12 Days of Giving: Books for Teens

 

Today's list is books for teens. Teens can be hard to buy for. These are some of my favorites, but remember you can't go wrong with a gift card (and honoring their choices for what they'd like to spend it on). Consider these for adults who enjoy reading YA, too. 

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang (First, Second, 2020). I loved this graphic novel memoir from superstar Gene Luen Yang. Not only a self-deprecating memoir of Yang's learning curve with basketball and the changes that he and the team go through, this is an action-packed sports story and the book dips its toe into sports history, as well. Sports fans will definitely appreciate this book, but there's a lot for the nerdy quiet kids who don't care about basketball, too.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (Balzer + Bray, 2020). This is a wonderful queer teen love story about finding yourself and really embracing your identity and declaring yourself worthy of love just as you are. Felix is trans, but still questioning his identity,  obsessed with applying to Brown University and just as obsessed with the idea that he might not get in, and desperate to fall in love and be loved in return, but he's equally afraid of even trying. This is a joyful book that doesn't shy away from tough questions about identity, but definitely ends on a hopeful note. Give this one to teens interested in genderqueer characters and realistic fiction. 

Heartstopper Vol. 1 and Heartstopper Vol. 2 by Alice Oseman (Graphix, 2020). Charlie's gay and has been out at his all-boys school since last year. When Charlie meets Nick and Nick invites him to join the rugby team, Charlie's best friend makes fun of him - how could he hang out with a rugby guy? But there's something sparking between Charlie and Nick. The only problem? Nick is straight... or so he thinks. I devoured this delightful graphic novel and have been waiting not-so-patiently for volume 2 to be published in the US. You'll definitely want to pick up both volumes and a gift card for the third (due out in the US in May 2021) if you have a reader who enjoys queer graphic novels. 

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (Balzer + Bray, 2020). This intense, moving novel in verse is a perfect choice for teens interested in social justice. Co-written by a member of the Exonerated Five, this is the story of a boy wrongfully incarcerated who turns to art to deal with his anger and despair. It's gorgeously written and would make a great choice for fans of The Hate U Give or Long Way Down. 

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown (Balzer + Bray, 2020). Malik will do anything to protect his family, even making a deal with a vengeful spirit who tasks him with killing the princess of Ziran. Princess Carina has aspirations of her own and her plans include murdering Malik. This magical fantasy full of political intrigue has a plot full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing. I'd hand it to fans of Children of Blood & Bone or The Hunger Games. 

We Are Not Free by Traci Chee (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020). Traci Chee explores the incarceration of Japanese American citizens during WWII through the eyes of 14 different Japanese American teens. Rounded up with their families and sent from San Francisco to live in horse stalls in Tanforan and then barracks in larger camps, these 14 teens range in age from 13-20 and give a wide range of perspectives as they grow up and start becoming the adults they will become all while being incarcerated without having committed any crimes. While some chapters are more lighthearted than others, this is a powerful book that is perfect for fans of George Takei's graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy or Ruta Sepetys's multiple-point-of-view historical fiction like The Fountains of Silence. 

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (Scholastic, 2020). If you're looking for something on the lighter side, You Should See Me in a Crown is the small-town-Indiana queer prom rom com of your dreams. Liz Lighty wouldn't be caught dead in her school's super serious competition for prom queen, until necessity drives her to enter the competition in search of the scholarship money offered as a prize. As she gets ready (makeover time!) and her friends help her campaign, Liz learns about herself and challenges her school's too-narrow idea of what a prom queen should and can be. Pick this one if you have fans of books like Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. 

For the first 12 days of November, I'll be posting a list of children's books perfect for gift giving this holiday season. Check out the full list of lists here to see what's coming. All the lists link to IndieBound to make it easy for you to find an independent bookstore to buy from (and as an IndieBound affiliate, shopping through those links supports me, too!). Independent bookstores need our support more than ever this year, so please shop local if you can or if you don't have a local independent bookstore, please consider ordering online from my local indie Carmichael's Bookstore. 

Agnes at the End of the World

Hey, I'm an IndieBound affiliate, which means that if you buy books through the links here, not only are you supporting your favorite independent bookstore, but you're supporting me, too! 

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams. Grades 7 and up. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2020. 432 pages. Review copy provided by my local library. 

Agnes has grown up fully believing in the philosophies of her home, Red Creek, a secluded community with strict religious beliefs. As the oldest, she's the good daughter, the one who follows the rules, the one destined for heaven. But when her little brother gets seriously ill, Agnes must turn to the Outsiders for help. And she must keep it a secret. She would be punished if the Prophet knew she was sneaking in insulin to save her little brother's life. But the alternative of letting him die is not something Agnes can live with, even if the Prophet would say it's God's will. 

When a global pandemic strikes (!!) and life at Red Creek becomes even more dire, Agnes must risk everything to save the ones she loves. And in the process, she discovers things about herself she would have never guessed. This is a riveting cult story with a super strong heroine that has a lot to say about religion and community. Yes, it's a pandemic story, which is too disturbing for some to read right now (I get it), but the pandemic in the book is a lot different than COVID and reminded me more of a zombie apocalypse than a viral pandemic. 

What I loved and what made this book impossible to put down for me was the strong heroine we get in Agnes. She is by no means a protagonist who has everything figured out. She doubts herself every step of the way, but she will do what she needs to do to protect the people she loves and to make the world a better place. Agnes is far from a victim (although horrible stuff happens to her). She was born into a world where she has no power, she's thrust into an outside world collapsing into chaos, but she never, ever gives up. 

I would hand this to fans of teen cult stories (I picked it up because I am such a fan) or philosophical speculative fiction like Neal Schusterman's Scythe or The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. 

Dancing at the Pity Party

Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder. Grades 6+ with crossover for adults. 208 pages. Dial Books, 2020. Review copy provided by publisher. 

I can't do better than this publisher blurb, so here's what this book is about: 

"From before her mother's first oncology appointment through the stages of her cancer to the funeral, sitting shiva, and afterward, when she must try to make sense of her life as a motherless daughter, Tyler Feder tells her story in this graphic novel that is full of piercing--but also often funny--details. She shares the important post-death firsts, such as celebrating holidays without her mom, the utter despair of cleaning out her mom's closet, ending old traditions and starting new ones, and the sting of having the "I've got to tell Mom about this" instinct and not being able to act on it. This memoir, bracingly candid and sweetly humorous, is for anyone struggling with loss who just wants someone to get it."

I picked up the galley at PLA and I didn't read it right away, but when I saw how many holds were gathering on this title at my library, I picked it up to see what the buzz was about. I was surprised at how much I loved this book. Like... LOVED. It's not an easy read and I'm not a member of the Dead Mom Club, so it's not a story that I especially identify with, but it still struck a deep chord in me. I think it's got wide appeal for kids in middle school and high school, but also for adults, especially adults who experienced a major loss while they were in their teens or young adulthood. Readers who have experienced the loss of a parent or another close loss will find recognition and acceptance here, but even readers who have not experienced this loss should tune in for just a well-crafted and emotionally vulnerable story. Have tissues nearby, of course. 

Felix Ever After

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. Grades 8+ 368 pages. Balzer + Bray, 2020. Review copy provided by publisher. 

How do I love Felix? Let me count the ways. This is one of my favorite books of the year and I keep pressing it on readers at any opportunity. Felix Love has never been in love (ironic, huh?) and he's desperate to know what it feels like and why it seems to happen so easily for everyone but him. Black, queer, and trans, Felix worries that he doesn't fit anywhere and that he'll never find love. After an anonymous person starts sending him transphobic messages, Felix is convinced he knows who's doing it and comes up with a plan to get revenge. The one thing he's not prepared for his catfishing scheme to land him in a quasi love triangle.

This is a wonderful queer teen love story about finding yourself and really embracing your identity and declaring yourself worthy of love just as you are. Felix is trans, but still questioning his identity, even after transitioning and top surgery. Something about "boy" just doesn't always fit. He's obsessed with applying to Brown University and just as obsessed with the idea that he might not get in. His home life is okay, but his mom left and left behind some big scars. Felix starts out the book believing that he's unworthy of love. He's desperate to fall in love and be loved in return, but he's equally afraid of even trying.

I just loved Felix so much. He felt so real to me in that he was not always making the best choices and couldn't always see things that were right in front of his face. And this is a book written for all kinds of readers. Readers who may not be super familiar with the queer community will definitely get an education, but it mostly feels organic, written through the lens of Felix still questioning his own identity and learning about his community. And readers looking for trans stories should definitely pick up this own voices book. 

You Should See Me in a Crown

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson. Grades 7+ 328 pages. Scholastic, 2020. Review copy provided publisher. 

Liz Lighty who would never have been caught dead in her school's cut-throat competition for prom queen. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, she finds that she needs the scholarship prize given to prom queen, so enter the race she does. Is her school ready for a queer, Black, poor, nerdy prom queen? Well, ready or not, here Liz comes!

I absolutely loved this book and I keep recommending it over and over again to anyone who will listen to me at my library. This is the gay prom story that you always wanted and it's an absolutely perfect summer read. There's plenty of humor as Liz feels her way through this prom competition with the help of her loyal best friends, but the book also touches on some serious subjects. Liz is intersectionally diverse and trying to figure out how much of herself she wants to show to the world. 

Author Leah Johnson is from Indiana and the book's set in a small Indiana town, making this an especially delightful read for those of us in Indiana. Hand this one to fans of The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding or Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. 

Surviving the City

Surviving the City Vol. 1 by Tasha Spillett Sumner, illustrated by Natasha Donovan. Grades 8+ 56 pages. Highwater Press. Review copy provided by my local library. 

Absolutely haunting, this graphic novel packs quite a punch in one slim volume. Best friends Miikwan (Anishinaabe) and Dez (Inninew) are so close that they share everything, even doing their berry fast together. Miikwan carries with her the grief of her missing mom and Dez is dealing with a social worker trying to take her away from living with her sick grandmother. Throughout the story, the spirits of missing women, girls, and two-spirit people walk among the living, as do the malevolent spirits of the white people (men) who would express violence against Native women.

It's truly haunting, more so because this is a real issue that many white people are not aware of. This graphic novel, an American Indian Youth Literature Award honor book, deserves a spot on your library shelves if you're serving teens or adults. The second volume is due out in October. Hand to readers interested in racial inequity, indigenous people's issues, and social justice.

Of Curses and Kisses

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon. Grades 7+. Simon Pulse, February 2020. 384 pages. Review copy provided by publisher. This one's due out February 18 - pre-order now!

Booktalk:

Princess Jaya Rao has just one thing on her mind: destroy Grey Emerson. 

The Emersons and the Raos have been feuding for decades and now Grey Emerson has gone too far, leaking a story about Jaya's little sister Isha to the press. Jaya spends a great deal of her energy figuring out how to protect Isha from the paparazzi and the gossip columnists, not an easy task since Isha seems allergic to conforming to her role as a member of the royal Rao family. 

So now, Jaya has arranged their transfer to an elite Colorado boarding school where she plans to get her revenge on Grey by getting him to fall in love with her and then shattering his heart. 

His Lordship Grey Emerson, only son of the Emerson line, doesn't "people" very well. Warned since birth that a curse on their family foretold only tragedy and an early death for him, Grey doesn't like to get attached. His father blames him for his mother's death in childbirth and he's shipped Grey off to boarding school so as not to be bothered. 

When Princess Jaya shows up at his school, wearing a cursed ruby pendant, Grey knows that it's the very cursed ruby that started his family's decline. And as the rose pendant seems to lose its petals, Grey knows he's coming closer and closer to his own early death. 

Jaya signs up for all of Grey's classes to begin her seduction. Grey tries to stay as far away from Jaya - and the cursed ruby - as possible. But, as we all know, sometimes plans go awry. 

My thoughts: 

This modern day twist on Beauty and the Beast has a lot of fun elements of the original story, all told with a modern Gossip Girl-esque setting as Jaya and Grey navigate not only their feelings for each other and a potential deadly curse but the dramatic goings-on of their rich and powerful peers. Honestly, it reminded me most of a soap opera and I think fans of that dramatic, fantastical storytelling will most appreciate the book. 

I am a huge fan of Sandhya Menon's teen romance novels, but this one's a little bit different than her previous books. There's a little bit of a fantasy element with the curse, although it's not so heavy handed as to call this a fantasy novel. Fans of fairy tale retellings, especially  those with a modern setting, will find much to enjoy here. 

Readalikes:

When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer (St. Martin's Griffin, 2010). Ooh, I'm taking you back for this one. This modern-day retelling of Carmen has just the blend of dramatic storytelling rooted in a classic story and romance featuring culturally diverse characters written by own voices authors. 

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins (Putnam, 2019). Readers who love the royals-eye-view and boarding school setting may also enjoy this rom com about a teen who heads to a Scottish boarding school to escape the public eye after her sister becomes engaged to a royal. 

Dragon Hoops

 

Dragon Hoops by Gene Luen Yang. Grades 6 and up. First Second. March 2020. 448 pages. Reviewed from digital galley provided by publisher. Due out March 17 - preorder now and get this on your shelves in time for March Madness!

I live in basketball country. High school and college basketball is absolutely huge here in Southern Indiana. And I just read a book that I am for sure adding to my shelves because I know I will have an audience for it, and I think you will, too.

You know Gene Luen Yang from his Printz-winning American Born Chinese and his National-Book-Award-shortlisted Boxers and Saints and now he's back with a new book that's a rather unusual memoir of sorts. And it's a very unlikely book for him to have written.

What it's about:

Mr. Yang is not a fan of basketball, or of sports in general. He's a comics nerd, the kid who was always made fun of on the basketball court, a guy more at home at an artist's table than a stadium. But as he was searching for his next book idea, he kept hearing the students at the high school where he taught talking about their basketball team. So, he took a step across the street to the school's gym to check it out.

And so begins Mr. Yang's year of basketball. He follows a team of stellar players and a coach who's brought his team to the California State Championships five times without winning the championship. Could this be their year? With eight seniors on the team, it had better be.

My thoughts: 

This is a fantastic book that Yang's many fans will appreciate and it's sure to garner him new fans, as well. Part action-packed sports story, part character-driven portrait of this dedicated high school team (and their teachers), and part sports history, this is a graphic novel that has a little something for everyone.

Yang includes personal stories of all the teens on the team and why basketball matters in their lives. It's a very diverse group of California students who had many different paths to attending this private, Catholic high school, but they come together to make one cohesive team.

Although at its heart this is a sports story, Yang interperses the team's story with his own personal story of taking steps forward into the unknown. Throughout the book the theme of taking a small step that changes your life comes back again and again. You never know where a small step might lead. For Mr. Yang, his small step across the street to the school gym eventually led to his decision to quit teaching and move to writing and creating full time, a decision he wrestles with throughout the book.

While that part of the story may sound like a story only an adult audience would appreciate, Yang treats his teen subjects with such respect and honesty that this is truly a teen book with huge crossover potential. Sports fans will definitely appreciate this book, but there's a lot for the nerdy quiet kids who don't care about basketball, too.

Readalikes:

Press this into the hands of teens who enjoyed Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City by Philip Hoose (Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, 2018). While Dragon Hoops is a graphic novel and Attucks! is prose nonfiction, both profile diverse elite basketball teams with plenty of play-by-play action mixed with a good dose of basketball history. 

The Poison Eaters

The Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in our Food and Drugs by Gail Jarrow. Grades 6-10. Calkins Creek, 2019. 160 pages. Review copy provided by my local library. 

Booktalk:

How much would I have to pay you to eat poison? What if you knew that it would make you feel sick and weak and lose weight? What if you knew that you could possibly die? 

The "poison eaters" were a group of young men who volunteered to participate in a study about food safety, to eat food that had been preserved with potentially harmful substances, so that scientists could prove that the producers and packagers of processed foods were killing America. 

Go to the store today and pick up any packaged food. We take for granted that it will have a label listing the ingredients and nutritional information. That if the item contains an active ingredient (like in medicines), it will be listed on the box. That if the item could cause harmful side effects or needs further instructions, there will be a warning label on the box. 

That was not always the case. And it took a huge battle and a long, long time to win those requirements to protect the American consumer. 

It is truly disturbing what food packagers and processors used to be able to get away with. People were sickened by rotten food that had been disguised with formaldehyde to mask the smell. Mothers gave children "soothing syrup" that contained alcohol or morphine - yes, it stopped teething pain... because it knocked them straight out until morning! Quack doctors were able to sell "medicine" making outrageous healing claims without testing anything or even making sure it was safe to consume. 

And our American government let them get away with it - until the poison eaters stood up to say that it was wrong and things needed to change. 

My thoughts: 

This book provides so many riveting and appalling examples of what producers were able to get away with before the government enacted regulations. I kept reading bits out loud to my husband because I was so outraged that people had to deal with this. Beyond just unsafe and unsanitary food preparation, Jarrow also touches on issues like the radium girls who were poisoned by radium that was advertised as healthy and the pregnant mothers who were prescribed thalidomide which caused catastrophic birth defects. 

Gail Jarrow is a master of narrative nonfiction and this book is packed to the gills with historical figures and facts. It was fascinating to me how many groups and individuals rallied for the passing of laws to protect consumers while the House and Senate (no doubt influenced by the deep pockets of the food and drug manufacturers) drug their feet. Even after regulations were passed in 1906, producers often found loopholes and made huge profits off them. 

Readers interested in American history, especially those with an interest in food science or medicine, will find much to pore over here. 

Readalikes:

Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (HMH, 2015). Although the subject matter's a bit different - this one concentrates on the spread of a deadly illness - these books both deal with health threats in the early 1900s and the struggle to stop them. Readers of narrative nonfiction who are interested in the history medicine and health will enjoy both. 

Born to Fly

Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America by Steve Sheinkin. Grades 6 and up. Roaring Brook, 2019. 288 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

What it's about: 

Why is Amelia Earhart the only female pilot that most of us can name? Yes, she was amazing, but profiled here you'll find a dozen other women just as daring, just as capable. This is the true story of the 1929 Women's Air Derby. 

Starting with profiles and brief biographies of most of the major players in the race, Steve Sheinkin introduces us to women like Amelia Earhart (whom you may have heard of), Marvel Crosson (who built her first airplane from boxes of parts), and Elinor Smith (who at age 17 was disciplined by the mayor of New York City for flying underneath four New York bridges, the first to attempt such a stunt). 

And then we get to the race and I dare you to be able to put the book down once it starts. 

It was a grueling race, leapfrogging from Santa Monica, California across the South and Texas, up through the Midwest and ending in Cleveland, Ohio. Men had held air derbies before, but this one, just nine years after women got the vote, was just for the ladies. LOTS of people didn't believe women could do it or that women should do it. Flight was new and risky. This race meant days and days of long flying before airplanes were climate controlled or had radios. Add to that the ominous telegram that one of the racers received before the race: BEWARE OF SABOTAGE. 

My thoughts: 

This is a fascinating and compelling narrative nonfiction look at a dozen or so trailblazing women. These were women taking tremendous risks - pilots and passengers still died on the regular in these days before seatbelts and enclosed cabins and reliable oxygen supply. And they were also facing a lot of naysayers who said that women shouldn't be doing any of that. If a man died in an airplane crash, he was heralded as a hero who risked life and limb in the pursuit of technological advances. If a woman died, she was held up as an example that women should not be allowed to fly.

The first half of the book is interesting enough, but once the race starts (about halfway through), I absolutely could not put this book down. My husband knew when I got to that part because I started just smiling and nodding at anything he was saying, never taking my eyes off the page. Sheinkin knows how to write a nonfiction thriller, that's for sure. It's an absolutely nail-biting look at the fiercely competitive world of women's flight.

I would hand this to young readers interested in women's history, especially women trailblazers and/or women's sports.

Readalikes:

 

Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming (Yearling, 2019). This one's a biography of Amelia Earhart rather than a collective biography and it's absolutely riveting, too. I was especially compelled by the details of Earhart's disappearance. Did you know that there were radio broadcasts heard by Americans after she disappeared that just may have been the last time anyone heard her voice?

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History (Young Readers' Edition) by Keith O'Brien (HMH, 2019). This profile features five women who made history during the Golden Age of Flight, some of whom (Amelia Earhart and Louise Thaden) are in Sheinkin's book and some who aren't. Readers looking for more women pilots should pick this one up. 

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women who Dared to Dream by Tanya Bolden (Candlewick, 2009). It's just a jump and a skip from the history of flight to the history of space flight. This wonderful narrative nonfiction book features the Mercury 13, a group of women who were given the same tests and evaluations as men who applied to be astronauts, although they were not allowed to go to space. 

Free Lunch

Hey, I'm an Amazon affiliate, which means that if you purchase items after clicking the links on my site I get a small commission. 

Free Lunch by Rex Ogle. Grades 6+. Norton Young Readers, 2019. 208 pages. Review copy provided by my local library.

Rex knows he's missing something. He's all ready for sixth grade to start - he's got his schedule, he knows where his bus stop is... but there's something he's forgetting... Oh, yeah! His lunch money!

But when Rex asks his mom about it, she tells him that she's signed him up for the Free Lunch program at school this year. Free lunch. Rex knows what that means - the government's paying for his lunch because his mom and stepfather can't afford it. What he will discover when he gets to the school cafeteria is how humiliating it feels to have to tell the cafeteria cashier that he gets free lunch. And how lonely it feels keeping this secret from his friends. And how frustrating it feels to be singled out by a teacher who thinks you're trash because your family is poor.

This is not an easy book to read. Beyond Rex's struggles with hunger and need, his mother and stepfather are both physically abusive to him and to each other. Being out of work and struggling to keep a roof over their heads creates so much stress in their household that it comes out in fists and fights. Ogle is very clear and even handed about that. While he hates the abuse and lives in fear that the fists will be turned towards his little brother one day, he also recognizes that his mom does love him. Reading this book was a very emotional experience. My heart went out to young Rex and I just wanted to see him come out the other side.

This is an important book to read and an essential book to have on your library and classroom shelves. There are kids who need this book, who need to know that they're not alone in what they're experiencing, to see that you can survive it and you can make a better life, that things can turn around. The hopeful ending will give kids hope. And there are kids and adults who need this book to understand what others may be going through. It's a raw and honest portrayal and doesn't hold back.

Readalikes:

Although Free Lunch is memoir, the novel Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt also explores the emotional life of a boy who is dealing with abuse and heavy stuff at home. His actions also cause others to judge his character before they really know the real him and what's going on that makes him act out.

 

And while Hey Kiddo by Jarrett Krosoczka is a graphic novel and Free Lunch is not, these books are both powerful memoirs about boys growing up with tough home lives as parents face poverty in Free Lunch and addiction in Hey Kiddo.

12 Days of Giving: The Hot New Thing

Grab the latest books in hot series if you've got readers of these series on your gift list this year. Do you have a reader who's not read some of these books? Box sets of many of these series are available and they make great gifts!

The Baddest Day Ever (The Bad Guys #10) by Aaron Blabey (Scholastic, 2019). This one comes out December 26 - pre-order it and then make a date to go to the bookstore together and pick it up! 

Boy-Crazy Stacey (Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #7) by Gale Galligan and Ann M. Martin (Scholastic, 2019). 

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt, 2019). This brand new sequel to the bestselling Children of Blood and Bone is a good bet for teen fantasy readers. 

The Complete Baking Guide for Young Chefs by America's Test Kitchen (Scourcebooks, 2019). Last year America's Test Kitchen published The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs, which is still on the bestseller list. Either of these would make a great gift for kids who like to experiment in the kitchen. 

Fetch-22 (Dog Man #8) by Dav Pilkey (Graphix, 2019). 

Guts by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic, 2019). 

The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade (Last Kids on Earth #5) by Max Brallier (Viking, 2019). 

The Poison Jungle (Wings of Fire #13) by Tui Sutherland (Scholastic, 2019). 

Tales from a Not-So-Best Friend Forever (Dork Diaries #14) by Rachel Renee Russo (Aladdin, 2019). 

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia (Rick Riordan Presents, 2019). This latest series starter from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint is a sure bet for fans of fantasy and mythology adventure. 

Wrecking Ball (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #14) by Jeff Kinney (Amulet, 2019).