“I’m Holding Out for a Hero”: Nick Brooks, Preeti Chhibber, H.D. Hunter & Katie Zhao

Dr. Erica del Riego-Ochoa is an educator at Miami’s St. Brendan High School.

Katie Zhao is the author of the YA series Dragon Warrior and Winnie Zeng, the YA novel How We Fall Apart, and the middle-grade book Last Gamer Standing. She is a passionate advocate for diverse representation in literature and media. In Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend (Random House Books for Young Readers), Winnie has two goals: survive her first year of middle school and outdo her stuck-up archnemesis, David Zuo. It won’t be easy. According to her older sister, middle school is the pits. Luckily, Winnie’s studied middle school survival tactics in comic books and anime. Nothing will stop her from being the school’s best student. But none of Winnie’s research has prepared her to face the big hurdle: evil spirits. Making mooncakes for a class bake sale, she awakens the stuff of legends from her grandmother’s old cookbook, spilling otherworldly chaos into her sleepy town. Suddenly, Winnie finds herself in a race against time, vanquishing demons instead of group projects. Armed with a magic cookbook and a talking white rabbit, she must embrace her new powers and the legacy of her ancestors. If she doesn’t, her town – and the rest of the world – may fall into chaos forever. Homework’s going to have to wait.

Hugh “H.D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer who has won several indie book awards for multicultural fiction; he is committed to crafting stories about Black kids and their many expansive worlds. Futureland: Battle for the Park (Random House Books for Young Readers), introduces readers to the most spectacular theme park in the world. Everyone wants a ticket to Futureland, where you can literally live out your wildest dreams. Want to step inside your favorite video game? Go pro in a sports arena? Perform at a real live concert? Grab your ticket and come right in. But to Cam Walker, the son of the park’s famous creators, Futureland has always just been home. When the park arrives at its latest stop, Atlanta, Cam is thrilled for what promises to be its biggest opening, ever. But things aren’t quite right. Attractions are glitching, kids go missing, and when his parents are blamed, Cam must find the missing kids and whoever’s trying to take down his family before it’s too late.

Preeti Chhibber is an author, speaker, and freelance writer. She has written for SYFY, Polygon, and Elle, among others. She made her Marvel Comics debut in 2022, with a brand-new Black Cat story in Women of Marvel #1. She also co-hosts the podcasts Desi Geek Girls and Tar Valon or Bust. 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. In Spider-Man’s Social Dilemma (Marvel Press), he goes to school and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his crush, M.J.; takes photos for the Daily Bugle and tries not to embarrass himself in front of his boss; and fights crime in the evenings and always tries not to embarrass himself doing that, either. That’s not easy when you’re a teen with spider powers you’re still getting used to. He’s also got to worry about notorious villain Sandman, who’s acting more strangely than ever; the toll that social media seems to be taking on M.J.; and someone who keeps trying to steal an artifact supposedly powered by alien matter. Something is going on, and Peter is determined to figure out what it is before things go from weird to dangerous.

Nick Brooks is a writer and filmmaker who in 2016 created and launched the children’s books series The Adventures of Yani, read in schools across the country. His short film Hoop Dreamin’ earned him the George Lucas Scholar Award and was a finalist in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Film Fest. His short film Bee won the James Bridges and Jack Larson Award for writing and directing and premiered at the American Black Film Festival. In Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont (Union Square Kids), Brooks’ middle-grade novel debut, self-proclaimed genius inventor Ethan Fairmont runs into an abandoned car factory to avoid a local bully and stumbles across his ex-best friend Kareem, new kid Juan Carlos, and an extraterrestrial visitor. Cheese (the alien) is stuck on Earth in need of some serious repairs, spicy snacks, and total secrecy. Then mysterious agents descend on Ferrous City to search for Cheese. With time running out and their families and friends in potential danger, can Ethan, Kareem, and Juan Carlos pull off an intergalactic rescue before they’re all found out?