I attended the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference from January 25 to 27. I attended some informative sessions, participated in exciting discussions, met people I only knew online, and – of most relevance for this blog – learnt about lots of forthcoming books! This post is about the ARCs I picked up. You can expect to see reviews of each these books in the weeks closer to the book’s release date.
- The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
- Released today
- Contemporary middle grade
- #ownvoices for Indian representation
- Technically this is not TBR as I finished reading it a few days ago. I have seriously mixed feelings about it, mostly related to disability and inspiration porn. However, as this book is so far removed from my own experiences (four young children living on the streets of India), I don’t feel qualified to comment much more on it.
- The Moon Within by Aida Salazar
- Feb. 26
- Contemporary middle grade verse
- #ownvoices for Latinx/Xicana representation
- My first experience at the conference was attending The United States Board on Books for Young People meeting, where board members highlighted titles from the Outstanding International Booklist. Afterwards, Aida Salazar spoke wonderfully about The Moon Within and why it is especially critical to have books like it today. I am not big on books in verse but this is going to be an important story to have available for young readers. I’m looking forward to read something different from what I usually read.
- The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter by Diane Magras
- Mar. 5
- Historical middle grade
- Sequel to The Mad Wolf’s Daughter
- The Size of the Truth by Andrew Smith
- Mar. 26
- Contemporary middle grade
- I know a lot of people who love Smith’s young adult novels, so I’m curious to see how he does with his first foray into middle grade.
- The Rambling by Jimmy Cajoleas
- Mar. 26
- Creepy middle grade
- I wasn’t completely sold on his middle grade debut, Goldeline, but I’m willing to give this one a chance.
- The Devouring Gray by Christine Herman
- Apr. 2
- Eerie young adult
- #ownvoices for queer representation
- I first learnt about book during a #novel19s Twitter chat last fall and thought “Yup, that creepy woodsy queer vibe appeals to me, I’ll give it a go”!
- Just South of Home by Karen Strong
- May 7
- Ghostly middle grade
- #ownvoices for Black representation
- I’m hoping this will become a favourite like Spirit Hunters and A Properly Unhaunted Place!
- The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos
- May 28
- Contemporary Russian fairy tale young adult
- #ownvoices for queer representation
- I’m curious to learn how I feel about this compared to Spinning Silver or the Winternight trilogy.
- Silver Batal and the Water Dragon Races by K.D. Halbrook
- Jun. 4
- Middle grade fantasy
- Roughly half the titles on this list were new to me at the conference. Of the ones I hadn’t heard of at all, this is the one I’m most excited for. Hijabi MC (and on the cover)! Dragons! In water! Cool!
- Briar and Rose and Jack by Katherine Coville
- Jun. 11
- Middle grade fantasy
- Looks like a classic western fairy tale retelling – just the thing I loved as a kid.
- Survivor Girl by Katherine Teagan
- Jul. 16
- Contemporary middle grade
- Not my usual type of read, but the premise has me curious (girl’s dad is Bear Gryllis type, she and her friends have to survive when they’re separated from the filming crew during a wildfire).
Are any of these titles on your TBR? What 2019 releases are you excited about?
YAY Middle grade dragon books, hahaha, still it DOES sound so good even though I would have loved it to be YA. The Rambling had the best cover to me but it sounds like it may not live up to it. I hope you enjoy all of these. Seems like you picked up a great stack Jenna! ❤️
I read Goldeline mostly because of the cover but the story didn’t really live up to it – I’m crossing my fingers the same thing doesn’t happen with The Rambling!
So many of these look SO good! I’m surprised the Magras cover art doesn’t match her first book more closely, though. It looks a little different to me.
My initial thought was “Doesn’t it match?” but now that I look back at at The Mad Wolf’s Daughter cover, I can see the differences (I’m looking at the cover with Drest and the castle). It’s the same artist, though.
I eyed it for awhile, wondering why it looked off. I’m not sure I could explain why it doesn’t match, but, to me, it just doesn’t! XD