BOOKS


Previews Children’s Previews


Children's Previews July


There are mystery adventures aplenty among the publication schedule of children’s books in July, with titles by Jenny McLaghlan and Efua Traore looking strong in the field


A


Charlotte Eyre @charlotteleyre


s children’s publishers gear up for the summer season, mystery adven-


ture stories for readers aged eight to 12 continue to prove popular, with exciting titles coming from Jenny McLaghlan and Efua Traoré. The former is launching a hilarious and spooky series about a girl who accidentally summons a pirate (issued by Farshore), while the later is releasing her second book, inspired by Yoruba mythology, with Chicken House. And in YA Benjamin Dean has created an unputdownable mystery about a royal family. Think “The Crown” meets Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, as the author himself said on Twiter. The Second World War continues to be a rich source of inspiration for writers, and novels set in this era out in July include Jamila Gavin’s eagerly anticipated Never Forget You, inspired by Noor Inayat Khan, and Jonathan


Submissions


Please email submissions to charlotte.eyre@thebookseller.com. See thebookseller.com/publishing calendar for submission deadlines.


Tulloch’s début Cuckoo Summer. The 75th anniversary of the Partition of India is also coming up and Nosy Crow’s excellent non-fiction book on this subject, Lands of Belonging by Donna and Vikesh Amey Bhat, is an Editor’s Choice for July.


In YA Benjamin Dean has created an unputdownable mystery about a royal family. Think ‘The Crown’ meets Gone Girl


Book of the Month Salisbury’s Underworld myth looks set to fly


Fantasy


Other notable publications include David Solomons’ A Beginner’s Guide to Ruling the Galaxy, which will be a must for his many fans, and the first book in Sibéal Pounder’s young fiction series about unicorns from Bloomsbury. Finally, Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Ruchi Mhasane have created an exceptional picture book about grief, and how a young boy learns to carry on aſter the death of his beloved Dadaji.


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 24


The next edition of The Bookseller (29th April) will feature Paperback Preview covering titles released in July.


22nd April 2022 Melinda Salisbury


Her Dark Wings DFB, 7th, £7.99, pb, 9781788452137


Melinda Salisbury broke into the world of fantasy, often a difficult genre for a British author to crack, when her début novel The Sin Eater’s Daughter was published in 2014, and since then she has built a reputation for being one of


the best in the business. For her new novel she turned her hand to the Hades and Persephone myth, and the resulting book is a darkly luscious story about love and jealousy, and what happens when the Greek gods get involved. Teenager Corey lives on an island in Scotland where the gods


still hold sway (imagine something like the Isle of Skye with temples and ancient rituals) and when the story starts she has been betrayed by her best friend, Bree. When Corey wishes Bree dead, her former best friend is soon after found face-down in a lake, and Corey starts a journey that leads to another realm, and ultimately to a relationship with Hades, god of the Underworld. Her Dark Wings is an addictive YA novel about love, despair


and betrayal, but also female range and forgiveness. Why should we pardon those who wrong us, and who does it ultimately benefit? This is the first book Salibury has published with David Fickling Books, which is pitching the story as Circe for teens. The comparison is apt but Her Dark Wings deserves to stand on its own. This is a book that is not to be missed. See also Author Profile, pp22–23.


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