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Aeicha @ Word Spelunking

Monday, June 25, 2018

More Fun and New Summer Reads


I'm back with another awesome list of new and upcoming books for readers of all ages to enjoy this summer...



PICTURE BOOKS 


The Itchy Book 
(Elephant & Piggie Like Reading #5) 
By LeUyen Pham 
May 15, 2018 
Disney-Hyperion 

Triceratops has an itch. . . so does Pterodactyl. . . and Brontosaurus. . . and T-Rex! But Dino-Mo reminds them all of the BIG rule: Dinosaurs do not scratch! What's an itchy dinosaur to do? 

Off & Away 
By Cale Atkinson 
June 5, 2018
Disney-Hyperion 

How would you get mail if you lived in the middle of the sea? It's Jo's dad's job to deliver it, taking bottles wherever they need to go. He always comes home with exciting stories to tell-but Jo is far too afraid to go out on the ocean herself. Until Dad gets a bad sea cold, that is. With no one but Jo to deliver the bottles, she must find her courage and set sail alone. As she embarks on her mission, her fears just might be replaced with new friendships . . . and grand stories of her own. 

With beautiful, atmospheric art and endearing new characters by author-illustrator Cale Atkinson, this picture book is a treasure. 


Grow Up, Ant-Man! 
By Brandon Snider 
June 5, 2018 
Marvel Press 

Ant-Man is a very mischievous Super Hero. So it's up to Cassie to tell her dad to GROW UP! Watch as Ant-Man shows you just how big he can grow. Can Ant-Man grow bigger than the Hulk? Can Ant-Man grow bigger than the Avengers Tower? But what happens when Ant-Man grows TOO BIG?! 

Told using playful repetition, this story will have parents and children alike saying "Grow Up, Ant-Man!" 

This book also includes your very own growth chart printed on the inside of the book jacket.  


Star Wars: Are You Scared, Darth Vader?
By Adam Rex 
July 3, 2018 
Disney Lucasfilm Press 

It's midnight and the moon is full, but Darth Vader isn't scared. OF COURSE I AM NOT SCARED. Nothing can scare Lord Vader! CORRECT. Not monsters or witches or ghosts, and especially not the dark. So what is Darth Vader scared of? Read on in Adam Rex's hilarious and spooky Star Wars tale to find out! YOU WILL LEARN NOTHING. 


MIDDLE-GRADE 


The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear! 
By Tom Angleberger 
May 25, 2018 
Disney Lucasfilm Press 

When Chewbacca the Wookiee finds out that a job he thought was just ferrying tooka cats is actually much more, he's excited to have something to do! But when he, a young bounty hunter/librarian, and a droll cargo droid--who, unbeknownst to the others is rebel spy droid K-2SO--land in the middle of a blue forest that emits a fear-causing mist, Chewie realizes the job may be too dangerous for his liking. He and his companions will have to fight off snarlers, sniffers, and their own fears as they try to recover a sacred book--and rescue Han Solo in the process! Perfect for reading before or after seeing Solo: A Star Wars Story in theaters!  



Willa of the Wood
(Willa #1) 
By Robert Beatty 
July 10, 2018 
Disney-Hyperion 

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Robert Beatty comes a spooky, thrilling new series set in the magical world of Serafina.  

Move without a sound. Steal without a trace.  

Willa, a young nightspirit of the Great Smoky Mountains, is her clan's best thief. She creeps into the homes of day-folk in the cover of darkness and takes what they won't miss. It's dangerous work — the day-folk kill whatever they do not understand. But when Willa's curiosity leaves her hurt and stranded in a day-folk man's home, everything she thought she knew about her people — and their greatest enemy — is forever changed. 


The Mortification of Fovea Munson
By Mary Winn Heider 
June 5, 2018 
Disney-Hyperion 

Fovea Munson is nobody's Igor. True, her parents own a cadaver lab where they perform surgeries on dead bodies. And yes, that makes her gross by association, at least according to everyone in seventh grade. And sure, Fovea's stuck working at the lab now that her summer camp plans have fallen through. But she is by no means Dr. Frankenstein's snuffling assistant! 

That is, until three disembodied heads, left to thaw in the wet lab, start talking. To her. Out loud. 

What seems like a nightmare, or bizarre hallucination, is not. Fovea is somebody's Igor, all right. Three somebodies, actually. And they need a favor. 

With a madcap sense of humor and a lot of heart (not to mention other body parts), this is a story about finding oneself, finding one's friends, and embracing the moment. 


The Burning Maze
(Trials of Apollo #3) 
By Rick Riordan 
May 1, 2018 
Disney-Hyperion 

The formerly glorious god Apollo, cast down to earth in punishment by Zeus, is now an awkward mortal teenager named Lester Papadopoulos. In order to regain his place on Mount Olympus, Lester must restore five Oracles that have gone dark. But he has to achieve this impossible task without having any godly powers and while being duty-bound to a confounding young daughter of Demeter named Meg. Thanks a lot, Dad. 

With the help of some demigod friends, Lester managed to survive his first two trials, one at Camp Half-Blood, and one in Indianapolis, where Meg received the Dark Prophecy. The words she uttered while seated on the Throne of Memory revealed that an evil triumvirate of Roman emperors plans to attack Camp Jupiter. While Leo flies ahead on Festus to warn the Roman camp, Lester and Meg must go through the Labyrinth to find the third emperor—and an Oracle who speaks in word puzzles—somewhere in the American Southwest. There is one glimmer of hope in the gloom-filled prophecy: The cloven guide alone the way does know. They will have a satyr companion, and Meg knows just who to call upon. . . . 


Everything I Know About You
By Barbara Dee 
June 19, 2018 
Aladdin 

Misfit Tally is forced to room with queen bee Ava on the seventh grade field trip to Washington, DC, and discovers several surprising things about her roommate—including the possibility of an eating disorder—in this timely new novel from the author of Star-Crossed and Halfway Normal. 

During a class trip to DC, twelve-year-old Tally and her best friends, Sonnet and Caleb (a.k.a. Spider) are less than thrilled when they are assigned roommates and are paired with kids who are essentially their sworn enemies. For Tally, rooming with “clonegirl” Ava Seely feels like punishment, rather than potential for fun. 

But the trip is full of surprises. Despite a pact to stick together as much as they can, Sonnet pulls away, and spider befriends Marco, the boy who tormented him last year. And Marco just might “like” Tally—what’s that about? 

But the uneasy peace in Ava and Tally’s room is quickly upended when Tally begins to suspect something is off about Ava. She has a weird notebook full of random numbers, and doesn’t seem to eat anything during meals. When Tally confronts Ava, Ava threatens to share an embarrassing picture of Tally with the class if Tally says anything to anyone about her suspicions. But will Tally endanger more than her pride by keeping her secret? 

This is one class trip full of lessons Tally will never forget: how to stay true to yourself, how to love yourself and embrace your flaws, and how being a good friend can actually mean telling a secret you promised to keep… 

The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair 
By Amy Makechnie 
June 12, 2018 
Simon & Schuster 

A ten-year-old girl is determined to find her missing neighbor, but the answers lead her to places and people she never expected—and maybe even one she’s been running away from—in this gorgeous debut novel that’s perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish. 

Guinevere St. Clair is going to be a lawyer. She was the fastest girl in New York City. She knows everything there is to know about the brain. And now that she’s living in Crow, Iowa, she wants to ride into her first day of school on a cow named Willowdale Princess Deon Dawn. 

But Gwyn isn’t in Crow, Iowa, just for royal cows. Her family has moved there, where her parents grew up, in the hopes of jogging her mother Vienna’s memory. Vienna has been suffering from memory loss since Gwyn was four. She can no longer remember anything past the age of thirteen, not even that she has two young daughters. Gwyn’s father is obsessed with finding out everything he can to help his wife, but Gwyn’s focused on problems that seem a little more within her reach. Like proving that the very strange Gaysie Cutter who lives next door is behind the disappearance of her only friend, Wilbur Truesdale. 

Gwyn is sure she can crack the case, but when she does she finds that not all of her investigations lead her to the places she would have expected. In fact they might just lead her to learn about the mother she’s been doing her best to forget. 


The Jigsaw Jungle 
By Kristin Levine
June 19, 2018 
Penguin 

A mysterious treasure hunt helps to heal a broken family in Kristin Levine's first contemporary tale. 

Claudia Dalton's father has disappeared. What began as a late night at work has spiraled into a missing persons case - one that's left twelve-year-old Claudia questioning everything she's ever known about her father and their family. 

But when she finally gets word from her dad, it turns out he isn't missing at all. He's just gone to "think things over and visit an old friend," whatever that means. Feeling confused and helpless, Claudia starts to assemble a scrapbook, gathering emails, receipts, phone transcripts and more, all in a desperate attempt to figure out what's happening with her dad. Claudia's investigation deepens at her grandfather's house, where she receives an envelope containing a puzzle piece and a cryptic message. 

It's this curious first clue that sets Claudia on an unexpected treasure hunt that she hopes will bring her dad home and heal whatever's gone wrong with her family. 

YOUNG ADULT 


Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel 
By A.W. Jantha 
July 10, 2018 
Freeform/Disney 

Hocus Pocus is beloved by Halloween enthusiasts all over the world. Diving once more into the world of witches, this electrifying two-part young adult novel, released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1993 film, marks a new era of Hocus Pocus. Fans will be spellbound by a fresh retelling of the original film, followed by the all-new sequel that continues the story with the next generation of Salem teens. 

Shortly after moving from California to Salem, Massachusetts, Max Dennison finds himself in hot water when he accidentally releases a coven of witches, the Sanderson sisters, from the afterlife. Max, his sister, and his new friends (human and otherwise) must find a way to stop the witches from carrying out their evil plan and remaining on earth to torment Salem for all eternity. 

Twenty-five years later, Max and Allison's seventeen-year-old daughter, Poppy, finds herself face-to-face with the Sanderson sisters in all their sinister glory. When Halloween celebrations don't quite go as planned, it's a race against time as Poppy and her friends fight to save her family and all of Salem from the witches' latest death-defying scheme. 

Star Wars: Most Wanted 
(Star Wars Disney Canon Novel) 
By Rae Carson 
May 25, 2018 
Disney Book Group 

Set before the events of Solo: A Star Wars Story! Han and Qi'ra don't have a lot in common other than not having a lot. They're street kids on the industrial planet Corellia, doing whatever it takes to get by, dreaming of something more. They each jump at a chance to prove themselves in the perilous world of Corellia's criminal underbelly, only to discover they are on the same mission for the same unscrupulous boss. When the job goes disastrously wrong, Han and Qi'ra are on the run--from pirates, a droid crime syndicate, the Empire, and their boss--and will have to learn to trust each other if they are going to survive. 





Disclaimer: I received copies of the titles above for review/feature purposes. All and any thoughts and opinions are my own.

1 comment:

Sara said...

I think my youngest would like Grow Up Ant Man. We are a little Marvel obsessed in my house. I am way too excited for the Hocus Pocus book!!