A lion family navigates their fears of going to the doctor in this adorable, hilariously relatable companion to Lion Needs a Haircut.
LION NEEDS A SHOT
by Hyewon Yum
Abrams Books for Young Readers, May 2022
Little lion Luka is NOT worried about a visit to the doctor. He’s NOT scared of getting a shot. And he’s definitely NOT a little lion anymore. R-O-A-R! His younger sister, Lulu, might be nervous for her first checkup—but no need to worry, big brother is here to set a brave example. Step by step, he walks her through what will happen, offering encouragement and holding her hand. But when it’s his turn, on second thought, maybe he doesn’t need to see Dr. Brown today; he’s feeling perfectly fine, after all…
This witty, tender story follows two siblings sharing a universal experience together, giving each other courage and realizing that a trip to the doctor’s office isn’t so bad.
Hyewon Yum is the author and illustrator of Lion Needs a Haircut; Grandpa Across the Ocean; Last Night, a Fiction Honorable Mention for the Bologna Ragazzi Award and winner of the Golden Kite Award; There Are No Scary Wolves, winner of the Society of illustrators’ Founder’s Award; The Twins’ Blanket, a Junior Library Guild selection; Mom, It’s My First Day of Kindergarten!, which won the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award and was selected as a Kirkus Best Book of the Year; and Saturday is Swimming Day, which earned her a Charlotte Zolotow Honor. Yum lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Hesse lives in a small coastal town, where a coalmine and power station are a part of the scenery, and a part of the ever-growing problem of climate change. His mother is a member of a local environmental group campaigning to close the mine and shut down the power station. It’s a no-brainer, of course, but Hesse is more interested in surfing—and in Fenna, the new exchange student from the Netherlands. But when someone seems to be trying to derail the campaign, and his friends’ families face losing their jobs, Hesse begins to realise that things are complex. Even though he’s reluctant to step into the spotlight, with Fenna’s encouragement he decides it’s time to make a stand. Because some things are too important to leave to everyone else. And even one small, nervous voice can make a difference. When Hesse agrees to speak at a protest meeting he has no idea of the storm he is about to unleash.
At the beginning of the pandemic, lifelong best friends Mac and Shawn experimented with a new animation format: they made a « live » cartoon, done entirely over Zoom. It was a hit and they serialized it weekly, following the (mis)adventures of a cat who is sent to space to stop rats from eating the moon. He teams up with a stowaway robot and the moon queen and the result is something truly hilarious and special. People (from all 7 continents!) connected deeply with it and Mac & Shawn made their own merchandise, with proceeds going to the Book Industry Charitable Foundation. Publication of the first book is set for summer 2022, with volume 2 to follow in Summer 2023.
Seventeen-year-old Poppy Winslow doesn’t know why her family has been running her entire life. Her beautiful, caring, mysterious parents won’t tell Poppy and her younger sister why they won’t disclose their true identities or why they move every few years. Poppy’s family is everything to her, but with each passing year, her curiosity has only grown, and she is beginning to wonder how she can have her own future when staying with her parents means giving up a normal life. When the family lands in San Francisco, Poppy comes across a DNA testing kit at school and seizes the chance to try and find out more about her family’s history. But she may not be ready for the shocking truth of her parents’ real identities or the fallout from her actions as the net tightens around the Winslow family. And now she must ask herself: how much of herself does she owe her family? And is it a betrayal to find her own place in the world?
Everyone likes Hani Kahn—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita Dey. Ishita is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.