered at his annual Prodigy Ball.

Now, all who attended the ball are required to stay in the Button Manor while the police investigate. But the officers have their work cut out for them—each of the Button siblings has something to hide, but The Heirs aren’t the only ones with secrets. After all, Leontes Button was especially good at making enemies…

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When Bryce’s mom walks out on her abusive boyfriend and back into jail for breaking her probation, he’s left facing the summer of his junior year with no parents, no phone, and only the clothes on his back.

With nowhere to call home, Bryce crashes at his grandparents’ house on Wolf Creek reservation. Wolf Creek is full of memories and old friends—including Robbie and Mikayla, who hang out at the local skate park.

Skateboarding reminds Bryce of his late dad: carefree, riding like he could fly. If Bryce could learn to ride like that, he’d take his crew to the top of the skateboarding championship at the end of the summer, and finally prove he’s not a loser, especially to the online-famous, captivating Mikayla. Summer is looking up, even as he’s falling on his face.

But when a fresh loss takes Bryce down, he’ll need to learn to lean on his Ojibwe community to get back on the board. Only then can he discover his father’s real legacy—and the true meaning of unconditional love.

JUMP-TO LINKS:

• YA books
• Middle grades
• Picture books

MIDDLE GRADES (Grades 3-8)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Kenzie and Quinn aren’t just stepsisters—they’re best friends. They’re spending the summer with their grandmother, kayaking in the marshy coastal islands she calls home. The Outer Banks are also home to a herd of wild ponies, and the girls fall in love with a fragile newborn foal that they name Starling.

But even blue skies and sandy beaches can’t distract from what’s going on back home. Things between their parents aren’t the way they used to be, and the constant fights have left Kenzie and Quinn anxious and confused. They can’t remember a time when they weren’t a family. If their parents divorce and Quinn and her mom move away, will they even still be sisters . . . or will they be nothing?

As their world shifts around them, the girls swear to do the one thing they can: keep Starling safe.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old orphan Irene believes her father’s soul is trapped inside her cat, Moses. Living at her caregiver Ruth’s hostel, Irene spends every waking hour studying a mystical book that her parents left behind in the fire that took their lives. Irene thinks the book can help her see them again, if only Moses will give her a clue.

Then, just as a strange fog sweeps over their quiet Chilean town, a mysterious young musician named Francis moves into the hostel. Irene and her new roommate don’t particularly get along, but Moses soon leads them both through the fog to a strange tear in reality: an entrance to the Land of the Dead.

Believing this is the key to seeing her parents again, Irene and Francis cross to the other side. There, they encounter the Ferryman of the Dead, who is desperate to escape into the Land of the Living. The Ferryman offers to return Irene and Francis’s loved ones in exchange for their help. In the face of such a massive promise, Irene and Francis must decide whether to risk the fate of both the Lands of the Living and the Dead or be braver than they ever thought possible.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

It’s finally summer―heck, yeah!

With eigth grade done, Elio Solis plans to lock in on his gaming and show the fellas what he’s got.

Celi Rivera and her bestie are headed to Hawaii to sun, skate, and search content for her channel.

But those dreams end when a catfishing incident rocks their Oakland community. Suddenly, parents are nosing in posts, taking phones, and laying down lectures about screen-time safety and well-being. Suddenly, Celi and Elio find themselves sent to rural Mexico, without internet, electricity, or even running water save for a dying stream that could wipe out the whole pueblo in the coming summer rains.

Helping curanderas in a healing clinic… carting sticks to rehabilitate the arroyo… turn summer dreams to misery!

But day by day, in nature, beauty, and community, with crushes blooming, can they find their way to each other―and slowly back to themselves?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Hello, summer! Eleven-year-old Rubie Fox can’t wait to go to sleepaway camp for the very first time. She and her best friend Riley Swisher will go away for an entire month TOGETHER, and they’ll even be able to spy on Riley’s crush Owen, who will be across from Camp Pineview, over at the boys’ camp, Moose-Ridge.

But when Riley drops a bomb—she can’t go to camp because she broke her ankle—Rubie has to go by herself. Which sort of makes her feel RAGE…how can she go to camp without Riley?! But her mom has already paid for it, so she’s stuck with her plushie chicken Jim the Duck and a cabin full of girls she doesn’t know.

But Rubie just might make another BFF, break out of her shell, and even meet a boy…all without Riley. Camp might be more eventful than Rubie ever thought it could be—with more drama than she ever imagined!

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Thirteen-year-old Ara lives in an isolated community called Jupiter Station with her family. They abide by the teachings of Father Jupiter, their self-appointed leader, and follow the strict rules laid out in his Book of Jupiter.

Ara has always believed what she’s been taught, including Father Jupiter’s prophecy that the family will soon become stardust and “Ascend to the planet Jupiter,” where they’ll live together forever.

But when her older brother Leo reveals his doubts about Father Jupiter, particularly his story about how they became part of the family, Ara must decide what to do, as she starts to realize he may be right.

JUMP-TO LINKS:

• YA books
• Middle grades
• Picture books

PICTURE BOOKS

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When the summer sun is in full force, there’s only one way to beat the heat: dive into a watermelon pool.

After a large watermelon gets split in half, everyone in the village dives in, digging into the fruit and making slides from the rind while spending a joy-filled day together until nightfall.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

On this adventure into deep space, readers become the first astronauts to set foot on the far side of the Moon, where the light is low, temperatures are extreme, and the land is pitted with craters that are so deep they have never been exposed to sunlight. What lies within may reveal incredible secrets about our universe, and provide a stepping stone to Mars and beyond . . .

With dreamy illustrations and a surrealist flair, Explore the Far Side of the Moon transports readers into the moon boots of an astronaut, appointed to pioneer the very first crewed mission to the far side of the Moon.

Planetary scientist Dr. Sheila Kanani introduces readers to their fellow crew members, providing guidance on what to pack, what to wear, and how to prepare a space rocket for liftoff (not to mention an equally important explanation of how to go to the bathroom in zero gravity). From there, readers will discover how to enter lunar orbit and dock at the brand-new lunar space station where they’ll be placed. Mission specialists will then venture solo to land the spacecraft on the lunar surface and embark on their exploration of the Lunar South Pole.

Published in anticipation of NASA’s launch of Artemis III, which will take the first woman and first person of color to the Moon, the book feeds off the excitement of a new era of lunar missions.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Grandma spreads her newly washed futon to dry in the sun. The futon is so soft and smells so clean! The cat can’t resist nestling down for a snooze. Instead of chasing it away, Grandma settles in alongside, soon followed by the hen and her chicks, a little boy, the dog, the goat, and the pig family. Soon the whole household is taking a nap!

Until Grandma starts to find the futon so comfy that no one else can fit.