June 3, 2025 by Nancy Paulsen Books
E ARC provided by Netgalley
Brothers Oakley and Cypress, and their best friend, Jaz, are angry that Orion industries have taken their home and neighborhood by eminent domain. The loss of the neighborhood water park is especially hard, and the fact that the Youngs have been in their home since the 1960s makes the loss crushing, especially since the boys have also lost their parents. The boys and Jaz have been looking for shards of meteorites, thinking about UFOs, and filming their exploits. When the brothers argue, Oakley disappears into the Owl Rock formation, and Cypress and Jaz must find him. Readers who enjoyed Smith's Project Mercury or Dao's Team Chu and the Battle of Blackwood Arena will enjoy this fantastical romp. Bonus points for an abandoned water park, skateboards, and fantastic grandparents.
July 8, 2025 by Greenwillow Books
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Sabrena (called Bree) has moved with her mother and father from Brooklyn to live with her grandmother who is descending into dementia in Richmond, Virginia. Her father has taken a job at her private Al-Muhaymin school, teaching while working on his PhD thesis about Sinbad. After several water leaks cause problems at her grandmother's house, Bree's mother and aunt Keisha want to move the grandmother into an assisted living facility, which Bree thinks is horrible. When there is a water leak in the school auditorium right before her father is set to speak to the school, Bree finds herself dragged into a fantasy world where her grandmother and father's insistence that the family is descended from Sinbad seems to be true, and she must work with Ali Baba, Marjana, and the prince of the Black Isle, Idris, to make her way back home.
Like Riazi's The Gauntlet, this is an interesting twist on the Arabian Nights tales and a good choice for readers who enjoy books like Abu-Jaber's Silverworld or Bowman's Where the Lost Ones Go. I'm never a fan of tweens who fight against their grandparents going into senior facilities. Sometimes it's the only way to keep older people safe, and it feels like an unfair judgement against people who DO put their elderly loved ones into such facilities. Had my mother stayed home with my father, who was not good about watching out from her, she would have probably suffered from the effects of worsening Parkinson's even more than she did.
July 15, 2025 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this early graphic novel, Jazzy and her bat get into a number of scrapes with her magic, but are supported by her Granny Titch and mother. This reminded me a bit of Glovach's Little Witch series, or 1970s Ruth Chew titles. Lerner's Welcome to Scare School, Punset and Vicedo's Unicornia: Learning to Fly or Owen's Lumber-Jackula. From the author of Duel.
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
In this early graphic novel, Jazzy and her bat get into a number of scrapes with her magic, but are supported by her Granny Titch and mother. This reminded me a bit of Glovach's Little Witch series, or 1970s Ruth Chew titles. Lerner's Welcome to Scare School, Punset and Vicedo's Unicornia: Learning to Fly or Owen's Lumber-Jackula. From the author of Duel.
From the publisher:
The Okay Witch meets Hooky in this utterly charming and timeless middle grade graphic novel about a young witch who struggles to fit in!
In her town full of witches, Jazzy’s always been a little bit different. She’s not excited about magic. She forgets the steps to spells. And even though her parents run the town’s broom shop, she doesn’t want to fly.
Then, one day, she discovers what she was born to cycling! Now she just has to find a way to get a bicycle…and learn how to ride it. But will her new passion come between her and her best friend—and possibly get her in big trouble?
In her town full of witches, Jazzy’s always been a little bit different. She’s not excited about magic. She forgets the steps to spells. And even though her parents run the town’s broom shop, she doesn’t want to fly.
Then, one day, she discovers what she was born to cycling! Now she just has to find a way to get a bicycle…and learn how to ride it. But will her new passion come between her and her best friend—and possibly get her in big trouble?
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