Whether you and your loved ones are observing Passover, Easter, or Ramadan, or just spending a (hopefully sunny, but probably not; sigh) spring weekend together, enjoy! We think every occasion is made better with books, so here are some booklists recommending titles to take along, whatever the festivities. And if you, like...
Girl on a Motorcycle by Amy Novesky; illus. by Julie Morstad Primary, Intermediate Viking 48 pp. g 9/20 978-0-593-11629-6 $17.99 e-book ed. 978-0-593-11630-2 $10.99 This picture-book biography of the first woman to complete a solo motorcycle trip around the world begins in 1973 Paris. Wishing to see and write about...
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix High School Tegen/HarperCollins 416 pp. g 9/20 978-0-06-268325-0 $19.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-268327-4 $9.99 In an alternate version of 1983 England, eighteen-year-old Susan Arkshaw travels to London to search for the father she’s never known. Almost immediately, Susan encounters dashing Merlin St. Jacques...
The Inkberg Enigma by Jonathan King; illus. by the author Intermediate, Middle School Gecko 129 pp. g 9/20 Paper ed. 978-1-776572-66-3 $17.61 In this graphic novel set in and around the fictional contemporary New Zealand fishing town of Aurora, youngsters Miro and Zia witness something they weren’t supposed to: a...
Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse; illus. by the author Intermediate, Middle School RH Graphic/Random 240 pp. g 9/20 978-0-593-12528-1 $20.99 Library ed. 978-0-593-11928-0 $23.99 Paper ed. 978-0-593-11927-3 $12.99 e-book ed. 978-0-593-11929-7 $8.99 In this lighthearted, sweet, and entertaining fantastical graphic novel, eleven-year-old Effie is (unexpectedly for all parties involved)...
2020 marks two milestones for Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy: the twenty-fifth anniversary of the UK publication of its first volume, Northern Lights (published a year later in the United States as The Golden Compass); and the twentieth anniversary of the international publication of the third, The Amber Spyglass...
To Dance by Siena Cherson Siegel; illus. by Mark Siegel Intermediate, Middle School Atheneum 86 pp. 10/19 978-1-4814-8663-7 $19.99 Paper ed. 978-1-4814-8664-4 $11.99 e-book ed. 978-1-4814-8665-1 $8.99 Even more effectively than the original, this special edition of the 2006 graphic memoir about Cherson Siegel’s youth as a School of American...
Starring ghosts, ghost hunters, goblins, and changelings, these new adventures for intermediate and middle-school readers are atmospherically spooky (but not-too-scary) books to snuggle up with on a gloomy fall day. Find more Halloween recommendations in Friday's Horn Book Herald e-newsletter. Mollie sets out to return Guest, a changeling child, to...
Starting a new school year—and especially starting school, period—can be nerve-wracking, but it also presents opportunities for new friendships and experiences. These lighthearted picture books validate first-day worries while also celebrating this significant moment. In The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, vignettes follow a boy through his first day of big-kid school. Dubbed the "King of Kindergarten" by his mother, the...