List

From the award-winning biographer of Elvis Presley, a groundbreaking dual portrait of the relationship between the iconic artist and his legendary manager--drawing on a wealth of the Colonel's never-before-seen correspondence to reveal that this oft-reviled figure was in fact a confidant, friend, and architect of his client's success



In early 1955, Colonel Tom Parker--manager of the number-one country music star of the day--heard that an unknown teenager from Memphis had just drawn a crowd of more than eight hundred people to a Texas schoolhouse, and headed south to investigate. Within days, Parker was sending out telegrams and letters to promoters and booking agents: "We have a new boy that is absolutely going to be one of the biggest things in the business in a very short time. His name is ELVIS PRESLEY." Later that year, after signing with RCA, the young man sent a telegram of his own: "Dear Colonel, Words can never tell you how my folks and I appreciate what you did for me.... I love you like a father."



The close personal bond between Elvis and the Colonel has never been fully portrayed before. It was a relationship founded on mutual admiration and support. From the outset, the Colonel defended Elvis fiercely and indefatigably against RCA executives, Elvis's own booking agents, and movie moguls. But in their final years together, the story grew darker, as the Colonel found himself unable to protect Elvis from himself or control growing problems of his own.



Featuring troves of previously unpublished correspondence, revelatory for both its insights and emotional depth, The Colonel and the King provides a unique perspective on not one but two American originals. A tale of the birth of the modern-day superstar (an invention almost entirely of Parker's making) by Peter Guralnick, the most acclaimed music writer of his generation, it presents these two misunderstood icons as they've never been seen before: with all of their brilliance, humor, and flaws on full display.

How the rich and powerful use math to exploit you, and what you can do to beat them at their own game

Everything we do today is recorded as data that's sold to the highest bidder. Plugging our personal data into impersonal algorithms has made government agencies more efficient and tech companies more profitable. But all this comes at a price. It's easy to feel like an insignificant number in a world of number crunchers who care more about their bottom line than your humanity. It's time to flip the equation, turning math into an empowering tool for the rest of us.

Award-winning mathematician Noah Giansiracusa explains how the tech giants and financial institutions use formulas to get ahead—and how anyone can use these same formulas in their everyday life. You’ll learn how to handle risk rationally, make better investments, take control of your social media, and reclaim agency over the decisions you make each day. 

In a society that all too often takes from the poor and gives to the rich, math can be a vital democratizing force. Robin Hood Math helps you to think for yourself, act in your own best interests, and thrive.

*INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*

“Amy Odell’s dishy, often delicious Gwyneth: The Biography charts how Paltrow grew from winsome ingenue to influencer executrix.” —The Washington Post

New York Times bestselling author Amy Odell takes readers inside the world of one of the most influential and polarizing celebrities of the modern era—complete with exclusive new stories about her childhood, acting career, romances, and her lifestyle brand Goop.

Love her or hate her, Gwyneth Paltrow has managed to stay on the A-list, her influence spanning entertainment, fashion, and the modern wellness industry. Gwyneth was born to parents viewed as Hollywood royalty, and that immense privilege turned her into a target of backlash when, at just twenty-six, she won an Oscar. Rather than cave in to criticism, she leveraged the attention for valuable endorsement deals and film roles, eventually founding her controversial wellness and lifestyle company, Goop.

Over the decades, she has participated in countless carefully managed interviews, but the real Gwyneth—the basis of her motives, desires, strengths, faults, and vulnerabilities—has never been fully revealed, until now. Based on exclusive conversations with more than 220 sources, including close current and former friends and colleagues, this deeply researched biography provides insight and behind-the-scenes details of her relationships, family, friendships, iconic films, and tenure as the CEO of Goop. Gwyneth offers the fascinating, definitive look at how Paltrow rose to prominence, stayed in the limelight, and shaped culture—for better or worse—for so long.

From a girl's abduction by a serial killer to the harrowing aftermath--a gripping and heart-wrenching true-crime story by Gregg Olsen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell.

In May 2005, authorities discovered the Groene family murdered in their Idaho home. The family's youngest members--eight-year-old Shasta and her brother, nine-year-old Dylan--were nowhere to be found.

As a community prayed for their return, Shasta and Dylan were already miles away in the woods of Montana at the hands of serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan. After a harrowing forty-eight day ordeal, Shasta was rescued. In many ways, her survival story was only beginning.

In the following years, while Shasta struggled to outrun her trauma, a pattern of self-destructive behavior shadowed her like an ever-worsening thunderstorm. She still had hope buried deep inside. Every bit as much as the little girl who had been held captive in the woods. This would be an all-new battle for Shasta. And she was determined not to lose.

Out of the Woods is the haunting and intimate true-crime story of one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history--and a young woman's journey to reclaim her life in its wake.

Part history lesson. Part sacrilege. An entirely good time.

Think you have what it takes to be a saint? Lucky for you, thousands of souls have paved the way to heaven--creating a clear formula for getting the job done while also leaving a rich, disturbing history behind them. And in just five easy-ish steps, you can learn how to secure your own halo!

But even if the whole "dying and becoming a saint" thing doesn't appeal to you, the bizarrely bureaucratic process of canonization is still guaranteed to delight and entertain. How to Be Saint is a compulsively readable and endlessly entertaining ride through Catholicism for anyone who enjoys their history with a side of comedy. From flying friars to severed heads, this book explores the wild lives (and deaths) of saints and pulls the curtain back on the oddest quirks of religious doctrine.

Whether you're a lifelong Catholic or a weird-history enthusiast, How to Be a Saint is your ultimate guide to understanding the hilarious, fascinating, and shockingly true history of sainthood.

A magnificent cultural biography that charts the life of one of our greatest writers, situating her alongside the key historical and social moments that shaped her work.

As the first Black woman to consistently write and publish in the field of science fiction, Octavia Butler was a trailblazer. With her deft pen, she created stories speculating the devolution of the American empire, using it as an apt metaphor for the best and worst of humanity--our innovation and ingenuity, our naked greed and ambition, our propensity for violence and hierarchy. Her fiction charts the rise and fall of the American project--the nation's transformation from a provincial backwater to a capitalist juggernaut--made possible by chattel slavery--to a bloated imperialist superpower on the verge of implosion.

In this outstanding work, Susana M. Morris places Butler's story firmly within the cultural, social, and historical context that shaped her life: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, women's liberation, queer rights, Reaganomics. Morris reveals how these influences profoundly impacted Butler's personal and intellectual trajectory and shaped the ideas central to her writing. Her cautionary tales warn us about succumbing to fascism, gender-based violence, and climate chaos while offering alternate paradigms to religion, family, and understanding our relationships to ourselves. Butler envisioned futures with Black women at the center, raising our awareness of how those who are often dismissed have the knowledge to shift the landscape of our world. But her characters are no magical martyrs, they are tough, flawed, intelligent, and complicated, a reflection of Butler's stories.

Morris explains what drove Butler: She wrote because she felt she must. "Who was I anyway Why should anyone pay attention to what I had to say Did I have anything to say I was writing science fiction and fantasy, for God's sake. At that time nearly all professional science-fiction writers were white men. As much as I loved science fiction and fantasy, what was I doing Well, whatever it was, I couldn't stop. Positive obsession is about not being able to stop just because you're afraid and full of doubts. Positive obsession is dangerous. It's about not being able to stop at all."

In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders's own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic. 

A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic--with very unexpected results--in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training--she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it's up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives.

Dante's Inferno meets Susanna Clarke's Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor's soul--perhaps at the cost of their own.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero's descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she's going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams....

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don't even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn't always the answer, and there's something in Alice and Peter's past that could forge them into the perfect allies...or lead to their doom.

A pulse-pounding new Southern thriller from the author of the runaway bestseller A Flicker in the Dark.

Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist... until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.

With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents... as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.

Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.

Teaming up with your neighbor during a zombie outbreak is a no-brainer, but if it turns out he’s a vampire . . . the stakes couldn’t be higher, in this infectious new paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Spoiler Alert.

When Edie Brandstrup attempts to save her sweet, seemingly harmless human neighbor from the first major zombie breach in two decades, she’s stunned to be saved by him—and his ridiculously large sword—instead. As it turns out, he's actually a super-old, super-surly vampire. But for all her neighbor's newly revealed cynicism and lethality, Gaston "Max" Boucher (yes, Gaston) is unexpectedly protective. He wants her to stay in his safety bunker until the breach is resolved. Edie can’t risk more innocent people getting killed, though—and Max won’t let her save them alone.

As they unravel a sinister conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world (again), the duo meet a host of lovable allies and discover they're not the only ones willing to fight for the future of humanity. Despite the awful timing, Edie finds herself falling for the vampire who’s helping her save the world . . . but all their dangerous plans could end their future before it even begins. As she and Max battle side by side, Edie must decide whether having a love worth living for also means having a love you'd die for—and, in a world that grows deadlier by the minute, whether that’s a risk she’s willing to take.

A deliciously wicked new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Danielle Valentine.

One husband, well done.

When infamous chef, restaurateur, and television personality Maria Capello's husband died, the media circus was intense...and quick to cast the blame. Whispers claimed Maria murdered her husband to build her culinary empire on his bones, and that there was an all-too-grisly reason his body was never recovered. Yet for the past few decades, the Capello family maintained their stoney silence--until now.

Thea Woods has no idea why she was chosen to work with Maria on her sure-to-be-infamous memoir, but she doesn't question her luck. Spirited away to the Capello's rustic upstate farm, she's soon embroiled in the mystery--and cut off from the rest of the world. It should be the job of a lifetime, but something's not quite right with the close-knit clan, and Damien Capello isn't the only one to go mysteriously missing over the years. As the true story of Maria's past unfolds and the stench of rot hidden behind the kind coastal grandmother veneer rises, Thea finds herself trapped...and desperately afraid.

Because there are reasons why Damien's body was never found...and why, in over thirty years, Maria Capello has never revealed the secret ingredient in her most famous recipe.

“An existential masterwork that, like life, is equal parts atrocity and delights."—Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of Masters of Death

Lucky Day is the latest from Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus and Bury Your Gays, where one woman must go up against horrifying odds to save the world. 

Four years ago, an unthinkable disaster occurred. In what was later known as the Low-Probability Event, eight million people were killed in a single day, each of them dying in improbable, bizarre ways: strangled by balloon ropes, torn apart by exploding manhole covers, attacked by a chimpanzee wielding a typewriter. A day of freak accidents that proved anything is possible, no matter the odds. Luck is real now, and it's not always good.

Vera, a former statistics and probability professor, lost everything that day, and she still struggles to make sense of the unbelievable catastrophe. To her, the LPE proved that the God of Order is dead and nothing matters anymore.

When Special Agent Layne shows up on Vera’s doorstep, she learns he's investigating a suspiciously—and statistically impossibly—lucky casino. He needs her help to prove the casino’s success is connected to the deaths of millions, and it's Vera's last chance to make sense of a world that doesn’t.

Because what's happening in Vegas isn't staying there, and she's the only thing that stands between the world and another deadly improbability.

Also by Chuck Tingle:
Bury Your Gays
Camp Damascus
Straight

A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.

You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.

New from Sarah Pekkanen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of House of Glass and co-author of The Wife Between Us.

A shocking psychological thriller about the complex bonds of sisterhood―and what happens when they are stretched to the breaking point, The Locked Ward “will leave you guessing until the very end” (Jeneva Rose, bestselling author of The Perfect Marriage).

Some doors should never be opened.

Was it bitter, all-consuming jealousy? Pathological sibling rivalry? Pure insanity?

Whatever the cause―and everyone has a theory―it's the Crime of the Decade when glamorous Georgia Cartwright, who was adopted as a newborn, is accused of killing the biological daughter of her wealthy, Southern family.

Georgia is locked in a psychiatric institution where the most violent offenders are held while she awaits trial. The only words she whispers when her estranged twin sister Amanda visits are, “I didn’t do it. You’ve got to get me out of here.”

Amanda doesn't trust Georgia, but she can't abandon her in a place so eerie and menacing that it seems to exist in another dimension. Is Georgia the victim of a powerful family that's so depraved murder is the least of their crimes? Or is Amanda being led down a path of madness into the web of a master manipulator?

NOMINATED FOR AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD • An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.

“Yes, Well-Read Black Girl is as good as it sounds. . . . [Glory Edim] gathers an all-star cast of contributors—among them Lynn Nottage, Jesmyn Ward, and Gabourey Sidibe.”—O: The Oprah Magazine 

Remember that moment when you first encountered a character who seemed to be written just for you? That feeling of belonging remains with readers the rest of their lives—but not everyone regularly sees themselves in the pages of a book. In this timely anthology, Glory Edim brings together original essays by some of our best black women writers to shine a light on how important it is that we all—regardless of gender, race, religion, or ability—have the opportunity to find ourselves in literature.

Contributors include Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing), Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Jacqueline Woodson (Another Brooklyn), Gabourey Sidibe (This Is Just My Face), Morgan Jerkins (This Will Be My Undoing), Tayari Jones (An American Marriage), Rebecca Walker (Black, White and Jewish), and Barbara Smith (Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology)

Whether it’s learning about the complexities of femalehood from Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison, finding a new type of love in The Color Purple, or using mythology to craft an alternative black future, the subjects of each essay remind us why we turn to books in times of both struggle and relaxation. As she has done with her book club–turned–online community Well-Read Black Girl, in this anthology Glory Edim has created a space in which black women’s writing and knowledge and life experiences are lifted up, to be shared with all readers who value the power of a story to help us understand the world and ourselves.

Praise for Well-Read Black Girl

“Each essay can be read as a dispatch from the vast and wonderfully complex location that is black girlhood and womanhood. . . . They present literary encounters that may at times seem private and ordinary—hours spent in the children’s section of a public library or in a college classroom—but are no less monumental in their impact.”—The Washington Post

“A wonderful collection of essays.”—Essence

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.

Gerald and Piggie are best friends./DIVDIV
In We Are in a Book! Gerald and Piggie discover the joy of being read. But what will happen when the book ends?

Using vocabulary perfect for beginning readers (and vetted by an early-learning specialist), Mo Willems has crafted a mind-bending story that is even more interactive than previous Elephant & Piggie adventures. Fans of the Geisel Award-winning duo won't be able to put this book down--literally!

It's another busy day for Stanley and friends at the library!

Stanley has stocked his bookmobile with lots of great books to take to the local park. Everyone stops by to borrow a book that Stanley selected just for them, and later at the main branch, he hosts an out-of-this-world author visit from Agatha Mouse!

Accessible text and brightly colored illustrations helpfully convey librarianship for toddlers who love equipment, tools, and vehicles. After a hard day at work, Stanley winds down his day with a familiar supper and bath routine that makes this series a great pick for bedtime reading!

William Bee's beloved Stanley series is a trusted model for basic preschool concepts like colors and shapes, kindness and teamwork, jobs and daily routines. Toddlers will love hanging out with this adorable cast of friendly neighborhood critters in any of the available series titles. Help your little one collect them all!

NOW A LILLY'S LIBRARY PICK!

"The most heartfelt read...a surprising delight of a novel."--Shondaland

An unforgettable and heartwarming debut about how a chance encounter with a list of library books helps forge an unlikely friendship between two very different people in a London suburb.

Widower Mukesh lives a quiet life in Wembley, in West London after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries.

Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It's a list of novels that she's never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list, one after the other. As each story gives up its magic, the books transport Aleisha from the painful realities she's facing at home.

When Mukesh arrives at the library, desperate to forge a connection with his bookworm granddaughter, Aleisha passes along the reading list...hoping that it will be a lifeline for him too. Slowly, the shared books create a connection between two lonely souls, as fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again.

In Inga Moore’s charming companion to A House in the Woods, Moose’s library outing soon has the whole woodland community crowding into his house to read together. Leave it to Moose to find a solution—on wheels!

Distinguished author-illustrator Inga Moore reunites the cast of A House in the Woods for another tale of friendship and ingenuity. When Moose runs out of stories to tell his family after dinner, he ventures to the town library for books. No sooner is he settled in at home to read them aloud than Bear, Badger, Fox, Hare, Mole, the Three Wild Pigs, and even the Beavers crowd in to listen. Soon everyone is packed in like sardines. What’s a clever Moose to do? With its warm, whimsical cast and a snug woodland setting evoked by earthy illustrations, this playful nod to the power of books and libraries to create community will reward new and returning fans alike.

You've Got Mail meets Morgan Matson in this smart, banter-filled romcom with a bookish twist.

Nothing will stop Madeline Moore from taking over her family's independent bookstore after college. Nothing, that is--until a chain bookstore called Prologue opens across the street and threatens to shut them down.

Madeline sets out to demolish the competition, but the guy who works over at Prologue seems intent on ruining her life. Not only is he taking her customers, he has the unbelievable audacity to be... extremely cute.

But that doesn't matter. Jasper is the enemy and he will be destroyed. After all--all's fair in love and (book) war.

“What are you reading?”

That's the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less. 

This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn't the opposite of doing; it's the opposite of dying. 

Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other—and rediscover their lives—through their favorite books. When they read, they aren't a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will's love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page. 
 

Without question, Fawn Birchill knows that her used bookstore is the heart of West Philadelphia, a cornerstone of culture for a community that, for the past twenty years, has found the quirkiness absolutely charming. When an amicable young indie bookseller invades her block, Fawn is convinced that his cushy couches, impressive selection, coffee bar, and knowledgeable staff are a neighborhood blight. Misguided yet blindly resilient, Fawn readies for battle.

This spinoff of The Replacement Crush featuring Amy and Toff is sure to melt your heart.

Shy bookworm Amy McIntyre is about to compete for the chance to interview her favorite author, who hasn't spoken to the press in years. The only way to win is to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight, but that level of confidence has never come easy.

The solution? A competition coach. The problem? The best person for the job is the guy she's secretly crushing on...local surfer celebrity Toff Nichols.

He’s a player. He’s a heartthrob. He makes her forget basic things, like how to breathe. How can she feel any confidence around him?

To her surprise, Toff agrees to help. And he’s an excellent teacher. Amy feels braver—maybe even brave enough to admit her feelings for him. When their late night practices become less about coaching and more about making out, Amy’s newfound confidence wavers. 

But does Toff really like her or is this just another lesson?

Winner of the International Literacy Association Social Justice Literature Award

An award-winning middle-grade novel about the power of grassroots activism and how kids can make a difference.

Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library on the street corner. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something.

What can she do? The local elections are coming up, but she's just a kid. She can't even vote!

Still, Yasmin has friends -- her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a blue belt in karate. And she has family and neighbors. What's more, she has an idea that came right out of the last book she borrowed from Book Uncle.

So Yasmin and her friends get to work. Ideas grow like cracks in the sidewalk, and soon the whole effort is breezing along nicely... Or is it spinning right out of control?

An energetic, funny and quirky story about community activism, friendship, and the love of books.

Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2

Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.6

Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2

Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.

A beautiful celebratory tribute to the powers of one of our most undervalued skills.

'What you are doing right now is, cosmically speaking, against the odds.'

As young children, we are taught to read, but soon go on to forget just how miraculous a process it is, this turning of scratches and dots into understanding, unease and inspiration. Perhaps we need to stop and remember, stop and learn again how to read better.

Damon Young shows us how to do exactly this, walking alongside some of the greatest readers who light a path for us -- Borges, Plato, Woolf. Young reads passionately, selectively, surprisingly -- from superhero noir to speculative realism, from Heidegger to Heinlein -- and shows his reader how cultivating their inner critic can expand their own lives as well as the lives of those on the pages of the books they love.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

When a woman discovers a rare book that has connections to her past, long-held secrets about her missing sister and their childhood spent in the English countryside during World War II are revealed.

In the war-torn London of 1939, fourteen-year-old Hazel and five-year-old Flora are evacuated to a rural village to escape the horrors of the Second World War. Living with the kind Bridie Aberdeen and her teenage son, Harry, in a charming stone cottage along the River Thames, Hazel fills their days with walks and games to distract her young sister, including one that she creates for her sister and her sister alone—a fairy tale about a magical land, a secret place they can escape to that is all their own.

But the unthinkable happens when young Flora suddenly vanishes while playing near the banks of the river. Shattered, Hazel blames herself for her sister’s disappearance, and she carries that guilt into adulthood as a private burden she feels she deserves.

Twenty years later, Hazel is in London, ready to move on from her job at a cozy rare bookstore to a career at Sotheby’s. With a charming boyfriend and her elegantly timeworn Bloomsbury flat, Hazel’s future seems determined. But her tidy life is turned upside down when she unwraps a package containing an illustrated book called Whisperwood and the River of Stars. Hazel never told a soul about the imaginary world she created just for Flora. Could this book hold the secrets to Flora’s disappearance? Could it be a sign that her beloved sister is still alive after all these years?

As Hazel embarks on a feverish quest, revisiting long-dormant relationships and bravely opening wounds from her past, her career and future hang in the balance. An astonishing twist ultimately reveals the truth in this transporting and refreshingly original novel about the bond between sisters, the complications of conflicted love, and the enduring magic of storytelling.

For readers of Martha Hall Kelly and Beatriz Williams, "a story of female freedom and constraints that doesn't shy away from the trauma--and joy--that faced U.S. women"(Kirkus) during a pivotal period in American history.

Literature impacts us all uniquely -- but also unites us.

Massachusetts, 1954. Alice Campbell escapes halfway across the country and finds herself in front of a derelict building tucked among the cobblestone streets of Cambridge, and she turns that sad little shop into the charming bookstore of her dreams.

Tess, Caroline, Evie, and Merritt become fast friends in the sanctuary of Alice's monthly reading club at The Cambridge Bookshop, where they escape the pressures of being newly independent college women in a world that seems to want to keep them in the kitchen. But they each embody very different personalities, and when a member of the group finds herself shattered, everything they know about each other--and themselves--will be called into question.

A heart-wrenching, inspiring, extraordinary love letter to books set against the backdrop of one of the most pivotal periods in American history, The Radcliffe Ladies' Reading Club explores how women forge their own paths, regardless of what society expects of them, and illuminates the importance of literature and the vital conversations it sparks.

The New York Times bestselling author returns with a mystery with a touch of magical realism and a strong, female bookstore owner and bibliotherapist at its heart.

Miracle Springs, North Carolina, is famed for its healing springs. But bookstore owner Nora Pennington has a tendency to land in a different kind of hot water. Though she loves to practice bibliotherapy by finding the perfect books for her customers while listening to their secrets, she also likes to bury her nose in the occasional local crime…

Nora escaped her past a decade ago. So it feels like a visit from another world when Kelly Walsh—the woman her ex-husband left her for—walks through the door of Miracle Books along with her son, a sweet, serious boy with a talent for origami. Kelly hasn’t come to gloat, though. As it turns out, she’s been dumped too. She’s also terribly ill, and all she wants from Nora is forgiveness.

Shockingly, however, this woman who’s been the victim of so much misfortune is about to become a murder victim. Who would do such a thing? Certainly not Nora, but that doesn’t stop the gossip and suspicion—especially after Kelly’s brother claims that he saw the two women arguing.

In seeking justice for Kelly, The Secret, Book, and Scone Society joins forces with the sheriff’s department, but they’ve barely begun their probe when life throws another wrench. After serving a twenty-year sentence, Estella’s father returns to Miracle Springs. And when his past comes back to haunt him, it might be more than the four friends can handle.

“Red herrings abound along with plenty of tips on choosing books.” —Kirkus Reviews

An antiquarian bookseller divulges the secrets of the trade and the peculiarities of life in one of the world’s oldest bookstores.
 

One morning, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd. in London to interview for what he thought would be a year-long bookselling apprenticeship. Captivated by the smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap, Darkshire was soon unteetering stacks of first editions and fending off overeager collectors while placating the store’s resident ghost (the late Mr. Sotheran, hit by a tram). By turns unhinged and earnest, Once Upon a Tome is a hilarious coming-of-age story that brings us into a strange and fascinating profession.

Darkshire describes Sotheran’s customs and customers and shares delicious trivia about ancient editions and the dark art of selling old things to the curious characters that covet them. A love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, Once Upon a Tome is the colorful story of working at a hallowed bookshop, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.

Lola reads story books to her new baby brother Leo, and even though Mommy and Daddy are busy, they still have time to read to Lola at bedtime.

Library Fish returns in this charming picture book about the unusually literary fish learning to do what everyone around her loves—read!

Library Fish is very happy in her bowl on Mr. Hughes the librarian’s desk. From there, she listens to story time and watches Mr. Hughes teach children the alphabet. He says the alphabet is made of letters, letters make sounds, blending those sounds together makes words, and words make stories. 

Library Fish wants to read, too! She starts jumping out of her bowl to practice when the library closes at night. Can Library Fish become a reader all on her own?

For fans of The Rose Code and The Paris Library, The Librarian of Burned Books is a captivating WWII-era novel about the intertwined fates of three women who believe in the power of books to triumph over the very darkest moments of war.

Berlin 1933. Following the success of her debut novel, American writer Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels himself to participate in a culture exchange program in Germany. For a girl from a small town in Maine, 1933 Berlin seems to be sparklingly cosmopolitan, blossoming in the midst of a great change with the charismatic new chancellor at the helm. Then Althea meets a beautiful woman who promises to show her the real Berlin, and soon she's drawn into a group of resisters who make her question everything she knows about her hosts--and herself.

Paris 1936. She may have escaped Berlin for Paris, but Hannah Brecht discovers the City of Light is no refuge from the anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathizers she thought she left behind. Heartbroken and tormented by the role she played in the betrayal that destroyed her family, Hannah throws herself into her work at the German Library of Burned Books. Through the quiet power of books, she believes she can help counter the tide of fascism she sees rising across Europe and atone for her mistakes. But when a dear friend decides actions will speak louder than words, Hannah must decide what stories she is willing to live--or die--for.

New York 1944. Since her husband Edward was killed fighting the Nazis, Vivian Childs has been waging her own war: preventing a powerful senator's attempts to censor the Armed Service Editions, portable paperbacks that are shipped by the millions to soldiers overseas. Viv knows just how much they mean to the men through the letters she receives--including the last one she got from Edward. She also knows the only way to win this battle is to counter the senator's propaganda with a story of her own--at the heart of which lies the reclusive and mysterious woman tending the American Library of Nazi-Banned Books in Brooklyn.

As Viv unknowingly brings her censorship fight crashing into the secrets of the recent past, the fates of these three women will converge, changing all of them forever.

Inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime--the WWII organization founded by booksellers, publishers, librarians, and authors to use books as "weapons in the war of ideas"--The Librarian of Burned Books is an unforgettable historical novel, a haunting love story, and a testament to the beauty, power, and goodness of the written word.

A NATIONAL BESTSELLER--for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz!



A BookBub Pick for Best Historical Fiction of Summer 2023



A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London.



All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler's forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving.



With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto.



But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families - and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left - literature.



"Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they are transported...with Madeline Martin's vivid and inspiring characters." --Kelly Rimmer, author of The Warsaw Orphan



"Madeline Martin immerses us in the expertly rendered and fascinating worlds." --Natasha Lester, author of The Riviera House



Don't miss Madeline Martin's next heartwarming historical novel, The Booklover's Library!



Also by Madeline Martin:

 

• The Librarian Spy
• The Last Bookshop in London

A novel about the magical lure of books and summoning the courage to rewrite our stories by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Keeper of Happy Endings and The Last of the Moon Girls.

Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer's affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books' previous owners--an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.

With no trace of how these mysterious books came into the world, Ashlyn is caught up in a decades-old literary mystery, beckoned by two hearts in ruins, whoever they were, wherever they are. Determined to learn the truth behind the doomed lovers' tale, she reads on, following a trail of broken promises and seemingly unforgivable betrayals. The more Ashlyn learns about Hemi and Belle, the nearer she comes to bringing closure to their love story--and to the unfinished chapters of her own life.

"Jess loves her work as a high-profile lawyer in the respectable and austere city of Charleston. But when she finds her husband, Parker, has been cheating on her with his assistant, she retreats, with her thirty year-old daughter Caitlin for support, to her childhood home on Cape Cod, in Chatham. Caitlin has always been bright but directionless, looking for her passion but keeps coming up blank. And Jess needs to regroup with the help of good food and wine, the company of her best friend, Allison, and come up with a plan for the future. Allison's career has hit a low. After twenty years as an editor for the Chatham magazine, circulation is dwindling and though her boss and long-time friend, Jim, does everything to keep her, she has no choice but to take a step back. With a career on hiatus and her main relationship being with Chris, her ex-husband who is still a good friend, Allison is at a pivotal point in life. Her daughter Julia opened her own artisanal jewelry shop a year prior, and she has the kind of day-to-day fulfillment Allison yearns for. When Allison stops into her beloved local bookstore one day and learns that the owner wants to sell, a long-held dream turns into a reality, thanks to Jess. Allison and Jess set a plan in motion and what was once a place that held warm childhood memories is now theirs to run. As the two friends, along with the help of their daughters, reopen the doors of the cherished bookstore and adjacent coffee shop to the community, they also open themselves up to the possibility of romance, the bonds of mothers and daughters, and the magic of second chances"--

"A wonderful, heartwarming read." -- Ruth Hogan, author of Keeper of Lost Things

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett comes a heartwarming story of found family, love, and making connections through books set against the bombing of London during WWII.

London, 1938: The bookstore just doesn't feel the same to Gertie Bingham ever since the death of her beloved husband Harry. Bingham Books was a dream they shared together, and without Harry, Gertie wonders if it's time to take her faithful old lab, Hemingway, and retire to the seaside. But fate has other plans for Gertie.

In Germany, Hitler is on the rise, and Jewish families are making the heart-wrenching decision to send their children away from the growing turmoil. After a nudge from her dear friend Charles, Gertie decides to take in one of these refugees, a headstrong teenage girl named Hedy. Willful and fearless, Hedy reminds Gertie of herself at the same age, and shows her that she can't give up just yet. With the terrible threat of war on the horizon, the world needs people like Gertie Bingham and her bookshop.

When the Blitz begins and bombs whistle overhead, Gertie and Hedy come up with the idea to start an air raid book club. Together with neighbors and bookstore customers, they hold lively discussions of everything from Winnie the Pooh to Wuthering Heights. After all, a good book can do wonders to bolster people's spirits, even in the most trying times.

But even the best book can only provide a temporary escape, and as the tragic reality of the war hits home, the book club faces unimaginable losses. They will need all the strength of their stories and the bonds they've formed to see them through to brighter days.

**Evie Woods' stunning new novel The Story Collector is available now**

The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets.

'The thing about books,' she said 'is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.'

On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found...

For too long, Opaline, Martha and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.

But when a vanishing bookshop casts its spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking the secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder... where nothing is as it seems.

Readers have fallen in love with The Lost Bookshop:

'Beautifully written and captures the wonder and awe that a story can bring to its reader...a delightful story for any book lover...an ode to storytelling and the connections that books can make!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'Wowwww!! It's been awhile since I read something so fascinating, captivating and special all in one...It takes you on a journey like most books do, but this one, I just want to inscribe on my back and hope that it becomes a part of me so that I can carry it with me always' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A must read for readers that love books' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A beautiful story that begs to be read in one sitting...a magical story filled with beautiful prose and many surprises that readers will not soon forget' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This spellbinding book hooked me from the very beginning and I couldn't put it down til the end' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'A love story, one with books and booklovers at its heart. A warm, wonderful novel that sweeps up the reader into an absorbing, magical tale' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'If you enjoy books by the Brontë sisters ... then I would fully recommend you read this book' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This novel has it all: wit, a dash of magic, and a large heart. A fantastic read'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An instant New York Times bestseller with three starred reviews—now under development as a feature film franchise!

Plummet into a kill-or-be-killed competition where a scrappy underdog hell-bent on revenge must battle colossal monstrosities and claw his way to the top in this fast-paced, breakout sensation from YA fantasy author Marc J Gregson.

Exiled to live as a Low under the merciless rule of the Meritocracy, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But when behemoth sky serpents attack the floating island of Holmstead and devour Conrad’s ailing mother, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle’s clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades.

Freshly recruited into Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, Conrad endures vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal final challenge that pits Conrad’s skyship crew against the very terrors that orphaned him. As Conrad competes in the lowest of stations, he overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known anything existed below the toxic black clouds of the Skylands . . . until now.

Grab your copy of Book One of the Above the Black trilogy and immerse yourself in a richly detailed dystopia, where failing to rise will most certainly mean your fall. Chock-full with epic, edge-of-your-seat battles, nail-biting twists, and bonds of brotherhood, this action-packed series starter is reminiscent of Attack on Titan and will appeal to fans of Red Rising. A captivatingly wild ride to keep you up late at night as you race toward the finish!

A Reactor Most Anticipated Young Adult SFF/H
A Goodreads Most Anticipated Young Adult Book
A Kids’ Indie Next List Selection

An epic survival-thriller about four teens who get lost in the Paris catacombs for days—a gripping and propulsive story of love, danger, betrayal, and hope… even when all seems lost.

"Tense and fast-moving, with a unique setting and compelling characters, Under the Surface is Diana Urban’s best yet."—Karen M. McManus, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying


Ruby is terrified to cave to her feelings for Sean and risk him crushing her heart. 

Sean is pumped to spend a week with Ruby in Paris on their senior class trip, and he’ll wait however long until she’s ready to take things further.

But when Ruby’s best friend sneaks out the first night to meet a mysterious French boy, Ruby goes after her with two classmates, but caves to another temptation: attending mystery boy’s exclusive party in the Paris catacombs, the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city, home to six million long-dead Parisians. Only they never reach the party.

Underground, as something sinister chases them, they get lost in the endless maze of bones, uncovering dark secrets about the catacombs…..and each other. And if they can’t find a way out, they’ll die in the dark beneath the City of Light. 

Aboveground, Sean races to find the girl he loves as a media frenzy over the four missing teens begins.

From award-winning author and rising YA star Diana Urban comes a twisty tale of four teens lost in the dark beneath the City of Light and the race to find them.

An instant bestseller!

She thought she had her life back. She was wrong. A gripping debut thriller perfect for fans of Natalie D. Richards and Vincent Ralph.

It was a mistake to trust him.

Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there--or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos.

He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.

When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it's too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow...and the more danger they both are in.

A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Selection

From Jas Hammonds, the award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes an electric, heart-wrenching novel about a teen whose desperation to fit in leads to a dizzying relationship with alcohol—and a poignant journey of self-discovery. 

"Sensitively wrought and gorgeously written." —Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and I’m the Girl 

It’s the summer before college and Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.

As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .

But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.

A powerful exploration of the lengths we go to feel seen, and the devastating consequences of an unquenchable thirst.

Dash & Lily meets Ferris Bueller's Day Off in Edward Underhill's new whirlwind rom-com about two queer teens who spend one life-changing day together in New York City. 

Abby Akerman believes in the Universe. After all, her Midwest high school marching band is about to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City—if that’s not proof that magical things can happen, what is? New York also happens to be the setting of her favorite romance novel, making it the perfect place for Abby to finally tell her best friend Kat that she’s in love with her (and, um, gay). She’s carefully annotated a copy of the book as a gift for Kat, and she’s counting on the Universe to provide an Epic Scene worthy of her own rom-com.

Leo Brewer, on the other hand, just wants to get through this trip without falling apart. He doesn’t believe the Universe is magical at all, mostly because he’s about to be outed to his very Southern extended family on national TV as the trans boy he really is. He’s not excited for the parade, and he’s even less excited for an entire day of sightseeing with his band.

But the Universe has other ideas. When fate throws Abby and Leo together on the wrong subway train, they soon find themselves lost in the middle of Manhattan. Even worse, Leo accidentally causes Abby to lose her Epic Gift for Kat. So to salvage the day, they come up with a new mission: find a souvenir from every location mentioned in the book for Abby to give Kat instead. But as Leo and Abby traverse the city, from the streets of Chinatown to the halls of Grand Central Station and the top of the Empire State Building, their initial expectations for the trip—and of each other—begin to shift. Maybe, if they let it, this could be the day that changes everything, for both of them.

An unflinching, honest novel in verse about a teenager's journey into the slam poetry scene and the dangerous new relationship that could threaten all her dreams. From the award-winning poet and author of HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY.

Bad girl. No matter how hard Samira tries, she can’t shake her reputation. She’s never gotten the benefit of the doubt—not from her mother or the aunties who watch her like a hawk.

Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet—until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she’s keeping a bigger secret than ever before—one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.

In this gripping coming-of-age novel from the critically acclaimed author Safia Elhillo, a young woman searches to find the balance between honoring her family, her artistry, and her authentic self.

The pulse-pounding thriller from the author of The Black Queen! Two brothers must come together to solve the Mardi Gras murder of the most popular girl in school after one of them is caught fleeing the scene of her death.

Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone. 

Amir never finds out, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of a rich white girl’s murder? All of New Orleans agrees: the case is open-and-shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, things don’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but Marcel knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving his innocence will repair the rift between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

The acclaimed INDIES INTRODUCE and INDIE NEXT debut YA novel about blood and family that is both history and mystery, perfect for fans of Angeline Boulley and Jesmyn Ward.

★ "A gripping and heartbreaking debut." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, renowned scholar of Black literature, who is alarmingly perfect at just about everything.

When Dr. Castine takes a job as the president of the prestigious Stonepost College in rural Virginia, Noni is forced to leave her New England home and, most importantly, a prime internship and her friends. She and her mother move into the “big house” on Tangleroot Plantation.

Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune—who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor—and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past.

Meanwhile, Noni hates everything about her new home, but finds herself morbidly fascinated by the white, slaveholding family who once lived in it. Slowly, she begins to unpeel the layers of sinister history that envelop her Virginia town, her mother’s workplace, her ancestry—and her life story as she knew it. Through it all, she must navigate the ancient prejudices of the citizens in her small town, and ultimately, she finds herself both affirming her mother’s position and her own—but also discovering a secret that changes everything.

★ "[Ahmed] employs high stakes, increasing tensions, romantic near-misses, and adult hypocrisy to powerful effect." -Publisher's Weekly, starred review



From the New York Times bestselling author of Internment comes a timely and gripping social-suspense novel about book banning, activism, and standing up for what you believe. 



After her dad abruptly abandons her family and her mom moves them a million miles from their Chicago home, Noor Khan is forced to start the last quarter of her senior year at a new school, away from everything and everyone she knows and loves.

Reeling from being uprooted and deserted, Noor is certain the key to survival is to keep her head down and make it to graduation.

But things aren't so simple. At school, Noor discovers hundreds of books have been labeled "obscene" or "pornographic" and are being removed from the library in accordance with a new school board policy. Even worse, virtually all the banned books are by queer and BIPOC authors.

Noor can't sit back and do nothing, because that goes against everything she believes in, but challenging the status quo just might put a target on her back. Can she effect change by speaking up? Or will small-town politics--and small-town love--be her downfall?

In this fiercely moving YA romance novel, Leti Rivera's love of street racing is put to the test when tragedy strikes her family and threatens to tear her apart from the boy she's falling for.

Seventeen-year-old Leti Rivera dreams of becoming a famous female street racer. Her brother taught her how to drive so fast that nothing can catch her.

But when Jacob Fleckenstein crashes into her life, Leti starts to think that running isn’t always the answer. Together, inside her car, they both feel like they’re flying, and Jacob’s gentleness and honesty threaten Leti’s vow to keep her heart tight in her fist and her grief locked away.

Yet after tragedy strikes following a race, Leti blames herself and swears an oath, a juramento, to give up driving. But will she be able to keep her promise when racing could be the very thing that saves Jacob . . . and herself? Perfect for fans of Netflix's Atypical and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.

A teen girl and her family return to her mother's childhood home, only to discover that the house's strange beauty may disguise a sinister past, in this contemporary gothic horror from the author of What We Harvest.

A BOOKPAGE AND KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

The house was supposed to be a fresh start. That's what Libby's mom said. And after Libby’s recent bipolar III diagnosis and the tragedy that preceded it, Libby knows she and her family need to find a new normal.

But Libby’s new home turns out to be anything but normal. Scores of bugs haunt its winding halls, towering stained-glass windows feature strange, insectile designs, and the garden teems with impossibly blue roses. And then there are the rumors. The locals, including the mysterious boy next door, tell stories about disappearances tied to the house, stretching back over a century to its first owners. Owners who supposedly hosted legendary masked séances on its grounds.

Libby’s mom refuses to hear anything that could derail their family’s perfect new beginning, but Libby knows better. The house is keeping secrets from her, and something tells her that the key to unlocking them lies in the eerie, bug-shaped masks hidden throughout the property.

We all wear masks—to hide our imperfections, to make us stronger and braver. But if Libby keeps hers on for too long, she might just lose herself—and everyone she loves.

Winner of the Kirkus Prize 
A National Book Award Finalist
A Michael L. Printz Honor Book

"Arguably one of the finest novels of the year."--Booklist (starred review)

A resourceful teenager in rural Vermont struggles to hold on to the family home while his mom recovers from addiction in this striking debut novel.

Ian Gray isn't supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn't happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian's adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends, and his fondness for the outdoors and for fixing things lands him work helping neighbors. But an unforeseen tragedy results in Ian and his dog taking off on the run, trying to evade a future that would mean leaving their house and their land. Even if the community comes together to help him, would Ian and Gather have a home to return to?

Told in a wry, cautious first-person voice that meanders like a dog circling to be sure it's safe to lie down, Kenneth M. Cadow's resonant debut brings an emotional and ultimately hopeful story of one teen's resilience in the face of unthinkable hardships.

* An Instant New York Times Bestseller *

"Jandy Nelson is a true virtuoso . . . I am fervently in love with this brave, funny, tender, exuberant beating heart of a book." —Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Imogen, Obviously

The explosive new novel that brims with love, secrets, and enchantment by Jandy Nelson, Printz Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author of I’ll Give You the Sun
 
The Fall siblings live in hot Northern California wine country, where the sun pours out of the sky, and the devil winds blow so hard they whip the sense right out of your head.
 
Years ago, the Fall kids’ father mysteriously disappeared, cracking the family into pieces. Now Dizzy Fall, age twelve, bakes cakes, sees spirits, and wishes she were a heroine of a romance novel. Miles Fall, seventeen, brainiac, athlete, and dog-whisperer, is a raving beauty, but also lost, and desperate to meet the kind of guy he dreams of. And Wynton Fall, nineteen, who raises the temperature of a room just by entering it, is a virtuoso violinist set on a crash course for fame . . . or self-destruction.
 
Then an enigmatic rainbow-haired girl shows up, tipping the Falls’ world over. She might be an angel. Or a saint. Or an ordinary girl. Somehow, she is vital to each of them. But before anyone can figure out who she is, catastrophe strikes, leaving the Falls more broken than ever. And more desperate to be whole.
 
With road trips, rivalries, family curses, love stories within love stories within love stories, and sorrows and joys passed from generation to generation, this is the intricate, luminous tale of a family’s complicated past and present. And only in telling their stories can they hope to rewrite their futures.

"Splendid and complex . . . Satisfying and soul-thrilling." —SLJ (starred review)
"Transcendently beautiful.” —Nina LaCour, author of We Are Okay
“Jandy Nelson is a rare, explosive talent.” —Tahereh Mafi, author of the Shatter Me series
“Sumptuous . . . Captivating . . . Luscious, start to finish.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“A technicolor fever dream offering readers a sensory feast.” —Kirkus
"A gloriously intricate and expansive YA/adult crossover . . . Stunningly generous." —Just Imagine
“Sublime, intricate, and dazzling.” —Helena Fox, author of How It Feels to Float
"A complex, seductive YA heartbreaker.” —The Guardian
“Intoxicating. [Destined to] firmly lodge itself within many, many hearts.” —The Irish Times
"Magical and moving." —Common Sense Media
"Beautiful.” —Booklist
"Unforgettable." —The Observer
"Profound." —PW (starred review)
 

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

In her powerful debut novel, Looking for Smoke, author K. A. Cobell (Blackfeet) weaves loss, betrayal, and complex characters into a thriller that will illuminate, surprise, and engage readers until the final word. A must-pick for readers who enjoy books by Angeline Boulley and Karen McManus!

When local girl Loren includes Mara in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway to honor Loren's missing sister, Mara thinks she'll finally make some friends on the Blackfeet reservation.

Instead, a girl from the Giveaway, Samantha White Tail, is found murdered.

Because the four members of the Giveaway group were the last to see Samantha alive, each becomes a person of interest in the investigation. And all of them--Mara, Loren, Brody, and Eli--have a complicated history with Samantha.

Despite deep mistrust, the four must now take matters into their own hands and clear their names. Even though one of them may be the murderer.

“Powerful, brilliantly plotted, voicey, gripping, beautiful, heart-wrenching, hilarious . . . Read this book.” -Liz Lawson, New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas

William C. Morris Debut Award Winner

When Jo-Lynn Kirby 's former best friend-pretty, nice Maddie Price-comes to her claiming to be in trouble, Jo assumes it's some kind of joke. After all, Jo has been an outcast ever since her nude photos were leaked-and since everyone decided she deserved it. There's no way Maddie would actually come to her for help.

But then Maddie is gone.

Everyone is quick to write off Maddie as a runaway, but Jo can't shake the feeling there's more to the story. To find out the truth, Jo needs to get back in with the people who left her behind-and the only way back in is through Hudson Harper-Moore. An old fling of Jo's with his own reasons for wanting to find Maddie, Hudson hatches a fake dating scheme to get Jo back into their clique. But being back on the inside means Jo must confront everything she'd rather forget: the boys who betrayed her, the whispers that she had it coming, and the secrets that tore her and Maddie apart. As Jo digs deeper into Maddie's disappearance, she's left to wonder who she's really searching for: Maddie, or the girl she used to be.

Not Like Other Girls is a stunning debut that takes a hard look at how we treat young women and their trauma, through the lens of a missing girl and a girl trying to find herself again.

Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature
Longlisted for the National Book Award
Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction Award

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Patron Saints of Nothing comes an emotionally charged, moving novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships.

Watsonville, 1930. Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. As he spends what little money he earns at dance halls and faces increasing violence from white men in town, Francisco wonders if he should’ve never left the Philippines.

Stockton, 1965. Between school days full of prejudice from white students and teachers and night shifts working at his aunt’s restaurant, Emil refuses to follow in the footsteps of his labor organizer father, Francisco. He’s going to make it in this country no matter what or who he has to leave behind.

Denver, 1983. Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. However, when a missed assignment on “ancestral history” sends Chris off the football team and into the library, he discovers a desire to know more about Filipino history―even if his father dismisses his interest as unamerican and unimportant.

Philadelphia, 2020. Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. While tensions are high between his dad and his lolo, Enzo’s daily walks with Lolo Emil have him wondering if maybe he can help bridge their decades-long rift.

Told in multiple perspectives, Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.

Best Books of 2024 lists: NYPL, The Globe and Mail,Quill & Quire * Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2024, Ms. magazine * Kids Indie Next Pick

A powerful coming-of-age graphic novel about how mothers and daughters pass down--and rebel against--standards of size, gender, race, beauty, and worth.

Guangdong, 1954 Sixteen-year-old Mei Laan longs for a future of freedom, and her beauty may be the key to getting it. Can an arranged marriage in Hong Kong be the answer to all her problems?

Hong Kong, 1972 Sixteen-year-old Lydia wants nothing more than to dance and to gain approval from her mother, who is largely absent and sharply critical, especially about the way she looks. Maybe her way to happiness is starting over in Toronto?

Toronto, 2000 Sixteen-year-old Roz is grappling with who she wants to be in the world. The only thing she is certain of is that if she were thinner, things would be better. How can she start living her life, instead of just photographing it?

When Roz's estranged por por abruptly arrives for a seemingly indefinite visit, three generations are now under one roof. Delicate relationships are suddenly upended, and long-suppressed family secrets begin to surface.

Award-winning creator of Living With Viola Rosena Fung pulls from her own family history in her YA debut to give us an emotional and poignant story about how every generation is affected by those that came before, and affect those that come after.

"Moving and emotional." --Victoria Ying, Harvey Award-winning author of Hungry Ghost

"Crucial." --Deb JJ Lee, creator of In Limbo

"Beautiful." --Fiona Smyth, illustrator of Sex Is a Funny Word

Content Warning: body image, disordered eating.

The instant New York Times bestseller from visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs!
 
Weaving the familiar with the peculiar, this stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, will remind readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are. 

Not a good sign.

In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.

Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.

How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?

Welcome to Sunderworld.

Star-crossed lovers, against-all-odds friendship, and a brutally unforgiving world make this first in a trilogy utterly unforgettable.

We're two songs joined. And there's a word for that. A harmony.

Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself--her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.

Elsa's world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn't know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn't really there--her songlight has been drawn to Elsa's frantic grief.

Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they'll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.

From an award-winning screenwriter making her novel debut comes this powerful, page-turning trilogy perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Adrienne Young.

"An entrancing, emotionally insightful story . . ." --Kirkus Reviews

"A delightfully witchy coming-of-age story." --Kendare Blake, #1 NYT bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns

Death is permanent. Even if it hasn't happened yet.

With just a touch, George experiences a person's future death. High school is hard enough, but sixteen-year-old death witch Georgiana "George" Colburn can't seem to catch a break. Even Jen's ghost, the recently deceased popular girl who ignored George in life, won't leave her alone. George is convinced her life can't get any worse. That is until she bumps into the new student and experiences his death at her hand.

When a coven mate, Trixie, offers to help her with her magic, George finds herself with a new friend and crush, but she knows even if she found the courage to ask her out, a relationship is impossible: she'd never be able to touch her. With the help of her friends, George must face her fears and learn to embrace her powers to unlock the secrets of her magic before blood stains her hands.

For readers who enjoy These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, and Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

Longlisted for the National Book Award

A tender-souled boy reeling from the death of his best friend struggles to fit into a world that wants him to grow up tough and unfeeling in this stunning illustrated middle grade novel in verse “full of vulnerability and hope” (Booklist, starred review) from the Newbery Honor–winning author of Genesis Begins Again.

It’s the last few months of eighth grade, and Isaiah feels lost. He thought his summer was going to be him and his boys Drew and Darius, hanging out, doing wheelies, watching martial arts movies, and breaking tons of Guinness World Records before high school. But now, more and more, Drew seems to be fading from their friendship, and though he won’t admit it, Isaiah knows exactly why. Because Darius is…gone.

A hit and run killed Darius in the midst of a record-breaking long wheelie when Isaiah should have been keeping watch, ready to warn: “CAR!” Now, Drew can barely look at Isaiah. But Isaiah, already quaking with ache and guilt, can’t lose two friends. So, he comes up with a plan to keep Drew and him together­­­—they can spend the summer breaking records, for Darius.

But Drew’s not the same Drew since Darius was killed, and Isaiah being Isaiah isn’t enough for Drew anymore. Not his taste in clothes, his love for rock music, or his aversion to jumping off rooftops. And one day something unspeakable happens to Isaiah that makes him think Drew’s right. If only he could be less sensitive, more tough, less weird, more cool, less him, things would be easier. But how much can Isaiah keep inside until he shatters wide open?

A Coretta Scott King Honor Book
Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award

A thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood by award-winning author and poet Renée Watson.

In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renée Watson writes
about her experience growing up as a young Black girl at the intersections of race, class, and gender.

Using a variety of poetic forms, from haiku to free verse, Watson shares recollections of her childhood in Portland, tender odes to the Black women in her life, and urgent calls for Black girls to step into their power.

Black Girl You Are Atlas encourages young readers to embrace their future with a strong sense of sisterhood and celebration. With full-color art by celebrated fine artist Ekua Holmes throughout, this collection offers guidance and is a gift for anyone who reads it.

An Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature (APALA) Honor Book

An Eisner Award Nominee

From rising star Zachary Sterling comes a humorous and heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel that celebrates food, family, and folklore.

Can two kids save the world and work their family food truck?

First-generation Filipino siblings JJ and Althea struggle to belong at school. JJ wants to fit in with the crowd, while Althea wants to be accepted as she is. To make matters worse, they have to help their parents run the family food truck by dressing up as a dancing pig and passing out samples. Ugh! And their mom is always pointing out lessons from Filipino folklore -- annoying tales they've heard again and again. But when witches, ogres, and other creatures from those same stories threaten their family, JJ and Althea realize that the folklore may be more real that they'd suspected. Can they embrace who they really are and save their family?

Can a guarded gamer girl lower her shield for a new friend… or more-than-friend?

"EARNEST AND LAUGH-OUT-LOUD... PITCH PERFECT."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Thirteen-year-old Ingrid’s been living a double life. At school, she’s her popular friend Rachel’s charity case. Online, she crushes it in her favorite MMORPG, geeks out in her favorite fantasy fandom, and runs a popular social media account. If only real life were that easy.

But when Ingrid finally stands up to Rachel, it suddenly feels like she has no life at all.

Until she gets a super-sweet wrong-number text from a mystery boy at her school. Spending time together gaming as “Stitches” and “Traveler” makes her feel like she’s really connecting with someone. But when she begins to suspect that Traveler may be a popular classmate who is WAY above her in the cool-kid food chain—and whose original text was actually intended for Rachel—she faces a difficult choice. Can they be friends IRL? She wants to open up, but getting close to people has hurt her before. Is making real friends only fantasy after all?

Bye Forever, I Guess is the fresh, funny, and deeply sweet middle-grade debut of New York Times bestselling author Jodi Meadows (MY LADY JANE). Speaking to the messiness of middle-school friendships (and first loves), this is a warm, witty, enormously entertaining book—and a love letter to geek culture, gaming, and the healing power of fantasy.

"HILARIOUS... Charming, funny, and endearing."—Kirkus Reviews

"The most DELIGHTFUL middle-grade romcom I've ever read!"—Ellen Oh, award-winning author of Finding Junie Kim

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year • A Booklist Best Book of the Year • A Bookshop.org Best Book of the Year • An American Booksellers Association Indie Next Selection • A Staff Pick at Parnussas Books, Bookmarks, Belmont Books, Broadway Books, and Many More

What would you do if no one could see you? In this surreal adventure, a boy who is used to being overlooked literally becomes invisible, only to realize there may be far more dangerous threats in his school than bullies.

Sixth grade takes a turn for the weird when Hector Griggs discovers he has the ability to turn invisible. Sure, ever since Hector’s former best friend Blake started bullying him, he’s been feeling like he just wants to disappear…but he never thought he actually would. And then, Hector meets another invisible boy, Orson Wellington, who has an ominous warning: “I’m stuck here. Stuck like this. It’s been years. The gelim’s hunting me and it’ll get you, too.” 

It turns out, there is more than meets the eye at St. Lawrence’s Catholic School for Boys, and if Hector is going to save Orson--and himself—from the terrifying creature preying on students’ loneliness and fear, he’ll need to look deeper. With the help of a mysterious new classmate, Sam, can Hector unravel the mysteries haunting his school, and discover that sometimes it takes disappearing to really be seen?

PURA BELPRÉ HONOR WINNER



BEST OF THE YEAR

New York Times · Kirkus · Booklist · Chicago Public Library



The follow-up to Newbery and Pura Belpré Award-winning The Last Cuentista



For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel - or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don't last long.



13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them - the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations.



When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined -- far from a simple banishent, his consciousness is placed inside an ancient drone and left to fend on its own. But beyond the walls of Pocatel lie other alebrijes like Leandro who seek for a better world -- as well as mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, a hidden oasis, and the truth.



From Donna Barba Higuera, Newbery and Pura Belpré Medal-winning author of The Last Cuentista, comes another novel to astonish us and create a whole new imaginative world, that holds a mirror to our own.



7 STARRED REVIEWS



★ "An instant classic."

--School Library Journal (starred)



★ ""Breathtaking... A ferociously epic and beautiful middle-grade dystopian novel."

--Shelf Awareness (starred)



★ "Combines humanity and technology with imaginative splendor."

--Foreword (starred)



★ "This heartfelt adventure signals hope for humanity, even in the aftermath of darkness."

--Kirkus (starred)



★ "High-stakes adventure... Beautiful, imaginative writing fills this dystopian sf novel. Though it exposes cruelty and corruption, it raises up storytelling, culture, and kindness as stronger yet... A wondrous addition to any collection."

--Booklist (starred)



★ "This stellar speculative narrative explores themes of identity across circumstance, centering an adolescent without structural power working to protect family and community."

--Publishers Weekly (starred)



★ "Higuera brilliantly balances the heaviness of a dystopian future of a ruined Earth with her own blend of science fiction and Mexican folkloric elements once Leandro leaves his human body... Leandro and his unflinching dedication to an uplifting view of humanity that will spark engagement from the first page and linger in the minds of readers well after they finish the novel."

--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred)



"With its social and environmental commentary, this fast-paced and imaginative novel tackles issues of deception and control and leaves one with a sense of wonder that a single flap of a wing or a solitary voice can bring about unimaginable change."

--Horn Book

Four starred reviews!
“The book we all need at the time we all need it.” —Katherine Applegate, Newbery Award–winning author of The One and Only Ivan

In this “tale of intergenerational friendship forged through a shared understanding of loss…told with spellbinding grace” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gayle Forman, a boy assigned to spend his summer volunteering at a senior living facility learns unexpected lessons.

Alex is twelve, and he did something very, very bad. A judge sentences him to spend his summer volunteering at a retirement home where he’s bossed around by an annoying and self-important do-gooder named Maya-Jade. He hasn’t seen his mom in a year, his aunt and uncle don’t want him, and Shady Glen’s geriatric residents seem like zombies to him.

Josey is 107 and ready for his life to be over. He has evaded death many times, having survived ghettos, dragnets, and a concentration camp—all thanks to the heroism of a woman named Olka and his own ability to sew. But now he spends his days in room 206 at Shady Glen, refusing to speak and waiting (and waiting and waiting) to die. Until Alex knocks on Josey’s door…and Josey begins to tell Alex his story.

As Alex comes back again and again to hear more, an unlikely bond grows between them. Soon a new possibility opens up for Alex: Can he rise to the occasion of his life, even if it means confronting the worst thing that he’s ever done?

A gripping new novel in verse by the author of the Printz Honor-winning Starfish, featuring a poverty-stricken boy who bravely rides out all the storms life keeps throwing at him

Joe Oak is used to living on unsteady ground. His mom can’t be depended on as she never stays around long once she gets “the itch,” and now he and his beloved grandmother find themselves without a home. Fortunately, Joe has an outlet in his journals and drawings and takes comfort from the lessons of comic books—superheroes have a lot of “and then, boom” moments, where everything threatens to go bust but somehow they land on their feet. And that seems to happen a lot to Joe too, as in this crisis his friend Nick helps them find a home in his trailer park. But things fall apart again when Joe is suddenly left to fend for himself. He doesn’t tell anyone he’s on his own, as he fears foster care and has hope his mom will come back. But time is running out—bills are piling up, the electricity’s been shut off, and the school year’s about to end, meaning no more free meals. The struggle to feed himself gets intense, and Joe finds himself dumpster diving for meals. He’s never felt so alone—until an emaciated little dog and her two tiny pups cross his path. And fate has even more in store for Joe, because an actual tornado is about to hit home—and just when it seems all is lost, his life turns in a direction that he never could have predicted.

"A beautifully crafted tale of friendship, family, and forgiveness, with characters so vivid and real you can't help but root for them, on and off the court." --Matt Tavares, New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of Hoops: A Graphic Novel 



Competitive basketball takes center court in this fast-paced sports book about two girls finding the truth about themselves--and their families--against the backdrop of middle school and college hoops.



Cincinnati, Ohio, lives and dies by college basketball, with two elite Division I rivals separated by a mere three miles. Rory's dad just secured a new coaching gig at the University of Cincinnati, so it means yet another school and move for her, only this time to her dad's hometown. Rory's life revolves around basketball; she's never had a close friend outside of it. Could this be a chance for a fresh start?



Abby has always lived in Cincinnati, where her dad grew up playing ball and now coaches at Xavier University. But Abby has recently retreated from basketball after a frustrating season that left her confidence in shambles. This year, she finds herself on the outside looking in when it comes to her former teammates, and she could seriously use a new friend. 



The coaches' daughters connect over their shared love of the game when Abby chaperones Rory on her first day of school. But when Abby's dad practically forbids their friendship because of something that happened between him and Rory's dad when they were younger, Abby and Rory have no choice but to move their budding friendship underground.



Can the two of them get to the bottom of what went down between their dads in the 1990s before history repeats itself?



SPORTS BOOKS FOR GIRLS: This book stars two protagonists who love basketball in their own ways and features a spectrum of characters (including a basketball-playing nun!) who engage with the sport individually and distinctly. The breadth of athletes reflects the reality of sports for kids and young teens, making the story appealing to a wide range of readers.



AUTHENTIC & ACCESSIBLE NARRATIVE: Reluctant readers and book lovers alike will find a genuine story that conveys real emotions, family struggles, and insecurities driven by the tension of middle school sports.



FUN BASKETBALL BOOK: Unraveling like a mystery but moving like a he-said, she-said, and traveling through time and generations, this book has the right level of high stakes to keep readers hooked to the end.



ENDURING SPORT LEGACY: As one of the world's most popular sports, basketball is significant to people of all ages and carries a sense of nostalgia across generations. It's played in schools across the globe, on official sports teams and in gym class, and brings members of communities together in parks and recreational centers. This sport's positive influence on overlooked communities and students from economically impacted backgrounds also speaks to the importance of basketball at a social level.



Perfect for:

• Fans of basketball
• Anyone looking for basketball books for teens and tweens
• Parents, teachers, and librarians seeking positive children's friendship books
• Readers of YA sports novels like Pippa Park Raises Her Game by Erin Yun, The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang, and Knockout by K.A. Holt

NEWBERY HONOR WINNER
SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD HONOR WINNER

Spanning over five hundred years, Pura Belpré Award winner Ruth Behar's epic novel tells the stories of four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life.

In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain for being Jewish. They journey by foot and by sea, eventually settling in Istanbul. Over four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish war of independence, Reina’s father disowns her for a small act of disobedience. He ships her away to live with an aunt in Cuba. In 1961, Reina’s daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside. But soon Fidel Castro’s crackdowns force her to flee to Miami, leaving her parents behind. In 2003, Alegra’s daughter, Paloma, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born. A keeper of memories, she’s thrilled to learn more about her heritage on a trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery.

Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by their desire to belong and to matter, and by the haunting beauty they find in sad Spanish songs--and each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of her courageous ancestors.

One storm. One winter. One girl's fight for survival.

A contemporary My Side of the Mountain, Stranded is the story of a wilderness-hungry Black girl from Manhattan whose journey in the Adirondack mountains becomes a nail-biting story of courage, independence, and survival.

"This gripping tale, loaded with suspense and riveting details, is the modern-day answer to Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, a fresh and inclusive take on the classic wilderness survival story." -- Kate Messner, award-winning author of Breakout

Nature-loving Ava yearns to leave the noise of New York City behind for a real adventure in the great outdoors--that's why she's thrilled when her parents allow her to move in with her Auntie Raven in the Adirondack Mountains!

It's a dream come true . . . until Auntie Raven is called away and Ava's stay is cut short. But when wires get crossed, Ava finds herself alone in her aunt's secluded cabin. Winter comes early in the mountains, and one night, a single storm will change everything. With a destroyed cabin, no cell reception, and no neighbors for miles, Ava begins to realize this adventure is more than she ever could have imagined.

Surrounded by mountains blanketed with snow and ice, Ava is completely on her own. It's the ultimate test . . . and her newly-developed survival skills may not be enough for her to last through the winter. Ava might not be able to fight the cold and the storms that come her way, but can she work with nature long enough to survive it?

In the tradition of Nancy Drew, four kids and one grandfather in Miami tackle a decades-old mystery in this first book full of “atmosphere, history, and lively humor” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in the Sherlock Society middle grade series from New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award–winning author James Ponti!

Siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock take their last name as inspiration when choosing a summer job. After all, starting a detective agency has to be better than babysitting (boring), lawn mowing (sweaty), or cleaning out the attic (boring and sweaty). Their friends Lina, an avid bookworm, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer, join the enterprise, and Alex and Zoe’s retired reporter grandfather offers up his sweet aquamarine Cadillac convertible and storage unit full of cold cases.

The group’s first target is the long-lost treasure supposedly hidden near their hometown Miami. Their investigation into the local doings of famed gangster Al Capone leads them to a remote island in the middle of the Everglades where they find alarming evidence hinting at corporate corruption.

Together with Grandpa’s know-how and the kids’ intelligence—plus some really slick gadgets—can the Sherlock Society root out the conspiracy?

From the best-selling author of A Monster Calls, this funny, wise middle-grade series explodes every stereotype--including what it means to be a hero--in a brilliant reptilian take on surviving school.

When Principal Wombat makes monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia hall monitors, Zeke gives up on popularity at his new school. Brought in as part of a district blending program, the monitor lizards were mostly ignored before. Reptiles aren't bullied any more than other students, but they do stick out among zebras, ostriches, and elk. Why would Principal Wombat make them hall monitors? Alicia explains that it's because mammals are afraid of being yelled (hissed) at by reptiles. The principal's just a good general, deploying her resources. Zeke balks, until he gets on the wrong side of Pelicarnassus. More than a bully, the pelican is a famed international supervillain--at least when his mother isn't looking. Maybe the halls are a war zone, and the school needs a hero. Too bad it isn't . . . Zeke. Smart, relatable, and densely illustrated in black and white for graphic appeal, this middle-grade series debut by a revered author returns to his themes of grief, bullying, and negotiating differences--but with zeal and comic relief to spare.

A Newbery Honor book and instant New York Times, USA Today, and indie bestseller!

Award-winning author and artist Chanel Miller tells a fun, funny, and poignant story of friendship and community starring Magnolia Wu, a ten-year-old sock detective bent on returning all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents' NYC laundromat.

Down at the bottom of the tall buildings of New York City, Magnolia Wu sits inside her parents’ laundromat. She has pinned every lost sock from the laundromat onto a bulletin board in hopes that customers will return to retrieve them. But no one seems to have noticed. In fact, barely anyone has noticed Magnolia at all. 

What she doesn’t know is that this is about to be her most exciting summer yet. When Iris, a new friend from California arrives, they set off across the city to solve the mystery of each missing sock, asking questions in subways and delis and plant stores and pizzerias, meeting people and uncovering the unimaginable. 

With each new encounter, Magnolia learns that when you’re bold enough to head into the unknown, things start falling into place.

From the #1 bestselling author of RESTART, the story of a family of liars... and the son who wants to break the family tradition.

Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there's the con, where Trey's dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money's in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run... until they set up somewhere else and start again.

Trey believes his father when he says no one's getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare.

But Trey's starting to get tired of running... and lying... and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?

“A stirring story that will give any reader a boost of bravery in the face of adversity.” —Booklist

A young girl learns of her grandmother and great-aunt’s involvement in the Dutch Resistance during World War II in this “intense story, gorgeously told” (School Library Journal, starred review) of family, history, resilience, and hope from acclaimed author Liz Kessler.

Thirteen-year-old Liv’s beloved ninety-two-year-old grandmother, Bubbe, is moving into a home where she can be cared for as her dementia worsens. As Liv helps her father empty Bubbe’s house, she finds an old chest which opens up a whole world that Liv never knew about: the hidden world of Bubbe’s childhood.

Through the letters and other mementos, Liv learns that her bubbe, given name Mila, had a sister, Hannie, that no one in Liv’s family ever knew about. In 1942, Mila and Hannie are sent away from their parents to a non-Jewish family so they will survive the war. Twelve-year-old Mila believes that they will soon be reunited with their parents and go back to their normal lives, but fourteen-year-old Hannie knows better, and soon gets involved in the Resistance. Hannie takes on more and more dangerous assignments until a betrayal forces her to decide between running away with her sister or fully committing to mission. Tragedy strikes, and Mila goes to England on her own to restart her life from scratch, vowing never to talk about her childhood again.

In the present day, Liv reads how Mila builds something new from the shattered pieces of her childhood while giving beloved Bubbe all the support she can. Both Liv and Mila grapple with loyalty, family, and love as they discover what it means to be brave and go above and beyond to offer someone else a life of dignity, happiness, and freedom.

National Book Award winner Pete Hautman explores a friendship like no other--and the universal truth that dogs make life better, especially for underdogs.

Evan doesn't seem to fit in at school or at home. He goes out of his way to avoid attention. He sits at the back of the bus, keeps his head down in class, and keeps to himself. But when a burr-covered border collie--a survivor with a gut instinct about the Boy--starts following him around and joining him on his runs, Evan's simple duck-and-dodge existence becomes a lot more complicated . . . a lot more like life. Evolving from wary companions to steadfast friends, Evan and the dog run fast and far together, thwart an abusive dog breeder and the school bully, and find the courage to stand up for themselves and to open up to those who matter most. Narrated in alternating viewpoints, this relatable contemporary novel with classic coming-of-age themes has all the hope, pathos, and emotional complexity that mark Pete Hautman's books for middle-grade readers--and is a deeply satisfying read for animal lovers.

Winner of The Schneider Family Book Award 

The beloved author of Wink is back with a hilarious and moving story about coping with anxiety on a day when everything is going wrong

Andrew’s just trying to make it through Picture Day, which is easier said than done when it seems like the whole world is out to get him—from a bully to a science experiment gone wrong to a someone else’s juice snot (don’t ask).

But as Andrew goes through the school day, and as one thing after another goes wrong, that little kernel of worry in his stomach is getting hotter and hotter, until it threatens to pop and turn into a public panic attack, his worst fear. He tries to keep his anxiety at bay, but the news that his grandmother with Alzheimer’s is missing is too much.

Interspersed with humorous spot art and “anxiety file” panels that depict the real, difficult feelings of anxiety and OCD and real tips for coping, this is a poignant, personal, and laugh-out-loud funny story about letting go of control and accepting help—all while trying to get the perfect school picture.

From the best-selling author of the Jumbies series comes a magic-and-mythology-filled novel for 8-12-year-olds that celebrates Afro-Caribbean culture and Black history

Weirdness and wonders abound in this Afro-Caribbean-inspired action-adventure novel about 3 cousins who discover they are mokos--protector spirits--during carnival season in Brooklyn

Twelve-year-old Misty and her mother have just moved from Trinidad to Brooklyn, New York, in time for the annual carnival celebrations over Labor Day weekend. Misty has plenty to deal with getting used to living with her cousins Aiden and Brooke in her new surroundings. On top of that, her mom is too busy trying to find a job and her aunts and uncles are too preoccupied with carnival preparations to pay any attention to her. 

Then really strange things begin to happen. A ball of feathers in the basement turns into a creature that squeaks and rolls around. When Misty and her cousins eat pieces of mango anchar, flames shoot out of their mouths. Most disturbing of all, Misty begins to see visions of the future--scary visions that soon come true.

Misty discovers that she and her cousins come from a long line of mokos, people who have special powers meant to help them protect their community. Misty can see impending danger, Aiden can heal, and Brooke has crazy physical strength. The trio is just learning about their skills when Misty senses something watching her. And then each of the carnival events is disrupted by a different disaster. Some kind of evil force is clearly trying to stop the festivities. But why? And will moko magic be enough to save the day?

A rivalry between sisters culminates in a fencing duel in this funny and emotional debut graphic novel sure to appeal to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale.

Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to middle school. GiGi is the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade (as well as everything else she does). They’ve only got one thing in common: fencing. Oh, and they’re sisters. They never got along super well, but ever since their dad died, it seems like they’re always at each other’s throats.

When GiGi humiliates Lucy in the cafeteria on the first day of school, Lucy snaps and challenges GiGi to a duel with high sisterly stakes. If GiGi wins, Lucy promises to stay out of GiGi’s way; if Lucy wins, GiGi will stop teasing Lucy for good. But after their scene in the cafeteria, both girls are on thin ice with the principal and their mom. Lucy stopped practicing fencing after their fencer dad died and will have to get back to fighting form in secret or she’ll be in big trouble. And GiGi must behave perfectly or risk getting kicked off the fencing team. 

As the clock ticks down to the girls’ fencing bout, the anticipation grows. Their school is divided into GiGi and Lucy factions, complete with t-shirts declaring kids’ allegiances. Both sisters are determined to triumph. But will winning the duel mean fracturing their family even further?

New York Times's 21 Nonfiction Books Coming This Summer Boston Globe's Best Summer 2025 Books

From "one of America's smartest and most charming writers" (NPR), an archaeological romp through the entire history of humankind--and through all five senses--from tropical Polynesian islands to forbidding arctic ice floes, and everywhere in between.

Whether it's the mighty pyramids of Egypt or the majestic temples of Mexico, we have a good idea of what the past looked like. But what about our other senses: The tang of Roman fish sauce and the springy crust of Egyptian sourdough? The boom of medieval cannons and the clash of Viking swords? The frenzied plays of an Aztec ballgame...and the chilling reality that the losers might also lose their lives?

History often neglects the tastes, textures, sounds, and smells that were an intimate part of our ancestors' lives, but a new generation of researchers is resurrecting those hidden details, pioneering an exciting new discipline called experimental archaeology. These are scientists gone rogue: They make human mummies. They investigate the unsolved murders of ancient bog bodies. They carve primitive spears and go hunting, then knap their own obsidian blades to skin the game. They build perilous boats and plunge out onto the open sea--all in the name of experiencing history as it was, with all its dangers, disappointments, and unexpected delights.

Beloved author Sam Kean joins these experimental archaeologists on their adventures across the globe, from the Andes to the South Seas. He fires medieval catapults, tries his hand at ancient surgery and tattooing, builds Roman-style roads--and, in novelistic interludes, spins gripping tales about the lives of our ancestors with vivid imagination and his signature meticulous research.

Lively, offbeat, and filled with stunning revelations about our past, Dinner with King Tut sheds light on days long gone and the intrepid experts resurrecting them today, with startling, lifelike detail and more than a few laughs along the way.

“A story as fascinating as it is undersung . . . a riveting account” (The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice) of the CIA’s secret program to smuggle millions of books through the Iron Curtain during the Cold War

“English’s true tale of the federal government smuggling subversive books through the Iron Curtain sounds like a current-times call to action. . . . The book’s allure is intrigue, danger, and suspense in the service of meaning.”—NPR

For nearly five decades after the Second World War, the Iron Curtain divided Europe, forming the longest and most heavily guarded border on earth. No physical combat would take place along this frontier: the risk of nuclear annihilation was too high for that. Instead, the war was fought psychologically. It was a battle for hearts, minds, and intellects. Few understood this more clearly than George Minden, head of a covert intelligence operation known as the “CIA book program,” which aimed to undermine Soviet censorship and inspire revolt by offering different visions of thought and culture.

From its Manhattan headquarters, Minden’s “book club” secretly sent ten million banned titles into the East. Volumes were smuggled aboard trucks and yachts, dropped from balloons, hidden aboard trains, and stowed in travelers’ luggage. Nowhere were the books welcomed more warmly than in Poland, where they would circulate covertly among circles of like-minded readers, quietly making the case against Soviet communism. Such was the demand for Minden’s texts that dissidents began to reproduce them in the underground. By the late 1980s, illicit literature was so pervasive in Poland that censorship broke down: the Iron Curtain soon followed.

Charlie English narrates this tale of Cold War spycraft, smuggling, and secret printing operations for the first time, highlighting the work of a handful of extraordinary people who fought for intellectual freedom—people like Mirosław Chojecki, who suffered beatings, imprisonment, and exile in pursuit of his clandestine mission. The CIA Book Club is a story about the power of the printed word as a means of resistance and liberation. Books, it shows, can set you free.

“This is nonfiction that reads like fiction – the best kind. Elmhirst’s retelling is a triumph, second only to the seemingly impossible feat of Maurice and Maralyn themselves. You won’t be able to put it down.” – USA Today

“Remarkable… I found myself, alternately, holding my breath as I read at top speed, wandering rooms in search of someone to read aloud to, and placing the book facedown, arrested by quiet statements that left me reeling with their depth.” – The New York Times 

“Such an emotionally vivid portrait of a couple in isolation that I was shocked it wasn’t fiction. How could a writer get so deeply into the minds of two real people in such extraordinary circumstances? … So brilliantly depicted.” – Elle, Best Books of Summer

“A beautiful meditation on endurance, codependence, and the power of love. A dazzling book.” – Patrick Radden Keefe

“An enthralling, engrossing story of survival and the resilience of the human spirit.” —Bill Bryson

The electrifying true story of a young couple shipwrecked at sea: a mind-blowing tale of obsession, survival, and partnership stretched to its limits.

Maurice and Maralyn make an odd couple. He’s a loner, awkward and obsessive; she’s charismatic and ambitious. But they share a horror of wasting their lives. And they dream – as we all dream – of running away from it all. What if they quit their jobs, sold their house, bought a boat, and sailed away?

Most of us begin and end with the daydream. But in June 1972, Maurice and Maralyn set sail. For nearly a year all went well, until deep in the Pacific, a breaching whale knocked a hole in their boat and it sank beneath the waves.

What ensues is a jaw-dropping fight to survive in the wild ocean, with little hope of rescue. Alone together for months in a tiny rubber raft, starving and exhausted, Maurice and Maralyn have to find not only ways to stay alive but ways to get along, as their inner demons emerge and their marriage is put to the greatest of tests. Although they could run away from the world, they can’t run away from themselves.

Taut, propulsive, and dazzling, A Marriage at Sea pairs an adrenaline-fueled high seas adventure with a gutting love story that asks why we love difficult people, and who we become under the most extreme conditions imaginable.

The #tradwife murder mystery we’ve all been waiting for. From the bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance and the creator of the Under the Influence podcast comes an explosive thriller about two estranged friends, a grisly murder, a sudden disappearance, and the truly shocking revelation that everyone is lying to you about something . . .

Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college. After graduation, Bex vanished, leaving Lizzie confused and devastated.

Fifteen years later, Bex is now Rebecca Sommers, a “traditional” Instagram influencer with millions of followers who salivate over her perfect life on her ranch with her five children and handsome husband, Gray. Lizzie is a struggling magazine writer, watching reels while her young children demand her attention.

One night out of the blue, Bex calls Lizzie with a career-making proposition—an exclusive interview with her about her multimillion-dollar business venture and an invitation to MomBomb, the high-profile influencing conference.

At the conference, Bex goes missing and Gray is found brutally murdered on their ranch. Lizzie finds herself plunged into the dark side of the cutthroat world of social media that includes jealousy, sordid affairs, swingers, and backstabbing. She must learn who her old friend has become and who she has double-crossed to try to find her, clear her name, and maybe even save her life.
 
Piazza’s master storytelling and razor-sharp insight into the world of social media brings us a pulpy, juicy, and cleverly plotted read that will have you guessing all the way through and leave you gasping for more.

Named a Best Book of the Summer by People, Oprah Daily, and Today.com 

How do we live so that we are satisfied? How can people connect during moments of loneliness? This is the story of Joan Liang, a woman who moves across the world to America, and in trying to answer these questions builds a wildly original life.

Joan’s life is a series of unexpected events: she never thought she would live in California, nor did she expect her first marriage to implode—especially as quickly and spectacularly as it did. She definitely did not expect to fall in love with an older, wealthy American man and become his fourth wife and mother to his youngest children.

Joan and her children grow older, and one day she makes a drastic change: she opens the Satisfaction Café, a place where customers can find connection through conversation. With humor and grace, Joan creates a space for meaningful relationships and constructs a lasting legacy.

Vivid, comic, and profoundly moving, The Satisfaction Café is a novel about found family, the joy and loneliness that come with age, and how we can seek satisfaction at any stage of life. This is a novel of tremendous pleasures: sentences that teem with rich observations, wonderful plotting, and, in Joan, a protagonist for the ages.

"When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of authors find themselves invited to the last will and testament reading, expecting a piece of his massive fortune for themselves. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the great author's shoes for some time. They enter the manor and wait for their prize. Instead, they are invited to play a game. The rules are simple, solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If you don't, someone dies. Because each of these authors has something to hide, and Mortimer, even from the grave, always delivers the best story. Only this time, his manor will help. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of the family, and the house is still very, very hungry. With the clever, locked-room thrills of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone with the ghostly horror of The Fall of the House of Usher, HOW TO SURVIVE A HORROR STORY is a bright, biting, thrill-ride that begs us to contemplate how the best horror stories come to be"--

AN INDIE NEXT PICK
A LIBRARY READS PICK
Most Anticipated by Goodreads, Fresh Fiction and more!

A lavish, Texas-sized Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding new novel — serving up a fresh take on a classic locked-room whodunnit. Let the festivities begin...

Today is Sophie Matthews’s sixteenth birthday party, an exclusive black-tie bash in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, where secrets are as deep-rooted as the sprawling live oaks. Sophie’s dad has spared no expense, and his renovated cliffside mansion—once thought haunted and shuttered for years from outsiders—is now hosting the event of the season. Then, just before the candles on the three-tiered red velvet cake are blown out, a body falls from the balcony onto the starlit dance floor below.

It’s a killer guest list . . . 

DANI: Sophie’s new stepmother who’s been plagued by self-doubt ever since the birth of her own baby girl

ÓRLAITH: the superstitious Irish nanny who senses a looming danger in this cavernous house

MIKAYLA: the birthday girl’s best friend who is not nearly as meek as the popular kids assume

KIM: the cunning ex-wife who has a grudge she can’t let go of . . . 

Everyone is invited in. Not everyone will get out alive.

"My favorite kind of thriller - fun, twisty, fast-paced, and populated by characters who feel so real you'll want to invite them (well, some of them) to your next party." - New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins

"I couldn't put it down!" - New York Times bestselling author Nina Simon

"Explodes from page one." - Bestselling author Amanda Eyre Ward

"This is the thriller of the summer." - Bestselling author Katie Gutierrez

"Set in Carmel-by-the-Sea and in 1950s Hollywood-in the days of the studio system and McCarthy-era scaremongering about an America "riddled with communists and homosexuals"-Typewriter Beach is the unforgettable story of an unlikely friendship between an Oscar-nominated screenwriter and a young actress hoping to be Alfred Hitchcock's new star. 1957. Isabella Giori is ten months into a standard 7-year studio contract when she auditions with Hitchcock. Just weeks later, she is sequestered by the studio's "fixer" in a charming little Carmel-by-the-Sea cottage for a secret rendezvous. There, she is awoken by the clack and ding of a typewriter at the cottage next door. Lâeon Chazan is annoyed as hell when Iz interrupts his work on yet another screenplay he won't be able to sell, because he's been blacklisted. But soon he's speeding down the fog-shrouded Carmel-San Simeon highway, headed for the isolated cliffs of Big Sur, with her in the passenger seat. 2018. Twenty-six-year-old screenwriter Gemma Chazan, in Carmel to sell her grandfather's cottage, finds a hidden safe with a World War II-era French passport, an old camera with film still in it, two movie scripts, and a writing Oscar that is not in her grandfather's name-raising questions about who the screenwriter known simply as Chazan really was. In its exploration of Hollywood and Carmel-by-the-Sea, Typewriter Beach is a heartwarming tale of long-buried secrets; sisterhood and sexism; the importance of free speech, story, and name; and what it means to be family"--

Loyalties are tested in this slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy following an assassin and a healer forced to work together to cure a fatal disease, all while resisting the urge to kill each other—or, worse, fall in love.

This stunning hardcover features a cover with foil, beautifully designed endpapers, and a black-and-white interior map!

When Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, falls ill, he realizes he needs the expertise of a very specific healer. As fate would have it, that healer belongs to an enemy faction, the Haelan Order.

Aurienne Fairhrim and her fellow Haelan are inundated by sick children suffering from an outbreak of a long-forgotten Pox. Unable to get the funding needed to launch an immunization program, the Haelan Order is desperate for money – so desperate that when Osric breaks into their headquarters to bribe Aurienne to heal him, she is forced to accept.

As Osric and Aurienne work together to solve not only his illness but the mysterious reoccurrence of the Pox, they find themselves ardently denying their attraction which only fuels the tension between them.