Cover © 2020 by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.

Features

Disturbing the Universe: Books That Broke the Rules by Roger Sutton and Betsy Hearne
Two longtime reviewers chat about books that broke the rules.

How Do You Solve a Problem like Nonfiction? by the Horn Book editors
Which books belong in Nonfiction in the Magazine’s book review section? The answer isn’t always simple.

“Give Me a Decent Bottle of Poison” by Marthe Jocelyn
Concocting a middle-grade murder mystery, with an Agatha Christie twist.

Our Modern Minstrelsy by Kekla Magoon
Black stories written within a white publishing paradigm.

Revolution Kid Style Now! by Celia C. Pérez
A straitlaced kid grows up to create boundary-pushing protagonists.

Columns

Editorial

There Are (Almost) No Rules by Roger Sutton
Do wash your hands, don’t limit your reading.

Rule Breakers
We asked fifteen book creators to tell us about a time they broke the rules.

Trusting My Instincts by Nina Crews

Never a Rule to Begin With by Kacen Callender

The Good Kid by Remy Lai

Rule Number One by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan

What Was I Doing with Those Books? by Jasmine Warga

The World Is My Canvas by Lisa Brown

I Simply Cannot Draw by Kevin Noble Maillard

The Things We Do for Love by Martha Brockenbrough

Amy and the Bus by Amy Sarig King

Not “Not Your Business” by Lesléa Newman

The Workaround by Gene Luen Yang

Stepping Off the Hamster Wheel by Lynne Rae Perkins

The Styrofoam Tray Incident by Steve Sheinkin

Walk Away by Naomi Shihab Nye

Happy Anniversary

Black and White and Read All Over by Cathryn M. Mercier
On its thirtieth birthday, celebrating David Macaulay’s metafictive Caldecott winner Black and White.

Cadenza

The Rules That “Jack” Broke by Shoshana Flax
The classic nursery rhyme gets a makeover — and needs a break.

Reviews

Book Reviews

Departments

On the Web

May/June Starred Books

Impromptu

“Rule Breakers” Contributor Notes

Index to Advertisers

Index to Books Reviewed