Archives de catégorie : Children’s Books

STRANGE BLOOMS de Darren Simpson & Keith Robinson

A fully illustrated, darkly gripping tale of a town suddenly invaded by mysterious and deadly plants – Thornhill meets The Owl Service.

STRANGE BLOOMS
by Darren Simpson
illustrated by Keith Robinson
Pushkin Press, September 2026

Fran is an ordinary teenage girl, living in an ordinary seaside town. But one day, something horrifyingly out of the ordinary begins to take root…

They start slowly, almost imperceptibly. But soon the strange, uncanny flowers have infiltrated the whole town. And every young person who smells the intoxicating blooms falls victim to a life-sapping illness. All except one: seemingly ordinary Fran.

Told in a dual timeline, Strange Blooms takes the reader on an exciting journey to discover the truth behind these deadly flowers, and uncover a mystery that rocked the town 40 years earlier.

Darren Simpson writes vivid, unruly fiction for older children and teens. His debut novel, Scavengers, was a Guardian Best Book of the Year and his latest book, Furthermoor, was a Waterstone Book of the Year. He has been nominated twice for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.

Keith Robinson has created jackets for, among other projects, the Waterstones Book of the Year I Am Rebel.

PEARL BEACH de Beth Steiner

A poignant free verse novel about the challenges of growing up and the joy of connecting.

PEARL BEACH
by Beth Steiner
Pushkin Press, May 2026

This summer
I’ll grow up

For as long as Billie can remember, summer has meant one thing: Pearl Beach. The idyllic seaside home belonging to her old Aunt Edith, and the place where she met her best friend, Andy.

But this summer, everything seems to be changing. Andy is more interested in makeup and boys than in Billie, and Aunt Edith has decided to stay with them for the whole summer. Edith is a holocaust survivor, and whenever Billie tries to talk to her, her words seem to crumble under the weight of this knowledge.

But Edith was fourteen once too and knows all too well the pains of growing up. When Billie finds her old diary, she starts to realise just how much they have in common…

Beth Steiner is a debut writer, with a background as a primary school teacher. A passionate slam poet, she skilfully weaves poetry into her narratives, bringing a lyrical quality to her storytelling.

FLIRTING WITH MURDER d’Amanda Sellet

This mystery and romance mashup features a quirky, contemporary setting and unforgettable characters, think The Agathas meets The Thursday Murder Club.

FLIRTING WITH MURDER
by Amanda Sellet
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s, April 2026

Some people visit Florida for theme parks and beaches. High school junior Virginia Tillis is there for murder. Accidents, electrocution, tainted hand lotion: every victim meets a different end at her grandmother Lainey’s rococo pink condo. Such is life (and death) when you roll with a crew of theater retirees who roleplay murder mysteries from the comfort of their own home in a game they fondly call Killing Me Softly.

But this summer, fictional murder has given way to the very real death of the building’s beloved owner and his dramatic last testament has the vultures circling, from estranged relatives to sleazy property developers, dead set on getting the most from his will.

Adding to the tension for Virginia is the appearance of Felix, the cute guy she met at the airport who turns out to be the grandson of one of the condo’s residents. With his charm and musical theater chops, he’s the person Virginia most wants to beat at Killing Me Softly. That is, until the day they discover an actual dead body while playing the game, forcing them to work together to figure out whodunit.

In this comedic mystery about finding the Watson to your Holmes, Virginia and Felix must banter their way from rivals to co-detectives in time to save their eccentric grandparents from a shocking disruption to the community they’ve always loved.

AMANDA SELLET is a former journalist and the author of rom-coms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter.

THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS édité par Hanna Alkaf

A sweeping and magical story collection showcasing the mythical creatures of Southeast Asia, including work by two-time Newbery medalist Erin Entrada Kelly and National Book Award finalist Shing Yin Khor.

THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS:
Tales of Southeast Asia’s Mythical Creatures
edited by Hanna Alkaf
Amulet Books, October 2025

A turtle the size of an island. A cricket that can possess you if swallowed. A giant who turns enemies to stone. The legends of Southeast Asia—or “the lands below the winds,” as explorers used to call it—are populated with a whole menagerie of colorful beasts that inspire awe and fear in equal measure. Yet, passed on as they are through story and song, so many of these stories remain rooted in some long-forgotten past and bound by the borders of the region, creatures of myth and memory and nothing more. Until now.

Welcome to THE BEASTS BENEATH THE WINDS, a collection of Southeast Asia’s most elusive cryptids by a team of bestselling and award-winning authors. Within these gorgeously illustrated pages, readers will find the stories of seventeen regular kids who encounter these mythical creatures in the here and now, and—fortunately or unfortunately—live to tell the tale.

Contributors include Hanna Alkaf (The Weight of Our Sky, Queen of the Tiles), Nadia Mikail (The Cats We Meet Along The Way), Brandon Hoang (Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend), Mandy Moe Pwint Tu (Monsoon Daughter), Moniza Hossain (Being Ace), V.T. Bidania (Astrid & Apollo and the Happy New Year), Emma Goddard, Dow Phumiruk (One Girl, Maya Lin), Erin Entrada Kelly (Hello Universe, We Dream of Space, The First State of Being), Gail D. Villanueva (My Fate According to Butterfly, Sugar and Spite), Greg van Eekhout (The Boy at the End of the World, COG), Jesse Q. Sutanto (Dial A for Aunties), June CL Tan (Jade Fire Gold), Mae Respicio (The House that Lou Built, Any Day With You), Shing Yin Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po), Van Hoang (Girl Giant & The Monkey King), Veeda Bybee (Courage on Ice, Lily and the Great Quake).

GEORGIE SUMMERS AND THE SCRIBES OF SCATTERPLOT d’Isaac Rudansky

The originally self-published #1 Amazon bestseller, soon to be re-released. In a world where fiction is forbidden and truth is a matter of life and death, one young boy must write a story to save humanity…

GEORGIE SUMMERS AND THE SCRIBES OF SCATTERPLOT
by Isaac Rudansky
Sourcebooks, publication TBD
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

When his father is abducted by a mysterious figure, twelve-year-old Georgie Summers is thrown into the adventure of a lifetime. Georgie’s journey takes him to Scatterplot, a hidden realm where Scribes record human memories to safeguard the truth. But when the evil Flint Eldritch threatens to corrupt those memories and plunge the world into chaos, Georgie must team up with an unlikely group of friends to stop him. As the journey grows increasingly dangerous, Georgie realizes that only he holds the key to defeating Eldritch and saving not just his father . . . but every mind on Earth.

Will Georgie be able to wield the power of the Aetherquill to save his father and protect everyone he loves, or will Eldritch rewrite history itself? In Georgie Summers and the Scribes of Scatterplot, author Isaac Rudansky spins an exhilarating tale of strength, determination, and the power of friendship to lift you from the depths of loneliness and despair.

After earning his master’s in industrial psychology, Isaac Rudansky founded AdVenture Media, an award-winning advertising agency headquartered in New York that has written campaigns for clients like AMC Networks, Asurion, Hearst, Sports Illustrated, Nasdaq, and many others. His online courses, each #1 bestsellers in their categories, have attracted over 300,000 students worldwide. He writes for industry-leading publications and leads workshops at marketing events around the world. GEORGIE SUMMERS AND THE SCRIBES OF SCATTERPLOT is the result of years of narrative-driven ad copywriting, imagination, and a belief that middle-grade books should only do one thing: entertain.