Melissa de la Cruz. Roaring Brook, Dec. 1 $16.99 (336p) ISBN 978-1-250-31121-4. Ages 10–14.
In the first book in Cruz’s The Chronicles of Never After fantasy series, Filomena Jefferson-Cho, 12, is a huge fan of epic fairy tale mash-up series Never After, and she’s anticipating the release of the 13th and final volume until she learns that the long-deceased author apparently never wrote it. When the saga’s hero, Jack the Giant Stalker, appears in her hometown pursued by an ogre, she discovers that everything described in the books is true.
Karah Sutton, illus. by Pauliina Hannuniemi. Knopf, Dec. 1 $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-593-12165-8. Ages 8–12.