New Release Books by Linda Sue Park

Julia Song and her friend Patrick would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair. This time, though, they re having trouble coming up with just the right plan. Then Julia s mother offers a suggestion: They can raise silkworms, as she did when she was a girl in Korea. Patrick thinks it s a great idea. But for Julia, a simple summer project turns out to be much more complicated than she thought. "

If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class. Illustrated with black-and-white art. When a teacher asks her class what one thing they would save in an emergency, some students know the answer right away. Others come to their decisions more slowly. And some change their minds when they hear their classmates'' responses. A lively dialog ignites as the students discover unexpected facets of one another--and themselves. With her ear for authentic dialog and knowledge of tweens'' priorities and emotions, Linda Sue Park brings the varied voices of an inclusive classroom to life through carefully honed, engaging, and instantly accessible verse.

At a busy street market, kids eating ice cream exclaim, "Yum!" in English, "Geshmak!" in Yiddish, and "Nam-nam!" in Danish. But disaster strikes when a little dog overturns a spice cart, showering pepper on everyone''s ice cream. Will the kids end up crying, "Hai hai," or cheering, "¡Yupi!"? Energetic art and a lift-the-flap feature make exploring languages fun.

This wildly imaginative, crayon-inspired picture book shows that with a bit of teamwork and a universe of creativity, anything is possible! Buzz! Zap! CRASH! Gurple and Preen are in a big mess! When they crash-land onto an unfamiliar planet with nothing but boxes of crayons, they must work together to get the mission back on course. From Newbery Award–winning author Linda Sue Park and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi comes a story about all the best things that can come out of a box of crayons.

A Korean American girl celebrates food and family in this cheerful board book about cooking a special meal by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park. In bouncy rhyming text, an excited and hungry child tells about helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and finally sitting down with her family to enjoy a favorite meal. The energy and enthusiasm of the young narrator are conveyed in the whimsical illustrations, which bring details from the artist’s childhood in Korea to his depiction of a modern Korean American family.

Prairie Lotus is a powerful, touching, multilayered book about a girl determined to fit in and realize her dreams: getting an education, becoming a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and making at least one friend. Acclaimed, award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian girl, Hanna, in a small town in America’s heartland, in 1880. Hanna’s adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the townspeople’s almost unanimous prejudice against Asians, is at the heart of the story. Narrated by Hanna, the novel has poignant moments yet sparkles with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with readers. Afterword.

‘Delightful... I read the novel with enormous pleasure and admiration.’ PHILIP PULLMAN A SPECIAL 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THIS AWARD-WINNING TALE ABOUT THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF A LONG WALK TO WATER 13-year-old Tree-ear lives in a Korean village famous for its ceramics. He doesn’t have much but he loves to watch master potter Min at work and dreams of learning the craft one day. Reluctantly Min agrees to let Tree-ear help him. Determined to do whatever it takes to prove himself, Tree-ear embarks on a dangerous journey to present his master’s work to the king, unaware it will change his life forever.

If you were one of King Henry VIII''s six wives, who would you be? Would you be Anne Boleyn, who literally lost her head? Would you be the subject of rumor and scandal like Catherine Howard? Or would you get away and survive like Anna of Cleves? Meet them and Henry''s other queens--each bound for divorce or death--in this epic and thrilling novel that reads like fantasy but really happened. Watch spellbound as each of these women attempts to survive their unpredictable king as he grows more and more obsessed with producing a male heir. And discover how the power-hungry court fanned the flames of Henry''s passions . . . and his most horrible impulses. Whether you''re a huge fan of all things Tudor or new to this jaw-dropping saga, you won''t be able to get the unique voices of Henry and his wives--all brought to life by seven award-winning and bestselling authors--out of your head. This is an intimate look at the royals during one of the most treacherous times in history. Who will you root for and who will you love to hate? ONE OF THE NYPL TOP TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR "Ambitious and exciting." --Bustle "A clever, feminist reimagining of one of English history''s most fascinating moments." --Refinery29 "These stories of love, lust, power and intrigue never fail to fascinate." --Shelf Awareness, Starred Review Who''s Who- M. T. Anderson - Henry VIII Candace Fleming - Katharine of Aragon, wife #1 Stephanie Hemphill - Anne Boleyn, wife #2 Lisa Ann Sandell - Jane Seymour, wife #3 Jennifer Donnelly - Anna of Cleves, wife #4 Linda Sue Park - Catherine Howard, wife #5 Deborah Hopkinson - Kateryn Parr, wife #6

In this picture book companion to the bestseller A Long Walk to Water, a young South Sudanese girl goes on a journey that requires determination, persistence, and compassion. Young Nya takes little sister Akeer along on the two-hour walk to fetch water for the family. But Akeer becomes too ill to walk, and Nya faces the impossible: her sister and the full water vessel together are too heavy to carry. As she struggles, she discovers that if she manages to take one step, then another, she can reach home and Mama’s care. Bold, impressionistic paintings by Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brian Pinkney evoke the dry, barren landscape and the tenderness between the two sisters. An afterword discusses the process of providing clean water in South Sudan to reduce waterborne illness.

Gondra, a little dragon, celebrates her uniqueness while talking with her parents about differences between her father''s homeland in the East, and her mother''s in the West.

In this third and final installment in the enchanting Wing & Claw trilogy, Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park sends her young apothecary to the front lines of a fearsome battle, where he must rely on his talents and his friends to defend what he knows is right. Raffa Santana is a healer, not a fighter. As a gifted apothecary, he has amazing instincts for unleashing the potential of magical-seeming plants. But his skills have failed to free the animals that the heartless Chancellor captured and turned against the people of Obsidia—directly threatening Raffa’s friends and family. Now Raffa and his ragtag group of allies are preparing to confront the Chancellor’s armies in battle. Great beasts, small animals, and humans alike will be joining the fight, and Raffa’s heart yearns to prevent injuries—and worse—on both sides of the battle. After all, the Chancellor’s creatures will be fighting against their will. Can Raffa’s instincts for apothecary arts bring a tolerable resolution to an impossibly unfair fight?

Raffa Santana has spent all winter hiding in the harsh wilderness of the Sudden Mountains, and now it''s time to return home. Home, where his parents will help him fight back against the vile Chancellor who has captured and altered the wild creatures

From award-winning author Elissa Brent Weissman comes a collection of quirky, smart, and vulnerable childhood works by some of today’s foremost children’s authors and illustrators—revealing young talent, the storytellers they would one day become, and the creativity they inspire today. Everyone’s story begins somewhere… For Linda Sue Park, it was a trip to the ocean, a brand-new typewriter, and a little creative license. For Jarrett J. Krosoczka, it was a third grade writing assignment that ignited a creative fire in a kid who liked to draw. For Kwame Alexander, it was a loving poem composed for Mother’s Day—and perfected through draft after discarded draft. For others, it was a teacher, a parent, a beloved book, a word of encouragement. It was trying, and failing, and trying again. It was a love of words, and pictures, and stories. Your story is beginning, too. Where will it go?

In the second installment of the spellbinding Wing & Claw series, Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park takes a young apothecary hero to new heights of danger, exciting adventure, and intriguing botanical magic. Raffa Santana has spent all winter hiding in the harsh wilderness of the Sudden Mountains, and now it’s time to return home. Home, where his parents will help him fight back against the vile Chancellor who has captured and altered the wild creatures of the Forest of Wonders. Home, where Raffa’s beloved companion, Echo the bat, will recover from his mysterious sickness. To get there, Raffa must make a treacherous journey across Obsidia. Along the way, he will discover a luminous plant that might be the key to saving the creatures stuck in the Chancellor’s grasp… if only Raffa can unlock the plant’s secrets and deliver the cure to the captive animals. Cavern of Secrets masterfully explores one boy’s responsibility to his friends, family, and the wider world.

At once funny and informative, Yaks Yak presents animals acting out the verbs made from their names. Illustrations rich in comic details show hogs hogging, slugs slugging, and other spirited creatures demonstrating homographs, words with different meanings that are spelled and pronounced the same. A chart listing the words, their meanings, and their history is included. Ideal for sharing, this book offers a sprightly and fanciful introduction to a fun form of wordplay.

From Newbery Medal-winning author Linda Sue Park, this is a captivating fantasy-adventure about a boy, a bat, and an amazing transformation. The first book in an enchanting trilogy, Forest of Wonders richly explores the links between magic and botany, family and duty, environment and home. Raffa Santana has always loved the mysterious Forest of Wonders. For a gifted young apothecary like him, every leaf could unleash a kind of magic. When an injured bat crashes into his life, Raffa invents a cure from a rare crimson vine that he finds deep in the Forest. His remedy saves the animal but also transforms it into something much more than an ordinary bat, with far-reaching consequences. Raffa’s experiments lead him away from home to the forbidding city of Gilden, where troubling discoveries make him question whether exciting botanical inventions—including his own—might actually threaten the very creatures of the Forest he wants to protect.

A gripping tale of conflict and survival that has inspired millions of young readers and adults alike, with three million copies sold worldwide Eleven-year-old Salva is forced to flee on foot when his village comes under attack. Braving every imaginable hardship – including killer lions and hungry crocodiles – he is one of the ''lost boys'' travelling the African continent on foot in search of his family and a safe place to stay. Nya goes to the pond two times a day to fetch water. It takes her eight hours. But there is unexpected hope, as these two stories set in Sudan – one unfolding in 2008 and one in 1985 – go on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

A beautiful and inspiring tale of conflict and survival that will inspire young readers and adults alike. In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. Rebels and government forces battle for control, with ordinary people, like eleven-year-old Salva, caught in the middle. When Salva''s village is attacked, he becomes one of the ''lost boys'' of Sudan, traveling the African continent on foot in search of his family and a new life. Years later, a girl named Nya walks eight hours a day to fetch water for her family. The walk is gruelling, but there is unexpected hope, as Salva’s story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Xander planned a panda party. Yes, a dandy whoop-de-do! But Xander was the only panda. Just one panda at the zoo. The zoo’s paucity of pandas doesn’t impede Xander’s party planning for long. He decides to invite all the bears. But Koala protests. She’s not a bear—she''s a marsupial! Does that mean she can’t come? Xander rethinks his decision to invite only bears, and “Calling all bears” evolves into “Calling all creatures.” The Newbery Medal author Linda Sue Park introduces animal taxonomy in a wonderfully engaging way, and the celebrated artist Matt Phelan’s charming ink and watercolor paintings are the icing on the cake. A read-aloud whoop-de-do!

A heartwarming tale of courage, resilience and hope from master storyteller and winner of the prestigious Newbery Medal, Linda Sue Park. When her name was Keoko, Japan owned Korea, and Japanese soldiers ordered people around, telling them what they could do or say, even what sort of flowers they could grow. When her name was Keoko, World War II came to Korea, and her friends and relatives had to work and fight for Japan. When her name was Keoko, she never forgot her name was actually Kim Sun-hee. And no matter what she was called, she was Korean. Not Japanese. Inspired by true-life events, this amazing story reveals what happens when your culture, country and identity are threatened.

From two extraordinary talents, a beautifully crafted picture book for the Christmas season. The three wise men, or the three kings, are familiar figures in the Christmas tradition. Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park has taken the brief biblical references to the three as the starting point for a new story. In it we meet a boy who is learning his father’s trade; a man who gathers resin from certain trees; a merchant in the marketplace; and three strangers in brightly colored robes who are shopping for a gift for a baby. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline with exquisite paintings, this simple, moving tale of ordinary people involved in an extraordinary event brings new resonance to the well-known gift list of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Includes an author’s note.