Here are a collection of diverse realistic and fantasy novels to fill up your summer reading. All are being released in July! Enjoy!
In the Same Boat by Holly Green
Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson
The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Walls by L.M. Elliott
When We Were Strangers by Alex Richards
The Museum of Everything by Lynne Rae Perkins (9780062986306)
When the world gets too busy and big, you can look at the smaller pieces around you. You can put those things in a quiet place like a museum in your mind. Or maybe it could be a real museum. It could have things like a Museum of Islands because there are so many kinds and sizes. A Museum of Bushes could have skirts made out of different bushes and then real bushes too. A Museum of Shadows could have usual shadows but also ones that you don’t expect. The Sky Museum is already right over your head, ready to be seen every day. All these small pieces fit together in one large puzzle, creating the Museum of Everything all around us all the time.
Newbery Medalist Perkins has created a picture book exploration of imagination that invites readers to look around themselves and see the elements that are worthy of placement in their own museums of everything. She takes expansive ideas and turns them firm and real with her examples given through the perspective of the child narrator of the book. The result are charming stories of bushes, hiding places, shadows and much more. The everyday is turned amazing.
Her illustrations are done in a wide variety of media. Some pages are done in collage, the paper elements overlapping into a layered world. Other pages are filled with objects that celebrate bushes and hidden places. These are 3 dimensional dioramas or sculptures that draw readers right into them.
Celebrating the extraordinary ordinary, this picture book is a lesson in imagination and creativity. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Greenwillow Books.
Here are a star-filled and dynamic mix of graphic novels, true stories, nonfiction and novels for middle grades coming out in July. Enjoy!
The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane
Bad Sister by Charise Mericle Harper, illustrated by Rory Lucey
Forever This Summer by Leslie C. Youngblood
Josephine Against the Sea by Shakirah Bourne
Lilla the Accidental Witch by Eleanor Crewes
Linked by Gordon Korman
Looking Up: An Illustrated Guide to Telescopes by Jacob Kramer, illustrated by Stephanie Scholz
Temple Alley Summer by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Miho Satake
Ten Thousand Tries by Amy Makechnie
Weird Kid by Greg van Eekhout
When Grandfather Flew by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Chris Sheban
World in Between by Kenan Trebincevic and Susan Shapiro
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron (9781547603909)
Briseis has a magical gift that she works hard not to reveal. Plants respond to her touch and presence, growing more lush and leaning in towards her, sometimes with destructive force. When Briseis inherits an estate in rural New York, she and her mothers jump at the new opportunity. The home is dirty and needs attention, and it also holds a lot of secrets for Briseis to figure out. There is the apothecary shop that seemed to deal in more normal herbs, but also ones that are extremely poisonous and rare. Then there is a trail of clues that lead Briseis to a neglected garden on the property that has regular herbal plants but also hidden poison gardens that only Briseis can reach thanks to her newly discovered immunity to poisonous plants. As strangers arrive on the property to seek services from Briseis, she finds herself part of another mystery. What is behind the locked door in the garden, and could it have been why so many women in her family have died or disappeared?
There is just so much to love with this novel. It’s a mesmerizingly lovely look at contemporary Black life that is imbued with magic and mystery. Briseis’ talent with plants moves from being problematic to being celebrated, something that really shines at the center of the book as she gains confidence in her own powers. Against the green wonder of her magic is the danger of poison that darkens the entire story very effectively, and is steadily revealed as more characters appear in the story.
Bayron paces the mystery out very cleverly, allowing readers to both enjoy and doubt several characters who are close to Briseis. The inclusion of queer characters is done naturally and woven into the story. Briseis has lesbian mothers and is queer herself. Briseis herself is a great protagonist, richly drawn in both her self doubt, her initial friendlessness, and how that transforms into a dangerous dance of trust and betrayal.
Beautifully written, full of strong Black women and filled with magic, this teen novel is spellbinding. Appropriate for ages 13-18.
Reviewed from ARC provided by Bloomsbury.
Here are 13 picture books coming out in July that have gotten starred reviews and attention. Enjoy!
Bird Boy by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Shahrzad Maydani
Blueberry Cake by Sarah Dillard
The Caiman by Maria Eugenia Manrique, illustrated by Ramon Paris
Cat Wants Cuddles by P. Crumble, illustrated by Lucinda Gifford
Except Antarctica by Todd Sturgell
I Can Make a Train Noise by Michael Emberley and Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
I Love Insects by Lizzy Rockwell
Lala’s Words by Gracey Zhang
A Life Electric: The Story of Nikola Tesla by Azadeh Westergaard, illustrated by Julia Sarda
Make Meatballs Sing: The Life and Art of Corita Kent by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Kara Kramer
The Perfect Plan by Leah Gilbert
Sing with Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla by Diana Lopez, illustrated by Teresa Martinez
Terrific! by Sophie Gilmore
Faraway Things by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Kelly Murphy (9780316492195)
Lucian spent his time on the beach after storms, searching for “faraway things” that have been swept onto the shore. One day, he discovered a silver, gold and copper cutlass wrapped in seaweed. Lucian had never seen anything like it and hung it on the wall of his room. That night he dreamt of his father. The next day, he played with the sword on the beach, eventually turning one of his sleeves from long to short when he swung it. That afternoon, a great wooden ship appeared as the fog cleared and a rowboat came towards shore. The ship’s captain spoke with Lucian, explaining that not only was his ship caught on a sandbar due to the lighthouse being unlit, but he was missing his cutlass. Lucian tried to claim the cutlass was his, but the captain had the matching sheath on his belt. The captain offered a trade, and Lucian got to head to the ship and pick out anything he wanted from the captain’s stateroom. Out of all of the wonderful objects, Lucian picked out a lantern. When he returned home again, he took that lantern to the top of the lighthouse tower and once again the beam of light went out over the water.
Written in beautiful language and with sentences that sing with wind and saltwater, this picture book is one that should be shared out loud. The writing has a gorgeous cadence to it while it also has rich metaphors embedded in it. The story itself is well crafted with a lovely arc that begins with searching the beach and the discovery of the cutlass. That story is woven with the loss of Lucian’s father and the dimming of the lighthouse. When the captain arrives, the story takes a marvelous turn toward adventure and possibility.
Murphy’s art is a gorgeous study of foggy beaches, newly bright sun, and one great ship. She shares small details in her images, celebrating the crowded stateroom and the treasures of beachcombing in Lucian’s room. The illustrations play with sea and sky, each expansive and full of deftly applied color.
One to share aloud, this book is a treasure. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Reviewed from e-galley provided by Little, Brown and Company.
The winners of the 2021 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize have been announced. The UK award gives an overall winner and has winners and shortlists for illustrated books, younger readers and older readers. I didn’t cover the shortlists for the awards either, so those are below the prize winners here. I will also note what books are available in the U.S.
OVERALL WINNER
A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll (released in U.S. in October 2021)
BEST ILLUSTRATED BOOK
The Grumpy Fairies by Bethan Stevens (Available in U.S., released April 2021)
BEST BOOK FOR OLDER READERS
Wranglestone by Darren Charlton
ILLUSTRATED BOOKS SHORTLIST
Bear Shaped by Dawn Coulter-Cruttenden
The Blue Giant by Katie Cottle (Available in U.S.)
Found You by Devon Holzwarth
Freedom, We Sing by Amyra Leon Available in U.S.)
Where Happiness Begins by Eva Eland (Available in U.S.)
YOUNGER READERS’ SHORTLIST
A Clock of Stars: The Shadow Moth by Francesca Gibbons, illustrated by Chris Riddell
Llama Out Loud! by Annabelle Sami
Orion Lost by Alastair Chisholm
The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie by Jenny Pearson (Available in U.S.)
When Life Gives You Mangoes by Kereen Getten (Available in U.S.)
OLDER READERS’ SHORTLIST
And the Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta (Available in U.S.)
Boy, Everywhere by A. M. Dassau (Available in U.S., released April 2021)
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (Available in U.S.)
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko (Available in U.S.)
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
15 LGBTQ graphic novels for middle graders – Book Riot
45 best middle-grade books under 250 pages – Reading Middle Grade
‘Cardboard Kingdom’ is about so much more than just cardboard – NPR
Censorship and curation in children’s books – The Irish Times
Children’s book imprint Heartdrum focuses on contemporary Native stories – Forbes
Children’s books roundup – the best new picture books and novels – The Guardian
Children’s house Lee & Low buys the bilingual Cinco Puntos Press – Publishing Perspectives
Kyle Lukoff’s speeches responding to the controversy over his easy reader series “Max and Friends” – SCBWI: The Blog
Raul the Third brings border culture to life in books for kids – Boston Globe
LIBRARIES
The Hot-Spot Library was born in two shipping containers in a Cape Town slum – NPR
Pride Month book displays at Lafayette public libraries concern board vice president – The Acadiana Advocate
San Diego City Library branches grapple with inequities – Governing
The value of the book cover: my favorite way to discover books in libraries – Book Riot
YA LIT
26 YA sci-fi fantasy books that are hitting shelves this summer – BuzzFeed
Netflix is taking a stab at R.L. Stine’s ‘Fear Street’ horror books for three new films – Daily News
The rise of BookTok: meet the teen influencers pushing books up the charts – The Guardian
The winner and honor books of the 2021 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature have been announced. The award is given annually to ” the author of an outstanding children’s book addressing human rights issues or themes, such as discrimination, equity, poverty, justice, war, peace, slavery or freedom.” Here are the winning titles:
WINNER
This Is My America by Kim Johnson
HONOR BOOKS
Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War by Maria Jose Ferrada, illustrated by Ana Penyas
Nana Akua Goes to School by Tricia Elam Walker and April Harrison
Stand Up! Speak Up! by Andrew Joyner
Waking Brain Cells 