Titles in this preview are published in June
Victorian London to the wilds of Northumberland, where she discovers the truth about her musical inheritance.
Susie Bower The Invisibles Pushkin Children’s, 5th, £8.99, PB, 9781782694601
Four friends who live in the Land of Magic are exiled when one of them breaks a rule and enters the Island of Darkness. For Grace, this is particularly cruel because she wakes up with no memory of her magical home, or how she ended up here – and the only clue to her past is guarded by two invisible children. Will appeal to fans of Jordan Lees.
Sarah Bowie Nina Peanut: Epic World Tour Era
Scholastic, 5th, £8.99, PB, 9780702329890
In the third book in the series, Nina Peanut goes on a holiday to a Spanish resort and spots enemy Megan Dunne, who had told everyone at school she was off to the Maldives to work on her tan. Moves from May.
Maisie Chan Nate Yu’s Blast from the Past
Piccadilly Press, 12th, £7.99, PB, 9781800787896
Nate, who was adopted by two white mums and says he is the “worst Chinese person ever”, befriends the ghost of a Chinese Second World War soldier when he touches an old shell casing at school. Chan drew upon her own childhood while writing this novel, as well as the forgotten history of the Chinese Labour Corps.
Jennifer Claessen Netta Becker and the Timeline Crime
UCLan, 5th, £8.99, PB, 9781916747593
Netta is not too keen on being in Crete with her history-loving brother, Remy, but when she starts being dragged back thousands of years to the time when King Minos is preparing to open his labyrinth, she must work out how she can avoid being left in the past forever.
Chris Colfer Roswell Johnson Saves the Galaxy!
Hachette Children’s Books, 5th, £14.99, HB, 9781510202665
In this sequel to Roswell Johnson Saves the World!, Roswell and his alien friends investigate when people, spaceships and even stars start to disappear without trace.
Sarah Driver Dreamstalkers: The Sky Ship
Farshore, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9780008595050
Bea Grimspuddle is about to start her apprenticeship and prove that she can be part of the secret dream-crafting guild for real. But, when dreamers begin to disappear, she is cast out of the guild and teams up with her friends to undertake her own race through the skies. Second in a series.
Christopher Edge Escape Room: Game Zero Nosy Crow, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781805135845
Eden is on her way to an escape room party but suddenly finds herself awake in The Escape – the most ambitious game ever created – and, along with avatar Ted, must find the keys to progress to the next level. They soon realise that The Escape is hiding secrets that not only threaten Eden and Ted, but the entire world, and they may have to break the rules to win. Second in a series.
Patrick Gallagher Transcendent: Dark Swarm
Hachette Children’s Books, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781510112445
Jacob and Kira have been launched into space by a top-secret agency called Transcendent and are on a mission to clean up the Earth and solve climate change. However, they soon have to contend with an evil billionaire who wants to shut down Transcendent for good, while a mysterious creature is closing in. Second in a series.
Lindsay Galvin, Kristina Kister The Elixir
Barrington Stoke, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9780008724504
Galvin blends science and mystery in this 17th century-set novel about Ann, who has inherited her grandmother’s gift of healing and shares it with a young Isaac Newton. Ann hides her gifts from the wider world because of the witch trials that are taking place, but when the plague starts to run rife she must decide whether she can be brave enough to help the people she loves. The Elixir is Barrington Stoke’s lead title for June.
Janice Hallett A Box Full of Murders Puffin, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9780241636183
Hallett’s first children’s book, told through letters, diary entries, texts and emails, is this interactive mystery about siblings Ava and Luke, who uncover a murder mystery when they find a mysterious box of papers in their dad’s attic.
Vashti Hardy, Rebecca Sheerin (illus) The Amulet of Hath
Barrington Stoke, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9780008680725
The Greystones race to find the lost gold of ancient Hath in the second book in the Relic Hunters series.
Anna James, Matthew Land (illus) Alice with a Why
HarperCollins Children’s Books, 19th, £12.99, HB, 9780008611477
Alyce (with a Y) lives with her grandmother – the original Alice – after her father died during the First World War. When a mysterious invitation to a tea party arrives, Alyce realises that her grandmother’s stories may have some truth to
them after all, and starts on her own journey to Wonderland. But the Wonderland Alyce finds herself in is at war, and Alyce, with the help of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat and a Sailor Fox, decides to try to help the kingdom find a solution to its problems.
Truly Johnston The Shell Keepers Chicken House, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781915947734
Corinne finds a beautiful shell while mudlarking and later discovers that she
can speak to the Democonch, a tribe of tiny people who cross the world with the tides, protecting nature. The Democonch are under threat and need Corinne – a shell keeper – to help. This cosy middle-grade debut has themes of identity and environmentalism and won a Bath Children’s Novel Award for unpublished manuscripts.
Scarlett Li
The Lucky House Detective Agency Knights Of, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781915820051
Felix and his best friend Isaac love mysteries, so when Felix’s family’s Chinese takeaway is cursed with a spate of bad luck and a mysterious coin turns up, the boys decide to investigate.
Patrick Ness, Tim Miller (illus) Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody: The Hat of Great Importance
Walker Books, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781529517965
Life is not going well for Zeke – his friends have ditched him, his old nemesis will not give him the time of day and somebody melts his house with the Death Ray of Death. Zeke has had enough and has to work out who is sabotaging his life and why. Second in Ness’ funny middle- grade series.
Chibundu Onuzo ( 5) Mayowa and the Sea of Words
Bloomsbury Children’s, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781526661005
Mayowa discovers that she has the power to jump on a book and harness the emotions inside it in this exhilarating fantasy novel, an Editor’s Choice in The Bookseller when published in hardback.
Alice Primmer, Fred Blunt (illus) The World’s Worst Alien
5
Walker Books, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781529519655
An alien disguises herself as an 11-year-old schoolgirl to come
and fix the earth, where she is co-opted into joining an eco-club. Funny, illustrated debut, pitched at readers who are moving on from graphic novels.
Emily Randall-Jones Scream of the Whistle Chicken House, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781915947147
When Ruby decides to follow an old train track to get home she finds herself on a ghostly steam train in this paranormal horror. By the author of The Witchstone Ghosts.
Iona Rangeley, David Tazzyman (illus) Cecily Sawyer: How to Be a Spy
HarperCollins Children’s Books, 19th, £7.99, PB, 9780008644451
Cecily is not too disturbed when her parents disappear from the hotel where she lives and determines to find out what happened with the help of spy handbooks, manuals, code-cracking kits and Mrs Maple Syrup, a very intelligent mouse. This quirky and charming novel, the first in a new series from the author of Einstein the Penguin, will appeal to fans of Anna James, Kate McKinnon and Beth Lincoln.
Onjali Q Raúf The Game I Will Never Forget
Hachette Children’s Group, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781510108967
Zak enters his elderly grandmother into a chess tournament in this warm story about dementia, family and the bond between a child and their grandparent.
Dave Rear The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
Puffin, 5th, £8.99, PB, 9780241740675
Visit all the seven wonders of the world, thanks to a time machine provided by Intrepid Explorers Inc in this choose-your-own adventure, which is packed full of historical details. Two more books in the series are planned.
Jamie Russell Mech Brigade Walker Books, 5th, £7.99, PB, 9781529524444
Miles joins the war against alien Spinners on his 13th
birthday and must
master a rogue ‘mech’ called Ironclad, find his father and save the world. This exciting fantasy is perfect for SF fans, gamers and reluctant readers, says Walker.
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