New Releases by Debbie Dadey

"Poppy the mermaid wants to meet a princess, and when she is told there is one in the park she goes searching, but she is not sure what a princess looks like"--

"Longing to ride, play and dance with her favorite underwater creatures-- dolphins-- Aqua Wave must convince her older sister Morgan she's ready to realize her deep-sea dreams"--

The first-ever picture book biography about Dr. Katalin Karikó, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Growing up in a small Hungarian town, Kati Karikó was curious about everything.That included her family’s farm animals—and the cells inside of them. As an adult, she channeled her curiosity into her work as a scientist. Kati wanted to find a way to use mRNA to help the body fight illnesses, but it wasn’t easy. An mRNA vaccine had never been made before, and she faced frequent criticism and was told by other scientists she would never succeed. But after many years of hard work and dedication, she figured out how to use mRNA to make a vaccine—and when a deadly virus called COVID-19 started infecting millions of people, Kati’s invention turned out to be exactly what the world needed. Never Give Up is the inspiring true story of a determined scientist who proved that a little bit of curiosity and a lot of hard work can save lives.

Rosie the little mermaid learns to make friends in this first book of the Mini Mermaid tales QUIX chapter book series that’s a spinoff of the popular Mermaid Tales series and is perfect for emerging readers. Rosie is a little mermaid who loves dancing with dolphins and building towering sandcastles. But she’s just moved to Trident City and doesn’t have one single friend to join her. She’s too young to go to Trident Academy with her older cousin Rocky, her parents are busy at work, and Manny Nanny, who takes care of Rosie, can be kind of boring, even though she’s super nice. Then, Rosie meets Aqua and finds that having a new friend might be more trouble than it’s worth!

Echo's third grade class visit the Titanic and figure out a way of including their new classmate, Anita, who is confined to a wheeled chair.

"Pearl Swamp is not happy when her selection as the next winter princess is overshadowed by her family's decision to adopt a baby boy."--

Kiki and her friends get caught up in a code war to try and meet a narwhal in this sparkling Mermaid Tales adventure. All the merkids are super-excited! Two famous narwhal scientists are visiting Trident City with their daughter, Nadine. Best of all, someone is going to get to show Nadine around the city while her parents are in meetings! But who? All the merkids want to be the one, so how are they going to decide who gets to do it? Mrs. Karp, their teacher, decides to organize a code-breaking contest, but with the competition getting fierce, it is more like a code war! Even Kiki, Echo, and Shelly are fighting! Is there a way that everyone can win?

Unable to comprehend a beloved librarian's imminent marriage to a cafeteria worker who seems to be perpetually grouchy, Pearl becomes jealous when Echo, Shelly, and Kiki are all asked to be flower girls.

When Kiki starts a book club at Trident Academy, Pearl becomes tail-kicking mad, claiming that Kiki is trying to steal Pearl's friends, and starts her own club with the intention of ruining Kiki's.

Wanting to help a lost baby polar bear return home, Kiki Coral and her mermaid friends worry that the cost of the bear's transportation will prevent them from seeing a concert performance of their favorite boy band.

Pearl is excited to make a splash on stage—but she’s in for some drama in this Mermaid Tales adventure. Pearl has always dreamed of being famous: the star-studded stage, the sea flowers, the applause! So when she finds out that her third grade class is performing The Little Human, she just knows she’ll get the leading role. Especially since world-renowned merstar Angelfish Molie is judging the tryouts! But in a shocking turn of events, Pearl’s best friend, Wanda, gets cast as the little human instead…and Pearl is stuck playing the stinky sea witch. Pearl can’t believe her best friend would steal her dream role from her. After Pearl tries—and fails—to get Wanda to trade parts, she decides to quit the play. Are Pearl’s dreams of being a sea star doomed? And can she and Wanda patch up their friendship before it goes up in bubbles?

Echo is thrilled to find a human object in this Mermaid Tales adventure, but will sibling rivalry keep her from appreciating her prize? Echo is dogfish tired of having to share everything with her bossy big sister, Crystal. So she’s extra excited when she stumbles upon a shiny human object near her shell. Finally, something of her very own! Echo is obsessed with people, so she’s very curious as to what her fin-tastic human find might be. Could it be something totally wavy, like a music-making machine? What if it’s something that could allow her to actually talk to humans? Before she can find out, Crystal swipes the object, claiming she found it first! Echo is steaming mad. After the mergirls duke it out in a messy tug of war, their mother takes the object away. “You’ll get this back when you can learn to get along,” she tells them. But that’s easier said than done. How far is Echo willing to go to get her precious human object back?

The merkids hunt for hidden treasure in this Mermaid Tales adventure! When Rocky finds a seaweed scroll that describes an abandoned pirate ship bursting with jewels, the students are tripping over their tails with excitement. There’s only one problem: the treasure is supposedly guarded by pirate ghosts! But a few “silly ghosts” aren’t going to keep prima donna Pearl away from fame, fortune, and “diamonds as big as a merman’s fist.” The hunt is on! Pearl recruits fellow merkids Rocky and Wanda to help her track down the treasure by swimming all the way past Whale Mountain. But when they discover the pirate ship, they hear eerie moans and groans coming from within. What’s making those sounds? Could the pirate ghosts be real? And can the merkids get the jewels before becoming someone’s—or something’s—lunch?

Experiencing occasional visions of the future, mermaid Kiki Coral receives a psychic warning that her classmate, Rocky Ridge, will have a dangerous encounter with a giant leatherback turtle, a premonition she fears nobody will believe.

When Shelly meets the Queen of the Western Oceans in this Mermaid Tales adventure, she encounters a royal dilemma! When a royal messenger announces that Queen Edwina is coming to tea, Shelly is as jittery as a jellyfish! After all, the Queen of the Western Oceans is her great aunt. And despite being a princess, Shelly has never met a queen before. How should she act? What should she wear? Then Pearl tells Shelly that the queen is going to take Shelly to live in Neptune’s Castle: “It’s where a real princess would live,” Pearl tells her. Shelly is terrified of leaving her home, friends, and beloved grandfather behind. When the royal carriage arrives, she’s trembling from the top of her head to the tip of her tail. What will Queen Edwina think of Princess Shelly? And will she really take Shelly away from the home she loves?

When sharks are spotted in Trident City, Pearl is assigned a Shark Guard for safety and begins stirring up trouble by denouncing all shark-related activities before wrongly accusing a friend of stealing.

Of all the creatures in the ocean, sea horses are Echo Reef's favorite. They're sweet and gentle and they glide through the water so gracefully. When Echo discovers that Rocky Ridge, one of her Trident Academy classmates, has his own pet sea horse, she wants one right away. Not everyone agrees sea horses should be pets, however. Perhaps they are happiest when swimming freely. But Echo thinks that if Rocky can make a sea horse happy, she can too! Can't she?

It's MerGirl Shelly Siren's first day at a new school, and she is nervous from the tip of her head to the end of her sparkling mermaid tail. How will she ever fit in at the prestigious Trident Academy? Illustrations.

A megapopular boy band is set to perform at an undersea celebration--but what if a mean girl keeps Shelly from joining in the fun?