Archives de catégorie : Frankfurt 2023 Children’s Books

THE MONSTROUS KIND de Lydia Gregovic

Sense and Sensibility meets The Walking Dead.

THE MONSTROUS KIND
by Lydia Gregovic
Delacorte, Summer 2024
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Merrick and Estella Darling are the last residents of Norland House, and the heirs apparent to their family’s Manor seat after the disappearance of their mother leads to their father’s suicide. As the next Manor Lord, one of them will assume the responsibility of ruling over the Darling province of Sussex—and, more importantly, guarding it against the monsters that lurk, unseen, in the fog that edges the province’s borders. History tells that the Phantoms used to be human, until the mist crept into their veins and turned their blood white instead of red. Now, the Manors are all that stand between the creatures and their redblooded prey. Vain and beautiful Merrick just wants to get back to the bustle of New London, where she never wants for an admirer. She sees an advantageous marriage to a Manorborn man from one of the wealthier, more cosmopolitan, Inner Ring provinces as her ticket out of provincial, countryside Sussex. But when her return home to Norland House results in the reveal of a world-altering secret—that her father was himself a Phantom—her future changes in a flash.
Merrick discovers that her father’s condition isn’t the only skeleton in Norland House’s closet. There may be more to their mother’s death than meets the eye—and the deeper Merrick looks, the surer she becomes that whoever killed her isn’t finished quite yet.
THE MONSTROUS KIND is a fantasy retelling of Jane Austen’s classic romance Sense and Sensibility, set in an alternate, Victorian-inspired England. A meditation on sisterhood, privilege, and the strict system of class hierarchy that governed Austen’s novels, it will appeal to fans of Hannah Whitten, Melissa Albert, and Erin A. Craig.

Lydia Gregovic grew up in the suburbs of Texas and along the coastline of Montenegro, where she inherited her love of storytelling from her grandmothers. She now lives in Brooklyn, New York, along with a couple half-dead plants and the complete works of Jane Austen. THE MONSTROUS KIND (prev. titled A Bleeding Like Smoke) is her first novel.

THE GRIMROSE GIRLS SERIES de Laura Pohl

Once Upon a Time meets Pretty Little Liars in this queer, dark academia story about four reimagined fairy tale heroines who must uncover their ancient curses before it’s too late.

THE GRIMROSE GIRLS SERIES
by Laura Pohl
Sourcebooks Fire
(via KT Literary)

Book 1: THE GRIMROSE GIRLS (October 2021)
Four troubled friends, one murdered girl… and a dark fate that may leave them all doomed. After the mysterious death of their best friend, Ella, Yuki, and Rory are the talk of their elite school, Grimrose Académie. The police ruled Ariane’s death as a suicide, but the trio are determined to find out what really happened.
When Nani Eszes arrives as their newest roommate, it sets into motion a series of events that no one could have predicted. As the girls retrace their friend’s final days, they discover a dark secret about Grimrose―Ariane wasn’t the first dead girl.
They soon learn that all the past murders are connected to ancient fairytale curses…and that their own fates are tied to the stories, dooming the girls to brutal and gruesome endings unless they can break the cycle for good.

Book 2: THE WICKED REMAIN (November 2022)
At Grimrose Académie, the fairy-tale deaths continue. And unless the curse is broken, one of the girls could be next. Nani, Yuki, Ella, and Rory have discovered the truth about the curse that’s left a trail of dead bodies at Grimrose. But the four still know nothing of its origins, or how to stop the cycle of doomed fates. And each girl harbors her own secret. One is learning why she was brought to the school. One struggles to keep her new and deadly power under control. One knows exactly how much time she has left. And one, trying to escape her dark destiny, will come even closer to fulfilling it. Can the girls change their own stories and break the curse? Or must one of them die to end it forever?

« Enthralling… Fans of empowering feminist fairy-tale retellings will love this. » ― Kirkus, starred review

Laura Pohl is a Brazilian writer who lives in São Paulo. She likes writing messages in caps lock, quoting Hamilton, and obsessing about Star Wars. When not taking pictures of her dog, she can be found discussing alien conspiracy theories. She is the author of The Last 8 duology.

FLIPPIN’ SKATERS de Teresa Richards

They say it’s best to be yourself. Debatable.

FLIPPIN’ SKATERS
by Teresa Richards
Evernight Teen, June 2023
(via KT Literary)

A coming-of-age novel that explores reinvention and self-acceptance in the wake of online harassment, set against the skater culture of Seattle. Sixteen-year-old cheerleader Aspen lives a runner-up type of life, but the spotlight finally hits her when scandalous pictures of her go viral. Rathen than endure the cruelty of her classmates, Aspen ditches school and straps on some roller skates.

Teresa Richards is an Award-winning and Amazon-bestselling author of Young Adult fiction. She’s a member of SCBWI and the Storymakers Guild, and works part-time as an orthodontic assistant. She lives in Kentucky with her family and divides her time between her own teens, the teens she puts braces on, and the fictional teens that populate her novels.

THE LIBRARY OF CURIOSITIES de Jenny Lundquist

Rowan will  have to fight forces both within and without the library to keep from mosing everything she holds dear.

THE LIBRARY OF CURIOSITIES
by Jenny Lundquist
Holiday House, April 2025
(via KT Literary)

After being expelled from her boarding school, eleven-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald travels to Fitzgerald Manor—a wondrous estate she never knew her family owned—to live with her secretive, estranged grandfather, only to discover that the library he runs is filled not with books, but magical objects called curiosities. Rowan loves everything about the library: its collection of enchanted objects, its quirky patrons, and the whimsical carousel café where she hangs out with her new friends.

When curiosities start disappearing and suspicion falls upon Rowan she sets out to clear her name before her grandfather sends her away again. In the course of her investigations, she discovers her family and their arch-enemy have been engaged in a centuries-long feud to recover a powerful curiosity called the Everheart, a magical object that can spin the user forward in time.

Little does Rowan know, the Everheart is closer to her than she could ever imagine—and that she’ll have to fight forces both within and without the library keep from losing everything she holds dear.

Jenny Lundquist is the author of eight middle-grade and young adult titles including Seeing Cinderella, The Charming Life Of Izzy Malone, The Princess In The Opal Mask, among others. Her adult debut contemporary fantasy novel The Stars Of Somewhere Else recently sold to Tor and is slated to publish in 2026.

 

THE FINAL CURSE OF OPHELIA CRAY de Christine Calella

A fantastical adventure about the bonds of sisterhood set against the ambiguous morality of the high seas.

THE FINAL CURSE OF OPHELIA CRAY
by Christina Calella
PageStreet, March 2024
(via KT Literary)

With an explicitly asexual protagonist in Ophelia and positive fat representation in Betsy, this book also combines the queer inclusion and body diversity that made Our Flag Means Death resonate with so many.

Perfect for fans of lush fantasy like The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, the world-building scope of All the Stars and Teeth, and the curses and the sisterly bonds of House of Salt and Sorrow.

Christine Calella is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program for Creative Writing. Her debut novel is THE FINAL CURSE OF OPHELIA CRAY. She lives in New York City.