45 Outstanding Offerings from Kate Messner, Chloe Gong, and More | Starred Reviews, October 2025

by SLJ Reviews
Oct 20, 2025 | Filed in News & Features

This month's notable titles include works from our fiction edition of the Series Made Simple supplement, featuring the latest entries from Kate DiCamillo and Axie Oh.

Broken (Fang) ©2025 by X. Fang

 

Board Books

Beer, Sophie. Baby, You’re a Rainbow! Dial.

Patricelli, Leslie. Spring! Candlewick.

Tassopoulos Wehner, Eleni. The Clean-Up Monster. illus. by Danamarie Hosler. Barefoot.

Willems, Mo. The Pigeon WON’T Count to 10! Union Square Kids.

 

Spanish

Gwis, Asia. El oso polar y la bailarina.
––––. The Polar Bear and the Ballerina.
ea: Holiday House.

Velasquez, Eric. El libro de los monos.
––––. El libro de los pájaros.
ea: Editorial el Pirata.

 

Picture Books

Bailey, Linda. Lena the Chicken (But Really a Dinosaur!). illus. by K-Fai Steele. Tundra.

Datcher, Michael. A Song for Two Homes. illus. by Charly Palmer. Random House Studio.

Fang, X. Broken. Tundra.

Milusich, Janice. I Hear the Snow, I Smell the Sea. illus. by Chris Raschka. Random/Anne Schwartz.

Sterer, Gideon. If You Make a Call on a Banana Phone. illus. by Emily Hughes. HarperCollins/Clarion.

 

Transitional Books

Long, Ethan. The Letter Setters in Fun! Holiday House.

Skene, Pat Lamondin. One Beaded Earring. illus. by Natalie Laurin. Orca.

 

Middle Grade

Brockenbrough, Martha. At The Edge of Lost. Scholastic.

Tash, Sarvenaz. The Treasure of Ocean Parkway. Knopf.

 

YA

Drews, C.G. Hazelthorn. Feiwel & Friends.

Gong, Chloe. Coldwire. Atheneum/McElderry.

Harlow, Abbie. The Butterfly’s Sting. Groundwood.

Korsch, Kate. Never Seen the Stars. Scholastic.

Worley, Olivia. Final Cut. Wednesday Bks.

 

Graphic Novels

MCINERNEY, Mary. Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac: A Handbook for Young and Future Authors. illus. by Rivkah LaFille. First Second.

 

What Medicine Can Do (Balkan) ©2025 by Alberto Lot


Nonfiction

Balkan, Gabrielle. What Medicine Can Do. illus. by Alberto Lot. Penguin Workshop/Rise X.

Cassidy, Taylor. Black History Is Your History. S. & S./Atheneum.

Fries-Gaither, Jessica. So Rude!: Animals Behaving Badly. Lerner/Millbrook.

Graham, Kate. Run the World Like a Girl: International Women Leaders. Second Story Pr.

Grant, Joyce. Burst Your Bubble! Outsmart the Algorithms and See What You’re Missing. illus. by Jan Dolby. Owlkids.

Kenney, Karen Latchana. Fascinating Fungi: Nourishers, Killers, Connectors, and Healers. Twenty-First Century.

Messner, Kate. History Smashers: Ancient Egypt. Random.

Stewart, Melissa. From BAM! to BURP!: A Carbon Atom’s Never-Ending Journey Through Space and Time and YOU. illus. by Marta Alvarez Miguens. Charlesbridge.

Vermond, Kira. The Buzz on Wild Bees: The Little-Known Pollinators that Keep Our Planet Humming. illus. by June Steube. Owlkids.

 

 

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