Archives de catégorie : Fantasy

ELLA PORTER, TELEPORTER de Dori Hillestad Butler

Bestselling author Dori Hillestad Butler brings teleportation to life in her new middle-grade series.

ELLA PORTER, TELEPORTER
by Dori Butler
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, TBD 2025
(via JABberwocky)

Meet spunky nine-year-old named Ella, who lives with her mother after her father died when she was young. Ella never met a rule she didn’t want to break. Her favorite thing is to do secret acts of random kindness with her best friend, Manny.

One day Ella meets her dad’s uncle Geoff and learns a family secret. Some people on her dad’s side of the family can teleport. Ella has part of the family mark—a dot on one of her pinkie toes. Ella can’t teleport at first, but if she develops the ability, she and her mother are to alert Great Uncle Geoff immediately and he will train her properly at his home.

Great Uncle Geoff lives alone at a lighthouse on a rock in the middle of the ocean. Ella is intrigued by the idea of teleportation, but the last thing she wants to do is go live with a stranger in the middle of nowhere. So when Ella discovers she can indeed teleport, she doesn’t tell anyone other than Manny. She decides she doesn’t need to be trained. She’s doing just fine figuring things out on her own. And by being able to teleport, she and Manny can now do even bigger secret acts of random kindness than they were ever able to before.

But teleportation doesn’t always work the way Ella wants or expects it to. She doesn’t always feel so good after teleporting. She doesn’t always end up exactly where she thinks she will. And sometimes it doesn’t even work. She’s also been almost caught teleporting. More than once.

When Ella is finally caught teleporting by her mother, she must admit the truth about her powers and learn how to use them properly.

Dori Hillestad Butler has published magazine stories, educational materials, plays, book reviews, characters for a board game, and over sixty children’s books. A two-time Geisel Honor Book winner for King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats and King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth, she has also been nominated for children’s choice awards in nineteen different states and won the 2011 Edgar Award for the best juvenile mystery for Buddy Files: Case of the Lost Boy. She lives in Washington.

WHERE SHADOWS BLOOM de Catherine Bakewell

Fans of Allison Saft and Margaret Rogerson will be swept away into this lush and beguiling sapphic romantasy from the bestselling author of Flowerheart.

WHERE SHADOWS BLOOM
by Catherine Bakewell
HarperTeen, February 2025
(via JABberwocky)

Ofelia has lived her life dreaming of entering Le Château Enchanté—the mysterious court of the gods-blessed King Léo, where the shadow monsters that roam Ofelia’s home never trespass.

Lope has lived her life as a knight, defending Ofelia and her home from Shadows even as she dreams of escaping with Ofelia by her side.

When the Shadows venture too close, Lope and Ofelia are thrust into a journey that will lead them to the heart of the darkness haunting their home: the dazzling and deceptive Château Enchanté itself.

A mesmerizing daydream with a subtle edge of darkness that will leave you utterly unable to put it down, WHERE SHADOWS BLOOM pits terrifying monsters, chilling secrets, capricious gods, immortal kings, and death itself against the unstoppable love between two girls.

“A magical blend of romance and whimsy, equal parts devastating and hopeful. With a touching, tender slow-burn romance at its core, Where Shadows Bloom is a lovely and rich confection of a book.”  — Ava Reid, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Study in Drowning

« An uplifting and meaningful tale bursting with floral imagery and cottagecore aesthetics. » — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Catherine Bakewell is a writer, artist, and opera enthusiast. She has lived in Spain and in France, where she romped through gardens, ate pastries, and worked on her novels. She is also the author of We Are the Song and the bestselling Flowerheart, and you can find her at catherinebakewell.com.

SONG OF THE YELLOW DRAGON de Ying Ping Low

Two children search for a legendary dragon’s magic in this enchanting fantasy, perfect for readers ages 9-13.

SONG OF THE YELLOW DRAGON
by Ying Ping Low
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, May 2026
(via Park, Fine & Brower)

There is a secret that every child knows: Magic is real. But by the time children turn thirteen, they forget that magic is anything but make-believe.

Mengyao wants to remember. Born in a village nestled in a secluded vale, Mengyao wants to hold on to magic and become a Divine Healer. But with her thirteenth birthday fast approaching, she is losing hope.

Young emperor Kai is on the run from traitorous advisors. He’s searching for the fabled Dragon’s Pulse, a magic capable of defeating his enemies. On the brink of his thirteenth birthday, Kai doesn’t have much longer. So when he meets Mengyao—the girl whose name is mentioned in his legend—he forces aside his instinctual distrust and recruits her to help him on his quest.

On their perilous journey, Kai and Mengyao find aid in unexpected forms like a jade hare, a moon goddess, and a handful of promises. But as enemies close in and time runs out, secrets that will reshape the fate of their kingdom forever come to light.

Ying Ping Low has published multiple middle grade novels in Singapore. Her novels have won the Singapore Book Award and been shortlisted for the Hedwig Anuar Children’s Book Award and the Popular Readers’ Choice Award. While she has also received acclaim for her poems and short stories, novels are her preferred form of writing. Song of the Yellow Dragon will be her first novel published into the US market. Ying Ping lives in Singapore, where she picked up crocheting just before the pandemic and has never stopped since.

LIAR’S KINGDOM de Christine Calella

Can “happily-ever-after” start with a lie?

LIAR’S KINGDOM
by Christine Calella
Page Street YA, January 2025
(via KT Literary)

Ell DeBrun is the girl of the cinders. The girl who’s spent years slaving away for her cruel stepmother and ungrateful stepsisters, dreaming of rescue. So when Prince Bayard — who seems to have difficulty recognizing faces — shows up at her door with a glass slipper in hand, Ell allows him to believe she is the girl he danced with at the grand ball. There’s just one problem: Ell didn’t attend the ball and she’s never met the prince before in her life. But if it’s a choice between being whisked away to the royal palace and staying trapped with her miserable step-family, Ell is willing to concoct any fairy tale that will grant her an escape.

However, Ell finds that fitting into royal life isn’t as easy as sliding into a glass slipper. Bayard’s sister, the crown princess, has gone missing. The king is preparing for war with the sinister army of fae. And Maxim, Bayard’s treacherous (and unfortunately, terribly handsome) best friend, appears to know Ell’s secrets — and is just waiting for the most advantageous moment to call her bluff. As her lies pile up like unwashed plates, she knows they’re only seconds away from crashing down on her head.

Luckily, Ell is used to a little dirty work. If she wants to keep this life she’s stolen for herself, one with creature comforts and companionship she’s only dreamed of, she’s going to have to roll up her sleeves and rescue herself.

Christine Calella is a graduate of Columbia University’s MFA program for Creative Writing. Her debut YA novel The Final Curse of Ophelia Cray published in April 2024. She lives in New York City.

BEAUTY OF UNWANTED THINGS d’Astrid Scholte

A darkly bewitching, distinctive, romantic fairytale that is perfect for readers of One Dark Window, Uprooted, and For the Wolf.

BEAUTY OF UNWANTED THINGS
by Astrid Scholte
Wednesday Books, Winter 2026
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)

Thoralea Winyard has been a prisoner her entire life, forced to paint dead animals pushed into her cell each day. For twenty years she has not seen outside her tower. For twenty years she has dreamed of taking revenge on her captors and watching the castle burn.

When one of her dead subjects comes back to life, Thoralea is thrust into the sumptuous world of court life where she can have anything she desires—aside from her freedom. What no one knows outside the castle walls is that the king and queen of Lagonia have ruled for centuries. Their health, and immortality, gifted through the creation of portraits by painters with magic in their veins. Immortality is their one defense in the ongoing battle with Hetchnik: a cursed neighboring realm who seek to bring death and darkness to the land.

Prince Kelter is desperate to join the ranks of the immortal battalion.

Disillusioned with court and his figurehead role, he makes a deal with Thoralea: she will paint the portrait Prince Kelter has been denied by his parents, and he will help her escape the castle. As they grow closer and their attraction intensifies, a deadly secret is revealed, and Thoralea and Kelter will have to put their trust in each other to save the kingdom before the curse comes for them both.

Astrid Scholte is the internationally bestselling and award-winning author of Four Dead Queens, The Vanishing Deep and League of Liars. When she’s not writing, she works in film and animation production. Career highlights include working on James Cameron’s Avatar, Disney’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. She currently works at Industrial Light & Magic on the latest blockbuster.