Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 01/19/2026 Ifueko (The Maid and the Crocodile) blends corporate dystopia, climate satire, and cinematic flair to launch a daring, high-concept series that recalls Black Mirror. Self- proclaimed "Future Feared and Fabulous Film Director" Valentine Adesanya, 13, lives in drought-stricken Gloss Angeles, a city with holographic palm trees, technicolor wildfires, and jellyquakes. When she sets out to find her missing sister, Mango, following a bogus lead results in Valentine being forced to participate in the Genie Game, a glorified wish-granting competition developed by the Trio Trust, a group of megacorporations that run the country and determine who’s allowed to use magic. Upon discovering that Mango is being held captive at one of the company headquarters, Valentine races to claim the title of Top Genie, which will allow her access to the Trio Trust CEOs and, hopefully, her sister. Clever writing dazzles with whimsical details-mint green skies are accompanied by cotton candy clouds, lemonade-flavored air, and booger hail-without undercutting the stakes or narrative tension. This impressive volume is at once playfully imaginative and grimly familiar in its portrayal of capitalism’s influence and the power of corruption. Main characters are racially diverse. Ages 10-14. Agent: Kate McKean, Howard Morhaim Literary. (Apr.) - Copyright 2026

School Library Journal - 03/01/2026 Gr 5–9—The latest work by Ifueko continues to confirm her fantasy worldbuilding and character development expertise. This first volume of a new trilogy introduces readers to Nigerian American Valentine Adesanya, 13, who quickly becomes enmeshed in an underground world of magic and business tycoons as she searches for Vanessa, the sister that the world insists does not exist. In Valentine's world, the sky is green and everything is owned by one of three corporations collectively known as the Trio Trust: Bumblebell Foods, Gloss & Gleam Beauty, and Farafyte Technologies. When Valentine receives a text purportedly from Vanessa asking her to meet, she hopes to reunite with her sister but instead discovers an underground world run by the General Employee Network of Immortal Engineers (G.E.N.I.E.) who all report to the Trio Trust. Valentine learns that the wishes granted by the bottled (trapped) genies is what has been powering her entire world under the guidance of the corporations. Valentine agrees to participate in the genie games, using anything but magic to grant people's wishes, when she learns that her sister was once involved. In her mission to locate her sister, Valentine quickly rises to the top of the leader board while embarking on side quests that deftly touch on environmental and social justice issues, consumerism, and Artificial Intelligence concerns. Valentine's driving motivation to find Vanessa is answered by the end, but other concepts arise, promising future adventures. VERDICT Readers of sci-fi fantasy books will love this inventive new addition.—Susan Catlett - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 03/01/2026 *Starred Review* Valentine Adesanya just knows she is destined to be a great film director, but she first needs to finish middle school and find her missing sister, whom only she seems to remember. In Valentine’s city of Gloss Angeles, life is controlled by the Trio Trust, three large corporations responsible for all the food, housing, and technology in the country—and Valentine is sure they’re also behind her sister’s disappearance. While following a potential lead on her sister’s whereabouts, Valentine gets tricked into becoming a GENIE—an “Immortal Engineer,” aka a wish granter, working for the Trio Trust. Wish-granting competitions provide Valentine with the opportunity to get closer to finding her sister, but it grows more complicated as Valentine befriends other genies and tries to reconnect with those from her “mortal” life. Will Valentine ever be able to win a competition and be free like before? Or does possessing the genie magic give her a new kind of freedom? In her series opener (and first book for middle-graders), New York Times best-seller Ifueko has crafted a fantastically dystopian world of artificiality while taking the be-careful-what-you-wish-for trope to a new level. The satirical commentary on capitalism, technology, and industrialization provides for an intense but humorous story that is digestible for young readers and entertaining for adults, too. - Copyright 2026 Booklist.