The Echo Park Castaways

By: M. G. Hennessey

Nevaeh, Vic, and Mara are veterans of the Los Angeles foster care system. For over a year, they’ve been staying with Mrs. K in Echo Park. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best home they’ve found. However, living together doesn’t necessarily make them close. Mara barely speaks, Vic spends most of his time living in a dream world, and Nevaeh is forced to act as a backup parent. Still, they all have good reasons to tolerate each other, doing whatever it takes to keep Mrs. K happy.

But when Child Protective Services places Quentin in their home, everything is turned upside down. Nevaeh isn’t sure she can watch over anyone else, especially a boy on the autism spectrum. Plus, Quentin tries to run away, creating a crisis. So when Vic realizes that Quentin just wants to see his mom, he decides to help him out. This epic quest has a lot of risks, but it may just be worth it if it brings them closer. Through a whirlwind series of adventures (and misadventures), they learn that sometimes the hardest things in life are easier to face when you tackle them together.

Author’s note.

ISBN: 9780062427694

JLG Release: Nov 2019

Estranged #2: The Changeling King

By: Ethan M. Aldridge

After years of pretending to be a human, the changeling Edmund Carter has assumed his rightful role as Cinder, king of the World Below. Finally, Cinder is free to be himself. But he has yet to gain full support from everyone at the royal palace.

Meanwhile, Ed is struggling to adjust to life as a human in the World Above. His birth family treats him with a kindness he never knew growing up in the fay court, but Ed misses the sense of purpose that came with being a knight. That feeling quickly fades when a mysterious new threat emerges in the World Below. Life-giving magic is disappearing, and Cinder will need the help of Ed and their sister, Alexis, to figure out why before it’s too late. But nothing can prepare them for the family secret that awaits at the end of their quest.

Concept sketches. Full-color illustrations created with watercolors, ink, and Photoshop.

ISBN: 9780062653901

JLG Release: Nov 2019

The Hundred-Year Barn

By: Patricia MacLachlan

Illustrator: Kenard Pak

In 1919, this barn was built
by townspeople, family, and friends.
It has stood for a hundred years
and will stand for a hundred more.
The barn is a symbol of peace
and stability
and caring
and community.

A little boy watches his family and community come together to build a grand red barn. This barn becomes his refuge and home—a place to play with friends and farm animals alike. The boy leaves and returns as a young man to help on the farm and to care for the barn again. In this joyful celebration of generations of family and their tender connection to the barn, Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan and award-winning artist Kenard Pak spin a tender and timeless story about the simple moments that make up a lifetime.

Full-color illustrations created with watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink, and digital media.

ISBN: 9780062687739

JLG Release: Nov 2019

Lalani of the Distant Sea

By: Erin Entrada Kelly

Life is difficult on the island of Sanlagita. To the west looms a vengeful mountain, one that threatens to collapse and bury the village at any moment. To the north, a dangerous fog swallows sailors who dare to venture out, looking for a more hospitable land. The women live in fear of the deadly mender’s disease, spread by the sharp needles they use to repair the men’s fishing nets. And what does the future hold for young girls? Mending and more mending.

When Lalani Sarita’s mother pricks her finger and falls ill, she gives twelve-year-old Lalani an impossible task—leave Sanlagita and find the riches of the legendary Mount Isa, which towers on an island to the north. But generations of men and boys have died on the same quest—how can a timid young girl survive the epic tests of the archipelago? And how will she manage without Veyda, her best friend?

Black-and-white illustrations.

ISBN: 9780062747273

JLG Release: Nov 2019

My Jasper June

By: Laurel Snyder

The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels…lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone.

Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost. Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships. Somewhere only they can find.

But as the days of this magical June draw to a close and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.

ISBN: 9780062836625

JLG Release: Nov 2019

Stay

By: Bobbie Pyron

Piper’s life is turned upside down when her family moves into a shelter in a whole new city. She misses her house, her friends, and her privacy—and she hates being labeled the homeless girl at her new school. But while the shelter, Hope House, offers her new challenges, it also brings new friendships, like the girls in Firefly Girls Troop 423 and a sweet street dog named Baby. So when Baby’s person goes missing, Piper knows she has to help. But helping means finding the courage to trust herself and her new friends, no matter what anyone says about them—before Baby gets taken away for good.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Piper and Baby, this uplifting friendship tale celebrates the importance of hope, the power of story, and the true meaning of home.

ISBN: 9780062839220

JLG Release: Nov 2019