When I was in elementary school, I was constantly recruiting my classmates into various clubs I dreamed up: one for kids who wanted to be witches in pointy hats and broomsticks, another for aspiring young detectives, a third for kids who wanted to make posters urging passersby to save the whales.
It didn’t matter so much to me what any of the clubs did, though; it was the belonging to a club that felt somehow magical and important. If you were in a club, you were part of something. You had a place in the world, no matter how small.
This month’s batch of intriguing new children’s books has me thinking about the different ways in which kids search for ways to belong. Some of the characters in these books are starting out at new schools or moving to new towns. Others are navigating changing family situations and suddenly tricky friendships. Some are knights barging into villages and demanding affection; others are goats who show up one day and simply refuse to move out.
All, in their own way, would like to be a part of something. All are searching for their own place in the world—and in readers’ hearts.
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Daniela Kulot, In the Autumn Forest (trans. Elisabeth Lauffer)
(Charlesbridge, August 5)
(recommended for ages 3-7)
Young readers who are already looking forward to the changing of the seasons can take an atmospheric journey into the autumn forest with four animal friends. Fox, Crow, and Mouse feel a little wistful as summer departs and the wind hints at colder days to come. Squirrel, however, finds plenty of joy in autumn’s colored leaves and blue-sky afternoons. Even a Novemberish storm that catches the animals by surprise has its own gifts to share.
Both text and art capture the moody beauty of fall, and the animal friends are so funny and sweet that kids will want to follow them around the whole wheel of the year. (Look for Kulot’s previous title, In the Winter Woods, for another seasonal adventure.)
Heidi Aubrey, Ada and the Goat
(Neal Porter Books, August 5)
(recommended for ages 4-8)
I love this new classic picture book for readers of all ages who sometimes feel overwhelmed by life’s surprises and demands. Ada dreams of living “someplace far away and all alone,” where everything can finally be “quiet and ordered, simple and good.” She’s going to grow apples! She’s going to wear earth tones!
Caring for an injured goat she finds caught in a fence isn’t part of Ada’s plan, but she takes the creature in and gets to work making her perfect lifestyle a reality. Unfortunately, once the goat is healthy again, it starts pursuing its own version of perfection, chomping on Ada’s apple tree, her soft new coat, and everything else in sight.
Kids will enjoy the goat’s antics and the sweet surprise ending, and those of us who sometimes share Ada’s dreams will appreciate the reminder that a little chaos can be good for the soul.
Megan Maynor, It’s Taco Knight! (illustrated by Estrela Lourenço)
Clarion Books, August 19
recommended for ages 4-8
In a kingdom full of busy people who don’t have time to cook, the Knights of Dinner are the everyday heroes who literally put food on the table. There’s adorably round Dumpling Knight, cozy Soup Knight, the mysterious Knight of Leftovers, and the newest, most eager member of the crew, Taco Knight, who can’t wait to share his beans, cheese, and free guacamole.
At first, the villagers love Taco Knight, but when he upends the weekly meal schedule to turn every dinnertime into taco time, his formerly adoring fans grow weary. A great choice for kids who request silly read-alouds, this picture book shares a gentle message about the importance of variety but never forgets its sense of humor.
Calvin Alexander Ramsey, The Library in the Woods (illustrated by R. Gregory Christie)
(Carolrhoda, August 5)
(recommended for ages 7-11)
Author Calvin Alexander Ramsey drew on details from his own childhood to create this powerfully beautiful picture book, illustrated by Caldecott and Coretta Scott King honoree R. Gregory Christie. When the farm where Junior’s family lives is destroyed in a hailstorm, Junior’s father decides to take a job in town in Roxboro, North Carolina.
Moving into town isn’t an easy change for Junior, a young Black boy growing up in the segregated south, but some new friends soon take him to a magical, life-changing place: a log cabin tucked away in the forest, filled with books. The cabin serves as a library for local Black residents, and the stories Junior finds there become a source of hope, community, and connection for him and his family.
Shannon Hale, Dream On (Dream On #1) (illustrated by Marcela Cespedes, colors by Lark Pien)
(Roaring Brook Press, August 26)
(recommended for ages 8-12)
Author Shannon Hale and illustrator Marcela Cespedes kick off a new graphic novel series about the everyday challenges of friendship and family. Fourth grader Cassie is always surrounded by siblings and classmates, but do any of them really see her?
Her parents are too busy to give her undivided attention, her best friend Vali is starting to hang out more with a classmate who’s often unkind, and her favorite teacher is retiring. When Cassie gets an ad in the mail that claims she’s already the winner of several fabulous grand prizes, she plans to win her friends’ and family’s approval by giving them a pair of jet skis or a vacation to colonial Williamsburg.
While Dream On is set in a long-ago world of waterbeds and state-of-the-art VHS players, today’s fourth graders won’t have any trouble recognizing Cassie’s dream of being appreciated and loved.
Cordelia Jensen, Lilac and the Switchback
(Holiday House, August 19)
(recommended for ages 8-12)
Lilac has lived outside Philadelphia with her uncle Mack, aunt Truly, and cousin Charla since her mom was killed in a car accident when Lilac was six. Even now, at the beginning of seventh grade, Lilac still feels like an “extra” person in her household, and when Truly announces she’s pregnant with twins, Lilac isn’t sure there will be any space left for her in this new version of the family.
There are more changes in store this year, too: old friendships unraveling, new adventures with the school hiking club, and the possibility that Lilac might make contact with her father, who’s been estranged since she was born. Verse novelist Cordelia Jensen uses accessible, voice-driven poetry to tap into Lilac’s emotions and make her feel like a true friend to readers.
Annabelle Oh, Maggie and the Story Shadows
(Disney Hyperion, August 12)
(recommended for ages 8-12)
Maggie’s mom went missing five months ago, but Maggie is sure she isn’t dead. It must have been a kidnapping, Maggie thinks, and she recruits fellow middle school students Griffin and Petra to help her prove it.
But this isn’t an ordinary mystery case, and the kids’ investigations lead them to a magical bag, a talking tiger librarian, and a world where all the stories ever told are true. Maggie’s mom might be trapped somewhere in this world—and what’s a good story without a villain trying to make sure that Maggie won’t escape, either?
Annabelle Oh’s smart, good-humored writing captured me from page one of this fun middle grade fantasy adventure.
Cynthia Leitich Smith (editor), Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories
(Heartdrum, August 26)
(recommended for ages 13 and up)
I can’t wait to read every piece in this delicious-looking collection of intertwined short stories and poems by Indigenous authors, compiled and edited by community powerhouse Cynthia Leitich Smith.
The foreword invites readers to Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In, a gathering spot that appears across the North American continent (possibly breaking the laws of space-time?) to let regulars and newcomers from every tribal Nation come together for good food, good company, and good stories.
Authors you may already know, like Darcie Little Badger, Brian Young, and Angeline Boulley, share space with talented colleagues you’ll be thrilled to discover, and the variety of genres, writing styles, and perspectives in these pages gives the Drive-In its real magic.
Mariko Tamaki, This Place Kills Me (illustrated by Nicole Goux
(Abrams Fanfare, August 19)
(recommended for ages 14-18)
If the phrase “YA graphic novel boarding school murder mystery” is as appealing to you as it is to me, I hope you’re already on your way out the door to grab a copy of This Place Kills Me, Mariko Tamaki’s latest with illustrator Nicole Goux.
Abby Kita hates Wilberton School for Girls and the gossip and bullying she endures there. Outside a cast party for the Wilberton theater society’s performance of Romeo and Juliet, Abby meets Elizabeth, who seems strangely upset after her star turn as Juliet—but at least she’s kind to Abby.
The next morning, though, Elizabeth is found dead, and as the last person seen talking to her before her death, Abby is drawn into the investigation. The compelling plot and graphic novel format make for a quick-paced mystery that readers won’t want to put down.
Hailey Alcaraz, Rosa by Any Other Name
(Viking, August 5)
(recommended for ages 14 and up)
Rosa by Any Other Name also finds inspiration from the story of Romeo and Juliet, but Hailey Alcaraz’s well-crafted YA novel transports the Shakespearean plot to 1950s Phoenix, Arizona. Seventeen-year-old Rosa is Mexican American, but with her fair skin and almost unaccented English, she passes as white in order to attend a school that’s academically stronger than the one for Mexican students she’s supposed to attend.
When Rosa’s white school friend Julianne, the sheriff’s daughter, meets Rosa’s Mexican neighborhood friend Ramón, Rosa worries the secret of her identity will be exposed. She’s more worried still when Julianne and Ramón fall in love, defying racist laws and community norms.
Readers won’t be surprised that Julianne and Ramón’s budding romance ends in disaster, but the novel is more interested in exploring what happens afterward, as anger rises in the community and Rosa wrestles with the risky decision to speak out against injustice and share what she knows about the tragedy.