BETTER THE DEVIL d’Erik J. Brown

Gritty, gripping thriller meets contemporary queer romance in this brand-new YA novel filled with first love, stolen identity and murder, from the award-winning and bestselling author of All That’s Left in the World.

BETTER THE DEVIL
by Erik J. Brown
Storytide/HarperCollins, Summer 2026
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

After being arrested for shoplifting, a homeless teen is afraid the police will send him home to his abusive family, so he assumes the identity of Nate Beaumont—a child who, according to the missing poster on the police station wall, went missing ten years ago. It doesn’t hurt that he looks a lot like the age-progressed picture of Nate. He plans to escape before the police can discover his lie, but when Nate’s family comes to collect him, he unexpectedly starts to bond with them. 

The Beaumonts are nothing like his real family. There’s Nate’s loving, but intensely protective mother, his reserved and imposing father, an older brother wracked with guilt, and a quirky, card shark grandmother. When he looks further into the disappearance, « Nate » learns that the boy he’s pretending to be didn’t just go missing—rumor is, he was murdered. As strange occurrences begin to unfold around the Beaumont home, Nate realizes he’s trapped in a dangerous game with an unknown killer. One who knows he isn’t the real Nate Beaumont.

Nate has three choices: run, confess, or find out who the real killer is…before history repeats itself.

Erik J. Brown is an award-winning writer based in Philadelphia, PA. His debut Young Adult novel, All That’s Left in the World, was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award, shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and won the UK reader’s choice Books Are My Bag award. In 2021 he was selected as a Lambda Literary Emerging Writers Fellow. His second novel for young adults, Lose You to Find Me, came out in May 2023, and the sequel to All That’s Left in the World, titled The Only Light Left Burning, comes out May 2024. You can find him on Twitter @WriterikJB, and Instagram @ErikJB, and on his website, https://www.erikjbrown.com.

Série THE CREATURE CASES (Sony Pictures)

Discover the animated series Creature Cases, from Sony Pictures Television, currently streaming on Netflix and Nickelodeon, which follows the adventures of Sam Snow and Kit Casey, agents of a tech-savvy super-spy group that travels the world solving mind-boggling mysteries that mix real zoological facts with thrilling detective action.

THE CREATURE CASES
HarperCollins

THE CREATURE CASES: MEET THE AGENTS (I Can Read Level 1 – Early Reader)
Pub. October 2025

Ready to meet the team? Join Kit Casey and Sam Snow, two top agents from the Covert League of Animal Detective Experts, as they introduce you to the world of CLADE!

A hit Netflix show, The Creature Cases follows animal agents Kit Casey and Sam Snow as they solve mysteries in the animal kingdom using their top-secret spyware and sleuthing skills. 

This book is a Level One I Can Read, perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. Whether shared at home or in a classroom, the short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts of Level One books support success for children eager to start reading on their own.

CREATURE CASES: WELCOME TO C.L.A.D.E. (Storybook)
Pub. February 2026

In this 24-page storybook, flip through the C.L.A.D.E. handbook and learn the ins-and-outs of becoming an animal detective!

REACH: The first season of this animated show quickly joined Netflix’s overall top ten most watched list and went straight into the Netflix top three kids’ shows in the United States, United Kingdom, France, and other global markets.

IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE de Gideon Sterer & Emily Hughes

A love letter to making friends from unexpected places, IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE is silly, wise, and surprising all at once.

IF YOU MAKE A CALL ON A BANANA PHONE
by Gideon Sterer
illusrtated by Emily Hughes
Clarion Books/HarperCollins, September 2025

If you make a call from a banana phone, who will answer? What will you talk about? Will you share secrets or ask questions? No one knows what will happen, really. This very silly story is full of the joy and wisdom that comes from making new friends from unexpected places.

Go ahead, pick up a banana and make a call. You’ll be glad you did.

This story celebrates the importance of talking to others who may not come from the same place as you but can understand and empathize with you all the same. It’s a celebration of what we have in common, despite differences.

Gideon Sterer is a New York Times bestselling author who grew up in the woods of upstate New York. Not too far away, his parents owned a wildlife discovery center where he would run around after hours and let the animals out. His books include If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone, The Midnight Fair, I Will Read to You, and Treehouse Town.  

Emily Hughes is the award-winning author-illustrator of Wild, The Little Gardener, The Snail,and others. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, Emily Hughes now lives in London.

FROG AND TOAD: TWO TOGETHER d’Arnold Lobel

Frog and Toad’s first board book—perfect for little hands!

FROG AND TOAD: TWO TOGETHER
by Arnold Lobel
HarperCollins, September 2025

One Frog. One Toad. Two friends. Always together.

This sweet homage to Frog and Toad’s famous friendship features iconic illustrations from the original books. This must-have board book for baby showers, first birthdays, friends of all ages, and beyond features a cut-out cover and raised element of the duo for curious fingers to interact with.

The classic Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel have won numerous awards and honors, including a Newbery Honor (Frog and Toad Together), a Caldecott Honor (Frog and Toad Are Friends), ALA Notable Children’s Book, the Horn Book Fanfare Honor List, School Library Journal Best Children’s Book, and Library of Congress Children’s Book (Frog and Toad All Year). The series has also been adapted into a Broadway musical and an Emmy-winning animated series on Apple TV+.

Arnold Lobel (1933–1987) illustrated many wonderful children’s books but is most beloved for his Frog and Toad stories, including the first one, Frog and Toad Are Friends, published in 1970. The books have garnered much acclaim, including a Caldecott Honor for Frog and Toad Are Friends and a Newbery Honor for Frog and Toad Together. These were followed by Frog and Toad All Year and Days with Frog and Toad.

A BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE MURDER de Claire Andrews

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper, this historical murder mystery follows the cunning Irene Adler as she teams up with the mysterious Sherlock Holmes to discover who is murdering Oxford’s elite students in the All Souls class.

A BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE MURDER
by Claire Andrews
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, August 2025
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

Irene Adler is no ordinary young lady. She’s at the top of the ranks in the All Souls cohort, a competitive preparatory class reserved for Oxford’s brightest minds. But her peers and professors don’t know she’s a lady at all. To them, she is Isaac Holland.

Keeping up her disguise gets trickier when All Souls students start dying, one by one. Determined to find out who’s responsible for the deaths, Irene—as Isaac—teams up with fellow classmate and roommate Sherlock Holmes to track down clues. Their mission grows more dangerous by the day as someone tries to frame Isaac for the murders, and Irene’s own father, Dean Moriarty, begins to threaten her seat in school.

Readers will love following these classic and beloved characters through the twists and turns in the dark halls of Oxford, and discovering what secret lies behind the glitz and glamor of the elite.

Claire M. Andrews was raised in both Alaska and Scotland, but currently lives in Vermont. When not writing, she can usually be found outside swimming, skiing, or hiking across the state’s famous green mountains. She is the author of the Daughter of Sparta series and can be found on Instagram and Twitter at @cmandrewslit.