Category Archives: HarperCollins

Butler Bookshelf

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Whether a story is spooky, empowering, or lighthearted, a mysterious plot offers middle-grade readers a fun way to practice close reading and inference skills. This week, we are featuring mysteries from our children’s fiction collection, with a focus on readers ages 8-12. Our Pick of the Week, Bubblegum Shoes: The Big Sleepover by Goldy Moldavsky, takes place at Marlowe Middle School during the school’s annual sleepover. When Maya Mendoza, the leader of the Gumshoes detective group, finds out that the most popular boy in school is being blackmailed, the usual sleepover festivities quickly take a backseat. Dodging school chaperones, questioning popular students they’ve never spoken to before, and causing just enough chaos to keep things interesting, Maya and her crew of detectives are determined to uncover the truth and seek justice for their classmate. But with just one night to freely roam the school, will they be able to find the blackmailer by morning? 

Check out this and other mysterious middle-grade books below:

Bubblegum Shoes: The Big Sleepover
Goldy Moldavsky
Random House Children’s Books/Random House Books for Young Readers
Available now!

The Lost Jewels of Room 713: A Bea Bellrose Mystery Novel
Jo Beckett-King
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Available now!

Fear Files: Hide and Seek
Christopher Edge
Candlewick Press
Available now!

Detective Baby: Dance Team Drama
Meg Cabot
Illustrated by Amelia Allore
HarperCollins Children’s Books/HarperAlley Books
Available now!

Sneaks
Amy Tern
Holiday House
Available now!


Fantasy, Fandom, and Friendship: A Review of Trove

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Trove
Danie Stirling
HaperCollins Children’s Books/HarperAlley
Ages 12+
Available November 10, 2026

Obsessed with the niche fantasy series Trove, tenth-graders Nessa and Juliette create a sleepover club with three rules: no spoilers, no sleep, and no drama. Despite sticking to these rules for years, their friendship is shaken when Juliette announces she is moving the same day the author of Trove retires without plans to publish the final book. Desperate for closure on their beloved series, the girls spend the weeks before Juliette’s move tracking down the manuscript for the series finale. At FabuCon, a Trove fan convention, the girls follow clues from a fan claiming to have the manuscript on a chaotic quest that tests their friendship. As the story unfolds, scenes from the Trove series are woven into Juliette and Nessa’s present-day narrative, inviting readers into the fantasy world that has captivated the protagonists. At times, Trove feels like a third member of their friendship, so central to their interactions that scenes from the series replace the background of their conversations. Alongside glimpses into the fantasy series, flashbacks to seventh grade reveal how the girls’ struggles with bullying and loneliness shaped their connection. In one particularly touching scene, Juliette is bedridden with a cold and exasperated with her parents for serving her apple juice, a flavor she dislikes. Moments later, Nessa appears outside her bedroom window with a care package containing Juliette’s favorite strawberry juice. The detailed illustrations distinguish the three timelines while allowing body language, small acts of care, and unspoken moments to build a nuanced portrait of the girls’ relationship. For middle-grade readers, the story’s subtle portrayal of emotional resilience is a reminder that friendship isn’t built solely on grand gestures or earth-shattering emotions. Sometimes, a carton of juice or a shared hobby call can lay the foundation for a lifelong friendship. For readers who relate to the all-consuming experience of being part of a fandom, this graphic novel offers a heartwarming portrayal of the special bond that grows from a shared passion.

Butler Bookshelf

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The teenage years are a challenging and exhilarating whirlwind of change. As teens take on new responsibilities and define who they are, they may discover that their personal values do not align with their family’s values. Through authentic portrayals of this complex stage, books can offer guidance while creating opportunities to practice empathy and conflict resolution skills. This week, we included titles from our teen fiction collection featuring teenage protagonists navigating generational trauma, immigration, teen parenthood, grief, and estranged family members. Our Pick of the Week, Like Glass by Jen Ferguson, follows the journey of sixteen-year-old Tatum “Tate” Nova Lambert as she travels to Chamonix, France to reconnect with her father, whom she hasn’t spoken to since her sister’s death. When he fails to pick her up at the airport, Tate quickly realizes that healing her family won’t be easy. As she confronts painful memories, forms new relationships, and experiences new waves of grief, Tate must decide if she can forgive her father and let go of the past.

Check out more family-focused teen fiction books below:

Like Glass
Jen Ferguson
HarperCollins Children’s Books/Heartdrum
Available now!

Foreigners
E.L. Shen
HarperCollins Children’s Books/Quill Tree Books
Available now!

My Killer Family Reunion
Dinesh Thiru
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Atheneum
Available now!

In the Country I Love
Alaa Al-Barkawi
Peachtree Publishing Co/Peachtree Teen
Available now!

The Lovers, The Liars, and Me
DeAndra Davis
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing/Atheneum
Available now!

A Just-Reformed Overachiever: A Review of Jubilee Foster is Totally Fine

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Jubilee Foster is Totally Fine
Elise Bryant 
Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins 
Ages 13+ 
Available: January 26, 2027

Sixteen-year-old go-getter Jubilee Foster has her life under control. But her perfect life comes crashing down when from out of nowhere, she gets hives all over her body and can’t completely get rid of them. As her illness gets worse, Jubilee refuses to put her routine and relationships in jeopardy and act as selfish as her mother did when her mental illness took over. However, Jubilee will eventually need to attain the hardest goal a human powerhouse like her can accomplish: ask for and accept help. Bryant’s grounded dialogue makes every character soulful and three-dimensional. Jubilee’s feelings, especially those about Nate, her rival-turned-sweetheart, her mother, and her medical misfortune, take center stage in the story. When she realizes how her actions and words affect the people around her, the issues don’t quickly resolve themselves, which makes the story true-to-life. James Junior, Jubilee’s youngest sibling, is embarrassed that he needs extra help with his reading skills but didn’t tell his sister because he didn’t want to bother her busy schedule. It parallels Jubilee not wanting either of her siblings to tell her father about her hives because it would take time away from his work. Both James Jr.’s and Jubilee’s issues aren’t completely resolved, but it doesn’t deter from the story’s hopeful ending. The story features mostly Black and mixed-race characters. Jubilee Foster is Totally Fine, an enemies-to-lovers and medical drama, will make readers cry tears of frustration and happiness with every page turn.  

Version 2.0: A review of The Continuation of Summer Dillon

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The Continuation of Summer Dillon
Sarah Everett
HarperCollins Children’s
September 15, 2026
Age 8-12

What would you think of a replica android replacing your sibling? What if you were the replica? That’s how Summer 2.0 came to join the grieving Dillon family after their 11-year-old daughter’s passing. With downloads of Summer’s memories and mannerisms, she is not meant to replace, but to continue Summer’s life. That is, until a glitch in her code has Summer 2.0 developing her own likes (the color turquoise), dislikes (oatmeal-yuck), fears (being recycled), and a “forever plan” with dreams for her future—gaining her family’s love, becoming the perfect Summer, growing old, and visiting the Grand Canyon.

This middle grade, science fiction novel is an exploration of what makes us “us,” what makes us human. Sarah Everett’s characters embody all the joys and heartbreaks of life (for both humans and androids), with themes of grief, love, friendship, and individuality. She handles tough subjects delicately and with an 11-year-old’s worry about their place in the worlds of school and family. Fast prose, brief paragraphs, and journal-like footnotes addressed to Summer 1.0 and future Summers embody the voice of a vibrant, yet unsure young girl, with just a touch of AI omniscience. This juxtaposition poses questions about the ethics of artificial intelligence in an age-appropriate way and mirrors the changes tweens experience as they grow from childhood wants to the more complex understanding that comes with growing up. A bittersweet coming of age story to remind readers that we are all unique, we all have value, and we are all irreplaceable.

It’s Better to Give: A Review of Just One Gift

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Just One Gift
Linda Sue Park
Illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng
HarperCollins/Clarion Books
April 7, 2026
Age: 8-12

The language arts assignment is deceptively simple: If you could give a gift, what would it be? The recipient must fall into the assigned category (family, friend, or ?), and the gift must not be something they have ever asked for. When Ms. Chang’s middle school ELA class begins to think through their assignment, they discover that the thought put into a gift can reveal as much about the giver as the receiver. And that their gifts highlight emotions, priorities, and community in ways that may never have been imagined.

Inspired by the Sijo poetry style of Korea, composed of three lines and thirteen to seventeen syllables, each response is its own short story of connection and meaning. In this companion to The One Thing You’d Save, Park’s choice to arrange the title into an assignment explanation, followed by individual student responses, provides natural pauses between chapters to digest the consideration that went into each gift. It also helps to delineate between student voices and highlight the self-consciousness, enthusiasm, and growing thoughtfulness of the middle school years. The simple pencil sketches from the book cover and select interior pages (available online) showcase Sae-Heng’s clear and imaginative style, bringing the students’ vision to the page like one might doodle in their assignment notebook.

A thoughtful exploration of the meaning, importance, and joys of gift giving for middle schoolers beginning to understand the ways their actions—big and small—can affect the world around them.

*Final art not included in the ARC.

The Complications of Intimacy: A Review of How Girls Are Made

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How Girls Are Made
Mindy McGinnis
HarperCollins 
Ages 16-18
Available November 18, 2025

High school seniors Fallon, Shelby, and Jobie couldn’t be more different. Fallon is determined to graduate with straight A’s and escape Presnick, their small, conservative Ohio town. Shelby is focused on her budding career as a semiprofessional MMA fighter. And Jobie is chasing online stardom… and a rhinoplasty. When Fallon finds out her thirteen-year-old sister Farrah’s sex education class is teaching girls virtually nothing, she decides someone must enlighten these young girls about safe sex. After coercing Shelby and Jobie to join in, the trio begins hosting secret meetings to talk about sex at the local rec center, under the guise of a “self-help” class called “SHAFT.” After an Instagram post about “SHAFT” goes viral, Presnick’s parents are up in arms. DMs begin flooding in; fingers start pointing, and their antidote to an incompetent health class quickly spirals into a dangerous web of lies. Weaved in between their own simultaneous struggles, a fatal ending for one of the three solidifies the long-lasting effects of trauma. 

Although the first three hundred pages, even with a point of view shift each chapter, maintain a consistent tone that accurately captures the acerbic humor and raw tumult of teenage girlhood, the final fifty pages quickly veer into tragedy reminiscent of a Lifetime movie—fitting for a story steeped in teenage drama. Despite its soapy ending, How Girls Are Made serves as an important cautionary tale about the complications (and potential dangers) of sex and relationships. The characters are complex; the dialogue rings true, and as devastating as the story becomes, McGinnis confronts a myriad of incredibly relevant issues to teenagers nowadays. Given its heavy subject matter, which McGinnis tackles with heart-wrenching accuracy, including references to rape, suicide, and domestic abuse, the book is best suited for more mature young adult readers. 

Food and Family: Scrumptious books for the season to come

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If you too are ready to move from spooky tales to warm and cozy stories, do I have some suggestions for you. Brand new (2025) books of family, friends, and food just in time for the season of abundance. Enjoy these reads with your best book buddy, an extra cozy blanket, and your favorite stretchy pants.

PICTURE BOOKS:

Family Feast!
Written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Frank Morrison
Random House Children’s Books
Age 4-8
September 23, 2025

When this multi-generational family gathers for a party, no one will leave without a full belly and a full heart. “Tastes like home when family meets; bond so warm, so strong, so sweet.” This hug of a refrain anchors a poetic picture of a joyful day of food, family, connection and home. Vibrant colors and bold strokes of oil paint perfectly capture the action and emotion of a large and loving (and loud if they’re like mine!) extended family.

Owl’s Fall Feast Fiasco
Written by Kristen Rememar and illustrated by Matt Faulkner
Charlesbridge
Age 3-7
September 5, 2025

Menu planning for a party is stressful! Especially as Owl attempts to impress his favorite didgeridoo musician and learns that he doesn’t really even understand the tastes of his closest friends. By asking questions and accepting their different palates, Owl learns that gathering with friends is the most important part of a feast. The combination of speech bubbles, graphic-like panels, and full-page spreads allow unique animal personalities to eclipse stereotypes in this ode to a forest Friendsgiving.

MIDDLE GRADE:

Witchycakes: Sweet Magic
Written by Kara LaRue and Illustrated by Ariane Moreira
Random House Children’s Books
Age 6-9
August 19, 2025

“In a magical bakery by the sea, live a witch and a witch-to-be…” Blue and their mama bake up tasty treats with a little magic and a lot of love. While making the deliveries, Blue gets to practice different bits of magic as they try to help their friends and neighbors. This delightful early chapter book blends themes of independence and community spirit with the gentle lesson of learning from our mistakes. Whimsical, candy-colored illustrations complement the story and showcase a diverse and vibrant community full of heart.

The Secret of Honeycake
Written by Kimberly Newton Fusco
Knopf
Age 8-12
January 21, 2025

In the midst of the Great Depression, a young girl named Hurricane is forced by family tragedy to move in with an intimidating great aunt and her kind-hearted servant. Through her insecurity and grief, she learns about the ways of caregiving, the importance of using her voice, and the magic that can come from sharing food cooked with love.

NONFICTION:

Sweet and Salty! King Arthur Company’s Cookbook for Young Bakers
Written by King Arthur Baking with Jessica Battilana and Yekaterina Boytsova
Photography by Rick Holbrook and illustrated by Jordan Sondler
Simon & Schuster
Age 8-12
September 30, 2025

For anyone new to baking—no matter the age—King Arthur’s new title is just the guide for those looking to share love through food this holiday season. Full of tips for getting started, skills tutorials like how to “just fold it in!” (a photo guide titled “What is folding and how do you do it?”), equipment lists, and plenty of recipes for sweet and savory treats. Mouthwatering photography, fun and funny graphics, and easy to follow instructions are blended into the most delicious book for all aspiring bakers.

When Alexander Graced the Table
Written by Alexander Smalls and Denene Millner and illustrated by Frank Morrison
Simon and Schuster
Age 4-8
January 7, 2025

Inspired by family and food, this is the origin story of a young boy who would grow to be a James Beard Award-winning chef. Always enamored of Sunday dinners with his family, Alexander Smalls used his new kitchen skills to make a sweet surprise for his father and family to enjoy. Morrison’s oils capture both the thoughtful and ambitious boy and the emotions that inspired him. This would make a lovely non-fiction companion to Family Feast.

YOUNG ADULT:

Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories
Edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith
HarperCollins Publishers/Heartdrum
August 26, 2025
12+

Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In is everywhere and nowhere all at once. Each piece of this anthology takes place against the backdrop of the drive-in, as teenagers from Alaska to Hawai’i enjoy traditional foods, comfort snacks, and a little bit of magic to provide just what they need when they need it. As they deal with hallmark challenges of young adulthood—grief, love, jealousy, friendship, and family—they make connections within, beyond, and between Indigenous cultures.

Love Craves Cardamom
Written by Aashna Avachat
Random House Children’s Books/Joy Revolution
Age 13+
May 20, 2025

Archi is an American Desi HS student studying abroad in Jaipur and hoping for a “boy-free semester.” Shiv is a mysterious boy who wants to show her the city in all its delicious vibrancy, even when he’s not ready to show his true self. This lighthearted YA rom-com is a story of growth, culture, self-awareness, agency, and the way that food can nurture us—body, heart, and soul.

Here’s to a delicious season of thankfulness for you and yours. May your hearts, bellies, and bookshelves be full!

Below the Surface: A Review of Dive 

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Dive 
Written by John David Anderson 
Published by Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins Publishers 
Ages 9-13 
Available August 19, 2025 

Thirteen-year-old Kass feels frustrated with her life. She and her best friend are drifting apart, and her parents’ marriage is strained by money problems. Even Kass’s safe space in the pool as a competitive diver causes her stress as she struggles to master a dive that her teammate, Amber, could perform in her sleep. Disheartened, Kass’s life changes when she finds Miles, a seventeen-year-old high school dropout, dumpster diving near her bus stop. Intrigued, Kass starts taking “lessons” from him on how to scavenge, looking for the value in discarded objects. Along the way, Kass learns the importance of looking past her assumptions to find the deeper story. 

John David Anderson delivers a heartwarming story about looking past appearances to find deeper connections with the people and places around you. Through Kass’s character arc, Anderson explores what it means to test boundaries and make mistakes as a way toward self-discovery. Miles and Amber further propel Kass’s development as they teach her that her assumptions of others aren’t always true. Anderson utilizes cheeky teenage humor to bring levity to the emotional, serious situations that Kass finds herself in, like the effects of her parents’ struggling marriage. The novel is fast-paced, covering only a couple of weeks of Kass’s life, but its impression is long-lasting. Both moving and thought-provoking, Dive by John David Anderson is a mirror for many tweens and young teens trying to figure out where they land in the world. 

Long Live the Queen: A Review of Red as Royal Blood

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Red as Royal Blood
Elizabeth Hart
HarperCollins Publishers/Harper
Ages 15+
Available November 18th, 2025

Ruby has spent her entire life keeping her head down. As a castle maid, she does her best to be invisible to the royal family of Lumaria (except for Prince Rowan, her friend and chess partner). So when the king dies and names her as his heir, no one is more surprised than Ruby herself. The situation is further complicated when Ruby discovers a note from the king warning that he believes he was murdered — and that Ruby may be next. Thrust into a whirlwind of lies and deceit, Ruby must figure out for herself who she can trust. Who killed the king? What secrets are the remaining members of the royal family hiding? And most importantly, can Ruby survive to see herself crowned queen of Lumaria?

Red as Royal Blood is part romance, part thriller, part fairy tale. As Ruby rapidly adjusts to being thrown headfirst into royal life, she finds herself facing potential danger around every corner while also trying to unravel her own complicated feelings toward her friend Rowan and his brother, Asher, who was set to take his father’s throne. Hart weaves together the dual mysteries of Ruby’s past and the late king’s warning to create an atmosphere that is tense and action-packed — with just enough breathing room to allow for the romantic tension to build on top of it.

For lovers of all things royal, Red as Royal Blood provides a thrilling twist on the princess genre. Readers looking for a love story, a mystery, or a story with a strong and smart leading lady will find something in its pages to scratch that itch.