In this searing account, Bausum (The Bard and the Book) dissects the “series of lies” that represented the beliefs of the Confederate States of America known as the Lost Cause following the conclusion of the U.S. Civil War. Across four distinct parts, frank text outlines the buildup to and aftermath of the war, the language used to establish the foundational principles of the Lost Cause, the effect that widespread dissemination of these ideologies has had on future generations, and America’s reckoning with whether “its national story [should] be told with facts or as propaganda.” Preceding each chapter are sections presenting Lost Cause falsehoods that “sought to sway public opinion” in favor of the Confederacy (“#1: Slavery Was a Compassionate Institution”). Throughout, Bausum notes how the Lost Cause impacted public policy (Jim Crow laws), popular culture (Gone with the Wind), and education. Collage-like spreads comprised of archival photographs and news clippings highlight key players of the era, and direct quotations from prominent Confederate leaders are featured throughout, helping to further aid in the work’s debunking of romanticized depictions of the titular war. It’s an essential and powerful offering that encourages readers to critically engage with historical record and to use the knowledge they obtain “to better the world.” Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Previous collaborators Okorafor and Ford (LaGuardia) spin an elaborate tale told through the fictionalized perspective of the author’s real-life temperamental and territorial cat Pumpernickel Pickle Periwinkle Chukwu Okorafor, or Periwinkle, imagined as hailing from Neptune. By day, Periwinkle enjoys chowing down on chicken fillets and running so fast on his cat wheel it would make his “ancestors proud.” At night, the feline sneaks through a portal hidden at the back of a closet that leads to his secret space-cat lair, where he parks his spaceship. Entering his cruiser, Periwinkle soars through the cosmos and engages in literal flights of fancy with an enigmatic space cat he calls Orange Meow. Life seems perfect for the precocious pet until he relocates with his human family to their native Nigeria. Slice-of-life-feeling comics loosely braid together a story of transition and exploration as Periwinkle acclimates to this new landscape (“Birds different. Trees different. Cats different. I excite!”). But when he’s disparaged by local humans and learns of an impending alien invasion, Periwinkle’s expectation of carefree adventure goes sideways. The graphic novel’s neo-impressionist art style imparts a moody, ethereal feel to the feisty feline’s free-wheeling space opera. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Autistic 18-year-old actor Allegra Brooks can’t wait to spend the summer in her small hometown of Lake Pristine, where her bookstore-owner father is organizing the annual book festival. She’s hopeful that the low-key vacation away from the high-pressure lifestyle of television fame will afford her an opportunity to make friends and experience “the brushstrokes of being human on the canvas of her face for the first time.” Arriving at the store—where she’s been hired to work for the season—she encounters grumpy bookseller Jonah Thorne, who seems irritated by her presence. Allegra and Jonah’s unfurling love story follows the usual romance tropes: as they spend more time together completing quotidian tasks at the store and taking in the summertime trappings of the lakeside town the duo learns that they have more in common than either of them initially suspected. McNicoll (Some Like it Cold) empathetically presents Allegra’s struggles to fit in—whether because of her celebrity status or neurodivergence—across this honest tale about the brutal scrutiny of fame and self-perception, as well as a reassuring and cozy romance whose low-conflict ambiance ensures that readers never doubt the pair’s inevitable happily ever after. Main characters read as white. Ages 13–up. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Debut author Sidhu’s good-humored and gleefully self-aware fantasy adventure draws on familiar gaming tropes and mechanics to offer an epic, comedic tale of good vs. evil. Seventh grader Riley Singh would rather use his academic aptitude and computer skills to play online RPG Dungeon Brawl than apply himself at school. Though his parents assert that he’s one bad report card away from being sent to boarding school, he takes comfort in his steadfast relationships with his friends: intellectual Simon Plotts, fiercely athletic Georgie Chen, and Georgie’s exuberant younger brother Jasper. Upon beginning a new Dungeon Brawl game, however, the group is transported into the virtual landscape by the video game’s antagonist, the dark necromancer Lord Doomface. Trapped in an alternate dimension with only a few spells and tricks to their names, Riley and company must complete quests, fight evil, level up, and defeat Lord Doomface if they want to get home in time to intercept their report cards. Dungeon Brawl’s lively and vibrantly rendered setting provides the ideal backdrop for a satisfying story across which tween characters kick butt and uncover previously untapped self-confidence. The cast is racially diverse. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Agent: Emilie Burl, Susan Schulman Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Baron (The Gray) blends elements of ecological mystery and survival story in this emotionally gripping and jam-packed verse novel about two eco-conscious tweens’ experience with displacement, trauma, and recovery. Studious eighth grader Finn is never without his field journal, in which he catalogs the flora and fauna of the state park forest on the edge of his small Northern California town. He’s also rarely without his best pal Rabbit, an equally driven environmentalist, and her faithful pup, Thorn. But the duo’s plans for sharing the wonders of the forest via a class project centered on the footage from the camera they’ve erected on the trail is derailed when they must evacuate ahead of a wildfire. In the weeks that follow, Finn contends with nightmares, lack of focus, and escalating anxiety. Then Rabbit discovers that their trail camera may have captured evidence of the fire’s source, which could be linked to the construction site where Finn’s father was recently hired. Copious details about dangerous fire conditions, first responder efforts, and the characters navigating PTSD will leave readers informed, while empowering depictions of the protagonists’ activism will inspire hope that healing from disaster is possible. Finn’s family cues as white and Jewish; Rabbit’s family is from the Philippines. Ages 8–12. (July)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

Riazi (A Bit of Earth) draws inspiration from The Thousand and One Nights to conjure a magical swashbuckling adventure. Tween Sabrena Bhuiyan longs to be a gifted storyteller like her grandmother, who—despite cognitive decline brought about by dementia—spins a yarn about their family’s purported connection to the infamous sailor Sinbad with such prowess that Sabrena believes she can feel the drops of saltwater Grandma describes in her tales. Envious of this power, Sabrena is nonetheless uneasy when her own stories begin to conjure phantom drips and leaks within her home. This unnerving phenomenon grows worse and, during school at her Islamic academy, she finds herself swallowed by seawater and transported to another reality. As Sabrena traipses through this mystical world, she reckons with accusations of being a jinn, befriends Ali Baba’s prickly adopted daughter Marjana, and sinks to the bottom of a sentient sea to discover a cursed kingdom. It is in this dreamlike realm that the story finds its footing, propelling both the reader and the protagonist through a survey of mythological tales and creatures, which Riazi renders using sensorial prose. Throughout her adventures, Sabrena discovers new perspectives through which to view her worries about her grandmother’s health and her struggles with belonging at school. Ages 8–12. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (July)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

In Medina’s emotionally charged debut, a teen necromancer must hold her own against the gods in a battle of life and death. Nineteen-year-old necromancer Azul del Arroyo has the power to wake the dead—all she needs are the bones of the deceased. Having resurrected her sister, Isadora, once when Azul was 10, she seeks to bring Isadora back a second time following Isadora’s sudden death upon the sisters’ adventuring to the land of Lord Death. But when Virel Enjul, a devoted Emissary of Lord Death, catches Azul attempting to gather Isadora’s remains, he enlists her assistance in helping him hunt down another necromancer he’s pursuing. Along their quest, the duo become embroiled in a deadly political struggle involving a marquess, a count, a witch, a child king, a dead queen, and the queen’s former lover. Multiple alternating POVs that shift between various timelines prove challenging to unravel, but confident prose, strong characterizations, and imaginative Spanish-tinged mythology blend to deliver a rich and intricately crafted fantasy world. Descriptions of powerful characters struggling to navigate the actions of brutal yet self-sacrificing gods further enrich this sprawling series opener. Ages 13–up. Agent: Dorian Maffei, Kimberly Cameron & Assoc. (Aug.)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

In a dystopian future, Earth has been devastated by climate and medical disasters. All resources in the Pacific Northwest are controlled by the Aegis Corporation, for whom many survivors of these events work in exchange for residence in domes that offer protection from the ravaged landscape of the Beyond Lands. Seventeen-year-old Fox LaRosa—a Wanderer traveling through the Beyond Lands who uses an extendable cane as a mobility aid—is determined to make her mark as the newest mercenary recruit in her aunt Lila’s fugitive collective, Still Alive. Fox’s older sister Rabbit has been a merc for several years, and it’s now Fox’s turn to embark on a dangerous mission to retrieve medical supplies from Aegis. Rabbit is captured when their expedition goes awry, and Fox must rely on her friends to rescue Rabbit. But as Fox ventures further into the domes and uncovers Still Alive’s dark secrets, she must learn to trust her own convictions. In this gripping thriller, Newbould (Things I’ll Never Say) examines how powerful entities leverage privilege and necessities against society’s most vulnerable via a narrative lens informed by Fox’s experience with chronic pain and mobility challenges. Characters cue as racially diverse. Ages 14–up. (July)

Reviewed on 07/11/2025 | Details & Permalink

With endearing chattiness and nerdy enthusiasm, this poetic tribute to “the color between red and yellow” feels perfectly poised to turn readers into orange enthusiasts. Poliquin (I Am Wind) takes readers on a meandering journey that connects art, culture, geography, history, nature, and science while discussing orange’s many manifestations (“This mineral is called crocoite. Isn’t it magnificently orange?”). Readers learn that the word is rooted in a Tamil term referring to the fragrance of orange blossoms, then explore how orange plays a starring role in flags and observances, landmarks and works of art, and uniforms that range from spacesuits to monks’ robes. Opaque watercolor, chalk pastel, and digital illustrations by Morstad (A Face Is a Poem) mix impressionistic vignettes with close-ups reminiscent of field notebook sketches, establishing a grounding visual tone that’s calmly observant—all the better to let the central color strut its stuff. By the final page, readers, their eyes opened to orange’s ubiquity, are likely to eagerly concur with the heart of the book’s message: Orange you glad the title color is finally getting its due? Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 5–9. Author’s agent: Amy Tompkins, Transatlantic Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Jr./Folio Literary. (Oct.)

Reviewed on 06/27/2025 | Details & Permalink

A Black teen and her white crush swap bodies in this nuanced Freaky Friday riff by Ukazu (Bunt!). When she’s not obsessing over K-pop boy band BGBB, Texas private school scholarship student Chi-Chi yearns to be noticed by her popular—and unattainable—classmate Flip. After being knocked unconscious in a rainy-day fall, Chi-Chi wakes up the next morning to learn that she and Flip have somehow traded bodies. Though the first switch is short-lived, the two seniors keep inexplicably swapping places. And as they attempt to determine how to change back permanently, each subsequent flip lasts longer than the prior one. The duo’s differing gender and racial experiences are playfully incorporated (their hygiene boundary is “keep tidy; don’t explore,” and Flip implores Chi-Chi not to imitate her mother’s Nigerian accent while in his body), providing laugh-out-loud moments alongside incisive examinations of personal identity and perception. In her “most autobiographical work to date,” per an author’s note, Ukazu draws from her own adolescent struggles to present an engrossing standalone graphic novel about self-acceptance rendered using clean line art, dynamic paneling, and eye-catching color palettes. References to The Bluest Eye and myriad IRL K-pop groups add texture and personality. Ages 14–up. Agent: Chelsea Eberly, Greenhouse Literary. (Sept.)

Reviewed on 06/27/2025 | Details & Permalink