Archives de catégorie : Middle Grade

BUNNICULA, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL by James Howe, Andrew Donkin, & Stephen Gilpin

Celebrate over forty years of the modern classic BUNNICULA with this fang-tastic graphic novelization that will send a shiver down your spine and leave you howling with laughter!

BUNNICULA, THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
written by James Howe & Andrew Donkin
illustrated by Stephen Gilpin
Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, August 2022
(via Writers House)

Beware the hare! Harold the dog and Chester the cat must find out the truth about the newest pet in the Monroe household—a suspicious-looking bunny with unusual habits…and fangs! Could this innocent-seeming rabbit actually be a vampire? Experience the chills and thrills of this classic tale in an all-new graphic novel format!

James Howe is the author of more than ninety books for young readers. Bunnicula, coauthored by his late wife Deborah and published in 1979, is considered a modern classic of children’s literature. The author has written six highly popular sequels, along with the spinoff series Tales from the House of Bunnicula and Bunnicula and Friends. Among his other books are picture books such as Horace and Morris but Mostly Dolores and beginning reader series that include the Pinky and Rex and Houndsley and Catina books. He has also written for older readers. The Misfits, published in 2001, inspired the nationwide antibullying initiative No Name-Calling Week, as well as three sequels. A common theme in James Howe’s books from preschool through teens is the acceptance of difference and being true to oneself.
Andrew Donkin is a writer and graphic novelist. He was described by The Times (London) as “the graphic novel supremo,” which is what he’ll have on his tombstone in the unlikely event he ever dies. Andrew has written more than seventy books that sold more than nine million copies, including children’s books, graphic novels, and even the odd book for grown-ups. He is a longtime collaborator with Eoin Colfer. The pair recently coauthored the award-winning graphic novel, Illegal. Andrew lives near the river Thames in London with his partner, their two children, and no vampire bunny rabbits.
Stephen Gilpin graduated from the NYC School of Visual Arts where he studied painting and cartooning. He is the illustrator of the Who Shrunk Daniel Funk series and The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy series. Stephen currently lives in Hiawatha, Kansas.

WOLF PACK SERIES d’Edo van Belkom

An award-winning and well-reviewed series of middle-grade fantasy fiction that turns the everyday issues of school life into exciting and dangerously different adventure that transports kids into the very best worlds of the imagination.

WOLF PACK SERIES
by Edo van Belkom
Tundra Books, 2005-2008
(via JABberwocky)

There’s something different about the Brock kids, Noble, Tora, Argus and Harlan — they’re teen werewolves. And that means trouble as they try and fit in at school without revealing their true selves. In WOLF PACK, a scientist thinks he knows the truth about one of the Brock kids and will kidnap Tora to prove it. How can her brothers save her without confirming the worst? In LONE WOLF, the pack has to deal with trouble at and away from home. In CRY WOLF, how can the pack use their wolven talents to find a missing classmate when their enemies at school are watching their every move — and trying to poison the pack? WOLF MAN brings the kids face-to-face with a lone wolf bent on terrorizing their town.

WOLF PACK won both the Aurora and Silver Birch Awards. The Silver Birch is the most important award for young adult fiction in Ontario, and is given by the people who matter most – thousands of schoolchildren who vote and cheer on their favorites. Van Belkom’s been nominated on many other occasions for the Aurora, the Bram Stoker, the Arthur Ellis and more.

Bram Stoker and Aurora Award-winner Edo van Belkom is the author of over 200 stories of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery. As an editor, he has four anthologies to his credit that include two books for young adults, Be Afraid! (A Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year finalist) and Be Very Afraid! (An Aurora Award winner — Best Work in English). Born in Toronto, van Belkom graduated from York University, then worked as a daily newspaper sports and police reporter before becoming a full-time writer. He lives in Brampton, Ontario, with his wife Roberta and son Luke.

RAVENOUS THINGS de Derrick Chow

In this stunning debut, author Derrick Chow reenvisions the tale of the Pied Piper. Both terrifying and hauntingly beautiful, Chow masterfully uses literal and figurative monsters to explore the themes of grief and how we handle loss.

RAVENOUS THINGS
by Derrick Chow
‎ Disney-Hyperion, July 2022
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Climb aboard the midnight train! Things wondrous and terrible await you… Twelve-year-old Reggie Wong has a quick temper that’s always getting him into trouble at school, while at home his mom struggles to get out of bed–let alone leave their apartment. That’s why Reggie desperately needs his dad back. One problem: His dad is dead.
Enter the Conductor, a peculiar man who promises to make Reggie’s wish to see his father just one more time come true. All he must do is climb aboard the man’s subway train, which leaves St. Patrick Station promptly at midnight. Desperate to have his dad and happy family back, Reggie takes him up on the offer, only to discover the train is filled with other children who have lost a loved one, just like him. As he speeds through the wild, uncharted tunnels beneath the city, Reggie meets Chantal, an annoyingly peppy girl obsessed with lists and psychiatry, and Gareth, his arch-nemesis and bully since the fourth grade. As each kid steps off the train and into the arms of their lost family member, Reggie can’t believe his impossible wish is about to come true.
But when Reggie comes to the end of the line and sees his father waiting for him, he soon discovers all is not as it seems. He and his unlikely new friends have been ensnared in a deadly trap. Together, the three must find a way to foil the Conductor’s diabolical plot and find their way out of the underground subway where horrors worse than they have ever imagined lurk around every corner.
The rats of St. Patrick Station have taken over and they’re absolutely ravenous.

Derrick Chow is an author, illustrator, and comic creator. His short stories have been featured in several comic anthologies; and his illustrations appear in newspapers, magazines, and books across North America. He lives in Toronto, where he is very active in the local arts scene. This is his first novel.

RACE TO THE SUN de Rebecca Roanhorse

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents critically acclaimed indigenous fantasy writer Rebecca Roanhorse’s thrilling adventure about a Navajo girl who discovers she’s a monsterslayer.

RACE TO THE SUN
by Rebecca Roanhorse
Disney-Hyperion, January 2020
(via Kaplan/DeFiore Rights)

Lately, seventh grader Nizhoni Begay has been able to detect monsters, like that man in the fancy suit who was in the bleachers at her basketball game. Turns out he’s Mr. Charles, her dad’s new boss at the oil and gas company, and he’s alarmingly interested in Nizhoni and her brother, Mac, their Navajo heritage, and the legend of the Hero Twins. Nizhoni knows he’s a threat, but her father won’t believe her.
When Dad disappears the next day, leaving behind a message that says « Run! », the siblings and Nizhoni’s best friend, Davery, are thrust into a rescue mission that can only be accomplished with the help of Diné Holy People, all disguised as quirky characters. Their aid will come at a price: the kids must pass a series of trials in which it seems like nature itself is out to kill them. If Nizhoni, Mac, and Davery can reach the House of the Sun, they will be outfitted with what they need to defeat the ancient monsters Mr. Charles has unleashed. But it will take more than weapons for Nizhoni to become the hero she was destined to be . . .
Timeless themes such as the importance of family and respect for the land resonate in this funny, fast-paced, and exciting quest adventure set in the American Southwest.

Rebecca Roanhorse is a black/indigenous (Ohkay Owingeh) writer of speculative fiction, including two adult books in the Sixth World series, Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts, and a Nebula and Hugo-winning short story, « Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience. » RACE TO THE SUN is her middle grade debut. Rebecca, a graduate of Yale, is a lawyer by day who specializes in federal Indian and tribal law. She lives in Northern New Mexico with her Navajo husband and their daughter.

THE CLAMOURING de Polly Crosby

A middle-grade fairytale-inspired fantasy about a twelve-year-old girl who embarks on a mission to save her kidnapped Grandma. She learns that her family have kept generations of secrets hidden, and that she must follow a trail of clues to discover exactly what they are. A rich and dark atmosphere reminiscent of Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Sophie Anderson and Frances Hardinge.

THE CLAMOURING (Book 1)
by Polly Crosby
On submission in the UK
(via Mushens Entertainment)

Twelve-year-old Nesta lives in the woods with her Grandma. It is a lonely life where the woodland animals are her only friends. When Nesta realises that her Grandma is missing, she finds a silver coin which shows her a vision – Grandma was taken by two men in wolfskins and she must rescue her. A local boy, Kit, arrives to take her to safety, but Nesta longs for an adventure and follows him to the bright and noisy town of Ostrov, where the residents are obsessed with fairytales – stories where the women are helpless and dependent, and are always needing to be saved. As the feisty and determined Nesta embarks on a mission to rescue her Grandma, she discovers that generations of secrets have been kept hidden from her. She realises that she must harness her emerging talents to save the only family she knows, figuring out the story of her heritage in the process…

Polly Crosby’s protagonist, Nesta, is non-verbal, and Polly plans to include more representations of disability throughout the series – she herself was the first baby in the world to be diagnosed with cystic fibrosis through the heel-prick test, and living with disability and chronic illness is a theme important to her writing. She intends this to be the first in a series of three books.

Polly Crosby is an alumna of Curtis Brown Creative and holds an MA in Creative Writing from The University of East Anglia. Her debut adult novel, The Illustrated Child, was a runner-up for the Bridport Prize’s Peggy Chapman Andrews Award for a First Novel. It was snapped up by HarperCollins HQ in the UK in a 48 hour pre-empt, and a few days later by HarperCollins Park Row Books in North America. Her second novel, The Unravelling, was published in January 2022 with two more adult novels to come from HQ. THE CLAMOURING will be her first middle-grade book.