Winner

Will’s Race for Home
by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Intermediate    Little, Brown    208 pp.
1/25    9780316299336    $17.99
e-book ed.  9780316299541    $9.99

In this coming-of-age Western, twelve-year-old Will Samuels and his father, a stoic, formerly enslaved man, leave their sharecropper home in Texas for the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889. Along the way, they encounter Caesar, a Black former Union officer who makes the journey with them. The group encounters perils such as wild animals, gunslingers, and, most dangerous of all, former Confederate soldiers who are still fighting the war. Will and Father grow closer during the brutal trek. Eventually, circumstances force Will to show leadership and bravery to help his family lay claim to land. Rhodes’s storytelling is at its strongest during times of high drama, such as when Caesar is shot and when the trio traverses the treacherous Red River. The writing isn’t quite as successful during quieter moments, and the use of relatively modern terms such as “Black” and “enslaved” is a bit jarring in a historical novel. Still, readers who love adventure will find much to enjoy here, and the book would pair well with Cline-Ransome’s One Big Open Sky (rev. 3/24). An afterword addresses how the land rush was made possible by the subjugation of Indigenous people and links this fictional story with the Tulsa Race Massacre that saw racist whites kill successful Black residents, many of whose families participated in the 1889 land rush. MARVA ANNE HINTON

From the March/April 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

Honors

Split the Sky
by Marie Arnold
Middle School, High School    Little, Brown    304 pp.
9/25    9780316582872    $19.99

REVIEW TO COME

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze
by Derrick Barnes
Middle School    Viking    272 pp.
9/25    9781984836755    $17.99

Thirteen-year-old Henson Blayze is about to start eighth grade and, as his friend Menkah tells him, “The whole town, the whole state of Mississippi has been waiting on you.” He’ll be playing football with the high school team; his mostly white town of Great Mountain has never before had a Black athlete to pin their hopes on, but now they have “a ‘Negro’ of their own.” And it is a charmed first day—adoring students, special food, an exclusive area in the lunchroom, even an ode written to him by last year’s class president. But the head of the cafeteria, Mrs. Pendegrass, a Black woman, warns him: “Watch yourself, Henson. Ya hear? When they start acting like this—and I done seen it before—it never ends well. Just protect yourself, baby.” Barnes creates something bigger than a traditional sports novel with an effective combination of well-realized characters, a contemporary setting rooted in history, and mythic elements that lend a transcendent feel. Especially well drawn is Henson’s internal conflict: he loves football but doesn’t want to feel “owned” by white fans; he loves his father and the heritage of the Blayze land, but being the one to carry on the family legacy feels claustrophobic when you want to find own your place in the world. By book’s end, readers will feel that Henson will figure it out. A memorable story (with a powerful opening author’s note) that takes a strong stand for true history. DEAN SCHNEIDER

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.

The Library in the Woods
by Calvin Alexander Ramsey; illus. by R. Gregory Christie
Primary, Intermediate    Carolrhoda    32 pp.
8/25    9781541599123    $19.99

In 1959, a Black boy moves from the countryside to segregated Roxboro, North Carolina. There, he discovers a library for Black people that becomes a lifeline for him and his illiterate father. Painterly acrylic illustrations and tender storytelling bring warmth to this moving story of resilience, literacy, and family. The author’s note reveals the story is inspired by real memories of Roxboro’s Black library and honors the author’s brother, whose love of books left a lasting impact. SUMMER EDWARD

From the Guide/Reviews Database.

Read reviews of the 2026 CSK Illustrator Awards here. For more, click on the tag ALA 2026.