Welcome back to the seasonal blog post series when I look at my overflowing TBR lists (I would be looking at my TBR bookcases but they’re still all packed in boxes and YES I’m getting twitchy about it, why do you ask? lol) and then I look at all the delicious new books coming out …. and I resign myself to never ever getting caught up – but what a problem to have! Today we’re continuing with Early 2021 Speculative & Youth Fiction New Releases (January-April).
Here is the schedule of posts for the week so you can zero in on your fave genre!
Wednesday: Contemporary Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Thursday: Historical Fiction (non-Amish & non-suspense)
Friday: Mystery/Suspense (non-Amish)
Today: Amish Fiction
TODAY: Speculative/Youth
Sunday: Non-Fiction
In my continued quest to streamline these posts I’m only selecting a few I’m most giddy about to spotlight here. I’ll also include links to all the January-April 2021 releases, each in their own list by month. You can also keep up with 2021’s new books as I learn about them by bookmarking the ‘2021 Releases‘ page on my blog menu & checking it each month!
I’m also breaking down this list into three categories: Children’s, Young Adult, and Speculative just to more clearly define the genres represented here.
spotlight on titles i’m most giddy about
(click on book title to go to its goodreads page if available)
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
NEAR: Psalm 139
Sally Lloyd-Jones & Jago
Zonderkidz / January 5, 2021
From Sally Lloyd-Jones, the author of the bestselling The Jesus Storybook Bible, comes an uplifting new board book in a soft padded format that is a perfect fit for little hands. Inspired by Psalm 139—which begins, “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me”—Near’s lyrical text reminds little ones that God is with them anywhere they go in God’s wide world.
WHO LOVES THE DRAGON?
Bianca Schulze & Samara Hardy
Clever Publishing / February 2, 2021
In this interactive follow-up to Don’t Wake the Dragon, our beloved Dragon is wide-awake and preparing to celebrate one of the kingdom’s most important events of the year: the annual Friendship Festival! It’s a time for everyone to gather and have fun, all honoring their meaningful friendships. But on the day of the feast, the cooks are called away to cater to the Queen and the knights must report for special duty in the Enchanted Forest. With everyone gone, Dragon is upset and worried that this year’s Friendship Festival is doomed. Could they be planning something special for her? And in the meantime, can you help cheer her up?With colorful and humorous illustrations throughout, this read-aloud picture book encourages kids to interact with the text on every page. Young readers will love waving to characters, blowing kisses, dancing, and more on this fun ride alongside Dragon and her adorable friends in this delightful story that will beg to be read again and again.
GOD GAVE US PRAYER
Lisa Tawn Bergren & David Hohn
WaterBrook / February 16, 2021
Little Pup discovers Mama sitting silently by the lake, praying. But what does that mean? And how does Little Pup go about praying to God? And what do you say to God? Little Pup’s questions spill out as he and Mama walk through the woods. Mama patiently helps Little Pup learn the importance of prayer, forgiveness, gratefulness, and compassion toward others. With guided prayers for children to use and inspiration to help them create their own, God Gave Us Prayer gently models the ACTS method of prayer: adoration, confession, thanks, and supplication. In the familiar voice that millions have grown to trust from her God Gave Us series, Lisa Tawn Bergren introduces kids to the power of prayer.
children’s Books i want to read that aren’t up yet
Maylie’s Luck of the Irish by M.L. Tarpley (April)
teen & young adult fiction
COURT OF SWANS
(The Dericott Tales #1)
Melanie Dickerson
Thomas Nelson / January 5, 2021
From New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson comes a reimagining of the Wild Swans—the first book in a new series of fairy-tale retellings set in medieval England! Delia lives a quiet life as the daughter of an earl in late 14th-century England, but that peace is shattered when her seven brothers are betrayed by their father and falsely arrested. Delia infiltrates the palace as a lady-in-waiting for the new queen so she can be near her brothers in the Tower of London and help them escape. When she runs into Sir Henry, the guard captain who arrested her brothers, she hates him—until she discovers he has been secretly carrying food to her brothers in their prison cell. Trapped into obeying the orders of his king, Sir Henry is the oldest son of an earl whose estate has been seized by the king and his treacherous advisers. His first mission as captain was to arrest seven brothers for treason, but he had no idea that the brothers were so young or that their sister would be so feisty and beautiful.
THE MEET-CUTE PROJECT
Rhiannon Richardson
Simon & Schuster / January 12, 2021
Mia’s friends love rom-coms. Mia hates them. They’re silly, contrived, and not at all realistic. Besides, there are more important things to worry about—like how to handle living with her bridezilla sister, Sam, who’s never appreciated Mia, and surviving junior year juggling every school club offered and acing all of her classes. So when Mia is tasked with finding a date to her sister’s wedding, her options are practically nonexistent. Mia’s friends, however, have an idea. It’s a little crazy, a little out there, and a lot inspired by the movies they love that Mia begrudgingly watches too. Mia just needs a meet-cute.
PUDGE & PREJUDICE
A.K. Pittman
Wander / January 12, 2021
Pudge and Prejudice is an homage to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, transported to the fictitious Northfield Texas High School in the year 1984. After moving to Northfield with her family, Elyse Nebbit faces the challenge of finding her place in a new school, one dominated by social status and Friday night football. When Elyse’s effortlessly beautiful older sister Jayne starts dating Charlie Bingley, the captain of the school football team, Elyse finds herself curious about Charlie’s popular and brooding best friend, Billy Fitz. Elyse’s body insecurities eventually complicate her relationship with Billy, leaving Jayne and Elyse’s exceedingly blunt friend, Lottie, to step in and help Elyse accept herself for who she is, pant size and all.
THE WOLF QUEEN
Tabitha Caplinger
Blue Ink Press / January 12, 2021
Ylva was raised by wolves. That is the story her clan tells of their Wolf Queen. The truth is far more miraculous. Her Gift, bestowed by the Light, enables her to see deep inside the hearts of men. Prince Rohan considers the Light mere superstition and only believes in what he can see with his own eyes. But a great evil is infecting the Four Realms. The battle between the Light and the Darkness is no longer bound to human hearts, and words Ylva and Rohan thought were just legend are being whispered again. The dragon is rising.
HEART OF THE CROWN
(Daughters of Peverell #3)
Hannah Currie
WhiteSpark / January 15, 2021
The last place Lady Wenderley Davis ever expected to find herself after swearing off princes forever was living in a palace with two of them. Even if it is only temporary. And she did agree to it. Kind of. Against her better judgement. But then, she’s never been one to hide her heart, nor hold back help from anyone who needs it. And if ever there’s a family who need help, it’s this one. As two weeks stretch to more, Wenderley throws all she has into showing the princes and their family how to smile again, and she’s loving every moment of it. Which is a problem. Because she’s very quickly becoming attached, and—as the man she’d rather forget keeps reminding her—the one thing she can’t do is stay.
DEAREST JOSEPHINE
Caroline George
Thomas Nelson / February 2, 2021
2020: Chocolate and Earl Grey tea can’t fix Josie De Clare’s horrible year. She mourned the death of her father and suffered a teen-life crisis, which delayed her university plans. But when her father’s will reveals a family-owned property in Northern England, Josie leaves London to find clarity at the secluded manor house. While exploring the estate, she discovers two-hundred-year-old love letters written by an elusive novelist, all addressed to someone named Josephine. And then she discovers a novel in which it seems like she’s the heroine… 1820: Novelist Elias Roch loves a woman he can never be with. Born the illegitimate son to a nobleman and cast out from society, Elias seeks refuge in his mind with the quirky heroine who draws him into a fantasy world of scandal, betrayal, and unconditional love. Convinced she’s his soulmate, Elias writes letters to her, all of which divulge the tragedy and trials of his personal life. As fiction blurs into reality, Josie and Elias must decide: How does one live if love can’t wait? Separated by two hundred years, they fight against time to find each other in a story of her, him, and the novel written by the man who loves her.
IT’S KIND OF A CHEESY LOVE STORY
Lauren Morrill
Farrar, Straus and Giroux / March 9, 2021
After her mother gave birth to her in the bathroom of a local pizzeria, Beck Brix been given the dubious privilege of having minor fame, free pizza for life, and a guaranteed job when she turns sixteen—a job she unfortunately can’t afford to turn down. Stuck with her geeky co-workers instead of taking Instagram-ready shots with her wealthy, photogenic friends, Beck finally realizes what she’s spent her whole life trying to hide: that Hot ‘n Crusty is a part of her. Then disaster strikes the beloved pizza parlor that’s become like home, and Beck realizes that it takes losing something to really know what it’s worth.
THE STARS IN APRIL
Peggy Wirgau
IlluminateYA / March 30, 2021
The year is 1912. When doctors in India are unable to treat her baby brother s illness, Ruth s missionary parents decide there is one solution: move her mother and the children across the world to Michigan. But India is the only home Ruth knows. In a matter of days, she must leave Papa and all she loves behind, abandon her dream of one day playing violin in the Calcutta Orchestra, and embark on a rollicking, four-week journey across the Arabian and Mediterranean Seas, followed by the voyage to New York aboard the luxurious, ill-fated RMS Titanic. Ruth’s story is one of courage and self-sacrifice as she earns her sea legs and faces the unknown, culminating in a desperate, tragic night she will never forget.
teen/ya Books i want to read that aren’t up yet
Traitor by Laurie Lucking (March)
Dear Henchman by Hope Bolinger (April)
speculative fiction (adult)
OATH OF THE BROTHERHOOD
(The Song of Seare #1)
Carla Laureano
Enclave / January 12, 2021
In an island kingdom where the Old Ways hold fast and a man’s worth lies entirely in his skill with the sword, Conor Mac Nir is a musician and a follower of a forbidden faith—problematic for any man, but disastrous for the son of the king. When Conor is sent away to a neighboring kingdom to secure a treaty, he learns that his ability with the harp is a talent that traces back to the magical foundations of a once-united Seare. But his newfound home is soon placed in peril, entangling Conor in a plot that has been unfolding since long before his birth. Only by leaving both kingdoms behind and committing himself to an ancient warrior brotherhood can Conor discover the part he’s meant to play in Seare’s future. But is he willing to sacrifice everything—including the woman he loves—to follow the path his God has laid before him?
CAST THE FIRST STONE
(The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #1)
David James Warren
TriStone Media / February 9, 2021
Ex-Minneapolis Police Detective Rembrandt Stone walked away from a career he loved—just the price of being sure he can come home to the wife and daughter he cherishes. But he can’t shake the deep regret over a case left behind. When his mentor, the former Chief of Homicide dies and leaves Rembrandt with a box of cold cases and a mysterious watch, he finds himself thrust into a world he recognizes—a world from twenty years ago—the same world he’s woken from in a cold sweat a hundred times. But is it a dream, or some kind of twisted reality? If he solves the case that plagues him, and justice is finally served, will it destroy the life he loves?
A WAGON TRAIN WEEKEND
(Back Inn Time #1)
Stephenia H. McGee
By the Vine Press / March 9, 2021
It was just one night at a Victorian B&B. Until they woke up in 1857. Collette Donaldson never should have taken her boyfriend to her cousin’s wedding. Or introduced him to her parents. After a disastrous weekend, all she wants is to get back home and sort out the mess that had once been their relationship. A heartbreaking fight, a flat tire, and an inconvenient storm force her and Seth to stay the night at a quaint bed and breakfast. But when Collette finds an antique photograph of herself, circumstances quickly shift from weird to unimaginable. Seth Stone was ready to propose. Now he isn’t sure if he and Collette even have a relationship. People he’d never want to be his in-laws, an irritable girlfriend, and now he has to spend the night in a creepy old Victorian inn. He should have never wondered how things could possibly get worse. When they wake up stranded on a wagon train in 1857, Seth is determined to get home. But the only way to get out of the past is to face the problems stealing their future.
NO UNTURNED STONE
(The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #2)
David James Warren
TriStone Media / April 6, 2021
“The One Rule Is, Don’t Mess With The Past.” But he did, and now ex-detective Rembrandt Stone is reaping the devastation of ignoring those words when he traveled back in time to solve the one case that had haunted his dreams. Yes, he solved the crime. Yes, he saved lives. But Rembrandt returns to find the unthinkable has happened and his life has shattered. There’s only one answer: break the rule again. Go back in time once more, fix what went wrong, save what went right, and yeah, in his spare time solve another brutal crime. But it’s not so easy to change time, especially when time turns you into a target. And of course there’s the strong possibility if he goes again, he’ll never get back.
LOVE AND MEMORY
(The Rizkaland Legends #3)
Kendra E. Ardnek
GiraffeCrafts / April 19, 2021
They spent years in Rizkaland. They ruled the land, forged friendships, built families, and made it their home. But then it was time to return to Earth, and their former lives just don’t fit anymore. Clara and Andrew struggle to reevaluate their priorities when hundreds of miles separate them. Reuben and Petra are lost as they seek a balance between their old friendship and their Rizkan marriage. And Ashna and Noraeto never planned to return, so what live is there for them on Earth? When the unthinkable happens and a new enemy arises, they’re all thrown back into Rizkaland, into a young prince’s rise to power and struggle to build alliances for his kingdom. But they no longer belong in their other world, either. Are good memories too much to bear?
Speculative books i want to read that aren’t up yet
Dark of Night by Carrie Cotten (March)
add these to your wish list
all the new releases by each separate month
(amazon affiliate links used)
my fave covers?
What about you? Which Early 2021 Speculative & Youth Fiction New Releases are you most anxious to read? Which covers are your favorites?
If you don’t see your book mentioned here or in my amazon lists, I apologize! It’s impossible to keep up with all the books LOL! Please feel free to leave your release info for Christian / clean fiction in the comments.
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