From debut author Lio Min comes BEATING HEART BABY, a tender love letter to internet friendships, anime, and indie rock, perfect for fans of HEARTSTOPPER When Santi arrives in Los Angeles, he hopes he can move past the loss of the childhood internet friend he’d known only as Memo. And in his new high school’s marching band, Santi gets a taste of the community he’s always longed for. Even the clashes with his section leader, Suwa, lead to Suwa opening up to Santi first as a friend, then something more. But when Suwa gets a shot at the rock star life he’s always dreamed of, the very thing that drew them to each other—a shared devotion to art—tests their budding relationship. Over years, Santi and Suwa glide and soar, crash and fall, together and apart. This twinned tale about the transitions between boyhood and manhood, internet confidants and IRL friends, the face in the crowd and the star on the stage, stakes and succeeds in making the bold claim: that Santi and Suwa’s fantastic dreams are as essential as art and love and life itself.

This house is mine and I am its beating heart. She is a ghost: a figure glimpsed from the corner of your eye, a momentary chill, and a memory of secret kisses and hidden passion. He is 17 years old: Evan Calhoun, warm and alive, and ever since moving to this big abandoned house, he has dreamt of her. Ghost and boy fascinate each other–until her memories and his desire collide in a moment that changes them both. Combining verse fragments with chiseled prose, A. M. Jenkins captures the compelling voice of a long–dead ghost and the perspective of a modern teen, twining mystery and romance in this evocative, sensual, and unrelentingly engrossing novel. Ages 14+

How can someone who condemns hunting, animal farming, and animal experimentation also favor legal abortion, which is the deliberate destruction of a human fetus? The authors of Beating Hearts aim to reconcile this apparent conflict and examine the surprisingly similar strategic and tactical questions faced by activists in the pro-life and animal rights movements. Beating Hearts maintains that sentience, or the ability to have subjective experiences, grounds a being's entitlement to moral concern. The authors argue that nearly all human exploitation of animals is unjustified. Early abortions do not contradict the sentience principle because they precede fetal sentience, and Beating Hearts explains why the mere potential for sentience does not create moral entitlements. Late abortions do raise serious moral questions, but forcing a woman to carry a child to term is problematic as a form of gender-based exploitation. These ethical explorations lead to a wider discussion of the strategies deployed by the pro-life and animal rights movements. Should legal reforms precede or follow attitudinal changes? Do gory images win over or alienate supporters? Is violence ever principled? By probing the connections between debates about abortion and animal rights, Beating Hearts uses each highly contested set of questions to shed light on the other.

Through her battle against an eating disorder, a struggle with infertility, discovering and addressing her daughters disabilities, and the aching loss of a child, Brittnie Blackburn has walked the wilderness and come out the other side more certain of Gods love and provision. In this honest, hope-filled memoir, she lays out how she overcame difficulty, chose joy despite circumstances, and how you can do the same. If youre feeling lost in your wilderness and long for a better, more joy-filled way, come learn how to sing the desert song.

“A stunning accomplishment. This story pierces the heart.” —Chicago Sun-Times RUN RUN RUN. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating…thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP. It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’s shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything changes over time, just like the apple Annie’s been assigned to draw a hundred times. Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this tender and intuitive story told in free verse about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life, and how she fits within them. Named one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing “Tenderhearted. Vintage Creech. Its richness lies in its sheer simplicity.” —School Library Journal (starred review) “The story soars as Annie’s feet fly.” —Bookpage