Children's & YA

We Are Villains

Kacen Callender has swept awards in children’s, young adult and adult literature, and we found their YA novel, Infinity Alchemist, to be a “resonant fantasy.” The next soon-to-be-conquered frontier for Callender is, naturally, dark academia. In We Are Villains, Milo tries to untangle the mystery behind his best friend’s death, which has been deemed an accident but leaves several unanswered questions. In the process, he gets mixed up with Liam, the student king of Yates Academy, whose influence threatens to wane when he becomes the target of blackmail.

There’s Always Next Year

By Leah Johnson, By George M. Johnson

A release by an author as critically acclaimed as the Emmy-nominated George M. Johnson (All Boys Aren’t Blue, Flamboyants) is something to mark on your calendars. But double your excitement, since There’s Always Next Year is a collaboration with mighty powerhouse Leah Johnson, whose You Should See Me in a Crown won a Stonewall Honor and was listed as one of TIME’s “100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time.” Together, the two authors are bringing you a rom-com switching between the perspectives of two cousins who are both racing to fix their individual love lives before New Year’s Day is over.

Fateless

By Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa is adding a new trilogy to her already long list of bestselling endeavors, which includes the Iron Fey series and the Talon saga. The first installment, Fateless, introduces us to a desert world with two suns and our protagonist, Sparrow, a member of the Thieves Guild who is given a dangerous mission to enter the city of the Deathless Kings that now lies buried beneath the sands and steal a relic that may unlock secrets from the ancient past. This will be no easy task—the long-forgotten undercity is full of magical traps, and an assassin is on her tail.

The Executioners Three

By Susan Dennard

Susan Dennard’s fans have much to celebrate: The Luminaries series continues—with the second installment, The Hunting Moon, having been released last year—and the Witchlands series has a TV adaptation in development. In case we didn’t have enough to wait for, Dennard is graciously offering yet another title to anticipate: The Executioners Three, a mystery with supernatural flair following an escalating prank war—which happens to coincide with an increasing number of corpses being found in the woods.

Wings of Starlight

By Allison Saft

Allison Saft’s young adult romantasy novels draw you in with their magic and convincing relationship development. Now, the bestselling author of A Fragile Enchantment turns towards a literary reboot of the Disney Fairies franchise, which was launched in 2005. The thrilling clash of worlds that occurs in the meeting between warm-season fairy Clarion and winter fairy Milori will draw in fans both new and old.

Where There’s Room For Us

By Hayley Kiyoko

Singer-songwriter Hayley Kiyoko has already shown her chops for storytelling with the iconic Girls Like Girls—the novel her song and its viral music video inspired. The fact that our sapphic queen is about to storm the world of Regency romance with Where There’s Room For Us is welcome news, indeed. When Yada Lovell, an American, moves across the Atlantic with her brother, her intent is to use her knowledge of courting women to help him navigate the world of debutantes—not to fall in love herself. But obviously things won’t be going according to plan.

They Bloom at Night

By Trang Thanh Tran

Trang Thanh Tran made quite a splash with the bestselling She Is a Haunting, and they’re poised to make another one with They Bloom at Night. In this atmospheric post-apocalyptic horror novel, red algae takes over a Louisiana town, bringing with it a monster who is drowning protagonist Noon’s neighbors.

Run Away With Me

By Brian Selznick

The Caldecott Medal-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret hardly needs any introduction, but in case you forgot: Brian Selznick is the bestselling author of smash hits like Wonderstruck (adapted into a movie by Todd Haynes) and Big Tree, which we deemed an “an awe-inspiring odyssey” in our starred review. So of course we’re anticipating Run Away With Me, the tale of a summer love that sparks between two boys in Rome.

I Am Not Jessica Chen

By Ann Liang

In Ann Liang’s latest, Jenna Chen gets more than she bargains for when she wishes to become her seemingly perfect cousin Jessica Chen, who has it all: good looks, top grades and college acceptance success. Knowing Liang, the author of If You Could See the Sun and I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, Jenna will soon find out there’s more than meets the eye when she actually wakes up in the body of her cousin.

Fable for the End of the World

By Ava Reid

Ava Reid has stunned us in the realms of both adult (The Wolf and the Woodsman) and young adult fiction (A Study in Drowning), so it’s with bated breath that we wait for Fable for the End of the World, which sees Reid pivot to a dystopian setting. This new world she presents is eerily familiar: A single corporation named Caerus controls a society based on huge amounts of debt accumulated by ordinary people. Inesa, whose mother is one of those people, finds out she’s condemned to the Lamb’s Gauntlet, a livestreamed bloodbath in which Inesa will be pursued by an assassin specially conditioned to show no mercy.

That’s Not Funny, David!

By David Shannon

Ah, troublesome David! Who could forget the iconic, mischievous protagonist of David Shannon’s No David!, which has been a steadfast fixture in elementary school libraries for decades? In this installment, David tries his hand at funny stunts . . . with mixed results. Readers can look forward to seeing all manner of pranks—cannonballs in the pool, knocking over a display of fruit—in Shannon’s instantly recognizable, exuberant art style, which earned him a Caldecott Honor in 1998.

Stalactite & Stalagmite

Illustrated by Drew Beckmeyer

Having trouble keeping track of the difference between stalactites and stalagmites? You’re not alone. Never fear—you probably won’t forget any more once Drew Beckmeyer’s Stalactite & Stalagmite hits shelves. We’re still remembering his clever and inventive The First Week of School, which we gave a starred review, and we’re sure this story following two “cave nubs” over millions of years will be just as entertaining.

How Sweet the Sound

Illustrated by Charly Palmer

Kwame Alexander is a superstar in children’s literature, with over 40 books and a Newbery Medal (The Crossover) under his belt. It’s hard to think of a project more thrilling than him teaming up with acclaimed artist Charly Palmer, whose recent projects include The New Brownies Book, the cover art of John Legend’s Bigger Love, and a USPS commission to create a stamp for the Black Heritage series. How Sweet the Sound celebrates the history of Black musicians in America—from Ella Fitzgerald to Beyoncé—and provides both extensive educational material alongside its musical flair.

Sign Up

Stay on top of new releases: Sign up for our newsletter to receive reading recommendations in your favorite genres.