Indie books for young readers

If there is one common theme that runs through the half dozen hot new releases for the children’s book market this fall from independent publishers, it is this: No matter how small and insignificant you feel in this big, beautiful universe, every living being is important.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Angela Engel, publisher of Collective Book Studio, calls The fly that flew into space (Sept., ages 4-8) by Lauren Sánchez, illustrated by Raleigh Stewart, “a magical book.” When you flip it over and unfold it, the cover becomes a glow-in-the-dark poster showing the spaceship taking off, taking the insect protagonist on a heavenly adventure. And there’s a “secret page,” Engel says, that also glows in the dark. “Have you ever ridden the Space Mountain ride at Disneyland? It reminds me of that. It’s going to be so nostalgic for parents, who are going to freak out.”

The flySánchez’s debut as a children’s author and Stewart’s as an illustrator was a labor of love. Sánchez, a licensed pilot, is passionate about teaching children – especially girls – to be curious and explorers. That’s why the fly’s gender is indeterminate, Engel says. “There’s still such a big gender gap in STEM fields. How many female pilots are there? Part of Lauren’s mission is to help girls understand that you can fly a plane; you can go to space. That’s not something girls have been taught to believe.”

Simon Boughton, Publishing Director of Norton Young Readers, describes Praise of the Mystery (October, ages 4–8) by the American poet Ada Limón, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Peter Sís, is described as “transcendent,” and indeed it is in the truest sense of the word. The text, a poem, will be included in the NASA Europe Clipper The spacecraft will leave Earth this fall and travel 2.9 billion kilometers to reach Jupiter’s second moon in 2030.

Limón’s debut as a children’s author “came together very quickly,” Boughton recalls. Last fall, after Limón wrote the poem for NASA, “there was a feeling that it would make a wonderful children’s book, and it was submitted to us for submission.” Boughton immediately thought of bringing Sís on as an illustrator. “They are both respected in different worlds, and I really wanted to bring these two great artists together. Fortunately, it wasn’t just wishful thinking: I knew Peter had some time. He finished the book in January. It was a gift that he could do it so quickly and so beautifully.”

Praise of the Mystery will be 10 days before Europe Clipper Take off. “It’s a dramatic book launch that’s associated with the launch of a rocket,” says Boughton. “Let’s hope everything goes according to plan.”

Roger Mello’s new picture book, Griso, the one and only (Oct., ages 4-8), translated from Portuguese by Roger Hahn, is the Brazilian artist’s fifth picture book to be published by Elsewhere Editions, an imprint of Archipelago Books specializing in translated picture books. As Earth’s last unicorn searches for a mate all over the world, it is depicted in a different artistic style on each page, based on illustrations of unicorns from prehistoric cave paintings to 20th-century surrealism.

Emma Raddatz, director of Elsewhere Editions, praises Mello’s bold use of color, particularly his “penchant for neon orange and cherry red,” and also marvels at Mello’s “intoxicating” ability to change his style not only between projects but even within a single book.Gray encourages you to be inspired by the art of the world and feel free to explore alternative styles,” she says. “It also speaks to the feeling of longing and the close, attentive study of a color, a work of art or a line. Griso makes you want to sit on a museum stool, stare at a medieval tapestry for hours and set about observing as much as you can.”

Finding freedom

What I Need to Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice (Oct., ages 4–8) by Jay Leslie, illustrated by Loveis Wise, is only the second release from Hillman Grad, an imprint of Zando Projects with a mission to publish books that “illuminate the beauty and complexity of underrepresented communities” with stories that “can change the world.” It seems fitting that Hillman’s first picture book is about the Chicago-born playwright who wrote A raisin in the sunthe first Broadway play written by a black woman: Publisher Lena Waithe is herself a screenwriter, actress and producer from Chicago.

Zando editor TJ Ohler points out that the impact of this book lies primarily in the fact that potentially uncomfortable topics are addressed in an honest but age-appropriate way. What I have to say to the world begins with Hansberry’s parents’ response to racist attacks on the family: they filed a lawsuit to desegregate their Chicago neighborhood, which made it to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1940. Years later, after marrying a man in 1953, Hansberry acted upon realizing she was attracted to other women.

Praise What I have to say to the world Ohler admits that he cried when he first read it because it’s “a great book about queerness, the creative process and finding your own voice.” “That’s why I became an editor: books like this.”

Levine Querido publisher Arthur A. Levine claims that The Forbidden Book (Oct., ages 12+), the second work by 2023 Printz Award finalist Sacha Lamb, explores themes that go far beyond its pithy first three sentences: “Dybbuks. Illegal printing. A genderqueer lesbian with a knife.”

Levine acknowledges that all of those things are present in this story of a teenage girl who assumes a male identity to escape her life in a Jewish settlement in a parallel universe of 19th-century Russia, where demons interact with humans. It’s a fairy tale spun by “a master storyteller,” he says. It’s also the kind of book that “provokes a discussion about how gender affects power.” At its core, though, Levine says, this is a story “about friendship and freedom. It’s also a mystery; there’s danger.”
Levine claims that there are “many samenesses in the voice of today’s teenagers,” and describes Lamb’s voice as “refreshing. The prose is very accessible, but it is also written in the voice of an oral narrator.” In addition, he says, as a physical object, The Forbidden Book is “beautiful”.

Soho Teen took longer than necessary to When Mimi disappeared (November, ages 14+), Suja Sukumar’s debut young adult novel, says editor Alexa Wejko. “It landed in my box two years ago, in this strange post-Covid time. We weren’t sure about the state of the world and had fewer submissions. I had to put it off, but it just stuck with me. I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

This psychological thriller about the breaking down of the relationship between two once-close cousins ​​is also “a very powerful coming-of-age story,” according to Wejko, in which the main characters are of Indian descent. “I think BIPOC characters are less represented in the genre (fiction),” she says. “This isn’t the only thriller with Southeast Asian American characters, but there still aren’t enough. I was happy to see the representation intersect with a coming-of-age story within a classic genre thriller.”

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