Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Life on the Moon By Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. Science fiction. 306 pgs.  The first rule is there is no life on the moon. The second rule is don't ask questions. 12-year-old Leo is still mourning his parents' divorce when he leaves Earth to live as part of the first Lunar Colony. He's thrilled to be part of the top-secret mission, right up until he touches down the moon. Right away his dad and his dad's friend Sally are whisked away on a project and then go missing. When he starts to question other adults, he's taught the rules of life on the moon. Normally a rule follower, Leo decides to borrow a rover and sneak out to look for his dad. Before long, Leo discovers that there is life on the moon when he encounters first a giant mouth on three legs called a Hortle and then a race of beings called Valrootens. When Leo interferes to save a Valrooten from being eaten by the Hortle, his adventure on the moon really begins. As Leo learn...

  Diamond Fever! By Steve Sheinkin New York : Roaring Brook Press, 2026. Informational. 243 pages. You've probably heard of the gold rush, but have you heard of the Great Diamond Hoax of 1872? During the gold rush, prospectors and buisnessmen alike were in search of the next big score. While some found ways to make normal land seem like a literal gold mine, no one believed the same could be done with diamonds. That's until Phil Arnold and John Slack walked into the office of a business acquaintance and asked him to hold some precious stones for them overnight and the con snowballed until it involved major investors on both coasts buying into a salted "diamond mine" on the border of Colorado and Wyoming. Steve Sheinkin is known for writing very interesting children's nonfiction and this book is no exceptions. Young readers will want to stay up past their bedtimes to find out whether or not the cousins were caught. Hand this to fans of true crime or the wild west. T...

The Second Life of Snap By Erin Entrada Kelly New York: Greenwillow Books, 2026. Science fiction. 164 pgs. 12-year-old Zuzu Santos does not like robots. Really, she doesn't trust anything that comes from the Lockwood Corporation; the super-conglomerate that governs life for the people in Barren, Texas. Zuzu and her fellow 'dusties' live in trailers with strict water rations in Barren, meanwhile people who live across the shelterbelt in the city of Bountiful have actual trees and all the water they want. To add insult to injury, Zuzu's father has been laid off by Lockwood and as a parting gift has been given a castoff robot—sans charging cable. To make things even worse, this robot is a guardian robot, specifically programmed to ensure Zuzu is attending school, doing homework, and other things a chaperone might do. Zuzu takes the robot to a nearby salvage yard, where her friend manages to reprogram the robot. In a twist, Snap (Secure Network Android Processor) now has a ...

  Yasha's Amazin' Bar Mitzvah By Margaret Gurevich  New York: Penguin Workshop, 2026. Fiction. 233 pages.  Yasha, a thirteen-year-old in 1986, is about to start his final year of junior high at a new school after moving from Brighton Beach, a neighborhood in New York City, to Rockwood, a town right in the middle of New Jersey's suburbia. He isn't used to being in the minority as a Russian American boy, and the only other Russian family in town seems desperate to hide their heritage. There is a lot to figure out in his new life between learning his Torah portion for his bar mitzvah and trying to find friends that will accept him for his true self. Through it all, the Met's amazing season is a beacon of hope, bringing a community together to help Yasha feel at home.  Yasha's story will be sure to resonate with many middle grade readers trying to find their place in the world. His various friendships, both with kids his age and the senior citizen he befriends as pa...

  Houdini's Library: How Books Created the World's Greatest Magician Written by Barb Rosenstock Illustrated by Mar Delmar New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2026. Biography.  In this illustrated biography, rather than focusing on Houdini's life, the story is told through his love of books. Houdini's love of books began as a child reading from his father's collection—which was eventually sold to pay for rent after the family immigrated to America. His love of magic was also tied to his love of reading—he learned magic from a book that he later considered burning to keep the secrets of his magic tricks safe. Throughout his life, Houdini grew his collection and even travelled with a special folding bookcase the magically housed hundreds of volumes. By the time of his death, his brownstone in New York held 15,000 volumes that were later donated. In addition to the interesting narrative focus on his life, readers will be intrigued by the beautiful gauche and cut paper illustrat...

When Tomorrow Burns By Tae Keller New York, NY : Random House Books for Young Readers, 2026. Fiction, 265 pages. When faced with changes around, between, and within themselves, three seventh graders in Seattle revisit a mysterious book they discovered years earlier that seems to foretell the future. Vi tries to reclaim a sense of identity after realizing she has been the subject of her mother's social media account for most of her life. Arthur is confused about his feelings towards Nomi and grapples with how other boys his age treat girls. And Nomi worries about keeping her scholarship to her private school—each step in her plan is necessary for her future wellbeing. She believes solving the mystery of this book of prophecies will prevent calamity. Newbery winner Keller has created unusually relatable twelve-year-old protagonists who are beginning to see what privilege, power, and autonomy look like in a complicated world. She balances their miscommunications and shortcomings with ...

Friedel and Gina: A True Story of Sisterhood and Survival During the Holocaust By Jeremy Dronfield New York: Quill Tree Books, 2026. Informational. 356 pgs. In 1930, the Friedel and Gina Rosenthal's family was a happy, successful Jewish family living in Dusseldorf, Germany. Their father was a successful businessman, owning three corner shops throughout the city and Friedel and Gina worked in the shops with their four siblings. When Hitler and the Nazi party came to power, the family was systematically stripped of their businesses, property and possessions. The twins, 13-years-old at the time, were even forced to leave school like many other Jewish children. One year later, the Rosenthal family was deported from Germany to Poland, forced into ghettos, and eventually sent to concentration camps. As the years of World War II grew long, Friedel and Gina found themselves alone–suffering one heartache after another. But remarkably, the twin sisters managed to survive, together. This rema...

Both Sides Now: A Story About Young Joni Mitchell By Lydia Corry New York: Godwin Books, 2026. Comics. 144 pgs. Joni Mitchell is undeniably one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, and this graphic novel biography - chronicling her early childhood - introduces her to a new generation of fans. Growing up on the prairie in Saskatchewan, Joni identified as an artist at a young age and found a sense of wonder in her surroundings. She begged her parents for piano lessons, but was penalized by her teacher for creating her own compositions. She contracted polio and painfully relearned to walk. Finally, an encouraging teacher introduced her to poetry and ignited her artistic spirit. This is a truly captivating, highly illustrated biography of Joni Mitchell. Filled with colorful, swirling illustrations (that feel incredibly reminiscent of 1970s designs) this book is a treat for Joni Mitchell fans. Focusing mostly on her young childhood and early adulthood, this book explains how...

I Am a Big Fish By Susie Lee Jin New York: Simon Spotlight, 2026. Easy Reader. When pufferfish insists that she's "a big fish," the other sea creatures are quick to one-up her. Shrimp is bigger than pufferfish, and octopus is bigger than shrimp. All of their bosting is quickly forsaken when a shark comes by, looking for "a big fish" for his meal. Pufferfish's ability to quickly become "a big fish" ends up saving the other creatures from a hungry shark and pufferfish is extremely glad she can be a big fish...when she wants to be. This book has everything I want out of an easy reader. The words are easily decodable–relying on mostly sight words and words with short-vowels flanked by consonant blends. The story is told entirely through speech bubbles, promoting reading out loud with or without a partner. Lastly, the story is fun! Filled with aquatic puns and a sweet story of knowing who you are, this is easily my favorite book to recommend to kids lea...

Peachaloo in Bloom By Chris Raschka New York : Neal Porter Books / Holiday House, 2025. Fiction. 295 pages. Peachaloo Piccolozampa is stung by a wasp and gains a superpower: she understands what people mean and not just what they say. This newfound ability has come at just the right time–an audacious villain has moved into town and is planning to replace her favorite swimming hole with a golf course. Simultaneously, the citizens of Fourwords are planning their annual pageant, which reenacts a historical bank heist.  Altogether this book reminds me of  True Stories,  my favorite movie when I was twelve. Talking Heads' front man David Byrne (wearing a cowboy hat) narrates vignettes leading up to a Texan town's sesquicentennial celebration. Chris Raschka's novel is similarly rambling, off-kilter, and sweet. Peachaloo is a thoughtful and bighearted protagonist. An omniscient townsperson acts as a chatty narrator, packing the book with peculiar characters and funny asides. It...

My Bicentennial Summer: True Adventures from the Most Epic Family Road Trip of All Time Written by G. Neri Illustrated by Corban Wilkin Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press, 2026. Informational. 75 pages. In 1976, America turned 200 and Greg Neri's family celebrated by driving from their home in L.A. across the whole country to make it to Washington D.C. for the Fourth of July. Along the way, the family visited 26 states, found strange local delicacies, encountered all kinds of accents, and saw natural and historic monuments. There's a lot packed into America, from its places to its people to its history and this book does a good job at touching on all of it. I was a little surprised how weepy this book made me feel. As we prepare for America250, looking back on the Bicentennial celebrations was making me excited for things to come and reflect on parts of American history–both good and bad. I think this book does a good job of navigating all the things that make America great, whil...

The Genie Game By Jordan Ifueko Amulet Books, 2026. Fiction. 368 pages. 13-year-old Valentine Adensya knows she has a sister, even though her parents would swear otherwise. Mango seems to have been erased from everyone's memory until Valentine remembers her sister then receives a message from her telling Valentine to meet her at a boba shop. At the shop the strange boy behind the counter asks Valentine to make a wish–and when she wishes her sister was there she's finds out she's been sucked into a magical game: The Genie Game. Forced to live in her boba shop "bottle" until she can score 300,000 points and save herself from the game, Valentine finds that all is not okay in Gloss Angeles. Three main corporations have taken over the entire supply chain of every good in the market and are exploiting both their employees and consumers as they try to take over more and more of the world. Plus they are harnessing the wish energy Valentine creates by granting wishes to ge...

Josephine By Chloé Alméras Minneapolis, MN: Gecko Press, 2026. Gecko Press. Orginally published in France, Josephine tells the story of a giraffe and the various sights and seasons she experiences. With simple illustrations, we see Josephine encountering several different animals, her looking for a snack, playing in the clouds and water, and being filled with wonder at everything around her. With only a line per page and not much plot, this book still conveys how it is amazing to appreciate the world we live in. I think this board book is genius. The illustrations follow a pattern where elements of the left picture are inverted to create the right picture. For example, one page show Josephine surrounded by yellow flowers—represented by yellow dots—and the next page shows the yellow dots being used for stars in the sky. As well, snow becomes bubbles, leaves become flowers, and a mountain becomes small bumps in the grass. In addition to my appreciation, my four-month-old will not stop st...

Styx and Stones By Gary D. Schmidt and Ron Koertge New York: Clarion Books, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. After dying while trying to defend his village from the Spartans, Simon of Lacadaemon has spent the last 2,451 years in the underworld. The underworld isn't all bad–Simon is a servant to Queen Persephone and he gets to spend his days chatting with Socrates, Shakespeare, Sartre, and Maya Angelou (among others). But that doesn't mean he wants to stay there. In fact, after thousands of attempts to escape, Simon succeeds and finds himself in present-day Minnesota. Specifically, he emerges from a bathroom stall of a middle school where he is discovered by social outcast Zeke Tripp. To call Simon a fish out of water might be putting things lightly, he masquerades as Zeke's cousin from Las Vegas and does his best to adjust to life in the modern day. Still, it doesn't take long for Simon to become popular and to become a true friend to Zeke. If only things were that easy–Hades do...

Once I Was a Tree Written by Eoin McLaughlin Illustrated by Guilherme Karsten Lincoln, MA: Nosy Crow Inc., 2026. Picture Book. The paper in your books all came from somewhere! Once I Was a Tree  tells the story of a seed who grew into a tree, was chopped down, and processed into the book you're reading (or so it claims). Told from the perspective of the book, follow our protagonist as he (as a seed) falls to the ground, gets eaten by Derek the squirrel, grows into a great tall pine tree and becomes a book. Filled with plenty of tree facts and a fun detour in Barbara's (the dung beetle) ball of dung, this book is full of tongue-in-cheek humor sure to be enjoyed by many kids. I wasn't expecting a book that was so funny to have as much heart as this does. It ends as a love letter to books and a plea for stories to live on through us. I really enjoyed how much McLaughlin committed to the bit of this being written by "a book." Even the title page is full of witty comme...

Confessions from the Group Chat By Jodi Meadows New York: Holiday House, 2025. Fiction. 264 pages. Written by the author of  Bye Forever, I Guess , Meadows tells the story of Virginia: a relatable girl who has a good heart, but maybe not the best friends. Virginia loves that's she's a part of a popular friend group. However, their popularity means that Virginia hides parts of herself: how much she loves the library and her crush on the super unpopular Grayson. Worse than that, she actively participates in their group chat which tends to center around making fun of people at their school, including Grayson. When Virginia gets in a public fight with the Queen Bee of the group, Virginia finds herself ostracized from the group and the terrible things she's said published on the internet...complete with her name attached to the insults. Virginia becomes a social pariah at school, only talking to fellow social-outcast, Grayson, and an online friend "Knight Errant." I lo...

Princess Academy: The Graphic Novel Written by Shannon Hale Illustrated by Victoria Ying New York:  Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2026. Comic. 288 pages.   In this new graphic novel edition of the beloved Shannon Hale novel, Princess Academy , Miri's story of courage and hope is brought to life in full color.  Miri Larendaughter is a girl living in Mt. Eskel, a village high in the mountains where the residents make their living mining in the quarry. When a royal messenger arrives to let the villagers know that the royal priests have declared Mt. Eskel the home of the future princess, Miri and all the other eligible village girls must travel to attend a princess academy. At the academy, they learn important lessons about friendship, loyalty, and trusting their instincts.  This is a beloved story for a reason–the pacing is quick, the characters are vibrant, and the lessons are plentiful. The graphic novel did a great job at holding true to the original while bringi...

A Compendium of Curious Contraptions Written by Anna Goldfield Illustrated by Paula Zamudio London: Neon Squid, 2025. Informational, 64 pgs. This engaging collection introduces the field of archeology before inviting readers to inspect several artifacts and identify their purposes themselves. Each unidentified object is given a full spread introducing the origin of the item and including some clues as to what the object was used for or how it was made. Readers can guess at what the artifact is before lifting the flap to reveal the answer.  The large illustrations of each highlighted artifact give readers an up-close examination of the artifacts, while explanation tabs show the use of the invention. Objects are sourced from around the globe and across history, and include a variety of tools and purposes. Themed pages with multiple innovations in one area, such as clothing or weapons, also split up the mystery items. Ranging from the breathtaking to the bizarre, there is so...

Basket Ball: The Story of the All-American Game By Kadir Nelson New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2026. Informational. 102 pgs. In December of 1891, at a YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts, James Naismith taught his students how to play a new game. He mounted fruit baskets on either end of a large room and players scored points by throwing a ball into the basket on either end. Then, play would stop while they pulled out a ladder to retrieve the ball and start again. It didn't stay that way for very long. This fascinating, informative book shows how basketball innovated and evolved from a slow moving game for mostly white players, into the fast-paced, high drama, fully integrated sport we enjoy today.  Even as a big basketball fan, I still assumed that I would mostly flip through this book to see Kadir Nelson's beautiful paintings and then call it a day. Instead, I read this book cover-to-cover in a single sitting enjoying every page. Fans of other books illustrated by Kadir Nels...

  A Kid Like Me By Norm Feuti New York : HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperColins Publishers, 2026. Comic. 261 pages. Ethan is worried about standing out at his new middle school for all the wrong reasons: namely that he doesn't have as much money as the affluent kids who will also be attending. Ethan's single mother is working as hard as she can at big box store to provide for their family, but they still can’t afford cool clothes and shoes he sees his classmates wearing. In fact, with no child support money coming in from his father, Ethan's mom can only provide him with her old flip phone–which he's so embarrassed by that he lies and tells kids he doesn't have a phone at all. To make matters worse, as Ethan and his best friend drift apart, he also has to work to find new friends–many of which come from the Battle Bots Club that he joins after school. Feuti does an excellent job of bringing up issues of class without the book feeling too heavy. In fact, if your kid...