Welcome to Issue #82!
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! Now, onwards to the brilliant books!
Book Releases this Week [April 11th – April 17th]
Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin
Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighborhood. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she’ll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening Three Sisters.
When her mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighborhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana’s growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival restaurant–who might not be a complete stranger after all.
As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky
New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.
To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.
When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls by Kaela Rivera
Living in the remote town of Tierra del Sol is dangerous—especially in the criatura months, when powerful spirits break free from their home in Devil’s Alley to threaten humankind. But Cecelia Rios has always believed there was more to the criaturas who roamed the desert, much to her family’s disapproval. After all, it’s common knowledge that only brujas—humans who capture and control criaturas—consort with the spirits, and brujeria is a terrible crime.
When her older sister, Juana, is kidnapped by El Sombrerón, a powerful dark criatura, everyone in town believes she’s lost forever. But Cece is determined to bring Juana back. To get into Devil’s Alley, though, she’ll have to become a bruja herself—while hiding her quest from her parents, her town, and the other brujas. Thankfully, the legendary criatura Coyote has a soft spot for humans, and agrees to help her on her journey. With him at her side, Cece sets out to reunite her family—and maybe even change what it means to be a bruja along the way.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
Malice by Heather Walter
Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.
You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.
Utter nonsense.
Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.
Until I met her.
Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.
But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.
Nonsense again.
Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—
I am the villain.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner
Deep in the Hungarian woods, the sacred magic of King Solomon lives on in his descendants. Gathering under the midnight stars, they pray, sing and perform small miracles – and none are more gifted than the great Rabbi Isaac and his three daughters. Each one is blessed with a unique talent – whether it be coaxing plants to grow, or predicting the future by reading the path of the stars.
When a fateful decision to help an outsider ends in an accusation of witchcraft, fire blazes through their village. Rabbi Isaac and his family are forced to flee, to abandon their magic and settle into a new way of life. But a dark fog is making its way across Europe and will, in the end, reach even those who thought they could run from it. Each of the sisters will have to make a choice – and change the future of their family forever.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders
Tina has always known her destiny is outside the norm—after all, she is the human clone of the most brilliant alien commander in all the galaxies (even if the rest of the world is still deciding whether aliens exist). But she is tired of waiting for her life to begin.
And then it does—and maybe Tina should have been more prepared. At least she has a crew around her that she can trust—and her best friend at her side. Now, they just have to save the world.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen.
A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life.
A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.
In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.
With an eye towards decolonizing tropes inherent in our favorite tales of love, Babalola has created captivating stories that traverse across perspectives, continents, and genres.
Releases on April 13. Add this book to Goodreads!
Book News
Cover Reveal: Icebreaker by A. L. Graziadei
Illustration: Amalas Rosa | Design: Liz Dresner | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Illustration: Ashley Mackenzie | Design: Terri Nimmo | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: The Cursed Carnival and Other Calamities: New Stories About Mythic Heroes, edited by Rick Riordan
Illustration & Design: TBA | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: It’s Your Move, Wordfreak! by Falguni Kothari
Illustration & Design: TBA | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl
Illustration: Mercedes deBellard | Design: Kylie Alexander | Add the book to Goodreads!
Paperback Cover Reveal: Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed
Illustration: Erick Dávila | Design: TBA | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: The Girls are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh
Art: Marko Nadj | Design: Kristin Boyle | Add the book to Goodreads!
Cover Reveal: The Lady or the Lion by Aamna Qureshi
Illustration: Asrar Farooqi | Design: Maryam Appel | Add the book to Goodreads!
Book Announcement: Zoraida Córdova’s forthcoming middle grade about mysterious eggs, monster hunters, and a chase across America
Book Announcement: A postcolonial sci-fi about surveillance capitalism and online celebrities and set in a near-future Delhi by Samit Basu
Book Announcement: A middle grade graphic novel about death and magical road trips by Debbie Fong
Book Announcement: Tess Sharpe’s forthcoming queer YA romance about two girls whose lives intertwine
Book Announcement: A middle grade about Cuban-American identity, ballet, and fitting in by Emma Otheguy
Book Announcement: Two middle grade graphic novels about body image, eating disorders, and PTSD by Maggie Edkins Willis
Book Announcement: A YA graphic novel by Agnes Lee exploring death and the Korean afterlife
Book Announcement: Cynthia So’s forthcoming queer YA about online friends, fandom, and self-discovery
Elsie has a crush on Ada, the only person in the world who truly understands her. Unfortunately, they’ve never met in real life and Ada lives an ocean away. But Elsie has decided it’s now or never to tell Ada how she feels. That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life. In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn’t nearly as alone as she thought. But now she has a choice to make…
Book Announcement: Kendare Blake is writing stories set in the Buffyverse!
Jocelyn Davies at Disney-Hyperion has acquired world rights to In Every Generation by Kendare Blake (the Three Dark Crowns series), a new YA trilogy set in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer universe. In a world with many Slayers, in a New Sunnydale rebuilt on top of the Old Sunnydale, one girl (and a werewolf, and a demon) must stop the Hellmouth from reopening and defeat the forces of evil bent on destroying everything and everyone she loves—including her Aunt Buffy. The first book is set for winter 2022; Adriann Zurhellen at Folio Literary Management represented the author while at Foundry Literary + Media.
Book Announcement: Stacey Lee’s The Downstairs Girl is going to TV!
Add this book to Goodreads!
The Quiet Pond 
The Quiet Pond is incredible and the Pond Book News are so fun to have, like us bookworms’ weekly column to go to! Thank you so much for this 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooh, new book recs. Thanks! 😀 ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
HANA KHAN IS RELEASING SO SOON I AM NOT READY i literally just heard of it today… but You’ve Got Mail vibes = a need for me. and so so so many cover reveals happened this week that I had no idea about?? that’s soo wild!! i missed so much lmaoo
LikeLiked by 1 person