Picture Book
Recommended by: Audrey Vernick's most recent release, Five Minutes (That's a Lot of Time) (No, It's Not) (Yes, It Is), was co-written with Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, and was selected as one of NPR's Best Books of the Year.
Audrey loved this book because: It works really well as a starting-school-for-the-first-time book but at its heart, it's all about friendship between a child and her turtle … naturally.
Middle Grade
Recommended by: Kathryn Erskine is the author of six novels for young people, including National Book Award winner, Mockingbird, Jane Addams Peace Award honor book Seeing Red, and most recently, The Incredible Magic of Being, about a boy with anxiety who believes in the power of the universe to save us.
Kathy loved this book because: It’s a great primer for writers in how to be hilarious and poignant at the same time.
Middle Grade
Recommended by: Lindsey Lane is the author of Evidence of Things Not Seen for the young adult that likes real world mystery and characters who struggle with conflicting truths in the human heart.
Lindsey loved this book because: Linda’s book is a mentor text for the marriage between plot and character emotion .
Non-Fiction Young Adult
Recommended by: J. Albert Mann is the author of The Degenerates, a YA historical fiction about four young women in 1928 caught up in the eugenics program of the United States, when our nation institutionalized anyone with bodily, intellectual, or "moral" differences for life.
J. Albert Mann loved this book because: This novel offers a real and exciting depiction of a horrific World War II event .
Middle Grade
Recommended by: Heather Camlot is the author of the critically-acclaimed middle-grade novel Clutch and the upcoming middle-grade nonfiction book What If Soldiers Fought with Pillows?
Heather loved this book because: Set in Victorian London when young orphans turned to sweeping chimneys to survive, Sweep draws readers in with its adventure and humour but along the way becomes something else -- something unexpected, something important -- leaving the reader contemplating the past, the present, human rights and religious intolerance.
Middle Grade
Recommended by: Susan Beckhorn writes about animals, nature and prehistory in The Wolf’s Boy (Disney*Hyperion 2016, first domesticated dog) and Wind Rider (Laura Geringer/Harper Collins Childrens 2006, first domesticated horse), both only available on Kindle now or directly from Susan.
Susan loved this book because: Stunning language and the rich deftness with which the characters (wolves) are drawn, which is often missing in this sort of book.
YA Graphic Novel Non-Fiction
Recommended by: Gary Schmidt’s newest picture book, Almost Time, co-written with Elizabeth Stickney, illustrated by G. Brian Karas, follows young Ethan as he waits and waits and waits for the maple sap to start flowing so that he and his father can begin to make their annual stash of maple syrup. Gary is also the author of Pay Attention Carter Jones.
Gary loved this book because: This complex and moving and thrilling story follows a single year in the life of a high school basketball team, and in doing so, Yang tells of the history of men's and women's basketball, the emotional and spiritual lives of the starters, and the process that a writer goes through in choosing a project and following through on it, despite setbacks and the constraints of normal life.
Picture Book
Recommended by: Mylisa Larsen is the author of Ho Ho Homework. Imagine coming to school one day and finding a substitute teacher who looks a whole lot like Santa. Rumors fly and most of the class is convinced, but Jack isn't so sure.
Mylisa loved this book because: It’s hard to put a fresh spin on a color book, but this almost wordless book manages to do so with an age-appropriate narrative and an ending that lets the little pup be the hero of the book.
Picture Book
Recommended by: Anne Marie Pace is the author of ten picture books, including the Vampirina Ballerina series. Her newest release is Sunny’s Tow Truck Saves The Day, a romping rhymer about a picnic postponed by a flat tire.
Anne Marie loved this book because: Kristy's lyrical language gives us a beautiful glimpse into a part of history not well known. Yes, the astronauts were brave--but it took thousands of other people to do their own jobs, quietly and without fanfare, to ensure the astronauts could do theirs.
Middle Grade
Recommended by: Leah Henderson whose novel The Magic in Changing Your Stars (April 2020), follows a boy back in time to 1930s Harlem to meet his young grandfather in order to help them both change their stars.
Leah loved this book because: It is a beautifully told coming of age story that weaves in so much more about the complexities of life.
Young Adult
Recommended by: Kristin Bartley Lenz, author of the YA novel, The Art of Holding On and Letting Go, about a teen rock-climber girl, the power of nature, love and loss, and discovering that home can be far from where you started.
Kristin loved this book because: This story pulled me out of a reading rut within the first few pages and never let go. The characters are deeply drawn and the multi-layered plot explores biracial identity and inequality, but it's also full of humor, sweetness, and snappy dialogue.
Adult Romance
Recommended by: Heather Demetrios. How do we do right by the miracle? In Heather’s upcoming novel Little Universes, her characters are trying to figure out what it means to be human in this confusing, sometimes painful, often beautiful world.
Heather recommended this book because: It is deliciously romantic and a perfect read for the 2020 election.
Adult Fiction
Recommended by: Shari Becker is the founder of Whale Rock Workshops and the author of the critically-acclaimed YA sci-fi adventure The Stellow Project.
Shari recommended this book because: This book is not new, but I just read it for the first time. As we writers work to hone our skills, Snow Hunters is a reminder that small can be beautiful. This tiny story contemplates the passage of time, memory, identity, loss, loneliness and love with prose that is compact, poetic and memorable.