Archives de catégorie : Children’s Books

MARKLESS de C.G. Malburi

“With an interesting magic system and a fresh take on soulmates, this enemies-to-lovers romantasy will enthrall readers.” —Booklist

MARKLESS
by C.G. Malburi
Levine Querido, June 2024
(via Context Literary)

Ruti is Markless. In a society where worth is determined by the mark on your palm and the magic it grants you, this also deems her worthless. Except she’s also a hardened survivor, a protector of the Markless…and the most powerful witch in Somanchi. With a single song, she can pray to the many gods for unimaginable powers.

Dekala’s Mark is strong, a Mark fit for the future queen of Somanchi, but it’s also unstable. She knows the only solution is to be bonded, but she also knows that this would mean relinquishing control over her throne and kingdom. So when she is witness to Ruti’s power, Dekala offers the witch a deal: She can be prosecuted for her crimes…or she can help Dekala ascend to the throne, unbonded.

Dekala is cold and brutal and cares only about getting her way. She is also determined, intelligent, and compassionate. Ruti is torn between wanting her to fail or to emerge victorious. But as the gods are defied, new alliances are forged, and unexpected feelings are unearthed, Ruti realizes the fate of the kingdom––and the survival of the Markless––lies in her unmarked hands.

“Fast-paced and thrilling, this magical fantasy brings the enemies-to-lovers trope to new heights while poignantly examining themes of poverty, discrimination, and sexuality.” —Kirkus

“Malburi crafts an ambitious adventure teeming with surprises and romance” —Publishers Weekly

When C.G. Malburi read her first sapphic love story, she felt recognized in a way that she never had before. Now, she’s determined to fill bookshelves with more sapphic books for teens so they can experience the same. She lives on the East Coast and loves fandom, tropes, and stories in which characters flout destiny to choose each other.

UP IN SMOKE de Nick Brooks

Perfect for fans of Karen McManus and The Hate U Give, this edge-of-your-seat thriller from the author of Promise Boys follows a girl determined to clear her brother’s name and a boy desperate to keep his own out of the line of fire. As the heat turns up in a murder investigation, old feelings reignite between them, but a shocking secret could tear them apart.

UP IN SMOKE
by Nick Brooks
Henry Holt/Macmillan, May 2025
(via Writers House)

Unmask a murderer or take the fall.

After Cooper King is pressured by big brother figure Jason to go on a looting spree during a local march, the unthinkable happens: gunshots ring in the air and someone ends up dead. After Cooper flees, the news shows four teens in ski masks near the scene of the murder—Cooper and his friends. Cooper fears the cops will come knocking at his door, and the pressure only mounts when a suspect is taken into custody: Jason.

Monique, Jason’s sister and Cooper’s longtime crush, is willing to go any length to clear her brother’s name. Even if she needs to go into the belly of the beast and confront the killer herself. When she teams up with Cooper, they fall down the investigation rabbit hole and start to fall for each other. But little does Monique know that within this web of deception, Cooper is shrouding the truth that he was there when the shots went off. If the pair fail to uncover the real murderer, Jason will get locked up for a crime he didn’t commit—and drag Cooper down with him.

Nick Brooks is the critically-acclaimed author of Promise Boys and award-winning filmmaker from Washington, DC. His short film, Hoop Dreamin’, earned him the George Lucas Scholar Award and was a finalist in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Film Fest.

ANOMALIES 53 #1: INTO THE SHADOWS d’Angela Cervantes

Men in Black meets Fablehaven in this exciting, new middle-grade fantasy-adventure about magic, identity, and the worlds we cannot see.

ANOMALIES 53 #1: INTO THE SHADOWS
by Angela Cervantes
HarperCollins Children’s Books, April 2025

Next door to the notorious Area 51 sits Area 53, the underground lab where the government secretly holds what they call “the anomalies.” These are the Earth-born mythical- and magical creatures – fairies, wyverns, manticores, and more – that have been captured and brought in for study. It’s also where eleven-year-old Oliver Robles, the only son of Area 53’s lead researcher, has grown up. He’s lived his whole life safely within these cement-and-steel halls … That is, until the day he accidentally freed seven anomalies. Now it’s up to Oliver and his best (and only) friend Garen Jackson to round-up these magical beings before they can escape back into The Shadows they came from. But along the way, the truths the two kids discover about the world, and themselves, will change everything, forever.

Angela Cervantes is the Mexican American author of several children’s novels, such as 2020 Pura Belpré Honor Book Lety Out Loud. In addition to her original novels, Angela authored the junior novelizations for Disney/Pixar’s animated film Coco and Disney’s animated film Encanto.

DON’T LET ME GO de Kevin Christopher Snipes

They Both Die at the End meets See You Yesterday in this speculative YA romance about two star-crossed boys trapped in a millennium-spanning cycle of reincarnation whose only hope of escape may be a price that neither is willing to pay.

DON’T LET ME GO
by Kevin Christopher Snipes
HarperCollins Children’s Books, May 2025

Out and proud, Riley Iverson knows there’s nothing more cringe than crushing on a straight boy. But from the moment that the handsome, sporty, and painfully heterosexual Jackson Haines walks into his life, Riley can’t help but feel an instant and undeniable connection. Mainly because, as impossible as it seems, Jackson is the spitting image of the boy who’s recently appeared in Riley’s dreams—dreams set in another time and another place where he and Jackson were desperately in love.

At first Riley tries to dismiss the coincidence as a product of his hormone-fueled, overactive imagination, but as his friendship with Jackson deepens into something more, the dreams prove harder to ignore. Especially when Jackson begins having them too. Plunged into increasingly vivid visions of the past, the boys find themselves in various eras scattered throughout history. No matter where or when their dreams take them, though, two things remain constant: Riley and Jackson are always together, and they always die at the end.

As it becomes increasingly difficult to view their dreams as anything but warnings, the boys are forced to consider the possibility that their burgeoning relationship might be propelling them headfirst into their own tragic ending. But is it worth staying apart to save their lives if the price is forsaking a love that has defied not only time and space but even death itself?

Kevin Christopher Snipes is a New York–based writer who was born and raised in Florida. He spent his early career in the theater writing plays, including A Bitter Taste and The Chimes. Later, for Gimlet Media/Spotify, he created the queer fantasy podcast The Two Princes. His children’s poetry and short fiction have been published internationally, and his debut novel, Milo and Marcos at the End of the World, was an official selection of the NEA’s Read Across America program. 

A GIRL WALKS INTO THE FOREST de Madeleine Roux

Midsommar meets The Shadows Between Us in this alluring mash-up of horror and fairy tale from New York Times bestselling author Madeleine Roux, where a girl must embark on a harrowing journey through a deadly forest filled with otherworldly creatures, supernatural forces, and one maniacal villain who will stop at nothing to bring her down.

A GIRL WALKS INTO THE FOREST
by Madeleine Roux
Quill Tree/HarperCollins, June 2025

For as long as she can remember, Valla’s been told her beauty would give her a life most people only dreamed of. So when the mysterious Count Leonid calls on her to be his betrothed, Valla jumps at the chance to leave her small, bleak village. The only thing standing in her way? The journey through the dangerous Gottyar Wood that many don’t survive.

Filled with deadly and cunning creatures, the Gottyar immediately delivers on its reputation with an attack that leaves Valla injured; her face torn to shreds. Barely making it to the castle in one piece, Valla is relieved to finally be safe. But things have changed. Valla’s face is no longer beautiful. And the Count is not happy…Valla thought making it through the Gottyar was a victory, but when she sees what awaits beyond the palace walls, the true battle begins.

In this ruthlessly female-forward narrative that borrows from the best of horror, fairy tales, and folklore, a chewed-up-and-spit-out heroine must lean on the brutality of nature and her biggest fears in order to win back what’s she’s been robbed of: her life.

Madeleine Roux is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Asylum series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide. She is also the author of the House of Furies series and several titles for adults, including Salvaged and Reclaimed. She has made contributions to Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Dungeons & Dragons. Madeleine lives in Seattle, Washington, with her partner and beloved pups.