The life of a small-town bookstore is full of surprises. From kids bringing hot brownies, to meeting new puppies and getting notes of condolence when my dog died, etc., we’ve happily been part of all it. I’m originally from New York City and for a long while I thought small-town life was, well, small. How wrong I’ve been.
Owning a store in a small town means being part of the fabric of the community. Even if folks aren’t regular customers, there is a comfort (for most folks) that there’s a bookstore in their town. We’ve had kids argue about whose town is better, and Shelburne won this because the Flying Pig tipped the scales in our town’s favor. Children create bidding wars on our gift cards in silent auctions. We feel the love every day. And that love works both ways. I so enjoy meeting puppies or having a hot brownie at the end of the day.
Every once in a while customers need our help. Usually, this comes in the form of needing financial assistance. I’m not talking about wanting a free book. I’m speaking about a customer who left the house without a wallet and is on the way to the birthday party and doesn’t have time to run home and find her wallet. This happened last week. I was wrapping and heard a heavy sigh and a muttered, “Oh, no.”  I turned and asked if everything was okay. She looked sheepish and said, “I’ve left my wallet at home. Can I pay for this later? I don’t have time to go home before the party.” She was with her son who was getting anxious about the exchange.  To be honest, this doesn’t happen often. I knew the customer, so I said, “Sure, call me when you get home and we can finish the transaction then.”
She looked so relieved. I added extra ribbon and sent her on her way. Within an hour she called with her credit card number and thanked me profusely. If there’s a way that trust can help make someone’s day better, well then, I’m more than happy to help.

The answer is, of course there is a market for midlist (that is, not bestselling but solid) titles — but is that market growing or shrinking? I’ve been in this field a long time, and I can’t tell. It feels a little like the economy: the top few percent of books receive a wildly disproportionate percentage of sales (and reviews, and publicity). There’s been a consolidation of outlets for books — from perhaps 4,000 independent bookstores in the U.S. a couple of decades ago to less than half that now, as well as the loss of Borders handing even more sales, presumably, to Internet traffic controlled largely by one vendor — and a shrinking of book review avenues in print sources, as well. In terms of publicity, it seems to me that more publishing dollars are going to fewer big books, while smaller books are left to fend for themselves more than they were a decade ago.
On the other side of the balance sheet is the explosion of social media and the attendant promotional avenues, which allow authors (and publishers and booksellers) to reach greater numbers of readers directly.
It’s hard to know how all of these factors counterbalance one another.
I think about this question often. It comes up when I encounter books I love, books that are easy to handsell to customers but which, for whatever reason, never quite convert into what I think of as “household name” books. For instance, John Himmelman’s utterly adorable Katie Loves the Kittens.

This book charms the socks off everyone I show it to. It’s about a dog who positively vibrates with joyful enthusiasm when her people bring home three little kittens to join the family — but whose exuberance goes awry, scaring the kitties and giving the humans the wrong impression that she dislikes them — again and again.

From Katie Loves the Kittens by John Himmelman (Henry Holt, 2008), image courtesy Junior Library Guild

Every day kids come into the bookstore wanting a book, or two, that their parents say no to. I see it as my job to help these kids get the books that they want while keeping the parents happy. This can be no easy feat sometimes. I try to balance the parent’s needs with the child’s desire for said book(s).
It’s very easy to assess the need for books. I have a surefire test to know how badly, and how legitimately a kid wants a book. Quite simply, will they do chores for the privilege of getting the book? If they balk, then I know as do their parents, they really don’t want the book. If they start smiling and then are open to suggestions about chores, then they want the book.
Last week an earnest boy about 11 was here with a big desire for a hardcover. His mom said flat out no in no uncertain terms. The child was crestfallen because he had no money and this was a book he’d been searching for for quite some time. The mom and I made eye contact and I went for it. “What would you be willing to do around the house to help your mom out for this book?” Evan looked at me and said, “Well, I could clean up my room.” I sensed this could be a good experience for all involved. I suggested since the book was an $18 hardcover perhaps three things could get done around the house. Evan and I brainstormed while his mom stood back smiling. “I could feed the cat,” he offered. I shot him down on that one and he looked surprised. “Having a pet is a privilege. Feeding it shouldn’t be rewarded. You should just feed it. The litter box, however, is nasty and (I looked at his mom on this one, she nodded) that can totally count.” So, we had Evan cleaning up his room, dealing with the litter box and the final chore was setting the table for dinner. I’ve got to say, I’ve never seen a kid happier to do three chores for a book, ever. He understood the value of the book. As they left I heard him muttering, “Litter box, room, table. Litter box, room, table.” His mother thanked me for helping to redirect their whole experience.
This tactic only works on the right people. What other ways do you booksellers have to help kids learn how to bargain for books?
 

As increasing numbers of adults read literature ostensibly written for and marketed to teenagers, the distinction between adult and young adult literature (especially older YA) grows ever blurrier. Maine bookseller Kenny Brechner recently raised this question to share with our readers at ShelfTalker. Both he and we invite you to weigh in on what, exactly, IS young adult literature.
Kenny writes:

And thus we come to it…
The Young Adult Literature Definition Contest
What you need to do
1. Post your definition below.
What you stand to win
1. Respect, admiration, and a deep sense of personal satisfaction. [EB adds: Not to mention, possible Wikipedia addition.]

Hello, children’s book folk and fans! It’s time for another round-up of the year’s starred reviews for juvenile literature from Booklist, The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, The Horn Book Magazine, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.
So far this year, 731 books have received 1148 stars. That’s quite a constellation of standouts! It really has been a wonderful year for books.
I’ve added a feature to the round-up this time: you can now see which  publications have starred each book (noted after each citation).
A special shout-out to the wildly talented Steve Jenkins, who has illustrated no fewer than SIX books that have received starred reviews this year: Pug and Other Animal Poems by Valerie Worth; Eat Like a Bear by April Pulley Sayre; The Mystery of Darwin’s Frog by Marty Crump; Animals Upside Down: A Pull, Pop, Lift & Learn Book by Robin Page; and Animal Book, The: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest–And Most Surprising–Animals on Earth, written *and* illustrated by Steve Jenkins. Congratulations, Steve! I think that’s a record, though I’d have to check with Jane Yolen and Cynthia Rylant first….
Please note: starred reviews are counted only when they have been officially published by the review magazines, so if your book has an upcoming star, never fear; it will be included in the next update.
This is an insanely detail-laden process, and as careful as I try to be, there may be oversights here and there. If you want the cleanest version of this list, check back next week, when I’ll have been alerted to anything that needs fixing.
Publishers, please alert me to any oversights at ebluemle at publishersweekly.com, including the review sources and dates for the starred reviews. Thanks! Please do NOT send stars that have not yet been officially published yet, or VOYA stars. VOYA stars will be included in the next update.
Finally, if you are purchasing books, inspired by this list, please strongly consider using an independent bookstore. An indie bookseller compiled this list on behalf of all of us — booksellers, librarians, teachers, parents (and grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins) who live, love, and work hard in the service of books and children. Thank you!
FIVE STARS
Boxers & Saints. Gene Luen Yang; color by Lark Pien. First Second/Roaring Brook, Boxers $18.99, Saints $15.99, $34.99 for the boxed set. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Dark, The. Lemony Snicket, illus. by Jon Klassen. Little, Brown, $16.99. BCCB, Booklist, HB, PW, SLJ
Doll Bones. Holly Black. S&S/McElderry, $16.99. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Eleanor & Park. Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Far Far Away. Tom McNeal. Knopf, $17.99. BCCB, Booklist, HB, PW, SLJ
Locomotive. Brian Floca. Atheneum/Jackson, $17.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Midwinterblood. Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook, $17.99. BCCB, Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW
Mr. Wuffles! David Wiesner. Clarion, $17.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein. Jennifer Berne, illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. Chronicle, $17.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
P.S. Be Eleven. Rita Williams-Garcia. Amistad, $16.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Penny and Her Marble. Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, $12.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
September Girls. Bennett Madison. HarperTeen, $17.99. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Thing About Luck, The. Cynthia Kadohata, illus. by Julia Kuo. Atheneum, $16.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
FOUR STARS
Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909. Michelle Markel, illus. by Melissa Sweet. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Brush of the Gods. Lenore Look, illus. by Meilo So. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Coldest Girl in Coldtown, The. Holly Black. Little, Brown, $19. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Corner of White, A (Colors of Madeleine, Book 1). Jaclyn Moriarty. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99. BCCB, HB, Kirkus, SLJ
Counting by 7s. Holly Goldberg Sloan. Dial, $16.99. BCCB, Booklist, HB, SLJ
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickels, America’s First Black Paratroopers. Tanya Lee Stone. Candlewick, $24.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Dark Triumph. Robin LaFevers. Houghton Mifflin, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the Dawn of Liberty. Tonya Bolden. Abrams, $24.95. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School, Book 1). Gail Carriger. Little, Brown, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle. Chris Raschka. Random/Schwartz and Wade, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Kate DiCamillo, illus. by K.G. Campbell. Candlewick, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? Eve Bunting, illus. by Sergio Ruzzier. Clarion, $16.99. HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
How to Train a Train. Jason Carter Eaton, illus. by John Rocco. Candlewick, $16.99 Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
If You Want to See a Whale. Julie Fogliano, illus. by Erin E. Stead. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Jinx. Sage Blackwood. HarperCollins/Harper, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Journey. Aaron Becker. Candlewick, $15.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Look Up! Bird-Watching in Your Own Backyard. Annette LeBlanc Cate. Candlewick, $15.99. HB, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Lucy Variations, The. Sara Zarr. Little, Brown, $18. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Matchbox Diary, The. Paul Fleischman, illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline. Candlewick, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Mr. Tiger Goes Wild. Peter Brown. Little, Brown, $18. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Navigating Early. Clare Vanderpool. Delacorte, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
One Came Home. Amy Timberlake. Knopf, $16.99. BCCB, HB, Kirkus, SLJ
Sophie’s Squash. Pat Zietlow Miller, illus. by Anne Wilsdorf. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Splash of Red, A: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin. Jen Bryant. Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. Knopf, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Take Me Out to the Yakyu. Aaron Meshon. S&S/Atheneum, $15.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Tapir Scientist, The: Saving South America’s Largest Mammal. Sy Montgomery, photos by Nic Bishop. Houghton Mifflin, $18.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Tortoise & the Hare, The. Jerry Pinkney. Little, Brown, $18. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Train. Elisha Cooper. Scholastic/Orchard, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, The. Kathi Appelt, illus. by Jennifer Bricking. Atheneum, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky: Two Artists, Their Ballet, and One Extraordinary Riot. Lauren Stringer. Harcourt, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. Meg Medina. Candlewick, $16.99. BCCB, HB, Kirkus, SLJ
You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! Jonah Winter, illus. by Terry Widener. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus, PW
THREE STARS 
5th Wave, The. Rick Yancey. Putnam, $18.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
All the Truth That’s In Me. Julie Berry. Viking, $17.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Beatrice Spells Some Lulus and Learns to Write a Letter. Cari Best, illus. by Giselle Potter. FSG/Ferguson, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker’s Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty. Russell Freedman. Holiday House, $24.95. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Beginning of Everything, The. Robyn Schneider. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Benjamin Bear in “Bright Ideas!” Philippe Coudray, trans. from French by Leigh Stein. Candlewick/Toon, $12.95. Booklist, HB, SLJ
Bluebird. Bob Staake. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Bluffton: My Summers with Buster. Matt Phelan. Candlewick, $22.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Bowling Alley Bandit (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut 01). Laurie Keller. Holt, $13.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Boy Who Loved Math, The: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos. Deborah Heiligman, illus. by Pham LeUyen. Roaring Brook, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Building Our House. Jonathan Bean. FSG, $17.99. HB, Kirkus, SLJ
Center of Everything, The. Linda Urban. Harcourt, $15.99. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus
Darius & Twig. Walter Dean Myers. Amistad, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Day the Crayons Quit, The. Drew Daywalt, illus. by Oliver Jeffers. Philomel, $17.99. BCCB, PW, SLJ
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant. Tony Cliff. First Second, $15.95. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Dream Thieves, The. Maggie Stiefvater. Scholastic Press, $18.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Exclamation Mark. Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Scholastic, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Fangirl. Rainbow Rowell. St. Martin’s Griffin, $18.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Flora and the Flamingo. Molly Idle. Chronicle, $16.99. HB, PW, SLJ
Golden Day, The. Ursula Dubosarsky. Candlewick, $15.99. BCCB, Booklist, PW
Hello, My Name Is Ruby. Philip C. Stead. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Hold Fast. Blue Balliett. Scholastic, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
If You Find Me. Emily Murdoch. St. Martin’s Griffin, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
In the Shadow of Blackbirds. Cat Winters. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Inside Outside. Lizi Boyd. Chronicle, $15.99. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Listening for Lucca. Suzanne LaFleur. Random/Lamb, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Little Red Writing. Joan Holub, illus. by Melissa Sweet. Chronicle, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Living with Jackie Chan. Jo Knowles. Candlewick, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Long Way Away, A. Frank Viva. Little, Brown, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Lucky Ducklings. Eva Moore, illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Scholastic/Orchard, $16.99. BCCB, PW, SLJ
Maggot Moon. Sally Gardner, illus. by Julian Crouch. Candlewick, $16.99. Booklist, HB, PW
March: Book One. John Lewis and Andrew Aydin, illus. by Nate Powell. Top Shelf, $14.95. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Mighty Lalouche, The. Matthew Olshan, illus. by Sophie Blackall. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Mouse with the Question Mark Tail, The. Richard Peck, illus. by Kelly Murphy. Dial, $16.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
My Brother’s Book. Maurice Sendak. HarperCollins/di Capua, $18.95. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
My Happy Life. Rose Lagercrantz. trans. from Swedish by Julia Marshall, illus. by Eva Eriksson. Gecko (Lerner, dist.), $16.95. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong. Prudence Shen, illus. by Faith Erin Hicks. First Second, $16.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
OCD Love Story. Corey Ann Haydu. Simon Pulse, $17.99. BCCB, HB, PW
One Gorilla. Anthony Browne. Candlewick, $16.99. BCCB, HB, PW
Picture a Tree. Barbara Reid. Albert Whitman, $16.99. Booklist, HB, Kirkus
Picture Me Gone. Meg Rosoff. Putnam, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Poems to Learn by Heart. Caroline Kennedy, illus. by Jon J Muth. Disney-Hyperion, $19.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Pug and Other Animal Poems. Valerie Worth, illus. by Steve Jenkins. FSG/Ferguson, $16.99. BCCB, PW, SLJ
Quintana of Charyn. Melina Marchetta. Candlewick, $18.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Rooftoppers. Katherine Rundell, illus by Terry Fan. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Silver Button, The. Bob Graham. Candlewick, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Steam Train, Dream Train. Sherri Duskey Rinker, illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Chronicle, $16.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Summer Prince, The. Alaya Dawn Johnson. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Sure Signs of Crazy. Karen Harrington. Little, Brown, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ
Teeth. Hannah Moskowitz. Simon Pulse, $17.99 hardcover; $9.99 paperback. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus
That Is NOT a Good Idea! Mo Willems. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. HB, PW, SLJ
Thrice Told Tales: Three Mice Full of Writing Advice. Catherine Lewis, illus. by Joost Swarte. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Uses for Boys. Erica Lorraine Scheidt. St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Wait! Wait! Hatsue Nakawaki, trans. from Japanese by Yuki Kaneko, illus. by Komako Sakai. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $14.95. Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Waking Dark, The. Robin Wasserman. Knopf, $17.99. Booklist, PW, SLJ
Water in the Park: A Book About Water & the Times of the Day. Emily Jenkins, illus. by Stephanie Graegin. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $16.99. BCCB, Booklist, Kirkus
When Charley Met Grampa. Amy Hest, illus. by Helen Oxenbury. Candlewick, $15.99 Kirkus, PW, SLJ
Winger. Andrew Smith, illus. by Sam Bosma. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
Xander’s Panda Party. Linda Sue Park, illus. by Matt Phelan. Clarion, $16.99. HB, PW, SLJ
Year of Billy Miller, The. Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, $16.99. HB, Kirkus, SLJ
Year of the Jungle. Suzanne Collins, illus. by James Proimos. Scholastic, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus, PW
TWO STARS
Abominables, The. Eva Ibbotson, illus. by Fiona Robinson. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Adventures of a South Pole Pig, The: A Novel of Snow and Courage. Chris Kurtz, illus. by Jennifer Black Reinhardt. Harcourt, $16.99. HB, SLJ
Al Capone Does My Homework. Gennifer Choldenko. Dial, $17.99. Booklist, PW
All Our Pretty Songs. Sarah McCarry. St. Martin’s Griffin, $19.99 hc, $9.99 pb. Booklist, Kirkus
Battle Bunny. Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett, illus. by Matthew Myers. Simon & Schuster, $14.99. Kirkus, PW
Battling Boy. Paul Pope. First Second, $15.99. Kirkus, PW
Bear’s Song, The. Benjamin Chaud. Chronicle, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Ben Loves Bear. David McPhail. Abrams Appleseed, $8.95. Kirkus, PW
Best Thing About Kindergarten, The. Jennifer Lloyd, illus. by Qin Leng. Simply Read, $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Big Snow. Jonathan Bean. FSG, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Big Wet Balloon, The. Liniers. Candlewick/Toon, $12.95. HB, Kirkus
Bird King, The: An Artist’s Notebook. Shaun Tan. Scholastic/Levine, $19.99. Booklist, PW
Bitter Kingdom, The. Rae Carson. Greenwillow, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Black Helicopters. Blythe Woolston. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus, PW
Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible… on Schindler’s List. Leon Leyson, with Marilyn J. Harran and Elisabeth B. Leyson. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Breakfast on Mars and 37 Other Delectable Essays. Ed. by Rebecca Stern and Brad Wolfe. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Bugs in My Hair! David Shannon. Scholastic/Blue Sky, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Bully. Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99. PW, SLJ
Chasing Shadows. Swati Avasthi, illus. by Craig Phillips. Knopf, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Coda. Emma Trevayne. Running Press Teens, $9.95. PW, SLJ
Count the Monkeys. Mac Barnett, illus. by Kevin Cornell. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. BCCB, PW
Crankee Doodle. Tom Angleberger, illus. by Cece Bell. Clarion, $16.99. HB, Kirkus
Daisy Gets Lost. Chris Raschka. Random/Schwartz & Wade, 17.99. PW, SLJ
Dare You To. Katie McGarry. Harlequin Teen, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton. Meghan McCarthy. S&S/Wiseman, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Dee Dee and Me. Amy Schwartz. Holiday House, $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Deep in the Sahara. Kelly Cunnane, illus. by Hoda Hadadi. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Diego Rivera: An Artist for the People. Susan Goldman Rubin. Abrams, $21.95. Booklist, SLJ
Digger, Dozer, Dumper. Hope Vestergaard, illus. by David Slonim. Candlewick, $15.99. PW, SLJ
Dusk. Uri Shulevitz. FSG/Ferguson, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Earth Girl. Janet Edwards. Pyr, $17.95. Booklist, Kirkus
Eat Like a Bear. April Pulley Sayre, illus. by Steve Jenkins. Holt, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Elvis and the Underdogs. Jenny Lee, illus. by Kelly Light. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $16.99. Booklist, SLJ
Enduring Ark, The. Gita Wolf, illus. by Joydeb Chitrakar. Tara Books, $21.95. Kirkus, PW
Eruption! Volcanoes and the Science of Saving Lives (Scientists in the Field). Elizabeth Rusch. Houghton Mifflin, $18.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. Chris Grabenstein. Random House, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet. Andrea Cheng. Lee & Low, $17.95. Kirkus, SLJ
Explorer: The Lost Islands. Edited by Kazu Kibuishi. Abrams/Amulet, $19.95. Kirkus, PW
Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists. Ed. by Chris Duffy, illus. by various artists. First Second, $19.99. Booklist, PW
Fallout. Todd Strasser. Candlewick, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Fat Angie. E.E. Charlton-Trujillo. Candlewick, $16.99. PW, SLJ
Firecracker. David Iserson. Razorbill, $17.99. BCCB, Kirkus
First Drawing, The. Mordecai Gerstein. Little, Brown, $17. PW, SLJ
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock. Matthew Quick. Little, Brown, $18. PW, SLJ
Frog Song. Brenda Z. Guiberson, illus. by Gennady Spirin. Holt, $17.99. PW, SLJ
Ghost Hawk. Susan Cooper. S&S/McElderry, $16.99. Booklist, PW
Golden Boy. Tara Sullivan. Putnam, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Hank Finds an Egg. Rebecca Dudley. Peter Pauper, $16.99. Booklist, PW
Happy Birthday, Bunny! Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, illus. by Stephanie Graegin. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Henri’s Scissors. Jeanette Winter. S&S/Beach Lane, $15.99. Booklist, PW
Henry and the Cannons: An Extraordinary True Story of the American Revolution. Don Brown. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Booklist, SLJ
Henry’s Map. David Elliot. Philomel, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Hero on a Bicycle. Shirley Hughes. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus, PW
Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace. Nan Marino. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Hilda and the Bird Parade. Hilda Pearson. Nobrow/Flying Eye (Consortium, dist.), $24. Booklist, PW
Hokey Pokey. Jerry Spinelli. Knopf, $15.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Homeland. Cory Doctorow. Tor Teen, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Hostage Three. Nick Lake. Bloomsbury, $17.99. Booklist, SLJ
How to Be a Cat. Nikki McClure. Kirkus, SLJ
How to Bicycle to the Moon to Plant Sunflowers: A Simple but Brilliant Plan in 24 Easy Steps. Mordicai Gerstein. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus
How to Catch a Bogle. Catherine Jinks, illus. by Sarah Watts. Harcourt, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
How To. Julie Morstad. Simply Read, $16.95. Kirkus, SLJ
I Am Blop! Hervé Tullet. Phaidon, $19.95. Kirkus, PW
I See the Promised Land. Arthur Flowers, illus. by Manu Chitrakar. House of Anansi/Groundwood, $18.95. BCCB, SLJ
I Wish I Had… Giovanna Zoboli, illus. by Simona Mulazzani. Eerdmans, $16. Booklist, PW
Just One Day. Gayle Forman. Dutton, $17.99. PW, SLJ
Juvie. Steve Watkins. Candlewick, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Lara’s Gift. Annemarie O’Brien. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Ling & Ting Share a Birthday. Grace Lin. Little, Brown, $15. Kirkus, PW
Little Book of Sloth, A. Lucy Cooke. S&S/McElderry, $16.99. BCCB, PW
Lord of Opium, The. Nancy Farmer. S&S/Atheneum, $17.99. Booklist, PW
Mary Wrightly, So Politely. Shirin Yim Bridges, illus. by Maria Monescillo. Harcourt, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Meanest Birthday Girl, The. Josh Schneider. Clarion, $14.99. Kirkus, PW
Midnight Dress, The. Karen Foxlee. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Mind Games. Kiersten White. HarperTeen, $17.99. BCCB, PW
More Than This. Patrick Ness. Candlewick, $19.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Mouse Bird Snake Wolf. David Almond, illus. by Dave McKean. Candlewick, $17.99. Booklist, PW
My Father’s Arms Are a Boat. Stein Erik Lunde, trans. from Norwegian by Kari Dickson, illus. by Øyvind Torseter. Enchanted Lion, $15.95. HB, Kirkus
Nelly May Has Her Say. Cynthia DeFelice, illus. by Henry Cole. FSG/Ferguson, $16.99. Booklist, SLJ
Nelson Mandela. Kadir Nelson. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Night Light. Nicholas Blechman. Scholastic/Orchard, $16.99. Booklist, PW
Night Sky Wheel Ride. Sheree Fitch, illus. by Yayo. Tradewind (Orca, dist.), $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Niño Wrestles the World. Yuyi Morales. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99. HB, PW
Nobody’s Secret. Michaela Maccoll. Chronicle, $16.99. PW, SLJ
OCD, the Dude, and Me. Lauren Roedy Vaughn. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Odd Duck. Cecil Castellucci, illus. by Sara Varon. First Second, $15.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Ol’ Clip-Clop: A Ghost Story. Patricia C. McKissack, illus. by Eric Velasquez. Holiday House, $16.95 Kirkus, PW
Once Upon a Northern Night. Jean E. Pendziwol, illus. by Isabelle Arsenault. Groundwood, $17.95. Kirkus, PW
Open This Little Book. Jesse Klausmeier, illus. by Suzy Lee. Chronicle, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Openly Straight. Bill Konigsberg. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99. BCCB, Booklist
Out of Nowhere. Maria Padian. Knopf, $16.99. BCCB, SLJ
Out of the Easy. Ruth Sepetys. Philomel, $17.99. PW, SLJ
P.K. Pinkerton & the Petrified Man. Caroline Lawrence. Putnam, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale. Duncan Tonatiuh. Abrams, $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Paperboy. Vince Vawter. Delacorte, $16.99. Booklist, PW
Parrots Over Puerto Rico. Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, illus. by Susan L. Roth. Lee & Low, $19.95. Kirkus, PW
Peanut. Ayun Halliday, illus. by Paul Hoppe. Random/Schwartz and Wade, $17.99. PW, SLJ
Peck, Peck, Peck. Lucy Cousins. Candlewick, $15.99. Booklist, SLJ
Pieces. Chris Lynch. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Planes Fly! George Ella Lyon, illus. by Mick Wiggins. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Polar Bear Morning. Lauren Thompson, illus. by Stephen Savage. Scholastic, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Pomelo’s Opposites. Ramona Badescu, trans. from French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick, illus. by Benjamin Chaud. Enchanted Lion, $15.95. Kirkus, SLJ
Price of Freedom, The: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery. Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin, illus. by Eric Velasquez. Walker, $16.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Program, The. Suzanne Young. Simon Pulse, $16.99. BCCB, Booklist
Reality Boy. A.S. King. Little, Brown, $18. Kirkus, PW
Reluctant Assassin, The. Eoin Colfer. Hyperion, $17.99. BCCB, PW
Rithmatist, The. Brandon Sanderson, illus. by Ben McSweeney. Tor Teen, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Romeo Blue. Phoebe Stone. Scholastic, $16.99. Booklist, HB
Rose Under Fire. Elizabeth Wein. Hyperion, $17.99 Kirkus, PW
Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War. Helen Frost. FSG/Foster, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Scarlet. Marissa Meyer. Feiwel and Friends, $17.99. Booklist, PW
School Spirits (Hex Hall). Rachel Hawkins. Hyperion, $17.99. Kirkus, PW
Sex & Violence. Carrie Mesrobian. Carolrhoda Lab, $17.95. Kirkus, PW
Shimmer & Splash: The Sparkling World of Sea Life. Jim Arnosky. Sterling, $14.95. PW, SLJ
Sin-Eater’s Confession. Ilsa J. Bick. Carolrhoda Lab, $17.95. Kirkus, PW
Snowflakes Fall. Patricia Maclachlan, illus. by Steven Kellogg. Random, $17.99. Booklist, SLJ
Somebody Up There Hates You. Hollis Seamon. Algonquin, $16.95. Kirkus, PW
Spirit and Dust. Rosemary Clement-Moore. Delacorte, $17.99. BCCB, SLJ
Tangle of Knots, A. Lisa Graff. Philomel, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Tea Party Rules. Ame Dyckman, illus. by K.G. Campbell. Viking, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
That’s a Possibility! A Book About What Might Happen. Bruce Goldstone. Holt, $16.99. PW, SLJ
Things That Float and Things That Don’t. David A. Adler, illus. by Anna Raff. Holiday House, $16.95. Booklist, PW
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration. Jacqueline Woodson, illus. by James Ransome. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99. PW, SLJ
This Song Will Save Your Life. Leila Sales. FSG, $17.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Tiger in My Soup. Kashmira Sheth, illus. by Jeffrey Ebbeler. Peachtree, $15.95. Kirkus, PW
Time-Out for Sophie. Rosemary Wells. Viking, $15.99. Kirkus, SLJ
Toys in Space. Mini Grey. Knopf, $16.99. PW, SLJ
Two Boys Kissing. David Levithan. Knopf, $16.99. BCCB, PW
Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great. Bob Shea. Disney-Hyperion, $15.99. Booklist, Kirkus
War Brothers. Sharon E. McKay, illus. by Daniel Lafrance. Annick (Firefly, dist.), $18.95. PW, SLJ
Watcher in the Shadows, The. Chris Moriarty, illus. by Mark E. Geyer. Harcourt, $16.99. Booklist, Kirkus
Watermelon Seed, The. Greg Pizzoli. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. PW, SLJ
What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms, and Blessings. Joyce Sidman, illus. by Pamela Zagarenski. Houghton Mifflin, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
When Lions Roar. Robie H. Harris, illus. by Chris Raschka. Scholastic/Orchard, $16.99. Booklist, PW
When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders. J. Patrick Lewis, illus. by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, et al. Chronicle, $16.99. Booklist, PW
Whole Stupid Way We Are, The. N. Griffin. Atheneum, $16.99. HB, PW
World is Waiting for You, The. Barbara Kerley. National Geographic, $17.95. Kirkus, PW
Yellowcake. Margo Lanagan. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus, PW
Zebra Forest. Adina Rishe Gewirtz. Candlewick, $15.99. PW, SLJ
ONE STAR
“The President Has Been Shot!”: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy. James L. Swanson. Scholastic Press, $18.99. PW
10 Plants That Shook the World. Gillian Richardson, illus. by Kim Rosen. Annick (Firefly, dist.), $24.95. PW
100 Animals on Parade. Masayuki Sebe. Kids Can, $16.95. PW
123 Versus ABC. Mike Boldt. Harper, $17.99. Kirkus
13-Story Treehouse, The. Andy Griffiths, illus. by Terry Denton. Feiwel and Friends, $13.99. PW
17 and Gone. Nova Ren Suma. Dutton, $17.99. BCCB
20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street. Mark Lee, illus. by Kurt Cyrus. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
39 Deaths of Adam Strand, The. Gregory Galloway. Dutton, $17.99 Booklist
Africa Is My Home: A Child of the Amistad. Monica Edinger, illus. by Robert Byrd. Candlewick, $17.99. SLJ
After Iris. Natasha Farrant. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus
Ah Ha! Jeff Mack. Chronicle, $16.99. PW
Akissi: Cat Invasion. Marguerite Abouet, illus. by Mathieu Sapin. Nobrow Press, $14.95. Kirkus
All My Noble Dreams and Then What Happens. Gloria Whelan. S&S/Wiseman, $15.99. PW
All Our Yesterdays. Cristin Terrill. Disney, $17.99. Kirkus
Alone in the Forest. Gita Wolf and Andrea Anastasio, illus. by Bhajju Shyam. Tara Books, $16.95. Kirkus
Also Known As. Robin Benway. Walker, $16.99. Booklist
America’s National Parks: A Pop-Up Book. Don Compton, illus. by Dave Ember; paper engineering by Bruce Foster. W.W. West (Farcountry Press, dist.), $34.95. PW
An Eye for Art: Focusing on Great Artists and Their Work. National Gallery of Art. Chicago Review Press, $19.95. Kirkus
Angel Island. Russell Freedman. Clarion, $17.99. SLJ
Animal Book, The: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest–And Most Surprising–Animals on Earth. Steve Jenkins. HMH, $21.99. Kirkus
Animal Opposites. Petr Horacek. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Animals Upside Down: A Pull, Pop, Lift & Learn Book! Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Houghton, $24.99. PW
Anna Was Here. Jane Kurtz. Greenwillow, $16.99. Kirkus
Annie and Simon: The Sneeze and Other Stories. Catharine O’Neill. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
Antigoddess. Kendare Blake. Tor Teen, $17.99. PW
Apprentices, The. Maile Meloy, illus. by Ian Schoenherr. Putnam, $16.99. PW
Baby Bear Counts One. Ashley Wolff. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99. Kirkus
Backward Glass. David Lomax. Flux, $9.99. Kirkus
Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, and Other Female Villains. Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, illus. by Rebecca Guay. Charlesbridge, $18.95. Booklist
Bag of Marbles, A: The Graphic Novel. Joseph Joffo, adapted by Kris, trans. from French by Edward Gauvin, illus. by Vincent Bailly. Lerner/Graphic Universe, $9.95. PW
Ball. Mary Sullivan. Houghton Mifflin, $12.99. PW
Bang. Leo Timmers. Gecko Press USA (Lerner, dist.), $17.95. PW
Becoming Babe Ruth. Matt Tavares. Candlewick, $16.99. Booklist
Bedtime Math: A Fun Excuse to Stay Up Late. Laura Overdeck, illus. by Jim Paillot. Feiwel and Friends, $14.99. PW
Bedtime Monsters. Josh Schneider. Clarion, $16.99. PW
Being Henry David. Cal Armistead. Albert Whitman, $16.99. Kirkus
Below. Meg McKinley. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Ben Rides On. Matt Davies. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Kirkus
Better Nate Than Ever. Tim Federle. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. PW
Better to Wish. Ann M. Martin. Scholastic, $16.99. PW
Betty Bunny Didn’t Do It. Michael B. Kaplan, illus. by Stéphane Jorisch. Dial, $16.99. PW
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. April Genevieve Tucholke. Dial, $17.99. SLJ
Beyond the Solar System: Exploring Galaxies, Black Holes, Alien Planets, and More: A History with 21 Activities. Mary Kay Carson. Chicago Review, $18.95. Booklist
Big Bad Wolf Goes on Vacation, The. Delphine Perret. Sterling, $12.95. Kirkus
Big Bear’s Big Boat. Eve Bunting, illus. by Nancy Carpenter. Clarion, $12.99. Kirkus
Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever. Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illus. by Tony Fucile. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Binny for Short. Hilary McKay, illus. by Micah Player. S&S/McElderry, $16.99. PW
Black and Bittern Was Night. Robert Heidbreder, illus. by John Martz. Kids Can, $16.95. PW
Blackout. Robison Wells. HarperTeen, $17.99. PW
Blessing Cup, The. Patricia Polacco. S&S/Wiseman, $17.99. Kirkus
Bo at Ballard Creek. Kirkpatrick Hill, illus. by LeUyen Pham. Holt, $15.99. HB
Bobo the Sailor Man! Eileen Rosenthal, illus. by Marc Rosenthal. S&S/Atheneum, $15.99 PW
Bogart and Vinnie: A Completely Made-Up Story of True Friendship. Audrey Vernick, illus. by Henry Cole. Walker, $16.99. PW
Bones Never Lie: How Forensics Helps Solve History’s Mysteries. Elizabeth MacLeod. Annick, $24.95 hc, $14.95 pb. Kirkus
Book of Lost Things, The (Mister Max 1). Cynthia Voigt. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus
Boris on the Move. Andrew Joyner. Branches, $4.99. Kirkus
Box of Gargoyles, A. Anne Nesbet. HarperCollins, $16.99. Kirkus
Boy Nobody. Allen Zadoff. Little, Brown, $18. PW
Boy on the Bridge, The. Natalie Standiford. Scholastic, $17.99. PW
Boy on the Porch, The. Sharon Creech. HarperCollins, $16.99. Kirkus
Boy Who Swam With Piranhas, The. David Almond, illus. by Oliver Jeffers. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
Brief Thief. Michaël Escoffier. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $16.95. PW
Brown v. Board of Education. David Aretha. Morgan Reynolds, $28.95. Booklist
Bruised. Sarah Skilton. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95. PW
Bunnies on Ice. Joanna Wright. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99. SLJ
Burning Sky, The. Sherry Thomas. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. PW
Butterfly Colors and Counting. Jerry Pallotta, illus. by Shennen Bersani. Charlesbridge, $5.95. Kirkus
Bye-Bye Baby Brother! Sheena Dempsey. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
Caged Graves, The. Dianne K. Salerni. Clarion, $16.99. SLJ
Call of the Klondike: A True Gold Rush Adventure. David Meissner and Kim Richardson. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek, $16.95. Kirkus
Captain Cat. Inga Moore. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Carnivores. Aaron Reynolds, illus. by Dan Santat. Chronicle, $16.99. PW
Case of the Team Spirit, The. John Allison. Oni (Diamond, dist.), $19.99 paper. PW
Case of the Vanishing Honeybees, The: A Scientific Mystery. Sandra Markle. Millbrook, $29.27. SLJ
Catch Rider. Jennifer H. Lyne. Clarion, $16.99. Kirkus
Cats of Tanglewood Forest, The. Charles de Lint, illus. by Charles Vess. Little, Brown, $17.99. PW
Cheetah Can’t Lose. Bob Shea. HarperTeen, $17.99. Kirkus
Cherry Money Baby. John M. Cusick. Candlewick, $16.99. PW
Chickens Build a Wall, The. Jean-François Dumont. Eerdmans, $16. PW
Chop Chop: The Kids’ Guide to Cooking Real Food with Your Family. Sally Sampson, photos by Carl Tremblay. Simon & Schuster, $19.99. SLJ
Christmas Cat, The. Maryann Macdonald, illus. by Amy Bates. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus
Christmas Wish, The. Lori Evert, photos by Per Breiehagen. Random House, $17.99. Kirkus
Chu’s Day. Neil Gaiman, illus. by Adam Rex. Harper, $17.99. PW
City of a Thousand Dolls. Miriam Forster. HarperTeen, $17.99. PW
Click, Clack, Boo! A Tricky Treat. Doreen Cronin, illus. by Betsy Lewin. S&S/Atheneum, $16.99. PW
Come Back, Ben. Ann Hassett and John Hassett. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
Corr Syl the Warrior. Garry Rogers. Createspace, $14.95 pb. Kirkus
Counterfeit Family Tree of Vee Crawford-Wong, The. L. Tam Holland. Simon & Schuster, $17.99. Kirkus
Cowboy Boyd and Mighty Calliope. Lisa Moser, illus. by Sebastiaan Van Doninck. Random House, $17.99. Kirkus
Cowpoke Clyde and Dirty Dawg. Lori Mortensen, illus. by Michael Allen Austin. Clarion, $16.99. Kirkus
Crash and Burn. Michael Hassan. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $18.99. Booklist
Criminal. Terra Elan McVoy. Simon Pulse, $16.99. PW
Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass). Sarah J. Maas. Bloomsbury, $17.99. Kirkus
Curtsies & Conspiracies. Gail Carriger. Little, Brown, $17.99. Booklist
Cydonian Pyramid, The (Klaatu Diskos 02). Pete Hautman. Candlewick, $16.99. Kirkus
Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy. Elizabeth Kiem. Soho, $17.99. Booklist
Dash of Magic, A. Kathryn Littlewood. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99. Kirkus
Dear Life, You Suck. Scott Blagden. Harcourt, $17.99. SLJ
Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia. Jenny Torres Sanchez. Running Press, $9.95. Kirkus
Deer Watch, The. Pat Lowery Collins, illus. by David Slonim. Candlewick, $15.99. Booklist
Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic. Mark Tatulli. Andrews McMeel, $13.99. Kirkus
Diggers Are Coming, The! Susan Steggall. Frances Lincoln, $17.99. Kirkus
Diggers Go. Steve Light. Chronicle, $9.99. PW
Dinosaur Kisses. David Ezra Stein. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Dirty Gert. Tedd Arnold. Holiday House, $16.95. Kirkus
Don’t Say a Word, Mami / No Digas Nada, Mami. Joe Hayes, illus. by Esau Andrade Valencia. Cinco Puntos, $17.95 hc, $8.95 pb. Kirkus
Don’t Spill the Milk! Stephen Davies. illus. by Christopher Corr. Andersen Press USA (Lerner, dist.), $16.95. Kirkus
Dorko the Magnificent. Andrea Beaty, illus. by Nathan Hale. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95. SLJ
Dozens of Cousins. Shutta Crum, illus. by David Catrow. Clarion, $16.99. PW
Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets. Evan Roskos. Houghton Mifflin, $16.99. Kirkus
Dr. Radway’s Sarsaparilla Resolvent. Beth Kephart, illus. by William Sulit. Temple University, $15.95. Kirkus
Dream Friends. You Byun. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99. PW
Duke. Kirby Larson. Scholastic, $16.99. Kirkus
East of the Sun, West of the Moon. Jackie Morris. Frances Lincoln, $14.99. Kirkus
Eat Up, Little Donkey. Rindert Kromhout, illus. by Annemarie Haeringen. Gecko Press, $14.95. Kirkus
Elite Infantry (Shadow Squadron). Carl Bowen, illus. by Wilson Tortosa. Capstone, $8.95. Kirkus
Empty Fridge. Gaëtan Dorémus. Wilkins Farago (IPG/Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $19.99. PW
Enchanter Heir, The (Heir Chronicles 4). Cinda Williams Chima. Disney-Hyperion, $18.99. Kirkus
End Games, The. Michael T. Martin. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. Booklist
Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother: Adapted for Young People. Sonia Nazario. Delacorte, $16.99. Kirkus
Escape from Eden. Elisa Nader. Merit Press, $17.95. Kirkus
Escape Theory. Margaux Froley. Soho Teen, $17.99. PW
Fearless. Cornelia Funke. Little, Brown, $19.99. Kirkus
Fifteenth Summer. Michelle Dalton. Simon Pulse, hc $17.99, pb $9.99. Kirkus
Final Descent, The. Rick Yancey. Simon & Schuster, $18.99. Booklist
Fire Horse Girl, The. Kay Honeyman. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99. Booklist
First Big Book of the Ocean. Catherine D. Hughes. National Geographic, $14.95. Kirkus
Flight 1-2-3. Maria van Lieshout. Chronicle, $14.99. PW
Flo & Wendell. William Wegman. Dial, $16.99. PW
Fog Island. Tomi Ungerer. Phaidon, $16.95. PW
Follow Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems. Marilyn Singer, illus. by Josée Masse. Dial, $16.99. PW
Follow Your Money: Who Gets It, Who Spends It, Where Does It Go? Kevin Sylvester and Michael Hlinka. Annick, $14.95. Kirkus
Formerly Shark Girl. Kelly Bingham. Candlewick, $16.99. Kirkus
Foul Trouble. John Feinstein. Knopf, $16.99. Booklist
Fourth Down and Inches: Concussions and Football’s Make-Or-Break Moment. Carla Killough McClafferty. Carolrhoda, $20.95. PW
Fox Forever. Mary E. Pearson. Holt, $17.99. PW
Fox Forgets. Suzanne Bloom. Boyds Mills, $16.95. Kirkus
Foxy! Jessica Souhami. Frances Lincoln, $17.99. Kirkus
Fraidyzoo. Thyra Heder. Abrams, $16.95. Kirkus
Freakboy. Kristin Elizabeth Clark. FSG, $18.99. Kirkus
Frequently Asked Questions About Growing Up as an Undocumented Immigrant. Lisa McCormich. Rosen. $31.95. Booklist
Frequently Asked Questions About Skin Cancer. John M. Shea. Rosen. $31.95. Booklist
Frequently Asked Questions About Slander and Libel in the Digital Age. Molly Jones. Rosen. $31.95. Booklist
Frequently Asked Questions About Texting, Sexting, and Flaming. Rebecca T. Klein. Rosen. $31.95. Booklist
Friday Never Leaving. Vikki Wakefield. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Kirkus
Friends. Mies van Hout. Lemniscaat USA, $17.95. PW
Frog Trouble… And Eleven Other Pretty Serious Songs. Sandra Boynton. Workman, $16.95. PW
From Mud Huts to Skyscrapers. Christine Paxmann, trans. from German by Cynthia Hall, illus. by Anne Ibelings. Prestel, $19.95. SLJ
From Norvelt to Nowhere. Jack Gantos. FSG, $16.99. PW
Funny Little Bird, A. Jennifer Yerkes. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, $15.99. Kirkus
Furious. Jill Wolfson. Holt, $17.99. Booklist
Game On! (Squish #5). Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm. Random, $6.99. Kirkus
Game. Barry Lyga. Little, Brown, $17.99. Booklist
Gandhi: The March to the Sea. Alice B. McGinty, illus. by Thomas Gonzalez. Amazon, $17.95. SLJ
Garden of My Imaan, The. Farhana Zia. Peachtree, $15.95. PW
Gated. Amy Christine Parker. Random House, $17.99. Kirkus
Get Into Art! Animals: Enjoy Great Art—Then Create Your Own! Susie Brooks. Kingfisher, $12.99. Booklist
Giant Dance Party. Betsy Bird, illus. by Brandon Dorman. Greenwillow, $17.99. Kirkus
Gingersnap. Patricia Reilly Giff. Random House/Lamb, $15.99. Kirkus
Girl Called Problem, A. Katie Quirk. Eerdmans, $8 paperback Kirkus
Girl of the Wish Garden, The: A Thumbelina Story. Uma Krishnaswami, illus. by Nasrin Khosravi. Groundwood, $17.95. Kirkus
Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, The. Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Juan. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. Kirkus
Giving Thanks: Poems, Prayers, and Praise Songs of Thanksgiving. Katherine Paterson, illus. by Pamela Dalton. Chronicle/Handprint, $18.99. PW
Global Baby Girls. Global Fund for Children. Charlesbridge, $6.95 board book. Kirkus
God Got a Dog. Cynthia Rylant, illus. by Marla Frazee. S&S/Beach Lane, $17.99. Kirkus
Golden. Jessi Kirby. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Booklist
Golden Girl (American Fairy 2). Sarah Zettel. Random House, $20.99. Kirkus
Gone Fishing. Tamera Will Wissinger, illus. by Matthew Cordell. HMH, $15.99. SLJ
Good Night, Sleep Tight. Mem Fox, illus. by Judy Horacek. Orchard, $16.99. Kirkus
Good Night! Benoit Marchon, illus. by Soledad Bravi. HMH, $7.99. PW
Good Trade, A. Alma Fullerton, illus. by Karen Patkau. Pajama Press (dist. by Orca), $19.95. Kirkus
Gorgeous. Paul Rudnick. Scholastic, $18.99. PW
Great American Dust Bowl, The. Don Brown. HMH, $18.99. Kirkus
Great Lollipop Caper, The. Dan Krall. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. PW
Great Trouble, The: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel. Deborah Hopkinson. Knopf, $16.99. PW
Greatest Dinosaur Ever, The. Brenda Z. Guiberson, illus. by Gennady Spirin. Holt, $17.99. SLJ
Gris Grimly’s Frankenstein. Mary Shelley, illus. by Gris Grimly. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $24.99. PW
Grumpy Goat. Brett Helquist. HarperCollins, $17.99. SLJ
Happy Cat (I Like to Read series). Steve Henry. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. David A. Adler. Holiday House, $18.95. Booklist
Hattie Ever After. Kirby Larson. Delacorte, $16.99. Kirkus
Heartbreak Messenger, The. Alexander Vance. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. SLJ
Hello in There! A Big Sister’s Book of Waiting. Jo Witek, illus. by Christine Roussey. Abrams Appleseed, $16.95. PW
Hello, Mr. Hulot. David Merveille. North-South, $17.95. Kirkus
Henry’s Hand. Ross MacDonald. Abrams, $16.95. Kirkus
Here I Am. Patti Kim, illus. by Sonia Sanchez. Capstone/Picture Window, $27.32. Kirkus
Herman and Rosie. Gus Gordon. Roaring Brook/Porter, $17.99. PW
Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle, The. Christopher Healy. HarperCollins/Walden Pond, $16.99. PW
Hidden Enemy, A (Survivors 02). Erin Hunter. HarperCollins, $16.99. Kirkus
Highway Rat, The. Julia Donaldson, illus. by Axel Scheffler. Scholastic/Levine, $16.99. SLJ
Hippomobile! Jeff Tapia. Clarion, $16.99. Kirkus
Hooked. Liz Fichera. Harlequin Teen, $9.99 pb. Kirkus
Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball. John Coy, illus. by Joe Morse. Carolrhoda, $16.95. HB
How I Became a Ghost: A Choctaw Trail of Tears Story. Tim Tingle. Roadrunner Press, $18.95. Kirkus
How the Meteorite Got to the Museum. Jessie Hartland. Blue Apple, $17.99. Kirkus
How to Hide a Lion. Helen Stephens. Holt, $16.99. Kirkus
I Love You, Nose! I Love You, Toes! Linda Davick. S&S/Beach Lane, $17.99. PW
I Represent Sean Rosen. Jeff Baron. Greenwillow, $16.99. SLJ
I See… Patrick George. IPG (Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $12.99. PW
If I Ever Get Out of Here. Eric Gansworth. Scholastic/Levine, $17.99. Booklist
If You Could Be Mine. Sara Farizan. Algonquin, $16.99. Booklist
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II. Martin W. Sandler. Walker, $22.99. SLJ
Impulse (Jumper, Book 3). Steven Gould. Tor, $25.99. SLJ
In-Between, The. Barbara Stewart. St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99 pb. Kirkus
Infinite Moment of Us, The. Lauren Myracle. Abrams, $17.95. Kirkus
Inhuman. Kat Falls. Scholastic, $17.99. Kirkus
Into That Forest. Louis Nowra. Amazon/Skyscape, $16.99. PW
Invisibility. Andrea Cremer and David Levithan. Philomel, $18.99. PW
Invisible Boy, The. Trudy Ludwig, illus. by Patrice Barton. Knopf, $16.99. SLJ
Itsy Bitsy Spider (Urgency Emergency!). Dosh Archer. Albert Whitman, $12.99. Kirkus
Janie Face to Face. Caroline B. Cooney. Delacorte, $17.99. PW
Joe and Sparky Go to School. Jamie Michalak, illus. by Frank Remkiewicz. Candlewick, $15.99. HB
Just So Stories, vol. 1. Rudyard Kipling, illus. by Ian Wallace. Groundwood, $19.95. Kirkus
Kenta and the Big Wave. Ruth Ohi. Annick, $19.95 hc, $9.95 pb. Kirkus
Kindhearted Crocodile, The. Lucia Panzieri. trans. from Italian by Grace Maccarone, illus. by AntonGionata Ferrari. Holiday House, $16.95. SLJ
Kindness for Weakness. Shawn Goodman. Delacorte, $16.99. SLJ
King for a Day. Rukhsana Khan, illus. by Christiane Kr Mer. Lee & Low, $17.95. Kirkus
King of Little Things, The. Bil Lepp, illus. by David T. Wenzel. Peachtree, $16.95. Kirkus
Kingdom of Little Wounds. Susann Cokal. Candlewick, $22.99. Kirkus
Knit Your Bit: A World War I Story. Deborah Hopkinson, illus. by Steven Guarnaccia. Putnam, $16.99. Booklist
Language Inside, The. Holly Thompson. Delacorte, $17.99. SLJ
Leap of Faith. Jamie Blair. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Kirkus
Left Behind (Jasper John Dooley). Caroline Adderson, illus. by Ben Clanton. Kids Can, $15.95. Kirkus
Leo Geo and the Cosmic Crisis. Jon Chad. Roaring Brook, $16.99. Kirkus
Lightning Dreamer, The. Margarita Engle. Harcourt, $16.99. Booklist
Lily and Taylor. Elise Moser. Groundwood, $16.95. Kirkus
Lincoln’s Grave Robbers. Steve Sheinkin. Scholastic Press, $16.99. PW
Linked. Imogen Howson. Simon & Schuster, $16.99. Booklist
Little Acorn Grows Up. Edward Gibbs. Little, Brown, $8.99. PW
Little Bit of Oomph, A! Barney Saltzberg. Workman, $13.95. PW
Little Mermaid, The. Robert Sabuda. Little Simon, $29.99. PW
Little Mouse. Alison Murray. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. Booklist
Little Naomi, Little Chick. Avirama Golan, illus. by Raaya Karas. Eerdmans, $17. Kirkus
Little Red Lies. Julie Johnston. Tundra, $19.95 Kirkus
Little You. Richard Van Camp, illus. by Julie Flett. Orca, $9.95. PW
Long, Long Journey, The: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration. Sandra Markle, illus. by Mia Posada. Millbrook, $26.60. SLJ
Long, Long Line, The. Tomoko Ohmura. Owlkids, $16.95. Kirkus
Longest Night, The: A Passover Story. Laurel Snyder, illus. by Catia Chien. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. PW
Look! Ted Lewin. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
Lost in Petra. Melissa Mahle and Kathryn Dennis. SpyGirls Press, $8.99. PW
Loula is Leaving for Africa. Anne Villeneuve. Kids Can, $16.95. Kirkus
Love in the Time of Global Warming. Francesca Lia Block. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99. PW
Lulu and the Dog from the Sea (Lulu, Book 2). Hilary McKay, illus. by Priscilla Lamont. Albert Whitman, $13.99. SLJ
Mad Potter, The: George E. Ohr, Eccentric Genius. Jan Greenberg, illus. by Sandra Jordan. Roaring Brook/Porter, $17.99. SLJ
Madman’s Daughter, The. Megan Shepherd. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. SLJ
Magic Marks the Spot. Caroline Carlson, illus. by Dave Phillips. Harper, $16.99. PW
Man with the Violin, The. Kathy Stinson, illus. by Dusan Petricic. Annick, $19.95. Kirkus
Marc Brown’s Playtime Rhymes: A Treasury for Families to Learn and Play Together. Marc Brown. Little, Brown, $18. PW
Martin & Mahalia. Andrea Davis Pinkney, illus. by Brian Pinkney. Little, Brown, $17.99. SLJ
Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1963 March on Washington. David Aretha. Morgan Reynolds, $28.95. Booklist
Masha and the Bear: A Story from Russia (Animal Stories 4). Lari Don, illus. by Melanie Williamson. Barefoot, $7.99 pb. Kirkus
Master George’s People: George Washington, His Slaves, and His Revolutionary Transformation. Marfe Ferguson Delano. National Geographic, $18.95. Booklist
Maude: The Not-So-Noticeable Shrimpton. Lauren Child, illus. by Trisha Krauss. Candlewick, $16.99. PW
Me Too! Valeri Gorbachev. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
Meet Me at the River. Nina de Gramont. Atheneum, $17.99. Kirkus
Missing Mommy: A Book About Bereavement. Rebecca Cobb. Holt, $16.99. Kirkus
Mister Orange. Truus Matti, trans. by Laura Watkinson, illus. by Jenni Desmond. Enchanted Lion, $16.95. Booklist
Mister Whistler. Margaret Mahy, illus. by Gavin Bishop. Gecko, $18.95. PW
Mitchell Goes Bowling. Hallie Durand, illus. by Tony Fucile. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
Mo’s Mustache. Ben Clanton. Tundra, $17.95. Kirkus
Mojo. Tim Tharp. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus
Moment Comes, A. Jennifer Bradbury. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus
Mommy! Mommy! Taro Gomi. Chronicle, $6.99. PW
Monster on the Hill. Rob Harrell. Top Shelf, $19.95. Kirkus
Moo! David Larochelle, illus. by Mike Wohnoutka. Walker, $16.99. SLJ
Moon and More, The. Sarah Dessen. Viking, $19.99. PW
Moonday. Adam Rex. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. Kirkus
Moose That Says Moo, A. Jennifer Hamburg, illus. by Sue Truesdell. FSG, $16.99. Kirkus
Mountain Dog. Margarita Engle, illus. by Aleksey and Olga Ivanov. Holt, $16.99. Kirkus
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. Tracy Kidder, adapted by Michael French. Delacorte, $16.99. Kirkus
Mrs. Noodlekugel and Four Blind Mice. Daniel Pinkwater, illus. by Adam Stower. Candlewick, $14.99. PW
Murilla Gorilla: Jungle Detective. Jennifer Lloyd, illus. by Jacqui Lee. Simply Read, $9.95. PW
Musk Ox Counts. Erin Cabatingan, illus. by Matthew Myers. Roaring Brook/Porter, $16.99 PW
My Basmati Bat Mitzvah. Paula J. Freedman. Abrams/Amulet, $16.95. Kirkus
My Beautiful Hippie. Janet Nichols Lynch. Holiday House, $16.95. Kirkus
My First Day. Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. HMH. SLJ
My Grandpa. Marta Altes. Abrams, $15.95. Kirkus
My Name is Blessing. Eric Walters, illus. by Eugenie Fernandes. Tundra, $17.95. Kirkus
My Neighbor is a Dog. Isabel Minhus Martins, illus. by Madalena Matoso. Owlkids, $16.95. Kirkus
Mysterious Traveler. Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham, illus. by PJ Lynch. Candlewick, $15.99. Kirkus
Mystery of Darwin’s Frog, The. Marty Crump, illus. by Steve Jenkins. Boyds Mills, $16.95. SLJ
Nantucket Blue. Leila Howland. Hyperion, $16.99. PW
Natural World, The: The World in Infographics. Jon Richards and Ed Simkins. Owlkids, $16.95. PW
Never Ever. Jo Empson. Child’s Play, $16.99. Kirkus
Night Before Christmas, The. Clement C. Moore, illus. by Holly Hobbie. Little, Brown, $18. Kirkus
No Bath, No Cake! Polly’s Pirate Party. Matthias Weinert, trans. from German by David Henry Wilson. North-South, $16.95. PW
No Fits, Nilson! Zachariah OHora. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus
No Monkeys, No Chocolate. Melissa Stewart and Allen Young, illus. by Nicole Wong. Charlesbridge, $16.95. Kirkus
Noisy Book, The. Soledad Bravi. Gecko (Lerner, dist), $15.95. PW
Northwest Passage. Stan Rogers, illus. by Matt James. Groundwood, $24.95. Kirkus
Not a Chance. Michelle Mulder. Orca, $9.95 pb. Kirkus
Nowhere to Run. Claire J. Griffin. Namelos, $18.95. Kirkus
Obsidian Mirror. Catherine Fisher. Dial, $17.99. BCCB
Odette’s Secrets. Maryan Macdonald. Bloomsbury, $16.99. Kirkus
Off We Go! (Bear and Mole). Will Hillenbrand. Holiday House, $16.95. Kirkus
Oh So Tiny Bunny. David Kirk. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. Kirkus
Ol’ Mama Squirrel. David Ezra Stein. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99. PW
Oliver and His Alligator. Paul Schmid. Disney, $15.99. Kirkus
Opposites. Xavier Deneux. Chronicle/Handprint, $14.99. PW
Originals, The. Cat Patrick. Little, Brown, $17.99. PW
Orleans. Sherri L. Smith. Putnam, $17.99. Booklist
Outcast Oracle, The. Laury A. Egan. Humanist Press, $10.99 pb. Kirkus
Outfoxed. Mike Twohy. Simon & Schuster/Wiseman, $15.99. SLJ
Outside, The. Laura Bickle. HMH, $16.99. Kirkus
Palace of Spies. Sarah Zettel. HMH, $16.99. Kirkus
Papa’s Mechanical Fish. Candace Fleming, illus. by Boris Kulikov. FSG/Ferguson, $16.99. SLJ
Paper Son: Lee’s Journey to America. Helen Foster James and Virginia Shin-Mui Loh, illus. by Wilson Ong. Sleeping Bear, $16.99. Booklist
Paper Valentine. Brenna Yovanoff. Razorbill, $17.99. PW
Parched. Melanie Crowder. HMH, $15.99. BCCB
Path of Names, The. Ari Goelman. Scholastic, $16.99. Booklist
Paul Thurlby’s Wildlife. Paul Thurlby. Templar, $24.25. Kirkus
Peace. Wendy Anderson Halperin. Atheneum, $17.99. SLJ
Peanut and Fifi Have a Ball. Randall de Sève, illus. by Paul Schmid. Dial, $15.99. SLJ
Peekaboo! Taro Gomi. Chronicle, $6.99 board book. Kirkus
Penguin Problems. Lauren Myracle, illus. by Jed Henry. Dutton, $12.99. PW
Perfectly Percy. Paul Schmid. HarperCollins, $17.99. SLJ
Permanent Record. Leslie Stella. Amazon, $17.99. PW
Pet Named Sneaker, A. Joan Heilbroner, illus. by Pascal Lemaitre. Random, $8.99. PW
Pete Won’t Eat. Emily Arnold McCully. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
Petey and Pru and the Hullabaloo. Ammi-Joan Paquette, illus. by Joy Ang. Clarion, $16.99. Kirkus
Pi in the Sky. Wendy Mass. Little, Brown, $17. PW
Pinwheel. Salina Yoon. LB Kids, $12.99. PW
Pirate’s Guide to Recess. James Preller, illus. by Greg Ruth. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. PW
Pirates on the Farm. Denette Fretz, illus. by Gene Barretta. Zonderkidz, $12.99. PW
Pivot Point. Kasie West. HarperTeen, $17.99. PW
Planet Ark: Preserving Earth’s Biodiversity. Adrienne Mason, illus. by Margot Thompson. Kids Can, $18.95. PW
Poseidon: Earth Shaker (Olympians, Book 5). George O’Connor. First Second, $16.99. SLJ
Princess of Cortova, The. Diane Stanley. Harper, $16.99. Booklist
Princess Posey and the Christmas Magic. Stephanie Greene, illus. by Stephanie Roth Sisson. Putnam, $13.99. Kirkus
Princess Tales: Once Upon a Time in Rhyme with Seek-and-Find Pictures. Grace Maccarone, illus. by Gail de Marcken. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. PW
Prodigy. Marie Lu. Putnam, $17.99. PW
Promise Me Something. Sara Kocek. Albert Whitman, $16.99. Kirkus
Quarantine: The Saints. Thomas Lex. Egmont, $17.99. Booklist
Radium Baby. St. John Karp. Remora House, $9.99 pb. Kirkus
Rain! Linda Ashman, illus. by Christian Robinson. HMH, $16.99. Kirkus
Rainbow Shoes. Tiffany Stone, illus. by Stefan Czernecki. Tradewind, $14.95. Kirkus
Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing. Leonard S. Marcus. FSG/Foster, $24.99. PW
Rapture Practice. Aaron Hartzler. Little, Brown, $17.99. Kirkus
Red Hat. Lita Judge. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus
Red River Stallion. Troon Harrison. Bloomsbury, $16.99. Kirkus
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen. Lucy Knisley. First Second, $17.99. PW
Requiem (Delirium 3). Lauren Oliver. HarperCollins, $18.99. Kirkus
Revenge of a Not-So-Pretty Girl. Carolita Blythe. Delacorte, $16.99. Kirkus
Revolutionary Friends: General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. Selene Castroville, illus. by Drazen Kozjan. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek, $16.95. Booklist
Rifka Takes a Bow. Betty Rosenberg Perlov, illus. by Cosei Kawa. Kar-Ben, $7.95 pb. Kirkus
Rise of a Legend (Guardians of Ga’Hoole). Kathryn Lasky. Scholastic, $16.99. Kirkus
Road Trip. Gary Paulsen and Jim Paulsen. Random/Lamb, $12.99. PW
Robot, Go Bot! Dana Meachen Rau, illus. by Wook Jin Jung. Random House, $3.99. Kirkus
Romeo and Juliet. Gareth Hinds. Candlewick, $21.99 hc, $12.99 pb. Kirkus
Rosie’s Magic Horse. Russell Hoban, illus. by Quentin Blake. Candlewick, $15.99. PW
Rotten Pumpkin: A Rotten Tale in 15 Voices. David M. Schwartz, photos by Dwight Kuhn. Creston, $16.99. Kirkus
Round is a Tortilla. Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illus. by John Parra. Chronicle, $16.99. SLJ
Ruining, The. Anna Collomore. Razorbill, $17.99. Kirkus
Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin. Liesl Shurtliff. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus
Santa Claus and the Three Bears. Maria Modugno, illus. by Jane Dyer and Brooke Dyer. HarperCollins, $17.99. Kirkus
Sasquatch in the Paint. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Raymond Obstfeld. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99 Kirkus
Saturday Boy, The. David Fleming. Viking, $16.99. BCCB
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How Do We Know What Dinosaurs Really Looked Like? Catherine Thimmesh. HMH, $17.99. HB
Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Halloween: A Safety Guide for Scaredies. Mélanie Watt. Kids Can, $17.95. PW
Season of the Witch. Mariah Fredericks. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $16.99. PW
Secret Pizza Party. Adam Rubin, illus. by Daniel Salmieri. Dial, $16.99. SLJ
Secret Pool. Kimberley Ridley, illus. by Rebekah Raye. Tilbury House, $16.95. Kirkus
See Me Dig. Paul Meisel. Holiday House, $14.95. Kirkus
See What a Seal Can Do. Chris Butterworth, illus. by Kate Nelms. Candlewick, $14.99. SLJ
Serafina’s Promise. Ann E. Burg. Scholastic, $16.99. Kirkus
Shadowlark. Meagan Spooner. Carolrhoda/Lab, $17.95. Booklist
Sidekicked. John David Anderson. HarperCollins/Walden Pond, $16.99. PW
Silver Moon, The: Lullabies and Cradle Songs. Jack Prelutsky, illus. by Jui Ishida. Greenwillow, $17.99. PW
Sing. Joe Raposo, illus. by Tom Lichtenheld. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99. SLJ
Sketchy. Olivia Samms. Amazon, $16.99. PW
Skull in the Rock, The: How a Scientist, a Boy, and Google Earth Opened a New Window on Human Origins. Lee R. Berger and Marc Aronson. National Geographic, $18.95. Kirkus
Sleepwalkers, The. Viviane Schwarz. Candlewick, $9.99. Booklist
Sneaky Art: Crafty Surprises to Hide in Plain Sight. Marthe Jocelyn. Candlewick, $12.99. Booklist
Snow Queen, The. Hans Christian Andersen, illus. by Bagram Ibatoulline. HarperCollins, $17.99. Kirkus
Soldier Dog. Sam Angus. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99. SLJ
Some Quiet Place. Kelsey Sutton. Flux, $9.99 pb. Kirkus
Something Big. Sylvie Neeman, trans. from French by Claudia Zoe Bedrick, illus. by Ingrid Godon. Enchanted Lion (Consortium, dist.), $16.95. PW
Something to Prove: The Great Satchel Paige vs. Rookie Joe Dimaggio. Robert Skead, illus. by Floyd Cooper. Carolrhoda, $16.95. Kirkus
Son of Fortune. Victoria McKernan. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus
Song of the Quarkbeast. Jasper Fforde. Harcourt, $16.99. PW
Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away, The. Frances O’Roark Dowell. Atheneum, $16.99. Kirkus
Spelling Trouble (Misadventures of Salem Hyde 1). Frank Cammuso. Abrams/Amulet, $6.95 pb. Kirkus
Spike: Ugliest Dog in the Universe. Debra Frasier. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99. Kirkus
Splintered. A.G. Howard. Abrams/Amulet, $17.95. BCCB
Spooky Box, The. Mark Gonyea. Holt, $14.99. PW
Spooky Friends. Jane Feder, illus. by Julie Downing. Scholastic, $16.99 hc, $3.99 pb. Kirkus
Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems. Jack Prelutsky, illus. by Carin Berger. Greenwillow, $17.99. PW
Starglass. Phoebe North. Simon & Schuster, $17.99. PW
Starring Jules (as Herself). Beth Ain, illus. by Anne Keenan Higgins. Scholastic, $14.99. PW
Steadfast Tin Soldier, The. Cynthia Rylant, illus. by Jen Corace. Abrams, $17.95. PW
Steelheart. Brandon Sanderson. Delacorte, $18.99. Booklist
Stellarella! It’s Saturday! Deborah W. Dykes, illus. by Christina Mattison Ebert-Klaven. Maine Authors Publishing, $15.95. PW
Still Star-Crossed. Melinda Taub. Delacorte, $16.99. Kirkus
Story of Fish & Snail, The. Deborah Freedman. Viking, $16.99. Kirkus
Strega Nona Does It Again. Tomie dePaola. Penguin/Paulsen, $17.99. PW
Stronger Than Steel: Spider Silk DNA and the Quest for Better Bulletproof Vests, Sutures, and Parachute Rope. Bridget Heos, photos by Andy Comins. HMH, $18.99 PW
Stung. Bethany Wiggins. Walker, $17.99. Kirkus
Sugar. Jewell Parker Rhodes. Little, Brown, $16.99. Kirkus
Super Schnoz and the Gates of Smell. Gary Urey, illus. by Ethan Long. Albert Whitman, $14.99. Kirkus
Superhero Joe and the Creature Next Door. Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman. S&S/Wiseman, $16.99. Kirkus
Sylo. D.J. MacHale. Razorbill, $17.99. Kirkus
Table Sets Itself, The. Ben Clanton. Walker, $16.99. Kirkus
Ten Orange Pumpkins: A Counting Book. Stephen Savage. Dial, $16.99. PW
Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, The. John Boyne, illus. by Oliver Jeffers. Knopf, $16.99. PW
Testing, The. Joelle Charbonneau. Houghton Mifflin, $17.99. PW
Texting the Underworld. Ellen Booraem. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus
There, There. Sam McBratney, illus. by Ivan Bates. Candlewick/Templar, $15.99. PW
Thin Space. Jody Casella. Simon Pulse/Beyond Words, $16.99 hc, $9.99 pb. Kirkus
This Is Our House. Hyewon Yum. FSG, $16.99. Kirkus
This Journal Belongs to Ratchet. Nancy J. Cavanaugh. Sourcebooks, $12.99. Kirkus
Thor: The Viking God of Thunder (Myths and Legends). Graeme Davis. Miguel Coimbra. Osprey, $17.95 pb. Kirkus
Thumpy Feet. Betsy Lewin. Holiday House, $16.95. Kirkus
Thunderstorm. Arthur Geisert. Enchanted Lion, $17.95. Kirkus
Tides. Betsy Cornwell. Clarion, $16.99. PW
Time Fetch, The. Amy Herrick. Algonquin, $16.95. SLJ
Tiny Mouse, The. Janis Ian, illus. by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert. Lemniscaat USA, $19.95. Kirkus
Toilet: How It Works (My Readers 3). David Macaulay with Sheila Keenan. David Macaulay Studio, $3.99. Kirkus
Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just Right. Caroline Arnold, illus. by Annie Patterson. Charlesbridge, $7.95 pb. Kirkus
Tragedy Paper, The. Elizabeth LaBan. Knopf, $17.99. Booklist
Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-Up Universe. Matthew Reinhart, illus. by Emiliano Santalucia. Little, Brown, $37. PW
Treasure on Superstition Mountain. Elise Broach, illus. by Antonio Javier Caparo. Holt/Ottaviano, $15.99. PW
Treasury of Egyptian Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Monsters & Mortals. Donna Jo Napoli, illus. by Christina Balit. National Geographic, $24.95. Kirkus
Tree Lady, The: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever. H. Joseph Hopkins, illus. by Jill McElmurry. S&S/Beach Lane, $16.99. Booklist
Trick of the Light, A. Lois Metzger. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99. PW
Trinkets. Kirsten Smith. Little, Brown, $17.99. PW
Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, A. Frank Viva. Toon, $12.95. SLJ
Truth of Me, The. Patricia MacLachlan. HarperCollins/Tegen, $16.99. PW
Twelve Days of Christmas, The. Susan Jeffers. HarperCollins, $17.99. Kirkus
Twelve-Fingered Boy, The. John Hornor Jacobs. Carolrhoda/Lab, $17.95. Booklist
Twenty-Six Pirates: An Alphabet Book. David Horowitz. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99. Kirkus
Twistrose Key, The. Tone Almhjell, illus. by Ian Schoenherr. Dial, $16.99. Kirkus
Typewriter Girl, The. Alison Atlee. S&S/Gallery, $15. PW
Unhooking the Moon. Gregory Hughes. Quercus, $16.95. Kirkus
Unnatural Creatures. Ed. by Neil Gaiman with Maria Dahvana Headley. Harper, $17.99. PW
Unthinkable. Nancy Werlin. Dial, $17.99. Booklist
Up Close. Gay Wegerif. Abrams Appleseed, $12.95. PW
Vacation for Pooch, A. Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Holt, $16.99. Kirkus
Very Fairy Princess Sparkles in the Snow, The. Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton, illus. by Christine Davenier. Little, Brown, $18. Kirkus
Very Inappropriate Word, The. Jim Tobin, illus. by Dave Coverly. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99. PW
VIII. H.M. Castor. Simon & Schuster, $17.99. BCCB
Vine Basket, The. Josanne La Valley. Clarion, $16.99. SLJ
Vortex. S.J. Kincaid. HarperCollins/Tegen, $17.99. Kirkus
Want to Be in a Band? Suzzy Roche, illus. by Giselle Potter. Random/Schwartz & Wade, $17.99. PW
War Dogs: Churchill and Rufus. Kathryn Selbert. Charlesbridge, $17.95. Kirkus
War Within These Walls, The. Aline Sax, illus. by Caryl Strzelecki. Eerdmans, $17. Kirkus
Water Castle, The. Megan Frazer Blakemore. Walker and Co,. $16.99. Kirkus
We Go Together! A Curious Selection of Affectionate Verse. Calef Brown. Houghton Mifflin, $9.99. PW
Wee Rhymes: Baby’s First Poetry Book. Jane Yolen. Illustrated by Jane Dyer. S&S/Wiseman, $19.99. PW
Weight of Water, The. Sarah Crossan. Bloomsbury, $16.99. PW
Weird Sea Creatures. Erich Hoyt. Firefly, $19.95 hc., $9,95 pb. SLJ
Welcome to Mamoko. Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski. Big Picture Press, $17.99. Kirkus
Wells Bequest, The: A Companion to the Grimm Legacy. Polly Shulman. Penguin/Paulsen, $16.99. Kirkus
What a Party! Ana Maria Machado, illus. by Helene Moreau, trans. by Elisa Arnado. Groundwood, $18.95. Kirkus
What Floats in a Moat? Lynne Berry, illus. by Matthew Cordell. Simon & Schuster, $17.99. PW
What I Came to Tell You. Tommy Hays. Egmont USA, $15.99. PW
What Makes a Baby. Cory Silverberg, illus. by Fiona Smyth. Triangle Square, $16.95. Kirkus
Whatnot, The. Stefan Bachmann. Greenwillow, $16.99. PW
When I Was Eight. Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, illus. by Gabrielle Grimard. Annick, $21.95 hc, $9.95 pb. Kirkus
When No One Is Watching. Eileen Spinelli, illus. by David A. Johnson. Eerdmans, $16. SLJ
When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop. Laban Carrick Hill, illus. by Theodore Taylor. Roaring Brook, $17.99. Kirkus
When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears (Goblin Wars 3). Kersten Hamilton. Clarion, $16.99. Kirkus
When We Wake. Karen Healey. Little, Brown, $17.99. Kirkus
Where Do We Go When We Disappear? Isabel Minhos Martins, illus. by Madalena Matoso. Tate Publishing, $14.95. Kirkus
Where My Wellies Take Me. Michael Morpurgo and Clare Morpurgo, illus. by Olivia Lomenech Gill. Templar, $29.99. Kirkus
Which is Round? Which is Bigger? Mineko Mamada. Kids Can, $16.95. Booklist
Whiskers, Tails, & Wings: Animal Folk Tales from Mexico. Judy Goldman, illus. by Fabricio VandenBroeck. Charlesbridge, $16.95. Kirkus
White Fur Flying. Patricia MacLachlan. S&S/McElderry, $15.99. Kirkus
Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors? The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell. Tanya Lee Stone, illus. by Marjorie Priceman. Holt/Ottaviano, $16.99. Booklist
Who’s Hiding? Sebastien Braun. Candlewick, $6.99 board book. Kirkus
Why Do We Fight? Conflict, War, and Peace. Niki Walker. Owlkids, $16.95 PW
Wicked Cruel. Rich Wallace. Knopf, $16.99. Kirkus
Wig in the Window, The. Kristen Kittscher. HarperCollins/Harper, $16.99. SLJ
Will & Whit. Laura Lee Gulledge. Abrams/Amulet, $12.95. Kirkus
Windblown. Édouard Manceau, trans. from French by Sarah Quinn. Owlkids, $16.95. PW
Winter Is for Snow. Robert Neubecker. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. PW
Wise Young Fool. Sean Beaudoin. Little, Brown, $18. Booklist
With a Mighty Hand: The Story in the Torah. Amy Ehrlich, illus. by Daniel Nevins. Candlewick, $29.99. Kirkus
Words with Wings. Nikki Grimes. Boyds Mills/Wordsong, $15.95. Kirkus
Wrap-Up List. Steven Arntson. HMH, $15.99. Kirkus
Year of the Baby, The. Andrea Cheng, illus. by Patrice Barton. HMH, $15.99. SLJ
Yes, Let’s. Galen Goodwin Longstreth, illus. by Maris Wicks. Tanglewood, $15.95. PW
Yoko Ono: Collector of Skies. Nell Beram and Carolyn Boriss-Krimsky. Abrams/Amulet, $24.95. BCCB
You Are My Baby: Safari. Lorena Siminovich. Chronicle, $8.99 board book. Kirkus
You Are Stardust. Elin Kelsey, illus. by Kim Soyeon. Owlkids, $18.95. Kirkus
You’re Wearing That to School? Lynn Plourde, illus. by Sue Cornelison. Disney-Hyperion, $16.99. Kirkus
Zero Fade. Chris L. Terry. Curbside Splendor, $12. Kirkus
 
 
 
 

Elizabeth Bluemle has been my best friend for 20 years. We’ve owned the store for 17 of those 20 and yesterday we threw her a party. Here’s what you might not know, when she’s not busy working at the store, doing our graphics, teaching writing classes, she’s working on her own writing. Dogs on the Bed is her second book of three books, and it just came out in paperback.

The book is a rhyming romp through one evening of the family dogs deciding that the only way they can sleep is if the humans forsake their beds. The meter is infectious and the examples, oh so true. The art is humorous and anyone with a dog will recognize the doggie pouts as they are denied the bed. As a dog lover (and someone whose dogs were the impetus for the book) the book just makes me laugh.

Friends and family streamed in and got a  piece of cake and perhaps a dog treat while Elizabeth signed books. This was a preview of what’s going to happen in March when her fourth book, Tap Tap Boom Boom, comes out in hardcover.
One of the great things about our location is its proximity to authors. We were thrilled to see Dayna Lorentz pop by with her son, Josh. Dayna will be doing an event with us later this month for her newest book, No Easy Way Out. Though a little young for cake, Josh thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was a great day. And even our dog Ink got a tiny piece of cake.
 
 
 
 

One of the great things about being a neighborhood bookseller is that little favors are easy to do. Several of our customers live in a nearby retirement community center and don’t drive. They call in their orders and we drop them off at the main building’s front desk on our way home. So easy to do, and it makes us feel even more connected to our customers. Sometimes regulars come in and get to the front counter, only to realize they’ve forgotten their wallets at home; no worries, we just treat their transaction as an account sale and give them an invoice to take home. People have dropped off puppies to stay in the cool bookstore on a hot day while they run up the street to the supermarket. We’ve often delivered “emergency” orders of books at schools for teachers who are too busy to run to the store on a crazy day. We’ve dropped everything else to read stories to cranky kids so their parents can browse in peace, we’ve made many a phone call to local restaurants and inns on behalf of overwhelmed tourists, we’ve stayed open late for desperate book buyers, and we’ve hung book orders on the store door handle for customers driving by hours after we close. There are a million and one small ways to help people out, and they make everyone feel better.
The good will goes both ways, as so many of our past blog posts can attest. Customers bring us flying pigs and baked goods, poems that inspire and babies who charm. They make us laugh and often share the highs and lows of their lives with us. So, whenever we can, it’s an easy thing to do something like drop off a book for someone who doesn’t drive. And if they ask nicely, we might just bring them something from the cafe/bakery next door.

Yesterday was one of those days that felt endless. No project ever got totally done, lunch never got eaten (a yogurt at three hardly counts) and by five I was literally careening from thing to thing not being effective at all. I sat at the chair at the register debating whether or not to play a mind-relaxing game of solitaire when two children walked in.
Half an hour before the kids came in Sara called utterly desperate. “I don’t have a book for tonight. I can’t sleep without one.” We were out of Bitterblue, her first choice (and an excellent one at that). I could hear the growing panic in her voice. “Just pick something. I trust you.” I chose Cinder and told her about it. She loved it. Paid with a credit card over the phone and then said she’d send the babysitter in to pick up the book. The kids, Anna and Emily, came in with the babysitter as scheduled. But something was different. There was a smell. A good smell. Kids smell good, but not this good.
Anna approached the counter shyly and pulled a Tupperware container from behind her back. “Would you like a brownie?”  Without even looking I said no because I’m trying to not gain back to recent weight I’ve lost. But then the smell really hit me. That inviting-hot-out-of-the-oven smell that’s hard to resist. “Did you just bake these?” Anna’s smile widened. “Yes.” Well, who can say no to fresh hot brownies delivered by a smiling child? (I’d wished right then that I had just said yes first; an important lesson for the next delivery of child-baked treats.) My co-worker and I each picked small brownies and thanked Anna profusely.
Were the brownies fabulous? Um, not so much. But that didn’t matter; a few egg shells won’t hurt anyone. They were warm and chewy and went perfectly with the glass of milk I got to go from the bar next door. By the time we were done chewing, it was closing time. And that was a great way to end the day.

Every day at the bookstore people find books they love. Oftentimes people come in on a quest, a ritual that might get repeated in every store they visit. Over and over again. We all know them, the people who loved a book so much as a kid that they spend much of their adult lives looking for it. Every once in a while someone finds that book in our store; the fates align and the book falls into the hands of the eager, long-seeking reader.
Such a thing happened this week. The Next Door Cafe in our building employs a lovely early 20-something who unbeknownst to me had been on a long quest for a book. The book was read to her in first grade by a beloved teacher whom Brianna is still in touch with, mainly to ask yearly if Mrs. Watson remembered the book she read aloud 16 years ago. Brianna could only remember that there was a dragon on the cover and it was about a boy. This quest was a solitary one for young Brianna. She went to bookstores and searched dejected almost before she started, because she was convinced the book would never appear. She was convinced she would recognize it when she saw it.
I’ve been on a quest like Brianna’s. In my case my beloved fifth-grade silent reading book, The Great Brain, was the elusive grail. I just remember loving it and only being able to remember snippets of escapades from the book. I wanted to reread the book in eighth grade and couldn’t come with more than Utah. Honestly, I think this clue would have been enough for many of my contemporary bookselling cohorts, but back then it was a mystery. It remained a mystery until graduate school when one of my classmates was talking about a book about brothers in Utah. I cried out “Aha!!! Finally! It’s the Great Brain!” I was ecstatic.
Cut back to our young heroine, Brianna. She worked at the cafe on Saturday. A customer bought a paperback of My Father’s Dragon. I thought nothing of this, since we sell that book often. An hour later, Jesse, the manager of the cafe, came in and asked, “Would you order me My Father’s Dragon? I want to get it for Brianna. She went crazy when someone laid it on the counter when they ordered lunch. She kept going on about “This is the book. This is it!!” The plot thickens because Jesse told us to let Brianna order the book for herself, but tell her it would be coming at the end of the week, not yesterday. He wanted to surprise her with it before he moved on to his new job.
True to what Jesse said, Brianna hopped in around five on Saturday to order the book. Her eyes were bright with the peace that comes from finally finding *the* book. We let her tell us the story Jesse had already shared. She was so excited to get the book, it was almost too cute. The book came in yesterday, and Jesse came in to pick it up. He was going to give it Brianna after the cafe closed at four. I swear we heard a massive whoop and some shouting at two past four. All over the book-loving world there was a tiny sigh of relief. Then someone came in asking if we “carried the book about the elephant and the circus” that he’d read as a child. And it started all over again.
Has there ever been a book you’ve obsessed about finding again?
 

Customers with strong opinions are the best. They know what they like, or at least what they don’t, and that can make recommending books so much easier. Let’s face it; it can be hard to suggest books to people who say, “I like everything,” because it doesn’t give us a starting point. And, frankly, it isn’t true. No reader likes EVERYTHING. (I’m always tempted to hand those folks some cowboy fiction or a convoluted space opera, any books from a very specific or relatively narrow-interest genre, just to see if I can shake loose an, “Okay, maybe not that.”)
Some of the most opinionated customers are pretty hilarious about their dislikes. Once, Josie recommended Like Water for Elephants to a customer who shuddered, then shook her head dismissively and pronounced, “I hate circus books set during the Depression!” as though that were a tired and teeming genre.
Another customer came in recently and said, “I can’t stand child narrators in adult books. Although… I did like Room.” [Which, for the record, is about as child-narrator as you can get.] She continued, “I also hate unreliable narrators. Or animal narrators; my book group read a God-awful book narrated by a dog.” [These three pet peeves, expressed so firmly stacked, catapulted me into a private mental tangent during which I pondered the viability of an unreliable child-dog (i.e., puppy) narrator — and then cursed James Howe for beating me to it with the Howie series.] I couldn’t help asking if this customer had other pet peeves. “Sure,” she said. “I always know if there’s a family tree or a map at the beginning, the book is going to be tedious.” [For the record, I disagree! Especially about maps. Although I know what she means; it does happen sometimes. Perhaps only in adult books.] She concluded her parade of personal literary horrors with, “And if a book switches between two time periods, usually the contemporary story is better. …Although I didn’t feel that way about Possession.” All right, I can work with that. I ended up recommending Jeanette Winterson’s The Passion, a rich little plum cake of a novel, in the hopes that someday this customer will return and say, “Oh, I just love books about female chicken pluckers in Napoleon’s army who are disguised as men for safety and fall in love with beautiful married Venetian women! More of those, please!”
My favorite recent customer pet peeve was a 12-year-old girl with a great, dry sense of humor whose reading taste runs toward fantasy. “I like some realistic books,” she said, “but not the kind that are, like,” [she adopted a melodramatic, quavery Southern accent], “I saw the rain … on the farm … and it reminded me … of Papa.” That made me laugh for days.
Readers, what are your bookish pet peeves?