May 20, 2025 by Godwin Books
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss
Magnolia Carter lives in Humble Hollow, a small town in the New Jersey Pine Barrens where her family has lived for generations. They have an unusual calling; they serve magical dinners that change people’s lives because of the ingredients that they grow on the farm. They used to just invite friends and neighbors, but now hunt down customers willing to pay high prices in order to have a source of income. Maggie has not yet cooked one of these dinners, but has been studying the effects of various ingredients and planning her menu. She often hangs out with her cousin Clementine, and her brother Corny and cousin Bay also are very involved in the business. When former customer Miguel (who was fed an acai bowl that gave him self-confidence and a good work ethic) wants to take his newly earned wealth and buy the property next to the Carter’s, the family wonders if this will ruin their magical crops. The town has fallen on hard times, and Maggie’s family hasn’t been as involved in the community as they were in the past, but Maggie wants to participate in the yearly Factory Days celebration. She partners with classmate Graham, whose uncle Timothy has an odd connection to the town and is raising Graham after his mother was imprisoned for embezzlement, which the two claim was a miscarriage of justice. Maggie finds journals kept by family members, and learns secrets about the hereditary powers, even though she seems to be lacking in some of them herself.
This is a departure from Leavitt’s usual realistic writing, like her young adult novels Sean Griswold’s Head (2011), Going Vintage (2013), and The Chapel Wars (2014), and middle grade books The Pages Between Us (2016) and North of Supernova (2023). It’s more of an allegorical fantasy like Cole’s The Empty Place or Walker’s Once Upon a Fever with a heaping helping of the magical cooking that occurs in Littlewood’s Bliss or Larocca’s Midsummer’s Mayhem.
May 6, 2025 by Walker Books US
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Bitsy and Kash live in the village of Oddingham, love video games, and do a local news podcast. When magical creatures (like a giant hamstoceros) threaten their world, they must find a way to deal with their magic so that they can rescue Bitsy's dad. This was very fun, but a little young. Great for fans of Whitesides' Janitors or Mlynowski's Upside-Down Magic.
From the publisher:
Bitsy and her best friend, Kosh, are spending a normal evening playing video games—until a purple hamster the size of a bathtub barges in and eats Bitsy’s gym clothes. They rush downstairs to find her dad being vanished away by a mysterious woman. Now it’s a race against time to rescue Bitsy’s dad, starting with learning the truth—that he can conjure magicores, creatures made from the energy of emotions. From magic-carpet-like huffluffs to shape-changing (and purring) copycats and big, stinky lubberwharls, countless magicores and their human companions exist hidden in plain sight. Wasting no time, Bitsy and Kosh hitch a ride on a kangaroo-peacock called an ozoz and follow a trail of clues that leads them from a conjuring school in London to the Taj Mahal to the Palace of Versailles. Swept up in the conflicts between guilds of conjurers, and in pursuit of a shadowy archvillain, the friends must decide who to trust as they solve riddles, fight imaginative magical battles, and get to know the wide, wonderful world of magicores.
May 20, 2025 by Scholastic
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus V (who doesn't like to be called Valeria) is forced to spend the summer with her grandmother, Jojo, who cares about appearances and likes her house to be clean. V thinks this is stuffy, and is also angry about how Jojo has treated her cousin Cat, who is in college studying to be an artist. V, who is autistic, feels that Jojo doesn't like her and is ashamed of her. Spending time in the house, V hears scrabblings and voices in the walls, which turn out to be the ghost of a girl living in the attic. This ghost wants V to work with her to prank Jojo, and this escalates until the house is filled with sludge and V is sucked into the walls. This is all because of family secrets surrounding neurdivergency that have been deeply buried. Because of the actions of the ghost, V is able to talk honestly with her grandmother, and the two can go forward with more acceptance of each other.
This novel in verse will be enjoyed by readers who liked Malinenko's This Appearing House, Ursu's Not Quite a Ghost, or Haydu's Eventown.
May 13, 2025 by Christy Ottaviano Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Zander is still visiting his grandmother Zina Winebee at her department store, The World-Famous Nine. He and his friend, Natasha, are still worried about the threat of Darkbloom, and are trying to figure out how to finally disable the evil spirit. When Zander meets a man in a purple suit at a fez department he doesn't remember seeing, he isn't worried at first, even when the man gives him a coin with a mandala on it that looks suspiciously like the one on a box that Zina has. When he meets the man again, and learns his name, Mr. A.K. Blood, he realizes that the name is an anagram of his nemesis. Strange things keep happening all over the department store, and Natasha even almost plunges to her doom from her swing in the dining room, but is luckily saved by Uncle Francisco, the oldest Winebee, who is visiting. Zander and Natasha go through volumes of the 1920s store newsletter to try to figure out what Vladimir's message might be to finally contain Darkbloom. Using all of their code breaking and puzzle skills, will Natasha and Zander be able to finally find a way to keep The World-Famous Nine store safe?
There are lots of good puzzles in this, and it's a satisfying conclusion to the series. I'm still a little confused by the location of the store, and by the large number of quirky, Slavic sounding names, but only because I'm overthinking it. It was fun that Winterhouse was mentioned as one of the nine magical places in the world, and I wonder if there will be other duologies about some of the other places.
May 13, 2025 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Emma misses her Nana Marie, who has died but appears to her in the first chapter in a dream about riding a giant cow. We learn that Emma's grandmother was very interested in the Lore of Four that exists in their area near the Platte River in Nebraska, and researched how one could get wishes granted by the Fae Lords. She's left instructions for Emma, who wanders away from a class field trip with her friends Allie and Kennedy to make her wishes. Unfortunately, after her two friends make their wishes, Emma's wish is knocked out of place by Jackson, a neighbor, who has shown up with Emma's brother Noah. It takes a while for the wishes to kick in, but Emma is sure that 7th grade will be fantastic when she has blond hair, is taller, is the 7th grade senatorial candidate, isn't awkward, and when her mother starts dating a nice man. Her friends get their wishes, but Emma starts to notice that Jackson is taller, is named the senator even though he hasn't applied, and is wearing a hat all of the time. She confides in him about the wishes, and since his parents are fighting all the time, he agrees to talk to a cafeteria lady about transferring the wishes. The two get his great aunt to drive them back to the portal with forty pounds of fish for the Fae Lords, but it doesn't seem to work. They consult the local hamburger stand owner, who takes them on wild ride. Will Emma get her wishes back from Jackson, and will the two remain friends, or even MORE than friends?
This had some really great moments; I loved Emma and Jackson's interactions and friendship, and their budding romance even has a kiss with slightly more description than normal, since Painter is apparently a well known author of adult and YA romance fiction. The magical realism is okay, and the great aunt was amusing. This had some things, however, that just felt off. A middle school senatorial candidate? Who gets to wear a navy blazer on meeting days? A Boy saying to another boy "You're like a solid B-cup, dude"? There were some quirky names (Mrs. Snurk), and a rather rushed explanation of the wishes, so I wonder if this first attempt at middle grade is a learning experience. I'm debating purchasing this one, as magical realism doesn't do particularly well with my students, and this was on the long side. I did really enjoy the friendship and romance, though.
This had some really great moments; I loved Emma and Jackson's interactions and friendship, and their budding romance even has a kiss with slightly more description than normal, since Painter is apparently a well known author of adult and YA romance fiction. The magical realism is okay, and the great aunt was amusing. This had some things, however, that just felt off. A middle school senatorial candidate? Who gets to wear a navy blazer on meeting days? A Boy saying to another boy "You're like a solid B-cup, dude"? There were some quirky names (Mrs. Snurk), and a rather rushed explanation of the wishes, so I wonder if this first attempt at middle grade is a learning experience. I'm debating purchasing this one, as magical realism doesn't do particularly well with my students, and this was on the long side. I did really enjoy the friendship and romance, though.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Mo and her now friend Dax are back after The Legendary Mo Seto, and off to China to film with her dad, Cody Kwok. When the second somewhat magical ancestral book emerges, and then goes missing, Mo and her aunt step in to try to find it. A good sequel to the first book, and I imagine there will be one more.
From the publisher:
Mo travels to Hong Kong to shoot her movie and unexpectedly comes across another ancient book of martial arts secrets in this fast-paced, high-kicking sequel to The Legendary Mo Seto.
After rescuing her dad, martial arts film star Cody Kwok, and the ancient Book of Joy from a big player in the notorious Five Claw crime organization, Mo is on to her next filming a movie with Cody! Mo and Dax are whisked away to Hong Kong to start work on The Protégés. It’s Mo’s first overseas trip, and she is awestruck by the glitz and glamour of the international film experience.
Soon after they arrive, they attend a party at Cody’s house, where Mo and Dax meet Cody’s younger sister, Fiona, who appears snobby and cold. Mo is shocked when Cody’s father gives Cody a familiar-looking the Book of Sorrow, a piece in the trilogy of books that holds ancient techniques that have been passed down for generations. She is even more shocked when a thief steals it while the party is in full swing and not even her martial arts skills can stop them!
With no leads on the identity of the mysterious thief, Mo recruits the help of a reluctant Fiona, dons her detective hat, and, in between filming, sets out on a mission to find her ancient ancestors’ Book of Sorrow. Can she find and protect the book and make her martial arts movie dreams come true?
After rescuing her dad, martial arts film star Cody Kwok, and the ancient Book of Joy from a big player in the notorious Five Claw crime organization, Mo is on to her next filming a movie with Cody! Mo and Dax are whisked away to Hong Kong to start work on The Protégés. It’s Mo’s first overseas trip, and she is awestruck by the glitz and glamour of the international film experience.
Soon after they arrive, they attend a party at Cody’s house, where Mo and Dax meet Cody’s younger sister, Fiona, who appears snobby and cold. Mo is shocked when Cody’s father gives Cody a familiar-looking the Book of Sorrow, a piece in the trilogy of books that holds ancient techniques that have been passed down for generations. She is even more shocked when a thief steals it while the party is in full swing and not even her martial arts skills can stop them!
With no leads on the identity of the mysterious thief, Mo recruits the help of a reluctant Fiona, dons her detective hat, and, in between filming, sets out on a mission to find her ancient ancestors’ Book of Sorrow. Can she find and protect the book and make her martial arts movie dreams come true?
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