New Release Spotlight: May 19, 2026

It’s officially our last week of school!!!!! Whoohoooo!

This week’s New Release Spotlight is another giant-sized May edition, featuring 14 fantastic new titles.

Because the list is so lengthy, I have once again added jump-to links below to help you navigate directly to the sections you need most: Young Adult, Middle Grade, or Picture Books.

This Week’s Top Picks

If you only have time to check out a few, here are the three titles (featured on this week’s cover!) that you won’t want to miss:

• YA Graphic Fiction: Landing in Place by Sherine Hamdy
• Chapter Book: The Shrew Detective: The Case of the Pilfered Pearls by Margi Preus
• Informational Picture Book: We the People is All the People by Howard W. Reeves

Spotlight Housekeeping & Links

• Want the whole lineup for the May New Release Spotlight? Click below to view the full May New Release List on Amazon and easily add these titles to your cart!

• Free Canva Templates: Keep an eye on your inbox! Canva links for this week’s graphics will be sent out via email on Tuesday morning, May 26, 2026. These templates are totally free to my email list—sign up here to get the April links today and join the list to receive the May links on May 26th.

• The Ginormous Booklist: For those keeping track, this week’s titles are #5227 – #5241 on the master list.

Jump to:

• YA Books
• Middle Grades
• Picture Books

YOUNG ADULT (GRADES 7+)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Anisa is following in her sister Reem’s footsteps: She’s a freshman at her sister’s alma mater, she’s on the same premed track, and she’s inherited Reem’s old hotpot, mini-fridge, and textbooks.

Even though Anisa would prefer to study art, her parents discount that as a valid career choice. The path laid out before her starts to crumble as Anisa feels she doesn’t belong—either in her organic chemistry class or among the other Muslim students on campus.

When Anisa fails her first semester, she begs her parents to let her take time off to visit Cairo and stay with her beloved grandfather. Finally free to have her own experiences, Anisa begins a journey of self-discovery and, as she bumps up against familial, societal, and religious expectations, she starts to develop her own artistic voice.

When Anisa returns to the United States, many of these expectations shift, but she learns to draw on the love of friends and family—including those she’s often at odds with—in order to stay true to herself.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

It’s no secret that Jensen Chapman is a coward (though he prefers the term ‘risk averse’).

He’s scared of dodgeball day in gym class, intimidated by his older sister (she’s weirdly strong, alright?), nervous around his crush Leslie Chen, and freaked out about starting high school…just to name a few things. But on the night before his eighth-grade graduation, that’s all about to change.

When Jensen’s two best friends, Maleek and Cooper, show up to kidnap him (OK, recruit him) to compete against a group of girls-including Leslie Chen herself-in a series of escalating dares, Jensen knows it’s now or never: face his fears once and for all, or face a life of spinelessness forever.

The boys set out on an epic race against the clock that includes faulty skateboards, internet-famous ferrets, and a stolen golf cart. But when Jensen finds out that Maleek and Cooper have been keeping a huge secret from him, he’ll need every scrap of his newfound bravery to save their friendship.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Aouli Elizabeth Smith is adrift: unheard at home and an unbeliever at church, fighting her sister and losing her best friend. Overflowing with feeling, she pours her secrets and herself into her song journal when the world threatens to sweep her away.

The one place she feels tied down to earth is at her Aunty Ehu’s house. Those joyous Saturdays with her extended Native Hawaiian community living in Western Washington are precious to her. Under the maple trees, the fragments of her life fit together, if only for an afternoon.

Then, an unspeakable truth about her father shatters this one perfect corner of her life.

As Aouli’s world constricts around what others wish she could be, language fails her. But when a new boy, Nalu, turns up with eyes that seem to pierce right into her soul, maybe it’s love that can give her the words to set herself free.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Orphaned as a baby, Shay has spent her life training as the midwife’s apprentice. Her role grants her stability, yet Shay has always yearned for more. Namely, motherly affection and answers regarding her mysterious birth—neither of which the midwife deems practical to provide.

After Shay discovers her birth mother, Hind, is still alive and addicted to a magical drug called Snow, she determines to get the woman clean. But when Hind betrays Shay to get her hands on more Snow, Shay’s abandoned within a deadly forest and forced to rely on a band of monstrous ghouls for safety.

Shay’s realm has long stood on the brink of war between the men who control magic and the revolutionaries who want to eliminate it. But in the forest, Shay hears the pleading call of ancient spirits who claim that not only has magic been stolen, but Shay has the power to return it.

With the help of a spitfire revolutionary and the boy who’s winning over her heart, Shay discovers the horrific truth of who produces Snow and will have to decide for herself whether to heed the spirits’ charge or fade into obscurity.

MIDDLE GRADES (3rd – 8th GRADES)

Jump to:

• YA Books
• Middle Grades
• Picture Books

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

When Geordie becomes obsessed with the fate of a pig who escaped from a factory farm, the group project is put in jeopardy. As Geordie starts to push harder into difficult questions, he finds everything changing—his friendships, his ability to express himself, even how he plays his favorite online role-playing game, Dominion.  

The Hidden Dominion of Geordie James is about kids coming to terms with a world that feels outside of their control, ending with the message that we humans do not exist apart from nature, but rather as an integral part of it.  

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Everyone says twelve-year-old Evan Calais is feral. She likes to spend her time outside, fishing and having mud fights in her small town of Little John Island, Louisiana.

But when a sinkhole causes the town mine to collapse, trapping all forty-eight miners, everything in her life comes to a standstill. Because Evan’s dad is one of the miners trapped inside.

Evan seeks solace the only way she knows how―in the outdoors―and comes upon the most peculiar thing.

An egg.

It’s a large egg. And it’s alone. So while Evan waits for her dad to come home, she also finds herself caring for the strange, abandoned egg. If this egg can hatch…maybe her dad has a chance of coming home, too. But as she incubates the egg, Evan will need to make a big decision. For she has a secret―she might know what caused the cave-in.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
My brother’s not here.
And it’s all
because of
me.

Brooks loves and adores his older brother, Oliver. That’s why it was so hard—practically impossible, really—for him to have done what he did and told his parents about what Oliver wanted to do.

Now Oliver has been sent away. He’s miserable, and Brooks’s family is falling apart. His mom and dad are sad and scared, and it seems like nothing will ever be okay again. Maybe things would be better if Brooks had just kept his mouth shut. Can he and his family find the hope they need to keep going?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Septimus is not good at being a badger. He adores the sunset. He dreams of going to Venice. And he lives alone in a charming cottage by the sea. He’s not unhappy with his tidy, solitary life, but there are times when being so bad at badgerdom makes him wonder if he’s even a badger at all.

When a gull of very few words lands on the windowsill, Septimus leaps at the possibility of friendship. However, his new confidant soon goes missing and Septimus is bereft.

Determined to find his best—and only—friend, he ventures into new territory and encounters a cast of surprising characters. Can Septimus be as brave and bighearted as he’ll need to be to find Gully? Or is he really a bad badger after all?

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Mystery: Something that is difficult or impossible to understand.

With a curious mind and a vast vocabulary (thanks to her wallpaper―pages of a discarded human dictionary), tiny Minerva Shrew would love nothing more than to solve the Big Mysteries of Life and the Universe.

Instead, in The Case of the Pilfered Pearls, she’s called upon to help her cousin Tenacity solve a mystery in the most dangerous of places: a human house. When a string of pearls goes missing, the human owner is sure a “dreadful rodent” has pilfered them―and now the lives of all Minerva’s friends are at risk! Will Minerva find the true culprit before the exterminators arrive?

With wit and warmth, Margi Preus creates a charming woodland world filled with creatures both whimsical and nefarious (neh-FARE-ee-us: wicked or criminal), along with suspense, intrigue, and, thanks to Minerva’s metabolism, plenty of snacks.

Jump to:

• YA Books
• Middle Grades
• Picture Books

PICTURE BOOKS (USUALLY PreS-GRADE 5)

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Three starred reviews! We the People Is All the People is “a clearly rendered tribute to community care and unity that’s anchored in hues of red, white, and blue.” (Publishers Weekly)

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union . . . 

Who are the “we the people” mentioned in the preamble to the U.S. Constitution? They are our neighbors next door, down the street, or across the country. They live in different places, worship in different ways, come from different backgrounds and histories. They struggle, achieve, and overcome. They are you, and me, and us. 

Because, as we strive to create a more perfect union, “we” should mean “all.”

This beautiful picture book celebration of the best of America includes the preamble to the United States Constitution as well as notes from the author and artist.

Also look for the Spanish-language edition, Nosotros, el pueblo somos todos.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

The Outermost Mouse loves her life at the tip of the beach. She has blue sky above and sand as warm and soft as her mother below.

Best of all is the house, a huge nest she has made her own. There are jam-jar posies, lanterns full of gold, and a clock that tick-tocks her to sleep at night.

But a storm is coming. When the sky goes dark and a cold wind rises, the little mouse must do everything she can to protect her home. Even though she’s small enough to fit into a teacup, the Outermost Mouse is smart, strong, and brave—and ready to face the wild waves.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Bridges accomplish many things—they span obstacles (rivers and canyons); they join places (cities and states and even countries); and they carry cars, trucks, and trains to deliver essential goods (food and clothing). Above all, bridges are feats of human innovation that bring people together.

This essential STEAM offering celebrates these spectacular wonders of architecture and engineering, including examples found in nature, different styles and materials used in their construction, and the science behind how they work.

It’s a one-stop information panoply for young readers on all there is to know about these magnificent structures that unite people throughout the world.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

Why does the axolotl salamander always seem to be smiling? Is it true that the wild goat known as a markhor is excellent at parkour? What happens when the peacock spider’s dance, complete with its rumble-rumps, doesn’t please the object of its affection?

Providing a peek at everything from scaly pangolins to duck-billed platypuses, from the lemur known as an aye-aye to the perpetually grumpy (and adorable) black rain frog, David Elliott’s poetic vignettes deliver a witty and informative take on some of the world’s oddest animals. Brought to life in striking illustrations by collage artist Clover Robin, this roundup of unique creatures will delight animal lovers of all stripes.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY

A boy and his father live alone on an island. They play football, fish, and have a very happy life together. His father gives him advice, to avoid bears and sharks, but as the father’s life comes to an end he remarkably turns into a tree…

“Everything will be all right,” the branches creaked back.
It was as if his father were talking to him.

The boy must set out on his new life of his own. Along the way, he encounters new friends who help him discover that even after loss, life can still be filled with companionship and wonder.