“It’s kinda hard to hunt for a murderer,” declares young Chloe Alvarez, “when you don’t want to remember that a person is dead.” Chloe is the narrator and main character of Nashville writer Kristin O’Donnell Tubb’s latest middle-grade novel, Fowl Play, and she is desperate to know what really happened to her Uncle Will. Fowl Play is scheduled for release on July 30, and a launch event will be held at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere on August 2.
Jessica Young’s latest picture book, Two Homes, One Heart, explores through a child’s eyes the uncertainty and possibility experienced when a family separates. Young will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 30.
In his books Strong Inside, Singled Out, and Inaugural Ballers, Andrew Maraniss explored the intersection of sports, identity, and social justice. Now he’s bringing those themes to Beyond the Game: Athletes Change the World, a new series of biographies for young readers. Maraniss will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on March 5.
“I was afraid. Of pretty much everything. There were a hundred ways to die at Pearl Harbor,” admits 13-year-old Frank, the main character and narrator of Heroes: A Novel of Pearl Harbor, the latest in Alan Gratz’s series of action-packed historical novels for young readers. Gratz will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on February 25.
Alice Faye Duncan brings young readers two new picture-book biographies: Coretta’s Journey, a biography of Coretta Scott King, and Traveling Shoes, which tells the story of U.S. Olympian and long jump champion Willye White. Duncan will discuss the books at Novel in Memphis on November 11.
Adapted for middle-grade readers from Hayley Arceneaux’s 2022 memoir of the same name, Wild Ride tells the story of her recovery from childhood cancer and her unexpected opportunity, at age 29, to join the first all-civilian mission to space.
