Welcome to Issue #51!
The trees are whispering…
Friends, welcome
to another exciting week of The Pond Book News! Every Sunday, The Quiet Pond brings you a fresh issue of book news to catch you up on the week’s lineup of diverse book releases, cover reveals, book news, and sometimes more! We’re still working on our Book Community Spotlight feature too, and we really appreciate everyone’s patience as we work on getting it where we want to be. Now onward to the news!
Book Releases This Week [August 9th – August 15th]
Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar
The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago.Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens–and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.
I am SO DANG excited for this book, I don’t even know where to begin! I’ve heard such, such good things about this story from early readers, and I’m already infatuated with its celestial themes and unapologetically Indian mythology-inspired magic. So excited to finally get to look for this in stores!
Releases on August 11th. Add this book to Goodreads!
A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi & Laura Shovan
Sixth-graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl meet when they take a South Asian cooking class taught by Sara’s mom.
Sixth-graders Sara and Elizabeth could not be more different. Sara is at a new school that is huge and completely unlike the small Islamic school she used to attend. Elizabeth has her own problems: her British mum has been struggling with depression. The girls meet in an after-school South Asian cooking class, which Elizabeth takes because her mom has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates to cook, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form a shaky alliance that gradually deepens, and they make plans to create the most amazing, mouth-watering cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show. They make good cooking partners… but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?
This sweet middle-grade about about food and culture sounds right up my alley! I’m always going to be interested in the narratives that we open ourselves up to through out food, and cross-cultural stories done respectfully are always such a delight!
Releases on August 11th. Add this book to Goodreads!
Book News
Cover Reveal: Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson
This is such an interesting book cover! I love the layers and the contrast of the cool/warm color palettes, and a time travel YA set in the 60s with Black and queer protagonists? Absolutely sign me up.
Book Announcement: Katie Zhao’s middle-grade series filled with Chinese-American food magic and heart!
Oh, be still my beating heart. More middle-grade series inspired by Chinese folklore!! Katie’s books are always so full of magic, heart, and sheer fun, and I genuinely cannot wait to see what she cooks up (heh) for us this time!
Book Announcement: YA about ghosts and immigration forthcoming from Deeba Zargarpur
Oh, what a premise! We love books with ghosts in this household, especially ghosts of family members past here to teach us a few lessons about living in the world today. This looks like an utterly necessary book, and I’m so intrigued to see where it goes.
From Page to Screen: Tehlor Kay Mejia’s Paolo Santiago is going to TV!
Omg omg omg HECK YEAH! I still desperately need to pick up this book, but I am SO excited about this announcement! More mythology-inspired shows with stories written by ownvoices writers please 😭 Huge congrats to Tehlor!
The Quiet Pond 
i love reading your weekly book updates! it helps keep me in the loop. thank you for dedicating your time to doing this!! also, i think i just followed you on twitter and i love your page.
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I’m so looking forward to getting my hands on Star Daughter!
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Whoa, Star Daughter sounds incredible! Thanks for letting me know about it! 🤩
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