ABA is proud to announce the titles selected for the Summer/Fall 2026 Indies Introduce program.

Each year, the Indies Introduce program brings booksellers together from across the US for conversation and connection centered around exciting upcoming debut adult, middle grade, and young adult titles.

“Having the opportunity to support and champion debut authors and stories is what makes being on Indies Introduce so rewarding! You get to read a diverse array of manuscripts, find the hidden gems, and help them gain an audience of readers who might not have otherwise found the story on their own. You also get to meet and collaborate with booksellers from all over the country while creating a meaningful list of debuts. This experience is rewarding in so many ways,” said kids' panelist Allie Cesmat of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona.

Once again this year, publishers are offering specials on all titles appearing on the lists.

For stores that have taken part in past Indies Introduce promotions, there’s no need to sign up to take advantage of publishers’ Summer/Fall 2026 offers. However, stores that are new to Indies Introduce must complete the Indies Introduce sign-up form by June 2 in order to participate in the program.

This list is available as a collection on Edelweiss. And marketing assets for the Summer/Fall 2026 list are available now on BookWeb.org

The Indies Introduce kids' titles will also be presented at Children's Institute 2026. 

Indies Introduce bookseller and author interviews will be posted on ABA's BookED podcast

Here are the Summer/Fall 2026 Indies Introduce Kids’ and Adult Debuts:

Adult Debuts

Rabbit, Fox, Tar by P.C. Verrone 
Catapult, 9781646223176, HC, Fiction, $28.00, One Sale: 6/2/2026

Forever Is the Sweetest Con by Joanna Thurlow 
Sugar Shack Books, 9781998129805, PB, Romance, $21.95, One Sale: 6/16/2026

It's All River: A Novel by Carla Madeira, Alison Entrekin (Transl.) 
Liveright, 9781324098119, HC, Fiction, $26.99, One Sale: 6/23/2026

70,000: Poems by Lenna Jawdat 
Central Avenue Poetry, 9781771684545, PB, Poetry, $22.00, One Sale: 7/7/2026

Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt by Ben Reeves 
Avid Reader Press, 9781668216361, HC, Fiction, $28.00, One Sale: 7/7/2026

A Real Animal by Emeline Atwood 
Catapult, 9781646222964, HC, Fiction, $29.00, One Sale: 7/7/2026

Lost in Curiosity by Roberta Kwok 
Sourcebooks, 9781728275970, HC, Nonfiction, $27.99, One Sale: 7/21/2026

All That's Unseen by Emilee Hackney 
Penguin Press, 9780593831403, HC, Memoir, $32.00, One Sale: 7/28/2026

Huna by Abdelrahman ElGendy 
Hogarth, 9798217153602, HC, Memoir, $30.00, One Sale: 9/1/2026

Buzzard by Inez Ray 
Left Unread Books, 9781967967261, PB, Science Fiction, $19.95, One Sale: 09/22/2026

Kids’ Debuts

Casting April by Wendy Lu
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9798217030286, HC, MG Fiction, $17.99, One Sale: 6/16/2026

Just Ask Elsie by Ari Koontz
Feiwel & Friends, 9781250410986, HC, MG Fiction, $18.99, One Sale: 6/16/2026

Sneaks by Amy Tern
Holiday House, 9780823461622, HC, MG Fiction, $18.99, One Sale: 7/7/2026

Flickerstate by F. A. Davidson
Sourcebooks Fire, 9781464266195, HC, YA Fantasy, $18.99, One Sale: 7/28/2026

The Ginghams by T. C. Kemper
Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 9781250489425, PB, MG Mystery, $9.99, One Sale: 7/28/2026

Fire to The Stars by Morgan J. Watchorn
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 9780593708446, HC, YA Fantasy, $19.99, One Sale: 8/4/2026

72 Hours of You by Darianne Schramm
Hyperion, 9781368116077, HC, YA Romance, $19.99, One Sale: 9/1/2026

Tom Burne Has Left The Chat by Seán Farrelly
Faber & Faber Children's, 9780571388219, PB, YA Fiction, $12.95, One Sale: 9/1/2026

Where We Go At Night by Ikwo Ntekim
HarperCollins, 9781335453853, HC, YA Fantasy, $19.99, One Sale: 10/27/2026

Queen Of The Spirit Woods by Sharon Choe
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 9798347106462, HC, YA Fantasy, $19.99, One Sale: 11/3/2026

Bookseller panelists who served on the adult and kids’ panels include:

Adult Panelists
Chair: Amani Jackson, The Ivy Bookshop, Baltimore, MD
Jamie Hope Anderson, Duck's Cottage, Duck, NC
Ollie Mendez, Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA
Thais Perkins, Reverie Books, Austin, TX
Rebekah Rine, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, KS
Jocele Skinner, Shared Stories Books, Caldwell, ID
Toni Thayer, Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights, OH
Coco Zephir, An Unlikely Story, Plainville, MA

Kids’ Panelists
Chair: Allie Cesmat, Changing Hands Bookstore, Tempe, AZ
Elizabeth Bosscher, Schuler Books, Grand Rapids, MI
Amy Buren, Maggie Mae's Bookshop, Gresham, OR
Ashli Byfield, Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
Easty Lambert-Brown, Ernest & Hadley Booksellers Tuscaloosa, AL
Michael Leali, Mrs. Dalloways, Berkeley, CA
Alyssa Raymond, Copper Dog Books, Beverly, MA
Angela Whited, Red Balloon Bookshop, St. Paul, MN