Archives de catégorie : Frankfurt 2023 Children’s Books

OUR CURSED LOVE de Julie Abe

A magical 50 First Dates meets Love and Gelato in this enchanted companion novel to The Charmed List, set in Tokyo, about destiny, the impact of the choices we make, and the magic of true love.

OUR CURSED LOVE
by Julie Abe
Wednesday Books, December 2023

Remy Kobata has always wished she was destined to be with her best friend, Cam Yasuda. From growing up neighbors to mixing up magical prank potions together, nothing’s a secret between Remy and Cam—except for how much she is in love with him. Remy is trying to work up the courage to confess her feelings during their senior high school winter break trip to Japan when they stumble upon a secret magical apothecary in the back alleys of Tokyo. Remy and Cam are offered an ancient soulmate elixir, created before all love potions were banned by the magical government. They each have their reasons for wanting to take it, and what could go wrong with finding your soulmate? Except, after they drink up, their trip flips into the worst vacation ever: Cam has forgotten who she is. Cam’s got a feeling that this girl who’s a stranger is important to him—they have thousands of photos together—but he doesn’t have a single memory. If Remy can’t help Cam remember her by midnight on New Year’s Eve, they’ll both be cursed to forget each other. To unravel their past and rewrite the future, Remy and Cam must travel through Tokyo to rediscover Cam’s memories and make new ones—and maybe even fall in love all over again.

Julie Abe is the author of the Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch series and Alliana, Girl of Dragons middle-grade fantasy books. She has lived in Silicon Valley, spent many humid summers in Japan, and currently basks in the sunshine of Southern California with never enough books or tea, where she creates stories about magical adventures.

THE GETAWAY LIST d’Emma Lord

Inescapably romantic and brimming with New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord’s signature cheer, THE GETAWAY LIST is an uplifting and romantic read that will settle into your heart and never leave.

THE GETAWAY LIST
by Emma Lord
Wednesday Books, January 2024

The day of her high school graduation, Riley realizes two things: one, that she has spent the last four years trying so hard to be a Good Kid for her mom that she has no idea who she really is anymore, and two, she has no idea what she wants because of it. The solution? Pack her bags and move to New York for the summer where her childhood best friend Tom and co-creator of The Getaway List—a list of all the adventures they’ve wanted to do together since he moved away—will hopefully help her get in touch with her old adventurous self and pave the road to a new future. Riley isn’t sure what to expect from Tom, who has been distant since his famous mom’s scriptwriting career pulled him away. But when Riley arrives in the city, their reconnection is as effortless as it was when they were young―except with one, unexpected complication that will pull Riley’s feelings in a direction she didn’t know they could take. As she, Tom, and their newfound friends work their way through the delightfully chaotic items on The Getaway List, Riley learns that sometimes the biggest adventure is not one you take, but one you feel in your heart.

Emma Lord is a digital media editor and writer living in New York City, where she spends whatever time she isn’t writing either running or belting show tunes in community theater. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a major in psychology and a minor in how to tilt your computer screen so nobody will notice you updating your fan fiction from the back row. She was raised on glitter, lots of love, and a copious amount of grilled cheese.

TWELFTH KNIGHT d’Alexene Farol Follmuth

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six (under the pen name Olivie Blake) comes a YA romantic comedy and coming of age story about taking up space in the world and learning what it means to let others in.

TWELFTH KNIGHT
by Alexene Farol Follmuth
Tor Teen, June 2024

Viola Reyes is annoyed. Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,” and school running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her—girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself. But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos—Cesario and Duke Orsino—are surprisingly well-matched. As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline.

Alexene Farol Follmuth, also known under the pen name Olivie Blake, is a lover and writer of stories, many of which involve the fantastic, the paranormal, or the supernatural, but not always. More often, her works revolve around the collective experience, what it means to be human (or not), and the endlessly interesting complexities of life and love. Alexene tripped and fell into writing after abandoning her long-premeditated track for Optimum Life Achievement while attending law school, and now focuses primarily on the craft and occasional headache of creating fiction. Alexene lives and works in Los Angeles, where she is generally tolerated by her rescue pit bull. She can be loosely defined as the sort of person who picked up sparring as a means to improve writing fight scenes.

A BITE ABOVE THE REST de Christine Virnig

Welcome to Samhain . . .

A BITE ABOVE THE REST
by Christine Virnig
Aladdin, August 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Imagine moving to a town where every day is like Halloween: where costumes are worn daily, Halloween decorations stay up year-round, and the town hall looks like a vampire’s castle. Sounds pretty amazing, right? Well, not if you’re Caleb Fisher. Caleb thinks Samhain, Wisconsin, is the strangest place he’s ever been—and not strange in a good way. Strange in a creepy something-is-definitely-not-right-around-here way.

Then things become even stranger when a terrifying run-in with the mayor leaves Caleb wondering: Are the citizens of Samhain really just humans playing dress-up as monsters? Or are actual witches and werewolves and blood-sucking vampires hiding in plain sight?

With the help of his best friend, Tai, Caleb sets out to uncover the truth . . . ideally before a werewolf devours them for breakfast, or a witch turns them into earwigs. But if Caleb’s growing suspicions are correct—and he and Tai are the only ones who realize what’s actually going on—can they find a way to save a town that doesn’t want saving?

Christine Virnig makes her kidlit debut with Dung for Dinner. Christine is a pediatric physician specializing in allergies where—in addition to dodging the occasional snot rocket or projectile vomit—she gets to talk about topics that most adults find downright repulsive, like phlegm, snot, and dust mite poo. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, two children, and two hairball producers.

THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS d’Evan Griffith

“NOTHING LASTS.”

THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS
by Evan Griffith
Quill Tree Books, May 2024
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

It’s one of twelve-year-old Holly’s Fundamental Truths of Life. And she has the evidence to back it up: Over the past few years her parents have divorced, her mom has remarried, and her dad has moved her all around the country to live in different places and attend different schools. Through it all, Holly has learned that it’s safer to never get attached to anyplace or anyone.

So when she spends part of her summer with her uncle Vincent in the tiny Vermont town of Arden, she knows better than to get involved. But soon she’s drawn into the drama splitting Arden in two: A local factory is planning to tear down a special grove of rare trees in the heart of town. As a budding forester, Holly knows a thing or two about trees. And she shocks herself by joining the fight to protect the grove— along the way, finding some unexpected allies and maybe even a few friends among the quirky townspeople.

However, not everyone is on Holly’s side. And when she accidentally takes on the most powerful family in town, Holly will have to dig deep to protect the one place she might actually want to put down roots.

Evan Griffith is the author of the middle-grade novel Manatee Summer (a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection) and the picture book biography Secrets of the Sea: The Story of Jeanne Power, Revolutionary Marine Scientist. His books have received multiple starred reviews and been recognized as Bank Street’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, National Science Teachers Association Best Stem Books, and Chicago Public Library’s Best Informational Books for Younger Readers. His forthcoming titles include THE STRANGE WONDERS OF ROOTS and Wild at Heart: The Story of Olaus and Mardy Murie, Defenders of Nature.

Evan studied creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received his MFA in Writing for Children at the Vermont College of Fine Arts where he now serves as faculty. He worked for several years as an editor at Workman Publishing in New York City, where he specialized in non-fiction for children and adults, and he continues to take on select editorial projects. He often teaches online writing classes and enjoys mentoring writers of all ages.

He lives in Austin, Texas with a mischievous tuxedo cat and several overflowing bookshelves.