Carolrhoda Books Releases Seven New Titles, Including Middle-Grade Novels and a Poetry Picture Book Illustrated by Sean Qualls and Selina Alko
In Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is black, use a fictional setup (imagining themselves as young students working on a class project together) to delve into their experiences of race. Accompanied by artwork from acclaimed illustrators Sean Qualls and Selina Alko (The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage), this picture book invites readers of all ages to join the conversation. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called the title “a fresh approach to interracial communication.”
Five mice race down a road in Barry Gott’s picture book Honk! Splat! Vroom! To win, they must overcome all sorts of obstacles, including one very hungry cat! Told in 53 simple words, this delightful picture book will appeal to the youngest of readers.
In I Got a Chicken for My Birthday, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Sarah Horne, all the birthday girl wants from her abuela is a ticket to the amusement park. Instead, she gets a chicken. But this is no ordinary chicken: it’s a roller coaster engineer! Perhaps the birthday girl may get her wish after all. In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews says “[T]his utterly seamless blend of story and art is an ingenious treat for all ages.”
After arguing with his best friend about which game to play, a boy decides it’s time to find a new one in My Best Friend Is a Goldfish, a picture book written by Mark Lee and illustrated by Chris Jevons. After trying (unsuccessfully) to make friends with his pets, the boy realizes that a disagreement doesn’t have to end a friendship.
In Jane Mitchell’s middle-grade novel Without Refuge, thirteen-year-old Ghalib has to flee war-torn Syria with his family. In a journey of life and death, the family braves hunger, homelessness, and persecution to reach the refugee camp . . . and an uncertain future.
Tween detective Quinnie Boyd is back in A Side of Sabotage, a new mystery for middle-grade readers by C. M. Surrisi. Quinnie’s dad was always the only restaurateur in town—until a fancy new restaurant opens in Maiden Rock. When multiple things go wrong at Gusty’s, Quinnie suspects sabotage by their high-flying fine-dining rival. School Library Journal called Quinnie’s previous adventure, Vampires on the Run, “a lively Maine mystery with spooky elements that kids will relish.”
As the Mysterium circus heads to a festival in Berlin, Danny races to unmask the traitor within the troupe and to discover the truth behind his parents’ death in #3 The Wheel of Life and Death, the final installment in the thrilling middle-grade Mysterium series. But will he find the culprit before disaster strikes again? The Horn Book Magazine praised the first book in the series, #1 The Black Dragon, for “its James Bond-style action and trickery.”
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About the Publisher
Carolrhoda Books, a division of Lerner Publishing Group, has been publishing award-winning, high-quality picture books, fiction, and nonfiction titles since 1969.
Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship
January 2018
$17.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 8–12
HC: 978-1-5124-0442-5
40 Pages ● 7 × 10
Honk! Splat! Vroom!
February 2018
$17.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 3–6
HC: 978-1-5124-4140-6
32 Pages ● 10 5/8 × 8 7/8
I Got a Chicken for My Birthday
March 2018
$17.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 4–8
HC: 978-1-5124-3130-8
32 Pages ● 9 1/4 × 11
My Best Friend Is a Goldfish
April 2018
$17.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 4–8
HC: 978-1-5124-2601-4
24 Pages ● 9 × 9
Without Refuge
April 2018
$16.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 9–13
HC: 978-1-5415-0050-1
288 Pages ● 5 1/4 × 7 1/2
A Side of Sabotage: A Quinnie Boyd Mystery
March 2018
$16.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 9–14
HC: 978-1-5124-4836-8
280 Pages ● 5 1/4 × 7 1/2
#3 The Wheel of Life and Death
February 2018
$18.99 Hardcover, Jacketed
eBooks Also Available
Ages 9-14
HC: 978-1-4677-7569-4
344 Pages ● 5 1/4 × 7 1/2
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lmatvick@lernerbooks.com
Libby Stille
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800-328-4929, x347
lstille@lernerbooks.com