Archives de catégorie : Middle Grade

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 LIBRARY OF CURIOSITIES de Jenny Lundquist

11-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald discovers the library her estranged grandfather runs is filled with magical objects—but only one holds the key to her family’s mysterious past.

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

After being expelled from boarding school—again—Rowan isn’t sure what to expect upon arriving at Fitzgerald Manor. But it sure isn’t this.

The estate is opulent. Lush. Grand. Mind-boggling. And at the heart of it all is Cillian Fitzgerald, her enigmatic grandfather, and his pride and joy: the Library of Curiosities.

Now, everyone knows that libraries are the best. But the Library of Curiosities is the best of the best, because its collection contains a vast trove of magical objects from which lucky patrons can borrow to fix their everyday problems. Still stuck on that language arts story assignment? Try writing it on the enchanted typewriter and see if that doesn’t get the words flowing. Hoping to land the lead in the school musical? Check out a wishing sock. (Use high heat to activate.)

It doesn’t take long for Rowan to realize that in this wondrous place, her own problems—her painful want of family, her deep desire for friends—might actually be solved for the first time in her life.

Except.

Except that library curiosities have started going missing, and suspicion is falling squarely on Rowan’s shoulders.

Except that Cillian’s dangerous archenemy, the vengeful and slippery Silverjack, now has Rowan in his sights, too.

Except that there is the ongoing matter of the Everhart curiosity, which hasn’t been seen in years, but if found could help Rowan at last unsnarl her family’s tangled, strange history.

To clear her name, to avoid capture, to locate the Everhart, Rowan will have to fight forces both within and outside of the library that threaten everything she’s only just begun to hold dear.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.

Jenny Lundquist xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.

 

THE HUNDREDTH VOICE de Caitlin Like

Uriel Driscoll was born into a family with an amazing gift…and a terrible curse.

THE HUNDREDTH VOICE
by Caitlin Like
Dark Horse Books, October 2023
(via KT Literary)

Invited to the exclusive Aisling Academy, run by his own mysterious grandfather, Uriel finds the curse is the least of his problems: horrible accidents keep befalling the students, ghosts roam the halls, and Uriel isn’t sure he can sing in the first place! And if Uriel can’t find a way to break his family’s curse, he’ll have to leave his new school, and his new friends, forever…

Pefect for fans of Neil Gaiman, The Phantom of the Opera, ghosts, and fae!

Caitlin Like is a cartoonist from Portland, Oregon. THE HUNDREDTH VOICE is her debut graphic novel.

GLASS: A CINDERELLA TALE de Kathryn Lasky

Newbery Honoree Kathryn Lasky delivers a riveting upper middle grade fairytale from the perspective of the fairy godmother in Cinderella.

GLASS: A CINDERELLA TALE
by Kathryn Lasky
HarperCollins Children’s Books, July 2024

Set in a stunning glass house surrounded by crystalized flower gardens and alluring forests, Bess is a young woman growing into her powers and learning to overcome evil. An enchanting story of magic, family conflict, identity, and rebellion, in a gorgeous and dark world made of glass.

Everyone knows the story of Cinderella, but not many know the one about her fairy godmother, a tale that Glass infuses with a darker edge of magic and mystery that will certainly intrigue young readers as Bess must defeat her family’s dark magic to save the kingdom and herself.

Kathryn Lasky is a New York Times bestselling author of many books, which include her Tangled in Time series; her bestselling series Guardians of Ga’Hoole , which was made into the Warner Bros. movie Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole ; and her picture book Sugaring Time, awarded a Newbery Honor.

THE GOODBYE YEAR d’Emily Gale

THE GOODBYE YEAR explores all the trickiness and confusion of the end of primary school and a new stage of life that looms with all its uncertainties and possibilities.

THE GOODBYE YEAR
by Emily Gale
Text Publishing, September 2022

It’s the start of 2020 and Harper is filled with anticipation about being in the final year of Riverlark Primary. She wants a leadership role, the comfort of her friendship group, and to fly under the radar of Riverlark’s mean-boy.

But one by one things go wrong. When Harper’s best friends are made school captains they are consumed by their roles, while her own role—library captain—is considered second-rate. Then something major throws life off course: her parents take overseas jobs as nurses in a war zone. Harper moves in with Lolly, a grandmother she barely knows—and Lolly’s five pets, vast collection of old trinkets and very different expectations.

And then strange things start to happen: Harper wakes in the night in odd places; an old army badge seems to have a mind of its own; and on a visit to the school library she’s convinced she’s seen a ghost.

Who is haunting her? Can she get through the anxiety of the pandemic without her mum and dad? And will Harper find a way to be happy with her goodbye year?

Emily Gale’s books include The Other Side of Summer and its companion novel I Am Out with Lanterns, the Eliza Boom Diaries, Steal My Sunshine and Girl, Aloud, as well as her recent middlegrade collaboration with friend and fellow author Nova Weetman, Elsewhere Girls, and the upcoming Outlaw Girls.