Fall 2020 Kids’ Indie Next List

The American Booksellers Association has a preview of the titles that will appear on the Fall 2020 Kids’ Indie Next List. They select a top ten as well as an additional 40 books to highlight in the coming season. The picks are based on recommendations from independent bookstores across the country. Here are the books on the List:

TOP TEN

The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

Lightfall: The Girl & the Galdurian by Tim Probert

Lobizona by Romina Garber

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Short & Sweet by Josh Funk, Brendan Kearney

Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake, Jon Klassen

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles

Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse

A Wolf for a Spell by Karah Sutton

 

AGES 4-8

Arlo & Pips: King of the Birds by Elise Gravel

Attack of the Underwear Dragon by Scott Rothman, Pete Oswald

Buttercup the Bigfoot by Douglas Rees, Isabel Munoz

Donut Feed the Squirrels by Mika Song

Escape Goat by Ann Patchett, Robin Preiss Glasser

Every Little Letter by Deborah Underwood, Joy Huang Ruiz

Fern and Otto: A Story About Two Best Friends by Stephanie Graegin

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes, Gordon C. James

I Promise by LeBron James, Nina Mata

Margaret’s Unicorn by Briony May Smith

The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom by Colleen AF Venable, Lian Cho

The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story by Tina Cho, Jess X. Snow

Pea, Bee, & Jay: Stuck Together by Brian “Smitty” Smith

Sometimes People March by Tessa Allen

Thesaurus Has a Secret by Anya Glazer

 

AGES 9-12

Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson

A Cat Story by Ursula Murray Husted

Cattywampus by Ash Van Otterloo

Cinders & Sparrows by Stefan Bachmann

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, Ann Xu

One Time by Sharon Creech

The Places We Sleep by Caroline DuBois

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

The Silver Arrow by Lev Grossman

Three Keys: A Front Desk Novel by Kelly Yang

A Whale of the Wild by Rosanne Parry, Lindsay Moore

 

TEENS

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Dear Justyce by Nic Stone

Fable by Adrienne Young

Hush by Dylan Farrow

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

Never Look Back by Lilliam Rivera

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar

The Truth Project by Dante Medema

 

 

 

 

 

2020 New Zealand Book Awards

The winners of the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have been announced. They select a book of the year as well as category winners. Here are the winners, plus a gorgeous video acceptance speech for the Book of the Year:

BOOK OF THE YEAR

Mophead

Mophead, Selina Tusitala Marsh

 

PICTURE BOOK AWARD

Abigail and the birth of the sun

Abigail and the Birth of the Sun, Matthew Cunningham, illustrated by Sarah Wilkins

 

WRIGHT FAMILY FOUNDATION ESTHER GLEN AWARD FOR JUNIOR FICTION

Lizard's Tale

Lizard’s Tale, Weng Wai Chan

 

YOUNG ADULT FICTION AWARD

Aspiring

Aspiring, Damien Wilkins

 

ELSIE LOCKE AWARD FOR NON-FICTION

Mophead

Mophead, Selina Tusitala Marsh

 

RUSSELL CLARK AWARD FOR ILLUSTRATION

The Adventures of Tupaia

The Adventures of Tupaia, illustrated by Mat Tait, written by Courtney Sina Meredith

 

WRIGHT FAMILY FOUNDATION TE KURA POUNAMU AWARD (books written completely in te reo Māori)

Tio Tiamu te Tipia (The Smelly Giant Te Reo Maori Edition)

Tio Tiamu, Kurahau, illustrated by Laya Mutton-Rogers

 

BEST FIRST BOOK AWARD

#Tumeke!

Michael Petherick for #Tumeke!

 

2020 CBC Book Awards Finalists

The Children’s Book Council has announced the finalists for their 2020 Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards. The awards are the only national book awards selected by children and teens.  Here are the finalists:

KINDERGARTEN to 2ND GRADE

The Babysitter from Another Planet by Stephen Savage

Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris

Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

The Good Egg by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald

I Am Love by Susan Verde and Peter Reynolds

I Am a Tiger by Karl Newson, illustrated by Ross Collins

No Place Like Home by Ronojoy Ghosh

The Perfect Sofa by Fifi Kuo

 

3RD to 4TH GRADE

Chapter Two Is Missing by Josh Lieb

The Immortal Jellyfish by Sang Miao

The Karate Kid by Kim Smith

Mr. Posey’s New Glasses by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Daniel Duncan

Science You Can Eat by Stefan Gates

The Seekers by Hari Panicker and Deepti Nair

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson

 

5TH to 6TH GRADE

Earth by Steve Jenkins

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

Hicotea by Lorena Alvarez

Pandora’s Legacy by Bones Leopard, illustrated by Kelly Matthews and Nichole Matthews

Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen

Rising Water by Marc Aronson

Survivors of the Holocaust edited by Kath Shackleton, illustrated by Zane Whittingham

 

TEEN

Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden

Beast Rider by Tony Johnston and Maria Elena Fontanot De Rhoads

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Frankly in Love by David Yoon

It’s Trevor Noah by Trevor Noah

Mirror, Mirror by Jen Calonita

Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagan

The Diverse Book Awards 2020 Longlist

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This new UK award was created by The Author School. It is awarded to UK based authors only  and focuses on books published in 2019 that feature “Black, Asian, Latin American and and/or inclusive main characters.” Below are the longlists for the juvenile categories. The shortlists will be announced in September with the winners announced in October.

CHILDREN’S 

Son of the Circus - A Victorian Story

Son of the Circus by E. L. Norry

My Hair by Hannah Lee, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan

The Mysterious Melody by SP K-Mushambi, illustrated by Kudzai Gumbo

Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik

The Star Outside My Window by Onjali Q. Rauf (coming to the U.S. in January 2021)

Tin Boy

Tin Boy by Steve Cole, illustrated by Oriol Vidal

Toad Attack!

Toad Attack by Patrice Lawrence, illustrated by Becka Moor

 

YOUNG ADULT

All The Things We Never Said

All The Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman

Becoming Dinah

Becoming Dinah by Kit De Waal

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

The Boxer by Nikesh Shukla

Chinglish

Chinglish: An Almost Entirely True Story by Sue Cheung

The Deathless Girls

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Oh My Gods

Oh My Gods by Alexandra Sheppard

The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (coming to the U.S. in February 2021)

 

2020 Eisner Award Winners

The winners of the 2020 Eisner Awards have been announced. However, questions remain about their online voting process and personal information being revealed, as covered by The Hollywood Reporter. Here are the winners for the youth categories as well as general categories won by amazing folks who create youth comics:

BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS

Comics: Easy as ABC by Ivan Brunetti

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS

Guts by Raina Telgemeier

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR TEENS

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

 

BEST WRITER

Mariko Tamaki

 

BEST WRITER/ARTIST

Raina Telgemeier

 

BEST PENCILLER/INKER

Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me

LA Times Book Prize Winners

The winners of the 40th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were announced on July 13th on Twitter. Usually the prizes are announced at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books which has been postponed until October. The prizes are primarily for adult titles with one exception, the award for Young Adult Literature.

This year that prize goes to:

When the Ground Is Hard by Malla Nunn

Kids’ Indie Next List Summer 2020

IndieBound has announced their Indie Next List that is focused on children’s books coming out this summer. The recommendations come from independent booksellers across the country.  They include specific lists for ages four through teen. Here is their Top Ten list for the summer:

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse by Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Heather Fox

Private Lessons by Cynthia Salaysay

Soaked! by Abi Cushman

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley

The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke

2020 CILIP Medal Winners

The winners of the 2020 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. These are the UK’s oldest book awards for literature for young people. Visit the award website to learn more about the winners and read their statements.

CARNEGIE MEDAL

Lark

Lark by Anthony McGowan

 

KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL (for illustration)

Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan

2020 Eisner Award Nominees

Comic-Con has announced the nominees for the 2020 Eisner Awards, which celebrate comics and graphic novels. The awards are given in 31 categories. Here are the ones specifically for younger audiences:

BEST PUBLICATION FOR EARLY READERS

Comics: Easy as ABC by Ivan Brunetti

Kitten Construction Company: A Bridge Too Fur by John Patrick Green

The Pigeons HAS to Go to School! by Mo Willems

A Trip to the Top of the Volcano with Mouse by Frank Viva

¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market by Raúl the Third

Who Wet My Pants? by Bob Shea and Zachariah Ohora

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR KIDS

Akissi: More Tales of Mischief by Marguerite Abouet and Mathieu Sapin

Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dav Pilkey

Guts by Raina Telgemeier (Also nominated for Best Writer/Artist)

New Kid by Jerry Craft

This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews

The Wolf in Underpants by Wilfrid Lupano, Mayana Itoïz, and Paul Cauuet

 

BEST PUBLICATION FOR TEENS

Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass by Mariko Tamaki and Steve Pugh (Also nominated for Best Writer and Best Penciller/Inker)

Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers

Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (Also nominated for Best Writer and Best Penciller/Inker)

Penny Nichols by MK Reed, Greg Means, and Matt Wiegle (Also nominated for Best Writer)