For many, May means the last month of school and the beginning of summer vacation. This is the perfect time to pick up some new reads to fill up the lazy days ahead! These are the new May 2025 books that we most look forward to adding to our shelves based on promising advance reviews.
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New fiction picture book in May 2025
Amazon
Antoine Eady gathering table, ill. London Rudd
Gather around a special table under the tree and join a diverse family. It is a fun celebration of moments big and small that make life worthwhile at any age.
Buy it: A gathering table
Amazon
Frank’s red hat by Sean E. Avery
In the black and white Antarctic world, Frank the Penguin and his red hat really stand out. Unfortunately, it’s not that big if there are predators in the loose ones. Can Frank find a safe way to pursue his passion for eccentric hats?
Purchased: Frank’s red hat
Amazon
Solitary bee and illness by Colette and Jean François Senecal. By Pascale Bonenfant
Your friends and family are great, but you can enjoy being yourself. It is the moral of this story about sweet bees glorified with the joy of being alone, and it is a message that is important for all children to hear.
Purchased: Colette, the lonely bee
Amazon
Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, Illinois. By Katia Chien
Get excited about the biggest holiday of summer with this beautiful new book about urban joys on July 4th.
Purchase: Fireworks
Amazon
Big Family Beach Day by Nina Crew
Speaking of summer joys, this new book invites readers to their favorite family traditions, a big family day on the beach. The illustrations steal the show here and are filled with details and excitement in a gorgeous double-page spread.
Purchase: Big Family Beach Day
New Easy Reader/Chapter Book for May 2025
Amazon
Form for friendship by Amina Banana and Shifa Sartagi Safadi. By Aaliya Jaleel
The new chapter book series is always exciting for younger readers, especially when it features a diverse range of characters. Syrian refugee Amina is determined to fit into third grade, but things don’t plan accurately. Any child who feels a little outside will recognize himself with this new hero.
Purchase: Official for Friendship with Amina Banana
Amazon
The lonely wolf goes to the library in Kia Thomas, Illinois. By K-Fai Steele
In this third entry in this chapter book series, Wolf has to face the fear of meeting others and returning the library’s books on time. As the wolf’s escape escalates, the children laugh and sympathize. And when he finally achieves his goal, they cheer.
Buy it: Lonely wolves go to the library
Amazon
Squid in pants by Kaz Windness
Squid and his companions have only one hope of clothes! When they see some clothes hanging beside the boat, they take their chances and get some fashionable new threads. But what happens when the clothes owner shows up to get his stuff back?
Purchase: Squid in trousers
New books for May 2025
Amazon
Burning season with Caroline Star Rose
Opal lives with his mother and grandmother on the Fire Observatory. She lost her father to a wildfire and now has a secret fear of a deadly flame. The novel tells her fascinating story. This is very different from most seventh grade lives that will captivate readers.
Purchase: Burning Season
Amazon
Gas and Glory by Sarah Guilloly
The glory of a 12-year-old mystery lover spends summers with his grandparents trying to solve all the greatest mysteries. What happened to her mother in her absence? When she works with the adorable Bloodhound Gas, the young detective and her dog really begin to make progress!
Purchase: Gas and Glory
Amazon
The garden beyond Lindsay Levitt
Maggie’s family’s magical garden dates back to 1776 and back to 1776. In it, the family has always found incredible ingredients. But now it’s Maggie’s turn to cook, and the garden is rotten. What does that mean, and can she find a way to bring it back to life?
Purchase: Beyond the Garden
Amazon
Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell
Magdalena Fishbone is sent to an orphanage as punishment for crime, but she quickly discovers that it is in fact a secret spy training school for young girls! Set in the early 20th century, this clever book is the perfect fun adventure for your summer reading list.
Buy it: Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls
Amazon
The Mystery of the Ghost Dance Hall by Chaliscotter
Birdwatching Summer Camp in the 1960s may seem like an unlikely environment of creepy mystery, but that’s the joy of this ghostly new story. The flashlight batteries were drained overnight to find the cause by searching for fellow zippies and honeybees on the set. But are they ready for what’s waiting for them?
Purchase: The Mystery of the Ghost Dance Hall
Young Adult Fiction May 2025 New Book
Amazon
With smoke from Nick Brooks
This new teen mystery gives the feeling of urgent defiance against the background of violence during protests over black life issues. Cooper and his crash monique must work together to prove that her brother Jason is innocent of the murders he was accused of. They are soon caught up in the web of corruption and racial prejudice that plagues their cities.
Purchase: With smoke
Amazon
This is what we are by Frederick Joseph
As a basketball star, scholarship student Ossie Brown felt home at the almost white Braxton Academy. However, the torn ACL drives his dreams and leads him to a new interest (and new friends) in creative writing. When his favourite teacher becomes the target of conservative protests against the “wake agenda,” Ossie’s online protests target him and change his life forever.
Purchase: This thing about us
Amazon
From Zero by Eliza and Sophia Lee
Sweet teen romance with a little extra kick, this new read is another sure hit for summer reading list. When Korean American Eliza is highly regarded, she dresses up in culinary arts instead of AP physics, which would mean the end of her dreams. Instead, the class leads to a deeper connection between her legacy and her hostile culinary partner Wesley.
Purchased: Eliza, from Zero
Amazon
Run like a girl from Amaka Egbe
A competitive runner, Della’s life goes upside down when sent to a new school that doesn’t have a girl’s track team. At school, she can join a boys’ team, but not all her new teammates are welcome. Still, things look up until some publicity attracts more attention than expected, throwing everything into chaos once again. Dera tries to learn that sometimes things can’t be done from the problem.
Buy: Run like a girl
Amazon
Solo by Grein O’Brien
Daisy leads a lonely life centered around music and her boyfriend. When he unexpectedly abandons her, Daisy realizes that the music also appears to have abandoned her. A burgeoning friendship with fellow student Flora helps her navigate life’s challenges and returns to the music she loves in Daisy’s father’s scary medical diagnosis. This novel is especially meaningful to those who love and know classical music for themselves.
Purchase: Solo
New Graphic Novel May 2025
Amazon
Pencil and Eraser: Lost and frown! By Jenny Alvarado
The pencil and eraser pop out of the backpack as they are so excited about owner Stella’s upcoming karate class. Now the hilarious duo is lost and they have to find a way back to Stella in the way they can. (Grade K – 3)
Purchased: Pencil and Eraser: Lost and frown!
Amazon
More creature clinic than Gavin Aung
Here in the world’s only hospital for mythical creatures, all kinds of beings are welcome. Therefore, when a real living human appears in a hospital, doctors trained by Kara Oaks are in a tough position. Still, she made a vow to help all living creatures. What does the Creature Doctor do? (3rd to 6th grade)
Purchase: Creature Clinic
Amazon
One Crazy Summer (graphic novel) by Rita Williams Garcia, Illinois. By Sharee Miller
Beloved mid-grade novels get a graphic novel treatment in this new edition. Perfect for passive readers and teachers who want to put new spins on the material for their character. (3rd to 6th grade)
Purchase: One Crazy Summer (graphic novel)
Amazon
Reel Life by Kane Lynch
Gallen and his friends Kyle and Luna have always been linked to their love for film, but recently Kyle has become more difficult to hang out when dealing with his parents’ divorce. Gallen can’t understand that. His dad breaks his marriage, marries a much younger woman, and his mother takes his new boyfriend home. Luna and Gallen decide to make a film documentary that tries to understand it all, but “Reel Life” is not the same as “Real Life.” (3rd to 6th grade)
Purchase: Reel Life
Amazon
The Song of the Lioness: Alana by Tamora Pierce (graphic novel) adapted by Vita Ayala and Sam Beck
This is another beloved classic adapted to graphic novels, bringing popular fantasy stories to life for a whole new generation. The heroine, Alana, is a young nobleman who wants to become a knight despite her world expectations. Her journey began a cycle of four books that first gained popularity in the 1980s and is now reborn as a graphic novel series. (Grade 6 to 10)
Purchase: Lioness Song: Arana
New non-fiction books for all ages
Amazon
Long-standing by Anne Winter and Illinois. Jerome Pam Free
June can be a difficult holiday to explain to very young people, but this new book does an amazing job of keeping substance honest but age-appropriate. This book belongs to all shelves as a celebration of liberation that echoes from the past to the future. (Results from k to 2)
Purchase: For years
Amazon
The secret life of sea turtles by Maddalena Bearji, Illinois. By Alex Borsma
After hatching, go back to the beach where she was born and start a new generation of herself, from her first dangerous run to the sand scoppers of sand to the life she spent sailing through the sea again to search for food and avoid predators. (Results from k to 2)
Purchase: The Secret Life of Sea Turtles
Amazon
Hurricane by Jason Chin
Living in a hurricane zone is sometimes scary, but this new book does a good job of explaining all the ways people can protect themselves and each other when a big storm approaches. Understanding and processing for younger readers facilitates stressful situations. (Results from k to 2)
Purchase: Hurricane
Amazon
Some of us are Rajani Larokka, sick. By Huy Voun Lee
As the author points out, some of us were born as American citizens, but others chose to be here. The book follows the journey of immigration and naturalization taken by so many Americans, where they came from, and the people who are now made up of the places they are making their lives now. It is also inspiring, insightful and informative for children and adults. (Grade K – 4)
Purchase: Some of us
Amazon
The Giant World by Ed Yong (Young Leader Edition), Ann Marie Anderson, Illinois. Rebecca Mills
This adaptation of a popular bestseller attracts preteen crowds as animals learn to see the world all the way, and learn to communicate with each other in ways humans cannot begin to imagine. Animal and wildlife enthusiasts will devour this for months in the summer! (4th to 7th grade)
Buy it: Giant World (Young Readers Edition)
Amazon
Malcolm Live! Ibram X. Kendy
Called “the official biography of Malcolm X for young readers,” this new offering is a new offering from authors such as the Anti-Meritocrat Baby, and it closely examines civil rights leaders and American landscapes, as well as his life and the tragic assassination. (5th to 9th grade)
Purchase: Malcolm Life!
