Archives de catégorie : Children’s Books

STEFI AND THE SPANISH PRINCE de Donna Freitas

In Barcelona, the beach is beautiful, the tapas are delicious, and the boys are plentiful.

STEFI AND THE SPANISH PRINCE
by Donna Freitas
Harper Teen, June 2024
(via DeFiore and Company)

Photo: © Allen Murabayashi

Good thing, because Stefi’s nursing a broken heart after a disastrous breakup. Excited to reinvent herself in a magical city where no one knows her, she hopes a summer in Barcelona will do wonders for her love life, her Catalan language skills, and her pastry-making repertoire after she enrolls at Catalunya’s famed culinary institute.

Another thing Barcelona has? A secret prince. The heir in question, Xavi Borges, helps his mother run a popular tapas spot. After Stefi stops at their counter, Xavi can’t get the beautiful American girl off his mind. His life is way too complicated for romance, but doesn’t he deserve to enjoy his final summer of anonymity before assuming his royal duties?

Part bodyguard, part confidante, Santiago is tasked with keeping Xavi out of trouble. Santiago knows Xavi and Stefi’s budding relationship can’t last once Xavi’s real identity becomes public. But soon Santiago is crushing on Xavi’s best friend, Diego, and his focus shifts from royal protection duties to the possibility of enjoying a romance of his own.

With so many sparks flying, a threat to expose Xavi’s royal secret goes unheeded, and when the news blows up, it threatens to burn down all of their lives.

Donna Freitas is the author of several young adult and middle grade novels. She is also the author of the adult novel The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano. She has appeared on NPR, The Today Show, CNN, and many other news media outlets, and she has lectured about her research at over two hundred colleges and universities across the United States.

THE DARK TIMES OF NIMBLE NOTTINGHAM de Ryan James Black

Set during World War II, a twelve-year-old orphan who accidentally unleashes a shadow monster onto the streets of London must team up with unlikely allies to hunt it down.

THE DARK TIMES OF NIMBLE NOTTINGHAM
by Ryan James Black
Nancy Paulsen Books/Penguin, August 2025
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

Surviving on the streets of World War II London alone certainly hasn’t been easy, but Nimble Nottingham has perfected the art of going it alone—and that’s just how he likes it. The only friend he needs is his beloved dog, Winnie. To pass the time between rolling blackouts and bombs falling through the air, Nim spends his days fence-climbing, roof-jumping, and gargoyle-perching…that is when he’s not scrounging for food to stave off the ever-present hunger the war has brought to London.

So when opportunity strikes in the form of a bomb falling onto the notoriously creepy Gravenhurst Manor, Nim knows he has to get inside and find whatever spoils he can get his hands on to sell for food. Get in. Get out. Quick as a flash. At least, that was the plan until Mouse—a member of a local street gang called the Dead End Kids—shows up and invites himself along for the heist.

Inside, Mouse and Nim encounter far more than just crumbling walls and shattered windows. Beneath Gravenhurst Manor lies a secret room and inside that room is a locked safe. Nim, inspired by the Hardy Boys adventures he used to read at Waifs and Strays orphanage, knows that something this protected has to be valuable, and so he cracks the safe and unknowingly unleashes a monster.

A shadow creature is now loose on the streets of London, and it’s up to Nim, Mouse, and a band of unattended children to end its reign of terror.

“The twists and surprises just keep on coming. My kind of book! »—R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps and Fear Street

Ryan James Black is Ryan James Black is a writer from Manitoba, Canada, where he lives with his wife, two children, and a Jumanji’s worth of pets. When not writing or reading, Ryan enjoys travelling, watching scary movies with all the lights on, and exploring the Great Outdoors with his family.

ONE LAST BREATH de Ginny Myers Sain

The New York Times bestselling author of Dark & Shallow Lies  delivers another chilling supernatural thriller filled with murder, romance, and a decades long mystery that haunts a small Florida town.

ONE LAST BREATH
by Ginny Myers Sain
Razorbill/Penguin Random House, March 2024
(viaPark & Fine Literary and Media)

True love never dies. It just stays buried.

Mount Orange, Florida, is famous for two things: Cerulean freshwater springs, perfect for free divers who aren’t afraid of lurking gator, and the gruesome cold case murder of best friends, Bailey and Celeste, twenty years ago.

The spectre of Bailey and Celeste’s murders cast a permanent darkness over sunny Mount Orange. Tru has always lived in that shadow. Sometimes, it seems like she knows the long-dead Bailey, feels the dead girl in her bones. Now she’s supposed to head to FSU in the fall with her boyfriend, but those unsolved murders — and the death of her own sister — invade her every thought. It’s only in the shadowy deep, 100 feet below the surface of Hidden Glen Springs, that she can breathe.

When Rio, a strange girl, rolls into town, hell-bent on figuring out who killed Bailey and Celeste, Tru can’t resist entangling herself in the thrill of solving the decades old mystery any more than she can resist her familiar, aching attraction to Rio.

As the summer heat ignites, so does the spark between Tru and Rio…along with their other-worldy connection to Bailey and Celeste. But when someone begins stalking them, the girls become convinced the killer is back in town. And if they keep digging into the past, Tru and Rio know this time, it could be their blood that makes the springs run red.

Ginny Myers Sain lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and has spent the past twenty years working closely with teens as a director and acting instructor in a program designed for high school students seriously intent on pursuing a career in the professional theatre. Having grown up in deeply rural America, she is interested in telling stories about resilient kids who come of age in remote settings.

A BRIGHT HEART de Kate Chenli

What if you could avenge your own murder? A brilliant young woman gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance inspired by clasic Chinese tropes.

A BRIGHT HEART
by Kate Chenli
Union Square Press, October 2023
(via Context Literary)

Mingshin is murdered by the prince she loved, the man she helped become king. But as she is dying, she prays for time to turn back so she can have a chance to make things right. Her prayer is granted.

When Mingshin wakes up two years earlier, she swears two things: She will do whatever it takes to prevent Ren from becoming king and she will never fall in love. But it isn’t easy to stop a man who is willing to lie, steal, kill, and even give his soul to the most evil form of magic. And it isn’t easy to prevent falling in love with a good man. Even if that man is Ren’s brother, who is also in competition for the throne.

Book 2: A FIERY SPIRIT – June 2025:

Kate Chenli returns to a world of magic and courtly intrigue in this heart-stopping conclusion to A Bright Heart.

Blessed with a second chance at life, Mingshin has defeated Prince Ren and found love in the handsome, Prince Jieh. Though Ren’s plot has been foiled, Mingshin and her friends have not escaped the dangers of this new timeline.

The Night Dragon, Xiangyu, has been revealed as the sorcerer behind the dark machinations at court—and he’s after the Divine Stone.

As dark forces move in to destroy Dazhou, Mingshin must learn to harness the power of the Divine Stone or risk losing those she loves forever.

Kate Chenli has a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, but has always enjoyed creating elaborate worlds and characters more than designing complex software. Besides reading and writing, her passion is world travel (four continents down and counting.)

THE WINGFEATHER SAGA d’Andrew Peterson

Once, in a cottage above the cliffs on the Dark Sea of Darkness, there lived three children and their trusty dog, Nugget.

THE WINGFEATHER SAGA
by Andrew Peterson
WaterBrook/Crown, March 2020

Book 1: ON THE EDGE OF THE DARK SEA OF DARKNESS (March 2020)

Janner Igiby, his brother, Tink, and their disabled sister, Leeli, are gifted children as all children are, loved well by a noble mother and ex-pirate grandfather. But they will need all their gifts and all that they love to survive the evil pursuit of the venomous Fangs of Dang, who have crossed the dark sea to rule the land with malice. The Igibys hold the secret to the lost legend and jewels of good King Wingfeather of the Shining Isle of Anniera.

Full of characters rich in heart, smarts, and courage, ON THE EDGE OF THE DARK SEA OF DARKNESS is a tale children of all ages will cherish, families can read aloud, and readers’ groups are sure to enjoy discussing for its many layers of meaning. Extra features include new interior illustrations from Joe Sutphin, funny footnotes, a map of the fantastical world, inventive appendices, and fanciful line art in the tradition of the original Frank L. Baum Wizard of Oz storybooks.

Book 2: NORTH! OR BE EATEN (March 2020)

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

In order to survive, the Igibys must flee to the safety of the Ice Prairies, where the lizardlike Fangs of Dang cannot follow. First, however, they have to escape the monsters of Glipwood Forest, the thieving Stranders of the East Ben, and the dreaded Fork Factory. But even more dangerous are the jealousies and bitterness that threaten to tear them apart. Janner and his siblings must learn the hard way that the love of a family is more important than anything else.

Book 3: THE MONSTER IN THE HOLLOWS (September 2020)

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby, the Lost Jewels of Anniera, are hiding from Gnag the Nameless in the Green Hollows, one of the few places in the land of Aerwiar not overrun by the Fangs of Dang. But there’s a big problem. Janner’s little brother–heir to the throne of Anniera–has grown a tail. And gray fur. Not to mention two pointed ears and long, dangerous fangs. To the suspicious folk of the Green Hollows, he looks like a monster. But Janner knows better. His brother isn’t as scary as he looks. He’s perfectly harmless. Isn’t he?

Book 4: THE WARDEN AND THE WOLF KING (September 2020)

All winter long, people in the Green Hollows have prepared for a final battle with Gnag the Nameless and the Fangs of Dang. Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli are ready and willing to fight alongside the Hollowsfolk. But when the Fangs make the first move and invade Ban Rona, the children are separated.

Janner is alone and lost in the hills; Leeli is fighting the Fangs from the rooftops of the city; and Kalmar, who carries a terrible secret, is on a course for the Deeps of Throg. Monsters and Fangs and villains lie between the children and their only hope of victory in the epic conclusion of THE WINGFEATHER SAGA.

Andrew Peterson is the bestselling author of the Wingfeather Saga, a singer/songwriter, and the founder of The Rabbit Room, which fosters community through story, art, and music. He and his wife, Jamie, live in Nashville.