Afar
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Leila del Duca, illus. by Kit Seaton. Image, $14.99 trade paper (168p) ISBN 978-1-63215-941-0
When Boetema sleeps, she finds herself in the bodies of strange alien creatures, but she isn’t merely dreaming, and she doesn’t know how to make sense of what’s happening. Her life is already more difficult than she would like: her parents are moving the family to a new home in Yopan, a city of luxury and goods, and her brother, Inotu, has a habit of getting into trouble. Comics artist turned writer del Duca explores a post-industrialized desert landscape that mixes technology, mythology, and supernatural powers, a fascinating blend of influences made all the more vivid through Seaton’s depictions of the intermeshing of past and future. With little direct exposition, the story depends on Seaton to illustrate the complexity of a setting that features advanced technology, new or mutated animals, and the wildly diverse planets Boetema explores while engaged in what she eventually learns to be astral projection. It’s a rousing adventure set in a world that would seem to have many more tales to tell. Ages 13–up. (Apr.)
Recess Warriors: Hero Is a Four-Letter Word
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Marcus Emerson. Roaring Brook, $12.99 trade paper (144p) ISBN 978-1-62672-708-3
A caped crusader, a quick-witted adventurer, and a solitary cowboy face off against zombies, pirates—and scariest of all—cooties in a trio of comics set in a schoolyard. Emerson, creator of the self-published Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja series, taps into the imaginations of children who come together for fantasy adventures that feel entirely real, skillfully moving his story back and forth between the fantastical and the mundane. While Bryce/Scrap (the superhero), Caitlyn/Yoshi (the adventurer), and cowboy Clinton are at the center of the stories, Emerson cleverly keeps readers up to speed as their classmates provide backstory through faux news broadcasts, Twilight Zone–esque monologues, and more, as well as serving as villains. Dramatically angular cartooning, a vivid palette, and dynamic shifts in perspective keep the focus on the over-the-top action; the school and playground make rare appearances, occasionally reminding readers of the “real world” that underpins the kids’ adventures. While it’s hard to compete with recess, this book serves up enough excitement to be a close second. Ages 7–10. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Apr.)
The Takedown
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Corrie Wang. Freeform, $17.99 (384p) ISBN 978-1-4847-5742-0
Wang’s smart, technocentric debut—Gossip Girl meets M.T. Anderson’s Feed—addresses identity, public perception, and social media skewering. Senior Kyle Cheng and her beautiful, popular friends are as loathed as they are adored at their swanky Brooklyn prep school. Kyle’s grades are top notch, and she excels in her extracurricular activities, but she has enemies; after someone releases a video of her having sex with a teacher it immediately goes viral and upends Kyle’s existence, even as she insists it’s fake. Wang sets Kyle’s story in the near future, inventing all-too-believable tech that has rendered privacy obsolete; “unplugging” is a concept of the distant past. Kyle has a memorable narrative voice that’s catty, funny, and somewhat detestable (“You’re probably not gonna like me,” she warns readers as the book begins), and Kyle’s determination to unmask her tormentor will have readers riveted. As Kyle grows increasingly famous, judged globally as both slut and feminist hero, Wang takes on stereotypes of women and girls while creating a vision of the future that will chill readers for its prescience. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company. (Apr.)
Saint Death
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Marcus Sedgwick. Roaring Brook, $17.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-62672-549-2
Sedgwick (Blood Red Snow White) transports readers to the border city of Juarez in this grim study of the repercussions of U.S. policies and the market for narcotics on Mexico and its citizens. Arturo cobbles together a life in Anapra, “a little less than a shanty town,” where he is visited by childhood friend Faustino, who has gotten mixed up with the deadly local gangs and is in desperate need of money. Arturo reluctantly agrees to put his gambling talents to the test in order to help his old friend, but it’s a dangerous game, and it doesn’t end well. Sedgwick interweaves the cruel realities of day-to-day existence in a desert landscape plagued by gang warfare—where people vanish without notice and brutalized corpses appear just as suddenly—with interspersed passages that address NAFTA and other relevant social context, as well as musings that revolve around Santa Muerte, “a folk saint, a rebel angel, a powerful divinity excommunicated from the Orthodox,” to whom Arturo devotes himself. The novel’s many tragedies feel all but inexorable, and Arturo’s story will linger with readers. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)
Fireworks
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Katie Cotugno. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-06-241827-2
Dana Cartwright lives in the shadow of her talented best friend Olivia until she is unexpectedly chosen to join a new girl group, Daisy Chain, alongside Olivia. Jealousies and tension, romantic and otherwise, grow between the two girls, even as they try to maintain a sense of normalcy. The lack of cohesion onstage and off between the members of Daisy Chain threatens to undermine the band, and when its producer pits Dana and Olivia against each other, their friendship suffers even more. Cotugno (99 Days) follows a mostly predictable script of interpersonal dramas, set against the backdrop of the competitive world of pop stardom. Initially, Dana is the weakest link in Daisy Chain, but hard work and growing self-confidence get her noticed and propel her into the spotlight. As an interest develops between Dana and Alex—the boy Olivia likes—their secret romance further threatens her relationship with Olivia. Olivia’s struggle with an eating disorder aside, Cotugno’s coming-of-age novel mostly keeps it light as it explores the breakdown of friendship and the lure of fame. Ages 13– up. Agency: Alloy Entertainment. (Apr.)
Princess and the Peas
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Rachel Himes. Charlesbridge, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-58089-718-1
In her first children’s book, Himes transplants Andersen’s “The Princess and the Pea” to an African-American community in mid-20th-century South Carolina, where a young man named John thinks it’s about time that he got married. His mother, Ma Sally, an acclaimed local cook, has mixed feelings: “She couldn’t bear the thought of her only child sitting down to an ill-cooked meal.” Thus it’s decided that John’s prospective bride will have to whip up a batch of black-eyed peas that pass muster with Ma Sally. Demonstrating one’s smarts and skill in the kitchen is a definite step up from simply being sensitive to foreign objects hidden under a mattress or 20, and Himes’s heroine, Princess, is no pushover. “I like John well enough, but I’ve got my own plans,” she says, setting aside any notions of a shotgun marriage. Instead, she suggests a date at the juke point and makes sure that John is doing his share: “Why don’t you show me how you scrub them pots and pans?” Rendered in a flattened, folk art style, Himes’s paintings lovingly evoke the period setting, highlighting the community’s warmth, traditions, and fashion. Ages 5–8. (Apr.)
Rulers of the Playground
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Joseph Kuefler. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-06-242432-7
Kuefler (Beyond the Pond) returns with a smart, funny examination of power and control, set in the milieu of slides and swing sets. One day at the playground, a boy named Jonah appoints himself “king of this land.” He classmates quickly acquiesce, but asserting rule isn’t as easy as keeping it: a girl named Lennox asserts herself queen and claims the swings as her territory, and their classmates get caught in the ensuing power struggle. The careful detailing and muted palette of Kuefler’s previous book are just as appealing in this story, and his use of royal trappings bring understated humor to the conflict—Jonah and Lennox both wear crowns and other regalia, and small flags mark out their holdings on the seesaw and climbing dome as they attempt to out-conquer each other. Meanwhile, their classmates’ growing displeasure can be read loud and clear on their faces, portending not a revolution but a lack of subjects as they take their play elsewhere. It’s a sly reminder that being in charge isn’t always as fun as it looks. Ages 4–8. Agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Apr.)
The Book of Mistakes
Corinna Luyken. Dial, $17.99 (56p) ISBN 978-0-7352-2792-7
Almost any child knows the feeling: one errant mark or smudge, and an in-progress drawing or painting is as good as ruined. Not so, says Luyken, in a children’s book debut that’s as candid as it is encouraging. The pages are virtually blank, at first, and readers watch as a character takes shape: a girl’s round head appears, traced in pencil, but one of her large, dark eyes winds up noticeably larger than the other. “Making the other eye even bigger was another mistake,” Luyken admits as the problem seems to get worse. “But the glasses—they were a good idea.” Additional “mistakes” mount: the girl winds up with an overlong neck and an odd “frog-cat-cow thing” makes an appearance, but Luyken finds a way to turn each one into a success by changing direction or perspective: “The second frog-cat-cow thing made a very nice rock,” she writes after inking it in. The idea of setbacks being opportunities in disguise is no stranger to picture book pages, but rarely has it been illuminated with such style, imagination, and compassion. Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.)
Are You a Monkey? A Tale of Animal Charades
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Marine Rivoal, adapted from the French by Maria Tunney. Phaidon, $16.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-7148-7417-3
In a book originally published in France, Rivoal (Three Little Peas) lets readers join in a game of charades played by a group of jungle animals. Printed in vivid shades of yellow, blue, and vermilion, Rivoal’s blocky prints couldn’t be more vibrant as the animals take turns posing as other creatures while three birds make guesses. Crocodile curves his body into a horseshoe shape and sticks his snout into the ground. “I know! You’re a carrot!” shouts Toucan, who never quite gets a handle on the game, making food-themed guesses throughout. “He’s not a carrot—he’s an ostrich like me!” says Ostrich on the next page, before becoming the game’s next player. Rivoal’s page turns are especially well-handled, creating lovely visual parallels between the pretend and real animals: a spread that shows Elephant hanging from a tree is followed by one of Monkey in the same position, his long tail echoing the curve of Elephant’s trunk. Along the way, readers pick up details about animal behavior, and Toucan’s bad guesses add light laughs to a book that’s equal parts handsome and fun. Ages 3–5. (Apr.)
Moto and Me: My Year as a Wildcat’s Foster Mom
Suzi Eszterhas. Owlkids (PGW, dist.), $17.95 (40p) ISBN 978-1-77147-242-5
Wildlife photographer Eszterhas (the Wildlife Rescue series) offers a tender chronicle of her time living on the Masai Mara wildlife reserve in Kenya, where she raised an orphaned serval kitten. Eszterhas’s sharp photographs preserve moments from her time with Moto, including cleaning and bottle-feeding the animal, as well as carrying him in a pouch during photography expeditions (“I felt like a kangaroo mom with her joey”). Eszterhas explains how she slowly began to reintroduce Moto to the natural world, allowing his survival instincts to develop. Moto’s eventual return to the wild is poignant, but Eszterhas repeatedly emphasizes that living as a wildcat is best for Moto: “I love to picture him hunting in the long grass of the savanna, under the African moon.” It’s a vibrant, small-scale comeback story. Ages 7–10. (Apr.)
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