New Releases – September 7, 2021

In Matrix, seventeen-year-old Marie de France, freshly cast aside from the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, ventures to England as the designated new prioress of an impoverished abbey. As she tries to adjust to her new life, Marie resolves to use her tenacity and determination, cultivated from a long line of women warriors and crusaders, to forge a new path for the women she now leads and protects. Lauren Groff’s first novels since her best-selling Fates and Furies explores the power of female creativity in a corrupted world.

Witch Please by Ann Aguirre is a fun fall read! Danica Waterhouse is a witch dealing with the aftermath of a messy breakup when she makes a pact with her cousin: protect their hearts and have fun, away from the critical voices of Waterhouse women. The plan goes awry when Danica meets Titus Winnaker, a man trying to pick up the pieces after his own tragic loss amidst a curse of romantic doom. So what happens next? Find out in this rom-com perfect for fall weather and spooky season!

Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore introduces Hattie Greenfield, a London banking heiress with ambitions – ambitions that seem all but destined to come to a halt when she meets her new husband, Lucien Blackstone. Lucien is a financier with a murky past and ruthless reputation with no room for Hattie’s ideas and apprehension. But a trip to Scotland brings the two a new perspective.

As the most successful producer in franchise history, Dev Deshpande spends his days crafting fairy tale moments for a popular reality dating show. When the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw, Dev has his work cut out for him. Charlie only agreed to do the show as a way to rehabilitate his tarnished image. On-camera, he is stiff and anxious with contestants; off-camera he is still awkward, but with an icy touch. As Charlie begins to open up to Dev, it becomes apparent he has more of a connection with Dev than any of the other contestants. What happens when the on-camera story veers from the formula? I guess you’ll have to read The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun to find out!

If you read HBS’s own Candice’s book The Existence of Bea Pearl, (which you all should!) Candice calls Gray, the main character in Dark and Shallow Lies “Bea Pearl’s older, edgier cousin from Louisiana.” In this paranormal thriller from Ginny Myers Sain, seventeen-year-old Gray spends the summers in La Cachette, Louisiana, the self-proclaimed “Psychic Capital of the World.” Gray’s best friend Elora disappeared from town six months ago, and Gray doesn’t understand how in a town full of psychics no one knows what happened. As Gray begins digging into the mystery, she learns everyone in town is hiding something. When a stranger emerges from the bayou with links to Elora and the town’s history, Gray learns there is more to the town than she ever knew.

In Your Life Has Been Delayed by Michelle I. Mason, Jenny Waters faces a strange new world. She boarded a flight in 1995, but upon landing, she and the other passengers are told they disappeared 25 years earlier and were presumed dead. As Jenny adapts to a world of smartphones and social media as her story goes viral, she also must contend with family and friends, including a former best friend, a growing crush on a boy with an uncomfortable connection to her past, and a world of conspiracy theorists determined to discredit Jenny’s experience.

Little Women is one of my favorite books and So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow takes the classic story of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy and reimagines it as a story of four young Black women in 1863, coming of age during the Civil War on the North Carolina Freedman’s Colony of Roanoke Island.

When Bryn Roth receives a letter from her uncle Henrik on her eighteenth birthday, summoning her to return to Bastian, Bryn determines she will prove herself and finally take her place amongst her long-lost family. But Bryn soon finds that even though the family wields influence over Bastian, there are still remnants of the kinds of shady business that got her parents killed years ago. See how Bryn navigates personal and political influence in The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young.

Dahlia Adler brought together a team of writers to produce His Hideous Heart: A Collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Unsettling Tales Reimagined. These new tales are featured alongside the original tales. Whether you know these stories by heart or are discovering them for the first time here, this collection is sure to amaze and inspire!

The Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty first came out when I was in middle and high school, so I feel like I grew up alongside Jessica. I am so excited that they are being re-released as part of the 20th anniversary of Sloppy Firsts (book one of the series), so a new generation can get to know Jessica. Charmed Thirds follows Jessica during her college years in New York City, years full of change, upheaval, and surprises. Told through journal entries, Jessica brings readers into her innermost thoughts as she navigates life.

Fazbear Frights: Friendly Face is Volume 10 in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series by Scott Cawthon. In three novella-length stories pulled from the series canon, Cawthon pulls out all the stops to scare even his hardiest series fans. Check this out if you want to be scared!

Another series I loved growing up, the Baby-Sitters Club, is reimagined as a series of graphic novels for a new generation! Kristy and the Snobs is the latest installment. After Kristy’s mom remarries and moves the family to the ritzy neighborhood across town, Kristy finds herself feeling out of place and unwelcome. The neighborhood kids make fun her clothes, the BSC, even Kristy’s old dog, Louie. Kristy leans on her friends as they try to find their footing in this new neighborhood.

This special edition of Dragonslayer (Wings of Fire: Legends) by Tui T. Sutherland takes readers back in time to view Pyrrhia with new eyes! Ivy does not trust the Dragonslayer, even if he is her father and beloved ruler of Valor. Leaf does not trust dragons – they killed his favorite sister, Wren, and now Leaf will do whatever it takes to slay them. But Wren survived. When the three cross paths with dragons, it shapes the destinies of both species.

Tiny T. Rex and the Tricks of Treating by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Jay Fleck is another adorable book to get the kids excited for Halloween! Tiny and Pointy love Halloween and they want to share what they have learned so everyone can have the perfect treat-filled Halloween. But as Tiny and Pointy learn, sometimes the sweetest treat of Halloween isn’t the candy at all.

Willodeen by Katherine Applegate is about a little girl who wants to make a difference in the big world. Eleven-year-old Willodeen loves all creatures. She especially loves the strange, unlovable beasts called “Screechers” that inhabit her home village of Perchance. When Perchance faces a series of natural disasters, including the loss of the annual hummingbear migration, Willodeen, with the help of her new friend Connor, speaks up for the animals she loves.

When twin siblings Dani and Dorian miss the bus to magic school, they never imagined they would end up declared traitors and find themselves ensnared in a wild adventure to clear their names. Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur is based on the popular webcomic from WebToon and fans new and old will enjoy following Dani and Dorian on their wild mishaps and adventures.

Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero is a timely and powerful read from Saadia Faruqi. Yusuf Azeem has spent his life in Frey, Texas and has dreamed of competing in the local robotics competition, which he knows he can win. But this year’s competition falls on the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, which has his family on edge and has Yussuf facing challenges beyond robotics. As a group of townspeople protest the building of a new mosque in town, Yusuf must face anger and bullies with understanding and love.

Fairy Tale Science: Explore 25 Classic Tales Through Hands-On Experiments combines the stories we know with a STEM twist! Readers can explore the laws of physics, principles of chemistry, and the wonders of biology through the stories of Snow White, Chicken Little, and more.

The Who Would Win? series is pretty popular with kids who come into the shop, and Who Would Win?: Extreme Animal Rumble combines five of those books into one exciting volume! Learn about animal anatomy, behavior, and more alongside photos and illustrations as you explore these exciting animal showdowns

In Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination, the 12th book in the Pete the Cat series by Kimberly and James Dean, Pete learns he can use his “groovy” imagination (and a cardboard box) to chase the blues away!

Never Saw Me Coming, the debut thriller from Vera Kurian, follows a group of students diagnosed with psychopathy who are being hunted on campus. Chloe Sevre is one of those students. An honors freshman with a high IQ and diagnosed psychopathy, Chloe wears a smartwatch that tracks her movements and moods as part of a clinical study. This study inadvertently brought together some of the most dangerous minds who feel no guilt or fear. When one of the participants is found murdered, it becomes clear that everyone, including Chloe, is in danger. As they join forces to figure out who is after them, the group must learn to trust each other.

The Haunting of Leigh Harker is the latest ghost story from Darcy Coates. Leigh Harker is certain her house is haunted – curtains open on their own, radios turn off and on, and a dark figure looms outside her window, waiting for her to let her guard down and fall asleep. Pushed to the brink but not wanting to abandon the home, Leigh searches for answers. But the more she digs, the more it seems the house may be the one keeping troubling secrets.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is back in print and, for the first time ever, available in paperback! Domingo is a garbage-collecting street kid just trying to survive the streets of Mexico City when he meets Atl, a jaded vampire on the run. Atl is smart, beautiful, and dangerous – she the descendent of Aztec blood drinkers – and Domingo is mesmerized. Atl needs to escape the city and though she didn’t plan on Domingo coming along, the two band together to survive.