Best New Books in August 2025 for Kids and Teens

CeeCee: Underground Railroad Cinderella by Shana Keller, ill. by Laura Freeman

In this completely unique reimagining of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella is CeeCee, a young enslaved girl living on a Maryland plantation looking after the two rich white daughters of the house. Instead of a fairy godmother, CeeCee’s rescue comes from Binty, the cook, who sets her courageous escape in motion.

Buy it: CeeCee: Underground Railroad Cinderella

A Place for Us by James E. Ransome

Kids will see themselves in the story of a little boy whose mom picks him up from school and takes him for some dinner and a trip to the library. But instead of heading home after playing in the park, the two settle down on a bench to spend the night, and readers realize this family doesn’t have a home to go to.

Buy it: A Place for Us

Fall Is for Beginnings by Rajani LaRocca, ill. by Abhi Alwar

Ravi’s excited about the new school year but a little alarmed when the duo he and his best friend have always been becomes a trio with new girl Ellie. It will take time and advice from an older sister to turn his thinking around. This charming new read is perfect for back-to-school season!

Buy it: Fall Is for Beginnings

Before I Lived Here by Stacy S. Jensen, ill. by Victo Ngai

Have you ever considered what happened on the ground where you live before you lived there? This book traces a plot of land’s story back through time, from the planning stages to log cabins to indigenous people and so on … all the way back to the dinosaurs!

Buy it: Before I Lived Here

Five Little Friends by Sean Taylor, ill. by Fiona Woodcock

Pre-K and kindergarten classrooms will especially love this new collection of read-aloud rhymes, all with coordinating finger movements. Little ones will love getting in on the action!

Buy it: Five Little Friends

Witchycakes: Sweet Magic by Kara LaReau, ill. by Ariane Moreira

This series opener about a young witch-to-be named Blue who works at a magical bakery is a sweet read for any emergent reader. (The second book about Blue releases this month too.)

Buy it: Witchycakes: Sweet Magic

The Only Ghost in School by Tara J. Hannon

Here’s another new series kicking off this month with a pair of chapter books. In this one, a young ghost’s life changes when their family moves from Scareville to Smithville, and they’re suddenly the only ghost at school!

Buy it: The Only Ghost in School

The Freedom Seeker by Ruchira Gupta

Twelve-year-old Simi Singh’s family is forced to flee India after violent attacks due to her parents’ interfaith marriage. Her father is granted asylum in the United States, but Simi and her mother must take a dangerous secret journey across the border to be reunited with him. This is a timely tale of desperation and love.

Buy it: The Freedom Seeker

Displaced by Patrick Ochieng

When violence following an election upends their lives in suburban Kenya, 14-year-old Kimithi and his family find themselves in a camp for displaced persons. It’s a rough environment, nothing like Kimithi has ever known, but he finds ways to adapt and make life better for both his family and others.

Buy it: Displaced

The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

In 1941 Iran, Babak and his sister face separation after their father’s death. To stay together, Babak decides to take up his father’s job teaching nomad tribes in the mountains. On their journey, they befriend a Jewish boy fleeing a Nazi spy—and together, the children must rely on one another to survive.

Buy it: The Teacher of Nomad Land

The Island of Forgotten Gods by Victor Piñeiro

Aspiring teen filmmaker Nico is sent to Puerto Rico for the summer, where he hopes to make a life-changing movie. When he and his cousins accidentally awaken a creature that looks like the chupacabra, they’re swept into an epic adventure involving ancient Taino gods, hidden secrets, and the fate of the island itself.

Buy it: The Island of Forgotten Gods

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes by Frances Hardinge, ill. by Emily Gravett

Feather lives atop a crumbling Wall, surrounded by a relentless, creature-filled Forest that threatens to consume everything. After a betrayal, she sets out with her scaly ferret Sleek to recover a stolen spyglass, discovering new communities—and the power of resilience and cooperation—along the way.

Buy it: The Forest of a Thousand Eyes

All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi 

Winter Moon has spent years saving to escape a harsh life with her mother, but her plans are destroyed when her mother steals the funds and spends them all in one day. Now she has a new offer: spend time with her estranged father in exchange for the money she needs. But family secrets soon threaten to sabotage her plans once more.

Buy it: All the Tomorrows After

My Perfect Family by Khadijah VanBrakle

Leena always dreamed of having a big family, but when her prayers are unexpectedly answered one day, things don’t turn out quite as she expected. Her long-lost grandfather makes unreasonable demands, and though Leena loves him, she really wasn’t prepared for all the drama her new family brings.

Buy it: My Perfect Family

Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

This anthology of stories and poems by Indigenous authors is tied together by the common thread of Sandy June’s Legendary Frybread Drive-In. Teens of every tribal Nation come here to experience love, loss, family, grief, and more. The diverse representation in this new book for August 2025 deserves a spot on every classroom bookshelf.

Buy it: Legendary Frybread Drive-In

Songs for Ghosts by Clara Kumagai

When Adam finds a century-old diary, he’s drawn into the life of a young woman in Nagasaki—until her ghost begins haunting him. To break the curse, he travels to Japan, reconnecting with his heritage and uncovering a generational mystery with the help of a new friend.

Buy it: Songs for Ghosts

Sugar Crash by Melinda Di Lorenzo

We love a good high-low book for teens, and this one fits the bill! When diabetic Zoe finds herself stranded after a wintry car crash with her former best friend Vic, they face one catastrophe after another in this thrilling survival tale that reluctant readers will love.

Buy it: Sugar Crash

The Fire-Breathing Duckling by Frank Cammuso

You’ve heard of the duckling that turned out to be a swan, but what about one who’s actually a dragon? Early readers will love this brief but fun introduction to the graphic fiction genre. (Grades K–2)

Buy it: The Fire-Breathing Duckling

Diary of a Nature Nerd by Tiffany Everett

Brooke lives her life on the road with her field biologist mom and has always dreamed of seeing a moose. But when her BFF-turned-stepsister spots one first, things get a bit rocky. The story is brought to life through pages from Brooke’s nature journal, which just may inspire kids to start their own. (Grades 2–5)

Buy it: Diary of a Nature Nerd

Monkey King and the World of Myths: The Battle of the Beasts by Maple Lam

Sun Wukong and his three-headed sidekick Cerberus land in ancient Japan, where tensions between humans and beasts are about to explode. With new friends and foes from folklore, they must uncover a hidden villain’s plot before a magical war destroys the city. (Grades 4–8)

Buy it: Monkey King and the World of Myths, Vol. 2

School Dance by Sarah Sax

There’s a school dance coming, and Milo would be excited—except he believes he can’t dance because he’s cursed! With the help of friends and his talented abuela (grandmother), Milo does his best to break the curse so he can wear his dancing shoes with confidence in the latest entry in the Brinkley Yearbooks series. (Grades 4–8)

Buy it: School Dance

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, ill. by Nicole Goux

At Wilberton Academy, star student Elizabeth Woodward is found dead after opening night, shaking the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society. Transfer student Abby, skeptical of the suicide ruling, uncovers dark secrets and hidden rivalries, suspecting Elizabeth’s death was no accident but tied to deadly mysteries within the school. (Grades 8–12)

Buy it: This Place Kills Me

Over and Under the Coral Reef by Kate Messner, ill. by Christopher Silas Neal

The latest entry in the Over and Under series takes readers to a magical place under (and over) the sea! With birds and sea turtles above and colorful fish and sharks below, the reef comes alive in this new nonfiction book. (Grades K–3)

Buy it: Over and Under the Coral Reef

Sound by Olga Fadeeva

What exactly is sound? That’s the central question this book explores, covering topics like how sound is produced and how it travels, how humans live with (and without) it, and even how sound can affect our health. (Grades 4–9)

Buy it: Sound

The Sky Was My Blanket by Uri Shulevitz

Born during World War I, Yehiel Szulewicz leaves his restrictive home in Poland at 15, embarking on a perilous journey across Europe. As fascism rises, he joins the Spanish Republican Army and Jewish Resistance, fighting for survival and freedom amid the darkest days before World War II. (Grades 5–9)

Buy it: The Sky Was My Blanket

Never Silent by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger, ill. by Michelle Theodore

Setsuko Thurlow’s happy life in Hiroshima changed when she was 13 with the dropping of the atomic bomb. Though she survived, she’s spent her life educating the world about its horrors, in an effort to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. (Grades 6–8)

Buy it: Never Silent

White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History by Ann Bausum

At a time when overt, widespread racism has reared its hideous head once again, this new book feels like necessary reading for every teen looking to understand why history can be such a contentious subject. This is the kind of book some will seek to keep off library shelves, but the hard truths within beg to be exposed. (Grades 7–12)
Buy it: White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History