Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024

Sometimes these prompts are a lot harder than I expect them to be! Can you believe that July is right around the corner and we’re already talking about the second half of 2024? I had a really hard time locating middle grade titles that are being released in the fall and usually there are a lot. And I looked through many of the blogs, websites, and publishers that I’m familiar with, but this was a difficult list to pull together.

I did find some favorite authors as well as some new-to-me authors I’m excited about. I’m not quite so sure about all the scary books (I’m definitely a scaredy-cat), but I know kids love the creepy stuff, so I’ll give it a go!

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Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024

The Creeping of Dogwood House by Eden Royce

Publication Date: July 30, 2024

At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother’s feet while she braids his Afro down. But that’s a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. And before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family’s home for over a hundred years. Now the house—abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair—is his home too.

Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family’s hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can’t help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. And as they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said. Like why she left home when she was seventeen, never to return. Or why she insisted Aunt Angie always wear her hair in locs. Or what she knew of the strange secrets hidden deep within Dogwood House—secrets that have awoken again, and are reaching out to Roddie…

Faker by Gordon Korman

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Trey knows the drill: His dad gets him into a school full of kids with rich parents. Trey makes friends, and his dad makes connections. Soon, there’s the con, where Trey’s dad suckers the other parents into investing in one of his schemes. Once the money’s in the bank, Trey, his sister, and their dad are on the run… until they set up somewhere else and start again.

Trey believes his father when he says no one’s getting hurt. After all, these parents have money to spare.

But Trey’s starting to get tired of running… and lying… and never having a friend for longer than a few months. But how do you get your family to stop lying when your lives depend on it?

Farah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate by Deeba Zargarpur

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Farrah sees her father just one day every year—her birthday. But this year, her wish to bring them closer goes wildly awry when Farrah discovers she is a half-jinn…and her father is one of the seven great jinn kings. Her wish traps her father inside a legendary ring, and the other six jinn kings will follow unless Farrah can rectify her mistake.

Pursued by menacing shadow jinn, Farrah’s quest takes her to a floating mountain range. Joined by Idris, the jinn boy whom she inadvertently freed from the ring, and her newly discovered half-brother, Yaseen, Farrah must find a way to navigate the mysteries and dangers of her new world in order to save her father and face the most devious jinn lord of all.

The Night Train by Lorelei Savaryn

Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Maddie Maverick likes to win. Whether it’s track team races or one-liners she delivers on her parents’ home renovation show, Maddie knows that if she puts in the work, she’ll always come out on top. But things take a turn when her ghost-hunting nana passes away, and Maddie and her twin sister, Nat, discover that Nana left them an unexpected inheritance: They can now see ghosts just like she did.

While Nat is totally on board to try to help some spirits find peace, a ghostly calling is just not Maddie’s speed. So when history comes back to haunt their town, and the story of a decades-old train crash rears its ugly head, Maddie wants nothing to do with the ghosts of days long gone. But one ghost in particular won’t go away, and Maddie might just be the only one with the power to help her—that is, if she can survive the Night Train herself.

On a Wing and a Tear by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Publication Date: September 17, 2024

Melanie “Mel” Roberts and Ray Halfmoon may be from different Indigenous Nations, but the friends have become like siblings since the Robertses moved in with the Halfmoons. And they soon welcome a distinguished guest: Great-grandfather Bat, whose wing is injured, has taken refuge in their old oak tree.

A rematch of the legendary Great Ball Game is coming up, with Bat as the star player. Grampa Charlie Halfmoon offers to drive Bat from Chicago down to the traditional playing field outside Macon, Georgia, and Mel and Ray are determined to help out.

Together, they all set off on a road trip—facing adventure, danger, and a hair-raising mystery—on the way to the historic game.

Pearl by Sherri L. Smith

Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Amy is a thirteen-year-old Japanese-American girl who lives in Hawaii. When her great-grandmother falls ill, Amy travels to visit family in Hiroshima for the first time. But this is 1941. When the Japanese navy attacks Pearl Harbor, it becomes impossible for Amy to return to Hawaii. Conscripted into translating English radio transmissions for the Japanese army, Amy struggles with questions of loyalty and fears about her family amidst rumors of internment camps in America — even as she makes a new best friend and, over the years, Japan starts to feel something like home. Torn between two countries at war, Amy must figure out where her loyalties lie and, in the face of unthinkable tragedy, find hope in the rubble of a changed world.

The Secret Dead Club by Karen Strong

Publication Date: August 20, 2024

Wednesday Thomas sees ghosts. But that doesn’t mean she has to talk to them.

After a terrifying experience in an Arizona state park with a wicked ghost, Wednesday and her mother Olivia sell their RV and move back south to the family home in Alton, Georgia. Wednesday’s determined not to use her gift anymore—until she meets a group of girls who also know about the spirit realm.

There’s free-spirited Miki Okada and Southern belle Danni-Lynn Porter who seem to know about the ghosts who roam the school’s hallways, popular girl Alexa Scott who tells Wednesday to stay away from Miki and Danni-Lynn and not draw attention to herself, and mysterious neighbor Violet Delgado who died last year but still haunts the house across the street. Wednesday feels these girls have some kind of shared history, but it isn’t until Miki gives her an official invitation to the Dead Club that she starts to understand there’s a lot more going on with the ghosts in Alton and the girls who can see them.

And when another malevolent ghost threatens to harm Wednesday, it will take the help of new friends both living and dead to save her and banish the evil being to the spirit realm where it belongs.

Team Park by Angela Ahn

Publication Date: September 10, 2024

Unlike his dad, Evan Park does not like team sports — no matter how hard he tries. And when an accident causes Evan to break his wrist, he is determined that once he heals, he’ll work on finding his thing. Alone.

Inspired by his athletic physiotherapist, Evan decides to compete in an upcoming Dominator Ninja: Junior Edition competition. It will be part rehab, part fun. If he trains hard enough, he’ll finally have something to put on his empty shelf in the family trophy cabinet. Maybe that would make his dad proud of him for once.

But klutzy Evan strikes again, reinjuring his wrist. There’s no way he can compete in Dominator Ninja now — he can’t even hold chopsticks. When his sister encourages him to look beyond a solo competition, they discover a local family race that is more about the experience than the results. Can Evan shift his perspective to rally the whole family to do this event . . . together?

Unsinkable Cayenne by Jessica Vitalis

Publication Date: October 29, 2024

Cayenne and her family drift from place to place, living in their van. It hasn’t been a bad life—Cayenne and her mother birdwatch in every new location, they have a cozy setup in their van, and they sing and dance and bond over campfires most nights. But they’ve never belonged anywhere.

As Cayenne enters seventh grade, her parents decide to settle down in a small Montana town. Cayenne hopes that this means she will finally belong somewhere and make some friends. But it turns out that staying in one place isn’t easy at all.

As her social studies class studies the Titanic tragedy (the wreckage has just been discovered and her teacher is obsessed), Cayenne sees more and more parallels between the social strata of the infamous ship and her own life. Will she ever squeeze her way into the popular girls’ clique, even though they live in fancy houses on the hill and she lives in a tiny, rundown home with chickens in the front yard? Is it possible that the boy she likes actually likes her back? Can she find a way to make room for herself in this town? Does she really want to? Maybe being “normal” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

The Witching Wind by Natalie Lloyd

Publication Date: September 3, 2024

Eleven-year-old Roxie was excited to start sixth grade… until a mortifying incident at a pool party turns her into a middle school laughingstock. Roxie can’t imagine enduring a full year of bullying and body shaming, so when her country music star Granny invites Roxie to join her on tour, she jumps at the chance to leave her troubles behind. But then Granny–who’s been struggling with memory loss–goes missing, leaving Roxie without an escape plan… and without her best friend.

Grayson doesn’t mind being sent to yet another foster home. Her older sister, Beanie, is about to turn eighteen, which means she’ll be able to become Grayson’s guardian. It won’t be long until they live in the same house again. It won’t be long until they get to be a real family. But when Beanie’s birthday finally arrives, she doesn’t show up to collect Grayson. She doesn’t respond to calls or texts. It’s almost like she’s just… vanished.

Roxie knows Granny would never leave without saying goodbye. And Grayson is certain Beanie would never abandon her. So when the new friends learn about the Witching Wind that “steals” what people love most, Roxie and Grayson are certain they’ve discovered the truth. Granny and Beanie didn’t just disappear–they were taken. And it’s up to Roxie and Grayson to outwit the Witching Wind before it’s too late.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.