Hana Banana Reads

The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: February 12, 2019 Walden Pond Press 9780062275097 “[M]ost of all, this is a story of the two sisters, and what they did when the monsters really came.”* Anne Ursu has certainly been busy lately. The important work she has been doing to make the book industry a better place for women is impressive and this work is marvelously reflected in her newest novel, making it a truly important tale for boys and girls alike to read. Don’t misread me. The Lost Girl is not a preachy message wrapped up in the guise of a story. It is a story, a fabulous story of the best kind. The sort with a purpose and a message so strong and profound that it is truly the tale’s heartbeat. The sort of story that should make its reader strive to be better. But let’s start at the beginning. Iris and Lark are identical twins. This is all anyone ever seems to know about them. They are the same because they look the same. They must have ES...

Louisiana's Way Home by Kate DiCamillo Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: October 2, 2018 Candlewick Press 9780763694630 In April of 2016, the incomparable Kate DiCamillo introduced us to Raymie Clarke. Raymie was trying to find her way, as so many of us do, and she found a kinship with two girls along the way. One of these girls was Louisiane Elefante (daughter of the Flying Elefantes, you know), and she has her own winding path ahead of her. When Louisiana’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night and they hit the road, Lousiana is not overly worried. Granny gets these ideas in her head now and then, and she figures they’ll be back home sooner or later. Only this time, it doesn’t look like Granny will rethink things. How will Louisiana convince Granny to go back home, where everything and everyone she cares about most in the world are waiting for her? Louisiana’s story is the journey I didn’t know I needed. Kate DiCamillo has a wonderfully thoughtful way ...

The Art of the Swap by Kristine Asselin and Jen Malone Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: February 13, 2018 Publisher: Aladdin 9781481478717 The past and the present shake hands in this fun and all-around thrilling collaboration of art, history, and girl power. Hannah Jordan lives in The Elms, a mansion preserved by the Newport Antiquities Society as a museum. Well, technically, she lives above it. As the daughter of the mansion’s caretaker, Hannah has always had free reign in the beautiful estate. She also has a fierce love for the history of The Elms, including that of its former occupants. As the niece of the mansion’s owners, Margaret Dunlap is spending the summer at The Elms with her aunt and uncle, where a commissioned portrait of her is about make its debut. Margaret would much rather slide down the banisters or read The Wonderful Wizardof Oz in her room than sit for the painting, but this is 1905, and such behavior is not proper for a young lady about to turn thirt...

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken Age Range: 10-14 Release Date: September 5, 2017 Disney-Hyperion 9781484778173 “‘With stories like these, it’s best to start at the very beginning,’ Uncle Barnabas said. ‘Tell me, Prosperity, what do you know about the family curse?’” Prosper Redding comes from power, his family existing as practical royalty in the town of Redhood. Everything notable to happen there can be traced back through the family line, and everyone in that line is absurdly gifted in some way. Unfortunately, Prosperity Oceanus Redding can boast none of this family talent. And to top it off, being the odd Redding out also means every person in Redhood knows it. Things take a seriously unexpected turn when Prosper is made privy to the demon living inside him, and suddenly, being unexceptional doesn’t seem so bad. Alastor has spent nearly half of his eight hundred years dormant, just waiting for his chance to resurface. Oh, and when he...

***Upcoming Release!*** Saving Marty by Paul Griffin 9780399539077 Age Range: 10-14 Release Date: September 19, 2017 Dial Books for Young Readers In the wide array of animal stories, there is little I love more than one about a unique animal. We have our fair share of dog stories, wolf stories, and even cat stories, but with the notable exception of Wilbur, there aren’t many about pigs. Enter Marty. Paul Griffin’s own version of the dog story hit the scene last year with When Friendship Followed Me Home , a lovely tale about a boy and his dog. At the time, I was the Children’s Book Buyer for my store and this is how one of my most trusted reps pitched it to me: “It’s a story about a boy and his dog, where the dog doesn’t die!” It doesn’t take much to get me to read an animal book, but I do have to say I went into Friendship notably relaxed about the dog’s prospects. The beauty of this emotional and heartwarming story was how it wrenched you apart in other ways, wav...

The Song from Somewhere Else by A. F. Harrold illustrated by Levi Pinfold Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: July 3, 2017 Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books 9781681194011 In a small and quiet neighborhood, dangers are coming out of the shadows. But Francesca Patel is more focused on the harsh realities of life. And for her, reality comes in the shape of Neil Noble, the local bully. For reasons Frank can’t fathom, Noble has chosen her as his punching bag, seeking her out day after day to mercilessly taunt. What had she ever done to him? Then one day, the school oddity steps in to help. Nick Underbridge is considered just plain weird by his classmates. He’s too big, too quiet, too… different. And before Frank knows it, she finds herself in the strangest friendship she could have imagined. Harrold, author of The Imaginary , has penned a tale with a lyrically quiet beauty to it. The Song from Somewhere Else is thoughtful, powerful, and takes its time moving along in t...

***Upcoming Release!*** Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi 9781101994795 Age Range: 10 & up Release Date: November 14, 2017 Dutton Books for Young Readers I had two top reads last year. The first is one you may have heard of. A vision of loveliness called The Girl Who Drank the Moon that went on to win the Newbery this year. My other favorite (and if I’m honest with you, my top book of the entire year) was the first Middle Grade novel by acclaimed YA author Tahereh Mafi, called Furthermore . Furthermore is this wondrous, whimsical love letter to your favorite childhood books. There’s a bit of Oz in there, some Secret Garden , and definitely Alice in Wonderland . But it is entirely its own story and, quite simply, it is a masterpiece. Now, on to Whichwood : new companion novel to the aforementioned Furthermore . Due to my intense love for Furthermore , you can imagine the anticipation for its companion. These anticipatory feelings were well founded. Whichwood is a...

The Someday Suitcase by Corey Ann Haydu Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: June 27, 2017 Katherine Tegen Books 9780062352750 Some stories are just special. They manage to wriggle their way into your heart, find a place to hunker down, and simply stay there. The Someday Suitcase is one of those stories. Clover and Danny have been best friends their entire lives. The close-your-eyes-and-know-exactly-what-the-other-is-doing kind of friends. But everything they know is derailed when Danny comes down with a mysterious illness. Test after test after test and the doctors are flummoxed. Luckily, Clover is a scientist, and she intends to figure out exactly what is wrong with her best friend. As Danny’s illness progresses and Clover takes meticulous notes, she begins to see the common denominator, the one thing that always makes Danny feel better: her. How is this possible? Her scientist brain is on overdrive, trying to figure out how this could be. But she can’t ignore the truth...

Dragon’s Green by Scarlett Thomas Age Range: 8-12 Release Date: May 30, 2017 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 9781481497848 There are a lot of fantasy stories. There are especially a lot of fantasy stories written for the elementary school age, and it can be a challenge to know which is going to be unique at first sight. Will this be something new? Or will it feel like a copy of those that have come before it? Well, I am here to tell all of you, Dragon’s Green is definitely not a knockoff. It is something incredibly and undeniably special. Thomas’s first novel for children boasts a lot of the elements often featured in this sort of fantasy tale: the young hero learning of her power, and the discovery of a magical community hidden just beyond the regular world we know. There are even elements of timeless classics such as Inkheart , but none of these feel borrowed or overdone. They feel as exciting and wondrous as they did before you as a reader star...

***Upcoming Release!*** The War I Finally Won Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 9780525429203 Age Range: 9-14 Release Date: October 3, 2017 Dial Books Due in October, TheWar I Finally Won is the sequel I never knew we needed. Its predecessor, The War That Saved My Life , took the kidlit world by storm in 2015, snagging a Newbery Honor the following year. That powerhouse of a book followed Ada, a ten-year-old girl with a clubfoot who suffers terrible abuse at the hands of her mother. Because of her bad foot, her mother insists Ada is simple, that no one could ever love her (including herself), and never allows Ada to leave their flat in London. But it is 1939, there is a war on, and London is under constant threat of being bombed. The abuse Ada suffers, both physical and psychological, sits with her, even after she is accepted into a loving home as an evacuee. This is where our sequel picks up, and it is Ada’s psychological state and emotional developme...