I spent a snowy afternoon recently getting reacquainted with Lerner Books via its new spring 2014 webcast preview, and I am glad I did. Having been a school librarian for over 30 years, I thought I had a good idea about this 54-year-old publisher and the high-interest, nonfiction titles it has to offer. However, I must confess that I knew little about its Darby Creek, Graphic Universe, Carolrhoda Lab, and Twenty-First Century imprints. This webcast gave me the opportunity to learn more. Lerner was always a go-to resource for my pop culture education when I worked in schools and its new slate of series titles will serve current librarians well in this regard. “What’s Your Style,” “Dirt and Destruction Sports Zones,” and “Pop Culture Bios” are still keeping it current with new timely titles due out in March and April, such as BoHo Fashion; Tractor Pulling: Tearing It Up; and Jaden Smith.

The Twenty-First Century imprint also has titles that embrace pop culture, such as Stephen G Gordon’s Expressing the Inner Wild: Tattoos, Piercing, Jewelry and other Body Art  (January) and Stuart A. Kallen’s K-Pop: Korea’s Music Explosion (February). I wish I had checked these books out before my holiday visits with the younger generation!

I am always amazed what I learn at a book preview and Lerner’s webcast didn’t disappoint, in line with the tagline “I’m a Lerner.” I may never get to Nepal but Sandra K. Athans’ Secrets of the Sky Caves: Danger and Discovery of Nepal’s Mustang Cliffs (Millbrook, January) takes me there.  The book features mummies and other human remains—typically hot topics of interest for middle school boys—and includes an ancient library to interest their media specialists. Also due out soon is Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence (Carolrhoda, February), a picture book biography about Elizabeth Freeman, a postcolonial slave who uses the courts to gain her freedom. It’s written by Gretchen Woelfe and illustrated by Alix Delinois.

In the midst of subzero temperatures gripping the country, it is difficult to envision warmer days, but several new titles have me excited for spring celebrations such as Earth Day (April 22) and April’s Poetry Month. Loree Griffin Burns’s Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey and Patricia Newman’s Plastic Ahoy: Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, both on the Millbrook imprint, are due out this month. Coming up will be If it Rains Pancakes (Millbrook) by Brian P. Cleary, with illustrations by Andy Rowland, an exploration of haiku and lantern poems.

Meanwhile, Bob Raczka’s Joy in Mudville (Carolrhoda, April) presents a twist on the classic “Casey at the Bat,” featuring oy Armstrong, Mudville’s female pitcher. And speaking of baseball, Matt Doeden’s The World Series: Baseball’s Biggest Stage (Millbrook, March) features 64 pages of triumphs, heartbreaks, and scandals about the fall classic that is sure to attract baseball buffs. Darby Creek is Lerner’s imprint that provides series fiction for reluctant readers, and numerous new titles are in store for 2014. The six-title “Bareknuckle” series is described by Andrew Carre, editorial director, as a cross between Gangs of New York and Fight Club. Aimed at grades 6–12, each book in the series is at a fourth-grade reading level and has between 96 and 120 pages.

For younger readers, Jack the Castaway (Darby Creek, April) by Lisa Doan is the first book in the new “The Berenson’s Schemes” series, which offers a reverse to a classic plot situation in which the child is sent to live with his scheming parents. In this tale, the protagonist becomes Jack the Castaway after being shipwrecked, and must survive while fending off a shark attack. The fourth-grade reading level will make this attractive to upper elementary and early middle schoolers alike.

The Graphic Universe imprint says it all in its name; it offers both graphic fiction and nonfiction through a range of titles. This year, one even seeks to answer the age-old question: What color is dinosaur’s poop? The second book of the “Tib & Tumtum” series by Grimaldi & Bannister, My Amazing Dinosaur, Is due out in January. The imprint will also be adding four more titles to its graphic “Little Prince” series, just in time for that very same prince celebrate his 70th anniversary. The Carolrhoda Lab imprint is dedicated to “boundary-pushing fiction for teens,” and this spring’s lineup delivers on that promise. Corinne Demas’ Returning to Shore (March) features a 15-year-old attempting to reconnect with the father she barely knows. This book would make a nice addition to a library’s LGBTQ collection.

The imprint is also debuting two authors this March, E.K. Johnston and Sashi Kaufman.  Johnston’s The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim is the tale of a 16-year-old boy who saves his Canadian town from some mythological beasts, while Kaufman’s The Other Way Around features a teen on a road trip along with the dumpster-diving, van-driving street performers named the Freegans.

Although, Lerner’s Kar-Ben imprint is known across the board for its quality Jewish content, two new titles in particular will have broad appeal. In Ziggy’s Big Idea (January) Ilana Long gives a fictionalized account of the creation of the bagel and also includes a bagel recipe and back matter. And Heidi Smith Hyde’s Elan, Son of Two Peoples (March) is the coming-of-age tale of a 13-year-old boy who has a Jewish father and a Native American mother. It is based on a true story.   To learn more about these books and others, you can view the webcast online. Also checkout Lerner’s Free Book Friday for a chance to win a free book by posting on the publisher’s blog or tweeting.