Authors & Illustrators
Titan of the Stars (Tundra, 14–17 years) is set in the future on a spaceship en route to Mars. Elements, including the social dynamics, may remind readers of the Titanic…but the danger for these passengers arises from space aliens discovered in a melting tundra; presumed to be dead, they’ve escaped...
Anything (Chronicle, 4–8 years) is an introspective, sensitively conveyed picture book about a dad helping a child through difficult transitions in a new apartment. The ambiguity in Rebecca Stead’s (2010 Newbery Medalist for When You Reach Me) text, accompanied by Gracey Zhang’s spare illustrations, leaves room for readers to imagine...
In Run Away with Me (Scholastic, 14 years and up), Brian Selznick brings his signature mix of text and immersive black-and-white drawings to his first book for young adults. Two teen boys meet in 1986 Rome for a summer of mystery, art, and of course, first love. For more romantic recommendations,...
In the stirring picture book When I Hear Spirituals (Holiday, 6–9 years), Cheryl Willis Hudson’s poetic text from the point of view of a contemporary Black child pairs with lyrics from spirituals, while London Ladd’s illustrations tell a story of that child and her family along with scenes from African...
Amy Cherrix’s meticulously researched page-turner Virus Hunters: How Science Protects People When Outbreaks and Pandemics Strike (Harper/HarperCollins, 8–12 years) puts a timely topic in context by examining the important work of epidemiologists in six case studies at various moments in history. For more scientific middle-grade nonfiction, see our list “Real...
Jason Reynolds’s sensitive, funny YA novel Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…: A Love Story (Dlouhy/Atheneum, 14–18 years) begins just before Neon and Aria’s “first time” — and then tells the story backward, giving perspective on how their relationship has led up to that moment. For more novels featuring all kinds of...
The December issue of Notes usually just consists of Fanfare, an embarrassment of riches in itself. But we couldn’t be luckier — and we couldn’t be happier — to have a chance to interview longtime Friend of the Horn Book Gregory Maguire. Maguire wrote the 1995 adult book Wicked: The...
In Kusum Mepani’s picture book Meena’s Saturday (Kokila/Penguin, 4–8 years), the young title character enjoys warm, boisterous weekly gatherings with her family and community (depicted in Yasmeen Ismail’s lively illustrations), even as she questions her role within them. For more books about togetherness, see our list “Gather together” in this...
In Tracey Baptiste's page-turning sci-fi thriller Boy 2.0 (Algonquin, 10–14 years), Win “Coal” Keegan, a Black boy in the foster system and an activist who makes art about anti-Black police violence, finds that he can turn invisible, an ability that keeps him safe when he needs it most. His discovery...
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