Australia is a world of unexpected wonders. Many of us know of its colorful birds, herds of kangaroo, underwater wonderlands, and frightening spiders. But what do we know of what it’s truly like to live in Australia, from the outback to its bustling

There have been a number of picture-book biographies about Pop artist and art teacher Sister Corita Kent in the past several years, but Mara Rockliff and Melissa Sweet’s Signs of Hope stands out from the crowd, thanks to its surprising narrator—a gro

If cars, trains, ships, or airplanes aren’t exactly your thing but you’re still longing for travel, consider quelling your wanderlust with these aural adventures guided by babymooners, royalty, and—most memorably—refugees. The Bump. By Sydney Karger.

It is perhaps only natural that mangaka would be drawn to the world of art as inspiration for their work. In these manga, artists of all types and art of varying forms take the spotlight. Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey. By Akiko Higashim

Rose Carlyle is a lawyer and keen adventurer. She has crewed on scientific yachting expeditions to subantarctic islands and has sailed with her family from Thailand to South Africa. She is the author of the #1 international best-seller The Girl in th

Nature-centered novelist and conservationist Millet, a writer of spectacular imagination, scientific knowledge, conscience, and artistry, turns to nonfiction, entwining personal revelations with keen inquiries into our misapprehension of the full ext

Like Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars, these novels and story collections guide readers from branch to branch of family trees, meditate on the ferociousness and beauty of survival, and illuminate history the way only fiction can. The American Daughters

A legal eagle, a term coined in 1869, refers to a highly skilled and astute lawyer. As we find ourselves in a time of numerous headline court cases, we turn to biographies and memoirs illuminating the lives, missions, and accomplishments of law profe

Audiobook listeners know that it’s a rare audiobook that truly elevates an already excellent story with performances that bring every page to life. From the moment narrator Jessica Pimentel’s Anita—an artist in the 1980s who rises to prominence befor

Transformative musicians, key freedom fighters, scientists under siege, women intelligence officers, and an early photographer inspired the most commanding new biographies. 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire

Award-winning Andrea Davis Pinkney has made a name for herself writing powerful biographies for children, and she brings the same reverence and rigor to her latest project, And She Was Loved, about the life and work of the iconic Toni Morrison, who,

Readers of all ages deserve to know about dancers of color, both their place in history and their inspiring work today. These biographies and memoirs shine well-deserved spotlights on some of these astonishing artists. Beautiful Ballerina. By Marilyn

The Assassin’s Guide to Babysitting. By Natalie C. Parker. Candlewick. Gr. 7–12. Tru and her extremely resourceful group of friends must protect an infant with a rare, dangerous talent in this swiftly paced adventure, great for reluctant readers. A D

Been Wrong So Long It Feels Like Right. By Walter Mosley. Little, Brown/Mulholland. The latest in Mosley’s King Oliver series (after Every Man a King, 2023) finds NYPD detective-turned-PI Joe King Oliver on the trail of a billionaire’s wife and daugh

Around the World in 80 Plants. By Jonathan Drori. 2021. Laurence King. With Lucille Clerc’s Audubon-like illustrations, Drori’s portrait gallery of 80 key plants is erudite, educational, aesthetically pleasing, and verdant with an abundance of intrig

A first generation Bengali Canadian, Aurora Palit grew up in rural Alberta, where she was always the only South Asian student in her class. Her love of reading began at age four, but it wasn’t until high school—when she wandered into the romance sect

Abstract Embroidery: Slow Stitching with Texture, Colour, and Creativity. By Emily Botelho. 2024. Search. Combine the notion of “slow” crafting with aesthetic freedom and you have Botelho’s embrace of abstract embroidery. Essentially, it’s free-form

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. By Gil McNeil. 2009. Hyperion/Voice. After her husband is killed in a car accident—just after telling her that he was leaving her—a woman and her two young sons move to a small English town to take ove

Green Heart. By Alice Hoffman. Read by Nora Hunter. 2024. Scholastic. Gr. 7–10. Print published 2012. Green experiences an apocalyptic event that spares her but takes her family. She eventually evolves into a whole new being as she fights to save her

Boogie Boogie, Y’all. By C. G. Esperanza. Read by the author. 2021. HarperAudio. K–Gr. 3. How can a picture book as vibrant and visually engaging as Esperanza’s bold love letter to graffiti art work on audio? By turning it into a song that you can’t