2025 Mind the Gap Awards: The books that didn't win at ALA

by Horn Book
Jul 30, 2025 | Filed in Book Awards

Not all deserving books bring home ALA awards. The books that didn’t win.

 

Misdirected

Tove and the Island with No Address by Lauren Soloy

Telephone of the Tree by Alison McGhee
   
Misjudged

The Judgment of Yoyo Gold by Isaac Blum
   
Missed the bus

The Yellow Bus by Loren Long

Next Stop by Debbie Fong
   
Unsung

The One & Only Googoosh by Azadeh Westergaard
   
Unfriended

A Friend for Eddy by Ann Kim Ha
   
Forgotten

Remembering Rosalind Franklin by Tanya Lee Stone; illus. by Gretchen Ellen Powers
   
Left behind

Let’s Go! by Julie Flett

Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest by Isabel Greenberg
   
Left on shore

Ahoy! by Sophie Blackall

The House Before Falling into the Sea by Ann Suk Wang; illus. by Hanna Cha

Island of Whispers by Frances Hardinge; illus. by Emily Gravett
   
Frozen out Heatwave by Lauren Redniss
   
Locked out

Pick the Lock by A.S. King
   
Grounded

Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams; illus. by Danica Novgorodoff
   
Not her day

Meena’s Saturday by Kusum Mepani; illus. by Yasmeen Ismail

 

From the July/August 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine: Special Issue: ALA Awards. See how The Horn Book reviewed the 2025 Mind the Gap Award recipients here. For speeches, profiles, and articles, click the tag ALA 2025.

Single copies of this special issue are available for $15.00 including postage and may be ordered from:

Horn Book Magazine Customer Service
magazinesupport@mediasourceinc.com

Full subscription information is here.

 

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