PAL: Published and Listed

Brian Yanish’s new picture book, Sweet and Sour will pickle your funny bone. These two neighbors are opposites in every way and  their backyard battles have put them in a picklish spot. Will they learn to get along? Or will their rivalry consume them? Released this summer from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Multi-award winner Gail Jarrow has another book about spooky science that’s perfect for young adult readers. After the enormous death tolls from the 1918 influenza pandemic and World War I, people turned to mediums and spiritualists to reach their departed friends and relatives. In Spirit Sleuths, readers learn how Houdini teamed up with a ghost detective to expose how fraudulent mediums deceived their customers during séances. Gail shares many of their secrets in “How Did They Do It?” sections  so readers can try the tricks on their friends – but just for fun, she says. Releases September 10 from Calkins Creek.

Mylisa Larsen’s newest middle grade novel is about family secrets, mental health, and finding family you never knew. Quagmire Tiarello doesn’t need anything from anybody – at least that’s the way he sees it. His mom’s been skipping work, but Quag’s used to up-and-down moods. When his mom disappears, Quag ends up with an uncle he didn't know he had and eventually learns to accept help from the people who love him. Releases September 17 from Clarion Books (Harper Collins)

Every ocean contains a thousand secrets, and Alicia Klepeis reveals a handful of them in this anthology of five-minute bedtime stories. Stories include an orca grandmother who teaches young members of the pod how to find the best fish, an octopus who disguises itself to evade predators, penguins, albatrosses in love, sea turtles, and marching crabs! Each story is followed by a short “science behind the story” section.  Releases October 1 from Neon Squid.

Tina Shepardson has two books coming out this fall. In her picture book, The Sorry Seeds,  Courtney needs to make things right after being caught picking apples from a neighbor’s tree. Canines Unleashed is for readers aged 8-12 who might relate to Hank’s feelings when his human goes to school and leaves him at doggy daycare. Hank has to find a way to deal with his fears of a new place with new rules and expectations. The Sorry Seeds releases October 8 from Gnome Road Publishing and Canines Unleashed releases mid-November from Clearfork Press.

Forsynthia and her family are dragons, and her mom works for the Secret Magic Bureau. In this second installment of the graphic novel series, Forsynthia is caught up in a sleepover adventure. There’s the usual stuff – sleeping bags and stuffies – but what’s all this other stuff? Binoculars? Slingshot? Grappling hook? What kind of sleepover is this, anyway? Rachel DiNunzio embroils Forsynthia and her family in an Indiana Jones-style adventure that blends science, fantasy, mystery, and fun. Releases November 5 from Paw Prints Publishing (Baker & Taylor).