This chillingly hilarious illustrated middle-grade series is Goosebumps meets Sideways Stories!
THE TERRIBLES: WELCOME TO STUBTOE ELEMENTARY
by Travis Nichols
Random House, Summer 2022
(via Writers House)
Meet the Terribles! They’re your friendly neighborhood vampires, ghosts, werewolves, and mummies! They go to school, do homework, play hide-and-creep, start a band with an alien from outer space, and bring monsters to life with a bit of lightning. Ya know, the usual stuff. Basically, the Terribles are completely normal kids, just like YOU! Well, sort of. In the first book, we get to know a monstrous class at Stubtoe Elementary as they prepare for the coronation (read: fancy birthday party) of Emma (Emmanatenkhamen XIII). She’s a kid mummy. You’ll also meet Vlad, a vampire who schemes to see the sun, and Griff, a boy who’s shy, not to mention invisible. There’s a kid kaiju, a young (mad) scientist, and a horde more!
Travis Nichols is the author and illustrator of books and comics for kids and post-kids, including Maze Quest, Betty’s Burgled Bakery, Fowl Play, Skedaddle, Masterpiece Sketchbook, Monsters After Hours, and Monstrous Fun. He’s written and illustrated comics for SpongeBob SquarePants, Uglydoll, Nickelodeon Magazine (RIP), and Hello Kitty.
Cooper just wants to spend the summer before 7th grade drawing and having adventures with his best friend, Nacho. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that his dad’s new girlfriend and his mom’s announcement that she’s going to start dating. But when one of his adventures with Nacho goes too far, Cooper’s parents freak out. Either he joins the Boy Rangers, a dorky club that’s all about discipline and rules, or that dream cartooning camp at the end of his summer? Will get erased. At first it’s not so bad―the troop is a disorganized mess. But then a new scoutmaster starts. Mr. Pierce is a gruff ex-Marine who’s never worked with kids before, especially not a ragtag team of misfits like Troop 19. As he tries turning them into a lean, mean, badge-earning machine, Cooper longs for freedom. He doesn’t want to break the rules, but the rules are going to break him!
Zia remembers the exact night the Shadoom arrived. One moment she was laughing with her best friends, and the next a dark room of shadows had crept into her chest. Zia has always loved words, but she can’t find a real one for the fear growing inside her. How can you defeat something if you don’t know its name? After Zia’s mom announces that her grouchy Greek yiayia is moving into their tiny apartment, the Shadoom seems here to stay. Until Zia discovers an old family heirloom: The C. Scuro Dictionary, 13th Edition. This is no ordinary dictionary. Hidden within its magical pages is a mysterious blue eraser shaped like an evil eye. When Zia starts to erase words that remind her of the Shadoom, they disappear one by one from the world around her. She finally has the confidence to befriend Alice, the new girl in sixth grade, and to perform at the Story Jamboree. But things quickly dissolve into chaos, as the words she erases turn out to be more vital than Zia knew.
Odette and Dillie are supposed to be enemies. Their kingdoms have been feuding since before they were born. But when the two princesses meet each other at the lake that separates their castles, it’s clear they were destined to be best friends. Odette—who lives with a curse that magically transforms her into a swan when the sun rises— is happy to find someone who treats her like everyone else. And Dillie has finally met someone who understands her dream of having an adventure instead of sitting on a throne. When they discover that Odette’s curse is the reason for the tension between their families, they decide to follow an ancient legend that could lead them to someone who can set every thing right. As they travel through enchanted lands, meet new allies, and fight terrible foes, Odette and Dillie are put to the ultimate test. But when the time comes, will they choose their deepest wishes or the fragile fate of their world?
Americans of good will on both the left and the right are secretly asking themselves the same question: how has the conversation on race in America gone so crazy? We’re told to read books and listen to music by people of color but that wearing certain clothes is “appropriation.” We hear that being white automatically gives you privilege and that being Black makes you a victim. We want to speak up but fear we’ll be seen as unwoke, or worse, labeled a racist. According to John McWhorter, the problem is that a well-meaning but pernicious form of antiracism has become, not a progressive ideology, but a religion—and one that’s illogical, unreachable, and unintentionally neoracist.