Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome back Rebecca Bendheim to reveal the cover of her second contemporary Middle Grade, How to Take a Risk, releasing February 9, 2027 from Viking Books for Young Readers! Here’s the story:
The summer before seventh grade, adrenaline junkie Reagan is excited to be with her summer best friend, Zander, and cross every item off of their annual “Risk List,” a list of dares to complete across their coastal Maine town. She’ll get a break from her family friends, Madi and Olive, and their new obsession with crushes and boys, and be able to focus on rock-jumping, hill-skateboarding, and camping out in the cemetery.
But when Zander asks Reagan to be his girlfriend, everything changes. What Reagan hoped would be a fun-filled summer like any other quickly becomes the most complicated of her life—especially when she realizes she doesn’t have a crush on Zander but on her friend Olive instead. How long can she stay Zander’s girlfriend when she knows her true feelings?
And just when things can’t get any more tangled for Reagan, her mom tells her that she’s pregnant, with Reagan’s new baby sister scheduled to arrive at the end of summer. Suddenly, buried feelings come to the surface, and Reagan turns to increasingly scary dares to avoid the emotions bubbling up inside.
But she can’t avoid these feelings forever. And maybe some changes are good. Maybe this summer is about discovering that the biggest risk of all is learning how to be herself.
And here’s the beautiful cover, designed by Anabeth Bostrup and Opal Roengchai with art by Dion MDB!
Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | Oliver and Friends (Signed)
Rebecca Bendheim is the author of When You’re Brave Enough and a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vermont College of Fine Arts. She types poems around the country with the Typewriter Rodeo poetry troupe and lives in Maine with her wife. She has bungee jumped, skydived, and swum with sharks, but the biggest risk she’s ever taken is putting her deepest emotions into books. Rebecca can be found on social media @RebeccaBendheim and on her website at rebeccabendheim.com
Kelsey B. Toney writes humorous, heartfelt stories about the hope that exists after we’ve made our most laughably bad decisions. She is the author of the USA Today Bestseller, THE UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCE OF BLEEDING ON A TUESDAY which was a NYPL and Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year, an ALA “RISE: A Feminist Book Project List” Top Ten Selection, an ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten Selection, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. In past lives, Kelsey has been a teacher, recording artist, and actress—always in pursuit of connection through art and empathy. Learn more about Kelsey at kelseybtoney.com, on her podcast, or in her newsletter.
Ari Koontz is a queer nonbinary writer and educator with an MFA in creative writing from Northern Michigan University. They’re dedicated to telling full-hearted stories of bravery and whimsy in every possible genre, centering the beautiful complexities of queer identity and community, and supporting their local public library. A born-and-raised Midwestern UU, Ari lives close to where the water meets the woods and loves to take long walks when they should be writing. Just Ask Elsie is their debut novel.
Marieke Nijkamp (she/they) is the author of Splinter & Ash; Ink Girls, a middle grade graphic novel illustrated by Sylvia Bi; as well as several books for young adults, which include #1 New York Times bestsellers, a critically acclaimed anthology, graphic novels, and comics. She studied philosophy and medieval history, and when she isn’t writing, she loves to garden, roll dice, and daydream. Marieke Nijkamp lives and writes in Small Town, the Netherlands.
Sylvia Bi is the illustrator of the graphic novel Ink Girls, written by Marieke Nijkamp, and loves drawing stories with expansive, vibrant worlds, an undercurrent of chaos, and girls running on rooftops. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, she explores and shares diverse stories and experiences through the power of a (digital) pen. She is also a book designer, a frog enthusiast, and an avid earring collector. Sylvia Bi lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Nicole Melleby, a Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season and ALA Notable Children’s book How to Become a Planet. She is currently on the faculty of the Hamline University MFA for Writing for Children and Young Adults, and lives with her wife and their cats, whose needs for attention oddly align with Nicole’s writing schedule.
Bio: After cutting their teeth on a steady diet of fan fiction in the Southwest of England, Esme Symes-Smith wandered north to Wales for their degree in literature and creative writing, then promptly migrated to Missouri after meeting their wife on Tumblr.