Archives par étiquette : Writers House

LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND SERIES de Christina Soontornvat

From three-time Newbery Honor-winning author Christina Soontornvat comes a compelling and immersive young middle grade fantasy series for readers who love stories about animals, magic, and kids like them embracing their power to change the world!

LEGENDS OF LOTUS ISLAND SERIES
(Books 1 to 4)
by Christina Soontornvat
illustrated by Kevin Hong
Scholastic, 2023 – 2024
(via Writers House)

In Book 1, THE GUARDIAN TEST, young Plum is shocked to discover that she’s been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and how to use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies. All the kids also learn to fight, so they can protect the defenseless if needed.

To her dismay, Plum struggles at school. While her classmates begin to transform into amazing creatures, Plum can’t even seem to magic up a single feather! If she can’t embrace her inner animal form soon, she’ll have to leave school ― and lose the first group of real friends she’s ever known.

Good Housekeeping 2023 Kids’ Book Award

“Deftly combines a Thai-inspired setting, familiar fantasy tropes, and themes of nature conservation to craft a mystical series kickoff.” —Publishers Weekly

“A promising beginning to a series ready to introduce readers to both the fantasy genre and a beautiful and mysterious new world. . . Themes of friendship and environmentalism combine in this magical school story.” —Kirkus

Christina Soontornvat is the award-winning author of over twenty books for children. She has received the Newbery Honor award three separate times, for The Last Mapmaker, A Wish in the Dark, and All Thirteen, and she is the only author to be awarded Newbery Honors for both fiction and nonfiction in the same year.

WANDER LOST de Laura Martin

From the critically acclaimed author of Float and Glitch comes a new stand-alone adventure full of humor and heart, perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Dan Gutman!

WANDER LOST
by Laura Martin
HarperCollins, June 2024
(via Writers House)

Rhett and his brother, Nash, have never been allowed to play board games. It’s their mom’s most important rule; the twins don’t know why, but they know not to push her on it. When their mom suddenly disappears, they’re reunited with Ace, their long-lost grandfather, who reveals that their family is descended from a board game character who escaped his game and lived in the real world. Their family now has the ability to enter the world of any game they want—but this gift also comes with a price. A game character who’s wanted revenge against their mom for decades has finally caught her and is holding her hostage in the world of a game. Which game? That’s up to Rhett and Nash to figure out, even if it means breaking Mom’s most important rule.

But as they learn to use their newly discovered ability, exploring new worlds and facing new challenges and risks, the brothers quickly realize that saving Mom won’t be all fun and games. It’s game on. . . or game over.

Laura Martin is a mom by day and a middle grade author by night, although in her heart she will always be a seventh-grade language arts teacher. She lives in the Indianapolis area with her family.

THE INCORRUPTIBLES de Lauren Magaziner

A dash of The School for Good and Evil, a pinch of Lockwood & Co., and a whole heap of queer joy make up this brand-new grounded middle-grade science fantasy series from internationally bestselling author, Lauren Magaziner!

THE INCORRUPTIBLES
by Lauren Magaziner
Simon & Schuster, 2025 – 2026
(via Writers House)

Fiora Barrowling has lived with her uncle ever since her parents disappeared on what was supposed to be a quick trip, presumably struck down by sorcerers. Fiora hates sorcerers. Only the worst kind of person would take a Dark Deal and sell their soul for a hint of power. But when an important client comes to collect a special cloak, Fiora learns exactly why her tailor uncle has gotten so secretive about his business over the past few years. Rather than crafting garments for the resistance, he’s been serving their sorcerer overlords instead. And when the sorcerer-client offers a Dark Deal and apprenticeship to Fiora, she refuses. But these are not people who take no for an answer.

A scuffle ensues and the stranger who comes to their aid informs Fiora and her uncle they’ve tangled with the Radiance, the worst of the worst sorcerers, and they’ll need to evacuate. But now that Fiora knows the resistance is real, she can’t go back to being just a girl, she wants to be an Inc.—one of the highly-trained human resistance fighters that have created tech to beat sorcerers at their own game.

But Inc. Academy is already in session and Fiora’s presence at their top-secret location is not welcome. Fiora must prove she deserves her place at the academy on a trial-basis, but when suspicious accidents start to occur on Inc. training missions, all eyes turn to Fiora. Now she must prove that she not only deserves to stay, but that she isn’t the spy selling the Incs out!

A story of the corrupting influence of power and the scrappy human ingenuity it takes to fight for good—however messy and hard that may be.

Lauren Magaziner is the author of the internationally bestselling Case Closed series and The Mythics series, illustrated by Mirelle Ortega. She has also authored three stand-alone books: The Only Thing Worse Than Witches, Pilfer Academy, and Wizardmatch.

WESTFALLEN d’Ann Brashares et Ben Brashares

A mind-bending, time-warp, action-packed new middle-grade trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares! Six well-meaning kids change the course of history in the worst possible way, in a thrilling new story that asks what life would be like today had Germany won World War II. Welcome to WESTFALLEN!

WESTFALLEN
by Ann Brashares and Ben Brashares
Simon & Schuster, September 2024
(via Writers House)

Henry, Frances, and Lukas are neighbours, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school Frances became too cool, Lukas got into baseball, and Henry just felt left behind. When a dead gerbil brings them together again for a pet funeral, the three ex-friends make a mind-blowing discovery: a radio, buried in Henry’s backyard, that allows them to talk to another group of kids in the same town . . . in the same backyard . . . eighty years in the past.

The kids in 1944 want to know about the future: are there jetpacks? Laser guns? Is there teleportation? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the world war their dad and brothers are fighting in. Henry is cautious—he’s seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time—but figures there’s no harm in telling them a little bit. And, at first, nothing changes—well, nothing big, anyway.

Until one conversation between the new friends changes history in the biggest way possible. And now it’s up to Henry, Frances, and Lukas to change it back.

Ann Brashares is the author of the global phenomenon Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, as well as several other novels. Before becoming a writer, she was a student of philosophy, a receptionist, an editor, a ghostwriter, and, briefly, the copresident of a small media company.

Ben Brashares is the author of Being Edie Is Hard Today and The Great Whipplethorp Bug Collection. He holds an MFA in creative writing and has worked at and written for several magazines, including Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and Entertainment Weekly.

RIVER OF SPIRITS de Shana Targosz

In her beautifully written and fiercely imaginative middle-grade novel, debut author Shana Targosz delivers an utterly original take on Greek mythology that’s a tale of friendship, sacrifice, and an incredibly nuanced portrayal of grief for a younger audience.

RIVER OF SPIRITS
(THE UNDERWILD, Book 1)
by Shana Targosz
Simon & Schuster, Spring 2025
(via Writers House)

Senka lives between the realm of the Living and the realm of the Dead. As ward to Charon, the Ferryer of the Underworld, Senka assists Charon in ferrying recently departed souls across the river and into their afterlife. Although Charon has mentored her, and messenger-raven and tutor Mortimer has taught Senka a bit about the realm of the Living, there’s so much about the Underworld Charon has been keeping from her. Senka knows Charon forbids her from straying too far from their home (it’s Rule number five in the Rules for Ferryers, after all), and though she doesn’t understand why, she listens—there is nothing she wants more than to prove she can be a model Ferryer.

When a young boy’s soul gets yanked away by the river’s current, and when the boy’s living sister, Poppy, arrives in the Underworld and pleads for Senka’s help to find him, Senka is literally dragged downriver, far from everything she’s ever known. Lost in the Underworld, Senka and Poppy encounter malevolent spirits of lore and eccentric ghosts—and not all are willing to let souls slip through their grasp.

But the Living can’t stay in the realm of the Dead for long, and there are only three days until Poppy’s soul will also become lost to the Underworld. Senka must utilize everything she has learned in order to save Poppy from a fate worse than death. As Poppy and Senka dodge angry demigods, hungry wraiths, tricksy shape-shifters, and terrifying dragon chimera, Senka gets closer and closer to learning the truth of her own past. Soon, Senka won’t just need to save Poppy’s life—she’ll also need to save her own. . .

Shana Targosz is an Oregon Literary Fellow and the recipient of the Edna L. Holmes Fellowship for Young Readers. An alumni of Author Mentor Match (#AMM), she is a former Pitch Wars mentor and current AMM mentor, and has been a guest host on Grace Lin’s #kidlitwomen podcast.