Young Readers Fiction

Jerry Pinkney drew everywhere, all the time. It was how he made sense of the world—how he coped with the stress of being a sensitive child growing up in crowded spaces, struggling with a learning disability, in a time when the segregation of Black Americans was the norm. Only drawing could offer him a sense of calm, control, and confidence. When friends and siblings teased him about having the nickname “Jerry” as his only name, his mother always said, “Just ‘Jerry’ is enough.

March 1987. The FDA has just approved AZT as the first drug to treat AIDS. But it's too late for Iris’s dad. He’s dying, confined to a hospital bed in the apartment he shares with his boyfriend, J.R. (who Iris hates), four floors above Iris and her mom. Soon, all Iris has left of her kind, loving dad are memories, photos, and a binder full of the poems they used to exchange. As Iris navigates her rage and grief, she resolves to speak out against the rampant fear, misinformation, and prejudice surrounding AIDS—and find the pieces of Dad that she never knew before.

Back in his old basketball league, before the car accident, 13-year-old Carlos Cooper owned the court, sprinting and jumping and lighting up the scoreboard as his opponents (and teammates) watched in amazement. But now, Carlos feels completely out of his league on his new wheelchair basketball team, the Rollin’ Rats. After all, how can he make a layup when he’s still struggling to learn how to dribble? But when the city’s crooked mayor threatens to tear down the Rollin’ Rats’ gym, Carlos realizes that he can’t stay on the sidelines forever.

What if your quiet village life was just a spell to hide who you really are? Aman was never meant to be ordinary. He was meant to be forgotten. For twelve years, he lived a simple life—school, mischief, and running barefoot through fields with his best friends Mahi and Sonu. But when an ancient mirror whispers his name and a fire ignites inside his hands, Aman’s world explodes into a realm of secrets, spells, and shadows that have waited generations to rise again. Aman is the last heir to a fallen kingdom—Kishan Kunj—overthrown by his own uncle, the dark sorcerer Satyendra. The only...

Meet Erik Sheepflattener. Each member of his modern-day Viking-heritage family has a motto to live by. His parents have Family and Pride. His sisters have Conquer and Win. His grandfather has Turnip. But Erik is developing a motto he can truly believe in: Avoid Stuff. Mostly, Erik’s fierce family ignores or discounts him, especially when he tries to say no. But while spending the summer with his rough-and-tumble cousins and older sister Brunhilde in Minnesota, axe-wielding Bru gets the idea to name and Conquer all of Erik’s fears.

🔥"HUNGER GAMES, 50 SHADES, and DIVERGENT, anyone?"🔥 🌟 From New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 Dark Fantasy bestselling author Tamara Rose Blodgett comes a poignant short story set within the thrilling timeline of the Death Series. 💬 "This was an unexpected treat... sweet and romantic, sensual and awakening as young love should be. It was simply beautiful." — BlueBug ✨ What’s Inside? Step into the world of Between Death, a touching novelette that explores the tender beginnings of John Terran and Tiff Weller's romance amidst a world in turmoil. Set within the events of book #...

"Frikka Frog's Rainy Day Parade" is a delightful children's story about making the most out of unexpected rainy days. When a surprise storm arrives, Frikka Frog and her friends don’t let the rain dampen their spirits. Instead, they turn puddles into playgrounds and embark on an imaginative adventure filled with laughter and joy. With themes of resilience, friendship, and creativity, this story highlights how the best days can come from the most unexpected moments.

After bouncing around in foster homes for most of her childhood, 17-year-old Tessa Jacobs doesn’t believe she deserves love. But everything changes when she has a chance encounter with Skylar, a senior from a neighboring town who’s a true romantic. Their budding relationship quickly leads to the kind of passion you only see in the movies. As her heart begins to open, Tessa starts to believe she might be deserving of love after all. When tragedy strikes, Tessa wakes up alone in a hospital room with no memory of how she got there.

In this endearing story of a tiny toy train, the creator of the hit series Dinotrux now breathes life into more than a half-dozen trains that climb, haul, chug, zip, and zoom. In a small room, down a short flight of stairs, there lives a little toy train...about to have a big adventure! There's an endless world to explore, and awe-inspiring new friends to meet. Mighty Max, Chloe Cogs, Sara Speedster, and Farley Freighter can reach all the best sights, lickety-split. But when the day is done and the sun goes down, will the littlest train find his way home?

Mr. and Mrs. Puddleduck have found the perfect place to nest: a cozy planter by a theater in a sunny seaside village. While Mrs. P is warming the eggs, Mr. P is drawn to the spellbinding songs, fabulous feathered costumes, and dazzling dances he’s secretly watching during rehearsals. He’s even showing off some fancy new footwork to Mrs. P! But it turns out he’s been learning much more than how to put on a show.

"Everyone else has the luxury of forgetting. But I never will." Aurora Reynolds stopped the terrorists controlling the weather, saved New York City from an unthinkable attack, and destroyed the Dream Machine. She should be a hero. So then why won't anyone listen to her? Rory knows something isn't right. Corrupt people are still in power, strange weather is happening in Europe, and her attempts at warning the public are being silenced. Even Noah, Jordan, and Emma seem more interested in moving on with their lives than finishing the fight they started together. And don't even get her started ...

Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other ..until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that await refugees everywhere, and must rely on the kindness of people they meet to make it through.

The Magical Yet is the perfect tool for parents and educators to turn a negative into a positive when helping children cope with the inevitable difficult learning moments we all face. Whether a child or an adult, this encouraging and uplifting book reminds us that we all have things we haven't learned...yet!

Tegan Everly is quiet. Known around school simply as the girl with the hand, she's usually only her most outspoken self with her friend Neel, and right now, they're not exactly talking. When Tegan is ambushed by her mom with a truth she can't face, she flees home in a snowstorm, finding refuge at a forgotten local attraction - the tiny Thomas Edison museum.

Introducing kid detective Cora Flash! Book 1 in the 'Cora Flash' mystery books for kids series. Cora Flash is ecstatic when she finally convinces her mom to let her take a train ride by herself to visit a relative in the mountains. Once on board, Cora meets a cast of intriguing characters, and stumbles upon her very own mystery: A valuable diamond has gone missing, and only one of her fellow travellers could have stolen it. It's up to our novice detective to solve the crime before the train reaches its destination - or the thief reaches Cora. If you love Children's Mystery chapter books ...

Being a court jester sounds perfect. Juggling! Acrobatics! Knife-throwing. It's all fun until until an attempted murder happens. In the second book in The Guardian Angel series, angel Pelagius visits AD 1351 and introduces readers to Raphael, a young man trained to be a court jester in Avignon, France. His study of juggling, acrobatics, and knife throwing is supported by his patron, the most powerful man in Europe, Pope Clement VI. But when Raphael is falsely accused of attempting to murder the pope, his talents become tools for survival as he pursues the identity of the real would–be ...

A chilling thriller about an unlikely friendship between a true-crime fan and a former high school classmate suspected of murdering her influencer boyfriend, perfect for fans of Holly Jackson and Courtney Summers.

Sixteen-year-old Maya Krishnan is fiercely protective of her friends, immigrant community, and single mother, but she knows better than to rock the boat in her conservative Florida suburb. Her classmate Juneau Zale is the polar opposite: she’s a wealthy white heartbreaker who won’t think twice before capsizing that boat. When Juneau invites Maya to join the Pugilists—a secret society of artists, vandals, and mischief-makers who fight for justice at their school—Maya descends into the world of change-making and resistance.

When Lori’s Dorothy Parker-loving grandmother dies, Lori’s world is turned upside down. Grandma Sheryl was everything to Lori—and not just because Sheryl raised Lori when Lori’s mom got a job out of town. Now Lori’s mom is insisting on moving her away from her beloved Boston right before senior year. Desperate to stay for as long as possible, Lori insists on honoring her grandmother’s last request before she moves: to scatter Sheryl’s ashes near things that grow.

Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father's restaurant, Nacho's Tacos. But her mom and dad have different plans - leaving Pen to choose between disappointing her traditional Mexican-American parents or following her own path. When she confesses a secret she's been keeping, her world is sent into a tailspin. But then she meets a cute new hire at Nacho's who sees through her hard exterior and asks the questions she's been too afraid to ask herself.