Mission Statement

Levine Querido is born of a fervent mission to give voice

to a uniquely talented, exceptionally diverse group of authors
and artists whose books will inspire young people while offering
them a sense of their (and others’) rightful place in the world.
Our books will be characterized by great storytelling, undeni-
ably powerful and beautiful artwork, and a fearless commitment
to telling deep truths. (Full disclosure: Sometimes we will make
you laugh while doing so.)
Levine Querido is a team of passionate book-lovers, and
our audience is as wide and diverse as that term encompasses.
We look forward to an ongoing, exciting relationship with you
about books, authors, and artists, and making the world a better
place, book by book.

Our Two Lists

Arthur A. Levine
Extraordinary Picture Books, Poetry, Novels, Nonfiction, and
Graphic Novels, written & illustrated by, and centered on the
experiences and points of view of the magnificently diverse
creators among us, writing in English.

Em Querido
An exciting selection of the work of some of the world’s most
gifted authors and artists, translated from other languages
around the world, created and curated in partnership with
Querido NL.
 Passport Photograph Emanuel Querido, circa 1940.
Courtesy of Querido Publishers, NL.

WHO WAS EMANUEL QUERIDO?

By Arthur Levine

Q uerido is how you might address someone you care about. It means
“dear one,” literally, expressing a deep affection and warmth. Of course,
that’s how I hope readers will feel about the books of LQ; so the meaning
of the word is very important to me.
But there’s more to the story: Querido was also a person—Emanuel
Querido, to be exact. He was born to a family of Sephardic Jews who
fled from the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal in the 1490s. The Querido
family developed roots in the Netherlands.
In 1898, when Emanuel was 27, he opened a bookstore in Amsterdam
that became a center for all kinds of readers and thinkers. In a very short
time he started publishing books, first among them a book on the ethics
of love and marriage by the Swedish feminist educator Ellen Key. It was the
beginning of a passionate effort to find and translate great writers for the
delight of his readers.
 In 1915 Querido made the leap from occasional publisher to founder
of a publishing house. From the start the company embraced the ideals
of fine writing and craftsmanship in bookmaking, as well as an openness
to innovation. In fact, it was Querido who published the Salamander books
—the first true paperback series—in 1934, a year before the first Penguin
paperback was sold.
But perhaps most inspirational to me was the Querido response to
the rise of the Nazis in Germany. Although Emanuel himself was not a
particularly observant Jew, he was still moved by the censure of German
writers—dissidents and Jews—that gradually erased these writers’ voices.
(And perhaps he knew that Nazis would not distinguish between a Jew
who was observant and one who was assimilated.) Together with Fritz
Landshoff they founded Querido Verlag, based in the Netherlands, from
which they spread the urgent writing of these silenced creators as widely as
they could. In 110 works of resistance, these exiled writers spoke out about
the Nazi regime’s plan to start a war and rule the whole world.
Only a few days after the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, the Gestapo
stormed the Querido offices, ultimately shutting it down. Querido himself
was captured and sent to Sobibor, the concentration camp, where he died
in 1943.
Fortunately, Querido’s colleagues re-launched the company after the
war, continuing its great traditions and growing its fine reputation. In 1971
a children’s book division was founded which has consistently produced
stunning, award-winning titles.
Now, with the help of my Dutch colleagues, I bring the Querido name
to North America, in the form of a list that seeks out glorious talent from
around the world for the pleasure of English-speaking readers. There’s a
saying in Jewish culture that a person isn’t truly gone until the last person
living no longer remembers their name. I hope that not only can this
(Levine) Querido list bring great joy to readers, but that it can keep alive the
name, the memory, the legacy, and the brave spirit of Emanuel Querido.
4
 The Wanderer
By Peter Van den Ende
“Wonderfully strange and strangely wonderful,

The Wanderer is an epic dream captured in superbly

meticulous detail.” — Shaun Tan

As with Shaun Tan’s The Arrival, it gives us collective goosebumps to introduce the
singular talent and imagination of Peter Van den Ende to North America. Without a
word, and with Escher-like precision, Van den Ende presents one little paper boat’s
journey across the ocean, past reefs and between icebergs, through schools of fish,
swaying water plants, and terrifying sea monsters.
The little boat is all alone, and while its aloneness gives it the chance to wonder at
the fairy-tale world above and below the waves uninterrupted, that also means it must
save itself when storms approach. And so it does. We hope that readers young and
old will find the strength and inspiration that we did in this quietly powerful story about
growing, learning, and life’s ups and downs.

Peter Van den Ende makes his remarkable debut as a picture

book artist with The Wanderer. When he’s not drawing, he works as a
nature guide in the Cayman Islands. The beauty of the sea was his source
of inspiration for his wonderful wordless story.

$21.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-017-6
The Wanderer 52199>
$21.99 U.S.
HC ISBN 978-1-64614-017-6
Trim: 9 x 12
96 pages • Picture Book (All Ages)
Rights: U.S./Canada 9 781646 140176
On Sale: October

5
 But there’s a...
very big animal.
She’s standing with her white bottom to Little Fox.
On legs like thin branches.
Little Fox hesitates for a moment, then creeps closer.
The animal has spots.
She also has very, very, very big ears.
She looks up.
She’s not scared of Little Fox.
Why not?

The dream keeps going.

It is still very early.
The sun has just risen. It’s yawning in the sky.
Little Fox is thirsty.
The smell of fresh water always gives him a happy giddy feeling,
so he runs towards it!

36 37

6
 Little Fox
By Edward van de Vendel
Illustrated by Marije Tolman
Translated by David Colmer

G ood parents everywhere know the tension of wanting our kids to be curious, to
have rich experiences and friends…but to be perfectly safe while doing it. Little
Fox knows all about it! His father (in classic picture book fashion) warns him of
the danger everywhere. But Little Fox still frolics with butterflies, scavenges for
food, and searches for new friends. Then one day he takes a tumble, bumps
his head, and starts dreaming of things that reflect both the beauty he’s seen
and the scary things he’s heard. Marije Tolman’s ingenious illustrations use a
fresh technique that FEELS like a movie and a dream, starring the cheerful,
bright orange Little Fox on grainy mixed media landscapes of blue and green.
And when Little Fox wakes up, he’s perhaps a little wiser, but still every bit as
curious and full of life.

Edward van de Vendel has been a school principal, founder,

and teacher. He has won many of the highest prizes for children’s
literature in the Netherlands, including the Golden Kiss (an award
for YA fiction), and the Silver Pencil (an award for picture books
and Middle Grade). He lives in Rotterdam and travels widely.

Marije Tolman studied graphic and type design at the Royal

Academy in The Hague and Illustration & Design at the Edinburgh
College of Art, in Scotland. Her picture books are published in many
countries, including Denmark, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Spain,
Portugal, South Africa, Mexico, South Korea, Qatar, Japan, and China.

$18.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-007-7
Little Fox 51899>
$18.99 U.S. • £13.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-007-7
Trim: 7 x 9 ½
88 pages • Picture Book
Rights: World English 9 781646 140077
On Sale: September

7
 Q & A: WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?
Edward van de Vendel & Marije Tolman

Q: How did you meet?

Edward: Marije is quite well known, so I have been admiring her work since
her first books. It was not until I wrote a picture book story about the power of
dreaming that I met her, since my publishing
company brought us together. Marije is not only
an artist to admire, she is also someone who is
very accessible, very sincere, and we agree on
what we want to make: high quality books that
are still for a larger audience.


Q: Will you describe your creative process?

Marije: I live with my family close to the dunes, the beach and the sea, in The
Hague, in The Netherlands. While I was sketching the natural habitat of Little
Fox in the dunes, I thought there must be a cleverer technique to welcome
and embrace the environment of Little Fox. I started photographing while I was
cycling through the coast of North-Holland.
Hundreds of photos later I printed a few dunes on Risograph. The next
level was an exciting experiment: drawing and painting over the risograph by
mixed technique (watercolor, acrylic, gouache, pen, ink, pencils). It worked out
pretty well. So, I decided to make lots of risographs, like theater decors, or old-
fashioned movies back in the 1930s. To express the difference in timeline, I
used the same technique except on white paper.
If you look carefully and closely at the illustrations you will find a third
technique: pencils, thin markers, and small pens, on Japanese paper. This
paper is a bit more yellowish-brown because back in the 80s my father (also
an artist) soaked this Japanese paper in a bath of tea and left it there a long
time. The tea absorbed into the paper beautifully, but he never used it in his
studio and instead kept the paper 40 years before he gave it to me; I guess
that’s why the color became even more ‘test of time brownish.’
To bring all the styles together I blended many details into the three
techniques. For example, the dune grass or the west wind trees, the little
birds (spoonbills, oystercatchers, sandpipers, gulls, godwits, avocets). My
goal is that the reader will observe these passers-by everywhere and will
automatically read the different styles as one theater, as one book.
Last but not least: Little Fox is painted neon orange in the original
illustrations and was printed using a 5th color. Little Fox, for me, is a symbol
of life, a lust for life, curiosity, and passion. So, for me it was almost natural
that his fur turned out neon.

Q. How did your teaching background shape this

story?

Edward: Good question! I really hope Little Fox doesn’t show any
educational intentions in the strictest sense of the word; I mean there
shouldn’t be a moralistic lesson shining through the story. Having said that,
I must say that I’ve always enjoyed the liveliness of young children, the urge
to take on every possible adventure. This ‘fire’ is what Little Fox is about. It’s
about enthusiasm, about putting yourself out in the world, and about our
friends and families accompanying us in the background.

Q. What do you hope American children will take

from this story?

Edward: Apart from the stunning images and the core of the story—how
to engage in life’s challenges—there is also a bit of non-fiction. In Little Fox
children really get to know how the first months of a baby fox could be.
I love combining fiction and non-fiction. Do you think that might be my
background as a teacher? If so, this would be the alternative answer to your
previous question!

Read the full interview at levinequerido.com.

 That night, small girl and old dog
both go to sleep
in the soft gold room.

34 9.5 x 8.5 35

10
 This Old Dog
by Martha Brockenbrough
Illustrated by Gabriel Alborozo

W hen so much of the world is new, you want to go slowly…to stop and enjoy
everything; hills to roll down, perfect-sized rocks, trees that seem to whisper their
thoughts. It’s the same when you’re much, much older, and every time ’round the
seasons seems precious. Yet the folks in the middle (we know who we are) are always
rushing, rushing, rushing. Appointments to make, trains to catch, places to be, FAST.
That’s what makes the bond between Old Dog and the little girl so special. From the
time she takes her first steps, Old Dog finds someone—at last!—who wants to go the
same pace he does. To walk with everywhere, through this wide, wonderful world.
A love song to the bond between young and old, this book will make you want to
sit right down and read to someone you care about.

Martha Brockenbrough wrote this book as a tribute to her own

little girl and her precious old dog. She is a Kirkus Prize Finalist (for The
Game of Love and Death) and a brilliant writer of picture books including
Love, Santa and Cheerful Chick. She lives with her family, including two
dogs and two cats, in Seattle, Washington.

Gabriel Alborozo is a dog lover, for sure, as you can see in these
illustrations, the best of his career. His energetic line, and beautiful sense
of color have graced numerous picture books published around the world.
This is his first for LQ. Gabe lives in Bexhill On Sea, East Sussex.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-010-7
This Old Dog 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-010-7
Trim: 9 ½ x 8 ½
40 pages • Picture Book
Rights: World All Languages 9 781646 140107
On Sale: September

11
12
 Ginger and Chrysanthemum
by Kristen Mai Giang
Illustrated by Shirley Chan

No doubt you can be close to someone who’s very different from you. Ginger is
excitable; she leaps into action, throwing herself headfirst into any project.
Chrysanthemum is cooler-headed; she likes to plan, she’s organized. She makes
lists. Yet they are cousins, close as two beans in a pod. But planning Grandma’s
birthday together is a pretty huge challenge. There are presents to buy, decorations to
pick, and a special birthday cake to bake.
Together. How they manage it is a testament to affection being stronger than
differences.

Kristen Mai Giang is a Chinese American author who immigrated

from Vietnam when she was 18 months old and grew up in San Gabriel,
California, a melting pot of Asian cultures and cuisines, which inspired
Grandma’s New Asian Kitchen. Ginger and Chrysanthemum, her debut
picture book, draws from these memories as well as the antics of her two
children and their cousins.

Shirley Chan is secretly an alien from outer space, though she claims
to be an illustrator in Brooklyn. Her favorite pastimes are eating snacks
and taking naps. Ginger and Chrysanthemum is her debut.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-001-5
Ginger and Chrysanthemum 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-001-5
Trim: 8 ½ x 11
40 pages • Picture Book
Rights: World All Languages 9 781646 140015
On Sale: October

13
14
 Bye, Penguin!
By Seou Lee

You’d think that a penguin stranded on an ever-smaller block of ice, on a trip around
the world wouldn’t be so…FUN! But it is! There’s our fearless penguin passing the
Statue of Liberty…there’s penguin floating by the Sydney Opera House!
From the Aurora Borealis to a hilarious encounter with a surfer in Hawaii, this is a
wordless journey that truly FROLICKS. In fact, the adventures are so amusing that most
readers will barely register the nod to global warming until it’s slipped right in on the
breath of a laugh.

Seou Lee is an author and animator who fell in love with illustration as
a child because of the many books in her parents’ daycare. Her greatest
dream has always been to illustrate fun, heartwarming stories for kids.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-021-3
Bye, Penguin! 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-021-3
Trim: 9 ¾ x 8 ¼
40 pages • Picture Book
Rights: World English 9 781646 140213
On Sale: October

15
 On we rode.
Through the wood.
Between the molehills.

16
 Bigger Than a Dream
By Jef Aerts
Illustrated by Marit Törnqvist
Translated by David Colmer

People fear death (apparently just a tiny bit less than public speaking). We don’t know
how to talk about it, especially to children, and we’re afraid to bring it up for fear of
making people sadder. Yet children, especially, have questions, and this incredibly gentle
and surprisingly light story is full of both comfort and vividly imagined “answers.”
The first one gives the book its title: A boy hears the voice of his sister calling him
one day, a sister he’s never met because she died before he was born. The sister in the
faded photograph on the wall. So that night he asks his mother what death is like and
she tells him, “It’s like dreaming, only bigger.” That’s lovely, but he still has questions,
which it turns out his sister can answer! On a dreamy, carefree adventure they ride their
bikes together, visiting places that were special to her when she was alive. And she
talks to him in the older sister, teasing, straightforward, loving way that is exactly what
he needs.
Much, much more than bibliotherapy, this is a work of art
that speaks with honesty and tenderness about one of life’s great
mysteries.

Jef Aerts grew up in a wooded village in Belgium. On this list we offer

you his first picture book, Bigger Than a Dream, winner of the Book Lion
Prize. LQ also proudly brings you his tender and funny middle grade novel,
The Blue Wings. Aerts lives with his wife and three children on a small
farm.

Marit Törnqvist was born in Uppsala, Sweden, and moved to the

Netherlands with her family when she was five. Her illustrations of Astrid
Lindgren’s work have gained her international acclaim, as has her writing.
The first book she wrote, A Short Story About Love, won a Silver Pencil.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-020-6
Bigger Than a Dream 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-020-6
Trim: 7 ¾ x 10
48 pages • Picture Book
Rights: World English 9 781646 140206
On Sale: November

17
18
 Everything Sad Is Untrue
(a true story)
By Daniel Nayeri

At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom
everyone calls “Daniel”) stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a
word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose
lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.
But Khosrou’s stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are
beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the
night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee
camps of Italy…and further back to the fields near the river Aras, where rain-soaked
flowers bled red like the yolk of sunset burst over everything, and further back still to
the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan.
We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles
and spitballs to the heroines and heroes of Khosrou’s family’s past, who ate
pastries that made people weep and cry “Akh, Tamar!” and touched carpets
woven with precious gems. Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, Daniel
weaves a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is
(a true story).
It is Daniel’s.

Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a

refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He
is the publisher of Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan, making him one
of the youngest publishers in the industry. He has served on the CBC
diversity committee and the CBC panel committee.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-000-8
Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-000-8
Trim: 5 ½ x 8 ¼
368 pages • Middle Grade Novel
Rights: World Dutch, World English 9 781646 140008
On Sale: August

19
 Daniel Nayeri
Ms. Miller
D3 - English Lit.
25 August 2020

“PHOTO ESSAY: THE CHARACTERS

OF MY STORY”

A lright Mrs. Miller, if you have to see a picture for this

assignment, then here, here’s me right now wearing a
sweater in Oklahoma even though it’s summer. Seems
happy enough, right? That’s a happy smile that people
make, yes? People like happy people better. So you
should tell me if I’m unlikeable in this picture. I can find
something else. How about this? Better? This is cheaty
cause it’s me when I was a little kid.
Little kids are happy cause they don’t know any better. That’s
why people like little kids. Look at him. He’s basically brand
new. Imagine the world when you’re brand new. He could be
smelling honeysuckles for the first time in that picture, which
we had in our house in Isfahan, which is where this was taken.
Or a butterfly just flew past his face in my Baba Haji’s orchard
in Ardestan. Who knows? The point is little kids are happy for little things.
And besides, back then I could sit in my dad’s arms like this.
My sister is in the back of the picture, haunting it. My
mom is here in this picture, so you can see we were rich
in happiness. It was only a year after
this that we exploded. My mom
converted to Christianity after we
visited my grandmother—who was
exiled in England—and my sister saw
a miracle. When we got back to Iran,
my mom went to the underground
church, until the secret police took her (my mom), and
you probably don’t want to know about them, but we escaped and became
refugees in Dubai and I should tell you now that
my dad didn’t come with us. I don’t have good
reasons or answers for any of this.
Here is a picture of us in Italy, hoping
America will give us asylum, before we knew
how to look into cameras so they can’t tell what
we’re thinking.
And now you might be thinking—if you’ve
gotten this far, to the part where we got to
Oklahoma and we’re poor, and no one would believe that we were ever
anything else—you might be thinking,
“Who’s that guy?” That’s Ray. He can
beat up anybody. That’s all you have to
know about him.
Anyway, those are the “main
characters of my life story”, which is
an odd writing assignment if I’m being
honest. But there is also Mrs. Miller’s
whole class, who listens to me read
my assignments about the feast in my
Baba Haji’s house, my ancestor who saved the daughter of a Parsi king, and
our house in Isfahan with the birds in the walls, and—like King Shahryar who
listened to Scheherazade tell the 1001 stories—they are highly skeptical. But
these are my memories, and they’re all I’ve got. So I wrote them down to
keep them from disappearing. And as I write them, I realize, like you—Reader,
and Mrs. Miller—that a patchwork memory is the shame of a refugee. These
are all the pictures I will ever have. And now you’ve seen them. You’ve got
as many of my memories as I do. Maybe you know things now that I’ll never
know. But I will write them all so that I never forget my Baba Haji. Someday,
I will wake up every morning before my family wakes up—I’ll be grown up by
then in New Jersey or someplace, with a wife and a son I’ll never give over to
anybody—and I’ll write it all down in a book. And not just the sad parts, but
the happy little kid parts too, and now, Mrs. Miller, I believe I have performed
this assignment at the A-plus grade level. Thank you.
Daniel

22
 The Blue Wings
By Jef Aerts
Illustrated by Martijn van der Linden

Translated by Laura Watkinson

Two brothers bound together by affection and responsibility. Jadran is five years older
than Josh and huge enough to be nicknamed Giant. Josh is younger, and smaller; but
his sweet and stubborn brother thinks in a way that would be more typical of a small
child. They are both dealing with changes to their newly blended, Muslim family. So
Josh looks after Jadran and they both adjust. When the brothers find an injured young
crane, Jadran wants to bring it back to their small apartment and teach it to fly at any
cost. And it turns out the cost is high.
Intensely moving without ever slipping into sentimentality, The Blue Wings is a
warm, love-filled story about fragility, strength, and brotherhood, in all its complications.

Jef Aerts grew up in a wooded village in Belgium. On this list we offer

you his first picture book, Bigger Than a Dream, winner of the Book Lion
Prize. LQ also proudly brings you his tender and funny middle grade novel,
The Blue Wings. Aerts lives with his wife and three children on a small
farm.

Laura Watkinson is an award-winning, full-time literary translator.

She translates into English, from Dutch, Italian, and German. She is the
founder of the Dutch chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and
Illustrators. She lives in Amsterdam.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-008-4
The Blue Wings 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • ISBN: 978-1-64614-008-4
Trim: 5 ¼ x 8 ½
240 pages • Middle Grade Novel • Illustrated
Rights: World English 9 781646 140084
On Sale: September

23
24
 Lupe Wong Won’t Dance
By Donna Barba Higuera

My gym shorts burrow into my butt crack like a frightened groundhog.

Don’t you want to read a book that starts like that??

Lupe Wong is going to be the first female pitcher in the Major Leagues. She’s also
championed causes her whole young life. Some worthy…like expanding the options for
race on school tests beyond just a few bubbles.
And some not so much…like complaining to the BBC about the length between
Doctor Who seasons. Lupe needs an A in all her classes in order to meet her favorite
pitcher, Fu Li Hernandez, who’s Chinacan / Mexinese just like her. So, when the horror
that is square dancing rears its head in gym? Obviously, she’s not gonna let that slide.
Not since Millicent Min, Girl Genius has a debut novel introduced a character
so memorably, with such humor and emotional insight. Even squaredancing fans
will agree…

Donna Barba Higuera grew up dodging dust devils in the oil fields of
Central California. She has spent her entire life blending folklore with her
experiences into stories that fill her imagination. Now she weaves them
to write picture books and novels. Donna eventually traded the dust of
Central California for the mists of the Pacific Northwest. She lives there
with her husband, four children, three dogs and three two frogs, and five
glow-in-the-dark fish. She is currently working on her debut picture book
and next middle grade novel.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-003-9
Lupe Wong Won’t Dance 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-003-9
Simultaneous Spanish • 978-1-64614-032-9
Trim: 5 5/8 x 8 1/8
272 pages • Middle Grade Novel 9 781646 140039
Rights: North American English and Spanish
On Sale: September

25
26
 The Boys in the Back Row
By Mike Jung

Best friends Matt and Eric are hatching a plan for one big final adventure together
before Eric moves away: during the marching band competition at a Giant Amusement
Park, they will sneak away to a nearby comics convention and meet their idol—a famous
comic creator. Without cell phones. Or transportation. Or permission. Of course, their
final adventure together is more than just that—really, it’s a way for the boys to celebrate
their friendship, and their honest love and support for one another.
That’s exactly what we love so much about The Boys in the Back Row: it’s an
unabashed ode to male friendship, because love between boys, platonic or otherwise, is
something to celebrate. And of course, because this is Mike Jung, we’ll be celebrating
it with hilariously flawed hijinks and geekiness galore!

Mike Jung is the author of Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities and
Unidentified Suburban Object. He is a library professional by day, a
writer (and ukulele player) by night and was a founding member of
#WeNeedDiverseBooks team. He lives in Oakland, California, with his wife
and two children.

$17.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-011-4
The Boys in the Back Row 51799>
$17.99 U.S. • £12.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-011-4
Trim: 5 5/8 x 8 1/8
272 pages • Middle Grade Novel
Rights: North American English 9 781646 140114
On Sale: October

27
28
 The Big Questions Book of
Sex & Consent
by Donna Freitas

What this book is NOT:

The fear-based How-To on sex and consent, oversimplified and focused on technicalities,
that represents so much of our sexual education today.

What this book IS:

A journey into the Big Questions that will turn you into a thinking person about sex and
consent, with the ability to wrestle towards the answers that work for YOU and continue
to wrestle towards them for the rest of your life. What is the meaning and purpose of
sex? How does it intersect with who I am? Why are people so afraid of it? What does
a healthy and joyful approach to sex look like for me? Why is consent so much more
than a yes or no question?

Who this book is FOR:

Everybody!! No matter your sexuality, gender, religion, or race.

What could be more essential?

Donna Freitas is a college professor whose research has focused

on issues related to sex, romance, relationships and consent for over a
decade. She has spoken about this work at schools across the country as
well as on NPR, The Today Show, and many other radio and tv shows. She
lives in Brooklyn.

$18.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-018-3
The Big Questions Book of Sex & Consent 51899>
$18.99 U.S. • £13.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-018-3
Trim: 6 ½ x 8 ¾
320 pages • Upper Middle Grade & Up Nonfiction
Rights: World All Languages 9 781646 140183
On Sale: August

29
 LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX
by Donna Freitas

T his is the book I was always meant to write. The last fifteen years of work
and research on sex, relationships, and consent on college campuses led
to this one place—The Big Questions Book of Sex & Consent.
Throughout my career as a scholar, I’ve been talking to college students
across the country about all-things sex and consent, and so many of those
conversations have been prefaced with statements that went something like
“I wish someone had told me . . . ” and “I wish I had known back when I was
younger that . . . ” and “If I could go talk to my twelve-year-old self, knowing
what I know now, I’d tell her . . . ” These statements are often followed by
smiles and laughter, and sheepish grinning, but have always been full of
longing and so much wishing—to have had a different kind of knowledge
before college, to have had a much different kind of sex education than the
one they received (if they received any at all).
And maybe that’s the word that this book resists more than any other:
received. The idea that a sex education is something given to you, that you
take, without question.

I want kids to claim their sex and consent education, I

want them to feel invited to figure out what sex, sexuality,
gender, and consent mean to them.

My approach to everything that’s inside this book is the opposite—it aims to

put the power, the responsibility, the effort into the hands of readers. What
I want for kids who haven’t yet gotten to college (or even close!) is what I so
often see missing in the college students I speak with: empowerment. True
sexual empowerment, which is not just about following rules or conforming
to the narratives and stories people inherit about sex when growing up. I
want kids to claim their sex and consent education, I want them to feel
invited to figure out what sex, sexuality, gender, and consent mean to them.
I am interested not just in teaching kids the how of
consent (Yes means yes! No means no!) but the why of it—
why it matters, why we should care about our partners.

The whole of this book is one Big Invitation to become Questioners about
this all-important aspect of our humanity.
I think the best thing we can do for kids and young adults is offer them
the tools they need to build a framework for becoming thinkers about sex;
one that is flexible enough but also sturdy enough that it can last a lifetime,
and accommodate and include the myriad ways of being a sexual and
gendered being. I believe that if you become a thinker, a philosopher of
sorts, an ethicist even (!) around sex and relationships from a young age,
then you will automatically become a person concerned about consent and
all that goes with it. I am interested not just in teaching kids the how of
consent (Yes means yes! No means no!) but the why of it—why it matters,
why we should care about our partners. I really and truly believe that this
is how we change the world and empower our kids within it—we help them
take ownership over their education, including this one. We start them early
thinking about these Big, Important things. We give them the questions
that don’t have easy answers, and let them develop the courage to face
these ambiguities.
My greatest (and cheesiest!) hope is that, when the readers of The Big
Questions Book of Sex & Consent get to college, instead of wishing they
could go back and tell their twelve-year-old selves all the things they’d wish
they’d known before, that instead they’re able to say: “I’m so glad that back
when I was nine (or ten or eleven or twelve!) I became a thinker about sex,
gender, and consent—that has made all the difference in my decisions, my
sexual health, and my relationship to my partner(s).”
32
 The Sea-Ringed World:
Sacred Stories of the Americas
By María García Esperón
Illustrated by Amanda Mijangos
Translated by David Bowles

F ifteen thousand years before Europeans stepped foot in the Americas, people had
already spread from tip to tip and coast to coast. Like all humans, these Native Americans
sought to understand their place in the universe, the nature of their relationship with
the divine, and the origin of the world into which their ancestors had emerged. The
answers lay in their sacred stories.
Author María García Esperón, illustrator Amanda Mijangos,
and translator David Bowles have gifted us a treasure. Their talents
have woven this collection of stories from nations and cultures
across our two continents—the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs
called it—from the edge of Argentina all the way up to Alaska.

María García Esperón was born in Mexico City and has won many
awards including the Hispanic American Poetry Award for Children. Her
novel Dido for Aeneas was selected in 2016 on the IBBY Honour List.

Amanda Mijangos was born in Mexico City and is the founder of

the illustration studio Cuarto para las 3. Her work has been recognized
with awards several times and in 2017 she was the winner of the VIII
Iberoamerica Illustra Catalog.

David Bowles is a Mexican American author and translator from

South Texas. Among his multiple award-winning books are Feathered
Serpent, Dark Heart of Sky: Myths of Mexico, and They Call Me Güero. In
2017, David was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.
$21.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-015-2
The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas 52199>
$21.99 U.S. • £16.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-015-2
Simultaneous Spanish • 978-1-64614-033-6
Trim: 7.5 x 10.5
240 pages • Middle Grade Illustrated Nonfiction 9 781646 140152
Rights: World English; USC Spanish
On Sale: September

33
34
 Apple (Skin to the Core)
by Eric Gansworth

How about a book that makes you barge into your boss’s office to read a page of
poetry from? That you dream of? That every movie, song, book, moment that follows
continues to evoke in some way?
The term “Apple” is a slur in Native communities across the country. It’s for someone
supposedly “red on the outside, white on the inside.”
Eric Gansworth is telling his story in Apple (Skin to the Core). The story of his family,
of Onondaga among Tuscaroras, of Native folks everywhere. From the horrible legacy
of the government boarding schools, to a boy watching his siblings leave and return
and leave again, to a young man fighting to be an artist who balances multiple worlds.
Eric shatters that slur and reclaims it in verse and prose and imagery that truly lives up
to the word heartbreaking.

Eric Gansworth, S ha-weñ na-sae?, is an enrolled Onondaga writer

s

and visual artist, raised at the Tuscarora Nation. His award-winning books
include If I Ever Get Out of Here, Give Me Some Truth, and Extra Indians.
He is a Professor and Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College.

HHHH
A Junior Library
Guild Selection
HHHH

$18.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-013-8
Apple (Skin to the Core) 51899>
$18.99 U.S. • £13.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-013-8
Trim: 6 x 9
352 pages • Young Adult Memoir-in-Verse
Rights: World All 9 781646 140138
On Sale: October

35
36
 Elatsoe
by Darcie Little Badger
Illustrated by Rovina Cai

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and
pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped
dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those
Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability
to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But
other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.
Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead
animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her
beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is
going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect façade of Willowbee masks gruesome
secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect
her family.
Darcie Little Badger is an extraordinary debut talent in the
world of speculative fiction. We have paired her with her artistic
match, illustrator Rovina Cai. This is a book singular in feeling
and beauty.

Darcie Little Badger is an Earth scientist, writer, and fan of the weird,
beautiful, and haunting. She is an enrolled member of the Lipan Apache
Tribe of Texas. Elatsoe is her debut.

Rovina Cai is a freelance illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia. She

works out of an old convent building that is possibly haunted. Her work
has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators and the Children’s
Book Council of Australia. Recently she has illustrated books by Patrick
Ness and Margo Lanagan.

$18.99
ISBN 978-1-64614-005-3
Elatsoe 51899>
$18.99 U.S. • £13.99 U.K.
HC • 978-1-64614-005-3
Trim: 5 ½ x 8 ¼
368 pages • Young Adult Novel • Illustrated
Rights: World All Languages 9 781646 140053
On Sale: August

37
 LITERATURE IS LIFE
American Indian Youth Literature Shines in 2020
By Naomi Bishop

I n my 10-year career as a librarian, I have seen children’s and youth books by

Native American authors and illustrators become more visible, yet, the statistics
show that only 1% of books published for kids in the U.S. are by Indigenous
writers. In 2017, 1.6 million American Indian and Alaska Natives were under the
age of 18. Indigenous stories are all around us and the art and culture lives
in cities and towns across America, but U.S. publishers are overwhelmingly
ignoring the contributions of 574 Tribal Nations. As a young Native librarian, I
am often asked about my tribe and if there are kid’s books about my tribe, the
Akimel O’odham people. I tell people that ask me this question that while there
are a few kids’ books about Pimas, they are often not written by us and often
contain outdated information. I tell people that the real stories of the Pimas
are told by elders, aunts, uncles, cousins, great grandparents, grandparents,
mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters.
Two books that I love dearly and read as a young adult were Pima Legends
and A Pima Past. My grandpa told me to read these two books when I was
a teenager. In Pima culture, stories are shared every time we meet, gather,
celebrate, pray, travel and experience life together. The stories we share are
from our family and the art and nature all around us are our living books.
My grandpa could not read or write the Pima language, because it was not a
written language until a linguist created a system in the 1960s and 70s. He
told me the stories of helping linguists with pronunciation. He told me stories
of his childhood and taught me words in O’odham. The language he spoke
was not passed down to his children because he was punished for speaking
it and he struggled to learn English. The O’odham language continues today
and there is now a writing system and early childhood education with language
learning.
It is not easy to understand literature unless you know and learn the
language and culture. This is why youth literature is so important. As language
revitalization efforts for tribes expand in communities and schools, we have
the opportunity to learn and share our stories through pictures and words
published on paper with future generations. There have been many amazing
American Indian Youth Literature Award winners and Honor books that
share tribally specific literature by Native authors and illustrators with the
world. Publishers that publish these works are doing the important work of
sharing these voices and stories with the world. Each year, the AILA Awards
honor books by authors from different tribes and celebrate our thriving
cultures, languages and arts. When tribal communities share language

When a book is published the author’s voice, art, style,

language, and humanity is recognized and honored.

and literature with the world, it provides people from all over the globe the
opportunity to read and enjoy these books together. Reading a book out
loud to a child or reading a book as a teenager helps us connect with one
another and helps us in life. When a book is published the author’s voice,
art, style, language, and humanity is recognized and honored. I expect to
see the future of AINA literature change the curriculum of kids across the
US and the world. I yearn for the time when tribal communities publish
their own works and when these works are supported by and recognized
by all libraries and bookstores. I dream of the day when a Native author
and illustrator wins the Newbery or Caldecott. I know the publishing world
is starting to see that what people want and need to read are books from
Native writers and artists such as Darcie Little Badger and Eric Gansworth.
There is so much richness in art and storytelling and the time is now for
American Indian Youth Literature to shine.

Naomi Bishop, MLIS, is Akimel O’otham/Pima and a member of the Gila River Indian Community.
She served as President of the American Indian Library Association (AILA) from 2017-2018. Naomi
chaired the American Indian Youth Literature Awards Committee from 2014-2018. She created
an online module for librarians and educators on Indigeneity and Colonialism for Project Ready:
Reimagining Equity & Access for Diverse Youth from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
She received the AILA Rising Leader Award in September of 2018.
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