1 Aug Claudette Colvin Refuses to Move: Courageous Kid of the Civil Rights Movement by Ebony Joy Wilkins and Mark Simmons. Capstone Books
Claudette’s court case results in overturning Alabama’s unconstitutional laws and provides greater freedom for black Americans everywhere.

4 Aug The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds. Reed.Simon & Schuster
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson. With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?

4 Aug Displacement by Kiku Hughes. FirstSecond
Displacement, a memoir-based, magical realist story about a teenager who is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother’s experiences in WWII-era Japanese internment camps.

4 Aug Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer de Leon, illus. by Elena Garnu  Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
First-generation American Latinx Liliana is done trying to fit in at her nearly all white school.

4 Aug Eva Evergreen, Semi Magical Witch by Julie Abe. Little, Brown Books. MG Fantasy
@julieabebooks
When she lands in the tranquil coastal town of Auteri, the residents expect a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl. So Eva comes up with a plan: set up a magical repair shop to aid Auteri and prove she’s worthy. She may have more blood than magic, but her “semi-magical fixes” repair the lives of the townspeople in ways they never could have imagined. Only, Eva’s bit of magic may not be enough when the biggest magical storm in history threatens the town she’s grown to love. Eva must conjure up all of the magic, bravery, and cleverness she can muster or Auteri and her dreams of becoming a witch will wash away with the storm.

4 Aug The Girl and the Ghostby Hanna Alkaf. HarperCollins.
Retells a Malaysian folk tale in which a lonely girl, Suraya, inherits from her grandmother a pelesit, a ghostly demon, who proves to be a good companion, bringing both danger and hope.

4 Aug Lizard in a Zoot Suit by Marco Finnegan. Graphic Universe
Los Angeles, 1943. It’s the era of the Zoot Suit Riots, and Flaca and Cuata have a problem. It’s bigger than being grounded by their strict mother. It’s bigger than tensions with the soldiers stationed nearby. And it’s shaped like a five-foot-tall lizard. When a lost member of an unknown underground species needs help, the sisters must scramble to keep their new friend away from a corrupt military scientist–but they’ll do it in style. Cartoonist Marco Finnegan presents Lizard in a Zoot Suit, an outrageous, historical, sci-fi graphic novel.

4 Aug The Magic in Changing Your Stars by Leah Henderson. Sterling Children’s Books. Magic tap shoes transport Ailey to 1930s Harlem, where he meets another young dancer, his grandfather.

4 Aug More than Just A Pretty Face by Syed Masood. Little, Brown. HeteRomCom
@syedmmasood
Danyal Jilani doesn’t lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he’s funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn’t approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal’s longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect.

When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man, a school-wide academic championship, it’s the perfect opportunity to show everyone he’s smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her…the more he learns from her…the more he cooks for her…the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.

4 Aug Sia Martinez & the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. Simon Pulse. MG intergalactic border crossing
@poet_raquelvgil
It’s been three years since ICE raids and phone calls from Mexico and an ill-fated walk across the Sonoran. Three years since Sia Martinez’s mom disappeared. Sia wants to move on, but it’s hard in her tiny Arizona town where people refer to her mom’s deportation as “an unfortunate incident.”

Sia knows that her mom must be dead, but every new moon Sia drives into the desert and lights San Anthony and la Guadalupe candles to guide her mom home. Then one night, under a million stars, Sia’s life and the world as we know it cracks wide open. Because a blue-lit spacecraft crashes in front of Sia’s car…and it’s carrying her mom, who’s very much alive. As Sia races to save her mom from armed-quite-possibly-alien soldiers, she uncovers secrets as profound as they are dangerous in this stunning and inventive exploration of first love, family, immigration, and our vast, limitless universe.

4 Aug G.O.A.T. – Serena Williams : Making the Case for the Greatest of All TIme by Tami Charles. Sterling Children’s Books.

4 Aug She Was the First! The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm by Katheryn Russell-Brown, illus. by Eric Velasquez.
Biography of educator, activist, and politician, Shirley Chisholm.

7 Aug Muse Curse: The Cassandra Curse by Chantel Acevedo.Balzer+Bray
A Cuban-American girl who discovers that she’s one of the nine muses of Greek mythology.

11 Aug Challenger (Contender #2) by Taran Matharu. Feiwel & Friends.
Cade Carter and his friends have survived the qualifying round of the mysterious overlords’ twisted games, decimated by the loss of so many of their comrades during the fight. But they have no time to mourn, for the next round of trials is about to begin. When the group discovers that their next foe will be even more ferocious than the last, Cade leads them on a quest out into their strange new world to find anything that might give them an edge. But what they find in the wilds could prove to be even more dangerous than the impending battle.

11 Aug Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar. HarperTeen. Hindu inspired YA Fantasy
@ShvetaThakrar

18 August Dating Makes Perfect by Pintip Dunn. Entangled Teen
The Tech sisters don’t date in high school. Not because they’re not asked. Not because they’re not interested. Not even because no one can pronounce their long, Thai last name—hence the shortened, awkward moniker. But simply because they’re not allowed.

Until now.

25 Aug Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram. Dial Books.
Darius Kellner is having a bit of a year. Since his trip to Iran this past spring, a lot has changed. He’s getting along with his dad, and his best friend Sohrab is only a Skype call away. Between his first boyfriend, Landon, his varsity soccer practices, and his internship at his favorite tea shop, Darius is feeling pretty okay. Like he finally knows what it means to be Darius Kellner.

Then, of course, everything changes. Darius’s grandmothers are in town for a long visit while his dad is gone on business, and Darius isn’t sure whether they even like him. The internship isn’t what Darius thought it would be, and now he doesn’t know about turning tea into his career. He was sure he liked Landon, but when he starts hanging out with Chip–soccer teammate and best friend of Trent Bolger, epic bully–well, he’s just not so sure about Landon anymore, either.

25 Aug Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and Rovina Cai. Levine Querido.
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

25 August Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards) by Janella Angeles. Wednesday Book. Fantasy duology
@janella_angeles
In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes. As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next. The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost. The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told. The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide. Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed.