The top forthcoming books in Canadian libraries

May 2023 Adult List

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  1. The 23rd Midnight
    by James Patterson
    Little, Brown and Company
    May 01, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback

    Description

    The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!

    An attention-seeking copycat is recreating murders by a famous killer from the Women’s Murder Club’s past—with devastating new twists.

    Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.

    Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list.

    An obsessed maniac has turned Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own.

    Now Lindsay’s tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction.
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  2. Identity
    by Nora Roberts
    St. Martin's Press
    May 23, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback

    Description

    The #1 New York Times-bestselling author's terrifying new thriller about one man's ice-cold malice, and one woman's fight to reclaim her life.

    Former Army brat Morgan Albright has finally planted roots in a friendly neighborhood near Baltimore. Her friend and roommate Nina helps her make the mortgage payments, as does Morgan's job as a bartender. But after she and Nina host their first dinner party—attended by Luke, the flirtatious IT guy who'd been chatting her up at the bar—her carefully built world is shattered. The back door glass is broken, cash and jewelry are missing, her car is gone, and Nina lies dead on the floor.

    Soon, a horrific truth emerges: It was Morgan who let the monster in. "Luke" is actually a cold-hearted con artist named Gavin who targets a particular type of woman, steals her assets and identity, and then commits his ultimate goal: murder.

    What the FBI tells Morgan is beyond chilling. Nina wasn't his type. Morgan is. Nina was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. And Morgan's nightmare is just beginning. Soon she has no choice but to flee to her mother's home in Vermont. While she struggles to build something new, she meets another man, Miles Jameson. He isn't flashy or flirtatious, and his family business has deep roots in town. But Gavin is still out there hunting new victims, and he hasn't forgotten the one who got away.

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  3. The Lie Maker
    by Linwood Barclay 'Canada'
    William Morrow
    May 16, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    In this twisty, fast-paced thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Take Your Breath Away, a man desperately tries to track down his father—who was taken into witness protection years ago—before his enemies can get to him.

    Your dad’s not a good person. Your dad killed people, son.

    These are some of the last words Jack Givins’ father spoke to him before he was whisked away by witness protection, leaving Jack and his mother to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives as best they could.

    Years later, Jack is a grown man with problems of his own. He’s a talented but struggling author, barely scraping by on the royalties from his moderately successful first book. So when the U.S. Marshals approach him with a lucrative opportunity, he’s in no position to turn them down. They’re recruiting writers like Jack to create false histories for people in witness protection—people like Jack’s father.

    The coincidence is astonishing to Jack at first, but he soon realizes this may be a chance to find his dad. Only there’s one problem—Jack’s father hasn’t made contact with his handlers recently, and they have no idea where he is. He could be in serious danger, and Jack may be the only one who can find him.

    But how will he find a man he’s never truly known? A man who has done terrible things in his lifetime and made some deadly enemies in the process—enemies who wouldn’t think twice about using his own son against him.

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  4. Meet Me at the Lake
    by Carley Fortune 'Canada'
    Viking
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Romance / Contemporary
    Paperback / softback

    Description

    INSTANT #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
    INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

    In this breathtaking new novel from the #1 bestselling author of Every Summer After, a random connection sends two strangers on a daylong adventure where they make a promise one keeps and the other breaks, with life-changing effects.


    Fern Brookbanks has wasted far too much of her adult life thinking about Will Baxter. She spent just twenty-four hours in her early twenties with the aggravatingly attractive, idealistic artist, a chance encounter that spiraled into a daylong adventure in Toronto. The timing was wrong, but their connection was undeniable: they shared every secret, every dream, and made a pact to meet one year later. Fern showed up. Will didn’t.

    At thirty-two, Fern’s life doesn’t look at all how she once imagined it would. Instead of living in the city, Fern’s back home, running her mother’s Muskoka lakeside resort—something she vowed never to do. The place is in disarray, her ex-boyfriend’s the manager, and Fern doesn’t know where to begin.

    She needs a plan—a lifeline. To her surprise, it comes in the form of Will, who arrives nine years too late, with a suitcase in tow and an offer to help on his lips. Will may be the only person who understands what Fern’s going through. But how could she possibly trust this expensive-suit wearing mirage who seems nothing like the young man she met all those years ago. Will is hiding something, and Fern’s not sure she wants to know what it is.

    But ten years ago, Will Baxter rescued Fern. Can she do the same for him?
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  5. The Wedding Planner
    by Danielle Steel
    Delacorte Press
    May 02, 2023
    FICTION / Women
    Hardback

    Description

    NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this captivating novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a wildly successful, unmarried wedding planner leads her clients to happily ever after.

    Faith Ferguson is New York’s most in-demand wedding planner, an arbiter of taste for elegant affairs, lavish ceremonies, and exclusive fêtes. She appreciates a simple celebration as much as a dazzling event, for she knows that a dream wedding is not necessarily the most expensive one.

    As much as Faith enjoys her work, her two failed engagements leave her with no desire to get married herself. She finds fulfillment in her close relationship with her twin sister, Hope, her role as a mentor for her assistant, Violet, and her career.

    This year, new clients have flocked to her, and she signs up an extravagant reception, a mid-sized gathering, and an intimate soirée, in addition to her mother’s next marriage and Violet’s modest ceremony. Faith finds herself forming bonds with her new clients and their loved ones—most notably the handsome brother of one of her grooms.

    But weddings are not always all champagne and roses, and in no time, Faith is grappling with private quarrels, unplanned pregnancies, family scandals, dark secrets, and the possibility of cancelled ceremonies. Through her own journey, Faith will prove once and for all that there is not just one path to happily ever after.

    In The Wedding Planner, Danielle Steel presents an enchanting story about the winding road to love and the many ways to find joy while staying true to oneself.
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  6. Standing in the Shadows
    by Peter Robinson 'Canada'
    McClelland & Stewart
    May 16, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural
    Hardback

    Description

    The twenty-eighth and final installment of the #1 bestselling Inspector Banks series by “the grand master of the genre” (Literary Review), Peter Robinson.

    In November 1980, student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police officers. As he discovers that his ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing, he realizes two things in quick succession: he is undoubtedly a suspect as he has no convincing alibi, and he has his own suspicions as to what might have happened . . .

    Decades later, in November 2019, an archaeologist unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more contemporary than the Roman remains she is seeking. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in, and as an investigation into the find begins, the past and the present meet with devastating consequences.
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  7. Drowning
    by T. J. Newman
    Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Thrillers / Suspense
    Hardback

    Description

    “The first terrific thriller of 2023.” —James Patterson * “Spectacular…Taut, gripping.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) * “Reads like Apollo 13 underwater.” —Don Winslow * “Masterful.” —Patricia Cornwell

    Flight attendant turned New York Times bestselling author T. J. Newman returns with an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a commercial jetliner that crashes into the ocean and sinks to the bottom with passengers trapped inside—and the extraordinary rescue operation to save them.

    Six minutes after takeoff, Flight 1421 crashes into the Pacific Ocean. During the evacuation, an engine explodes and the plane is flooded. Those still alive are forced to close the doors—but it’s too late. The plane sinks to the bottom with twelve passengers trapped inside.

    More than two hundred feet below the surface, engineer Will Kent and his eleven-year-old daughter Shannon are waist-deep in water and fighting for their lives.

    Their only chance at survival is an elite rescue team on the surface led by professional diver Chris Kent—Shannon’s mother and Will’s soon-to-be ex-wife—who must work together with Will to find a way to save their daughter and rescue the passengers from the sealed airplane, which is now teetering on the edge of an undersea cliff.

    There’s not much time.

    There’s even less air.

    With devastating emotional power and heart-stopping suspense, Drowning is an unforgettable thriller about a family’s desperate fight to save themselves and the people trapped with them—against impossible odds.
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  8. Killing Moon
    by Jo Nesbo
    Random House Canada
    May 30, 2023
    FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Private Investigators
    Hardback

    Description

    In the thirteenth novel in the New York Times bestselling series, brilliant rogue police investigator Harry Hole is back, this time as an outsider assembling his own team to help find a serial killer.

    “Jo Nesbo is one of today’s most interesting thriller writers, and Harry Hole is an all-time great character.” —Lee Child


    Harry has gone to Los Angeles to drink himself to death, in the wake of his life back in Oslo falling to pieces. He’s nearly managed to, but then Harry decides to help an older film actress, Lucille, free herself from the grip of a drug cartel she owes a million dollars. In return she gives him shelter, company and a tailored suit.

    In Oslo, two girls have disappeared and been found murdered. One of the suspects is a well-known real estate magnate, and investigator Katrine Bratt wants to bring in the country’s foremost serial killings expert. But the idea of collaborating with Harry Hole is out of the question for the chief of police. The real-estate magnate under suspicion, on the other hand, wants to hire Harry as a private investigator to clear his name. Harry declines, but that’s before the drug cartel takes Lucille hostage. If Harry clears the real estate magnate, he will award Harry a bonus big enough to cover Lucille’s debt. So Harry puts together his own kind of investigative team, consisting of a cocaine-dealing childhood friend, a corrupt police officer and a cancer-stricken psychologist. The drug cartel has given them ten days. The clock is ticking, and a blood moon has been forecast over Oslo.
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  9. Queen Charlotte
    by Julia Quinn
    Avon
    May 09, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    From #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn and television pioneer Shonda Rhimes comes a powerful and romantic novel of Bridgerton's Queen Charlotte and King George III's great love story and how it sparked a societal shift, inspired by the original series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, created by Shondaland for Netflix.

    “We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his…”

    In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours.

    Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent… not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed, because George had secrets… secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.

    Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court… all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all she must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight—for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfill her destiny… as Queen.

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  10. Truth Telling
    by Michelle Good 'Canada'
    HarperCollins Publishers
    May 30, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    A bold, provocative collection of essays exploring the historical and contemporary Indigenous experience in Canada.

    With authority and insight, Truth Telling examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed by Michelle Good’s personal experience and knowledge.

    From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening. Truth Telling also demonstrates the myths underlying Canadian history and the human cost of colonialism, showing how it continues to underpin modern social institutions in Canada.

    Passionate and uncompromising, Michelle Good affirms that meaningful and substantive reconciliation hinges on recognition of Indigenous self-determination, the return of lands, and a just redistribution of the wealth that has been taken from those lands without regard for Indigenous peoples.

    Truth Telling is essential reading for those looking to acknowledge the past and understand the way forward.

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March & April 2023 Juvenile and Young Adult List

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  1. The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink
    by Shannon Hale
    Candlewick
    Apr 11, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Superheroes
    Hardback

    Description

    When plans for a ball run a-fowl, Princess Magnolia accepts the help of a valiant new hero to save her secret decorations—and the entire evening!

    Princess Magnolia is at the Flower Festival prepping for the evening ball when suddenly she hears a commotion. Oh no! She isn’t prepared to fight a monster or . . . a grumpy emu! To her surprise, a knight in shining armor comes to the rescue, but not before the princess’s prized decorations are stomped on and destroyed. Luckily, the gallant Prince Valerian has his own secret identity—the Prince in Pink—and has been yearning for a chance to show off his special skills, with the help of some twinkle-twinkle and major glam. Glitter has been restored, but then the angry emu returns—with friends! Can the party heroes step up to save the day again? Expect the unexpected as this sparkling new entry in the New York Times best-selling series takes the floor with a flourish.
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  2. School Trip
    by Jerry Craft
    Quill Tree Books
    Apr 04, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award! In this full-color contemporary graphic novel, the gang from Riverdale Academy Day is heading to Paris, for an international education like you’ve never seen before…

    Jordan, Drew, Liam, Maury, and their friends from Riverdale Academy Day School are heading out on a school trip to Paris. As an aspiring artist himself, Jordan can’t wait to see all the amazing art in the famous City of Lights.

    But when their trusted faculty guides are replaced at the last minute, the school trip takes an unexpected—and hilarious—turn. Especially when trying to find their way around a foreign city ends up being almost as tricky as navigating the same friendships, fears, and differences that they struggle with at home.

    Will Jordan and his friends embrace being exposed to a new language, unfamiliar food, and a different culture? Or will they all end up feeling like the “new kid”?

    Don’t miss the two hilarious and powerful companion novels by Jerry Craft, New Kid and Class Act!

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  3. Big Tree
    by Brian Selznick
    Scholastic Press
    Apr 04, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / Survival Stories
    Hardback

    Description

    The fate of all life on Earth may depend on the bravery of two little seeds in this epic adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator and Caldecott Medalist of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

    “The tale of the natural world is the greatest story we have to tell, and Brian delivers a brilliant chapter of that tale throughout the pages of Big Tree.” — STEVEN SPIELBERG

    “We need brave, big stories like [Big Tree].” The New York Times Book Review

    “Has the power to intrigue...affecting.” The Wall Street Journal

    * “An enthralling and expansive meditation on what it means to be alive on this planet.”Booklist, starred review

    * “A balanced and rich book. . . . Powerful.” The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred and recommended review

    * “In evocative prose and peppery dialogue . . . the cinematic story journeys across time and space, contemplating the power of life to heal.” Publishers Weekly, starred review

    * "A special, one-of-a-kind book for the whole family that readers won’t soon forget." School Library Journal, starred review

    * “Masterful.” The Horn Book, starred review

    "Inspirational, important, and beautiful. A fable for our times." — Alan Gratz, bestselling author of Refugee and Ground Zero

    "Hello, stars. I thought I heard you calling me."

    A mysterious voice has been speaking to Louise in her dreams. She and her brother Merwin are Sycamore seeds, who hope to one day set down roots and become big trees. But when a fire forces them to leave their mama tree prematurely, they find themselves catapulted into the unknown, far from home. Alone and unprepared, they must use their wits and imagination to navigate a dangerous world—filled with dinosaurs, meteors, and volcanoes!—and the fear of never finding a safe place to grow up. As the mysterious voice gets louder, Louise comes to realize their mission in life may be much bigger than either of them ever could have imagined!

    Brimming with humor, wonder, mystery, and a profound sense of hope, Big Tree is a trailblazing adventure, illustrated with nearly 300 pages of breathtaking pictures. It is Selznick's most imaginative and far-reaching work to date and a singular reading experience for the whole family.

    The audiobook edition of BIG TREE is brought magnificently to life by Meryl Streep and features music composed by Ernest Troost.

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  4. Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy
    by Angie Thomas
    Balzer + Bray
    Apr 04, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.

    It’s not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool—like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much—like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.

    All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she’s never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.

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  5. When Stars Arise
    by E.G. Alaraj 'Canada'
    Orca Book Publishers
    Apr 11, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Bedtime & Dreams
    Board book

    Description

    “A stunning marriage of text and art that will linger with listeners as they slip into sleep...This melodic lullaby is warm and tender perfection.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

    Parents and children will enjoy winding down and snuggling into this slow, tender journey to bedtime.

    The world grows restful, but don’t sleep yet, wait until the grassy meadow is quiet and the forest creatures are hidden away. Until the farm animals are snug in the barn and the toys are tidied in their proper spots. Until the bath warms your toes and the blanket tucks you in tightly. Only when we finish our story and the stars are in the sky is it time to sleep.

    Calming, lyrical rhythms, pleasing repetition and dreamy watercolors make When Stars Arise a gentle lullaby that reinforces the bedtime routine.

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  6. Maisy's Ambulance
    by Lucy Cousins
    Candlewick
    Apr 11, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Transportation / Cars & Trucks
    Board book

    Description

    Nee-nah, nee-nah! Maisy’s ambulance is on its way! A shaped-board-book adventure for little ones on the go.

    Maisy and Charley are driving their ambulance today. What an important job! All the cars on the road move aside as they make their speedy way to Eddie’s house. The poor elephant fell over while roller-skating and hurt his trunk! Good thing the friendly ambulance crew are there with a first-aid kit to make him feel better!
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  7. Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
    by Cherie Dimaline 'Canada'
    Tundra Books
    Apr 04, 2023
    YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Coming of Age
    Hardback

    Description

    After inadvertently starting rumors of a haunted cemetery, a teen befriends a ghost in this brand-new young adult novel exploring grief and belonging by the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of The Marrow Thieves series.

    Winifred has lived in the apartment above the cemetery office with her father, who works in the crematorium, all her life, close to her mother's grave. With her sixteenth birthday only days away, Winifred has settled into a lazy summer schedule, lugging her obese Chihuahua around the grounds in a squeaky red wagon to visit the neglected gravesides and nursing a serious crush on her best friend, Jack.

    Her habit of wandering the graveyard at all hours has started a rumor that Winterson Cemetery might be haunted. It’s welcome news since the crematorium is on the verge of closure and her father’s job is being outsourced. Now that the ghost tours have started, Winifred just might be able to save her father’s job and the only home she’s ever known, not to mention being able to stay close to where her mother is buried. All she has to do is get help from her con-artist cousin to keep up the rouse and somehow manage to stop her father from believing his wife has returned from the grave. But when Phil, an actual ghost of a teen girl who lived and died in the ravine next to the cemetery, starts showing up, Winifred begins to question everything she believes about life, love and death. Especially love.
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  8. Maisy's Recycling Truck
    by Lucy Cousins
    Candlewick
    Apr 11, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Transportation / Cars & Trucks
    Board book

    Description

    Get your empty bottles and cans ready—Maisy’s here to recycle them! A shaped-board-book adventure to please every truck-loving fan.

    It’s trash day today, and here come Maisy and Tallulah in a big, noisy recycling truck. Quick, Charley, they’re only one house away! Whoosh—his bin goes up into the truck. Next it’s Cyril’s bottles and cans, making a clink-clank-clunk noise. Eddie’s old cardboard gets squished, and Dotty adds her yogurt and juice containers to the mix. Everyone’s on board to send their old things to a factory to be made into new things. Recycling can be fun!
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  9. The World and Everything in It
    by Kevin Henkes
    Greenwillow Books
    Mar 28, 2023
    Hardback

    Description

    There are big things and little things in the world, and everything in between. Caldecott Medal winner and #1 New York Times bestseller Kevin Henkes encourages young readers to be curious about the world around them in this timeless, beautifully illustrated, and educational picture book. The World and Everything in It belongs in every child’s library, and illuminates key social and emotional concepts such as belonging, self-awareness, and community. A wonderful gift for young children.

    In the world, there are little animals, tiny flowers, and things so small you can’t see them. In the world, there are giant waves, a large sun, and things so big you can’t wrap your hands around them. There are big things and little things in the world. And everything in between—including you!

    A timeless and wholesome picture book from Caldecott Medal winner and #1 New York Times bestseller Kevin Henkes, The World and Everything in It explores concepts such as curiosity, self-awareness, belonging, and size. Combining a precise, evocative, and lovely text with exquisite illustrations, Kevin Henkes deftly captures the wonders and mysteries of the world for any reader just beginning to think about how they fit in.

    A brilliant picture book to spend time with, discuss, read aloud, and think about, The World and Everything in It is an excellent choice for social and emotional development as well as a lovely book to give to readers of any age.

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  10. The Sister Switch (Best Wishes #2)
    by Sarah Mlynowski 'Canada'
    Scholastic Press
    Apr 04, 2023
    JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic
    Hardback

    Description

    This exciting new series following a magical bracelet that’s sent to different girls across the country is like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants for MG! In this second installment, co-written by bestselling authors Sarah Mlynowski and Debbie Rigaud, the bracelet comes to a girl in Ohio, and kicks off a Freaky Friday-style adventure.

    Ten-year-old Addie Asante of Columbus, Ohio, is sick of being the middle sister. Her big sister, Sophie, can do whatever she wants, and her little sister, Camille, is totally spoiled. When Addie receives a mysterious box in the mail containing a magical bracelet — and a note from a girl in New York named Becca — she’s intrigued. Addie makes a wish on the bracelet to no longer be in the middle and suddenly — POOF — she’s literally transformed into her big sister!

    At first, getting to be Sophie is amazing: Addie is allowed to hang out at the coffee shop after school, have her own room, AND participate in the school talent show . . . this is the life! But as her new long-distance friend Becca warns Addie, this wish-granting bracelet isn’t all that it seems. Having a wish come true can get really messy really fast. Plus, in a twist of magical chaos, Addie’s big sister has become the baby sister, and Addie’s baby sister is living as ADDIE! With friendships — and school tests — on the line, and a sneaky stranger determined to get her hands on the magic bracelet . . . can Addie and her sisters find a way to switch things BACK before it’s too late?

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