Day: March 19, 2026

Indies Choice Book Awards Shortlists

| Tasha

The shortlists for the Indies Choice Book Awards have been announced. The awards are voted on my indie booksellers in the US. Eligible titles must have appeared on one of the American Booksellers Association’s Indie Next List, Kids’ Indie Next List or Indies Introduce list. Here are the shortlisted titles in the juvenile categories:

CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOKS SHORTLIST

Bakery Dragon and the Fairy Cake by Devin Elle Kurtz

Buffalo Fluffalo and Puffalo by Bess Kalb, illustrated by Erin Kroan

Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat

If We Were Dogs by Sophie Blackall

Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin

A Snow Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

MIDDLE GRADE SHORTLIST

All the Blues in the Sky by Renee Watson

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

Dragonborn by Struan Murray

Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

YOUNG ADULT SHORTLIST

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

The Last Bookstore on Earth by Lily Braun-Arnold

Legendary Frybread Drive-In edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran

DEBUT CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST

Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller

The Queen’s Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu

Trans History by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett

Whale Eyes by James Robinson

Saber-Tooth by Robin Gow – Book Recommendation

| Tasha
Cover image for Saber-Tooth by Robin Gow. Features a boy digging in the ground with the skeleton of a saber-tooth tiger in the dirt below him.

Saber-Tooth by Robin Gow

  • Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
  • Publication Date: January 27, 2026
  • Reviewed from NetGalley e-galley
  • ISBN: 9781419777387

Jasper cannot believe that his older brother is ignoring him just before he leaves for college far away. His brother had promised to take him to find fossils, but they never did. Jasper loves rocks and fossils, which is why when he picked his new name, he picked Jasper. Jasper feels so angry at his brother that he dumps an entire glass of lemonade on his brother’s college laptop, ruining it. When his brother leaves for college, Jasper is still angry, now at himself as well as his brother. When Jasper starts to hear the bones of a saber-tooth tiger speaking to him from inside the ground, the voice is friendly. It urges Jasper to dig and soon Jasper is staying up all night digging a hole in his backyard. But the voice changes and soon Jasper has to face that anger even when buried can be destructive.

This book is so multi-layered that it’s nearly impossible to write a coherent summary of it. The book is written in verse, sharing Jasper’s struggles with his anger, questioning whether he is ready to grow up as an eighth grader, finding new friends, but always being drawn back to the voice in his head, the saber-tooth. Jasper is also trans, an element that is important and yet not the focus of the book. I deeply appreciate the handling of the saber-tooth in the end. It does not become a figment of Jasper’s imagination or a sign of mental illness, it is very much alive and while symbolic is also tangible. 

A verse novel with wildness, bite and rage.