Cover image for Himawari House. Himawari House by Harmony Becker (9781250235565) Nao grew up not fitting in in the United States, hoping to find a place that felt more like home in Japan. She had visited as a child, but now was going to be attending Japanese cram school. She moved into Himawari House, a house shared with several other students, all attending the school but at different levels. Nao discovers that fitting in isn’t as simple as a shared language, especially when she doesn’t speak it as well as she thought. Two of the girls who also live in the house have left their own countries ..read more

Cover image for Borders. Borders by Thomas King, illustrated by Natasha Donovan (9780316593069) When his older sister decides to move to Salt Lake City, a boy and his mother take her to the border between Canada and the U.S. His mother decided one day to make the trip to Utah to visit. They got dressed up and ready to leave the Blackfoot reserve. When they reached the border though, his mother refused to say that she was Canadian, giving her citizenship as Blackfoot. Caught between two countries, refusing to deny her true citizenship, the boy is caught with her as they demonstrate the power of ..read more

Cover image for Garlic and the Vampire. Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen (9780062995094) Garlic works at the farm market with the other living vegetables brought to life by the witch. Garlic tends to stressed and anxious, and is even more so when she accidentally sleeps in again on market day. The next day, the witch encourages Garlic to try using some magic to get her garlic to grow, encouraging Garlic to look beyond helping her in the garden too. But Garlic doesn’t want adventures at all, she’s much happier staying on the farm. So when a vampire moves into the abandoned castle nearby ..read more

Cover image for Treasure in the Lake. Treasure in the Lake by Jason Pamment (9780063065185) Iris loves to pick up the treasures she discovers near the river and under rocks. Usually it’s bent forks and spoons, but Iris sees them as special. After all, there’s not much to do in their tiny town of Bugden and nothing special ever happens there. Then one day, the river dries up, exposing new treasures for Iris and her friend Sam to discover. The two follow the dry river bed and make the discovery of a lifetime. There is an entire town that is usually underwater! Sam is reluctant to explore the for ..read more

Cover image for Bad Sister. Bad Sister by Charise Mericle Harper, illustrated by Rory Lucey (9781250219060) Released September 14, 2021. This graphic novel memoir explores what happens when you are an older sister with far too many creative ideas. Charise and Daniel love spending time together, even though Daniel often gets hurt. Charise has a lot of powers, like the power of the trick where Daniel ended up eating cat food. She used the power of games to get her way a lot, though Daniel could also use them to bother her. There is also the power of lying, when Charise let Daniel take the blame ..read more

Cover of Jukebox. Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani (9781250156365) When Shaheen can’t find her father anywhere, she and her cousin Tannaz try to figure out where he might have gone. They check out the vintage record store he loves, but it’s closed and the owner is nowhere to be found either. The two girls decide to break into the store and discover an unplugged jukebox. When they play one of her father’s favorite records, the jukebox takes them back in time to when the songs were being performed at a concert. At the end of the record, they are taken back to their regular lives. As the girls work to fi ..read more

Cover image for The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor. The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor by Shaenon K. Garrity, illustrated by Christopher Baldwin (9781534460874) Haley loves Gothic romances and has turned in four English papers on Wuthering Heights. So when she sees someone drowning in the river, she knows just what to do. After rescuing the drowning man, Haley awakens to find herself in Willowweep, a manor filled with characters who are Gothic novel tropes. There is the housekeeper who looms and lurks, the three brooding brothers, and even a ghost who haunts the manor. But there is more happenin ..read more

The 2021 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards were announced this week at Comic-Con. The awards have several categories specifically for comics for youth. Here are the winners and nominees in those categories: BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS (up to age 8) WINNER Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki NOMINEES Bear by Ben Queen and Joe Todd-Stanton Cat Kid Comic Club by Dav Pilkey Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song Kodi by Jared Cullum (Also nominated for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist) Lift by Minh Lê and Dan Santat BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS (ages 9-12) WINNER Superman Smashes the Kla ..read more

Cover of The Accursed Vampire. The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane (9780062954350) Dragoslava is a kid and also a vampire. Born in 1460, Drago has seen a lot of Halloweens and history. They live with their two best friends Eztli and Quintus who are also vampires. Long ago, Drago made a witch angry and now has been cursed to be her servant. When she calls on them to retrieve her grimoire, Drago has to set off on the quest to Baneberry Falls. As the three little vampires reach the Midwest, it’s Halloween, a holiday that they excel at since they don’t need costumes. Plus they get to scare so ..read more

Cover image for The Legend of Auntie Po. The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor (9780525554882) The Paul Bunyan myth gets transformed by a young Chinese-American girl growing up in the logging camps in this graphic novel. Mei shares her stories about Auntie Po just as freely as she shares her stellar pies. She is the daughter of the camp cook and helps out her father in the kitchen. The manager of the camp loves her pies and is friends with her father, but that only goes so far. The Chinese men logging are fed separately. When her father is fired, Mei is left behind at the camp with her bes ..read more