The Best Children's Book Picks OCTOBER 2023 - US Post - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

Trevor Henderson - SCAREWAVES - Published by Scholastic Press (October 3, 2023) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1338829501 - Paperback - Age: 8+ 

Internet horror superstar Trevor Henderson is famous for his ghastly creations and hair-raising creepypastas. Now he brings that talent for the terrifying to this debut middle-grade thriller.

You don’t stay out after dark in Beacon Point…

The small town of Beacon Point has always been plagued by eerie local phenomena. It’s a town where disappearances are common, strange creatures have been sighted with unnerving frequency, and a ghastly secret lurks in the woods.

The adults in town are oblivious to these strange occurrences. Others prefer not to talk or even think about them. But over the course of several terrifying nights, a group of kids will come face to face with the horrors hiding within their sleepy town. Guided by the mysterious radio host Alan Graves, they must follow the clues to a terrifying secret before it eats them alive.

Jaclyn Moriarty - The Secret of Lillian Velvet - Published by Levine Querido (October 10, 2023) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1646142613 - Hardback - Age: 7+

Here are only a few of the wonderful, strange, and mysterious elements in this breathtaking visit to the Kingdoms and Empires: A very proper girl named Lillian Velvet, living a very lonely life with a nasty Grandmother.  A jar of coins, each with the power to take Lillian on a journey to a different time and place…and also to grant a single wish. A small boy in a barn is about to be crushed to death by a load of hay. A family, each member in mortal danger, who are strangers to Lillian (but whom clever readers will recognize). And a web of dangerous magic closing tight around all.  Who IS this Lillian Velvet? And what is her secret?

Only Jaclyn Moriarty has the ability to make readers laugh, even while they grip the sides of their chairs in suspense. In THE SECRET OF LILLIAN VELVET, she is at the height of her storytelling powers, spinning, spinning, spinning seemingly disparate elements until all is revealed as one delicious, tantalizing whole. 

Donna Barba Higuera - Alebries - Published by Levine Querido (October 3, 2023) - ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1646142637 - Hardback - Age: 10+ 

This is the story as it was told to me by Leandro the Mighty. 

For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel – or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don’t last long. 

13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them – the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations. 

When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall. But his exile proves more than he ever could have imagined -- far from a simple banishment, his consciousness is placed inside an ancient drone and left to fend on its own. But beyond the walls of Pocatel lie other alebrijes like Leandro who seek for a better world -- as well as mutant monsters, wasteland pirates, a hidden oasis, and the truth. 

From Donna Barba Higuera, Newbery and Pura Belpré Medal-winning author of The Last Cuentista, comes another novel to astonish us and create a whole new imaginative world, that holds a mirror to our own.

Jessica Vitalis - Coyote Queen - Published by Greenwillow Books (October 10, 2023) - SBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063314405 - Hardback - Age: 8+ 

 When a twelve-year-old decides that she must get herself and her mother out of a bad situation, an eerie connection to a coyote pack helps her see who she’s meant to be—and who she can truly save. The Benefits of Being an Octopus meets The Nest in this contemporary middle-grade novel about family, class, and resilience, with a magical twist.

Twelve-year-old Fud feels trapped. She lives a precarious life in a cramped trailer with her mom and her mom’s alcoholic ex-boxer boyfriend, Larry. Fud can see it’s only a matter of time until Larry explodes again, even if her mom keeps on making excuses for his behavior. If only Fud could find a way to be as free as the coyotes roaming the Wyoming countryside: strong, smart, independent, and always willing to protect their own.

When Larry comes home with a rusted-out houseboat, Fud is horrified to hear that he wants to fix it up for them to live on permanently. All she sees is a floating prison. Then new neighbor Leigh tells Fud about Miss Black Gold, a beauty pageant sponsored by the local coal mine. While Fud doesn’t care much about gowns or talents or prancing around on stage, she cares very much about getting herself and her mom away from Larry before the boat is finished. And to do that, she needs money, in particular, Miss Black Gold's prize money.

One problem: the more Fud fantasizes about escape, the more her connection to the coyotes lurking outside her window grows. And strange things have started happening—is Fud really going color-blind? Are her eyebrows really getting bushier? And why does it suddenly seem like she can smell everything?

Jessica Vitalis crafts a moving and voice-driven novel about family and resilience, with a fantastical twist. Coyote Queen is perfect for readers of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise and The Elephant in the Room