It’s Black History Month, and we’re celebrating as we do with books by Black authors (almost entirely) starring Black characters! For even more titles, check out past years’ posts.
Picture Books
Dancing with Water by Gwendolyn Wallace and Tonya Engel
An intergenerational story about a nonbinary child who learns the tradition of well digging in this picture book about community, hope, and protecting the Earth’s water.
As soon as Kit’s old enough to ride in Grandpa’s truck, they begin joining him to dig wells for their community. Grandpa is magic. He can feel the weather in his bones, and he’s able to dance with water. With just a tree branch in his hand, Grandpa sways and spins over the land until he finds a spot to dig a hole into the waiting earth. When the water springs up, Grandpa and Kit jump for joy.
As new hotels and factories pop up across town, clean water becomes harder to find. Sometimes, no water flows at all. Kit is sad for Grandpa—and for Earth. But one day, Grandpa senses that Kit is ready to dance with water too. Grandpa reminds Kit that the energy and strength of their people flows through the water. As they wait and watch for fresh, clear water to flow up from the ground again, Kit recognizes the power shared between themself and Earth.
Author of WAKE UP, NAT & DARCY and YOURS FOR THE SEASON Kate Cochrane‘s PULLING THE GOALIE, book three in the Puck Struck series, a sapphic hockey romance in which a championship-winning goalie agrees to train a Hollywood actress for her breakout role in a sports biopic, hoping it will help her overcome a fear of returning to the ice after a nasty injury—until sparks start flying, complicating things even further, to Leyla Erkan at Harlequin, for publication in winter 2027, by Paige Terlip at Starling Literary + Media (world English).
Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Spells to Mend Broken Hearts by Marissa Macy, a contemporary MG (slash YA crossover) releasing from Scholastic on September 15, 2026! Here’s the story:
Alex is pretty sure the universe is conspiring against her. Friendless in a new town, with her parents constantly fighting, Alex spends her birthday unpacking alone when she comes across her grandmother’s book of small magic. Alex doesn’t believe in that stuff, but she has nothing to lose. So, she does the ritual from On Small Magics titled To Attract A Friend.
It’s just a coincidence that Tess happens to crash into her life the very next day…right? Their friendship forms fast and strong and the way Tess makes Alex’s heart flutter definitely feels like some kind of magic. Together, they make their way through the spell book healing Tess’s recently broken heart, trying to mend Alex’s broken family.
But soon the book starts to turn on Alex when her parents file for divorce. Then Tess decides to use On Small Magics try to win back her ex-boyfriend, and Alex is forced to face a truth she had not considered. Maybe the magic she felt with Tess was more than friendship . . .
And here’s the adorable cover, designed by Maeve Norton!
Marissa Macy is an author, filmmaker, and improviser based in Austin, TX. SPELLS TO MEND BROKEN HEARTS is her debut novel. In addition to her fiction, Marissa has been making DIY films since 2011, including the award-winning film BED EATER: THE MOVIE and the forthcoming feature EASY DIGGING. If she’s not lost in a story, Marissa can be found recommending movies to people at We Luv Video, a non-profit video rental store that she helps manage.
Today on the site, I’m delighted to welcome Victoria Koops and Cale Plett, authors of YA Romances Who We Are in Real Life and Wavelength, respectively, both with Groundwood Books/House of Anansi. Please welcome Victoria and Cale!
Cale: I think it’s important that people know that our original transcript was 12,000 words long, and that we cut it down by 80 percent. We really said “let’s fix it in post.”
Victoria: We were meant to have a podcast instead. So everyone can be subjected to our tangents.
Cale: But here, with only some tangents, is our conversation. Starting right in with our actual questions.
Today on the site, I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Mars Lauderbaugh’s Hollow Magic, a queer YA Fantasy releasing August 11, 2026 from Feiwel & Friends! Here’s the story:
Seventeen-year-old Rosefinch has been traveling along the weather-beaten coast for two years on a quest to find a witch strong enough to help her control her magic. Her magic is volatile, hard to wield, and Rosefinch is tired of the pain of magical backlash. When she’s directed to the sea-side village of Harp, she discovers the ancient castle of a long-lost Witch Queen with the inhabitants long gone; the only remaining soul is a knight encased in solid ice guarding the door.
When she attempts to lift the curse, she frees Thierry, a human with no memory of who they are, wrapped in cursed magic so strong that they cannot leave the castle. Thierry is soft spoken, strong, and in possession of a fey sword that should be impossible for them to have. But they have secrets of their own, as do other members of the Harp family still hidden within the walls.
Harp castle was left in ruins for a reason, and Rosefinch must find a way to cure the curse or lose Thierry—and the chance to learn the truth about the Witch Queen—forever.
And here’s the stunning cover, done by the incredibly talented author/artist themself!
An intergenerational story about a nonbinary child who learns the tradition of well digging in this picture book about community, hope, and protecting the Earth’s water.
