Archives de catégorie : Middle Grade

CHILDREN WHO COME AND GO de Isi Hendrix

A debut middle-grade novel about a girl convinced she’s possessed by a demon who finds herself apprenticing in the kitchen of an elite magic school, only to discover a shocking secret that will upend her destiny—and potentially lead to her kingdom’s ruin. Irresistibly funny, imaginative, and full of heart – this debut has everything that makes middle-grade great!

CHILDREN WHO COME AND GO
by Isi Hendrix
‎ On submission in the US
(via Park & Fine Literary and Media)

Life in the Swamplands is tough for twelve-year-old orphan Adia. Her family thinks she’s a nuisance, the missionaries make daily life a misery, and the neighbors all believe her to be an ogbanje, a demon-possessed child thought to bring misfortune wherever they go. Adia can’t disagree: she blames herself for the death of her cousin EJ, and when she manifests mysterious, uncontrollable powers, she has to face the possibility that there might be something wicked within her.
When an offer for a kitchen apprenticeship at the faraway Academy of Shamans arrives on the same day she nearly flattens her whole town by accident, Adia seizes the opportunity to flee, with nothing but a small pouch of change, her cat Bubbles, and the hope that she’ll find someone at the school who can help figure out what is wrong with her—and fix it. But at the Academy , Adia stumbles upon a shocking secret. Darian, the ruthless emperor of Zaria, really is possessed, and by a demon said to be more wicked than any other: the mythical Olark. And he’s on the way to the school—for what purpose, no one knows.
Joining forces with a snarky Goddess, a knife-wielding 500-year-old girl, and a status-obsessed soldier boy, Adia goes on a mission through hidden realms to exorcise Olark from Darian, save her kingdom, and herself. But if she is to succeed, she will have to understand the mysterious powers that dwell inside her…and learn who she really is. Whatever choices Adia makes, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
Bursting with imagination, heart, and humor, CHILDREN WHO COME AND GO is the type of immersive, action-packed adventure that readers of all ages will want to return to again and again, perfect for fans of magic school stories like SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL and fast-paced fantasy such as ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME. It’s an unputdownable story about carving your own path out in the world, and introduces Isi Hendrix as an exciting new talent in the middle-grade space.

Isi Hendrix is a Pitch Wars 2020 mentee and an Avengers of Color 2020 mentee. She has degrees in anthropology and psychology from USC and has spent many years living in the Amazon and Gabonese rainforests working with shamanic tribes. She is a Black feminist, avid gardener, and, to the horror of her goat meat-loving Nigerian mother, a vegan since kindergarten.

EACH OF US A UNIVERSE de Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo

A heartfelt middle grade about two girls who go on an adventure to the top of Stardust Mountain, and learn about each other, themselves, and the magic friendship can bring, perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate and Barbara O’Connor.

EACH OF US A UNIVERSE
by Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo
with Ndengo Gladys Mwilelo
Farrar, Straus & Giroux BYR, February 2022
(via Dystel, Goderich & Bourret)

What do you do when you’re facing the impossible? Ever since the day when everything changed, Cal Scott’s answer has been to run―run from her mother who’s fighting cancer, run from her father whom she can’t forgive, and run from classmates who’ve never seemed to “get” her anyway. The only thing Cal runs toward is nearby Mt. Meteorite, named for the magical meteorite some say crashed there fifty years ago. Cal spends her afternoons plotting to summit the mountain, so she can find the magic she believes will make the impossible possible and heal her mother. But no one has successfully reached its peak―no one who’s lived to tell about it, anyway.
Then Cal meets Rosine Kanambe, a girl who’s faced more impossibles than anyone should have to. Rosine has her own secret plan for the mountain and its magic, and convinces Cal they can summit its peak if they work together. As the girls climb high and dig deep to face the mountain’s challenges, Cal learns from Rosine what real courage looks like, and begins to wonder if the magic she’s been looking for is really the kind she needs.
Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo’s third novel is a glowing story of friendship, inner strength, and what happens when the impossible becomes possible.

Jeanne Zulick Ferruolo is the author of A Galaxy of Sea Stars and Ruby in the Sky, which earned two starred reviews and which Booklist called “quietly magical.” She is also a volunteer with IRIS-Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services in New Haven, Connecticut. She lives in Ellington, Connecticut, with her family.
Ndengo Gladys Mwilelo is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As an ambassador for IRIS- Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, she gives speaking engagements throughout Connecticut. She also volunteers with IRIS. A graduate of Central Connecticut State University, she lives in New Haven with her family.

DOOM’S DAY CAMP de Joshua Hauke

The Last Kids on Earth meets Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children in this funny and adventurous middle-grade graphic novel set in a world where everyone has unusual abilities except for a boy named Doom . . . who just might have to save them all.

DOOM’S DAY CAMP
by Joshua Hauke
‎ Razorbill/Penguin YR, March 2022

Doom Thorax is destined for greatness! Well, maybe…His dad is, after all, the fiercest apocalyptic warrior to ever walk what’s left of the earth. Unfortunately, in a world where the remaining humans (if you can still call them that) all have extraordinary abilities, Doom is painfully ordinary. In fact, the only thing even remotely special about him is that he is the one person in their whole pack who can read.
When his dad leads the adults off to battle a mysterious new threat, Doom gets left in charge of all the other kids from his camp. The only problem is he can barely take care of himself, let alone a group of weirdos like them. What’s he supposed to feed a boy made of mud? Why is the girl with telekinesis such a headache? And how can he stop his super strong little sister from turning everyone against him? Doom has ¬ finally been given a chance to prove himself. But it may take a lot more than book smarts if he and the others are going to have any chance at surviving on their own.

Joshua Hauke was lucky enough to discover that he was a weirdo at a very young age. After breaking his drawing arm three times in a row, Joshua learned that he could teach almost any part of his body to pick up a pencil, including his opposite arm and his left earlobe. Eventually, he even trained his beard to help out! Joshua is the creator of the webcomic Tales of the Brothers Three, which is inspired by his own life growing up in the Midwest. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

GHOSTLIGHT de Kenneth Oppel

One teen’s summer job scaring tourists with ghost stories takes a terrifying turn when he accidentally summons the spirit of a dead girl—and she has demands. . . . The award-winning author of Airborn delivers a roller-coaster ride of a story about the wakeful and wicked dead.

GHOSTLIGHT
by Kenneth Oppel
Knopf, September 2022
(via Writers House)

Rebecca Strand was just sixteen when she and her father fell to their deaths from the top of the Gibraltar Point Lighthouse in 1839. Just how they fell—or were they pushed?—remains a mystery. And their ghosts haunt the lighthouse to this day. . .
Gabe tells this story every day when he gives the ghost tour on Toronto Island. He tries to make it scary enough to satisfy the tourists, but he doesn’t actually believe in ghosts—until he finds himself face to face with Rebecca Strand. The true story of her death is far more terrifying than any ghost tale Gabe has told. Rebecca reveals that her father was a member of the Order, a secret society devoted to protecting the world from “the wakeful and wicked dead”—malevolent spirits like Viker, the ghost responsible for their deaths. But the Order has disappeared, and Viker’s ghost is growing ever stronger. Now Gabe and his friends must find a way to stop Viker before they all become lost souls. . . .

Kenneth Oppel was born in Port Alberni, a mill town on Vancouver Island, British Columbia but spent the bulk of his childhood in Victoria, B.C. and on the opposite coast, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is one of the most highly regarded authors of middle-grade fiction writing today. Some of his best-known titles are The Inkling, The Nest, Airborn, a 2005 Printz Honor Book, and Silverwing.

THE LOCK-EATER de Zack Loran Clark

For fans of Nevermoor and Howl’s Moving Castle comes an epic middle-grade fantasy about a girl with the ability to unlock anything—including the empire’s darkest secrets.

THE LOCK-EATER
by Zack Loran Clark
Dial Books/Penguin Young Readers, January 2022

Melanie Gate is a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable—any lock releases at the touch of her hand. One night, her orphanage is visited by Traveler, a gearling automaton there on behalf of his magical mistress, who needs an apprentice pronto. When Melanie is selected because of her gift, her life changes in a flash, and in more ways than she knows—because Traveler is not at all what he seems. But then, neither is Melanie Gate.
So begins an epic adventure sparkling with magic, humor, secret identities, stinky cats, fierce orphan girls, impostor boys, and a foundling and gearling hotly pursued by the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the land.
Action-packed yet layered, THE LOCK-EATER is a mix of lush world-building, high stakes, humor, and emotional heft—a page-turner and so much more.

« An epic tapestry threaded with rich lore, vibrant characters, and a twisting plot that will have readers tumbling through the pages. Marrying the zany inventiveness of Alice in Wonderland with the thorough magical world-building of Howl’s Moving Castle, Clark creates a deeply immersive fantasy, full of both heft and humor, that’s sure to stay with young readers long after its final page is turned. » —Soman Chainani, New York Times bestselling author of The School for Good and Evil series

Zack Loran Clark is a writer and editor of children’s books, and the co-author of The Adventurers Guild trilogy. A lifelong fantasy nerd, avid Dungeons & Dragons player, and aspiring sorcerer, he lives with his husband and their dog in Brooklyn, New York.