Coelho, Joseph. The Boy Lost in the Maze; illus. by Kate Milner. Candlewick. Gr. 7–12
In this deeply felt contemplation on manhood, fathers, and unconditional love, Theo’s journey to find his father coincides with an English assignment about the Greek hero Theseus, and, in creating a series of elegant poems that parallel his life with the mythical hero, he sets forth in healing his family and himself. (January)

Franklin, Madeline Claire. The Wilderness of Girls. Zando. Gr. 9-12
Four feral, ferocious, brilliant girls are forced to integrate into the larger world after being raised in the wild by a mysterious man in this compelling examination of how a society that claims itself civilized and progressive betrays and devalues vulnerable people—particularly girls and women—who need the most support and attention. (July/August)

Kisner, Logan-Ashley. Old Wounds. Delacorte. Gr. 9-12
Horror genre staples are uniquely deployed here as trans teens Erin and Max get stranded in a small Kentucky town where they must deal with both hostile locals and a shadowy, lamp-eyed “Bullitt Beast” rumored to feast exclusively on young girls, leading readers to an intriguing, amusingly subversive question: do cryptids ascribe to human gender norms? (October)

Kölsch, Freddie. Now, Conjurers. Union Square. Gr. 9-12
To solve the gruesome murder of his beloved boyfriend, Nesbit and his coven of teen witches go up against a wish-granting demon, who is oozing, shape-shifting, and sadistic, in this atmospheric story that is as unforgettable for its villain as it is for its genuine heart and message about friendship, family, and sacrifice. (July/August)

Kutub, Naz. No Time Like Now. Bloomsbury. Gr. 7-10
In this gorgeous, heartbreaking exploration of grief, author Kutub offers a particularly unique take on time and time travel, introducing readers to Time themself as well as Hazeem, a teen who discovers he has an unexpected power in the midst of grieving his beloved father. (January)

Magoon, Kekla. The Secret Library. Candlewick. Gr. 4-7
Filled with plenty of fantastical action, eleven-year-old Dally’s quests through the titular library are also a testament to Magoon’s ability to blend the magical with the everyday, giving readers an inclusive, crucially human story surely destined to become a classic. (May)

Reynolds, Jason. Twenty-four Seconds from Now. Dlouhy/Atheneum. Gr. 8-12
In Reynold’s latest outing, an ingenious structure allows for a fully formed picture of a young Black boy negotiating sex, romance, and intimacy, while a superb secondary cast offers a thoughtful look at the various ways relationships—familial, platonic, and romantic—can healthily play out. (September)

Ribay, Randy. Everything We Never Had. Kokila. Gr. 8-10
Ribay proves a deft hand at balancing multiple viewpoints in this story of family trauma and forgiveness that follows four generations of Filipino American men who have each been stunted by toxic masculinity, framed around the COVID-19 pandemic that brings three of them under one roof. (September)

Rogers, Andrea L. The Art Thieves. Levine Querido. Gr. 7-10
Elements of Cherokee culture thread through this skillfully paced sci-fi blend of time travel, climate apocalypse, and deep familial love as high school grad Stevie learns that a cure for her ailing brother’s illness exists in the future—she’ll risk everything to save him even if it means never seeing him again. (October)

Schu, John. Louder Than Hunger. Candlewick. Gr. 5-9
Pulling from struggles with his own eating disorder, Schu gives readers a searing, deeply intimate verse novel, depicting the emotional and physical devastation wrought by disordered eating with brutal, gut-punching honesty. (December 2023)

Sparks, Lily. The Merciless King of Moore High. Flux/NorthStar. Gr. 9-12
High school gossip becomes court intrigue with fatal implications in this fabulous hybrid-genre world of medievalism, social dynamics, and survival horror, in which high schools have become both havens and cages after adults turned into slavering monsters and teenagers must fend for themselves. (April)

Ursu, Anne. Not Quite a Ghost. Walden Pond/HarperCollins. Gr. 5-7
Ursu draws on familiar elements of ghost stories and the complexities of chronic illness to create a deeply poignant picture of Violet, a sixth-grade girl who begins to question both her body and mind as she struggles with an ambiguous diagnosis. (December 2023)

White, Andrew Joseph. Compound Fracture. Peachtree. Gr. 9-12
White delivers another unflinching, creative, disturbing, and incredible story, this time following Miles, an autistic, socialist, trans, and unreservedly proud West Virginian teen who is hoping to put to rest a decades-long blood feud in his small town. (October)

Alonso, Nathalie. Call Me Roberto! Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos; illus. by Rudy Gutierrez. Calkins Creek. 6-10 yrs
This triumphant picture book biography skillfully weaves an underdog sports story with political context, prioritizing Roberto Clemente’s love of baseball while also exploring how white supremacy played into his professional and personal life; Gutierrez’s energetic, celebratory art matches Clemente’s exuberance and discipline. (July/August)

Brunelle, Lynn. Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall; illus by Jason Chin. Porter/Holiday. Gr. 4-6
The phenomenon of a whalefall, the death and decomposition of a whale, is presented in all its majestic and grotesque glory by Brunelle’s engaging scientific text and Chin’s reliably magnificent artwork, making a complicated and decades-long biological process easily accessible and endlessly fascinating. (June)

Fleming, Candace. The Enigma Girls; illus. with photographs. Scholastic Focus. Gr. 7-12
This narrative nonfiction presents the stories of young British women during World War II as they decode enciphered messages from the famous Enigma machine, revealing the people, technology, mind-numbing mundanity, and heartbreaking tragedy behind the British war effort. (March)

Golio, Gary. Everywhere Beauty is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava; illus. by E.B. Lewis. Calkins Creek. 5-9 yrs
After finishing work in 1920s Harlem, photographer Roy DeCarava would walk the streets with his camera, capturing the beauty he saw; the brief text in this joyful, exuberant picture book biography trusts Lewis’ exceptional watercolor art to do the same, with spreads evoking both permanence and intangibility, much like a photograph, as they interpret DeCarava’s art. (January)

Hurston, Zora Neale. Barracoon; Adapted for Young Readers; ad. by Ibram X. Kendi; illus. by Jazzmen Lee-Johnson. Amistad/HarperCollins. Gr. 7-12
This impeccable adaptation keeps both the intimacy and emotional heft of Hurston’s original book, as Kendi’s skillful editorial choices and Lee-Johnson’s haunting illustrations introduce readers to both Hurston and her interview subject Cudjo, a man who was part of one of the last recorded groups of enslaved people brought to the US. (December 2023)

Jewell, Tiffany. Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School. Versify/HarperCollins. Gr. 8-12
Jewell uses her own K-12 experiences in Syracuse, NY, to address the racism and inequities baked into all layers of the US education system—fusing the nonfiction vulnerability of a memoir, the pointed, data-driven purpose of a treatise, and the communal literary contributions of a chorus of voices of color, this presents a radical reimagining of the societal role that schools play. (December 2023)

Jones, Dan Sasuweh. Stealing Little Moon: The Legacy of the American Indian Boarding Schools. Scholastic Focus. Gr. 7-12
With a careful balance of historical context and intimate family history, author Jones of the Ponca Nation in Oklahoma follows four generations of his family who attended—forcibly or voluntarily—one of the many boarding schools in the US and Canada that sought to “kill the Indian” in Native children and assimilate them within white society. (September)

Lang, Kao Kalia. The Rock in My Throat; illus. by Jiemei Lin. Lerner. 5-9 yrs
As a child, Yang refused to speak English like the people who denigrated her Hmong refuge family, and here her sadness, grief, and experience with selective mutism are conveyed through vivid and insightful narration, combined with emotive digital art that uses nature motifs to anchor her in a world that requires no language. (March)

McDaniel, Breanna. Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller; illus. by April Harrison. Dial. Gr. 1-3
This picture book biography connects the oral folktales Baker heard as a girl in Baltimore to her career professionally telling and recommending stories as the first Black woman to head the New York Public Library children’s services department; beautiful collage art, accented with acrylics and artist pens, evokes both the gravity and joy of storytelling. (December 2023)

Neri, G. My Antarctica; illus. by Corban Wilkin. Candlewick. Gr. 3-5
In this delightful travel diary, “science translator” Neri accessibly recounts his experience at the main US facility in Antarctica with both enthusiasm and childlike glee, as cartoony illustrations and dialogue bubbles set against full-color photographs of the icy world highlight his everyman persona against a place of extremes and pure grandeur. (January)

Watkins, Steve. The Mine Wars: The Bloody Fight for Workers’ Rights in the West Virginia Coal Fields; illus. with photographs. Bloomsbury. Gr. 9-12
Centering exhausted miners in the coal fields of southern West Virginia, key union organizers who rallied them, and the mine owners who violently oppressed them, Watkins builds significant tension as he recounts this sharply relevant piece of union history. (April)

Yoo, Paula. Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire; illus. with photographs. Norton. Gr. 9-12
Yoo’s grim and well-researched account of the 1992 LA uprising—ignited by the acquittal of four LA police officers in the brutal beating of Rodney King—seamlessly integrates dozens of interviews and quotes as it contextualizes the city’s Black and Korean American communities and the oppression that led to competition, resentment, and violence between them. (March)

Baptist, Kelly J. The Band in Our Basement; illustrated by Jenin Mohammed. Abrams. 4-8 yrs
Luminous color-blocked gelli print artwork paints a visual performance about communal music, close-knit families, and Black joy as two siblings sneak down to the basement past their bedtime, irresistibly drawn to the jazzy rhythms of their father’s band practice. (November)

Bingham, Winsome. Missing Momma; illus. by Rahele Jomepour-Bell. Abrams. 5-9 yrs
With evocative ink and charcoal illustrations, this quiet, reflective picture book follows a little girl who comforts her Momma by bringing her to their beloved garden, hoping it will help her feel better and find joy again after returning from deployment; a thoughtful author’s note offers insight into women veterans and PTSD. (October)

Blackall, Sophie. Ahoy!; written and illus. by Sophie Blackall. Schwartz. 4-8 yrs
A beanie-wearing adult and a captain-hatted kiddo set sail on a ship to an imaginary sea, all from the comfort of the living room; Blackall’s dramatic pacing, enthusiastic exhortations, and distinctly patterned art will keep viewers hooked in this collaborative readaloud. (March)

Fay, Sandra. The Three Little Tardigrades; written and illus. by Sandra Fay. Godwin/Holt. 5-8 yrs
Watercolor illustrations, potato stamps, and factual footnotes make this cheeky retelling of “The Three Little Pigs” both engaging and educational when a tardigrade mother sends her three children off into the world to build their own homes, cautioning them to beware of the Big Hairy Wolf Spider. (December 2023)

Kurpiel, Sarah. A Little Like Magic; written and illus. by Sarah Kurpiel. Rocky Pond. 4-7 yrs
A young narrator in a power wheelchair anxiously attends an ice sculpture festival with their mother, only to be mesmerized by the ethereal ice creatures while searching for their lost toy horse; Kurpiel’s gentle, whimsical story pairs subtle wintry hues and textures with a pitch-perfect narrative voice and provides organic disability inclusion. (November)

Lukoff, Kyle. I’m Sorry You Got Mad; illus. by Julie Kwon. Dial. 5-8 yrs
Reluctantly following his teacher’s request, a furious Jack struggles to write an apology note to his classmate, and rumpled notebook pages backgrounded by various classroom scenes progress to more thoughtful reflections that bring him to a true, genuine apology. (September)

Nicholls, Sally. Godfather Death; illus. by Júlia Sardà. Viking. Gr. 2-5
In Nicholls’ deliciously haunting take on a traditional folktale, a fisherman attempts to outsmart Death, with woeful results; Sardà’s autumnal hues and medieval woodblock-style vignettes evoke an unflinching story about justice, fairness, and universal truths. (September)

Soloy, Lauren. Tove and the Island With No Address; written and illus. by Lauren Soloy. Tundra. 4-7 yrs
Moomin fans will adore this stunning picture book tribute to Tove Jansson that explores themes of adventure and friendship on a remote island; earthy color tones, sweeping views of the island’s stormy sky, and encounters with otherworldly beings are sure to spark a child’s imagination. (October)

Sorell, Traci. Being Home; illus. by Michaela Goade. Kokila. 4-8 yrs
A young Cherokee girl and her mother move away from the city and journey across mountains, deserts, and lakes to reunite with their community at a Cherokee Reservation; Goade’s illustrations with cool jewel tones and luminous pink accents will engage any kid in contemplating what it means to be at home. (June)

Sumner, Eija. The Good Little Mermaid’s Guide to Bedtime; illus. by Nici Gregory. Tundra. 4-8 yrs
In this meta-narrative, a rebellious little mermaid refuses to follow a guidebook-prescribed bedtime routine, sending waves of fear through the sea creatures (and one unlucky diver) on the ocean floor; a darkly blended mermaid palette and the subversive nature of the text dives into the abyssal depths in both strange little girls and churning seas alike. (March)

VanSickle, Vikki. Into the Goblin Market; illus. by Jensine Eckwall. Tundra. Gr. 1-4
This picture book adaptation of Christina Rossetti’s classic poem follows Millie as she bravely ventures to the perilous goblin market to save her sister Mina; woodblock-print artwork paired with couplets creates an unsettling yet enchanted atmosphere and highlight the deep, loving bond between the two sisters. (July/August)

Weber, Frank. More Dung! A Beetle Tale; written and illus. by Frank Weber. Disney Hyperion. 4-8 yrs
In a landscape replete with lush, natural tones, Weber uses scatological humor to explore a fable of greed and fulfillment, as a dung beetle’s world—and his ball of dung—unexpectedly grows after hearing from a leopard about a farm at the end of the valley. (April)

Greenberg, Isabel. Young Hag and the Witches’ Quest; written and illus. by Isabel Greenberg. Abrams Fanfare. Gr. 8-12
This feminist medievalism sees Young Hag and her grandmother, Morgan le Fay, seeking to restore magic to the mortal world, posing critical questions to its audience about how history is storied; art and narrative alike are all the more powerful for their playful, risk-taking approaches. (June)

Hendrix, John. The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien; written and illus. by John Hendrix. Abrams. Gr. 5-8
Love of the literary is inked across each page of this graphic biography of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, where prose narration, comic panels, marginal illustrations, direct quotations, and “portals” that lead to more academic discussions of myth, genre and fantasy all combine for a thoroughly immersive reading experience. (September)

Holser, Jay. Ant Story; written and illus. by Jay Holser. HarperAlley. Gr. 3-5
Rubi, a cartoon ant among common creepy-crawlies, can speak and tell amazing stories about the bizarre, high-octane nature of the Holser’s highly detailed insect world; unfortunately, real ants don’t understand her, unlike the mysterious Miranda, putting the two on a crash-course to adventure and unlikely friendship. (February)

Kobabe, Maia. Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding; by Maia Kobabe and Sarah Peitzmeier; illus. by Maia Kobabe. Dutton. Gr. 8-12
Personal narrative, scientific data analysis, qualified medical advice, and workbook activities make this nonfiction title a standout for its holistic, intergenerational, and intersectional approach; merging Kobabe’s approachable style with crucial health information, this inclusive text is an important addition to any library hoping to tangibly support trans and nonbinary youth in their gender-affirming care. (April)

Lee, Agnes. 49 Days; written and illus. by Angus Lee. Levine Querido. Gr. 7-9
Shifting between California-bright corals and pinks and cool blue tones, the reader is flung between Kit’s previous life, where she made kimchi with her mother and brother, and her current existence in the Buddhist transitional space of Bardo, where she toils across a physics-defying landscape while her family figuratively climb their own mountains of grief in a parallel story. (February)

Nadel, Estelle. The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival; written by Estelle Nadel and Bethany Strout; illus. by Sammy Savos. Roaring Brook. Gr. 6-8
Following young Estelle as she goes into hiding Poland during WWII, the graphic novel’s comic format is skillfully used not just to connect with a younger audience about difficult subjects, but also to visually communicate the vital resistance resources that are joy, hope, and solidarity, found both in the darkest moments of history and today. (December 2023)

Parish, Theo. Homebody; written and illus. by Theo Parish. HarperAlley. Gr. 9-12
A limited palette conveys a limitlessness for trans and nonbinary experiences—and readers—in this uplifting trans and nonbinary memoir; Parish generously shares their individual journey through gender with striking, iconographic imagery, that through metaphor and openness, reaches a wide resonance. (March)

Pei-Yun, Yu. The Boy from Clearwater; tr. by Lin King; illus. by Zhou Jian-Xin. Levine Querido. Gr. 9-12
In this complex and raw graphic novel, a highly adaptable, simple character design contrasts the complex emotional, political, and linguistic biography of Tsai Kun-lin, whose childhood was marked by the rise of Japanese colonialism, followed by his unjust arrest and “reformation” via torture and imprisonment on Green Island. (December 2023)

Smith, Sherri L. Pearl: A Graphic Novel; illus. by Christine Norrie. Scholastic. Gr. 6-8
When the Americans bomb Pearl Harbor during her visit overseas, American thirteen-year-old Amy is forced to remain in Japan, torn between two countries; Norrie’s striking art couples with Smith’s delicate handling of multiple historical topics, such as WWII monitor girls, Japanese pearl diving, Japanese-American incarceration, and the bombing of Hiroshima. (September)

Tokuda-Hall, Maggie. The Worst Ronin; illus. by Faith Schaffer. HarperAlley. Gr. 7-11
Irreverent and action-oriented with an offbeat samurai soul, this impeccably paced title follows the clever, irascible duo of Chihiro and Lady Tetsuo, as they jab their katanas at larger systems of oppression and power within a feudal era Japan mixed with contemporary tones and technologies. (June)

Wang, Jen. Ash’s Cabin; written and illus. by Jen Wang. First Second. Gr. 8-12
Subtle linework and warm watercolors depict a nonbinary teen’s struggle between self-reliance and isolation in this dynamic survivalist story that follows Ash, who, worn down by the constant, painful friction of a community that doesn’t understand them or their passion for the environment, runs away to their late grandfather’s remote cabin. (September)

Yang, Gene Luen. Lunar New Year Love Story; illus. by LeUyen Pham. First Second. Gr. 9-12
In this coming-of-age romance, Val Tran has one year to prove she doesn’t share her family’s love-curse, or she loses her heart forever; magical realism dances together with Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean cultural touchstones, creating dynamic panel layouts and identity-driven narratives that lionize intergenerational as well as romantic love. (February)