DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON by Bill Cotter

Perfect for interactive story time, Bill Cotter’s books encourage kids to actively engage with the story for a fun-filled reading experience for both kids and parents!

DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON SERIES
by Bill Cotter
Sourcebooks, 2013 – 2025
(via Writers House)

DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON (November 2013)
There’s only one rule in Larry’s book: don’t push the button.
(Seriously, don’t even think about it!)
Even if it does look kind of nice, you must never push the button. Who knows what would happen?
Okay, quick. No one is looking… push the button.
Uh, oh.

Also available, the latest titles in the series:

Bill Cotter is the author and illustrator of the bestselling Don’t Push the Button! series, now with over 2 million copies sold worldwide. He has traveled to visit schools in China, Japan, and the Middle East to share his work with children. When he’s not making books, Bill likes to play video games, write music, and hang out with his cat Button.

JAX FREEMAN AND THE PHANTOM SHRIEK de Kwame Mbalia

What do you get when you combine Kwame Mbalia’s incredible imagination and world-building talent with trains, history, and ghosts? Nothing less than middle grade magic. The award-winning author of the best-selling Tristan Strong trilogy has created a secret world where kids can wield magic by summoning the power of their ancestors.

JAX FREEMAN AND THE PHANTOM SHRIEK
by Kwame Mbalia
Freedom Fire/Disney-Hyperion, October 2024
(via Defiore and Company)

On his twelfth birthday, Jackson « Jax » Freeman arrives at Chicago’s Union Station alone, carrying nothing but the baggage of a scandal back in his hometown. He’s been sent away from home to live with relatives he barely knows. But even worse are the strangers who accost him at the train station, including a food vendor who throws dust in his face and a conductor who tries to steal his skin.

At his new school, Jax is assigned to a special class for « summoners, » even though he has no idea what those are . . . until he accidentally unleashes an angry spirit on school grounds. Soon Jax is embroiled in all kinds of trouble, from the disappearance of a new friend to full-out war between summoning families.

When Jax learns that he isn’t the first Freeman to be blamed for a tragedy he didn’t create, he resolves to clear his own name and that of his great-grandfather, who was a porter back in the 1920’s. By following clues, Jax and his schoolmates unlock the secrets of a powerful Praise House, evade vengeful ghosts, and discover that Jax may just be the most talented summoner of all.

“Jax Freeman is my new best friend. I loved everything about this book—the characters, the humor, the page-turning adventure. I’m glad Kwame Mbalia is such a prolific writer because I will be bugging him for the sequel immediately.”—Rick Riordan, New York Times #1 best-selling author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians

“Funny, fast-paced, and full of heart and adventure. You’ll be laughing and cheering and racing through the pages—and guessing right up to the end.”—Shannon Messenger, New York Times best-selling author of the Keeper of Lost Cities series and Sky Fall series

Kwame Mbalia is a #1 New York Times best-selling author and the publisher of Freedom Fire, an imprint of Disney Hyperion devoted to stories about the Black diaspora by Black creators. His debut middle-grade novel, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, was awarded a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, and it was followed by Tristan Strong Destroys the World and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching.

THE BEST WITCH IN PARIS de Lauren Crozier

The 2023 Text Prize winner is a magical middle-grade adventure featuring an array of enchanting characters, exotic settings, a deliciously sinister antihero and an intriguing mystery to be solved. For fans of The Grandest Bookshop in the World, The Lost Library and the Nevermoor series, this sparkling adventure set in both Paris and Melbourne will captivate young readers.

THE BEST WITCH IN PARIS
by Lauren Crozier
Text Publishing, September 2024

Luna rides a battered old broom that keeps crashing itself into the school pond. She has a witch’s hat and wand and sometimes she’s quite good at magic, but she isn’t completely sure that she’s a real witch. She doesn’t have a familiar for one thing, and she doesn’t know where she came from-only that she was found by three witches who she now calls her aunts. When she swaps her moonstone ring for an Australian boobook owl in the Lost Forest, the mysterious bird seller makes her promise to keep the bird hidden for as long as she can. This is not easy when you live with very inquisitive aunts. And it’s not easy when you find out that the fearsome Madame Valadon, the Best Witch in Paris, is missing her boobook owl and she’s sure that Luna knows something about it.

Could it be that Luna has Madame Valadon’s boobook? Why then did the mysterious bird seller give it to Luna? Why did she say the bird belonged to her? A familiar can only belong to one witch, after all. Luna has lots of questions-the biggest one of all is who she really is.

Fun and funny and full of life, The Best Witch in Paris is a delightful story of courage and self-belief, with colourful characters, fabulous magic and a puzzling mystery at its core.

Lauren Crozier won the 2023 Text Prize for her debut novel THE BEST WITCH IN PARIS. She lives in Sydney with her partner and their two children.

JUST SHY OF ORDINARY d’A. J. Sass

In this heartfelt novel about family, friendship, and identity perfect for fans of The List of Things That Will Not Change and Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, a thirteen-year-old nonbinary kid discovers that life doesn’t always go according to plan—especially when they start public school for the first time.

JUST SHY OF ORDINARY
by A. J. Sass
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, January 2024
(via JABberwocky Literary Agency)

Thirteen-year-old Shai is an expert problem-solver. There’s never been something they couldn’t research and figure out on their own. But there’s one thing Shai hasn’t been able to logic their way through: picking at the hair on their arms.

Ever since their mom lost her job, the two had to move in with family friends, and the world went into pandemic lockdown, Shai’s been unable to control their picking. Now, as the difficult times recede and everyone begins to discover their “new normal,” Shai’s hoping the stress that caused their picking will end, too.

After reading that a routine can reduce anxiety, Shai makes a plan to create a brand new normal for themself that includes going to public school. But when their academic evaluation places them into 9th grade instead of 8th, it sets off a chain of events that veer off the path Shai had prepared for, encouraging Shai to learn how to accept life’s twists and turns, especially when you can’t plan for them.

“Via sensitive depictions of Shai’s skin picking, as well as sincere prose that yields richly developed characters, relationships, and interactions, Sass captures the tension and dread of grappling with a hidden illness during a tumultuous transition. » —Publishers Weekly, STARRED Review

“Shai’s struggles with identity, anxiety, first love, and faith will resonate with middle grade and young adult readers. » —School Library Journal

“Sass writes about intersectionality with plainspoken authenticity and normalizes asking for (and accepting) help from loved ones… An empathetic portrayal of multifaceted identities and the challenges of facing change. » —Booklist

“Shai’s tenderhearted first-person voice will keep readers rooting for them until the book’s final pages. Moving and memorable.” —Kirkus Reviews

“While Sass tackles several heavy subjects in this affecting novel, readers remain hopeful as Shai comes out of each trial a stronger person. » —Horn Book Review

“This is a nuanced, empathetic novel packed with the ups and downs of school and home life.” —Jewish Book Council

A. J. Sass (he/they) is the author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as Camp QUILTBAG (co-written with Nicole Melleby). He grew up in the Midwest and South, spending many of his summers with his family enjoying the beautiful Northwoods lakes and scenery in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his husband and two cats who act like dogs.

THE QUANTUM CURATORS SERIES d’Eva St. John

Anyone can track down a priceless artefact that’s been lost for hundreds of years. Finding one that’s been hidden on a parallel Earth… now that’s a neat trick! Indiana Jones meets the Men in Black and all hell breaks out.

THE QUANTUM CURATORS SERIES
by Eva St. John
Self-published, 2020 – 2023
(via the Zeno Agency)

Embark on an exhilarating journey with the best-selling Quantum Curators Series by Eva St. John. Experience the thrill of interdimensional treasure hunts in five riveting novels, with protagonists Neith Salah and Julius Strathclyde. From unearthing the enigmatic ‘Fabergé Egg’ to decoding cosmic conundrums, every tale is a unique blend of high-stakes adventure and compelling science fiction. But as they step between two Earths, they must also outwit the rogue curators from within, intent on seizing these treasures for dark purposes. The Quantum Curators series is a potent mix of action, intrigue, and quantum mysteries that’s sure to captivate sci-fi enthusiasts.

Book 1: THE QUANTUM CURATORS AND THE FABERGÉ EGG (May 2020)

When Neith Salah – a quantum curator charged with traveling to our parallel Earth to rescue precious artefacts – is ordered to save a priceless Fabergé Egg, she figures it’s just another job. The only problem: she’s not sure what the egg looks like. Or where it is. Or when it is.

Enter Julius Strathclyde, a mild-mannered Cambridge professor whose closest brush with death-defying treasure hunts is finding lost coins down the back of the sofa. Not the usual “save the world” type, but when Julius’ best friend is murdered while searching for the egg, Neith realizes that this mild-mannered professor is the only person who can help her solve the riddles that will lead her to the egg.

She just has to keep him alive long enough to do it.

He’s got the fountain pens. She’s got the guns. They’ll just have to hope that’s enough to keep them ahead of the Russian Mafia, unknown assassins, and perhaps even other quantum curators who want the egg for their own dark purposes… and may not be picky about who they have to kill to get it.

Number one bestselling author Eva St. John invites you to join Neith and Julius on a fast-paced adventure that will take you from Russia and Poland to London and Cambridge, from our world to theirs, and beyond. If you love adventure, humour, and puzzles – with just a pinch of time-traveling thrills mixed in for luck – you’ll love The Quantum Curators and the Fabergé Egg.

Eva St. John was born in Norwich before being whisked away to Ireland and then back to the UK. After realizing that a degree might actually require some form of employment, she jumped into the work of a librarian and fell in love with books. A joy that had begun with her mother’s travelling library. From Wales, Eva moved to Cornwall and opened a bookshop. Always chasing the books, she eventually decided to start writing them. She also writes romance under another name.