1 Oct I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day. HarperCollins.
In this debut, inspired by Day’s family’s history, a girl discovers her family’s secrets and her own Native American identity.

1 Oct Take the Mic Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance by Bethany Morrow. Arther A. Levine Books.
This anthology features fictional stories–in poems, prose, and art–that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that readers like you resist every day. Take the Mic‘s powerful collection of stories features work by literary luminaries and emerging talent alike, including Newbery-winner Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestseller Samira Ahmed, anthologist and contributor Bethany C. Morrow, Darcie Little Badger, Keah Brown, Laura Silverman, L.D. Lewis, Sofia Quintero, Ray Stoeve, Yamile Mendez, and Connie Sun, with cover and interior art by Richie Pope.

1 Oct The Athena Protocol by Shamin Sarif. Harper Teen.
Jessie Archer is a member of the Athena Protocol, an elite organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice around the world. Athena operatives are never supposed to shoot to kill—so when Jessie can’t stop herself from pulling the trigger, she gets kicked out of the organization, right before a huge mission to take down a human trafficker in Belgrade.

1 Oct Caravan to the North: Misael’s Long Walk by Jorge Argueta, illus. by Manuel Monroy. Groundwood.
This novel-in-verse follows a boy traveling in a caravan from El Salvador to the U.S. border.

1 Oct White Horse by Yan Ge. HopeRoad.
In a small town in West China, Yun Yun learns that the relationships between her family and her cousin’s family are founded on a lie.

1 Oct The Chronicles of Will Ryde & Awa Maryam (A Tudor Turk) by Rehan Khan. HopeRoad.
In this series debut, Will and Awa embark on a globe-trotting adventure to retrieve a staff stolen from the Sultan’s artifacts collection in 1591 Istanbul.

1 Oct When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur. Harper.
The six sections of the book explore what it means to be a young woman living in a world that doesn’t always hear her and tell the story of Kiran as she flees a history of trauma and raises her daughter, Sahaara, while living undocumented in North America.

1 Oct Rebel by Marie Lu. Roaring Brook Press.
In the conclusion to the Legend series, hero Day fights to save his brother from the dark side of Ross City. Ages 12–17.

1 Oct Reach for the Skai : How to Inspire, Empower and Clapback by Skai Jackson. Crown Books.
Actress and activist Skai Jackson shares her lessons on life and her rise to stardom in this vibrant memoir about self-acceptance, girl empowerment, and the classy clapback.

1 Oct I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day. HarperCollins. ages 8-12 DEBUT AUTHOR
All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers. Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her. Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name.

1 Oct Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom by Gwendolyn Hooks, illus. by Simone Agoussoye. Capstone
Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Ona seized the opportunity to escape when she was brought to live in the President’s Mansion in Philadelphia. Ona fled to New Hampshire and started a new life.

1 Oct Batman: Nightwalker: The Graphic Novel by Marie Lu, adapted by Stuart Moore, illus. by Christian Wildgoose. DC Ink.
Based on Lu’s prose novel set in Arkham Asylum.

1 Oct The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis. Tor Teens.
The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls–they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed markings. Trapped in a life they would never have chosen. When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by Arketta’s most vicious and powerful forces, both human and inhuman, their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one Good Luck Girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.

7 Oct Look Both Ways : A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds and Alexander Nabaum. Atheneum.
A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school.

8 Oct The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy Actor Pancholy’s. Balzer+Bray.
Rahul, a gay Indian-American boy coming into his own in a small town in the Midwest. DEBUT AUTHOR

8 Oct By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery. Page Street Kids.
On the day Torrey moves and officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bank is foreclosing on the bee farm his Uncle Miles left him.

Torrey’s worked hard to become the first member of his family to go to college, but while the neighborhood held him back emotionally, Uncle Miles encouraged him to reach his full potential. For years, it was just the two of them tending the farm. So Torrey can’t let someone erase his uncle’s legacy without a fight.

He tries balancing his old life in L.A. with his new classes, new friends, and (sort of) new boyfriend in San Francisco, but as the farm heads for auction, the pressure of juggling everything threatens to tear him apart. Can he make a choice between his family and his future without sacrificing a part of himself?

8 Oct Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong.
Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night – and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki’s notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards – ordinary and extraordinary – of her life.

8 Oct Dreams from Many Rivers : A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems by Margarita Engle. Godwin Books.
From Juana Briones and Juan Ponce de León, to eighteenth century slaves and modern-day sixth graders, the many and varied people depicted in this moving narrative speak to the experiences and contributions of Latinos throughout the history of the United States, from the earliest known stories up to present day. It’s a portrait of a great, enormously varied, and enduring heritage. A compelling treatment of an important topic.

8 Oct The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh. The Beautiful begins romantic series set in 19th-century New Orleans, where vampires hide in plain sight. In this first installment, Celine, a dressmaker from Paris, becomes embroiled in a murder mystery that’s connected to a glamorous supernatural cohort.

8 Oct The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif. HarperTeen.
In this series starter, Jessie goes rogue from the secret all-female spy organization that trained her.

15 Oct Jackpot by Nic Stone. Crown.
Romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.

15 Oct Race to the Sun by Rebecca Roanhors. Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion. 
Guided by her Navajo ancestors, seventh-grader Nizhoni Begay discovers she is descended from a holy woman and destined to become a monsterslayer, starting with the evil businessman who kidnapped her father. Includes glossary of Navajo terms.

15 Oct Doc and the Detective in Graveyard Treasure by Tim Tingle. Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.
Timmy loves reading stories about great detectives, and soon he begins to spy mysteries all around his small Oklahoma town. Why was his next-door neighbor, the distinguished Dr. Moore, standing outside with a knife at midnight? Who’s sneaking around their house, shining flashlights in the windows? And where did Mrs. Newberry’s diamond necklace go? As Timmy and Doc work together to unmask the thief, Timmy also comes to understand the challenges Doc and his family face with his developing dementia, and discovers that a real detective needs a good heart as well as a sharp brain.

15 October The Dragon Warrior by Katie Zhao. Bloomsbury.
Twelve-year-old Jade Society member Faryn Liu may be destined to command the Jade Emperor’s army of demon-fighting dragons, but first she must complete a daring quest across San Francisco’s Chinatown before the Lunar New Year.

15 Oct Limelight by Solli Raphael. Andrews McMeel Publishing.
Limelight is a unique collection of slam poetry paired with inspirational writing techniques. With over 30 original poems in different forms, Raphael’s work tackles current social concerns for his generation, such as sustainability and social equality, all while amplifying his uplifting message of hope. Solli’s book also contains 5 chapters on how to write and read poetry, how to manage stage fright and writer’s block, and encouraging tips on how we can all make tomorrow better than today.

15 Oct Our Wayward Fate by Gloria Chao. Simon Pulse.
Seventeen-year-old Ali is simultaneously swept up in a whirlwind romance and down a rabbit hole of family secrets when another Taiwanese family moves into tiny, predominantly-white, Plainhart, Indiana.

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia. Disney Press.
In this series debut, a boy finds himself on a quest amid African-American folk legends and West African gods.

15 Oct The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco. HarperCollins.
Twin goddesses must unite a world split between day and night in this debut title of a fantasy duology.

Under the Broken Sky by Mariko Nagai. Henry Holt.
is a novel-in-verse recounting a Japanese orphan’s experience in occupied rural Manchuria during WWII. Ages 10–14.

22 Oct Dragon Thief by Zetta Elliott. Random House.
Told in two voices, Jax and Kavita, Kavita’s brother Vik, and new friend Kenny try to return the baby dragon to the realm of magic before anything else goes wrong

22 Oct I Hope You Get this Message by Farah Naz Rishi. HarperTeen.
News stations across the country are reporting mysterious messages that Earth has been receiving from a planet—Alma—claiming to be its creator. If they’re being interpreted correctly, in seven days Alma will hit the kill switch on their “colony” Earth. With only a week to face their truths and right their wrongs, Jesse, Cate, and Adeem’s paths collide as their worlds are pulled apart.

22 Oct The Blue Road: A Fable of Migration by Wayde Compton and April dela Noche Milne. Arsenal Pulp Press.
The Blue Road – the first graphic novel by acclaimed poet and prose writer Wayde Compton and illustrator April dela Noche Milne – explores the world from a migrant’s perspective with dreamlike wonder.

A Sparrow’s Roar by C.R. Chua and Paolo Chikiamco. Boom! Studios.
When a prank misfires and a knight-in-training’s heroic sister dies, he impersonates her to carry on her quest.

Light It Up by Kekla Magoon. Henry Holt & Co.
Told from multiple viewpoints, this sequel to How It Went Down relays a story about injustice and strength.

29 Oct Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett. Knopf Books.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too. 

29 Oct The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes and D. J. Kirkland. Oni Press. (GN)
When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school’s “Magical Minority Initiative,” begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul.

29 Oct A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy. Putnam.
Seventeen-year-old Eva must harness the magick inside her to defeat her older sister, Isadore, as well as other forces, and win the crown in the Queendom of Myre–or die trying.

29 Oct The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah. DisneyHyperion.
When sixteen-year-old submersible racer Leyla McQueen is chosen to participate in the prestigious annual marathon, she sees an opportunity to save her father, who has been arrested on false charges. The Prime Minister promises the champion whatever their heart desires. But the race takes an unexpected turn, forcing Leyla to make an impossible choice. Now she must brave unfathomable waters and defy a corrupt government determined to keep its secrets, all the while dealing with a guarded, hotheaded companion she never asked for in the first place. If Leyla fails to discover the truths at the heart of her world, or falls prey to her own fears, she risks capture–or worse. And her father will be lost to her forever.

The Fresh New Face of Griselda by Jennifer Torres. Little Brown & Co.
After her father’s landscaping business fails and the family loses their house, sixth-grader Griselda Zaragoza follows her sister’s example and begins selling Alma cosmetics while hiding her changed circumstances from friends.

Girls Like Us by Randi Pink.Feiwel and Friends.
In the summer of 1972, three girls from very different backgrounds struggle to come to terms with being pregnant.