On Monday, May 19, Today’s Jenna Bush Hager unveiled her fourth-annual Read with Jenna Jr. Summer Reading List for 2025 live on the Today Show Plaza, featuring 22 kid-friendly reads from picture books through young adult, including Sarah Arthur’s young adult fantasy novel Once a Queen (Book 1 in The Carrick Hall Novels), published by WaterBrook.
An ECPA bestseller, Once a Queen has received acclaim since its release in January 2024, including being a finalist for the 2025 ECPA Christian Book Awards—Young People’s Literature, as well as the 2024 Christy Awards—Young Adult, celebrating excellence in Christian fiction.
Once a Queen invites readers to join fourteen-year-old Eva as she uncovers dangerous secrets when she visits the manor of her estranged English grandmother, who may have once been a queen in another world.
“Once a Queen is a fantasy lover’s novel, blending classic fairy-tale homages with fresh takes on beloved tropes,” said Sarah Rubio, Executive Editor, PRH Christian. “But it’s also accessible for readers new to fantasy, with vivid, relatable characters and profound themes that will linger long after the last page is turned. I’m excited for many more readers to discover the joy to be found in losing themselves in this wonder-steeped story.”
The spellbinding sequel in the Carrick Hall Novels trilogy, Once a Castle (WaterBrook), recently published in February of this year. The highly anticipated final installment, Once a Crown (WaterBrook), is scheduled to release in Spring 2026.
To see the full list of the 2025 Read with Jenna, Jr Summer Reading picks, visit https://www.today.com/popculture/books/read-with-jenna-junior-book-list-2025-rcna203839.
Sarah Arthur is a fun-loving speaker and the bestselling author of a dozen books for teens and adults, including Once a Queen, Once a Castle, and Walking with Frodo. Among other nerdy adventures, she has served as preliminary fiction judge for the CT Book Awards, was a founding board member of the annual C. S. Lewis Festival in Northern Michigan, and codirects the Madeleine L’Engle Writing Retreats. For more information on Sarah Arthur, Once a Queen, and The Carrick Hall Novels, visit SarahArthur.com
WaterBrook is an imprint of PRH Christian Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC
