I’m looking forward to checking out these new books releasing this week!
Books for Kids
I Am Kind AND I Am Unstoppable (Board Books) – A new format for the Ordinary People Change the World series.
How to Take Care of Your Dinosaur – Pet care goes to a whole new level. This looks delightful!
Never Trumpet with a Crumpet – What happens when zoo animals are invited to join the Queen for tea? The illustrations for this one are fantastic!
Girls with Guts: The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records – The history of women athletes and the road to Title IX.
Now What?: A Math Tale – A puppy wants to build a bed out of blocks. While he doesn’t have enough rectangles, he does have several triangles.
When Sue Found Sue: Sue Hendrickson Discovers Her T. Rex – Chronicles the discovery of Sue the T.Rex in South Dakota.
The Dragon’s Tale – Book 6 in the Princess Pulverizer transitional chapter book series. On their Quest for Kindness, Dribble the dragon has a chance to open his own restaurant, but trouble develops when someone is jealous of Dribble and Princess Pulverizer’s arrival.
Mia Mayhem vs the Super Bully – Book 3 in the Mia Mayhem series. Sometimes even superheroes have to deal with bullies.
The Unbelievable Oliver and the Four Jokers – Oliver, an amateur magician, discovers a super smart rabbit in an old magicians hat. At their first gig, Oliver is accused of stealing and he has to find the real culprit. I’m excited by the idea of a new mystery series for the chapter book crowd.
Books for Older Kids/Teens/Young Adults
Freedom Fire – Book 2 in the Dactyl Hill Squad series that is an alternate history with dinosaurs. This book focuses on the Civil War.
Jada Sly, Artist and Spy – An illustrated spy book about a girl searching for her mother and tracking her adventures in her art journal. The cover for this is outstanding (except in this picture, Jada doesn’t look Black – maybe the colors in person are better), and I love kid-spy stories.
Odd Gods – Described as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Percy Jackson. Oddonis is the brother of Adonis, but this son of Zeus doesn’t think he has any powers. This is a pun-filled story, based on the full description, that sounds like a TON of fun (although reading it aloud would be tricky with the Oddonis/Adonis homophones).
Planet Earth Is Blue – An autistic and nonverbal girl waits at her new foster home for her missing big sister to arrive so they can watch the Challenger launch together. This one is going to be amazing.
Pugs in a Blanket – A girl and a new friend wrangle the pug pups that were left on her family’s doorstep while trying to puzzle out who left them.
The Queen’s Secret – Book 2 in the Rose Legacy series about a girl who discovers her uncle secretly breeds horses, animals that have been outlawed. Anthena now knows the truth about horses, and she has discovered a way to talk with them. But other forces want to use this gift for evil. And others want to blame the horses for a mysterious plague. Horse fans should NOT miss this series!
Theodore Boone: The Accomplice – Book 7 in the Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer series from legal thriller author John Grisham. This time, Theodore is on the case when a school friend is arrested for a crime he didn’t commit.
On a Scale of One to Ten – The story of a teen admitted to a psychiatric ward who refuses to talk about what happened to her friend.
Road Tripped – His dad committed suicide. His mom is not coping well. And his girlfriend abandoned him at the worst possible time. Maybe a road trip and a change of scenery will help Stiggy get a handle on his life again.
Stepsister – Isabelle is the step-sister who cut off her toes to fit into Cinderella’s glass slipper (Disney kind of left that detail out of the movie). When the prince turns her away in shame, Isabelle will have to find her own path. This sounds fascinating!
Testimony from Your Perfect Girl – When her father is accused of scamming hundreds of people, Annie and her brother are sent to live with extended family until the trial is over. Annie discovers how nice it is to have a fresh start in a new place. But family secrets have followed her, and she will have to decide how she’s going to face them.
There’s Something About Sweetie – A companion novel set in the world of When Dimple Met Rishi. This book stars Rishi’s brother, Ashish, whose parents feel they can do a better job of finding him a girlfriend than he is doing on his own. While Sweetie’s parents feel her weight is a strike against her in finding a match, Sweetie is determined to show the world who she is.
The Things She’s Seen – A dead girl and her father, a detective who can still see and hear her, take on a mysterious case with a suspicious fire, a dead body and an unreliable witness.
We Hunt the Flame – In a land on the brink of war, a young woman hides her identity and works in secret to feed her people while the son of the sultan seeks to kill anyone who would defy his father. Neither is able to shake off expectations and be who he/she is. When both search out an ancient artifact that could change their world, they have no idea of the danger the artifact poses for all of them. This has been getting ceaseless buzz for months now. I have requested it from the library to see if it lives up to the positive press.
The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets – A book for teens marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, an event credited with launching the LGBTQ movement. This is a piece of history that is completely new to me, but something we should be hearing a lot about this summer as the anniversary draws closer (June 28).
Books for Adults
My Ex-Best Friend’s Wedding (Trade Paperback) – When a successful author returns home for her wedding, her mother knows the secret she is keeping could help her daughter and her ex-best friend reconcile. This sounds fantastic!
No Saving Throw (Trade Paperback) – First in a new cozy series built around a tabletop gaming theme! This is at the TOP of my wish list for this week. The library already has this one on hold for me.
The Unhoneymooners (Trade Paperback) – When the rest of the wedding – bride, groom, attendants and guests – get food poisoning, the bride’s sister and her nemesis, the best man, agree to take the honeymoon trip, which the bride won, together so it doesn’t go to waste. Yep, I have this one waiting at the library, too!
Discovering Joy in Philippians: A Creative Devotional Study Experience (Paperback Workbook) – Sequel to Discovering Hope in the Psalms. The format for book one was 8 weeks with devotions for five days each week. Includes instructions for use in group settings or individually. Includes a reading, pieces to color, questions to answer and background material. While there might be some changes or improvements from the first book to the second, I expect this will follow a similar pattern.
Emeralds of Oz: Life Lessons from Over the Rainbow (Hardcover gift book) – Wisdom and insights from the movie, The Wizard of Oz.
Forever and Ever, Amen: A Memoir of Music, Faith, and Braving the Storms of Life (Hardcover) – For memoir and/or Randy Travis fans.
Genuine Pizza: Better Pizza at Home (Hardcover) – How to make better pizza at home. Includes information on tools to use, lots of pictures, and recipes.
Life to the Extreme: How a Chaotic Kid Became America’s Favorite Carpenter (Hardcover) – Memoir from the host of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Ty Pennington
Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football (Hardcover) – A memoir on life, math and football from former Ravens Offensive Lineman John Urschel. My favorite part of the description of this book is when it outlines how he worked on his PhD at MIT WHILE playing for the NFL.
Perfect Pan Pizza: Square Pies to Make at Home, From Roman, Sicilian, and Detroit to Grandma Pies and Focaccia (Hardcover) – I’ve only seen a few pictures from this book, but they look amazing!
We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God (Trade Paperback) – A book about Christians following in Jesus’ footsteps by gathering around the table with diverse people.
Why We Love Star Wars: The Great Moments that Built a Galaxy Far, Far Away (Trade Paperback) – Commentary on the film franchise.