Somehow the year is already 75% over. Catch up on these 2025 must-read releases before the 2026 titles hit the shelves!
PICTURE BOOKS
By Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker, Gebyanesh Addisu, & Chiara Fedele Apples & Honey Press, 2025
Gebyanesh’s new teacher wants to call her Rakhel, so she loses more of her past until she gains the courage to reclaim her name.
Families of a Feather: A Celebration of Diversity
By Fern Wexler & Kelsey Buzzell; Little Bigfoot, 2025
Blue jays, emus, hummingbirds, and more star in this book of bird moms, dads,babies, and their familial roles.
By Veera Hiranandani & Nadia Alam; Random House, 2025
A girl from two different backgrounds searches for where she fits in and finds answers in nature.
By Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, & Andy Chou Musser; Viking, 2025
This story about the life cycle of a butterfly, told in three distinct parts, is adorable and silly.
By Linda Sue Park & Lenny Wen; Allida, 2025
Follow a boy through his day as he uses his eyes to see all the kinds of eyes around him.
MIDDLE GRADE
By Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud Graphix, 2025
Four middle schoolers form their school’s first cartoonists club, where they learn how to make their own comics and develop illustrative and storytelling styles.
A Hero’s Guide to Summer Vacation
By Pablo Cartaya; Kokila, 2025
Still mourning the death of his father from cancer one year ago, Gonzalo is forced into a cross-country road trip with his famous author abuelo who is reluctantly promoting his last children’s book.
By Jennifer A. Nielsen; Scholastic, 2025
After Atlas’s mom died, he and his dad climbed mountains to run away from their pain, but Mt. Everest may be their final climb—and fall.
Rick Kotani’s 400 Million Dollar Summer
By Waka T. Brown; Quill Tree, 2025
Baseball player Rick reluctantly spends the summer helping his estranged grandfather move, but he also meets new friends, gets his first pet, and learns about his family history.
By Saadia Faruqi; Quill Tree Books, 2025
While Mama works overseas in Greece, Mo is stuck with his moody Abbu, doting aunt, and classmate cousin in Texas where he learns new things about himself and what it feels like to be loved by family.
YOUNG ADULT
By Sharon G. Flake; Scholastic, 2025
John John’s focused on archery, getting a girlfriend, and living up to his dad’s expectations, but when he learns his friend might lose his house, some of his perspectives and relationships change.
By Laurie Halse Anderson; Antheneum, 2025
After her mother and siblings die from smallpox and her father goes missing, Elsbeth finds a temporary home working for a wealthy family in Boston during the American Revolution.
By Rex Ogle; Norton, 2025
Diego is on track to graduate high school and attend college, but his “brother” Lawson doesn’t have the same support at home, so Diego tries to redirect him from drug sales.
By Mackenzie Reed; Storytide, 2025
Chloe needs to win her school’s Wilde Trials competition to help pay for her sister’s cancer treatments despite the dangers, deception, and death in its past.
By Kyle Lukoff; Dial, 2025
A’s parents make him attend an anti-trans conversion group, but when his friend disappears, A sets out to find him—and decides how to approach his parents about accepting who he is.
*The authors of these books will be at the Rochester Children’s and Teens Book Festival (rcbfestival.com) on Saturday, November 8, 10 a.m–4 p.m. at Monroe Community College.
This article originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of (585) Kids.
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