See, Hear, Read: our experts pick the movie, music and book release of the month

“The first time I listened to Esperanza Spalding, she had me hooked. She’s a classically trained artist who used to play Bach and Beethoven but has found her own voice. She’s influenced by a lot of early jazz, and you can hear it on her last album, Chamber Music Society. After beating out Bieber and Drake for the Best New Artist Grammy last year, she’s got a lot to prove, and this funky, high-energy follow-up album promises something unexpected.” —Dane Taylor Co-owner of Song and Script

Radio Music Society, Esperanza Spalding (March 20)

“In Leah Bobet’s first novel, she turns a familiar sci-fi storyline into a tremendous adventure, as well as a meditation on how our mythologies shape us. Matthew lives underground with a bunch of misfits in a place they call Safe. He is the Teller, the keeper of their stories. When Safe is attacked, he and his friends are forced to flee to Above, a sunlit world they barely understand. It’s a gorgeous tale, and I love the immediacy of the first-person narration.” —Chris Szego Manager of Bakka Phoenix Books

Above, by Leah Bobet (March 1)

(Images: Top courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment; middle courtesy of Concord Music group; bottom courtesy of Scholastic Canada. Illustrations by Mia Overgaard. )