Ballet, babies, and bears joined ninjas, celebrities, and librarian/authors at the 2014 Penguin Young Readers Group summer preview. The publisher gathered New York City area librarians to give them a peek at 62 titles from their more than 10 imprints. Recently, there has been much discussion about diversity in books for young people, and it appears that Penguin has gotten the message, as they have several teen novels that address cultural and social issues. Nina LaCour, inspired by an actual gay/straight alliance that she encountered on a high school visit, depicts a lesbian romance story set in L.A. in her May release, Everything Leads to You, while Padma Venkatraman’s May title A Time to Dance centers on a girl, Veda, who must overcome the loss of her foot to reach her dream. The book provides insight into the culture of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance and should be a great tie-in with this season’s Dancing with the Stars. Speaking of tie-ins, is your school teaching Romeo and Juliet? Two Penguin titles this year address forbidden love. Afghan Television journalist Atia Abawi has just penned The Secret Sky, out in September, the story of a young couple in war torn Afghanistan who have to fight their families, their cultures, and the Taliban to stay together. In Like No Other, which publishes in July, Una LaMarche, the preview’s guest author, tells the story of a Hasidic girl who falls in love with a Caribbean American boy. LaMarche recounted a scene that takes place in the Brooklyn Public Library and read from the book. Speaking of libraries, librarians and libraries were well represented. Popular, a memoir releasing in April in which author 15-year-old Maya Van Wagenen describes the year she spent following a 1950s popularity guide in order to increase her social standing, features a heroine librarian. The library also takes center stage in Edgar winner Dori Hillestad Butler latest title, The Haunted Library, releasing in August, the first in a new chapter book series about a girl who lives above a public library and the ghostly friend she meets. Similarly, former librarian Alex London will be releasing Guardian in May, the sequel to the gripping scifi thriller Proxy about a frightening illness plaguing a society. Finally, Monica Carnesi, librarian at the Free Library of Philadelphia, will be releasing her second picture book, Sleepover with Beatrice and Bear in August, a gentle work about two pals who make their friendship work, even when winter—and hibernation—threatens to separate them. Bears made a second appearance at the preview with David Soman’s visually appealing picture book Three Bears in a Boat, which publishes in May, in which a group of young bears take a frightening journey to replace a shell they broke that belongs to their mother. Books involving animals were in high supply. Celebrity canine Sandy of Annie fame gets his own book in Puffin’s “Annie” series of chapter books, Sandy’s Story, out in August, which explores the pooch’s life before meeting Annie and Daddy Warbucks. Meanwhile, the aptly named Robert Byrd has a retelling of the “Chicken Little” story, Brave Little Chicken, out in August. For those who would rather read than sleep, Danielle Vega’s candy-colored The Merciless, out in June, a story about an exorcism gone wrong, may fit the bill. Learning about the work of debut authors is always a delight, and this preview was no different. Tara Dairman’s All Four Stars is the story of foodie Gladys Gatsby, who becomes a stealth restaurant critic. Tracy Holczer’s The Secret Hum of a Daisy, out in May, is a heartbreaking read about a motherless girl who goes on a treasure hunt. Tree blight, a lupine princess and sea creatures are all elements in Heather Mackey’s debut novel Dreamwood, out in June. Glass Sentence (Viking, June 2014) by S. E. Grove was described as an American Philip Pullman with a Louisa May Alcott character is the first of the “Mapmakers Trilogy” and is visually quite interesting. Several illustrators took center stage during the preview. Sophie Blackall’s The Baby Tree, releasing in May, answers the always-challenging question “Where do babies come from?” Rachel Isadora wanted to use today’s most popular boy name in her companion book to Bea at Ballet—hence, Jake at Gymnastics. Raúl Colón’s powerful illustrations make Juan Felipe Herrera’s Portraits of Hispanic American Heroes a beautiful and informative title (publishing in August). Out of this array of great works, however, it was picture book rock star Oliver Jeffers’s None the Number, coming out in July, and his 112-page alphabet book Once upon an Alphabet, done in the style of Edward Gorey, releasing in October, that drew the most oohhs and aahs. My personal delight of the preview was to learn that in April, we will have Jean Craighead George’s final novel, Ice Whale. George died in 2012, and her posthumous work about a long-lived whale whose life spanned several generations of a family was completed with the help of her children Twig and Craig. What about most intriguing title of the preview? That goes to Doreen Cronin’s picture book Boom Snot Twitty (illustrated by Renata Liwska), a philosophical tale about three friends—a bear, a snail, and a robin—with three very different perspectives on life. Remember that Roald Dahl’s classic work Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is turning 50. To celebrate, Penguin Young Readers has partnered with Dylan’s Candy Bar and Matilda the Musical on Broadway to launch a National Golden Ticket Sweepstakes. Winners will receive a trip to New York City that includes seeing Matilda, as well as a day at Dylan’s. Librarians can print out the entry form and make it available to patrons and students. In addition, Penguin is sponsoring the Roald Dahl Miss Honey Social Justice Award, named for the sympathetic young teacher in Dahl’s Matilda. The award is administered by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and will be sponsored by Penguin Random House for its first five years. The award will go to an AASL member librarian who has collaborated with a teacher on a project, event, or program to further social justice using school library resources. The 2014 award winner—who, for this inaugural award, must incorporate Charlie into the project—will be honored on June 28 at the ALA annual conference in Las Vegas.