It is officially 2018! And while this year is off to a frigid start (we’re feeling the polar vortex down here in Atlanta too), this Spring 2018 season will help you shake off the shivers and give you the warm and fuzzys. We are delighted to share our Spring 2018 list, filled with nature, inventions, critters, and more. Happy New Year!
New Board Book
 

Simple and evocative language and charming illustrations describe a girl’s experience on a rainy day. The In the Weather board book series by author Elizabeth Spurr and illustrator Manelle Oliphant comes to a close with In the Rain.

 

New Picture Books

Henry can’t wait to have a bee suit of his own so he can help his Aunt Lilla with the sister bees. As he observes his aunt work with the beehives on their Lowcountry farm, he grows fascinated with her ability to communicate with the bees. When Henry learns that the bees are getting ready to look for a new place to live, can he find a way to communicate with the sister bees and convince them to stay? This stunner from Lester Laminack and Jim LaMarche will be a new favorite.

 

Can a very messy monster and a perky little bird with an eye for neatness find a way to be friends? Grakkle doesn’t care one bit about cleaning. “Grakk!” he complains as Kalinka “tidies up” his messes. “You’re welcome,” she responds. They simply aren’t on the same wavelength. Can an unfortunate accident help an odd couple like this see eye to eye? Julie Paschkis’s newest book is the perfect “odd couple” story.

Izzy Gizmo’s inventions are marvelous, magnificent—and they often malfunction. But when she finds a crow with a broken wing, she just has to help! Izzy tries again and again to build him a new pair of wings, but nothing is working. Can Izzy overcome her failures? or will her crow friend never fly again? This feisty tale of determination, ingenuity, and friendship is sure to capture the imaginations of aspiring young inventors.

Abraham Lincoln was known for his sense of humor. But early in his adult life, it nearly got him into trouble. He had to use his imagination to save his career—and maybe even his life. When he became frustrated with the actions of a political rival Jame Shields, he came up with a plan the was silly, clever, and a great big mistake! Lincoln, his future wife, and a friend of hers wrote a pseudonymous series of letters to the newspaper editor, complaining about Shields. But when Shields took offense, he challenged Lincoln to a duel. Donna Janell Bowman’s fun historical read aloud offers a refreshing perspective of a historical icon and how the lessons he learned made him a better man.

The son of an enslaved blacksmith learns that his father is using the rhythm of his hammering to communicate with travelers on the Underground Railroad. When Pa falls ill, it is up to the young boy to help others along the journey—and also lead his family’s escape. Blacksmith’s Song is a powerful story of rhythm and craft in nineteenth-century America with beautiful oil paintings.

Now in Spanish! This fictionalized first-person biography, written in verse by Young People’s Poet Laureate Margarita Engle (and translated by Teresa Mlawer and Georgina Lázaro), follows the early year of the child who grows up to pen Don Quixote, the first modern novel of the Western world. Miguel’s Brave Knight is also one of 2017’s best books!

Newly revised and featuring extended back matter! Fish make our world a better place. But sometimes people do things that make it hard for them to live and grow. Expository nonfiction powerhouse author Melissa Stewart shares the ways human actions can affect fish and describes ways people can help protect them and their nature habitats.
 
New Illustrated Chapter Book

It’s the fourth book for the King & Kayla series! Join this detective duo as they investigate a new mystery. Kayla just lost a tooth—but now it’s missing. Where did it go? There’s plenty of detective work and laughs to be had with King and Kayla as they solve the mystery.
New Middle Grade
 

Have fun on this poetic tour through the leaf litter layer and dig into the fascinating facts about the tiny critters who live there. Nineteen poems in a variety of verse forms with accompanying science notes take readers on a decomposer safari through the “brown food web,” from bacteria through tardigrades and on to rove beetle predators with other busy recyclers in-between.

The newest addition to sports writer Fred Bowen’s Sports Story series. Troy is overjoyed when he makes it onto an elite travel team with the help of his lucky charm, a piece of blue sea glass he found near his grandmother’s beach house before she died. As he does well on the team, he accumulates more superstitious rituals. But when he loses his lucky charm, his performance begins to slip. What can he do to get his mojo back? Back matter for Lucky Enough includes the “Real Story” about well-known players like Wade “Chicken Man” Boggs, who were notoriously superstitious.

 

New Young Adult

Sophia, a former child prodigy and seventeen-year-old math genius is getting anxious about her future. She doesn’t have time for silly games, and especially doesn’t have the patience to deal with the mysterious playing cards and coins that keep turning up inside her belongings. But Joshua, a cheerfully unambitious teen and amateur magician, has admired Sophia for as long as he can remember. He just needs to muster up the courage to finally tell her how he feels. But he has no idea just how off his timing really is… This newest novel from Melissa Keil is a heartwarming tale of unconventional romance, perfect timing, and finding your own magic.

Check out our full Spring 2018 catalog here, and stay tuned for giveaways, interviews, and more!