April 2023

Book and audiobook recommendations for all ages

INSIDE:

The Essentials:
Top Twenty-First Century
First Novels, So Far

Top 10
First Novels

Must-Listen:
Poetry and Literature
Collections on Audio

Lightning Round:
Debut Author Interviews
Cover art by Jasmin Dwyer, from Starflower:
The Making of a Poet, Edna St. Vincent
Millay, by J. M. Farkas and Emily Vizzo
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Booklist Reader
April 2023
Spotlight on
First Novels
Volume 2, Issue 8 & Poetry

Adult Books Books for Youth

3 Top 10 20 Top 10
First Novels First Novels for Youth
4 The Essentials 21 Lightning Round
Top Twenty-First Century First Novels, So Far 2022 Debuts
by Donna Seaman by Ronny Khuri
6 The Essentials 24 A Conversation
Exceptional Recent Poetry Collections Zach Weinersmith and Boulet
by Donna Seaman by Sarah Hunter
8 Read-alikes 26 Read-alikes
Charles Dickens Reimagined While You Wait for Big Tree
by Donna Seaman by Ronny Khuri
10 Writer's Backstory 28 Read-alikes
The Book That Proved Indispensible While You Wait for Silver in the Bone
by Wil Haygood by Maggie Reagan
11 The Essentials 30 Reserve These Reads
Exceptional Debut Poetry Collections Children & Teens
by Donna Seaman 32 Top 10
12 Reserve These Reads Novels in Verse
Adult
14 LibraryReads
April Picks

Audiobooks
16 Top 10
First Novels on Audio
17 Must Listen
Poetry and Literature Collections on Audio
by Heather Booth
18 Listen-alikes
Audiobooks for Young Poetry Lovers
by Heather Booth
On the Cover
From Starflower: The Making of a Poet, Edna St. Vincent
Millay, by J. M. Farkas and Emily Vizzo, illustrated
by Jasmin Dwyer, and published
by Cameron Kids, an imprint
of Abrams Children's Books.
Starflower is reviewed in the
April 1, 2023, issue of Booklist.
Illustration © 2023 by Jasmin
Dwyer. Used by permission of the
publisher.
From the Editor & Publisher Are you reading Booklist Reader digitally, but want it
in print? Talk to your library, bookstore, or visit us

S
pring is a hopeful, affirming time. As everything
thaws in the Chicago area, robins build nests (in the
most awkward of places!), fawns bleat, and birds call
amid vivid, fresh flowering and greening. I cherish these
sights and sounds that lead us into summer, but I realize
this is an idyllic perspective. T. S. Eliot referred to April
as “the cruellest month” in “The Waste Land.” When that
poem was written, Europe was reeling in the aftermath
of WWI. With ongoing wars today, we continue to live
in precarious times, times fraught with frustrations and
concerns. Still, our focus here, on First Novels & Poetry,
is attuned to and harmonized with the hopeful season of
renewal. How appropriate it is to celebrate new voices and
concepts in first novels. And how invigorating to read and
absorb the revelations found in poetry. These works are a
salve. I hope you’re able to escape the pressures all around
and spend time in nature this spring reading a few of the
great works highlighted in this issue of Booklist Reader.
—George Kendall
gkendall@ala.org
online at booklistonline.com for more information.
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Editor / Publisher
George Kendall
Editorial & Production
Donna Seaman, Editor, Adult Books
Susan Maguire, Senior Editor, Collection Management
and Library Outreach
Annie Bostrom, Senior Editor, Adult Books
Sarah Hunter, Editor, Books for Youth
Maggie Reagan, Senior Editor, Books for Youth
Julia Smith, Senior Editor, Books for Youth
Ronny Khuri, Senior Editor, Books for Youth
Heather Booth, Editor, Audio
Ben Segedin, Production Director
Carlos Orellana, Senior Production Editor
Michael Ruzicka, Operations Manager About Booklist
Chris Anderson, Editorial Assistant Booklist is a book-review magazine that has been pub-
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Abeje Schnake, Editorial Assistant lished by the American Library Association for more
Marketing than 100 years and is widely viewed as offering the
Biz Hyzy, Marketing Specialist and Booklist Reader Editor most reliable reviews to help libraries decide what to
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Taylor Crossley, Marketing Coordinator what to read, view, or listen to.
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Individual pages of Booklist Reader and LibraryReads
may be shared digitally. (Please include a link back to
Leading book discovery the full publication.)

www.booklistonline.com
Booklist Reader Adult Books

Top 10 Mother of Strangers. By Suad Amiry. 2022. Pantheon.

Setting this powerful coming-of-age story in Jaffa on the
First Novels eve of Partition, architect and memoirist Amiry keenly
evokes the tension and anxiety of an occupation, during
These superb and transporting debuts are set which no one quite knows what the rules are.
in Lagos, Seoul, Harlem, and the inside of a Nuclear Family. By Joseph Han. 2022. Counterpoint.
woman’s body. Tragic, funny, and strikingly ingenious, Han’s prodigious
debut dovetails a sublime multigenerational saga with
pivotal history lessons, anti-colonial denunciations, and
Big Girl. By Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. 2022. Norton/ political slaps, with particularly enlightening linguistic ac-
Liveright. robatics for Korean speakers.
With grace and patience, Sullivan invites the reader into
the interior world of young teenager Malaya, whose body Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm. By Laura Warrell. 2022.
is constantly scrutinized and commented on, and her rap- Pantheon.
idly changing exterior world in 1990s Harlem. Many narrators appear and reappear as recurring motifs
in the fugue-like tapestry of the life of Circus Palmer, a
Black Cake. By Charmaine Wilkerson. 2022. Ballantine. jazz trumpet player, each playing a variation on the theme
A mother’s final bequest, an audio recording and a of this deeply flawed but charismatic man’s hold on them.
homemade Caribbean black cake stowed in the freezer,
unearths a story that spans decades, upending everything Vagabonds! By Eloghosa Osunde. 2022. Riverhead.
her grieving children thought they knew about their fam- In the hustle and bustle of Lagos, a huge cast of larger-
ily and themselves. than-life, mostly queer individuals lose or find themselves
in light of the fate they’re dealt and amidst relationships
Calling for a Blanket Dance. By Oscar Hokeah. 2022. that destroy or strengthen them.
Workman.
The story of Ever Geimausaddle, told through the
perspectives of 12 Native American and Mexican fam-
ily members, becomes a profound reflection on the ways
Art from Vagabonds!
familial and cultural trauma can threaten every generation
while those very connections can also promise salvation.
Four Treasures of the Sky. By Jenny Tinghui Zhang.
2022. Flatiron.
Imaginatively illuminating the Chinese Exclusion Act of
1882 and concurrent anti-Asian violence, Zhang’s blend
of history and magical realism stars Daiyu, a Chinese girl
who survives kidnapping, trafficking, and racial hatred by
repeatedly reinventing herself.
Last Summer on State Street. By Toya Wolfe. 2022.
Morrow.
Children learn to navigate the perils of an enormous
high-rise public housing project in this reverberat-
ing tale, built on bedrock Black Chicago history and
Wolfe’s own experiences growing up in this besieged
community.
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies. By Maddie
Mortimer. 2022. Scribner.
In playful and surreal prose, this poetic story
of a woman and the cancer that consumes her
body is voiced in part by the cancer itself, mov-
ing through her organs, tracing the story of her
life and the lives of her husband, daughter, and
mother.
www.booklistonline.com
Booklist Reader Adult Books
The Essentials
Top Twenty-First
Century First Novels,
So Far
by Donna Seaman
What a shattering, sometimes inspiring century
this has been, from 9/11 and the horrific wars that
followed to record-breaking natural disasters
intensified by climate change, the pandemic,
assaults against democracy, the social-media
revolution, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, to
name but a few seismic events and movements.
What sorts of first novels has the still-new twenty-
first century inspired? These impressive and
impactful debut works of general fiction published
between 2000 and 2021 have won major prizes,
landed on best-seller lists, galvanized book groups,
inspired film and stage adaptations, and launched
exciting literary careers.
American War. By Omar El Akkad. 2017. Vintage.
The American South has once again attempted to secede
from the Union amid the ravages of global warming in El
Akkad’s gripping cautionary tale of one family’s struggles
to survive in a catastrophically disrupted world.
The Borrower. By Rebecca Makkai. 2011. Penguin.
A young children’s librarian “borrows” her favorite
10-year-old patron after his parents restrict his reading
choices and enroll him in a program meant to “cure” his
nascent homosexuality.
Everything Is Illuminated. By Jonathan Safran Foer.
2002. Mariner.
A young American travels to Ukraine, hoping to find the
woman who helped save his grandmother from the Nazis,
and also discovers the complex history of one shtetl fam-
ily’s life.
4 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Art from Goodbye, Vitamin.
The Five Wounds. By Kirstin Valdez Quade. 2021.
Norton.
Amadeo Padilla played the role of Jesus during the re-
creation of the Crucifixion as part of Holy Week in his
small New Mexico town, and he also has heavy burdens to
bear in real life.
Freshwater. By Akwaeke Emezi. 2018. Grove.
Emezi draws on a traditional Igbo myth and offers an
arresting perspective on mental illness in this many-voiced
tale about Ada, a young Nigerian.
Good Kings Bad Kings. By Susan Nussbaum. 2013.
Algonquin.
Nussbaum’s mighty debut gives voice to life-embracing
young adults with disabilities and the devoted staff who
care for them in a Chicago nursing home.
Goodbye, Vitamin. By Rachel Khong. 2017. Holt.
Rachel returns home to help her mother care for her
father as he struggles with dementia in Khong’s tender,
deadpan-funny, and affecting drama about memory, self,
and caregiving.
Here Comes the Sun. Nicole Dennis-Benn. 2016.
Norton/Liveright.
Identity, self-respect, class, and same-sex love are all in-
tegral to Dennis-Benn’s tale about smart and ambitious
Margot in Montego Bay who is determined to protect her
younger sister from the sexual exploitation she has had to
endure.
The Kite Runner. By Khaled Hosseini. 2003. Riverhead.
Set amid the destruction of Afghanistan, Hosseini’s inter-
nationally acclaimed novel follows two boys linked by love,
lies, and sacrifice whose friendship endures despite their
different life paths.
www.booklistonline.com
Lincoln in the Bardo. By George Saunders. 2017.
Random.
Anchored to the death of President Abraham Lincoln’s
young son, Willie, Saunders’ boldly imagined novel is
downright surreal in its cemetery-set action and ghostly
cast.
The Love Songs of W. E. B. du Bois. By Honorée
Fanonne Jeffers. 2021. Harper.
Jeffers offers an audacious, mellifluous portrayal of an
African American family in Georgia, juxtaposing her con-
temporary heroine, Ailey, against the lives and traumas of
her multiracial ancestors.
A Man Called Ove. By Fredrik Backman. 2014.
Washington Square.
Misanthropic widower Ove intends to join his wife in
the next world, but instead gets caught up in the lives of
neighbors, an old friend, and a stray cat in Swedish blogger
Backman’s charming debut.
The Mothers. By Brit Bennett. 2016. Riverhead.
Bennett’s novel about the consequences of secret de-
cisions is set on a military base city in California, and
features a teen mourning for her mother and smitten with
a pastor’s son and a chorus of elder church women.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. By Ocean Vuong.
2019. Penguin.
Vuong’s unnerving novel is narrated by Little Dog, a
Vietnamese refugee who tells his difficult story in a letter
to his mother, who cannot read, recounting his covert teen
love for coworker Trevor.
www.booklistonline.com
The Sympathizer. By Viet Thanh Nguyen. 2015. Grove.
Nguyen exposes the hidden costs of America’s tragic war in
Vietnam as Americans failed in their political and military
attempts to remake Vietnam while successfully shrouding
the criminal debacle with Hollywood distortions.
There, There. By Tommy Orange. 2018. Vintage.
A web of at-first disconnected characters and an omni-
scient narrator voice Orange’s symphonic exploration of
what it means to be an Urban Indian, which builds to the
Big Oakland Powwow.
The Water Dancer. By Ta-Nehisi Coates. 2019.
Ballantine/One World.
Hiram Walker, the son of an enslaved woman and a slave
master, survives a near-death accident that imbues him
with a strange and liberating power.
What We Lose. By Zinzi Clemmons. 2017. Penguin.
Clemmons’ innovative tale centers on Thandi, from her
privileged childhood in Philadelphia as a “light” African
American to her Johannesburg-born mother’s death and
her own motherhood.
When the Emperor Was Divine. By Julie Otsuka. 2002.
Anchor.
Inspired by her family’s travails as wrongfully incarcer-
ated Japanese Americans during WWII, Otsuka’s exquisite
novel dramatizes the torment of exile.
White Teeth. By Zadie Smith. 2000. Vintage.
Smith’s witty satire follows the entwined lives of the mul-
tiracial Jones and Iqbal families, beginning with the bizarre
WWII experiences of Archibald and Samad.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 5
 Booklist Reader Adult Books
Art from Promises
of Gold and Antes
Que Isla Es Volcán /
Before Island Is
Volcano.
The Essentials
Exceptional Recent
Poetry Collections
by Donna Seaman
The celebrated poets in these substantial and
powerful collections stretch traditional forms,
from the waka to the sonnet, and invent new
ones. They also explore diverse cultures and
histories, including those of Puerto Rico and
Vietnam, as well as the complexities of identities
and sexualities. These poets are virtuoso, daring,
passionate, and funny, their collections full of
surprises and revelations sure to intrigue you
whether you’re a poetry lover or wish you were.
Alive at the End of the World. By Saeed Jones. 2022.
Coffee House.
With brutal lyricism and biting insight, Jones critiques
tensions in American society and ponders his relationship
with his deceased mother and his identity as a gay Black
man, digging deeper into themes he explored in his widely
acclaimed memoir, How We Fight for Our Lives.
Antes Que Isla Es Volcán / Before Island Is Volcano. By
Raquel Salas Rivera. 2022. Beacon.
Lambda Award–winning Salas Rivera wields wicked in-
telligence and sharp humor to crack open the minds of his
readers in this bilingual collection confronting the storied
histories of Puerto Rico through the lives of the island’s
inhabitants and diaspora.
Blood Snow. By dg nanouk okpik. 2022. Wave.
Inuit Inupiat poet okpik connects the personal to the
planetary in a direct, unsettling way as she describes Arctic
landscapes in which ice floes have all but evaporated and
desperation and death spread across the polar wasteland:
6 Booklist Reader | April 2023
“Bones on inner ice / Melt water tears reflected / No ice,
no seal sharks.”
From Unincorporated Territory [åmot]. By Craig Santos
Perez. Apr. 2023. Omnidawn.
Chamorro poet Perez continues his deep dive into Gua-
manian identity and culture, this time focusing on the
practices of traditional healers. Perez serves up plentiful
portions of Indigenous vocabulary while his inventive vi-
sual arrangements of text on the page invigorate his already
spellbinding subjects.
Gravity and Center: Selected Sonnets, 1994–2022. By
Henri Cole. 2023. Farrar.
Collected from across Cole’s acclaimed oeuvre, these son-
nets embody all the best qualities of this poet’s enviable
economy of language, evocative imagery, incisive turns
of phrase, and sheer lyrical genius. That Cole manages to
range the wide spectrum of human experience within the
14 lines of the sonnet is testament both to the poet’s craft
and to the form itself.
The Hurting Kind. By Ada Limón. 2022. Milkweed.
Limón, the first Latina Poet Laureate of the United
States, presents a brilliantly creative bestiary formed of
bright and clear-eyed lyrics in which she extracts profound
tenderness from the simplest moments as she muses on
flora and fauna and measures time in evocative, unex-
pected ways.
www.booklistonline.com
Promises of Gold. By José Olivarez. Tr. by David Ruano.
2023. Holt.
In this bilingual volume, Olivarez states his intention to
dismantle colonial harm by questioning Spanish colonial
values: “What is gold to us? What is holy to us? Where do
we find glory?” Rather than retrace a history of conquista-
dors, Olivarez elevates small but notable moments through
a sensitive, introspective speaker who must learn tough les-
sons on the streets of Calumet City.
Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes. By Nicky Beer. 2022.
Milkweed.
Beer conjures forgeries and illusions as she portrays magi-
cians, plagiarists, tricksters, and entire villages of liars in a
clever, kaleidoscopic, and powerfully profound collection
with a cavalcade of pleasantly deceptive voices.
Smoking the Bible. By Chris Abani. 2022. Copper
Canyon.
A political refugee from Nigeria living in the U.S., poet,
novelist, and essayist Abani reflects on displacement as he
fuses love and pain, loss and attempted resurrection, and the
lingering traumas of violence in poems of grit and beauty,
mercy and faith, declaring: “Words sung right can save us.”
Some of the Light: New and Selected Poems. By Tim Z.
Hernandez. 2023. Beacon.
Hernandez draws on themes of history, migration, im-
perialism, and legacy, infusing rich imagery with biting
www.booklistonline.com
humor, writing of California’s “voluptuous” landscapes and
complicated demographics, and wordsmithing unexpected
combinations.
Time Is a Mother. By Ocean Vuong. 2022. Penguin.
Vuong, following his acclaimed first novel, On Earth
We’re Briefly Gorgeous, focuses on his complicated relation-
ship with his mother in quiet, astonishing lyrics, while
drawing from the deep wellspring of his Vietnamese heri-
tage in poems of evocative intensity and pointed humor.
The Trees Witness Everything. By Victoria Chang. 2022.
Copper Canyon.
Chang begins with a traditional Japanese form, waka,
also known as tanka, or short poem, and adroitly uses titles
of poems by W. S. Merwin as prompts, creating aston-
ishingly graceful and subtle poems. The second section,
“Marfa, Texas,” is a long, reflective poem about the art
mecca in the West Texas desert. Poetic wisdom past and
present is very much alive here.
Unshuttered. By Patricia Smith. 2023. TriQuarterly.
Smith, winner of the 2021 Poetry Foundation Ruth
Lilly Award for Lifetime Achievement, presents 42 formal
nineteenth-century photographs of unnamed African
Americans accompanied by sharp and empathetic poems
in the imagined voices of each man, woman, and child,
elucidating the past and steering us toward a more con-
scious and ethical future.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 7
Booklist Reader Adult Books
Art from Demon Copperhead.
Read-alikes
Charles Dickens
Reimagined
By Donna Seaman
The indelible novels of Charles Dickens have
inspired clever variations, including mysteries,
that are set in his world, some even featuring
the influential writer himself. But other
reimaginings, some precise in their homage,
like Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead
(review adjacent), others more loosely if clearly
Dickensian, take a more comprehensive and
profound approach.
The Good Thief. By Hannah Tinti. 2008. Dial.
Ren doesn’t know how he lost his hand or why he lives in
a prisonlike orphanage in a decimated nineteenth-century
New England town, so when Benjamin Nab appears and
claims him as his long-lost younger brother, Ren is ecstatic,
until he realizes that his savior is a diabolical con man.
Jack Maggs. By Peter Carey. 1998. Vintage.
Jack Maggs (from Magwitch in Great Expectations) is a
convicted thief turned respected landowner who has re-
turned to London from Australia to seek out a young man
he considers his son in a tale that, in the classic Dickens
manner, unites broad-stroked tragedy and melodrama with
inner turmoil.
The Lake on Fire. By Rosellen Brown. 2018. Sarabande.
Her family fled antisemitic violence in Russia only to go
hungry in Wisconsin, so Chaya heads to Chicago with her
precocious younger brother where they struggle to survive
8 Booklist Reader | April 2023
as Brown explores the divide between rich and poor during
the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Lionel Asbo: State of England. By Martin Amis. 2012.
Vintage.
Amis’ Dickensian, crafty, bull’s-eye satire stars Lionel, a
volatile thug much feared in his destitute Liverpool neigh-
borhood, and his orphaned, bookish, mixed-race teenage
nephew, Desmond, who becomes a journalist as Lionel
is in and out of prison, then wins the lottery in a wicked
twist on the rags-to-riches motif.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. By Arundhati Roy.
2017. Knopf.
In Roy’s epic of relentless strategies of oppression and
extraordinary resilience, Anjum is a glamorous intersex
person living as a woman in New Delhi who ends up,
due to anti-Muslim atrocities, taking refuge in a cemetery,
while artist Tilottama and the men who love her—an In-
dian intelligence officer, a Kashmiri freedom fighter, and a
journalist—are threatened by the “Butcher of Kashmir.”
Mister Pip. By Lloyd Jones. 2007. Dial.
Thirteen-year-old Matilda’s tropical island is in the grip
of a civil war and has lost its teachers. The only white man
to stay, the eccentric Mr. Watts, reads his favorite novel,
www.booklistonline.com

Demon Copperhead. By Barbara Kingsolver. 2022.
Harper
“A kid is a terrible thing to be, in charge of noth-
ing.” So says young Damon Fields, who’s destined to
be known as Demon Copperhead, a hungry orphan in
a snake-harboring holler in Lee County, Vir-
ginia, where meth and opioids kill and nearly
everyone is just scraping by. With his red hair
and the “light-green eyes of a Melungeon,” Da-
mon’s a dead-ringer for his dead father, whom
he never met. More parent to his mother than
she was to him, he’s subjected to hellish foster
situations after her death, forced into hard la-
bor, including a stint in a tobacco field, which
ignites one of many righteous indictments of
greed and exploitation. Damon funnels his
dreams into drawings of superheroes, art being
one of his secret powers. After risking his life to
find his irascible grandmother, he ends up liv-
ing in unnerving luxury with Coach Winfield
and his smart, caustic, motherless daughter.
Kingsolver’s capacious, ingenious, wrench-
ing, and funny survivor’s tale is a virtuoso
present-day variation on Charles Dickens’ Da-
vid Copperfield, and she revels in creating wicked and
sensitive character variations, dramatic trials-by-fire,
and resounding social critiques, all told from Damon’s
frank and piercing point of view in vibrantly inven-
tive language. Every detail stings or sings as he reflects
on nature, Appalachia, family, responsibility, love, and
endemic social injustice. Kingsolver’s tour de force is a
serpentine, hard-striking tale of profound dimension
and resonance. —Donna Seaman
Art from The Lake on Fire,
Purity, Ramadan Ramsey, and
The Good Thief.
www.booklistonline.com
Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, to her class and they
are enthralled.
Purity. By Jonathan Franzen. 2015. Farrar.
In Franzen’s engrossing and provocative improvisation on
Great Expectations, Pip is a lonely young woman in Oak-
land, California, burdened with
massive student debt who em-
barks on a fateful internship with
a WikiLeaks-like group in a plot
involving franchised, feedlot-poi-
soned, and fracked Texas, the Stasi,
and a Bolivian jungle hideout.
Ramadan Ramsey. By Louis
Edwards. 2021. Harper.
Growing up in pre-Katrina New
Orleans, Ramadan Ramsey is the
offspring of African American Ali-
cia and immigrant Mustafa, who
was hustled back to Syria, leaving
Ramadan with a longing for his fa-
ther that catalyzes vivid adventures
featuring an array of intriguing
characters.
White Teeth. By Zadie Smith. 2000. Vintage.
Smith’s witty and keenly Dickensian, multigenerational
first novel, seeded by the friendship between Archibald
and Samad forged during their shared and bizarre WWII
experiences, traces the entwined fortunes of the Jones and
Iqbal families.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 9
Writer’s Backstory
The Book That Proved
Indispensible
by Wil Haygood
T
hat summer I was feeling particularly restless. I
had been out of college a few years. It was 1980
and I was on my third job in Columbus, Ohio.
It seemed as if I was unable to fasten myself to a career
trajectory. I was working at the Heritage House, a Jewish
cultural center. One of the promises I had made to myself
was that upon receiving my paycheck every other week, I’d
buy myself a hardback book. Even though I majored in ur-
ban planning in college, the literature courses I took made
me giddy. Professor Marian Musgrave had told us stories
about writers in New York City, writers in Paris!
So there I was, gliding into the SBX bookstore on N. High
Street in Columbus, scanning the shelves and tables. And
there it was, upright on a tiny stand, on the Newly Arrived
table: Arna Bontemps–Langston Hughes Letters, 1925–1967,
selected and edited by Charles H. Nichols. It was a thick
book at 500 pages, and once I gave it a cursory look through,
I knew I was going to buy it.
The book was a compendium of hundreds and hundreds
of letters across four decades between these two Black writ-
ers. I’d heard of Hughes, but not Bontemps. After work
I’d sit on the front porch of my grandparents’ home and
devour Hughes and Bontemps’ correspondence. Black
writers, or the stories they told, were not in vogue then in
the manner they would become, so it was as if I’d discov-
ered a whole new world.
The letters were so much fun and exciting to read. These
were writers out on the road, sending letters on hotel
stationary, talking about dinners they had been treated
to after readings, their new theatrical plays that would
be opening, and two up-and-coming kids newly arrived
on the scene who had impressed the both of them: James
Baldwin and Lorraine Hansberry. Here were letters about
jazz and new movies and the powerful emergence of Sid-
ney Poitier and Cicely Tyson. Letters about book contacts
and book ideas and $25 checks because money wasn’t easy
to come by. Here is Arna writing to Langston from Chi-
cago in the early 1940s: “I’m working hard but progressing
slowly on my novel. My New Year’s resolve is to perk up.
At best, though, I don’t hope to see it in print before ’42.
Like you, I mean to write literature or bust! Yes, suh!” Here
is Langston in 1954, writing to Arna from New York City:
10 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Jeff Sabo
“Man, I didn’t know any-
thing about that Anisfield
Award until I got home day
before yesterday and found
the check awaiting me. It’s
not announced officially yet,
is it? How did you know?
Anyhow, I can use that
money to write my second
Big Sea which I’m due to
turn in this year.”
As I read the letters, some-
thing began to take hold of me. It was beautiful to see these
writers in motion, feeling so alive even amidst the meanness
of segregation. The flap jacket revealed that the book’s editor
taught at Brown University. I got hold of a friend’s typewriter
and wrote to Nichols. I had never written to an author or
editor before. I was shocked when a letter arrived from Nich-
ols, on beautiful Brown University stationary. “You sound
like someone we should encourage to come to Brown for
graduate school,” he wrote. As touched as I was by the letter,
I chuckled: Me and Brown University would not be dancing
together. My college grades were unimpressive. But what a
letter to have.
The Hughes-Bontemps book told me it was time to
make my move. I told family and friends I was going to
leave Columbus. I told the staff director at the center
where I worked that I was quitting, that I was going to go
and write. She seemed disappointed, but wished me well.
Many were truly frightened for me.
Since Hughes had started out writing for newspapers. I
got a low-level copy editing job at the Charleston Gazette in
West Virginia. After two years, it was off to the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette, where I was a reporter for a little over a year.
Matt Storin hired me at the Boston Globe, where I became
a national reporter then a foreign correspondent. While at
the Globe, I wrote a series about Harlem in the 1920s and
tracked down entertainers who knew Hughes and Bon-
temps. There were moments I could nearly cry, shaking the
hands of people who had shaken the hands of Bontemps
and Hughes. Someone mentioned that Hughes would be
seen on his Harlem stoop with a parrot atop his shoulder.
I traveled the world. Eventually I took leaves of absences
from newspaper work and started writing books.
Through the years of travel and relocations, some books
have gotten away from me. But never the Hughes-Bon-
temps letters. It seems to be my literary candle. For me, it
was literature or bust, indeed.
Wil Haygood’s most recent book is Colorization: One Hundred Years of Black Films
in a White World. He is the 2022 Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Distinguished
Achievement Award winner, given by the Dayton Literary International Peace Prize.
www.booklistonline.com
Booklist Reader Adult Books
The Essentials
Exceptional Debut
Poetry Collections
by Donna Seaman
These recent first collections by emerging
poets explore questions of identity, desire,
immigration, and transformation.
All the Flowers Kneeling. By Paul Tran. 2022. Penguin.
Tran’s darkly intelligent and exquisite collection centers
around trauma, both as the speaker experiences a particular
incident and the ways trauma permeates a person’s sense of
self. One poem adopts the distant tone of a police report
and demonstrates how the bureaucracy of criminal justice
flattens and formalizes even the most awful experiences:
“The form said Name of victim. // The form named me. //
The form was a form of naming. // Naming gave me form.”
Bluest Nude. By Ama Codjoe. 2022. Milkweed.
Codjoe’s hotly burning poems collapse themes of color
and body into a lyrical supernova, with reiterated ques-
tions about the role of women and art at its center. In one
poem, she depicts the transformational nature of woman-
hood, “Like an organ coiled / deep inside or a lasso / of
lightning and high / noon, the rattlesnake / traveled the
length / of my spine, sunning itself / inside me.”
Border Vista. By Anni Liu. 2022. Persea.
The poems in Liu’s prize-winning, cross-cultural collec-
tion hopscotch through signal childhood moments as a
seven-year-old girl’s mother leaves their ancient Chinese
city, as the girl’s father and grandparents care for her, as
she takes English classes, and as she suddenly experiences
a “double-edged feeling” that will define her and her life as
she emigrates to America.
www.booklistonline.com
Art from
Stepmotherland.
Couplets: A Love Story. By Maggie Millner. 2023. Farrar.
Millner’s poems are mostly in rhymed couplets, which
are interspersed with prose sections as the speaker’s com-
fortable relationship with a man ends when she becomes
enthralled by an exciting, if unstable, woman. This is an
important book for readers interested in the knotted inter-
sections of form, freedom, queerness, and safety.
My Hollywood and Other Poems. By Boris Dralyuk.
2022. Paul Dry.
Dralyuk, editor in chief of the Los Angeles Review of
Books, writes of his life in the Soviet Union and as a Jewish
immigrant, presenting sophisticated, musical, and often hu-
morous reflections on immigrant experiences in the strange
new environment of Los Angeles, especially Hollywood.
The Orange Tree. By Dong Li. 2023. Univ. of Chicago.
Li, the first to receive the Phoenix Emerging Poet Book
Prize, combines the excruciatingly personal with an essential
oral history of China, portraying the generations that tended
the family orange tree in times of abundant happiness and
war-torn despair, especially during Japan’s brutal occupation.
Poukahangatus. By Tayi Tibble. 2022. Knopf.
Channeling her Māori heritage and the zeitgeist of her
childhood, Tibble, a young poet of effervescent verve
and great promise, transforms tales of mundanity into
spellbinding, melodious encounters as her running prose
poems bubble over with lush imagery and serve as canny
time capsules.
Stepmotherland. By Darrel Alejandro Holnes. 2022.
Univ. of Notre Dame.
Drawing on African, American, Panamanian, and Chocó
heritages, Holnes illuminates race, language, class, gender,
and sex in moving, incandescent poems that can be pithy
and direct as well as personal and political as he paints
vivid images in strikingly original depictions or tributes to
such Black artists as Michael Paul Britto, Kehinde Wiley,
and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 11
Booklist Reader Adult Books
Reserve These Reads
Adult
Get your hands on these hotly anticipated
books, all out this month.
Fiction
City of Dreams. By Don Winslow. Morrow.
In the follow-up to City on Fire (2021), a widowed mob
underboss heads to Hollywood to control the shakedown
of those making a movie based on a New England crime
war, only to find the alluring leading lady has secrets she’s
desperate to keep.
Chain Gang All Stars. By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
Pantheon.
Adjei-Brenyah’s buzzy debut novel, following her short
story collection, Friday Black (2018), is a kaleidoscopic
look at a future in which prisoners compete in gladiator-
like competitions for their freedom.
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa. By
Stephen Buoro. Bloomsbury.
The experiences of a 15-year-old boy in northern
Nigeria—hanging out with friends, contemplating ques-
tions of mathematics and Black power, and falling in love
with a white girl—provide a window onto contemporary
African life in this distinctive debut novel.
Happy Place. By Emily Henry. Berkley.
Harriet and Wynn are the perfect couple, except that
12 Booklist Reader | April 2023
they broke up six months ago and didn’t tell anyone, so
they must keep up a happy facade on their friends’ annual
getaway in Maine in the latest from romance-star Henry.
Homecoming. By Kate Morton. Mariner.
Morton’s ability to marry divergent time lines is on full
display here, as a present-day reporter in Sydney finds a
book that connects her family to a 1959 cold case murder.
House of Cotton. By Monica Brashears. Flatiron.
In this powerfully original Black Southern gothic de-
but, 19-year-old Magnolia is broke and haunted, until
a mysterious man named Cotton offers her a new life as
a doppelganger of missing and deceased people, helping
their loved ones achieve closure.
Romantic Comedy. By Curtis Sittenfeld. Random.
The jaded writer of a comedy sketch about dweeby men
who somehow date beautiful, accomplished women sud-
denly, shockingly finds herself in a situationship with a
gorgeous pop star.
The Soulmate. By Sally Hepworth. St. Martin’s.
Gabe and Pippa move into their dream house on a sea-
side in Melbourne, but the cliff on which the house sits is
besieged by people trying to end their lives, and Pippa wit-
nesses a death that she’s not sure was a suicide.
The Trackers. By Charles Frazier. Ecco.
From the author of Cold Mountain (1997) comes the tale
of a Depression-era itinerant artist who finds himself on
the trail of a runaway wife with a valuable painting, travel-
ing from rural Wyoming to the streets of San Francisco.
This Bird Has Flown. By Susanna Hoffs. Little, Brown.
This lively, spicy debut from the former guitarist and vo-
calist with the Bangles follows a musician in search of her
next hit who meets a man on a flight to England and, as
their relationship develops, finds creative inspiration.
www.booklistonline.com
Nonfiction
Alexandra Petri’s US History: Important American
Documents (I Made Up). By Alexandra Petri. Norton.
Washington Post humor writer Petri (Nothing Is Wrong
and Here’s Why, 2020) offers more of the best medicine
(laughter, that is) in her new collection of essays examin-
ing satirically fictional documents.
Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You. By Lucinda
Williams. Crown.
In Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Williams’ inti-
mate memoir, she traces her traumatic childhood in the
Deep South and reveals the inspiration behind her most
beloved songs.
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to
Take over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them.
By Timothy Egan. Viking.
This riveting exposé of a sordid chapter in U.S. history
follows the rise and fall of the Machiavellian grand drag-
www.booklistonline.com
on of the Ku Klux Klan, D. C. Stephenson, in his quest
for political power in the 1920s.
Honey, Baby, Mine. By Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.
Grand Central.
The mother/daughter actors share intimate conversa-
tions on their lives, craft, and admiration for each other.
The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. By
David Grann. Doubleday.
Grann investigates the conflicting stories of two groups
of eighteenth-century castaways in his first book-length
work of narrative history since the mega-hit Killers of the
Flower Moon (2017).
You Could Make This Place Beautiful. By Maggie
Smith. Atria/One Signal.
Best-selling poet and social-media sensation Smith
traces her falling in and out of love, losing pregnancies,
having children and mothering them, and the beginning
of the end of her marriage in this inhalable memoir.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 13

"Clearly if you need a book about a robot that’s guaranteed to have you break out into
heaving sobs, this is the novel for you. Klune’s masterful retelling of Pinocchio–a little bit
science fiction, a little bit dystopian, and a little bit book-clubby–is a sure-fire winner with
so much appeal on so many levels it should prompt readers of all genres to step into
something new and original. For fans of The Maker of Swans and The Night Circus.”
Apr
Aprilil 2023 - The top ten books published this month that library staff across the country love.
Dir
Dirtty Laundr
Laundryy:
A No
Novvel
by Disha Bose
(Ballantine Books)
“Ciara is a perfect mom and
influencer who knows what to
do, buy, and promote in her
small Irish town. Ciara also is an
irresponsible woman who plays
friends against each other, eats
up and spits out all the town
husbands, and seals her own
fate with her reprehensible
behavior. An Orient Express-like
cast shines in this twisty
domestic thriller about secrets
and lies.”
—Donna Ballard, East Meadow Public Library, East Meadow, NY
NoveList read-alike: Regrets Only by Kieran Scott
Mast
aster
ering
ing the Ar
Artt of
French M Mur
urder
der
by Colleen Cambridge
(Kensington)
"In Paris after WWII, Julia Child,
her husband Paul, sister Dort, and
Tabitha, a half French American
ex-pat, are all recent arrivals. The
romance, sights, sounds, and
food of the city are delightful
enough; add a murder
committed with one of Julia’s
knives, and a wonderful series is
born. For fans of culinary
mysteries, historical mysteries,
and City of Light."
—Jennifer Winberry, Hunterdon County Library, Flemington, NJ
NoveList read-alike: Peril in Paris by Rhys Bowen
The SScour
courge
ge
Bet
Betwween Stars
by Ness Brown
(Tor Nightfire)
“Jacklyn ‘Jack’ Albright is first
mate of the ship Calypso, en
route back to earth after a failed
attempt to colonize another
planet. Jack’s father is the captain,
but he sealed himself in private
quarters weeks ago as things are
breaking down. The pacing and
growing insidious dread in this
novella are awesome. The
crippling fear of the unknown
makes for a delicious read.”
—KatieLee Sliger, Boise Public Library, Boise, ID
NoveList read-alike: Screaming From the Void by Helen Tibbets
14 Booklist Reader | April 2023
In TThe
he Liv
Lives
es of PPuppets
uppets
by TJ Klune
—Douglas Beatty, Baltimore County Public Library, Baltimore, MD
NoveList read-alike: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
The Haunting of
Alejandra: A No
Novvel
by V. Castro
(Del Rey)
"Alejandra is a stay-at-home
mother. Depressed because her
life isn't what she thought it’d be,
she consults a curandero: a folk
healer and licensed therapist.
She soon discovers the visions
she’s been having are tied to her
ancestors' experiences. Castro
has an innate ability to get into
the head of her characters, while
weaving together multiple
plotlines and time periods."
—Chloe Waryan, Chicago Public Library, Chicago, IL
NoveList read-alike: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Moor
ooreewood FFamily
amily Rules
by HelenKay Dimon
(Avon)
"Jillian Moorewood is out of jail
after covering for the crimes of
her grifting family. She heads
home to the family mansion to
take back control of the
business and force them into
legitimate jobs, but none of her
extended family wants to
change. Quirky characters, a
hot bodyguard, attempts on
her life, and a battle worthy of
Succession keeps readers
engaged to the end."
—Linda Quinn, Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield, CT
NoveList read-alike: The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson
Sist
Sisters
ers of the LLost
ost Nation:
A No
Novvel
by Nick Medina
(Berkley)
“Anna Horn wants to know why
young girls are disappearing on
the reservation. When Anna's
sister Grace goes missing, Anna
and the tribe seek answers to the
disappearances and discover
that the tribe's difficulties are
linked to the past. This mix of
mythology and horror that deals
with unsolved disappearances of
Indigenous girls and tribal lore is
a gripping read.”
—Theresa Coleman, Indianapolis Public Library, Indianapolis, IN
NoveList read-alike: Highway of Tears by Jessica McDiarmid
Find out mor
moree at w
wwww.Librar
.LibraryR
yReads
eads.or
.org
g Made in Librar
(Tor Books)
Homecoming:
A No
Novvel
by Kate Morton
(Mariner Books)
"Set in Australia, this novel
examines the mysterious
circumstances of a family
tragedy on Christmas Eve in
1959. In the present day, a
woman delves into her own
past to uncover the secrets that
impacted her life in ways she
doesn't yet understand.
Morton’s books often contain
well-developed characters,
twisty plots, and family secrets,
and this is no exception."
—Lesley Williams, Claymont Public Library—New Castle County
Libraries, DE. NoveList read-alike: Exiles by Jane Harper
Natural Beaut
Beautyy:
A No
Novvel
by Ling Ling Huang
(Dutton)
“This hauntingly beautiful and
chilling novel showcases the
otherwordly experience the
main character goes through
at the expense of her health
and beauty, and how
damaging it can be. It was
bleak, but atmospheric and
luminous in a weird way. The
descriptions were interesting
and drew me in further and
further. A mind-bender that
readers will plow through in a
day or two!”
—Erin McLaughlin, Librarian in Austin, TX
NoveList read-alike: Chlorine by Jade Song
Symphon
Symphonyy of SSecr
ecrets:
ets:
A No
Novvel
by Brendan Slocumb
(Anchor Books)
“In 1920s NYC Fred Delaney is
about to be kicked out of his
jazz combo when he meets
Josephine Reed, who helps
him improve. In the present
day, Bern Hendricks, an expert
on composer Delaney, is asked
to look over a manuscript of a
lost symphony. However,
questions about attribution
arise. This is a suspenseful
book that will be fantastic
for discussion.”
—Joan Hipp, Florham Park Public Library, Florham Park, NJ
NoveList read-alike: Sing Her Name by Rosalyn M. Story
LibraryA
yAwar
waree - w
wwww.librar
.librarya
yawar
waree.com
www.booklistonline.com

The FFiancée
iancée Far
arce:
ce: A No
Novvel
by Alexandria Bellefleur
(Avon)
Bellefleur is back with a frothy, adorable,
heartwarming romance. Tansy has been
lying to her family about having a girlfriend
just so they’ll get off her back. Her fake
girlfriend, Gemma, happens to be a real life
cover model for romance novels who shows
up at a wedding Tansy is attending! Gemma
surprises Tansy by going along with the ruse
since she needs a fiancée in order to inherit
her grandfather’s company. Save this story
for whenever you need a pick-me-up!
—Cari Dubiel,
Twinsburg Public Library,Twinsburg, OH
NoveList read-alike:
No Rings Attached by Rachel Lacey
Romantic C
Comedy
omedy:: A No
Novvel
by Curtis Sittenfeld
(Random House)
The Danny Horst Rule states that a gorgeous
male celebrity like Noah Brewster would not
fall in love with an average-looking woman
like Sally Milz. So Sally can’t fathom why
Noah seems drawn to her as they prepare
for the Saturday night comedy show where
he is the guest host and she is a staff writer.
This is a modern love story with intricately
fleshed out characters and fresh dialogue,
authentically set during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
—Judy Haynes Sebastian,
Eastham Public Library, Eastham, MA
NoveList read-alike:
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
www.booklistonline.com
APRIL 2023
Happ
Happyy PPlace:
lace: A No
Novvel
by Emily Henry
(Berkley)
Though they broke up six months ago,
Wyn and Harriet pretend they’re still
together to avoid disrupting their college
friends’ last annual getaway to a cottage
in Maine. This book takes the fake
relationship trope to a whole new level
with switching timelines that reveal how
this former couple got to where they are
now. Every character is flawed but
lovable, and their banter is delightful.
Emily Henry fans may have a new favorite!
—Molly Thatcher,
Charleston County Public Library, Charleston, SC
NoveList read-alike:
The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
The SSoulmat
oulmate:
e: A No
Novvel
by Sally Hepworth
(St. Martin's Press)
A tragic situation takes an ominously
personal turn when Pippa's husband,
first thought to be an unwitting witness
to a stranger's suicide, is revealed to
have a secret connection to the
woman. As more is revealed, Pippa has
to wonder if her husband played more
of a hands-on role in the woman's
death. Readers will be swept away with
this twisty, well-crafted thriller.
—Sharon Layburn,
South Huntington Public Library, Huntington Station, NY
NoveList read-alike:
It's One of Us by J.T. Ellison
Find out more at www.LibraryReads.org/HoF
The Last RRemains
emains
by Elly Griffiths
(Mariner Books)
Dr. Ruth Galloway faces the closing of the
archaeology department at the University
of North Norfolk while DCI Harry Nelson
considers retirement. Both are at a
crossroads personally and professionally
when the skeleton of a former archaeology
student is found after disappearing fifteen
years ago. This intricate mystery is full of
red herrings and local color, and features
characters who continue to grow in a way
that is seldom seen in series.
—Stacey Lunsford,
Irvin L Young Memorial Library, Whitewater, WI
NoveList read-alike:
A Murder in Tuscany by Christobel Kent
Yours TTruly
ruly
by Abby Jimenez
(Forever)
After a terrible first impression, Jacob
sends a letter causing Briana to decide
to give her irritating coworker a second
chance. Surprisingly, she finds him
warm and funny. In this eye-opening,
brutally honest, and vulnerable
romance, the two fall in love while
dealing with serious issues such as
anxiety and kidney disease. Readers
who enjoyed Unlikely Match by Laura
Bradbury should enjoy this novel.
—Brenna Jaco,
Lubbock Public Library, Lubbock, TX
NoveList read-alike:
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Only Sur
Surviv
vivors:
ors: A No
Novvel
by Megan Miranda
(Scribner)
A group of former classmates reunite
to mark the tenth anniversary of a
tragic accident only to have one of the
survivors disappear, casting fear and
suspicion on the original tragedy.
Seven hours in the past. Seven days in
the present. Seven survivors remaining.
Readers won't be able to put down
this page-turner, and will want to
reread it to see all the missed clues.
—Vanneshia Crane,
Love County Library/Southern OK Library System
NoveList read-alike:
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
Apr
Aprilil 2023 Bonus PPick
ick
(Ne
(Neww addition tto
o the monthly list)
Some D Desperat
esperatee Glor
Gloryy
by Emily Tesh
(Tordotcom)
Kyr is the product of a petty fascist state that
believes it's the last hope for humanity after
Earth was destroyed by aliens. She's trained
her whole life to be a consummate fighter,
but when she's assigned instead to pop out
babies for the cause, she leaves her
restrictive community. A fast-paced space
adventure! Read it instead of Ender's Game.
—Anna Mickelsen, LibraryReads Board
Made inLibraryAware - www.libraryaware.com
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 15
Booklist Reader Audiobooks
Top 10
First Novels on Audio
Brilliantly voiced characters are the hallmark of
these standout first novels.
Bindle Punk Bruja. By Desideria Mesa. Read by Frankie
Corzo. 2022. 14hr. HarperAudio.
Jeepers! Corzo is the bee’s knees narrating a 1920s his-
torical fantasy debut. She transports the listener to a world
of flappers, prohibition, magic, and changing social mores.
A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting. By Sophie Irwin.
Read by Eleanor Tomlinson. 2022. 9.5hr. Books on Tape.
In this Regency romance, Tomlinson portrays the real-
istic personalities of Irwin’s characters. Listeners meet the
pious and judgmental, hear the sarcastic and snippy, and
laugh at the antics of a worrywart.
Last Summer on State Street. By Toya Wolfe. Read by
Shayna Small. 2022. 6hr. HarperAudio.
In a mesmerizing performance, Small infuses each char-
acter with warmth and respect, channeling strength and
Art from Mother
of Strangers.
resilience as they navigate death and abuse, faith and sur-
vival in Chicago’s Robert Taylor Homes.
The Measure. By Nikki Erlick. Read by Julia Whelan.
2022. 11hr. HarperAudio.
The prolific Whelan displays her skill with nuanced
voices while smoothly enveloping the listener in a world
thrown into chaos as everyone is suddenly faced with an
opportunity to know the length of their life.
Mother of Strangers. By Suad Amiry. Read by Amin El
Gamal and Lameece Issaq. 2022. 8hr. Books on Tape.
Egyptian American El Gamal and Palestinian American
Issaq reunite as narrators, here as young, hopeful lovers in
1947 Jaffa. The duo’s overlapping cultural heritages en-
hance the fluency and empathy of the narration.
On Rotation. By Shirlene Obuobi. Read by Mela Lee.
2022. 11.5hr. HarperAudio.
From the opening lines, narrator Lee brims with energy,
embodying medical student Angie’s resolve and sense of
humor. A realistic cast of characters with diverse identities
resounds in Lee’s nuanced and nimble portrayal.
Patricia Wants to Cuddle. By Samantha Allen. Read by a
full cast. 2022. 6.5hr. Recorded Books.
A reality dating show goes off the rails on a mysterious
island. Each character is voiced by a narrator who pulls the
humanity from even the most outwardly vapid of them in
this social satire and raucous lesbian horror tale.
Planes. By Peter C. Baker. Read by Lameece Issaq. 2022.
7hr. Books on Tape.
Chameleonic Issaq expertly ciphers another debut, evok-
ing a quartet whose lives intertwine. He is uneasy as
Amira, entitled as Bradley, unsettled as Mel, and bro-
ken as Ayoub.
The Scent of Burnt Flowers. By Blitz Bazawule.
Read by Dion Graham. 2022. 6hrs. Books on
Tape.
Melvin and Bernadette flee to Ghana after
Melvin kills a white man in 1960s Alabama.
A love triangle develops; tragedy proves
inevitable. Graham works through the
melodrama to create another master per-
formance.
Sisters in Arms. By Kaia Alderson.
Read by Shayna Small. 2021. 11.5hr.
HarperAudio.
Thoroughly powerful throughout. Small
shines in her depiction of two Black Army
officers during WWII, crafting distinct
voices for each of the very different main
characters and their families.
www.booklistonline.com
Booklist Reader Audiobooks
Must Listen
Poetry and Literature
Collections on Audio
by Heather Booth
Listening to a poetry anthology on audio is a
great way to dip your toe into poetry for the
first time, after some time away, or as a way
to learn about a new-to-you poet whose work
you may want to read again. The collections
here offer a range as some collections hearken
back to childhood memories and will be fun to
share with kids, while others offer insightful
commentary on social struggles.
Adult
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story. By Nikole Hannah-
Jones. Read by a full cast. 2021. 19hr. Books on Tape.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning book’s audio interpretation
lacks the photographs of the print edition, but oh, does
the poetry sing! After nonfiction sections, poems and fic-
tion—sometimes read by their notable authors—bring
heart and resonance to this new look at history.
The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
Ed. by Caroline Kennedy. Read by full cast. 2015. 3hr.
Hachette Audio.
With personal anecdotes and fond memories, Caroline
Kennedy introduces her mother’s favorite poetry. Famous
voices including Viola Davis and B. D. Wong read selec-
tions ranging from patriotic hymns to children’s verse. This
edition includes an archival recording of Ted Kennedy and
Robert Frost reading “The Gift Outright” at John F. Ken-
nedy’s 1961 inauguration.
Faces of Love: Hafez and the Poets of Shiraz. By Hafez
and others. Tr. by Dick Davis. Read by a full cast. 2021.
5hr. Books on Tape.
This gorgeous collection features three fourteenth-century
Persian poets. They were contemporaries and as a result,
the combination of their works paints a multidimensional
picture of the artistic, romantic, and political sensibilities
of the era. Wide-ranging and well-cast narrators make these
centuries-old poems come to life for modern listeners.
Poetry Unbound: 50 Poems to Open Your World. By
Pádraig Ó Tuama. Read by the author. 2022. 7hr. Tantor.
Ó Tuama, Irish poet, inspirational author, and host of
the podcast Poetry Unbound, reads 50 noteworthy poems
www.booklistonline.com
that are “like meaningful
friends [he] turns to and
returns to.” Each poem is
accompanied by an essay
that invites listeners into
the world of poetry.
Together in a Sudden
Strangeness: America’s Poets
Respond to the Pandemic.
Ed. by Alice Quinn. Read
by a full cast. 2020. 2.5hr.
Books on Tape.
This collection shines a
light on the broadly varied
emotions and experiences
of Americans during the
first half of 2020. Reading
poems expressing fear and
anxiety or grief, to those
that highlight small mo-
ments of humor, contemplation, or curiosity, each narrator
matches the mood.
Youth
Favourite Poems for Children. By Lewis Carroll and Edward
Lear. Read by a full cast. 2010. 1.5hr. Naxos. K–Gr. 6.
This collection of 41 poems is read by an exceptional
group of British actors. Poems range from familiar nursery
rhymes to long ballads. Four classical music interludes add
atmosphere.
Julie Andrews’ Treasury for all Seasons: Poems and
Songs to Celebrate the Year. Ed. by Julie Andrews and
Emma Walton Hamilton. Read by the editors. 2012.
1.5hr. Hachette. Gr. 1–3.
This selection of poems shows that poetry can be friend-
ly, comfortable, and accessible. All selections touch upon
various aspects and holidays of the seasons. It’s always good
to hear poetry read aloud, and the legendary Andrews’
voice is welcoming, sly, and likable. The poems are best en-
joyed as a group and are a nice option for family listening.
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices. Ed. by Wade
Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson. Read by a full cast.
2018. 2hr. Listening Library. Gr. 3–6.
This inspiring anthology comprises personal essays,
songs, letters, and poems from more than 50 children’s
authors and illustrators who share their experiences of in-
justice and advice to young people facing a divided world.
Each track is read by a different narrator, while multiple
voices join together on some of the songs and chants. This
powerful anthology is a moving reminder to children that
they should always hold on to hope.
January 2023 | Booklist Reader 17
Booklist Reader Audiobooks

Art from Bull and Echo Echo.

Bull. By David Elliott. Read by Cherise Boothe and Korey

Listen-alikes
Audiobooks for
Young Poetry Lovers
By Heather Booth
In Odyssey Award Honor title The Poet X,
Xiomara gives power to her thoughts by turning
them into poems. Audiobooks are an ideal
format for experiencing poetry and poetic
thinkers, and these titles are bound to inspire
young poets of all ages.
18 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Jackson. 2017. Recorded Books. Gr. 9–12.
A mythology-inspired poetic work illustrates how poetry
and spoken word—with a hip-hop cadence—are a logical
entry point for the classics.
Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix. By
Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee. Read by Man
One and June Jo Lee. 2018. 30m. Live Oak. Gr. 1–4.
In this picture-book read-along, spoken-word poetry
celebrating food is enhanced by production qualities that
emphasize the rhythm and nuance of verse.
Crazy Messy Beautiful. By Carrie Arcos. Read by Michael
Crouch. 2017. 7hr. Listening Library. Gr. 8–11.
Neruda, named for the poet, is a romantic. Crouch evokes
the teen’s spirit as he finds his voice . . . in portraiture.
Echo Echo: Reverso Poems about Greek Myths. By
Marilyn Singer. Read by the author and Joe Morton. 2017.
30min. Live Oak. Gr. 1–4.
With Singer’s clever “reverso” form of poetry, words
become a puzzle, a kind of art, a mystery, and a treasure.
That the poems are about Greek myths only increases the
intrigue.
Garvey’s Choice. By Nikki Grimes. Read by James Shippy
and Imani Parks. 2017. 1hr. Recorded Books. Gr. 4–6.
Grimes’ choice of the tanka—a strict, syllable-bound
form—complements the restrictions that astronomy-
loving Garvey feels as he is bound by his father’s athletic
expectations of him.
Loving vs. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the
Landmark Civil Rights Case. By Patricia Powell. Read
by Adenrele Ojo and MacLeod Andrews. 2017. 3hr.
Dreamscape. Gr. 7–10.
Nonfiction topics can shine in poetic form, too! Ojo and
www.booklistonline.com
Andrews voice the biracial couple who fought for and won The Poet X. By Elizabeth Acevedo. Read by the
the right to marry. author. 2018. 3.5hr. Harper. Gr. 9–12.
Xiomara is a little too much: a little too bold,
Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess. By Shari too big, too much herself for her mother’s taste.
Green. Read by Tara Sands. 2018. 2.5hr. Dreamscape. And sometimes, her big thoughts and feelings even
Gr. 3–6. overwhelm Xiomara herself. At times like this, her
In this novel in free verse, a notebook and finger spelling hardback notebook, a gift from her twin brother, is
allow octogenarian Iris to communicate with sixth-grader the crucible that turns her ideas and emotions into
Macy, who is deaf. poetry. Through creating—and later sharing—this
Pride. By Ibi Zoboi. Read by Elizabeth Acevedo. 2018. poetry, she begins to understand her relationships,
6.5hr. Harper. Gr. 9–12. claim her desires, and find her voice as a New York–
Acevedo, author and narrator of Dominican girl, and a poet. Narrated by
The Poet X, captures Zuri’s experi- the author, this novel in verse is a clear
ence living between cultures and fit for audio, and in under four hours,
using language to carve her place it packs a memorable and invigorating
in the world. punch. So intimately does Acevedo in-
habit her character that the boundaries
Shout. By Laurie Halse
between author, character, and narra-
Anderson. Read by the author.
tor become irrelevant, and the listener
2019. 3.5hr. Listening Library.
is easily swept into Xiomara’s language
Gr. 9–12.
and poetic form to tell her story. At the
Anderson follows up her land-
story’s end, Acevedo explains the origin
mark Speak with this volume of
and contrapuntal structure of the “choose
poetry, inspired by both personal
your own adventure” poem Xiomara takes
history and reader responses to
to the New York Citywide Slam, reading
her work.
it twice more in different ways, just as readers of the
Swing. By Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess. Read print version could experience the poem differently
by Kwame Alexander. 2018. 4.5hr. Blink. Gr. 9–12. depending on the path they take in reading it. Young
Free verse and found poetry are read by Alexander in this poets—and girls who, like Xiomara, are a little too
novel in verse about friendship, love, and tragedy. much—will swoon. — Heather Booth

www.booklistonline.com April 2023 | Booklist Reader 19

Booklist Reader Books for Youth
Top 10
First Novels for
Youth
This past year was marked by a chorus of new,
authentic voices, especially in the speculative-
YA arena, as seen in these outstanding titles.
The Best Liars in Riverview. By Lin Thompson. 2022.
Little, Brown. Gr. 4–7.
In rural Kentucky, white Aubrey sets off on a journey to
find themself as well as their missing best friend, Joel. A
heartfelt coming-of-age journey that explores identity and
friendship.
The Civil War of Amos Abernathy. By Michael Leali.
2022. Harper. Gr. 5–8.
While working on a project to highlight queer figures in
history, two gay boys struggle against the homophobia in
their community.
Freewater. By Amina Luqman-Dawson. 2022. Little,
Brown. Gr. 4–7.
Fleeing enslavement, 12-year-old Homer and his little
sister discover Freewater, a secret community of escapees
in the swamplands. A lyrical story of hope, strength, and
ingenuity.
Hell Followed with Us. By Andrew Joseph White. 2022.
Peachtree Teen. Gr. 9–12.
In the end of days, 16-year-old trans boy Benji must
escape an apocalypse-obsessed cult with the bioweapon it
forced him to host, which could lead to him exterminating
humankind.
20 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Henry Hamlet’s Heart. By Rhiannon Wilde. 2022.
Charlesbridge Teen. Gr. 9–12.
In this affecting, character-driven romance, a game of
truth or dare takes two closeted teen boys’ friendship to
the next level.
Magic Steeped in Poison. By Judy I. Lin. 2022. Feiwel
and Friends. Gr. 8–12.
After a mysterious chain of tea poisonings sweeps
through the land, Ning enters a magic competition to save
her sister’s life. Chinese folklore blended with a thrilling
mystery.
One for All. By Lillie Lainoff. 2022. Farrar. Gr. 9–12.
This dashing, gender-bent retelling of The Three Muske-
teers centers a heroine and her experiences with Postural
Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS).
The Prisoner of Shiverstone. By Linette Moore. Art by
the author. 2022. Abrams/Amulet. Gr. 3–6.
In this graphic novel, Helge embarks on a quest to free
an imprisoned “mad” scientist from an island and, in the
process, finds more camaraderie than she bargained for.
Skin of the Sea. By Natasha Bowen. 2021. Random.
Gr. 9–12.
Sparkling with Black Girl Magic, this high-stakes tale
features a mermaid who unleashes something sinister after
saving a boy from drowning.
The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights. By
Alexandria Rogers. 2022. Little, Brown. Gr. 5–8.
In the year 715 YATRDOC (Years After the Regretful
Demise of Camelot), aka AD 2019, Ellie and Caedmon
must survive trials of the Knights of the Round Table to
protect the world from evil magic.
www.booklistonline.com
 2022 Debuts
by Ronny Khuri
Short on time but need to meet 9 debut novelists in a series of
rapid-fire Q&As? You’ve come to the right place.
Emi Watanabe Cohen
The Lost Ryū
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much al-
literation as possible.
A notoriously naive boy and his noble new neighbor
neglect to notify their understandably unnerved parents
upon taking a terribly tiring and time-
sensitive train trip in search of the
fabled, feared, fantastical dragons found
only in their flights of fancy.
Would you rather have as a
companion a dragon or a golem?
Definitely a dragon! Golem stories rarely
have happy endings. Worst-case scenario, a dragon might
eat my ears or steal my jewelry, and I can live with either
of those outcomes.
Best dragon ever?
Mushu from Mulan, followed closely by Cassie from Drag-
on Tales and the Legendary Pokémon Dialga.
What’s your pie-in-the-sky publishing dream?
I have a really fun idea for an acceptance speech, so I hope
at some point I’ll win an award big enough to warrant its
use. More realistically, I aspire to build a blanket fort using
trade paperbacks of my work. (Hardcovers are for pillow
forts and will not be considered.)
www.booklistonline.com
Navdeep Singh Dhillon
Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much
alliteration as possible.
A cosplaying, crocheting, Californian-Punjabi teen panics
after his precious notebook is pinched and goes on a pre-
carious prom-night adventure across the fandoms with the
girl who stole it, coming to terms with his identity, grief,
and life after high school.
Favorite romance trope(s)?
I love tropes like forced proximity, almost kisses in the
rain, 24-hour adventures, and I will drop everything to
read about identical twins separated at birth!
Favorite cosplay you’ve done?
When my daughter was four, she wanted
me to be Luke Skywalker while she was
Princess Leia, because she found the idea
of us being brother and sister hilarious!
How’d you spend your first publication
day?
Mum made me a cuppa cha before I was
allowed to do any social media, my dad
made me go pick up a PVC pipe from Lowe’s in the midst
of the realization I was an official author, and my 8-year-
old son diabolically manipulated me into taking him to a
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 21
24-hour donut shop way past his usual bedtime because it
is featured in Sunny G!
Chaz Hayden
The First Thing about You
First things first: What’s your favorite color?
Blue. Always has been and always will be.
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much
alliteration as possible.
Boy breaks barriers by being a better
friend and becoming brave.
What was on your playlist while writ-
ing First Thing?
A lot of The 1975. I feel like each of their
songs is a teenage love story, especially
the first two albums. Those were a stroke of genius.
Your go-to dipping sauce?
BBQ and honey mustard.
Who’d you write this book for?
My mom. As a kid, I loved watching her absorb books on a
weekly basis, and I wanted to write something for her.
Destiny Howell
High Score
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much al-
literation as possible.
Kid con artist and his cunning crew pull off a clever caper.
You’re planning an arcade heist with three non-
superpowered characters from any fandom. Who’s on
your crew, and what’s your role?
OK, if it’s an arcade I need people on
the younger side to blend in better, so
I’m taking Steve from Stranger Things as
my charming Face, Wolf from Kipo as
my stealth-Muscle, and Flynn Rider (aka
Eugene) from Tangled as my deft Fingers
while I’m coordinating everyone as the
Brains.
Your D&D class?
I’m for sure a wizard/bard multiclass. Order of Scribes and
College of Lore.
Best Greek god (especially in Supergiant’s Hades)?
Same answer as when I was a Greek mythology and Percy
Jackson–obsessed middle-schooler: hard tie between
Athena and Artemis. Nothing makes me more excited in a
Hades run than snagging Divine Dash and Artemis’ Aid.
22 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Who’d you write High Score for?
My 12-year-old self, anyone who’s a fan of a little construc-
tive mischief, and especially Black kids who want to get to
be the protagonist.
George Jreije
Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria
Describe the ingredients of your book like a baker (or,
you know, an alchemist) describing a recipe.
A few spoonfuls of Arab culture and food, a couple pinch-
es of action and adventure, just a hint of chaos, a handful
of humor, and several wonderful characters you can’t help
but root for!
Favorite pastry?
This is going to be the hardest question,
but I’m going with maamoul, a type of
Arab cookie that is coated with powdered
sugar and stuffed with either pistachios,
walnuts, or dates.
Best type of kibbeh?
I have been really enjoying this vegan kibbeh recipe that
my family makes, which uses chickpeas, lentils, and pump-
kin rather than some of the traditional ingredients. It’s the
perfect fall food!
How’d you spend publication day?
I first thanked my team, my friends, and all of you who are
buying my book and supporting me. Then I went and had
some cake before an amazing launch at Left Bank Books in
St. Louis!
Lio Min
Beating Heart Baby
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much
alliteration as possible.
Beating Heart Baby is about boys, bands, and Los Angeles,
but also the bravery, boldness, and belief (in yourself and
from others) needed to become an artist.
Favorite romance trope(s)?
Mutual respect and admiration develop
over time into foundational friendship,
which nourishes all parties involved
until the moment they realize that they
also want to kiss. (Otherwise known as
“friends to lovers.”)
Your biggest creative influence that’s
not a book?
Anime. My running joke is that Beating Heart Baby (and
www.booklistonline.com

most likely all my future books) is an anime that happens
to be a novel.
Who’d you write this book for?
I just got back from a show where the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’
Karen O, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, and the
kids in The Linda Lindas performed “Kids in America.”
The past, present, and future of an idea, a dream of
harmony and history. I wrote BHB for the echoes, the still-
voiceless, and myself.
Akshaya Raman
The Ivory Key
Describe your book in the form of an acrostic poem of
“IVORY KEY.”
In a world where magic is a dwindling physical resource,
Vira, the maharani
Of Ashoka, must unite her estranged siblings,
Riya, Ronak, and Kaleb, who all
Yearn to find the mythical ivory
Key, rumored to unlock more magic.
Each of them has their own agenda,
Yet in order to succeed, they must work together.
What reality shows would Vira and her
siblings each be into?
I think family reality-TV nights would
consist of the siblings watching The Mole
and arguing over who they think is the
most suspicious of sabotaging the mis-
sions.
What’s your desert-island book?
Pride and Prejudice. It’s a book I’ve revisited so often over
the years, and I don’t know that I would ever get tired of
rereading it.
Who did you write The Ivory Key for?
I wrote it for my fellow diaspora kids and those who
longed for stories in which characters who looked like
them got to go on epic magical adventures. But most of
all, I wrote it for my teenage self.
Xixi Tian
This Place Is Still Beautiful
In one sentence, please describe your book—from
Annalie’s POV.
Our house gets vandalized, and my sister uses it as an ex-
cuse to wreck my last summer in high school.
www.booklistonline.com
Lightning
Round
In one sentence, please describe your book—from
Margaret’s POV.
A racist slur gets painted on our house, and I have to fight
my own d*mn family to take it seriously.
What’s your desert-island book?
The Time Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey
Niffenegger.
How did you spend your first
publication day?
I had a lovely launch party at Yu & Me
Books in NYC with my agent, editorial team, and publi-
cist! And then I went home to my three-month-old son.
Esme Symes-Smith
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston
Describe your book in one sentence, using as much
alliteration as possible.
A collective of queer kids taking on dragons, witches, and
the patriarchy!
Who did you write your book for?
Sir Callie is for every kid who has never seen themselves as
a hero. Not just in their queerness, but in their anger and
indignation at a world that has treated them poorly. It’s for
children whose paths to recovery from abuse is messy and
confusing and could easily paint them as villains. It’s for
every kid who was ever told to sit down, be quiet, and let
the grown-ups talk.
Spare no detail: How do you take your tea?
My British family will disown me, but here goes:
• Dig deep into your psyche to pick the right mug for the
moment (no smaller than 20 oz)
• Stick 2 PG Tips teabags into that baby and fill with tap
water
• Microwave for 2 minutes. No more,
no less
• Steep for so long it goes cold
• Fish out over-steeped bags
• Add 3/4 inch of soy milk, so it’s bitter
like my soul but bearable enough to
drink
• Microwave for 45 seconds
• Drink 1/3 and forget the other 2/3 exists until you’re
thirsty again
• Celebrate past-you for leaving you with tea!
• Microwave for 30 seconds
• Enjoy!
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 23
Booklist Reader Books for Youth
A Conversation
Zach Weinersmith
and Boulet
by Sarah Hunter
You’re likely already at least somewhat familiar
with Beowulf; it’s one of the world’s most
translated poems, there’s been more than one
film adaptation, and there are already at least
two comics adaptations of the Old English
epic. But I promise you’ve never seen Beowulf
quite like this. Zach Weinersmith and Boulet
have recast the tale of medieval warriors,
battling kingdoms, and vicious beasts with
a neighborhood of rowdy kids sparring with
a particularly curmudgeonly old man in the
hilarious, rollicking Bea Wolf. I spoke to the
pair about what they drew from the original,
what they loved about each other’s work on
the project, and—perhaps most importantly—
what makes kids such excellent medieval
warriors.
Hunter: You’ve gone out of your way to capture the sonic
tone and lyricism of the original poem in this comic; why
was this an important part of the project for you?
Weinersmith: Thank you! My view is that if you’re going
to adapt a poem, you have pretty much got to keep it as
a poem. Beowulf just isn’t Beowulf if you don’t have that
pounding alliterative sound. In my experience, people
(including kids) don’t know that they want the sound a
certain way, but when it sounds right, they recognize it. In
Tolkien’s unfinished alliterative verse rendition of The Fall
of Arthur, he has these lovely lines: “On the houseless hills
ever higher mounting / vast, unvanquished, lay the veiled
forest.” There’s just this tonal difference between saying,
say, “unoccupied hills” and “houseless hills.” Or “huge,
unvanquished” rather than “vast unvanquished.” Losing
the sound loses a huge part of what the author is doing in
a way that can’t be recovered by any other means.
Hunter: English majors will probably already know this,
but a lot of historic epics like Beowulf are so weird, which I
get the sense that you wanted to bring out in your version.
Can you talk about some of the weirdness you pulled from
the original, both in terms of the art and the text?
Weinersmith: Anything sufficiently old, which has been
24 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Zach Weinershmith Boulet
told enough times, is going to have weird stuff. Why, in
the middle of the story, does Beowulf get in an argument
with a random guy about whether he lost a swimming
contest? Why do characters repeatedly pause the story to
tell some other story that often feels irrelevant? I dunno,
but as you allude to, the weirdness itself as weirdness adds
something to the story that I think has to do with authen-
ticity. As much as I could, I tried to preserve elements
from the original that seemed to “work,” even if I couldn’t
explain why. I guess the goal is to make sense of everything
without losing the realness that comes from working with
old mythology.
Boulet: For me, what I actually wanted to emphasize in Bea
Wolf was how “serious” the original story is. I wanted the
tone of the drawings to feel as dramatic and epic as the orig-
inal text, despite all the comedic stuff. If you play pretend,
you can’t do it while winking and giggling; you have to be
into it, to be dead serious about it. That’s why my characters
have very theatrical expressions. I also wanted the atmo-
sphere to be dark and grandiose, like old illustrations with
a lot of hatching. The backgrounds are often exaggerated,
the dimensions of the treehouse are impossible, because I
wanted it to really feel like a giant castle. It’s a thing we often
feel as adults, when we go back to places of our childhood
and realize they were tiny compared to the memory we had
built of them.
Hunter: Boulet, can you talk about your inspiration for
the character designs? I’m especially curious to hear about
how you approached making the Grindles and other adults
look so monstrous.
Boulet: I wanted the kids to wear armor made out of
objects from everyday life. They almost never use ready-
made costumes. They have to look chaotic and joyful, so
superheroes costumes are just underwear on top of PJs,
helmets are kitchen instruments (or underwear again). I
wanted costumes that readers wouldn’t have to buy (or
www.booklistonline.com
ask their parents to buy for them); they could make them
themselves!
Grindle was easy. I wanted him to be meticulous and
menacing, so I designed him as a giant spider: long legs
and arms and an almost spherical body. I wanted him to
look menacing and grotesque at the same time. For the
other adults, I tried to exaggerate the adulthood of them,
so the contrast with the exuberance of the kids’ appear-
ances would be even stronger. The adults’ shirts are always
too tight, their pants and suits constricting, their ties too
long—I wanted the adults to look uncomfortable and a bit
ridiculous, like animals in costumes.
Hunter: Zach, what is your favorite part of Boulet’s art-
work; and Boulet, what was your favorite part of Zach’s
writing in the book?
Weinersmith: Too many things, but let me pick one sub-
tle thing that’s mostly due to Boulet: there’s a part where
Bea Wolf fights actual monsters. And what’s funny is that
while the monsters are scary, they’re a sort of cute scary.
That’s an artistic choice that reserves the genuine terror
scenes only for the evil adults. Sea monsters? Little scary.
Adults who want to make you into an adult? Horrific. It
would have been very easy to have creepy monsters and
leave no emotional room for the battle at
the end. By taking the creep-
factor out of the monsters,
the final battle gets a lot
more oomph.
Boulet: The thing I loved in
this text the first time I read it
was that it felt like a wonderful
bridge between parents and
their kids. Bea Wolf is a story
that has to be read aloud.
Nay, SCREAMED aloud.
The language is rich and so-
phisticated, so parents will have to sometimes explain what’s
going on, and kids are going to love learning new (old) ex-
pressions. Zach’s script also forms a great bridge between the
old traditional texts and a modern, exciting, and fun comic.
I love a book that assumes kids are smart and curious—I
think that’s a good bet. My eight-year-old niece loved this
book so much that I’ve had to read it to her a dozen times
already, and that was before I had even finished drawing it.
Hunter: What is it about kids that makes them good
stand-ins for medieval warriors?
Boulet: I guess it’s the total sincerity of their games. Kids
often have very strong values and can be dead serious
about them. They are often ready to fight for them. They
have way fewer filters than adults can have.
Weinersmith: I think the key here is that a lot of the val-
ues embedded in these old stories map pretty well to an
obnoxious group of kids! In the opening to Beowulf, you
hear about a tribe and a guy who basically go around taking
stuff from enemies and frightening people. It’s never stated
that the enemies are bad people who deserve to be thwarted.
It’s just objectively good that enemies were harmed—we
modern adults will grumble about this, but kids understand
it very viscerally. Also in Beowulf, we’re repeatedly told this
story of King Heremod, who is
reviled and betrayed in part
because he wouldn’t share
his stuff! At one point, a
character specifically talks
about Heremod not sharing
his bracelets. Try mapping this
to a modern adult action hero and
it’s weird. Mapping it to kids? Easy.
Being an absolute little goblin who
is also somehow deeply concerned
with norms of reciprocity is practi-
cally the definition of
childhood.
Art from Bea Wolf
Booklist Reader Books for Youth

Read-alikes

While You Wait for

Big Tree
by Ronny Khuri
A new Brian Selznick illustrated novel is always
cause for celebration, and the forthcoming Big
Tree, inspired in part by Steven Spielberg, lives
up to the hype, appropriately infused with the
scope, adventure, and emotional resonance
of a classic animated film. It tells the story of
Louise and her brother Merwin, two sycamore
seeds who, after being blown away from their
mother tree, must find a way to survive in
the wide, prehistoric world. See our review
(adjacent), and if you're waiting for your turn Art from Big Tree

in the hold queue—although no one does what

Selznick does—whet your appetite with these
novels that explore similar settings and themes
and nonfiction titles that give the background
knowledge to better appreciate Selznick’s
forthcoming epic.
26 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Can You Hear the Trees Talking? Discovering the Hidden
Life of the Forest. By Peter Wohlleben. Illus. by Belle
Wuthrich. 2019. Greystone Kids. Gr. 4–6.
In this pared-down adaptation of his The Hidden Life of
Trees (2016), forester Wohlleben invites readers to join him
on “a journey of discovery,” wherein he answers common
questions about trees—“How Do Trees Breathe?” “Why
Don’t Trees Fall Over?” “What Are Trees Afraid Of?” “Can
Forests Make It Rain?”—which will color their under-
standing of and build excitement for Big Tree.
Earth before Us, v.1: Dinosaur Empire! By Abby Howard.
Illus. by the author. 2017. Abrams/Amulet. Gr. 4–7.
This work of graphic nonfiction follows Ronnie, who
recently flunked a dinosaur quiz, as she’s whisked back in
time by her “eccentric” retired-paleontologist neighbor to
the Mesozoic era and beyond to learn about evolution,
dinosaurs, and prehistoric Earth. More creative presenta-
tion of facts than adventure story, it’s an effective way of
putting in perspective the vast history of the world before
humans.
www.booklistonline.com

Big Tree. By Brian Selznick. Illus. by the author.
2023. Scholastic. Gr. 3–7.
Two sycamore-seed siblings, Merwin and Louise,
nestle in their seed ball, waiting for the time that their
dear mother tree has prepared them for, when they’ll
float free and set down roots of their own. Louise is
eager to explore, and she’s certain she’s heard
whispers from afar that the world needs her
help, though exactly how is unclear. Their
comfortable Cretaceous existence is upended
when a vast fungal network brings news
of impending danger and a run-in with a
dinosaur sends the seeds flying much earlier
than anticipated. They know it’s imperative
to find the perfect place to land—too little
or too much of anything could prove disas-
trous. But to fulfill their destiny, they’ll have
to navigate a wide world filled with wonder
and uncertainty. Initially conceived as a film
idea that Steven Spielberg hoped Selznick
would spin into a screenplay, the astonishing
story is at once vast and intimate, succeeding as both
a small-scale adventure story and a broader explora-
tion of the natural world. Glorious pencil drawings,
moving swiftly from macro to micro lenses, turn wispy
seeds into spritely, darling protagonists, and wordless
sketched reveals that follow text interludes are sure to
elicit gasps of surprise and delight. Detailed endnotes
explain the incredible science inspiring much of the
story. An enthralling and expansive meditation on what
it means to be alive on this planet. —Emily Graham
www.booklistonline.com
A Rover’s Story. By Jasmine Warga. 2022. HarperCollins/
Balzer+Bray. Gr. 4–6.
After the rover Res gains consciousness in a NASA labo-
ratory, he begins to grasp human emotion—or, at least,
the robot equivalent, which he is warned against. When he
ultimately lands on Mars, he’s determined to complete his
mission, make his humans proud, and find his way back
home. A profound and poignant explo-
ration of the universe both outside and
within us all.
The Wild Robot. By Peter Brown. Illus.
by the author. 2016. Little, Brown.
Gr. 3–6.
In this novel also illustrated by
Caldecott-Honoree Brown, robot Roz
washes up on an island shore and em-
barks on a WALL-E-esque adventure of
wilderness survival and friendship. She is
not built for life in the wild, but as Roz
uses her ability to learn from her sur-
roundings to adapt, a logic-driven robot
proves the perfect way to objectively observe nature’s
order.
Wishtree. By Katherine Applegate. Illus. by Charles
Santoso. 2017. Feiwel and Friend. Gr. 4–7.
An oak tree named Red has stood her ground for a cen-
tury, watching over the houses in her neighborhood and
befriending the animals that call her hollows home. Each
May, her branches are strung with wishes, but when hate-
ful words, aimed at a Muslim family, are scrawled into her
trunk, Red and the animals take action, even as her owners
consider cutting her down.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 27
Booklist Reader Books for Youth
Read-alikes
While You Wait for
Silver in the Bone
by Maggie Reagan
In her 2021 young adult novel, Lore, Alexandra
Bracken used the vast canvas of Greek
mythology to create a story about vengeance,
family loyalty, and the depth to which the sins
of the father can cut. Her newest endeavor,
Silver in the Bone, publishes this month, and in
many ways feels like a natural extension of Lore.
Here, Bracken uses Arthurian legend to tell the
story of Tamsin, a cursebreaker with no magical
power of her own, and her brother, Cabell,
afflicted with a lifelong curse. A magical but
deadly ring may be the answer the siblings have
been seeking, but finding it is another matter. If
there's a long hold list, stay occupied with these
reads that are likewise immersed in Arthurian
myth, curses, and knotty family dynamics.
28 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Art from Silver in the Bone
Avalon High. By Meg Cabot. 2005. HarperCollins.
Gr. 7–10.
It’s a book that spawned a Disney Channel Original
Movie and a spin-off manga series, and it’s all structured
around Tennyson’s “The Lady of Shalott.” Ellie, the new
kid at Avalon High, finds herself entangled with a group of
people who may or may not be modern-day reincarnations
of King Arthur and his court.
The Guinevere Deception. By Kiersten White. 2019.
Delacorte. Gr. 7–10.
Guinevere rides from the convent to join her soon-to-be
husband Arthur in Camelot, but, tasked with protecting
the king at all costs, she is not what she seems. White plays
with the Round Table legend, giving Guinevere a differ-
ent origin, Lancelot a gender switch, and Mordred a much
more sympathetic role in the intrigue at court.
Legendborn. By Tracy Deonn. 2020. Simon & Schuster/
Simon Pulse. Gr. 9–12.
Deonn’s debut puts a modern spin on Arthurian myth
while challenging expectations and racial prejudice. After
a teenage mage uncovers a buried memory in 16-year-old
Bree’s mind, Bree infiltrates the (traditionally white and
racist) Legendborn, a demon-fighting secret society de-
scended from the Knights of the Round Table.
Once & Future. By A. R. Capetta and Cori McCarthy.
2019. Little, Brown/JIMMY Patterson. Gr. 8–12.
Camelot heads into space in this intergalactic adventure,
www.booklistonline.com

Silver in the Bone. By Alexandra Bracken. 2023.
Knopf. Gr. 9–12.
Abandoned as a child, Tamsin Lark has been raised,
alongside her adopted brother, Cabell, as a Hollower,
a mortal cursebreaker who steals ancient artifacts
from crypts and ruins. When their foster fa-
ther disappears without a trace, Tamsin and
Cabell are left to survive in the only world
they have ever known. But Cabell has been
consumed all his life by a vicious curse that
neither can break. When Tamsin hears about
a powerful but deadly ring tied directly to
Arthurian legend, she’s determined to find
it, but her longtime rival, Emrys, who hails
from one of the most powerful Hollower
families, is at her heels, and he has his own
reasons for needing the ring. The search will
take them out of the modern world and into
legend—and also into more danger than
even they could imagine possible. Fans of
Bracken’s best-selling Lore (2021) will be
drawn to this thematically similar series starter, which
rips relentlessly through the bones of Arthurian myth
as Tamsin forges a legacy of her own. Gruesome and
engrossing. —Maggie Reagan
www.booklistonline.com
as teenage space-fugitive Ari, on the run with her adop-
tive brother, Kay, pulls Excalibur from an ancient tree
and becomes the forty-second King Arthur. With a cast
presenting along a spectrum of gender and sexual identities
and a plot that happily interrogates government and power
structures, this is a jaunty update.
Only a Monster. By Vanessa Len. 2022.
HarperTeen. Gr. 10–12.
Joan learns she’s a monster with special
powers just as her entire family—also
monsters—is massacred by the boy she’s
been crushing on all summer, a demon-
slayer. But Joan’s power can take her
back through time and space, and she
has to embrace her own monstrousness
to save the ones she loves.
The Raven Boys. By Maggie Stiefvater.
2012. Scholastic. Gr. 9–12.
Blue, 16, from a family of psychics
and cursed to kill her true love with a
kiss, joins forces with four boys from
the nearby private academy as they search for a legendary
sleeping king who is rumored to grant a wish to whomever
discovers him. Woven with Welsh and other Celtic myth,
this is a study of family and legacy.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 29
Booklist Reader Books for Youth
Reserve These Reads
Children & Teens
Get your hands on these hotly anticipated
books, all out this month.
Older
Danger and Other Unknown Risks. By Ryan North
and Erica Henderson. Art by Erica Henderson. Penguin
Workshop. Gr. 7–12.
Marguerite and her dog, Daisy, travel the world seeking
artifacts to stabilize a world wrecked by magic, but their
mission might not be what it seems in this new graphic
novel from the team behind the best-selling Unbeatable
Squirrel Girl.
Forget Me Not. By Alyson Derrick. Simon & Schuster.
Gr. 9–12.
In this solo debut from Derrick (She Gets the Girl, 2022,
with Rachael Lippincott), Stevie must work to piece to-
gether her forgotten self and her relationship with Nora
after losing her memory in an accident.
30 Booklist Reader | April 2023
Harvest House. By Cynthia Leitich Smith. Candlewick.
Gr. 9–12.
This follow-up to 2018’s award-winning Hearts Unbroken
is as relevant as ever, this time highlighting anti-Indigenous
bigotry within the context of a haunting Halloween mys-
tery.
Pardalita. By Joana Estrela. Art by the author. Tr. by Lyn
Miller-Lachmann. Levine Querido. Gr. 8–12.
In alternating poetic journal entries, black-and-white
spreads, and comics forms, 16-year-old Raquel resonantly
navigates her first queer crush.
Snow & Poison. By Melissa de la Cruz. Putnam.
Gr. 7–11.
Best-selling de la Cruz, well-known for her takes on clas-
sic Disney fantasies, brings her talents to this retelling of
Snow White.
Sunshine. By Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Art by the author.
Scholastic/Graphix. Gr. 7–11.
This follow-up to Krosoczka’s National Book Award fi-
nalist, Hey, Kiddo, follows young Jarrett during a summer
as a counselor at a camp for kids with serious illnesses.
Throwback. By Maurene Goo. Zando. Gr. 9–12.
Goo’s next YA romance takes a sf turn, with first-
generation Korean American Samantha traveling all the
way back to the 1990s to help her teenage mom.
www.booklistonline.com
Wings in the Wild. By Margarita Engle. Atheneum.
Gr. 9–12.
Engle’s latest verse novel features Cuban refugee Soleida
and Cuban American Dariel, whose romance intertwines
with their fight for environmental protection and human
rights.
Middle
Elf Dog and Owl Head. By M. T. Anderson. Illus. by
Junyi Wu. Candlewick. Gr. 3–6.
A boy discovers a fantastical world thanks to a mysteri-
ous dog he meets in the forest in this illustrated novel from
National Book Award–winning Anderson.
How Do You Spell Unfair? MacNolia Cox and the
National Spelling Bee. By Carole Boston Weatherford.
Illus. by Frank Morrison. Candlewick. Gr. 2–5.
In 1936, MacNolia Cox becomes one of the first two
African Americans in the National Spelling Bee, handles
injustice with dignity, and makes her city proud. Weath-
erford’s concise narrative is beautifully matched with
Morrison’s expressive oil paintings.
I Am the Walrus. By Neal Shusterman and Eric Elfman.
Little, Brown. Gr. 5–8.
Noah has started exhibiting some unusually wild
behavior in this sf series starter from award-winning
Shusterman, who’s here teaming up with screenwriter and
author Elfman.
www.booklistonline.com
The Mighty Bite. By Nathan Hale. Art by Nathan Hale
and Lucy Hale. Abrams/Amulet. Gr. 2–5.
Best-selling Hale, in a departure from his popular Haz-
ardous Tales series, offers an absurd, comical story about a
trilobite hungry for his 15 minutes of internet fame.
School Trip. By Jerry Craft. Art by the author.
HarperCollins/Quill Tree. Gr. 4–7.
Jordan and his classmates are going on a trip to Paris in
this companion to Craft’s Newbery Medal–winning New
Kid.
Young
Contenders: Two Native Baseball Players, One World
Series. By Traci Sorell. Illus. by Arigon Starr. Penguin/
Kokila. Gr. 1–4.
Award-winning Sorell writes engagingly about two In-
digenous major league baseball players who faced off in the
1911 World Series, tracing each player’s path to the game
alongside the prejudice and racism they both faced along
the way.
How to Write a Poem. By Kwame Alexander and Deanna
Nikaido. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. HarperCollins/Quill
Tree. PreS–Gr. 3.
Following their winsome collaboration in How to Read
a Book, Alexander and Sweet join poet Nikaido with this
offering that encourages young readers to see poetry in the
world around them.
April 2023 | Booklist Reader 31
Booklist Reader Books for Youth
Top 10
Novels in Verse
The novel in verse is known not just for the way
it combines multiple literary forms but for the
accessibility it can grant to struggling readers, the
intensity with which they can focus on a single
point, and the way limited use of language can
enhance and elevate deep and difficult feelings.
These 10 current novels in verse, written for YA
and middle-grade readers, were selected for their
masterful craft and for the especially effective way
poetry advances the narratives.
Amber and Clay. By Laura Amy Schlitz. Illus. by Julia
Iredale. 2021. Candlewick. Gr. 5–8.
Though enslaved Rhaskos and privileged Melisto live
separate lives in ancient Greece, they’re bound by fate. This
astonishing work of historical fiction in verse is anchored
by literary devices from epic poems and classic Greek
plays.
Blood Water Paint. By Joy McCullough. 2018. Dutton.
Gr. 10–12.
In careful, sophisticated verse and prose poems, Mc-
Cullough follows the heartbreaking but inspiring story of
Roman painter Artemisia Gentileschi and her harrowing
months-long rape trial during a period when women had
little agency.
Bull. By David Elliott. 2017. Clarion. Gr. 9–12.
This striking reexamination of the myth of Theseus and
the Minotaur employs a variety of poetic forms: rigid four-
line stanzas for architect Daedalus, childlike rhymes for
32 Booklist Reader | April 2023
minotaur Asterion, flowery language and a clever hidden
slant rhyme for princess Ariadne.
Every Body Looking. By Candice Iloh. 2020. Dutton.
Gr. 10–12.
A college freshman at an HBCU, Ada expresses herself
through dance. Through verse, Iloh delicately crafts her
protagonist’s life, moving through Ada’s past and present
and depicting the cultures that shaped her and the traumas
she can’t release.
Me (Moth). By Amber McBride. 2021. Feiwel and
Friends. Gr. 9–12.
After Moth loses her entire family, she meets Sani, who’s
also struggling. McBride artfully weaves Moth’s Black
southern hoodoo traditions with those of Sani’s Navajo/
Diné people, and the hauntingly romantic verse demands
close attention.
Nothing Burns as Bright as You. By Ashley Woodfolk.
2022. HarperCollins/Versify. Gr. 9–12.
After two years of friendship bleed into a messy, unde-
finable romance, two 16-year-old girls share one final day
together. The affecting first-person verse grants an added
minimalism to the tightly focused, elegantly constructed
story.
Other Words for Home. By Jasmine Warga. 2019.
HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray. Gr. 4–7.
As she grows up in Syria, Jude’s days revolve around her
family and best friend. But when conflict develops, Jude
and her mother have to leave for the U.S. Blank verse
beautifully captures Jude’s tumultuous emotions and the
story’s crescendoes.
The Poet X. By Elizabeth Acevedo. 2018. HarperTeen.
Gr. 9–12.
Acevedo’s debut is itself about a poet: Xiomara, who
struggles with her mother’s strict Catholicism and daily
sexism, pushes back by writing and ultimately performing
her own poetry.
Thirty Talks Weird Love. By Alessandra Narváez Varela.
2021. Cinco Puntos. Gr. 8–12.
Anamaria, 13, is living in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in
1999, and during one of the darkest periods of her ex-
istence, her 30-year-old self appears. Through cheeky,
macabre, and serious vignettes, Anamaria experiments
with poetry structures and formats.
With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero. By
Margarita Engle. 2020. Atheneum. Gr. 7–10.
Engle’s novel in verse tells the life story of Rubén Darío,
the famed Niño Poeta of Nicaragua. She explores his work
and pays close attention to Darío’s mestizo identity and the
importance of utilizing Spanish language.
www.booklistonline.com
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