Children’s fantasy and science fiction are positively overrun with rodents, from Brian Jacques’ Redwall books and Robert C. O’Brien’s Rats of NIMH series to Kate DiCamillo’s The Tale of Despereaux. My theory: Kids love an unlikely hero. After all, if a physically unimposing protagonist can rise to the occasion, just about anyone can. And who’s more vulnerable than a tiny mouse?

So let’s welcome another murine hero: Titch, the winsome star of L.M. Wilkinson’s chapter book, Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu (Simon & Schuster, March 17). Titch longs to become a mighty warrior like the legendary Bravepaw, who generations ago saved the land of Alluria from frightening beasts. But monsters were long ago vanquished; warriors are no longer needed, and even if they were, few would look to Titch, the littlest mouse in her community. When a royal hare arrives on the scene, dogged by terrifying curseworms, Titch rescues the newcomer—and soon learns she’s destined for greatness. Wilkinson and Naidu blend cozy details with thrills; this is just the tale to make lifelong fantasy fans out of readers.

Plenty of other recent SFF stories feature hapless, uncertain, or otherwise vulnerable protagonists (of the nonrodent variety) who persevere, like the title character of E.M. and David Elliott’s Bonebag (Astra Young Readers, May 26). Upon learning that the grotesque couple he once called Modor and Faeder (Mother and Father) are actually child-eating monsters, Bonebag flees in search of his real family. The authors’ prose is haunting and their worldbuilding mesmerizing, with cruelly Dickensian characters and a woodsy setting that suggests an even more nightmarish “Hansel and Gretel.”

Tracey Baptiste’s Kid X (Little, Brown; Feb. 24) follows Coal, a Black middle schooler who can make himself invisible; but there are some things even this superpower can’t protect him from. Shuttled in and out of foster homes his whole life, he’s recently drawn the attention of a biometrics firm. The author entwines her gripping narrative with rich historical context (she draws parallels between the corporate interest in Coal’s gift and both the Tuskegee study and the case of Henrietta Lacks). In Coal, Baptiste has created a realistically flawed adolescent grappling with what it means to be a superhero: Can you use your powers for personal gain? And how do you save the day when you’re plagued with self-doubt?

When Zuzu Santos’ father, laid off by the Lockwood Corporation, receives an automaton as severance pay, Zuzu is initially hostile—her teacher has warned her that the company uses drones to spy on the population—but friendship grows between girl and robot. Erin Entrada Kelly’s The Second Life of Snap, illustrated by Erwin Madrid (Greenwillow Books, May 12), portrays a grim dystopian setting beset by climate change, where the privileged control access to resources and AI has “infected everything beautiful.” In other words, a world startlingly similar to our own. But this narrative is imbued with tenderness, led by a seemingly powerless protagonist who bravely comes to the aid of her loved ones, human and robot alike.

Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.