Elementary/Middle-Grade | Young Adult
Elementary/Middle-Grade Speculative Fiction
Accidental Demons
Clare Edge
HarperCollins
Nominated by: Joy McCullough
Bernadette Crowley – Ber for short – has grown up a proud member of a family of blood witches who trace their roots back to Ireland. Ber’s extra strong magic was always an asset until her recent diabetes diagnosis. Now it means that she’s accidentally summoning demons every time she tests her blood sugar (multiple times a day), and the demons summoned without a purpose linger and cause mayhem at school. When a rogue coven threatens their family, Ber, her teen sister Maeve. and their magical cats will need to recruit even more help to save the day. We love that Ber learning to balance magic and diabetes is an integral part of the plot. The fast and very funny action keeps the pages turning, while the predicament they find themselves in means questioning a lot of things Ber and Maeve have always been told, including that blood witches never mingle with other magical folk. The magic is definitely real – but so are the challenges of family, middle school friendships, and dealing with a chronic disease.
Benji Zeb Is a Ravenous Werewolf
Deke Moulton
Tundra
Nominated by: Katy K.
Benji Zeb is in the midst of studying for his bar mitzvah while helping out on the family kibbutz, a wolf sanctuary serving as a cover for werewolves. Readers will learn about Jewish culture along with Caleb, Benji’s crush, as Caleb gets to know Benji and his family. The book presents two important stories. The first is that of Benji and his family, the different aspects of living in a kibbutz, and the teachings that help Benji feel supported, even while he worries about meeting their expectations for his bar mitzvah. The second is Caleb’s struggle to find acceptance and safety in his own family, which expands into a larger struggle of the town to find a way for different groups to find a way to community. The inclusion of the werewolf mythology alongside the teachings from Benji’s family presents an allegory for queerness/otherness and the seeking of love and acceptance for being oneself that many readers can relate to. Benji and Caleb’s budding romance as they learn about each other is sweet and perfect for middle grade readers.
Impossible Creatures
Katherine Rundell, illustrated by Ashley Mackenzie
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Sondra Eklund
Impossible Creatures is a story about two kids, one from our world and one from the world where magic is safeguarded, who are both trying to save the realm of magical animals. In this epic adventure, the main characters meet and find that each of them has powers that will help save the realm, but they will need additional help, along with courage and personal strength to accomplish their goals. The elegant writing of the book along with the beautiful artwork will enthrall readers. There are themes of living up to expectations, commitment, friendship, and giving of one’s self. Readers will laugh, and cry, and remember these characters long after they’ve finished the book.
Kwame Crashes the Underworld
Craig Kofi Farmer
Roaring Brook Press
Nominated by: Kaitlyn T.
Kwame’s beloved grandmother has recently passed away, and he still hasn’t dealt with the grief that comes with losing someone so close to you. Without her he feels disconnected from his Ghanaian relatives. When Kwame and his best friend Autumn (and Woo the monkey) are transported into the mythical Ghanaian afterlife, they must team up with his grandmother to survive and return, learning how to use his powers and how to live with the grief knowing that if he makes it back to his world, his grandmother won’t be there. The story is full of funny quips, friendship, love, grief, and battles. I appreciated learning about Ghanaian mythology, and the glossary came in handy. Readers will be drawn into rooting for Kwame, Autumn, Woo and the others while they battle all sorts of creatures in the forest and surrounding lands to save our world as we know it.
Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II (Operation Kinderspion)
Adam Gidwitz
Dutton Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Debbie Tanner
When Max’s parents send him to England to keep him safe from the horrors of Nazi Germany, he is determined to get back to them. Yet there is little that a young Jewish boy can do so far from home. Undeterred, Max looks for every opportunity to connect him to his family, like using his unique skills with the radio to open closed channels. While Max is physically safe in England, he discovers that there are many British who look down on Jews. The way that he responds to some of these situations is clever and brings humor to an otherwise depressing time. And as if Max’s struggles are not hard enough, he also must cope with two constant companions. One on each shoulder. Who nobody else can see. These immortal shoulder companions are mischievous nuisances and bring further humor to Max’s adventure of discovering a house’s secrets of espionage. Based on real life characters, Max’s is a story brimming with emotion and excitement that readers will love.
Sona and the Golden Beasts
Rajani LaRocca
Quill Tree Books
Nominated by: Abi
Sona is a beautiful fantasy about magical creatures and a girl who loves and protects them, about a boy who longs for heroism and a safe community, and about a land torn by a love of riches and people willing to do anything to get what they want. Sona and her cousin Raaj come together from opposite sides of society to quest for a cure for their grandmother, learning each other’s secrets through cooperation and betrayal, and gaining strength from knowledge and hard won experience. Only by combining their skills and powers can they achieve their goal. The writing shines with a love for the individual and for community. The magical creatures could be symbolic of the wonder of nature and the beauty of the natural world, or maybe they are just incredible and exciting challenges in the desert and the river, the mountains and the sky. It’s a book that rewards rereading and that can resound in the hearts of children and adults.
Splinter & Ash (Splinter & Ash, 1)
Marieke Nijkamp
Greenwillow Books
Nominated by: Lucy K
Splinter & Ash is a heartwarming story about friendship and overcoming personal obstacles. After spending several years growing up in the peaceful countryside, Princess Adelisa (Ash) returns to palace life. As a disabled princess with a cane, her return is not welcomed and she is met with mockery and disdain. On a chance encounter she meets Splinter, who doesn’t identify as the girl she’s always been called or as a boy, but wants more than anything to be a squire. They decide to team up, but face even more discrimination and bullying. They don’t let that stop them however from uncovering secrets and conspiracies to save their kingdom. This medieval fantasy was packed with action and adventure. The message was empowering and the friendships endearing.
Young Adult Speculative Fiction
Blood at the Root
LaDarrion Williams
Labyrinth Road
Nominated by: Richetta
Magical school readers are about to be tripped up on this journey to Caiman University, where the magical community is far from perfect. Malik has found family after his mother has been missing for ten years, leaving him with unexplainable powers and a stream of foster homes that only left him with one good thing, a little brother to take care of. Readers will enjoy the rich history of Haitian magic while rooting for Malik as he finds his place in a new world that is not without its faults. Through love, loss and found family, Malik will need to find out for himself what roots him and his magic.
Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear
Robin Wasley
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Alexis
Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear by Robin Wasley is a magical-zombie-apocalyptic novel that will have readers laughing, swooning, crying, and nail-biting. An “ordinary” adoptee MC, layered and diverse side characters (including Chad the cat) as well as a unique community-centered magic system makes this book one of a kind.
Hearts Still Beating
Brooke Archer
G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Nominated by: Leah
In Hearts Still Beating by Brooke Archer, Rory and Mara, former best friends with a fractured bond, must find a way to work together in a world devastated by a virus that turns people into monstrous Ticks. With complex family dynamics, morally grey characters, and a shared fight against rogue soldiers, their journey challenges everything they thought they knew about survival and loyalty. Fast-paced and filled with the “enemies to lovers” and “it was right in front of you all along” tropes, this story offers heartfelt LGBTQIA+ representation while exploring resilience, redemption, and the messy beauty of human connection and forgiveness.
Otherworldly
F.T. Lukens
Margaret K. McElderry
Nominated by: Kristen
Set in a world like ours but where the supernatural is accepted as normal, nonbinary teen Ellery is disillusioned with the goddess, because their region of the country has been in perpetual winter for years. Then they meet Knox, a servant of the goddess who didn’t go back to the Otherworld after the contract he was helping with got fulfilled. Knox has no power without an active bargain, so Ellery and Knox make a bargain between themselves – Ellery will help him experience a list of fun things from the human world, and Knox will find out from supernatural sources why the winter doesn’t end. This bargain ends up more complicated than either of them imagine, involving more supernatural beings, great danger, and high stakes. The humor sprinkled throughout this book, the many queer characters whose queerness is never an issue, the slowly growing romance, and the plot line with universal themes but plenty of surprises, kept us eagerly reading.
The Hedgewitch of Foxhall
Anna Bright
HarperTeen
Nominated by: Sondra Eklund
This historical fantasy set in medieval Wales has themes surprisingly relevant today. The three viewpoint characters – Ffion, the hedgewitch who makes sure she bears the own cost of her magic, and princes Dafydd and Taliesin – are beautifully filled out, with each their own emotional wounds and private goals. The princes have been challenged to a contest by their father to bring magic back to Wales, and when the huge coven at Foxhall refuses to help Tal, he turns to Ffion, despite her unconventional but more sustainable methods. Some surprises bring all three paths together, and we have the delight of watching friendships build and trying to predict which will bud into romance. Wonderful writing combined with themes of sustainability, self-determination, and responsible use of power make this book a stand-out.
The Invocations
Krystal Sutherland
Nancy Paulsen Books
Nominated by: Gary Anderson
In this beautifully crafted piece of high energy, captivating, gruesome, YA horror/fantasy, three young women’s lives cross when a serial killer begins hunting down magic users in a way that has police scratching their heads. Only the talent, intelligence, and determination of these very independent but deeply connected individuals may be able to stop these gruesome deaths, but at what cost? With body horror, found family, slow burn romance, and diverse representation, this new masterpiece of the genre just doesn’t quit!
We Mostly Come Out At Night
Rob Costello
Running Press Kids
Publisher/ Author Submission
We Mostly Come Out at Night is the perfect anthology for anyone who has ever found it easier to relate to the villains and monsters because they were more likely to be queer than the heroes. Whether it’s Mothman encounters, living with extra shadows, or transforming into a monster, the queer teens in these stories learn to embrace the monstrous and live as their truest selves.
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