This laugh-out-loud debut romance introduces perfectly imperfect Payal Mehta, whose plan to get her longtime crush to finally notice her is destined for success, but only if she ignores her budding feelings for her archnemesis... Payal Mehta has had a crush on popular, athletic, all-around perfect Jonathan Slate ever since he smiled at her in freshman–year Spanish class. At a party during spring break of her junior year, Payal finally works up the courage to ask Jon to hang out. However, her romantic plans are derailed when he vomits on her Keds. Twice. But when Jon offers to take her out to lunch as an apology, Payal is convinced this is the start of their love story. Over chalupas and burritos at Taco Bell, Payal's best jokes are landing as planned. Jon is basically choking on his Coke—and then it happens. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Payal is (finally) about to get the guy. And then he tries to set her up with his Indian friend. Payal's best friends, Neil Patel and Divya Bhatt, are just as mad about the microagression as Payal is, but they think she’s a little too hung up on him. Determined to teach Jon a lesson by making him fall for her, Payal ropes in her archnemesis, Philip Kim, to help. It’s the perfect plan. Minus Philip’s snarky, annoying quips and lack of faith in its success. But as Payal lies to the people she loves, hides the too-Indian parts of herself in front of her crush, and learns that maybe Philip isn't the worst, she starts to wonder if what she's been looking for has been scowling at her all along...

The Spider-Man you know is one of many. Meet ten Spider-Heroes in this new short story collection from acclaimed, best-selling authors writing across the Spider-Verse. There is a Spider-Verse filled with Spider-Heroes, each on their own world: Spider-Punk, as adept at the guitar as he is at fighting crime. Spider-UK, who’s juggling Eid celebrations and a super-villain threat to her London neighborhood. And Web-Weaver, whose latest fashion event is threatened by a citywide storm of hallucinations. Some, like Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, have already crossed from one universe to the next. Others are still discovering they’re not alone. And now ten acclaimed best-selling authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Tui Sutherland, Frederick Joseph, and Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, and many more, tell the stories of these amazing Spider-Heroes—just as a mystery villain rises to threaten the entire Spider-Verse. The full list of authors: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé David Betancourt Preeti Chhibber Steve Foxe Frederick Joseph Jessica Kim Alex Segura Ronald L. Smith Tui T. Sutherland Caroline M. Yoachim

The first in a three-book middle grade novel series by Spider-Man's number one fan and hilarious fiction writer, Preeti Chhibber! Peter Parker has been swinging and thwipping his way through New York City as Spider-Man for just a few months, and balancing his double life is complicated. He goes to school and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his crush, MJ; he takes photos for the Daily Bugle and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his boss, J. Jonah Jameson; and he fights crime in the evenings and . . . well, he's kind of always trying to not embarrass himself. Easier said than done when you're a teen with spider powers you're still getting used to. On top of all that, the notorious villain the Sandman is acting more strangely than ever, social media seems to be taking a toll on MJ, and someone keeps trying to steal an artifact that's supposedly powered by alien matter . . . which can't be good. Something eerie is going on, and Peter is determined to figure out what it is before things go from weird to dangerous. Told with Preeti Chhibber's incomparable voice, which balances wit and charm with teenage earnestness and vulnerability, this series is full of action-adventure, humor, friendship, and, of course, heroism. Complete the rest of your middle grade collection with these books from Marvel Press: Spider-Man: Far From Home: Peter and Ned's Ultimate Travel Journal by Preeti Chhibber Black Panther: The Young Prince (Book 1 in the Young Prince series) by Ronald L. Smith Black Panther: Spellbound (Book 2 in the Young Prince series) by Ronald L. Smith The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World by Shannon and Dean Hale The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious by Shannon and Dean Hale Avengers: Endgame: The Pirate Angel, The Talking Tree, and Captain Rabbit by Steve Behling Captain Marvel: Starforce on the Rise by Steve Behling

How do you give a eulogy when you can’t think of one good thing to say? A poignant, funny, and candid look at grief, family secrets, difficult people, and learning to look behind the facade. As if being stuffed into last year’s dress pants at his cousin’s wake weren’t uncomfortable enough, thirteen-year-old Jimmy has just learned from his mother that he has to say a few words at the funeral the next day. Why him? What could he possibly say about his cousin, who ruined everything they did? He can’t recall one birthday party, family gathering, or school event with Patrick that didn’t result in injury or destruction. As Jimmy attempts to navigate the odd social norms of the wake, he draws on humor, heartfelt concern, and a good deal of angst while racking his brain and his memory for a decent and meaningful memory to share. But it’s not until faced with a microphone that the realization finally hits him: it’s not the words that are spoken that matter the most, but those that are truly heard.

A diverse cast of characters -- Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel), Miles Morales (Spider-Man), and Doreen Green (Squirrel Girl) -- team up in their first-ever middle-grade series told through comics, in-world artifacts, and more! Kamala Khan was an average middle school kid. That is, until a cloud called a Terrigen Mist swept through the New Jersey waterfront and activated her super powers! After taking on the persona of Ms. Marvel, she's been fighting crime in Jersey City, and has caught the eye of some pretty well-established super heroes. But that's not always a good thing...After Kamala is caught by news cameras taking on a super villain -- and accidentally destroying a building along the way -- she gets a letter from Captain Marvel herself! It's great that she's fighting crime and sticking up for people, but maybe a regular school isn't the best place to learn how to do that. If she wants to continue as Ms. Marvel, she's going to need to take on some new extracurricular activities -- mainly, training with other young super heroes alongside the Avengers!Now Kamala is the new kid at the Avengers Institute. Her classmates are all kids like her, they have special powers, but most of them have gotten into some trouble or drawn attention to themselves. The big news at the Avengers Institute this year? An academic decathlon in which students will group up into teams and compete against each other in super heroics. Kamala and her friends Miles and Doreen will have to go up against a team led by some kids who fight less than fair -- and have some trouble with the concept of "fighting for good" -- in this funny, action-packed look at some ordinary middle school kids who just happen to have some extraordinary powers.

"A glorious, life-affirming story. I read it in a day. I'm going to buy it for so many people this year!" --Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of Let Me Lie A heartwarming story about a curmudgeonly but charming old woman, her estranged grandson, and a colony of penguins that proves it's never too late to be the person you want to be...and that family is what you make it. After a disastrous first meeting with the grandson she never knew she had, eighty-four-year-old Veronica McCreedy wants to find a worthwhile cause to endow with her millions. Although she has health, wealth, and wit, Veronica has been alone for a long time, her only connection to her past a box of diaries from when she was a teenager during WWII...and a locket filled with a strand of hair from every person she has ever loved and lost. After learning about a research team studying endangered penguins in Antarctica, Veronica tells the scientists she's coming for a visit--and won't take no for an answer. Despite a discouraging first experience (a penguin attacks her favourite designer handbag), Veronica warms to the birds. She even convinces the team to rescue an orphaned baby penguin who swiftly becomes part of life at the base. Veronica's closed heart starts to open. But when she becomes ill, her grandson Patrick comes to Antarctica for one last attempt to get to know his grandmother. Together, Veronica and Patrick--and even the scientists--begin to really learn what family, love, and connection are truly all about.

One of NPR’s 50 Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of the Decade: A fifteenth-century palace mapmaker must hide his powers in the time of the Inquisition . . . Award-winning author G. Willow Wilson’s debut novel Alif the Unseen was an NPR and Washington Post Best Book of the Year and established her as a vital American Muslim literary voice. Now she delivers The Bird King, an epic journey set during the reign of the last sultan in the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition. Fatima is a concubine in the royal court of Granada, the last emirate of Muslim Spain. Her dearest friend, Hassan, the palace mapmaker and the one man who doesn’t leer at her with desire, has a secret—he can draw maps of places he’s never seen and bend the shape of reality. When representatives of the newly formed Spanish monarchy arrive to negotiate the sultan’s surrender, Fatima befriends one of the women, not realizing that she will see Hassan’s gift as sorcery and a threat to Christian Spanish rule. With their freedoms at stake, what will Fatima risk to save Hassan and escape the palace walls? As the two traverse Spain with the help of a clever jinn to find safety, The Bird King asks us to consider what love is and the price of freedom at a time when the West and the Muslim world were not yet separate. “Wilson has a deft hand with myth and with magic, and the kind of smart, honest writing mind that knits together and bridges cultures and people.” —Neil Gaiman, author of Norse Mythology “A triumph . . . one of the best fantasy writers working today.” —BookPage “A treasure-house of a novel, thrilling, tender, funny, and achingly gorgeous. I loved it.” —Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians trilogy