CALL OF THE DRAGON de Natasha Bowen

Eragon meets African mythology in a kingdom where dragon gods rule the earth and sky—until the gods are betrayed, and one girl embarks on a journey to save the world from war and ruin. From the New York Times bestselling author of Skin of the Sea.

CALL OF THE DRAGON Book 1
by Natasha Bowen
Random House, February 2026
(via Writers House)

Moremi has only ever known of two dragon gods watching over a prosperous Kingdom of Kwa. It is thanks to the great dragons, after all, that an unspeakable evil is kept at bay. But when someone tries to claim the gods’ power for their own, the process goes dreadfully wrong. The dragons are injured and flee . . . and the world’s darkest shadows are released.

Overnight, Kwa’s ancient tales of monsters become all too real. Yet as death comes for those around her, Moremi suddenly finds herself magically connected to both dragon gods—a feat that should be impossible. However, Moremi is now Kwa’s only hope for restoring the gods to full strength—setting off whispers that she is meant to save the kingdom and rule over them all.

But will Jagun, the mysterious prince, let her anywhere near the gods? And how does her childhood friend, Nox, feel about it all? In any case, if Moremi fails her quest, then she risks the earth caving in and the sky crumbling down. . .

Natasha Bowen is a writer, a teacher, and a mother of three children. She is of Nigerian and Welsh descent and lives in Cambridge, England, where she grew up. Natasha studied English and creative writing at Bath Spa University before moving to East London, where she taught for nearly ten years. Her debut book was inspired by her passion for mermaids and African history. She is obsessed with Japanese and German stationery and spends stupid amounts on notebooks, which she then features on her secret Instagram. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, watched over carefully by Milk and Honey, her cat and dog.

SHERLOCK & YOU d’Andrew Lane

An interactive mystery series for middle grade in the world of Sherlock Holmes, for fans of Murdle.

SHERLOCK & YOU:
The Mystery of the Missing House
by Andrew Lane
Ravensburger Germany, November 2024
(via Randle Editorial & Literary Consultancy)

London, 2024. Something strange, odd, bizarre has happened, and nobody will believe you. Who do you turn to for help? Sherlock Holmes and Verity Watson, that’s who!

Sherlock Holmes is the 12-year-old descendent of the Great Detective, for whom he is named, and has inherited his forebear’s investigative skills. Verity Watson is the 13-year-olddescendent of the Great Detective’s best friend and confidant, Dr. John H. Watson, and has inherited her forebear’s willpower, conscience and ability to put up with Sherlock’s many quirks. Together they make a formidable team, living and working out of an abandoned tube train in a dusty and long forgotten London Underground station near Baker Street. Their clients find them based on recommendations from previous clients and from rumours circulating on social media about the last resort for kids faced with impossible situations.

Sherlock and Verity are helped out by the Baker Street Irregulars – a team of local Academy pupils in blazers and smart trousers who have set up their own internet data-mining and scientific analysis company operating out of their school IT and science suites without their teachers’ knowledge.

With each chapter finished with a fiendish puzzle, the reader can solve the crime through these puzzles along with Sherlock and his friends and become a great detective just like him! This is a new way into the marvellous, mystery-solving world of Sherlock for younger readers, in the vein of Murdle for kids.

Andrew Lane is the best-selling author of over forty books, including eight in the Young Sherlock Holmes middle-grade series (Macmillan Children’s Books) and four in the Agent Without Licence middle-grade series (Piccadilly Books). He has also written and ghostwritten adult novels as well as nonfiction books and audio scripts, and has worked extensively in the expanded licenced universe of BBC TV’s wildly popular series Doctor Who.

BLOOD & BREATH de Qurratulayn

There are three types of devils: the ones you summon for love charms and good luck, the ones you summon for ambitions and impossible dreams… And then there are the true devils, the ones that almost broke the world three hundred years ago. The ones you don’t summon at all.

BLOOD & BREATH
by Qurratulayn
Page Street YA, October 2025
(via KT Literary)

Evan Wilde is a poor working-class girl. She writes contracts on behalf of wealthier folks who want to exchange a bit of their life for minor deals with devils. It’s not until she is bleeding out, the unwilling victim of an outlawed contract sacrifice, that Evan draws a contract for herself: A devil can take the last of her life―all she wants is revenge.

With the help of a devil named Jack, Evan infiltrates the upper class by posing as one of their own to bring them down from the inside.

For the first time, Evan finds friends and maybe even love. And with time she realizes that for all their corruption, the upper class’s magic is what keeps the devils at bay. Can she condemn the world to ruin to satisfy her need for vengeance?

But a contract cannot be broken, except at a devil’s mercy. And Jack has none.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Qurratulayn Muhammad moved down South when she was 11, where she was bitten by the writing bug as well as other, less friendly insects. Qurratulayn lives in Milledgeville, Georgia, and when not writing she enjoys reading, listening to K-pop, and photography. She previously self-published a YA dystopian series under a pen name.

THE SACRED AND THE DIVINE de Kate Christensen & Melissa Henderson

History, romance, and the occult come together in a mesmerizing tale of sisterhood, fate, and the darkness lurking in our world.

THE SACRED AND THE DIVINE
by Kate Christensen & Melissa Henderson
Melissa de la Cruz Studio, October 2025
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Past, Present, Future. What do the cards say? Only the Wolfson sisters know.

The year is 1848, and Daisy, Morrigan, and Avery Wolfson are skilled in the supernatural, particularly tarot readings. Daisy has insights about the future, Morrigan has ties to the past, and Avery has a special connection to the present. Although Massachusetts is known for its hostility to such talents, the village of Redcliffe is eager to use the sisters’ abilities for its own gain.

Then Daisy meets Harvard medical student and occult skeptic Jasper Fitzwilliam, as well as handsome newcomer Nate Winthrop, whose fiery nature might just rival Daisy’s. Caught up in the throes of first love, Daisy grows distracted, which is only further muddled by a mysterious feud between the girls’ mother and their spiritual tutor. 

But when the sisters accidentally unleash a bloodthirsty demon on their sleepy town, the lines between friend and enemy get blurred. Will Daisy, Morrigan, and Avery escape unscathed, or is an unfortunate fate written in the stars?

Kate Christensen has published nine novels, including The Great Man, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, and most recently Welcome Home, Stranger and The Arizona Triangle, as well as two food-centric memoirs, Blue Plate Special and How to Cook a Moose, which won the Maine Literary Award for Memoir. She lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her husband and their two dogs.

Melissa Henderson was born in Boston and spent summers digging for clams in Gloucester and Cape Cod. Her work has appeared in The Los Angeles TimesSports Illustrated‘s The Cauldron, and Brand X. She lives in the Scottish hills with her husband and their two catbeasts.

SALT WATER BLOOD de Manuia Heinrich

Inspired by the impact of France’s nuclear tests on the people of Mā‘ohi Nui, SALT WATER BLOOD is a YA thriller set on an alternate Polynesian island for fans of Angeline Boulley’s Firekeeper’s Daughter and Disney’s Moana.

SALT WATER BLOOD
by Manuia Heinrich
Simon & Schuster, 2026
(via The Friedrich Agency)

Eighteen-year-old Moe hears the sea’s prophetic thoughts. Correction: Moe doesn’t just hear them—the sea makes Moe feel them. This is how Moe learned years ago that her father would drown and her mother would abandon her and her younger brother, Tao. So, when the sea warns that Tao will follow their father’s fate, Moe is determined to secure them a way off the island. All those plans fall a part when Tao’s girlfriend is then found dead and Tao is blamed.

As incriminating evidence piles up, Moe will do all she can to protect the only family she has left, even if it means swallowing her pride and teaming up with her archenemy Temanea. Even if it means relying on the sea and its prophecies—because her dreaded gift might be the only way to stop the killer.

Manuia Heinrich holds a PhD in Pacific Studies and is the co-founder of APIpit and Pacific Islanders in Publishing. She is a We Need Diverse Books mentee, and was selected for the Write Mentor and New Zealand Society of Authors program. She currently lives in Aotearoa/New Zealand.