Illustration from Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker; illus. by Ekua Holmes.

The following books will receive starred reviews in the September/October 2021 Horn Book Magazine.

Maybe… by Chris Haughton (Candlewick) 

A House by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)

Bright Star by Yuyi Morales (Porter/Holiday)

Hurricane by John Rocco (Little, Brown) 

Oscar’s Tower of Flowers by Lauren Tobia (Candlewick)

Dream Street by Tricia Elam Walker; illus. by Ekua Holmes (Schwartz/Random)

A Boy Named Isamu: A Story of Isamu Noguchi by James Yang (Viking) 

The Robber Girl by Franny Billingsley (Candlewick)

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate DiCamillo; illus. by Sophie Blackall (Candlewick) 

Switch by A.S. King (Dutton) 

Pax: Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker; illus. by Jon Klassen (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)

Fish and Sun by Sergio Ruzzier (HarperAlley/HarperCollins) 

Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen; illus. by Aaron Becker (Little, Brown) 

Bad Sister by Charise Mericle Harper; illus. by Rory Lucey (First Second) 

Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho; illus. by Teresa Martinez (Harper/HarperCollins) 

Run: Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; illus. by L. Fury with Nate Powell (Good Trouble Productions/ComicArts/Abrams) 

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon (Candlewick)

Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress by Alicia D. Williams; illus. by April Harrison (Schwartz/Random)

The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Eugene Yelchin (Candlewick)