Archives de catégorie : Middle Grade

TWIX de Jennifer Donnelly & Dave Mottram

Sold in a heated auction, this illustrated middle-grade duology from New York Times bestselling author, Jennifer Donnelly is bursting with heart and adventure!

TWIX
by Jennifer Donnelly
illustrated by Dave Mottram
Balzer + Bray/Macmillan, March 2027
(via Writers House)

Twix is afraid of a LOT of things (including, but not limited to, rat traps, cats, and Brussels sprouts, to name a few), but most of all he’s afraid of disappointing his big brother, Rolo. Rolo is everything Twix is not: cool, smart, and fearless, not to mention one of the best RATSCAR drivers in New York City. So when Rolo disappears, Twix doesn’t believe for a second that his larger than life brother is truly gone. He’s determined to find him, even if it means leaving the cozy comfort of their family’s apartment and venturing onto the mean streets of Manhattan. With the help of his best friends, Wilson and Plum, Twix embarks on the perilous journey.

Photo: © Doug Dundas

But the three get more than they bargained for when their search leads them to a mysterious island run by a gang of sinister rats. Dangers abound on the island, and soon Twix discovers that his brother isn’t the only one who has been taken prisoner. Not only that, but the entire colony is controlled by a vicious and power-hungry rat king. What can three little city rats possibly do in the face of such overwhelming odds? Twix must learn to manage his anxiety and embrace his unique talents if he has any hope of rescuing his brother and freeing the imprisoned rats.

Jennifer Donnelly is the author of the adult novels The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose, and The Wild Rose, as well as the young adult novels These Shallow Graves, Revolution, and A Northern Light, winner of Britain’s prestigious Carnegie Medal, the LA Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature, and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award. She lives and writes full-time in Upstate New York.

Dave Mottram is a designer and illustrator working in Ohio. He has illustrated Wordy Birdy, Race Car Dreams, Mighty Tug, and Oy Vey! Life in a Shoe. To learn more about Dave’s work, visit him at davemottram.com and follow him on Instagram at @dmott70.

GALAXY BRAIN de Chris Harding

Sold in a rapid US pre-empt, Chris Harding’s graphic novel debut follows a kid who hacks her school’s chatbot to explore the secrets of popularity. Perfect for readers who love Real Friends or The Witches of Brooklyn.

GALAXY BRAIN
by Chris Harding
Balzer + Bray/Macmillan, Spring 2027
(via Writers House)

Cover not final

13-year-old Polly is a clever inventor and a proud nerd—her sister calls her “Galaxy Brain,” and she even built her own robot, Box, which got her into a prestigious school with a strong science and tech focus. So when her best friend Henna becomes popular and leaves Polly behind, Polly uses her skills to hack the school’s AI chatbot to study the popular kids and figure out how to fix things.

Instead of the happy ending Polly was picturing, it’s a complete disaster. Her artificial rise through Dorsey’s social stratosphere reconnects her with Henna, but the cool kids all talk, dress and think differently. (How do they not get that spiders are cute??)

Meanwhile, her nerd friends are wary of this new Polly, her family is bemused, and she may have accidentally created an AI monster. It turns out brilliant tech can’t solve all of life’s problems, and Polly will discover that fitting in doesn’t necessarily equal true friendship, and that the best way to optimize popularity is just by being yourself.

Chris Harding is a writer and illustrator who most recently worked on Netflix’s Emmy-award winning series StoryBots: Answer Time, and whose past jobs include creator of a nationally syndicated comic strip and making art for Hallmark cards. GALAXY BRAIN is his debut novel.

REGINA AND THE KNAVES de Bonnie Maisen

In Bonnie Maisen’s thrilling middle-grade debut, an accomplished amateur thief must join forces with the knaves—the most infamous thieves in all of Solaris—in order to reclaim the magical heritage that’s been kept from her.

REGINA AND THE KNAVES
by Bonnie Maisen
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, Spring 2027
(via Writers House)

Meet thirteen-year-old Regina Fletchley: orphan, powerless Golden, and one of Solaris City’s most wanted thieves. As « The Prince, » she’s built her reputation by breaking into the supposedly impenetrable mansions of the Golden class. But despite her talents—and she’d be the first to tell you they’re considerable—one prize remains out of reach: her lumencoin, the key to both her dormant magic and last connection to her parents. The one heist Regina most longs to pull off is to steal back her lumencoin—but that task is impossible to pull off. Or at least it’s impossible to pull off alone…

 Enter the Knaves: the only thieves in Solaris whose reputation eclipses Regina’s own. They make an offer Regina can’t refuse: if she can help them pull off an ambitious job, they’ll consider hitting the archives where her birthright is hidden next. As Regina struggles prove herself to the crew, something unexpected happens: she begins to feel like a part of something for the first time ever. But when her recklessness put the Knaves in jeopardy, Regina will need to orchestrate her boldest scheme yet to save her newfound family.

Bonnie Maisen writes stories of magic and mayhem for her three sneaky children. She has published flash fiction at GoHavok.com and is a former editor of their Mystery Monday genre.

MOSTLY AWFUL GROWNUPS de River Clegg & Lúthien Leerghast

In the wickedly funny tradition of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl, this fast-paced, illustrated middle grade trilogy introduces Cole and Willow—daring twins racing to find their missing parents while fleeing all kinds of unpleasant, mostly awful grownups on their trail.

MOSTLY AWFUL GROWNUPS
written by River Clegg
illustrated by Lúthien Leerghast
Stonefruit Studio, September 2027
(via Writers House)

Twin siblings Cole and Willow are smart, kind, and brave. But they are not safe.

When they return home to a door left ajar, the house ransacked, and their parents missing, the twins are suddenly pulled into a fast-moving mystery involving a shadowy organization called the Keepers.

Cole and Willow must face uncountable obstacles in their journey—a woefully incompetent newspaper, adults who cannot identify alpacas, a malicious (and hungry) piranha named Reginald, and worst of all, the chilling question: did they ever really know their parents?

No one is who they say they are. No one is to be trusted. The two will need their wits, their courage, and perhaps a few unlikely allies. After all, every good mystery needs someone clever enough to solve it. Might that someone be you?

River Clegg has written for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and The Opposition with Jordan Klepper. He writes humor for outlets including The New Yorker, The Onion, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He has won a Peabody and a Writers Guild of America Award and been nominated for three Emmys. MOSTLY AWFUL GROWN-UPS is his first novel. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters.

THE SECOND GREATEST THIEF de Christine Cohen

This steampunk fantasy will have you on the edge of your seat as a young and clever thief must pull off a major heist with a life changing prize. This debut has it all—adrenaline-spiking action, heartwarming family dynamics, and a colourful cast of characters impossible not to love!

THE SECOND GREATEST THIEF
by Christine Cohen
Viking, Spring 2027
(via Writers House)

Twelve-year-old Lira Angleson has only one goal: to become a Master Thief. If she’s successful, she’ll be the youngest in New York City’s Thieves Guild to accomplish it, and she won’t ever have to worry about being hungry again. But when her final heist to earn the title goes wrong, she’s about to lose everything she’s worked so hard for. Desperate, she strikes a devilish deal with the Guild’s sinister Grandmaster: If she can complete an upcoming heist so dangerous that most thieves aren’t willing to try, he will grant her the coveted title. 

There’s just one catch. Lira’s brother, William, famously known as the city’s greatest thief, has his own reasons for needing to win the prize. Can Lira outsmart her brother to snatch it first, or will she forever be the city’s second greatest thief?

 Christine Cohen was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. After writing some really terrible Lord of the Rings fanfiction as a teenager, she started creating her own fictional worlds after college, and she hasn’t stopped since. The Second Greatest Thief is her debut middle-grade novel.