Another month means another middle grade book list! Today I’m sharing a list of the best middle grade books to read in June 2021!
I love reading middle grade books and the new books releasing this month are fantastic. Seriously, June is looking like the best release month for books yet!
Whether you’re a teacher, a parent or simply just love to read middle grade books, then this list is for you! With fantasy, contemporary and everything in between, you’ll find the best new middle grade books to read in June 2021 .
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my links, I may earn a very small commission, at no additional cost to you.
June 1st
Humour • Crown Books for Young Readers
Stand-up comedian and Hollywood box-office hit Kevin Hart keeps the laughs coming in an illustrated middle-grade novel about a boy who has big dreams of making a blockbuster superhero film. Perfect for readers of James Patterson’s Middle School series and Lincoln Peirce’s Big Nate series.
Marcus is NOT happy to be stuck in after-school film class … until he realizes he can turn the story of the cartoon superhero he’s been drawing for years into an actual MOVIE! There’s just one problem: he has no idea what he’s doing. So he’ll need help, from his friends, his teachers, Sierra, the strong-willed classmate with creative dreams of her own, even Tyrell, the local bully who’d be a perfect movie villain if he weren’t too terrifying to talk to.
Making this movie won’t be easy. But as Marcus discovers, nothing great ever is — and if you want your dream to come true, you’ve got to put in the hustle to make it happen.
Comedy superstar Kevin Hart teams up with award-winning author Geoff Rodkey and lauded illustrator David Cooper for a hilarious, illustrated, and inspiring story about bringing your creative goals to life and never giving up, even when nothing’s going your way.
Graphic Novel, Superheroes • Aladdin
Discover the annoying side of being a superhero from snarky, reluctant hero Pizazz in this hilarious and highly illustrated new series for young middle graders — perfect for fans of Dog Man and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
Most people think superhero work is awesome and fulfilling. Pizazz knows better. Whenever she’s in the middle of a movie or having fun with her friends, she has to dash off the save the world. And she’s always in the same outfit, including an embarrassing glittery cape, and the wedgies are unreal. Plus, being the good guy all the time is so not easy. Superheroes have bad days like everybody else, but Pizazz always has to be cheerful and noble and brave. More than anything, she just wants to be normal.
Graphic Novel, Superheroes • Graphix
An original middle-grade graphic novel from Graphix starring Brooklyn’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds and Eisner nominee Pablo Leon!
Miles Morales is a normal kid who happens to juggle school at Brooklyn Visions Academy while swinging through the streets of Brooklyn as Spider-Man. After a disastrous earthquake strikes his mother’s birthplace of Puerto Rico, Miles springs into action to help set up a fundraiser for the devastated island. But when a new student’s father goes missing, Miles begins to make connections between the disappearance and a giant corporation sponsoring Miles’ fundraiser. Who is behind the disappearance, and how does that relate to Spider-Man?
A true middle grade graphic novel starring one of Marvel’s most popular characters, bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds (Opposite of Always) and Eisner award-nominated artist Pablo Leon (Refugees) create a riveting story that will connect with new and well-versed comics readers alike.
Fantasy, Retelling • Heartdrum
In this modern take of the popular classic Peter Pan, award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Muscogee Creek) brilliantly shifts the focus from the boy who won’t grow up to Native American Lily and English Wendy — stepsisters who must face both dangers and wonders to find their way back to the family they love.
Stepsisters Lily and Wendy embark on a high-flying journey of magic, adventure, and courage — to a fairy-tale island known as Neverland.
Lily and Wendy have been best friends since they became stepsisters. But with their feuding parents planning to spend the summer apart, what will become of their family — and their friendship?
Little do they know that a mysterious boy has been watching them from the oak tree outside their window. A boy who intends to take them away from home for good, to an island of wild animals, Merfolk, Fairies, and kidnapped children.
A boy who calls himself Peter Pan.
Pinki hails from a long line of rakkhosh resistors, demons who have spent years building interspecies relationships, working together to achieve their goal of overthrowing the snakey oppressors and taking back their rights. But she has more important things to worry about, like maintaining her status as fiercest rakkhosh in her class and looking after her little cousins. There is also the teeny tiny detail of not yet being able to control her fire breathing and accidentally burning up school property.
Then Sesha, the charming son of the Serpentine Governor, calls on Pinki for help in defeating the resistance, promising to give her what she most desires in return — the ability to control her fire. First she’ll have to protect the Moon Maiden, pretend to be a human (ick), and survive a family reunion. But it’s all worth it for the control of her powers … right?
New York Times bestselling author Melissa Marr invites readers into a magical world where stone gargoyles live among humans, ferocious water horses infiltrate the sea, and school hallways are riddled with magic wards — and where a group of young heroes seeking justice discovers those very creatures are the best of allies.
Twenty years ago, a door opened between the world of humans and the Netherwhere, allowing all kinds of otherworldly creatures entry. Some, like the kelpies and fairies, who like to bite, are best avoided. But the gargoyles are wise and wonderful, and show a special affection for humans.
Vicky has grown up under the watchful eye of a gargoyle named Rupert, and excels at sword-fighting and magic. But there’s so much she doesn’t know — like why her mother, once one of the queen’s elite Ravens, keeps Vicky hidden away and won’t let Vicky train at the elite Corvus school where girls with her gifts perfect their skills. But when a horrific tragedy occurs, Vicky knows it’s finally time to use her gifts, and that the only place she should be to avenge the crime against her family is at Corvus. There she bands together with a former street thief and an alchemy student to figure out whom they can trust in a place that’s rife with intrigue and secrets. And all the while, the gargoyles watch and nudge. Time’s not linear to them, so they know change comes in ripples. With their steadying influence, Vicky and her friends just might be the generation to expose the court’s secrets and ensure a better future for both worlds.
A group of goblins steal a boy’s ability to apologize in this middle grade fantasy.
No matter how much trouble Sam gets in, he knows that he can always rely on his magic word, “sorry,” to get him out of a pinch. Teasing his little sister too much? Sorry! Hurt someone’s feelings in class? Sorry! Forgot to do his chores? So sorry! But when goblins come and steal his “sorry,” he can’t apologize for anything anymore. To get his “sorry” back and stop the goblins from stealing anyone else’s words, Sam will have to enter the goblins’ world and try and find the depository of stolen words.
There, he meets Tolver, a young goblin who’s always dreamed of adventure. Tolver longs to use the goblin technology — which can turn words into fuel to power ships — to set off and explore, but his grandma warns him that the goblin prospectors will only bring trouble.
Together, Tolver and Sam will have to outsmart the cruel prospectors and save the day before Sam’s parents ground him forever!
Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of the award-winning Tea Dragon series!
Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng’s care, Greta still can’t chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. As she struggles to create something spectacular enough to impress a master blacksmith in search of an apprentice, she questions the true meaning of crafting, and the true meaning of caring for someone in grief. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Thrown into confusion about her path in life, the shy and reserved Minette finds that the more she opens her heart to others, the more clearly she can see what was always inside.
Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.
June 8th
Contemporary, LGBTQ+ • Dial Books
In this unabashedly queer middle grade debut, a week-long amusement park road trip becomes a true roller coaster of emotion when Dalia realizes she has more-than-friend feelings for her new bestie.
Would-be amusement park aficionado Dalia only has two items on her summer bucket list: (1) finally ride a roller coaster and (2) figure out how to make a new best friend. But when her dad suddenly announces that he’s engaged, Dalia’s schemes come to a screeching halt. With Dalia’s future stepsister Alexa heading back to college soon, the grown-ups want the girls to spend the last weeks of summer bonding–meaning Alexa has to cancel the amusement park road trip she’s been planning for months. Luckily Dalia comes up with a new plan: If she joins Alexa on her trip and brings Rani, the new girl from her swim team, along maybe she can have the perfect summer after all. But what starts out as a week of funnel cakes and Lazy River rides goes off the rails when Dalia discovers that Alexa’s girlfriend is joining the trip. And keeping Alexa’s secret makes Dalia realize one of her own: She might have more-than-friend feelings for Rani.
Contemporary • Quill Tree Books
Debut author Jules Machias explores identity, gender fluidity, and the power of friendship and acceptance in this dual-narrative Own Voices story about two kids who join forces to save a dog … but wind up saving each other.
Ash is no stranger to feeling like an outcast. For someone who cycles through genders, it’s a daily struggle to feel in control of how people perceive you. Some days Ash is undoubtedly girl, but other times, 100 percent guy. Daniel lacks control too — of his emotions. He’s been told he’s overly sensitive more times than he can count. He can’t help the way he is, and he sure wishes someone would accept him for it.
So when Daniel’s big heart leads him to rescue a dog that’s about to be euthanized, he’s relieved to find Ash willing to help. The two bond over their four-legged secret. When they start catching feelings for each other, however, things go from cute to complicated. Daniel thinks Ash is all girl … what happens when he finds out there’s more to Ash’s story?
With so much on the line — truth, identity, acceptance, and the life of an adorable pup named Chewbarka — will Ash and Daniel forever feel at war with themselves because they don’t fit into the world’s binaries? Or will their friendship help them embrace the beauty of living in between?
Fantasy • Sourcebooks Young Readers
After unwillingly inheriting all of the Night Witch’s abilities, Tor Luna is the most powerful person on Emblem Island — though he doesn’t want power at all. Fresh from their last adventure, a girl from a forgotten underwater city named Vesper, with the same water-breathing emblem as Tor, washes ashore — with a warning. Pirates are coming to attack Emblem Island.
Using the Night Witch’s enchanted ship, Tor, Melda, Engle, and Vesper set off on a dangerous journey to find the only thing that can save Emblem Island from the cursed Calavera pirates — a pearl, with the power to control the sea. But just like their first, this quest won’t be easy. In a race against time, they will face giant sea creatures, explore coastal cities teeming with assassins, and make alliances with conniving pirates — but knowing who to trust could prove to be the most dangerous
part of all.
Fantasy • Margaret K. McElderry Books
The creatures of legend are real — and it’s up to twins Zac and Lu to save them in this fun-filled middle grade adventure perfect for fans of Fablehaven and The Hotel Between.
Twins Zac and Lu grew up on their mother’s stories of the Wildewoods, an imaginary land where mythical beasts roam free. These creatures fill the pages of Zac’s sketchbooks and inspire Lu’s love of animals, and on most days, they’re the only thing the twins have in common.
When their mother dies, a heartbroken Lu and Zac are shipped off to England to spend the summer with relatives they’ve never met. But it doesn’t take the twins long to uncover the incredible secret tucked away in the forest behind their ancestral home: their mother’s wonderful tales about unicorns and dragons and centaurs weren’t make-believe after all. Their family serves as keepers of the Wildewoods, the last place on earth where these mythical creatures can live safe from human harm.
But there are also many dangers in these lands — as well as a terrible curse. When Zac and Lu fall victim to it, their only hope is finding the very last living phoenix left in the world. But will breaking the curse mean the end of the Wildewoods?
Historical Fiction • Walden Pond Press
From debut author Brita Sandstrom comes a stunning WWII-era fantasy about a young boy who braves the claws and teeth of monsters both real and fantastical in order to save his brother, his family, and himself.
Charlie has been having nightmares. Eyes watching him in the night, claws on his chest, holding him down.
His dreams have been haunted for years, ever since German bombs rained down on London, taking his father’s life, taking his city’s spirit, taking his beloved brother, Theo, off to war in France. Now Charlie is left to take care of his grandpa Fitz while his mother works, waiting for the day when Theo will come home. And with World War II nearly won, that day is almost here. Grandpa Fitz warns Charlie that soldiers sometimes come back missing a piece of themselves, but Charlie isn’t worried. Whatever Theo has lost, Charlie will help him find it.
When Theo finally does return, though, he is cold and distant. Their family, like the city itself, feels more broken than ever. But Charlie refuses to accept that the brother he knew is gone, and soon he discovers the reason for his brother’s change: war wolves. Terrifying ancient beasts who consume the hearts of those broken by grief. The wolves have followed Theo and hundreds of other soldiers back home from the front. And if Charlie truly wants to save Theo, he’s going to have to find them and get his brother’s heart back. But can a heart that’s eaten ever be replaced?
Debut author Brita Sandstrom arrives with an unforgettable modern folktale of darkness around and inside us, and the courage it takes to keep hope alive.
Contemporary • Margaret K. McElderry Books
Two girls form an unlikely friendship during their shared time in the school nurse’s office in this heartfelt middle grade novel for fans of Save Me a Seat and Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus.
Meg spends her days hoping no one thinks too hard about why she wears the same t-shirt and slippers to school every day. Luckily, the nurse’s office provides a welcome escape from classmates who don’t understand … and snacks when food runs out at home.
Riley knows fitting in at her new school would be a lot easier if her friends were more understanding of her type 1 diabetes. So she keeps her testing under wraps … and an emergency bag of jellybeans on hand.
When Meg and Riley end up together in the nurse’s office one day, both girls think they’ve worked each other out, but what if they’ve got it all wrong? On the brink of moving on to junior high, Riley and Meg must find the courage to discover who they really want to be. And maybe a bag of shared jellybeans will provide all the help they need.
Fantasy • Bloomsbury Children’s Books
The Kingdom of Lyrica was once warm and thriving, kept safe by the Firebird, whose feather and song was a blessing of peace and prosperity. But the Firebird disappeared, and Lyrica is now terrorized by the evil Spectress who wields her powers from within a volcano. All that remains is a mysterious message scrawled on the castle wall in the Queen’s own hand: Wind. Woman. Thief.
Young Prewitt has only known time without the Firebird, a life of constant cold, as his village is afraid to tempt the volcano monsters with even the feeblest fire. But he has heard whispers that the kingdom’s princess survived the attack … and he is certain that if he can find her, together they can save Lyrica.
Princess Calliope has no memories beyond living on her barge on the underground lake. But as she nears her twelfth birthday, she is certain there is more to life than the walls of a cave. When Prewitt finds her, he realizes that she is the missing princess: the only hope for Lyrica. Determined to decipher the meaning of her mother’s strange message and find the Firebird, Calliope and Prewitt set off on a quest that puts them in more danger than either of them ever anticipated.
Contemporary • Atheneum Books for Young Readers
An utterly charming Southern-voiced middle grade novel about a young girl and the adventure she embarks upon to prove her Gran’s stories were true. Perfect for fans of The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair and Three Times Lucky.
Trixy needs a story, fast, or she’s going to fail the fourth grade — that’s a fact. But every time she sits down to write, her mind is a blank. The only stories she can think of are Gran’s, the ones no one else ever believed but Trixy gulped down like sweet tea. Gran is gone now, buried under the lilac bush in the family plot, so it’s not like Trixy’s hurting anybody to claim one of those stories as her own, is she?
That stolen story turns out to be a huge success, and soon everybody in town wants Trixy to tell them a tale. Before long, the only one left is the story she vowed never to share, the one that made Gran’s face cloud up with sadness. Trying to find a way out of this tangled mess, Trixy and her friend Raymond hit the road to follow the twists and turns of Gran’s past. Maybe then Trixy can write a story that’s all her own, one that’s the straight-up truth.
June 15th
Graphic Novel • Random House Books for Young Readers
The #1 bestselling chapter book is now a graphic novel! Magic. Mystery. Time-travel. Get whisked back in time in the magic tree house with Jack and Annie!
Where did the tree house come from?
Before Jack and Annie can find out, the mysterious tree house whisks them to the prehistoric past. Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark … or will they become a dinosaur’s dinner?
For the first time in graphic novel — live the adventure again in the very first Magic Tree House book, with new art from comic artists Kelly and Nichole Matthews!
A half-magic girl learns about heroism and taking action when she and her sister confront a wizard who endangers others for her own gain.
Even and Odd are sisters who share magic. Lately, though, it seems like that’s the only thing they have in common. Odd doesn’t like magic, and Even practices it every chance she gets, dreaming of the day she’ll be ready to be a hero.
When the hidden border between the mundane world the sisters live in and the magical land they were born in shuts abruptly, the girls are trapped, unable to return home. With the help of a unicorn named Jeremy, they discover a wizard is diverting magic from the border to bolster her own power. Families are cut off from each other on both sides of the border, and an ecological disaster is brewing. But the wizard cares nothing for the calamitous effects her appropriation of magic is having. Someone has to do something to stop her, and Even realizes she can no longer wait until she’s ready: she needs to be a hero now.
Contemporary, Sports • Little Bee Books
In this companion novel to Midsummer’s Mayhem, math and baseball combine with savory snacks to cause confusion and calamity in the town of Comity.
Twelve-year-old Trish can solve tough math problems and throw a mean fastball. But because of her mom’s new job, she’s now facing a summer trying to make friends all over again in a new town. That isn’t an easy thing to do, and her mom is too busy to notice how miserable she is.
But at her first baseball practice, Trish realizes one of her teammates is Ben, the sixth-grade math prodigy she beat in the spring Math Puzzler Championships. Everyone around them seems to think that with their math talent and love of baseball, it’s only logical that Trish and Ben become friends, but Ben makes it clear he still hasn’t gotten over that loss and can’t stand her. To make matters worse, their team can’t win a single game. But then they meet Rob, an older kid who smacks home runs without breaking a sweat. Rob tells them about his family’s store, which sells unusual snacks that will make them better ballplayers. Trish is dubious, but she’s willing to try almost anything to help the team.
When a mysterious booklet of math puzzles claiming to reveal the “ultimate answer” arrives in her mailbox, Trish and Ben start to get closer and solve the puzzles together. Ben starts getting hits, and their team becomes unstoppable. Trish is happy to keep riding the wave of good luck … until they get to a puzzle they can’t solve, with tragic consequences. Can they find the answer to this ultimate puzzle, or will they strike out when it counts the most?
A boy who lives every day twice uses his ability to bring down bullies at his new school in Mike Thayer’s humor-filled middle grade novel, The Double Life of Danny Day.
My name is Danny Day, and I live every day twice.
The first time, it’s a “discard day.” It’s kind of like a practice run. At the end of the day, I go to bed, wake up, and poof everything gets reset, everything except my memory, that is.
The second time, everything is normal, just like it is for everyone else. That’s when everything counts and my actions stick. As you could probably guess, “Sticky Day” Danny is very different from “Discard Day” Danny.
When Danny’s family moves across the country, he suddenly has to use his ability for more than just slacking off and playing video games. Now he’s making new friends, fending off jerks, exposing a ring of cheaters in the lunchtime video game tournament, and taking down bullies one day at a time … or is it two days at a time?
From New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe comes a beautiful story of friendship, loss, and the healing power of nature in her first book for middle grade readers.
Eleven-year-old Jake’s life has just turned upside-down. His father was wounded in Afghanistan, and his mother is going to leave to care for him. That means Jake’s spending the summer on tiny Dewees Island with his grandmother. The island is a nature sanctuary — no cars or paved roads, no stores or restaurants. To make matters worse, Jake’s grandmother doesn’t believe in cable or the internet. Which means Jake has no cell phone, no video games … and no friends. This is going to be the worst summer ever!
He’s barely on the island before he befriends two other kids — Macon, another “summer kid,” and Lovie, know-it-all who lives there and shows both Jake and Macon the ropes of life on the island. All three are struggling with their own family issues and they quickly bond, going on adventures all over Dewees Island. Until one misadventure on an abandoned boat leads to community service. Their punishment? Mandatory duty on the Island Turtle Team. The kids must do a daily dawn patrol of the beach on the hunt for loggerhead sea turtle tracks. When a turtle nest is threatened by coyotes, the three friends must find a way to protect it. Can they save the turtle nest from predators? Can Jake’s growing love for the island and its inhabitants (be they two-legged, four-legged, feathered, or finned) help to heal his father?
Etan has stopped speaking since his mother left. His father and grandfather don’t know how to help him. His friends have given up on him.
When Etan is asked to deliver a grocery order to the outskirts of town, he realizes he’s at the home of Malia Agbayani, also known as the Creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face, and the bullying became too much.
As the two become friends, other kids tease Etan for knowing the Creature. But he believes he might have a cure for Malia’s condition, if only he can convince his family and hers to believe it too. Even if it works, will these two outcasts find where they fit in?
In this new novel from the Indies Introduce author of Where the Watermelons Grow and Beginners Welcome, an almost-thirteen-year-old with an almost-complete sentence for a name embraces her destiny to search for a forever home.
Ivy Mae Bloom, whose name is one letter away from a complete sentence, has lived her entire life on the road. Her mama is a fallen star who travels near and far to tend to the magic that underpins our world. When Ivy steals Mama’s entire supply of wish jars in the hopes of finding a forever home, a series of disasters strands the Blooms in Whistling Ridge, North Carolina, with Mama’s two star sisters. Ivy knows her wish has been granted and that Whistling Ridge is her forever home — she just needs to convince her parents to stay.
But something is draining the magic from Whistling Ridge, and the star sisters can’t stop it. With help from some new friends, Ivy stumbles across a clue in the town’s history that might explain the mysterious force threatening Whistling Ridge … but if the town’s magic is healed, Mama will want to move on. Ivy must choose: Can she help her mama and aunts lift Whistling Ridge’s curse — even if it means losing the only place she’s ever called home?
From award-winning author Cindy Baldwin comes an enchanting story about magic, family, and the meaning of home.
Historical Fiction • G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
A new middle-grade tale from critically acclaimed, award-winning author Kristin Levine about facing your fears, set in Vienna during the Bosnian genocide.
Most twelve-year-olds would be excited to fly to Austria to see their dad for the summer but then Becca is not most twelve-year-olds. Suffering from severe anxiety, she fears that the metal detectors at the airport will give her cancer and the long international flight will leave her with blood clots. Luckily, she’s packed her Doomsday Journal, the one thing that always seems to help. By writing down her fears and what to do if the worst happens, Becca can get by without (many) panic attacks.
Routines and plans help Becca cope but living in a new country is full of the unexpected — including Becca’s companions for the summer. Like Felix, the short and bookish son of Becca’s dad’s new girlfriend. Or Sara, the nineteen-year-old Bosnian refugee tasked with watching the two of them for the summer. As Becca explores Vienna and becomes close to her new friends, she soon learns she is not alone in her fears. What matters most is what you do when faced with them.
June 22nd
Contemporary • Quill Tree Books
The Best at It meets John David Anderson in this Indian Muslim #ownvoices debut about a champion underachiever who must start over in a new state with the help of three classic books.
Ahmed Aziz is having an epic year — epically bad. His family moved from Hawaii to Minnesota because his dad got sick, and even though Minnesota is where his dad grew up, Ahmed can’t imagine a worse place to live — not that anyone asked him.
Being the new kid is tough, especially because Ahmed is the only brown-skinned student in a sea of white. But over the course of the school year, Ahmed — who never lives up to his potential — surprises himself by actually reading the three assigned books for his English class: Holes, Bridge to Terabithia, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Even more surprising, he doesn’t hate the books. At the same time, Ahmed is learning about the uncle he never knew — his dad’s brother, who died young, and who Ahmed takes after. Investigating his family history offers Ahmed comfort as his dad’s health hangs in the balance. Could Ahmed be warming to Minnesota?
In this memorable debut, Ahmed, an inimitable protagonist, deals with bullies, makes new friends, and uncovers his family’s past — all while finding himself in three good books.
Fantasy • Simon & Schuster / Paula Wiseman Books
From the author of The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast comes a lush and timely tale about a boy who’s grown up as the only human in an enchanted rainforest and what happens when people from the outside world discover his home.
For the first twelve years of Arrow’s life, he has grown up as the only human in a lush, magical rainforest that’s closed off from the rest of the world. He was raised by the Guardian Tree, the protector of the forest, which uses the earth’s magic to keep it hidden from those who have sought to exploit and kill it. But now the magic veil is deteriorating, the forest is dying, and Arrow may be the only one who can save it.
Arrow has never seen another human until one day, a man in a small airplane crash-lands in the forest. Then, a group of children finds their way in, escaping from their brutal, arid world where the rich live in luxurious, walled-off cities and the poor struggle for survival.
The Guardian Tree urges Arrow to convince the trespassers to leave by any means necessary. Arrow is curious about these newcomers, but their arrival sets off a chain of events that leave him with a devastating choice: be accepted by his own kind or fight to save the forest that is his home.
June 29th
Contemporary • Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Meixing Lim and her family have arrived at the New House in the New Land, inherited from First Uncle who died tragically and unexpectedly while picking oranges in the backyard. Everything is vast and unknown to Meixing and not in a good way, including the house she has dubbed Big Scary. She is embarrassed by the second-hand shoes given to her by the kind neighbours, has trouble understanding the language at school, and with fitting in and making new friends. Her solace is a glasshouse in the garden that inexplicably holds the sun and the moon and all the secrets of her memory and imagination.
Her fragile universe is rocked when tragedy strikes and Ma Ma refuses to face the world outside. Meixing finds herself trapped within the shrinking walls of Big Scary. Her parents said this would be a better life for them all, but it feels like the worst and most heart-breaking experience of Meixing’s entire existence. Surviving will take all the resilience and inner belief of this brave girl to turn their world around.
A Glasshouse of Stars is based on the real childhood experiences of the author, brushed with a light touch of magic realism.
Adventure, Graphic Novel, Retelling • Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Chris Colfer comes a graphic novel in the Land of Stories series featuring Goldilocks — as you’ve never seen her before!
When we first meet her in The Land of Stories:The Wishing Spell, Goldilocks is a beautiful and tough-as-nails outlaw. Discover her origin story and more in this brand new, lushly illustrated full-color graphic novel, as she takes you on adventures where she may or may not break a few laws along the way.
Once upon a time, the kingdoms of the fairy-tale world lived in perfect harmony under the guidance of the Happily Ever After Assembly. But not all creatures and territories have been invited to this peaceful union. Monsters and criminals have found refuge in the Dwarf Forests, a land without rulers or law. When a plot by the Charming brothers is unveiled and threatens to push society’s unwanted from their homes, the fairy-tale world’s harmony and Goldilocks’ home are put in jeopardy …
New and returning fans of the Land of Stories will fall in love with the adventures of Goldilocks before she met Alex and Conner Bailey. Fans will recognize familiar characters including Porridge, Jack, and Queen Red Riding Hood; and a ragtag team of misfits is introduced, including Puss in Boots, Little Miss Muffet, Pinocchio, and more.
Graphic Novel • Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
From the creator of Fake Blood comes another exceptionally charming middle grade graphic novel about friendships both near and far, far away.
Vega’s summer vacation is not going well.
When her parents decide it’s time to pack up and leave her hometown of Portland, Oregon, behind for boring Seattle, Washington, Vega is more than upset — she’s downright miserable. Forced to leave her one and only best friend, Halley, behind, Vega is convinced she’ll never make another friend again.
To help her settle into her new life in Seattle, her parents send Vega off to summer camp to make new friends. Except Vega is determined to get her old life back. But when her cellphone unexpectedly calls it quits and things at camp start getting stranger and stranger, Vega has no choice but to team up with her bunkmates to figure out what’s going on!
Adventure, Science Fiction • Disney LucasFilm Press
Another exciting story in the #1 New York Times best-selling series!
The Republic Fair is coming! Visitors from all over the galaxy are traveling to the planet Valo for a massive, awe-inspiring festival celebrating the Republic. While his fellow Valons prepare for the fair, Jedi Padawan Ram Jomaram is hiding out in his favorite place: a dingy garage filled with mechanical parts and tools. But when a security alarm goes off on the nearby hilltop nicknamed Crashpoint Peak, he ventures out with his trusty droid V-18 to investigate.
There he discovers that someone has knocked out Valo’s communications tower — a frightening sign that Valo, and the Republic Fair, are in danger. Sure enough, as Ram races to warn the Jedi, the dreaded Nihil unleash a surprise attack! It’s up to Ram to face down the enemy at Crashpoint Tower and send a call for help to the Republic. Luckily, he’s about to get some assistance from unexpected new friends …
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