For a short month, February is overflowing with brand new middle grade books. Have a look, and let us know which of our Middle Grade New Releases you’re looking forward to reading.
Serendipity by Gabbie Benda
Serendipity is the luckiest kid in the world. But what happens when the luckiest kid in the world becomes extraordinarily unlucky, in this debut graphic novel.
Serendipity is your classic overachiever. She’s class president, lead in the school play, and star of the basketball team. She’s also incredibly lucky, like, wins everything all the time lucky, even random radio raffles.
Which is how she finds herself with free tickets to the town carnival where an accident curses her with bad luck FOREVER.
And just like that Serendipity’s luck really does seem to run out. Missed shots, fumbled lines, and a slip in the polls. Can it get any worse? Oh yes it can. Permanent bad hair days.
Serendipity becomes convinced the curse is real. She’s definitely not disorganized or spread too thin. Nope, it’s all the curse. And she’ll have to find a way to reverse it soon.
Hilariously charming and illustrated in sugar pink hues, this graphic novel is a treat for kids who love middle school dramas and adorable, if impulsive characters. It’s a perfect story for overstressed overachievers looking for a warm reminder that stepping back doesn’t mean stepping down. In fact, sharing the spotlight with good friends is perhaps the luckiest thing of all.
Space Chasers: To the Moon by Leland Melvin, Joe Caramagna and Illustrated by Alison Acton
Perfect for fans of Hilo!
Created by real-life astronaut Leland Melvin!
The action-packed space adventure continues!
The team of kids-turned-astronauts are back again and this time they are heading farther than any kid has traveled before…to the moon!
But ever since Steven got back from being injured and going through physical therapy, his friends are acting a little strange. They are extra courteous to him, almost tripping over themselves to help, and stuttering over the wrong words. They mean well but Steven just wants to be treated like a regular member of the team. Plus the moon is an unstable environment, and when moonquakes keep shaking things up, the lives of the entire team are danger. It’ll be up to the kids to trust each other’s wits, capabilities and strengths in order to get through the crisis and get each other home safely.
Crafted by the visionary minds of astronaut Leland Melvin, Joe Caramagna, and Alison Acton, dive into this riveting space odyssey, where the vastness of space tests the bounds of friendship and courage.
The Mysterious Magic of Lighthouse Lane by Erin Stewart
A young empath spending the summer with her grandfather stumbles upon a bit of magic in this middle grade novel about letting in the light—perfect for fans of Barbara Dee and Jamie Sumner.
Sixth grader Lucy thinks people are seriously overrated. People come with feelings, and Lucy can’t escape them because of her so-called “gift” of empathy. She can feel the tension when her parents fight and can’t escape the truth of what went wrong in her relationship with her former best friend. So when Lucy’s parents suggest spending her summer vacation with her reclusive grandfather at his isolated cabin on Prince Edward Island, she jumps at the chance to get away from people, feelings—all of it.
Lucy arrives at her grandfather’s with a small suitcase and the only thing she really needs: her camera. From behind the lens, she can watch the world without having to feel any of it. While exploring her new home, Lucy finds her grandmother’s old camera and a darkroom that hasn’t been used since Nana passed away five years ago. Lucy starts taking pictures of the people in her grandfather’s town and developing photos the old-fashioned way.
The finished photos reveal everything about the subjects—their deepest fears and hidden desires. Along with a quirky neighbor and her reluctant grandfather, Lucy sets out to get to the bottom of the photographic magic. But can she uncover the truth of her grandmother’s legacy and figure out what to do with the magical photos before summer ends?
The acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of Pax delivers an historical novel about an orphan during WWII who discovers unexpected courage within himself when he becomes involved with the Resistance.
Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be.
He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see him: Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers.
Soon Lucas begins to realize they are not the only ones in the village with secrets. The housekeeper at the German maternity home and a priest at the orphanage pass coded messages; a young mother at the home makes dangerous plans to keep her baby from forced adoption; and a neighbor in town may be harboring a Jewish family.
Emboldened by the unlikely heroes all around him, Lucas is forced to decide how much he is willing to risk to make the most courageous rescue of all.
Relic Hamilton, Genie Hunter by Joseph Coelho and Illustrated by Hyun Song We
Genies grant wishes! But everyone forgets they’re imprisoned in those lamps for a reason . . . A gripping new adventure series from a Carnegie Medalist and former UK Children’s Laureate.
Relic Hamilton is just your average twelve-year-old, living a quiet life with his grandfather above their old antique shop in Chinatown in London. Until, that is, the day he’s polishing some mysterious brass lamps in the basement and something extraordinary happens. He feels spine-chillingly cold. Breathless. Scared. And there it is—a real live genie standing before him. But this is no kind, benevolent genie. This one is evil . . . and it feeds on hope.
Ghostbusters meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Pokémon (with a genie twist) as award-winning author Joseph Coelho follows Relic to the heart of a fast-paced underground community of dedicated genie hunters. Led by the excitable Professor Latimer and the über-cool Doctor Raphaela, they will travel together in their one-of-a-kind jet, the Aladdin, on a secret mission to chase down rogue genies before they wreak havoc on the world. Vividly and imaginatively written, with a humorous cast of cool characters, this first in a trilogy is brought to life in twenty black-and-white illustrations by Korean artist Hyun Song We.
See what else is coming out in February over at From the Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors.
