2 June Beyond Me by Annie Donwerth- Chikamatsu. Atheneum
This novel-in-verse views the aftershocks of Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami through the eyes of a girl. Ages 8–12

2 Jun Imaginary Borders (Pocket Change Collective) by  Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (Author), Ashley Lukashevsky (Illustrator). Penguin Workshop.
In this personal, moving essay, environmental activist and hip-hop artist Xiuhtezcatl Martinez uses his art and his activism to show that climate change is a human issue that can’t be ignored.

2 June It’s Girls Like You, Mickey by Patti Kim. Atheneum
Mickey navigates the pitfalls, heartbreaks, and triumphs of seventh grade.

2 June A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. Tor Teen
Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore―soon Portland won’t be either.

2 June A Song of Wraiths & Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown. Balzer + Bray
@rosiesrambles
In this duology debut inspired by West African folklore, a princess and a refugee are on a course to murder each other.

2 June Way to Rio Luna by Zoraida Córdova. Scholastic
Danny finds a mysterious book containing a map to the enchanted land where he believes his runaway older sister awaits him.

2 June You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson. Scholastic. Lesbian RomCom
@byleahjohnson
Liz competes against the new girl in school for the prom queen scholarship Liz desperately needs for college. Ages 12–18.

9 June All the Things We Never Knew by Liara Tamani. Greenwillow.
From the moment Carli and Rex first locked eyes on a Texas high school basketball court, they both knew it was destiny. But can you truly love someone else if you don’t love yourself? A glance was all it took. That kind of connection, the immediate and raw understanding of another person, just doesn’t come along very often. And as rising stars on their Texas high schools’ respective basketball teams, destined for bright futures in college and beyond, it seems like a match made in heaven. But Carli and Rex have secrets. As do their families.

9 June Sky Island (Trot & Cap’n Bill Adventures) by Amy Chu, illus. by Janet K. Lee. Viking Books For Young Readers.
School’s out and Trot and Cap’n Bill are looking forward to a carefree summer of surfing. But trouble surfaces when Grandpa hooks a message in a bottle while fishing. Clia, the Sea Siren princess, and Anko, King of the Sea Serpents, need their help: Merla, their Sea Siren friend, has been kidnapped!

9 June You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez, illus. by Julie Maroh. D.C. Comics
Jake Hyde, the future Aqualad, embraces his true self and his superpowers.

16 June Brother’s Keeper by Julie Lee. Holiday House. MG Historical fiction.
https://www.julieleeauthor.com/
Inspired by true events, this book relays the story of Sora and her family, who live under strict rule in 1950 North Korea. Ages 8–12.

16 Jun I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee. Katherine Tegen Books. YA K-Pop RomCom
@literarylyla
Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else. When Skye nails her audition, she’s immediately swept into a whirlwind of countless practices, shocking performances, and the drama that comes with reality TV. What she doesn’t count on are the highly fat-phobic beauty standards of the Korean pop entertainment industry, her sudden media fame and scrutiny, or the sparks that soon fly with her fellow competitor, Henry Cho. But Skye has her sights on becoming the world’s first plus-sized K-pop star, and that means winning the competition—without losing herself.

23 June Forest of Souls by Lori M. Lee. Page Street Kids.
Sirscha Ashwyn comes from nothing, but she’s intent on becoming something. After years of training to become the queen’s next royal spy, her plans are derailed when shamans attack and kill her best friend Saengo. And then Sirscha, somehow, restores Saengo to life.

Unveiled as the first soulguide in living memory, Sirscha is summoned to the domain of the Spider King. For centuries, he has used his influence over the Dead Wood―an ancient forest possessed by souls―to enforce peace between the kingdoms. Now, with the trees growing wild and untamed, only a soulguide can restrain them. As war looms, Sirscha must master her newly awakened abilities before the trees shatter the brittle peace, or worse, claim Saengo, the friend she would die for.

23 June Hunted by the Sky (The Wrath of Ambar #1) by Tanaz Bhathena. Farrar, Strauss and Giroux
New series about identity, class struggles, and romance, set in a world inspired by medieval India. Dangerous circumstances have brought Gul and Cavas together at the king’s domain in Ambar Fort… a world with secrets deadlier than their own.

27 June The Colours that Blind by Rutendo Tavengerwei. Hot Key Books.
Thirteen-year-old Tumirai lives with his protective big brother, Mkoma in Harare, Zimbabwe. He’s the first albino kid ever to have attended his school and constantly feels like an outsider. When his brother is invited to go travelling for work, Tumirai goes to stay with their grandmother, Ambuya Thandie. She is scarred, in more ways than one, but her memory is a treasure trove – and her stories of Zimbabwe’s war for independence are a long, long way from the history Tumirai has heard before.

30 June 10 Things I Hate About Pinky (Dimple and Rishi #3) by Sandhya Menon.
In this companion to When Dimple Met Rishi, Ashish’s friends Pinky and Samir pretend to date in order to achieve their individual goals—with disastrous results.

30 June Julieta and the Diamond Enigma by Luisana Duarte Armendáriz. Tu Books.
https://luisanaduarte.com/
@nanerias
When a diamond goes missing from the Louvre, nine-year-old Julieta cracks the case.