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Previews Children’s Previews
Children's Previews May
Lead titles and key débuts abound across children’s releases in May, along with Pride titles and TikTok-boosted books
Fiona Noble @fionanoblebooks
O
ne of the biggest publication months outside of the autumn, May is filled with lead titles and key débuts, including what is likely to be one of the year’s bestsellers in Marcus Rashford’s middle-grade début The Breakfast Club Adventures, writen with Alex Falase-Koya and illustrated by Marta Kissi. A particularly good month for YA includes standout titles in Kelly Barnhill’s When Women Were Dragons, Twin Crowns by Katherine Webber and Catherine Doyle (see Author Profile, p48) and Christine Pillainayagam’s début Ellie Pillai is Brown. Look out too for new books from authors heavily backed on BookTok, including E Lockhart’s much-anticipated Family of Liars, Namina Forna’s The Merciless Ones and Kathleen Glasgow’s The Agathas. Ahead of Pride in June comes a
Submissions
Please email submissions to
charlotte.eyre@thebookseller.com. See
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strong offering of LGBT-themed titles. This has been a significant growth area in the past few years, now reaching beyond YA fiction right across the categories. I loved joyful picture book I am NOT a Prince by Rachael Davis and Beatrix Hatcher and the very funny Gay Club by Simon James Green. Other notable titles include My Magic Family from Lote Jeffs and Sharon Davey, Sophie Cameron’s Our Sister, Again and Dean Ata’s Only on the Weekends.
Aſter 12 years of writing Children’s Previews for The Bookseller this is my final preview, as I take time out to focus on my health following recent illness. I began early in 2009 following a career in bookselling and have loved this job so much. Thank you to all the authors, illustrators, publishers and the wider children’s books communit for making it so fun and rewarding. Charlote Eyre will compile the Children’s Previews from June titles onwards. She can be contacted at charlote.eyre@
thebookseller.com.
BookScan ratings accompanying titles are based on TCM sales (excludes e-book, export, direct, library and other sales) of the author’s most recent original work in a similar format with at least six months’ sales through Nielsen BookScan, using the notation left.
50,000+ 25,000+ 10,000+ 5,000+ 3,000+
Next week 50
The next edition of The Bookseller (25th February) will feature Paperback Preview covering titles released in May.
18th February 2022
Book of the Month Jackson’s mystery adventure filled with fire
Fiction 9-12
Sharna Jackson The Good Turn Puffin, 12th, £6.99, pb, 9780241523599
On a cul-de-sac in Luton, Josie and her friends Margot and Wesley form their own Scout group, The Copseys, inspired by Josie’s namesake Josephine Holloway, the founder of the first Girl Scout group for Black girls in America.
When the trio begin their Camping Badge, they are drawn to lights in an abandoned factory, where they find an ancient television, two scrappy armchairs and an old photograph of a happy young couple. Who are these people, and why are they living there? The Good Turn is a brilliant middle-grade read and a real
stand-out title in the busy mystery adventure market. Smart and bold, it’s driven by genuinely high-stakes, sharp, punchy dialogue and complex, nuanced characters—the indefatigable Josie is a particular joy. Themes of kindness, community, and learning that anyone can make a difference are woven through the intricately plotted adventure. This is the first in a three-book deal with Puffin; a second title
in the series is due in 2023. Jackson’s début, High Rise Mystery, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and she is also one of this year’s World Book Day authors.
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