We have new books coming in all the time with them on display right as you enter the Trove.  Here’s some of our recent favorite new titles!

For Wee Ones

Well Done, Mommy Penguin by Chris Haughton
(Birth to 3 Years-Old)
Library Catalog

“Where is Mommy Penguin off to? ‘I think she’s going to get dinner,’ Daddy Penguin explains to his wide-eyed, curious chick. They both stand atop an icy peak to watch Mommy—along with a group of other penguins—as she hunts. First she must swim quickly to catch the darting fish (‘swoosh / swish / swoosh’). Then she leaps back onto the ice (‘whoosh / whoosh / whoosh’) and climbs a slippery slope (‘cu-crunch / cu-crunch / cu-crunch’). Uh-oh. She must also sneak past the sleeping seals (‘tiptoe / tiptoe / tiptoe’). But one wakes up! Startled, Mommy Penguin falls all the way back into the sea. Oh dear. But Mommy Penguin perseveres—and returns with a fish and a warm hug. The book opens with the Arabic saying ‘Heaven is at the feet of mothers’—a fitting quote for this celebration of a parent who nourishes her child in every sense of the word. Haughton’s signature blocky style works well to capture the squat, waddling seabirds. Icy blues and crisp whites saturate the chilly landscape. Playful sound effects add levity and make for a fun read-aloud, but it is Daddy Penguin’s repeated calm assurance that Mommy Penguin will come back (‘She sure will’) that grounds and steadies the book even when Mommy is faced with a brief moment of danger. Female empowerment and penguin parenting at its best.” –Kirkus Reviews

Will You Be My Friend? by Sam McBratney
(Birth to 3 Years-Old)
Library Catalog

“Twenty-five years after publishing evergreen bestseller Guess How Much I Love You, the collaborators offer a similarly resonant sequel in which Little Nutbrown Hare goes exploring alone when Big Nutbrown Hare is preoccupied. ‘You’re only another me!’ he tells his reflection and his shadow before continuing his quest to find ‘someone real.’ Before long, he encounters a snow-white hare, Tipps, who asks Little Nutbrown the titular question. The two bond instantly and silently frolic together on a bucolic mountainside, until a game of hide-and-seek leaves both bunnies unfound and Little Nutbrown Hare stalwartly scurries home, unaware that someone special is following him. McBratney’s strategically spare narrative leaves ample space for children to personalize the tale, whose affecting affirmation of independence and friendship plays out with corresponding authenticity in Jeram’s airy ink and watercolor paintings.” –Publishers Weekly

I Am Me: A Book of Authenticity by Susan Verde
(Birth to 3 Years-Old)
Library Catalog

“A celebration of difference, connection, and community. Verde and Reynolds continue their ‘I Am’ picture books with this installment encouraging individuality. A nameless child with brown skin and tight purple curls leads the way. Throughout, a silver remote-control dog, an orange cat, a lion, and another nameless person, with brown skin and a larger body frame, weave in and out alongside statements such as ‘Difference is what makes life beautiful and miraculous.’ Caregivers may want to encourage little ones to spot the characters as they read or listen—a straightforward way to engage alongside the high-level messages of the book. The primary character grows to care and ultimately declare love for the other human character—which could be read as deep friendship or romantic love. ‘I’ statements dominate the text, offering conversation starters. Statements like ‘I can surround myself with those who see me, stand up for me, and support me’ may require longer explanations or discussion. These are balanced by simpler declarations like ‘I can dance to my own rhythm any time I want to move and groove.’ Text and illustrations, featuring graceful, energetic linework, will draw a wide audience. The content will be most meaningful for children who need the confidence boost offered to stay true to themselves while still seeking positive relationships. Predictably upbeat and inviting.” –Kirkus Reviews

For Younger Readers

Meena’s Saturday by Kusum Mepani and Yasmeen Ismail
(Preschool to 3rd Grade)
Library Catalog

“Saturdays are a flurry of chores at Meena’s house. She and her sisters help her mother shop and tidy up to prep the house for a deluge of visitors. Meanwhile, her brother lounges in bed reading. Meena knows this is unfair, but her mother says that’s just the way things have always been since she was a little girl growing up. Meena’s family, the first to emigrate from their village in India, help others who come later. As afternoon rolls around, aunts, uncles, and cousins fill the house with activity. While Meena makes countless cups of chai, the women prepare elaborate meals. The children entertain themselves by watching Bollywood movies and reenacting dance and action scenes. At dinner, tradition dictates that the women eat after the men. Meena knows that this, too, is unfair, and today, she decides to bring about change by sitting down to dinner with her father and the other men. The story mirrors the realities of many immigrant communities, demonstrating how families often gather to prepare and enjoy food and give new arrivals a leg up in a new land. Told in a realistically childlike voice, the narrative also highlights the gender disparity that many children encounter from a very young age. The bright watercolor illustrations are bursting with life. Traditional Indian clothes and food figure prominently as characters chatter and play in a whirlwind of chaos and togetherness. A lively look at community, connections, and ways to foster change.” –Kirkus Reviews

A Roof! by Stephanie Ellen Sy
(Preschool to 3rd Grade)
Library Catalog

“The Filipino concept of bayanihan (‘being in a community’) is beautifully embodied in this moving picture book. In the wake of a terrible storm, young Maya and her father, Tatay , find a large piece of corrugated metal with the words ‘If found, please return to.’ But who does it belong to? Maya and Tatay pick it up and go in search of its owner. A farmer, his cart pulled by a carabao, pipes up after they’re stopped by a blocked road: ‘We can help!’ He and the animal give them a ride. As the narrative continues, so, too, does the pattern of bayanihan. At a raging river, several fishers let the group climb aboard their narrow boat (the carabao paddles alongside). And when at last they come across a pile of debris—a now-destroyed home—Maya realizes that the metal they found earlier is the family’s roof. Everyone pitches in to rebuild, ‘nail after nail, board after board, heart after heart.’ Seamlessly incorporating Tagalog terms and Filipino traditions, Sy’s lyrical, methodically paced narrative pairs perfectly with Tingcungco’s lush, digitally rendered, collagelike artwork. The illustrator expertly blends textures and color to depict the rural setting, from a verdant forest to cascading waterfalls. Never verging on preachy, this tale will leave young readers fiercely resolved to follow Maya’s worthy example. A bighearted tribute to a tradition rooted in love and community.” –Kirkus Reviews

Mamá’s Magnificent Dancing Plantitas by Jesús Trejo
(Preschool to 2nd Grade)
Library Catalog

“Little Jesús assumes his most significant role yet: caring for his Mamá’s beloved plantitas. While Mamá watches her novela, a bored Jesús does chores, resulting in a mess. So Mamá comes up with an idea. Can Jesús be a big brother to her plants while she enjoys some TV time? Jesús is thrilled; an only child, he welcomes the idea of having plant siblings. With the self-appointed title of Chief Plant Officer, Jesús gets to work the next day. He cleans up the soil around the snake plant, chills out with the bunny ear cactus, and checks in with the Swiss cheese plant. When Jesús notices that Mamá’s cherished golden pothos plant looks a little sad one afternoon, he throws an impromptu dance party to cheer it up. Unfortunately, he knocks the plant over. “Ooooh noooo! Man down!” With Papá’s assistance, Jesús and Mamá come together to ensure her plantita looks better than ever. A companion to the resplendent Papá’s Magical Water-Jug Clock (2023), Trejo and Kinkz’s latest collaboration amuses with similar madcap humor and shenanigans, focusing on the supportive mother-son relationship briefly glimpsed in the earlier book. As always, the miniature scamp’s hijinks and wry observations bring the laughs—though the antics feel a little over-the-top this time—to the forefront, matched in zany intensity by the bright, frenetic illustrations and abundant speech bubbles that break up the main text. Characters are Latine. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish. Another enthusiastic romp.” –Kirkus Reviews

Fiction

Kwame Crashes the Underworld by Craig Kofi Farmer
(Grades 4-6)
Library Catalog

“A grieving 12-year-old from North Carolina finds comfort, a sense of purpose, and epic adventures in the afterlife. Kwame is reluctant to travel with his parents to Ghana for a celebration of the life of his beloved, sorely missed grandmother. He feels out of place there, not Ghanaian enough for his relatives. So what changes his mind? Perhaps it’s meeting his grandmother as a dynamic child of about his age following an involuntary leap into the underworld of Asamando? Or learning that he carries a fragment of Asase Yaa, Mother Earth? Or it might be facing threats including a sea monster and Asase’s conniving sons Tano the river god and Nansi the trickster. He also repeatedly rescues and is rescued by his game-loving, longtime bestie, Autumn Choi, who leaps intrepidly after him from the living world brandishing a sword she bought online and a fierce attitude honed by years of being bullied for being hard of hearing (the friends communicate using ASL) as well as Black and Korean. Ultimately, Kwame understands that he’s American by birth but Ghanian by heritage—and that, through his connection with Asase, he’s charged with everyone on Earth. Debut author Farmer tells a grand tale, funny and terrifying in turns, steeped in Ghanaian spirituality and folklore, and wrapped around themes of identity, obligation, true friendship, and devastating loss. Readers will come away admiring Kwame and the redoubtable Autumn. Heroic feats aplenty amid explorations of rich cultural and personal landscapes.” –Kirkus Reviews

Not Another Banned Book by Dana Alison Levy
(Grades 4-6)
Library Catalog

“Seven Massachusetts middle schoolers team up to fight school censorship. For eighth grader Molly Claremont, Ms. Lewiston’s Book Club is a place where she feels a reprieve from worries, such as conflict with her former best friend and grief over her brother’s death. When Ms. Lewiston is put on administrative leave and her classroom library is gutted, Molly recruits the LBC members in schemes to right these wrongs by sneaking into book-banning meetings, attempting a school walkout, writing to a famous author, making a short video, and more. After these failed escapades, Molly wonders if she can even make a difference—and she distances herself from her family and friends, hiding her problems. Readers familiar with some of Levy’s earlier works will recognize several book club members: Molly and Theo, who are white, Jax, a Black boy with two dads who has ADHD, and makeup artist and free spirit Alice, who is cued only as not white. Other LBC members include death-metal guitarist Mik, a Black boy who’s gay, and white siblings and athletes Alex and Kait. They work together to show why broad, inclusive representation in books matters. Written in Molly’s first-person present-tense voice, the often-humorous narrative is sprinkled with text messages and book references. Levy shows both the sometimes-scary complexities of middle school life and how stepping into someone else’s story can lead to empathy. An ode to how books can be windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors.” –Kirkus Reviews

Which Way Around the Galaxy by Cressida Cowell
(Grades 4-6)
Library Catalog

“The helter-skelter misadventures of the blended O’Hero-Smith family—on this and other planets—continue. While the resident trio of grown-up witches sneak out of the House at the Crossing of the Ways on a supposedly secret mission, resentful young folk Izzabird, K2, Theo, and Mabel set out themselves on a large, stolen (though Izzabird prefers to think of it as “borrowed”) interstellar hoverboard. They hope to prove themselves worthy of not being left out by traveling the Which Ways to an impossibly dangerous planet, leaving behind their sibling, Annipeck O’Hero-Smith, who even at “two and a bit” can animate and control anything made of plastic. (Actually, all of the children plainly have magical Gifts, though some have not yet manifested at this point in the series.) Fortunately, Gifted or not (yet), singly or in groups, the racially diverse clan goes on to prove redoubtable enough to take on even the immensely powerful and treacherous archvillain Vorcxix the Vile. Unfortunately, their hijinks attract the attention of the ruthless Universal Government, which puts all of Earth in danger. As the sort of romp in which nearly everyone has private business, personal frictions, and conflicting agendas, this sequel to Which Way to Anywhere (2023) is action-packed. Cowell illustrates nearly every page with exuberantly inky images of grotesque aliens and monster robots, frantic kids, and explosive arrivals and departures. She also chucks in mind-bending notions for clever readers to wrestle with, such as ice that is simultaneously cold and hot. Clever, silly fun.” –Kirkus Reviews

Nonfiction

To Walk the Sky: How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering Cities by Patricia Morris Buckley, art be EB Lewis
(Grades PreK-2)
Library Catalog

Buckley (Kahnawá ke Mohawk) and Lewis (Lenni-Lenape) pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of Iroquois steelworkers. Known as “skywalkers” for their ability to fearlessly balance on the beams of bridges under construction, the first of these laborers were Mohawks from the Caughnawaga reserve in eastern Canada. In the face of staggering economic oppression, skywalkers earned wages that enabled them to feed their families. Their achievements brought honor as well as heartbreak to their communities: first in 1907, when 33 Mohawk skywalkers were killed during the construction of a bridge across the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. Then, in 2001, skywalkers (whose ancestors famously built the Twin Towers in New York City) “volunteered to dismantle what their fathers and uncles built decades before” in the aftermath of 9/11. Today, Indigenous skywalkers–including women–continue this proud tradition of sky-high steel work. Lewis' impressionist watercolors reverently depict skywalkers' triumphs and tragedies; his dramatic, cinematic angles and perspectives will have readers gasping in wonder. By turns solemnly reverent and enthusiastic, Buckley's elegant text will leave young people keenly aware of the historical and present-day significance of these groundbreaking workers, as well as their strength and resilience. Extensive backmatter speaks to Buckley's own skywalking family and further explores Mohawk history. Awe-inspiring. – Kirkus Reviews

The Purple One: A Story of Prince by Matthew Burgess, art by Sirin Thada
(Grades K-3)
Library Catalog

While this glowing picture-book biography of the iconic Prince Nelson Rogers, aka The Purple One, aka The Artist, aka Ƭ̵̬̊, aka Prince, covers the breadth of his life–or at least the parts connected to music–it pays particular attention to his upbringing, showing how he was inspired by his father's performances, felt the call of music, and relentlessly and passionately pursued the craft until he found success and more. Alongside the accounts of his inspirations, there's a running theme of perseverance as Prince contends with his own diminutive size, with others not taking him seriously, and with rejection. The story hits its peak as Prince conceives of Purple Rain and goes on to become synonymous with the color, and it leaves readers with a taste of his immortal Super Bowl performance. While Burgess' text is a rather straightforward play by play, Thada's “colored pencil and aqueous media” illustrations elevate the proceedings with the kind of dynamic presentation and colorful flourish befitting of the subject matter. A vibrant story that will inspire young artists and music historians. – Booklist

How to Survive on the Moon: Lunar Lessons from a Rocket Scientist by Joalda Morancy, art by Aaron Cushley
(Grades 3-5)
Library Catalog

An illustrated guide to lunar survival for kids from rocket scientist Joalda Morancy, timed to coincide with the upcoming NASA Artemis moon missions. Humans are heading back to the moon. But once we get there, how on the moon will we stay alive? In this practical guide, future missions will use to take astronauts–including the first woman and first person of color–to the surface! Hilarious illustrations by award-winning artist Aaron Cushley, including graphic novel elements, convey the wonder and excitement of future space travel and give this book a key point of difference from other solar system books. Don't leave Earth without it! – Publisher Marketing

We Sing from the Heart: How the SlantsⓇ Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court by Mia Wenjen, art by Victor Bizar Gomez
(Grades 3-6)
Library Catalog

The story of Simon Tam, a Chinese American activist who took his fight for the right to trademark his rock band's name to the U.S. Supreme Court. Born in 1981, Simon Tam grew up loving music and working in his parents' restaurant in San Diego. His early experiences with racism informed his worldview, so when he decided to pursue music and didn't see many people in the industry who looked like him, he named his rock band The Slants in order to “take ownership of hurtful words and give them a new meaning.” When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected his trademark application on the grounds that the name was racist, Tam decided to fight back. The legal battle went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 2017 ruled in Tam's favor. Wenjen's writing is forceful and emotional but doesn't explain the specific legal arguments, reducing them to generalizations such as “Asians [were] being treated differently by the government” and “the judicial system was racist.” When dialogue is used, it's sometimes unclear who is speaking. Where Wenjen shines, however, is in communicating the passion with which Tam dedicated himself to fighting for equality and combating racism. Gómez illustrates the narrative with dyanmic, collagelike digital art in a limited palette of muted colors. Each spread also features a quote from the song “We Sing From the Heart” that The Slants wrote about the experience. Inspiring in spirit, if not in specifics.

Graphic Novels

Dr. Seuss Graphic Novels series by various authors
(Grades K-2)
Cat Out of Water
Green Eggs and Ham Take a Hike
The Grinch Takes a Vacation
Library Catalog

Graphic novels featuring some of your favorite Dr. Seuss characters for beginning and early readers! – Publisher Marketing

Disney Classic Graphic Novel: Atlantis – the Lost Empire by Disney, Mike Mignola and others
(Grades 2-6)
Library Catalog

This comic adaptation of Disney's Atlantis The Lost Empire features a cover and behind-the-scenes sketches by comics luminary Mike Mignola, whose artistic vision inspired the animation for the film. A world of adventure awaits! In the flash of a giant wave, the mighty kingdom of Atlantis disappeared into the sea. For hundreds of generations, the lost empire has remained hidden at the bottom of the ocean. Now, a young man named Milo Thatch has discovered the secret of Atlantis, and a fantastic journey is about to begin! – Publisher Marketing

Who Was Raised to Be the Queen of France? Marie Atoinette – A Who HQ Graphic Novel by Bones Leopard, art by Robin Richardson
(Grades 3-6)
Library Catalog

Follow young Marie Antoinette in her journey to become fit for the French throne in this lush and evocative graphic novel from Pandora's Legacy author Bones Leopard and up-and-coming illustrator Robin Richardson. Discover how Marie Antoinette navigated the pressures and obstacles that came with preparing to marry the future king of France, Louis XVI. A story of political maneuvering, royal expectations, and determined resolve, this graphic novel immerses readers in the lesser-known teenage years of France's most infamous queen–brought to life by gripping narrative and vivid full-color illustrations.

A Tricky Kind of Magic by Nigel Baines
(Grades 4-6)
Library Catalog

Cooper is a talented young magician, ready to show off card tricks and other simple illusions at a moment's notice. Cooper learned his skills from his dad, the Great Eduardo, who suddenly died a few weeks before the story begins. Struggling with grief, Cooper pushes away his friends, teachers, and mom. When Cooper is feeling particularly low, his stuffed magician's rabbit named Rabbit De Niro, which was a present from his dad, comes alive. After a particularly angry moment with his mom, Cooper gathers up Robert De Niro and embarks on an adventure to try to track down his dead dad. After all, just because someone has vanished, doesn't mean they're gone. The quest takes them through an enchanted portal to a land filled with magic gone wrong where they encounter an aspiring magician's assistant; a not-so-great President of Magic; and some emotional realizations about life, love, and grief. Simple grayscale illustrations keep readers focused on the characters and plot instead of flashy colors, which might have felt at home in an adventure story about magic, but wouldn't quite work in one so steeped in a child's mourning. Cooper's grief is more present and intense than expected for a book that, from the cover, sells itself as another magic-filled adventure story. VERDICT A promising and unique addition to juvenile graphic novel sections, perfect for kids looking for something reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland or for those trying to find a way to manage their own grief.