What Matters Most: 10 Great New Reads for the Young and Young at Heart

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School’s out … for summer? For longer? No matter what comes next — and no matter your age — it’s always a good time to get lost in the pages of a new book! From cozy read-along picture books for the little ones to thrilling YA fantasies, we’ve got some great ones picked out for you!

PICTURE BOOKS


Recommended by Rae Ann


You Matter

By Christian Robinson

This is a beautiful story about perspective and connections. It’s a reminder to everyone that on good days and bad, you matter.


Recommended by Rae Ann

Lift

By Minh Lê & Dan Santat

Iris loves elevators, until her little brother decides it’s his job to push the buttons. When she finds a magical world behind the elevator door, everything changes.

We have signed copies!


Recommended by Rae Ann

A Family for Louie

By Alexandra Thompson

This is an adorable dog book! Louie dines in fine restaurants, but what he really wants is a family.


Recommended by Chelsea

Ollie and Augustus

By Gabriel Evans

When Ollie starts school, he worries that his dog Augustus will be lonely. So Ollie searches for a friend for Augustus but doesn’t find success. Instead, Ollie learns that he and Augustus are best friends regardless of what happens. A sweet story full of visual humor with beautiful pencil drawings, this book is a must-have for dog lovers and children starting school.


INDEPENDENT READERS


Recommended by Chelsea

Glitch

By Laura Martin

Glitchers — those born with a gene allowing time travel — train at the Academy, and Regan Fitz and Elliot Mason have been enemies from day one. When they get a letter from future Regan, their enemy status must change if they are to save everything they hold dear. This fast-paced thrill read is full of action centered around historical events. It’s my favorite middle grade novel to date!


Recommended by Kay

Doodleville

By Chad Sell

Drawings come to life in this heartfelt follow-up from the creator behind The Cardboard Kingdom. Drew is a young artist struggling with her doodles’ more mischievous natures and her own negative feelings. When she accidentally creates a monster, Drew must team up with the other members of the Art Club to set things right. Perfect for any young artist who might have monsters of their own.


YOUNG ADULT


Recommended by Rae Ann

The Damned (The Beautiful #2)

By Renée Ahdieh

Celine Rousseau can’t remember the night she almost died. She has unknowingly set into motion a war between the creatures who watch her from the shadows hoping that she may not survive. This sequel to The Beautiful is full of atmosphere and mystery.


Recommended by Kay

A Song Below Water

By Bethany C. Morrow

A Song Below Water is an excellent blend of fantasy and contemporary elements. Morrow mixes sirens and magic with very real social issues to create a powerful story about finding your voice in a world that wants you silent. Add in two protagonists who both felt real enough to jump off the page, and you get a story that will stick with readers long after they finish.


Recommended by Chelsea

I Killed Zoe Spanos

By Kit Frick

When Anna arrives at a small village in the Hamptons to nanny for the summer, she learns that she bears an uncomfortable resemblance to a missing local named Zoe. Anna dives head-first into the mystery and becomes so convinced that she and Zoe are connected that when Zoe’s body is found, Anna confesses to killing her. This mind-bending mystery kept me guessing at every turn.


Recommended by Chelsea

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

By Roseanne A. Brown

What a debut! Set against a competition of magic and skill, a crowned princess and a refugee realize that to save someone they love, they must kill each other. I especially enjoyed the magic system, lore, and mythology that Brown incorporated. I eagerly await the next volume of this duology.






ParnassusNext — Our July Selection
Burn Our Bodies Down

By Rory Power

Margot Nielsen has never managed to get her strangely secretive mother to tell her anything about their family. But when her desperate search for answers leads her to a town called Phalene and a grandmother who’s clearly hiding secrets of her own, Margot only finds more questions. As a creeping blight poisons the fields and a fire turns up a disturbingly familiar body, Margot must untangle her family’s past if she ever hopes to leave Phalene alive.

Here is some early buzz for the novel:

“Gritty and strange, this sophomore novel is utterly compelling.” —Maggie Reagan, Booklist (starred review)

“Burn Our Bodies Down is a masterpiece: an incredible and unnerving mystery that will creep up on you, twisty and labyrinthine, like the eerie cornfields of its setting.” —Holly Jackson, New York Times bestselling author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

“Rory Power’s prose hits like a lightning strike in this deliriously creepy tale, the kind of slow-crawling horror that’ll keep your nightmares up at night.” —Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood

Look for an interview with author Rory Power coming to Musing next week!

ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.