Drumroll please!!!! I’m so excited to share the cover of latest middle grade novel: SPELLING IT OUT (coming May 13, 2025 from Atheneum Books for Young Readers). The cover is by the very talented Latanya Naidu. I just think the whole thing is glorious. I love the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge. I love the depictions of the kids. As I think the illustrations suggest, the main character, Ben Bellini is a bit of a nerd (although, alas, he is not quite ready to embrace the glory of that identity). His new friend Asha Krishnakumar is all together sportier and cooler, but she has insecurities of her own that she is dealing with. If you look closer, in the reflections of the clouds and bridge you’ll see words, words, words. That’s because a lot of the focus of the book is about Ben’s conflict over whether he’s ready to embrace his nerdy passion for spelling and try to make it to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. If you like words, nerds, San Francisco, unlikely friendship stories, or intergenerational tales, this will be the book for you. It will also be the book for you if you are just trying to figure how to be you in a world that doesn’t always seem ready to embrace you for who you are.
If you want to read it, there are a lot of things you can do. You can pre-order the book. You can ask your library to order the book. You can put it on your Good Reads To Be Read List. Or you can just wait! You can count on me reminding you about it.
Hope you’re having a great day! Go off and do something fun now.
