Table of contents for Booklist, Vol. 119, No. 14, 3/15/23 in Booklist

This issue features the Booklist Printz Interview with Sabaa Tahir (p.50), author of All My Rage, an extraordinary book that won the 2023 Michael L. Printz Award and the 2022 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It was also Booklist’s 2022 Youth Fiction Top of the List Winner (see our December 1 & 15, 2022, issue). The novel focuses on “estranged friends Salahudin and Noor, who are finding their way back to each other—or not—in the wake of Salahudin’s mother’s death,” writes Booklist reviewer Abby Hargreaves, a teen librarian in Washington, DC, in her starred review. “Tahir skillfully and with nuanced handling navigates themes of abuse, found family, guilt, racism and Islamophobia, generational baggage, trauma, and more. A damning story line involving the criminal-justice system makes this novel feel…

The Best Fiction for Young Adults list is compiled annually by a committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and comprises fiction appropriate for ages 12 to 18. All titles were published in 2022 unless otherwise noted. The committee’s top 10 choices are identified with an asterisk (*). African Town. By Irene Latham and Charles Waters. Putnam, $18.99 (9780593322888). This tells the story of a West African community kidnapped by a rival king, sold to black-market slavers, and brought to Alabama in 1859. After the Civil War, the community worked together to build a town of their own. The Agathas. By Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson. Delacorte, $18.99 (9780593431115). Alice and Iris, both with secrets of their own, team up to solve the mystery of a missing fellow…

The Great Graphic Novels for Teens list is compiled annually by a committee of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and comprises recommended graphic novels for readers ages 12 to 18. The titles below make up the top 10 picks from the full list, which is available at ala.org/yalsa/2023-great-graphic-novels-teens. Titles published in 2021 are noted; all others were published in 2022. Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections. By Ian Rosenberg. Art by Mike Cavallaro. 2021. First Second, $28.99 (9781250619754). General Adult. A nonfiction graphic work covering 10 historical cases and their impact on modern-day questions about free speech in the U.S. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. By Kanehito Yamada. Art by Tsukasa Abe. 2021VIZpaper, $9.99 (9781974725762). General Adult. VIZpaper$9.99 (9781974727230). General Adult.…

The Listen List Council of the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) announces the 2023 Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration. This award highlights extraordinary narrators and listening experiences that merit special attention by a general adult audience. All titles were released in 2022. Full annotations and listen-alikes appear online rusaupdate.org/2023/01/2023-listen-list-revealed. The Angel of Rome. By Jess Walter. Read by Edoardo Ballerini and Julia Whelan. 8hr. HarperAudio, DD (9780063246980). Walter’s stories range from poignant to slyly funny. The common elements are vivid characters and shrewd dialogue, allowing Ballerini and Whelan to showcase their exemplary narrating skills. The Bangalore Detectives Club. By Harini Nagendra. Read by Soneela Nankani. 9hr. Blackstone Publishing, DD (9798200990108). Newly married Kaveri uses her connections and love of science to…

Journalism & Publishing God the Bestseller: How One Editor Transformed American Religion a Book at a Time. By Stephen Prothero. Mar. 2023. 384p. HarperOne, $32.99 (9780062464040); e-book (9780062464064). 070.50973. Eugene Exman, the head of the religious books division at Harper & Brothers (later Harper & Row) for many decades, is the subject of this intriguing biography by religion scholar Prothero (Religious Literacy, 2008). Exman was responsible for growing the publishing company into a major force in religious publishing, moving from a few collections of sermons to best-sellers by Martin Luther King, Albert Schweitzer, Dorothy Day, Bill Wilson (founder of Alcoholics Anonymous), and more. Prothero examines the merits and flaws of the books Exman published and their authors, arguing that these books shaped the U.S. movement away from formal religion and…

Older Readers Michi Challenges History: From Farm Girl to Costume Designer to Relentless Seeker of the Truth—The Life of Michi Nishiura Weglyn. By Ken Mochizuki. Mar. 2023. 160p. illus. Norton/Young Readers, $19.95 (9781324015888). Gr. 8–11. 973.0495. Born in 1926 to immigrant parents, Michiko Nishiura grew up on the farm her parents operated in California. As Asian immigrants, they were not allowed to own land. In 1942, Michi, her family, and other Japanese Americans were incarcerated at a camp in the Arizona desert, where they endured heat, overcrowded conditions, and “inedible food.” In 1944, Michi was allowed to leave to attend college. Her family and others were released in 1945. She later married and, as Michi Nishiura Weglyn, spent years meticulously researching government documents related to “relocation camps” during the war…

Adult All Hallows. By Christopher Golden. Read by Ronnie Butler and January LaVoy. 2023. 11hr. Orange Sky Audio, DD (9781667076034). Bram Stoker Award–winning author Golden returns with a 1980s throwback tale that has vibes of both early Stephen King and the TV show Stranger Things. On Halloween night in 1984 on a relatively quiet street in Massachusetts, families prepare for trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, and an annual haunted forest, yet something sinister is about to affect everyone. Unknown children in vintage makeup and costumes appear and start pleading with the neighborhood kids to hide them from “The Cunning Man.” Golden is at his best in All Hallows. Butler and LaVoy narrate this slow burn with precise temperament and just a hint of edge to enhance the uneasiness of the story. The…

All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson. By Carole Boston Weatherford. Read by the author. 2023. .25hr. Listening Library, DD (9780593746196). Gr. 1–3. Through each step in her life, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has risen to challenges and to higher levels of success. This picture-book biography is plainly narrated by the author, which makes the text and the story of Jackson’s inspirational life accessible to a wide range of readers. Weatherford reads with conviction at a well-paced speed which will allow listeners to easily follow along with the book if they have it in hand. The audio is presented without musical background or sound effects to stand in for illustrations, but the story is clear and straightforward, so the unadorned narration is entirely suitable. Notable for a…

The Alex Awards, administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and sponsored by the Margaret E. Edwards trust, honor the top 10 adult books published during the previous year with appeal to readers between the ages of 12 and 18. The full, vetted list of the nominations can be found on the YALSA website. Babel; or, the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution. By R. F. Kuang. Harper Voyager, $27.99 (9780063021426). In an alternate nineteenth-century London, Chinese-born Robin is admitted to Babel College at Oxford, where he and a diverse cohort will be trained as master linguists who work with silver bars that help power the world and, they soon learn, further England’s colonial power by exploiting other cultures and languages. Chef’s Kiss.…

The Rainbow Round Table and the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association are pleased to offer the 2023 Rainbow Project bibliography of recommended titles for youth from birth to age 18 that contain significant and authentic gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (GLBTQ) content. Titles published in late 2021 are noted; all others were published in 2022. Below are 20 exceptional choices from the list. For the complete list, visit glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/1444. Rainbow List Top 10 Titles for Young Readers Artie and the Wolf Moon. By Olivia Stephens. Art by the author. 2021. Graphic Universe, paper, $16.99 (9781728420202). Gr. 6–10. Artie is excited to discover she comes from a family of werewolves. Her mom relies on their community to help Artie learn about being a werewolf and…

YALSA’s Amazing Audiobook list of 43 titles is drawn from 51 official nominations, which were posted and discussed in blog posts on The Hub, where the full list and complete annotations can be found. The list identifies notable 2022 audio recordings significant to young adults. All items are downloads. Ain’t Burned All the Bright. By Jason Reynolds. Read by the author and a full cast. 40min. Simon & Schuster Audio (9781797137544). In ten sentences, Jason Reynolds expresses the impact of racism, police brutality, and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as experienced by an African American family. All My Rage. By Sabaa Tahir. Read by a full cast. 10.5hr. Listening Library (9780593502235). When his mother dies, Salahudin will do anything to maintain her legacy. All three narrators perform wonderfully, and…

Older Readers An Appetite for Miracles. By Laekan Zea Kemp. Apr. 2023. 448p. Little, Brown, $18.99 (9780316461733). Gr. 7–10. Life takes a series of vicious turns for teens Danna and Raul. Danna is grappling with the gradual loss of her grandfather as he dips further and further into the grips of dementia. Raul struggles with an incarcerated mother who returns home fractured and broken. When Danna and Raul find each other, they are able to navigate the valleys and peaks of their familial losses and of their newfound, blooming love. The dual point of view volleys back and forth between Danna and Raul. It is between these two distinct views that we are given a peek into the rich, multilayered family dynamics at the heart of the story. Although we…

In historical fiction, the clothes help make the characters, so it’s no surprise that there are a good number of novels about characters who make the fashion. From tales about well-known designers to those about seamstresses just trying to make ends meet, these books give us an up-close look at the people who go to great lengths to make others look good. By Her Own Design. By Piper Huguley. 2022. Morrow. Ann Lowe, granddaughter of enslaved people, defied the odds to establish herself as dressmaker to the elite. Woven throughout the book is perhaps the most notable example of her resilience: the story of Jacqueline Kennedy’s destroyed wedding dress, which Ann recreated in less than a week. The Collection. By Gioia Diliberto. 2007. Scribner. Talented seamstress Isabelle Varlet leaves her…

Established in 2007 by the CODES section of RUSA, the Reading List Council consists of librarians who are experts in readers’ advisory and collection development. The Reading List is their annual best-of selection comprised of eight different fiction genres for adult readers, with a shortlist of honor titles in each category. All titles were published in 2022. Adrenaline Killers of a Certain Age. By Deanna Raybourn. Berkley, $27 (9780593200681). Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have spent 40 years as assassins for a clandestine organization. When a fellow assassin targets them during their retirement cruise, they go on a skilled offensive to stop the very organization to which they’ve given their lives. • Shortlist: Cold Fear, by Brandon Webb and John David Mann (Bantam); The Lies I Tell, by Julie…

This list was compiled by the Notable Children’s Books Committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC). The committee, comprising librarians from throughout the U.S., selected the titles from the several thousand children’s books published during 2022. Included are books of fiction, information, poetry, and pictures—all of special interest and value to children through age 14. The winners of the 2023 ALSC Newbery, Caldecott, Sibert, Batchelder, children’s Belpre, and Geisel Awards and the Honor Books for those awards are automatically included on the list. Notable Children’s Books that were given 2023 Coretta Scott King Awards, Printz Awards, Sydney Taylor Awards, Stonewall Book Awards, Asian/Pacific American Awards, Best Fiction for Young Adults, Top 10 Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, and Rise: A Feminist Book Project Top 10 designations are…

The Notable Children’s Recordings list is selected by a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children. It includes recordings for children 14 years of age and younger of especially commendable quality that demonstrate respect for young people’s intelligence and imagination, exhibit venturesome creativity, and reflect and encourage the interests of children and young adolescents in exemplary ways. An asterisk indicates an Odyssey Winner or Honor title; see the Odyssey list for annotations. Items are 2022 releases and downloads unless otherwise indicated. A Is for Oboe: The Orchestra’s Alphabet. By Lera Auerback, Marilyn Nelson. Read by Thomas Quasthoff. 1hr. Listening Library, DD (9780593346228). Gr. 1–5 A poet and a composer have creatively teamed up to present the orchestra’s world through verse. This audio version of the picture book combines…

The Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production, jointly administered by ALSC and YALSA, and sponsored by Booklist, is given to the producer of the best audiobooks for children (0–14) and young adults (12–18) available in English in the United States. One winner may be selected for each age category with a single honor list comprised of titles for both age categories. The winners and honorees were announced on January 30, 2023, during the American Library Association LibLearnX Meeting. Odyssey Award Winner for Children Stuntboy, in the Meantime. By Jason Reynolds. Read by a full cast. Produced by Taryn Beato. 2021. 2.5hr. Simon & Schuster Audio, DD (9781797111797). Gr. 3–5. Upbeat Portico shares his home and school adventures with enthusiasm, while his alter ego Stuntboy protects his neighbors and battles…

General Fiction Advika and the Hollywood Wives. By Kirthana Ramisetti. Apr. 2023. 384p. Grand Central, $29 (9781538709276); e-book (9781538709290). Lonely Advika Srinivasan, still reeling from the accidental death of her twin sister, Anu, is working as a bartender when she meets handsome, much-older movie producer Julian Zelding. After a short, whirlwind romance, they get married. At first it seems perfect. Julian buys her a new computer so she can work on her screenplay, and she has nothing but time to write. Julian’s only request is that she not look into the demise of his previous three marriages. But with Anu’s voice in her head and a mysterious bequest from his late first wife, Advika can’t help herself, and soon she is clandestinely checking books out of the library and meeting…

Adult Black & White: The Rise and Fall of Bobby Fischer. By Julian Voloj. Art by Wagner Willian. Apr. 2023. 176p. Abrams ComicArts, $24.99 (9781419759864). 741.5. Reading Black & White, a graphic biography of chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, one can’t help but think a little about Icarus and the risks of a meteoric rise. Readers learn that Fischer was a relatively solitary child growing up impoverished in Brooklyn—that is, until chess entered his life. With genius aptitude for the game, he catches the attention of the wealthy, social-club like chess world, rising through the ranks even before he should be admitted (children are typically unwelcome). As his star rises, however, so descends Fischer’s interest in anything other than chess, and his insistence that he be able to make a living…

Transformative journeys, both literal and metaphorical, are at the heart of these exceptional picture books, reviewed in Booklist between March 15, 2022, and March 1, 2023. —Sarah Hunter Beyond the Burrow. By Jessica Meserve. Illus. by the author. 2022. Peachtree, $17.99 (9781682633755). PreS–Gr. 1. When Rabbit accidentally journeys past the burrow, she finds herself in a new world where rabbit rules don’t apply, but she learns many useful new things—and makes many non-rabbit friends—on her trip back home. Evergreen. By Matthew Cordell. Illus. by the author. 2023. Feiwel and Friends, $18.99 (9781250317179). PreS–Gr. 1. Fearful Evergreen ventures into the forest to deliver her mama’s healing soup to Granny Oak. When other animals ask for help on the way, she’s scared but bravely agrees, and each stop brings her newfound confidence.…

You Just Need to Lose Weight and 19 Other Myths about Fat People. By Aubrey Gordon. Read by the author. 2023. 7hr. Beacon, DD (9780807006818). Well-known podcaster Aubrey Gordon debunks societal assumptions about the lives and experiences of fat people in her second offering examining anti-fatness. Gordon discredits common and accepted societal understandings, like the BMI, the obesity epidemic, and the belief that losing weight is simple and easy. Listeners of the Maintenance Phase podcast will welcome Gordon’s warm vocal presence as she tactfully details misconceptions. Gordon varies pace and tone as she moves between personal experiences and specific arguments. More detailed text is easily understood as Gordon effectively slows her pace to show emphasis and keeps listeners engaged with the work. Each section concludes with reflection questions for listeners…