The Pledge by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

Lawyer Thea has just won the biggest case of her professional life when she receives a mysterious invitation, and finds herself on a jet, being whisked off to a private Caribbean island.

Except this is no holiday.

Thea's fellow guests represent the world's richest individuals and, on arrival, each is challenged to make The Pledge - to give half their fortunes to fight climate change.

But underneath the billionaire lifestyle is a game of survival of the fittest. And, by the morning, their manipulative and misguided host is dead.

Thea must navigate secrets, lies and scandals as the group's suspicions turn on her. Now, she's not just relying on her courtroom wiles to win a case; she's fighting for her life.

Because, when another guest dies, it's clear she's not just stranded on the island - she's trapped with a killer . . .

A Friend for Tiny Ghost By Tatyana Feeney

Tiny Ghost is all alone. He’d love someone to play with, but no one can see him.

Until one day Sam visits a big, old house. And he can see Tiny Ghost! Can a small boy and a tiny ghost be friends?

Well, maybe …

The Drop by S R Masters

Seven hundred feet in the air, no one can hear you scream.

Some might say that thirtysomething Cady Ellison landed herself a strange creative career, but Cady finally feels like she's found her footing. Now an online theme park influencer, she is invited to the opening of a brand-new park by her old friend, Danny, who wants to use her online profile to help build buzz for its flagship ride, Hysteria, a record-breaking 650 foot-tall roller coaster.

When she arrives at the half-complete theme park site in the middle of the desert, Cady is unexpectedly met with her old college friend group: Femi, an award-winning actor, Naseem, a decorated novelist, and Winston, a member of a popular rock group. Wanting them all to sing the praises of Hysteria online, Danny has arranged an exclusive private ride for them, capped off with the stunning desert sunset. But when their coaster cars get to the top of the first hill, the ride stalls 650 feet above ground. With no one due on site for days and over 100-degree heat awaiting them once the sun rises, the four friends soon realize that they must unravel the secrets from their complicated past if they are to find their way to safety.

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C M Waggoner

Once upon a time, a somewhat wicked witch named Gretsella lived in a cozy little cottage in the Dark Forest of Brigandale. She dispensed herbs and tinctures at reasonable prices, met with her slightly oddball coven on a regular basis, and had absolutely no need of any further company whatsoever, thank you very much. But then one afternoon, Gretsella came home to find a screaming infant on her doorstep.

Against all her better judgement, she took the baby in. She named him Bradley.

Eighteen years later, Bradley has grown into a bafflingly likable young man under Gretsella’s extremely tolerant—one might even say doting—eye. But the witch’s hopes for an unremarkable yet fulfilling life for her son are shattered when small woodland animals start prophesying that he is the lost prince and should ascend to the throne. Bradley ignores Gretsella’s advice that prophecies and talking chipmunks are to be avoided at all costs, and sets off for the capital. But soon confusion and chaos are reigning, and scheming courtiers are using Bradley for their own ends. Sometimes a witch has to roll up her sleeves and take matters into her own cauldron. So Gretsella sets off to bring about the downfall of her darling son…

Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride

Yearbook superlatives turn deadly in this darkly funny young adult thriller.

The rumor mill has never been kind to Meadowvale High seniors and best friends Rick and Martina, labeling them outcasts (sure), stoners (no comment), and pranksters (okay, this one’s fair). But for the most part, they have successfully flown under the radar.

That is, until they’re targeted in a prank that replaces yearbook superlatives with grisly forecasts of student and faculty deaths. Sure, Rick and Martina were never going to be voted Most Likely to Succeed . . . but Homecoming’s Cutest Corpses? Thanks for the cute, no thanks on the corpse.

At first, the senior class is annoyed by the prank. But when the body of Mr. Stephens, Most Likely to Sleep with the Fishes, is dredged from the bottom of a lake, suspicions arise that something truly sinister is going on. And as more people turn up dead in the exact ways the yearbook promised, it becomes clear someone’s killing off the student body one page at a time.

Now Rick and Martina must find the yearbook killer before their vicious superlative comes true. So much for surviving high school without drawing attention. Now Rick and Martina just want to survive.

How I Would Change: To the Death by Melissa Welliver

Welcome to Blood Island, where the struggle for survival against the bloodthirsty undead is captured on camera for entertainment.

When Bloodwatch, the shadowy organisation behind the ever-watchful cameras, descends upon the island to shoot a new high-stakes reality show, Astrid finds herself thrust into the spotlight. The prize at stake? A coveted ticket off the island. Paired with Luke, a risk-taking outsider harbouring secrets of his own, Astrid discovers the perilous costs of winning the adoration of a legion of fans.

Caught in a deadly game where the undead and other contestants close in, Astrid must navigate her developing feelings for Luke and the treacherous terrain of reality TV, where there can be only one winner.

Escaping the past is impossible when the present threatens to devour you.

Monsters by Stéphane Servant Translated by Sarah Ardizzone Illustrated by Nicolas Zouliamis

Roll up, roll up to discover the Circus of Dreams!

The circus is coming to the village at the end of the world. There will be knife-jugglers and fire eaters, death-defying acrobats and wonders too strange to name!

Of all our fantastical acts, the most shocking and terrifying of all is the Monster of Dreams.

At the mid-of-night this fearsome creature will be revealed. Come and take a look - if you dare...

But what is a monster, really?

When the Rain Came by Matt Eicheldinger

“If we stay here, if we keep wandering without a real plan, we won’t last. Maybe The Hill is dangerous. But maybe it’s not. It’s the only plan we have.”

Seventeen-year-old Aurora knows how to survive. Life in the foster system has taught her how to stay quiet, stay smart, and stay ready. But nothing could prepare her for this: a never-ending storm that swallows cities, drowns forests, and turns the world into a flooded wasteland.

Trapped in a collapsing house with her strict prepper foster parents, Aurora is forced to live by their rules just to stay alive. Until the day they disappear without a trace.

Alone. Abandoned. And running out of time.

All Aurora has is a waterlogged scrap of paper and a name: “The Hill.”

With looters closing in and the floodwaters rising higher each day, she’s left with one impossible choice—stay and wait for the storm to take her, or risk everything on a journey through the drowned remains of the world, to a find a place that may or not exist.

It’s forward or nothing.

Olivia Gray will not Fade Away by Ciera Burch

Seventh grade has just started, but Olivia Gray already knows this year is different. Her brother ignores her for his crush, and all her friends talk about is who likes who, something Olivia has never cared about—even when Robbie, the most popular boy in school, asks her to the fall formal. After unknowingly rejecting him, Olivia goes viral on the social app KruShh. As the chatter about Robbie and dating grows, Olivia starts to feel left out to the point of feeling invisible—literally.

Seen only by her new librarian and a friendly kid named Jules, Olivia flickers in and out of sight whenever the topic of romance comes up. As she begins to realize she might be asexual, Olivia struggles to actually use the label because of the negative perception behind it. All she wants is to be normal, but can she really fit in without disappearing completely?

A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong

In the wake of her mother's death, Liliana Chamberlain's estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren't ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn't have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there's more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox's own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

Happy #BookBirthday! 5 Mar 26

 

Happy Thursday! This week there are ELEVEN books on our lists publishing!

Post Wave roundup

Post Wave Children's Books came onto the scene last year and have already made a splash in the publishing world. Here's a few of their upcoming picture and toddler books.

Netta Becker and the Missing Memory Maze by Jennifer Claessen

Legend and edge-of-your-seat action fuse together in this exciting second instalment of the Netta Becker trilogy, underpinned with a feminist retelling of Ancient Greek myth.

A hall full of statues. A pair of lost siblings. Monsters at every turn.

Under orders from the Titan called the Crone, Netta steps out of time itself. And, panicking just a little, her little brother Remy follows. Lost and alone, they each wake in a strange maze-like world as statues. Netta breaks free and begins her double quest: to find her brother and the second sister Titan.

But Remy can't remember who he has lost - and when he is rescued by young Tig, he leaves his memories of Netta behind. By breaking sphinx riddles and with mythical beasts as new allies, Netta and Remy must find out who they are - and who the League of Archon is - in the Realm of Memory itself.