New & Notable: Children
Cattywampus
Van Otterloo, Ash, author
2020
Magic is strictly forbidden in the McGill house, but Delpha McGill has found the family book of spells and plans to use it to make things a little easier for herself and her mother; Katybird Hearn comes from a rival family of witches, but her magic has been slow to emerge and she thinks a spell book is just what she needs to help things along--and when a quarrel between the two unleashes a graveyard full of angry zombies the two girls must work together to save Howler's Hollow, and themselves.
Cone cat
Howden, Sarah, author
2020
"One day Jeremy the cat wakes up at the vet to find a cone has been fastened around his neck. It bends his whiskers and bungles his super-cat sense. After attempting several fruitless escape maneuvers, he dejectedly accepts his new role: he is Cone Cat now. But when by a happy accident he discovers that his cone is perfect for tipping the breakfast bowl so that the milk and cereal pours right into his mouth (and stores leftovers for later), he realizes that the cone just might be a friend after all. And as it turns out, it's useful for lots of things! Like hiding the stuffing he rips out of the couch, trapping spiders on the wall, giving him super hearing so he knows when to hide from the little human, and-best of all-stealing an ice cream scoop at a birthday party when he realizes he can disguise his cone as one of the kids' bowls. It's his very own superpower. The next day, the humans take the cone away and, just like that, he's free! But at a cost-even though Jeremy has the freedom to return to his old tricks, he wonders if it will ever be the same as his glory days with the cone. It doesn't take him too long to find out. While chasing a fly, Jeremy knocks a potted tree in the living room and tumbles down with it, landing himself back in the cone-and in a cast."-- Provided by publisher.
Emergency monster squad
Horowitz, Dave, 1970-
2020
"EMS workers driving an "amboolance" come to the aid of injured monsters"-- Provided by publisher.
Hello, future me
Ventrella, Kim, author.
2020
Soon-to-be twelve-year-old June is a planner and a problem-solver, and right now she and her friend Calvin are planning a big welcome home celebration for her mother, only her plan falls apart when she finds out that her parents are getting a divorce; June is convinced that she can find some way to get her parents back together--until she starts getting messages on her "new" laptop (refurbished by a mysterious store called The Shop of Last Resort), messages from JuniePie28 who claims to be her future self, warning her not to interfere in her parent's marriage.
Isaiah Dunn is my hero
Baptist, Kelly J.
2020
Referring to his late father's journal for advice on how to be the man of the house, young Isaiah taps the support and ideas of two school friends who help him navigate rules and manage without superpowers.
Monsters 101
Atkinson, Cale.
2020
Monsters! They're so much more than just that scary thing under your bed. Join Professors Vampire, Blob and Werewolf, and their trusty lab assistant--a zombie named Tina--as they reveal eerie and frankly ridiculous monsters facts never uttered outside a crypt!
Once upon a unicorn
Anders, Lou.
2020
A curious, science-minded unicorn and a fiery horse become unlikely allies as they defend their magical home from a pumpkin-headed menace and a fairy of dubious integrity.
Paola Santiago and the river of tears
Mejia, Tehlor Kay, author
2020
In Silver Springs, Arizona, her mother's stories of the monstrous La Llorona are thrilling but unbelievable to science-loving Paola until she and her best friends Dante and Emma take a walk through a cactus field near the Gila River.
The run
Barroux author, illustrator
2020
A boy dawdling in the bathroom to read is taken by surprise when the characters in his book come to life in this quirky picture book perfect for young readers with a silly sense of humor or beginning potty training! A young boy takes a new book into the bathroom to read. But what a strange story! One by one, all sorts of animals--a cow, a polar bear, a lion, and more--race across the pages. But where are they running to? Then, the boy's reading is interrupted by a loud knock on the bathroom door. The very same creatures are outside, lined up to use the toilet! This story within a story is sure to have kids giggling with its potty humor and shenanigans.
Runaway pumpkins
Bateman, Teresa. author
2020
When a poorly secured bus lock turns a school trip back from a pumpkin patch into a disaster, and all but one of the pumpkins end up in people's yards, the neighbors along the road come up with a plan to turn the pumpkins into treats for the school children.
Son of Happy
Fagan, Cary, author.
2020
"The boy in this story never wants to go to his friends' birthday parties, because Happy the Clown is always there. And Happy is... his dad. He wishes his dad had a regular job, like all the other kids' parents. He didn't mind his dad being a clown when he was a little kid, but now it's just embarrassing. And even worse, since business is slow, his dad is putting a sign on the front lawn advertising his clown services! But one night at dinner Dad announces that he's going back to his old job of being a lawyer. "You were a lawyer?" the boy asks, incredulous. Now his dad wears a suit and tie to work, the family can buy a new car, his mom can take piano lessons, and he can have a skateboard and cellphone. But something feels different. The boy wonders if his dad misses being a clown. Or is he the one who misses Happy? With bittersweet humor, Cary Fagan brings us a story about a boy's growing consciousness and a father's realization that he can be himself."-- Provided by publisher.
Thirteens
Marshall, Kate Alice, author
2020
Neil Gaiman's Coraline meets Stranger things in a dark and twisted story about a sleepy town with a dark secret-and the three kids brave enough to uncover it.