Tag: selected lists

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: We Are All So Good At Smiling by Amber McBride

  • We Are All So Good At Smiling
  • Amber McBride
  • Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
  • Release Date: January 10, 2023
  • ISBN: 9781250780386

Whimsy is back in the hospital to treat her ongoing clinical depression. This time proves different and life changing when she meets another patient, a boy named Faerry. She realizes they both share magic, a fear of the forest, and a dark forgotten secret.

Amber McBride’s novel, written in verse, is lyrical and beautiful. She deftly handles the subject matters of depression and loss through magic and fairy tales. The language beautifully captures the angst and hope of adolescence. While written in verse, it feels more about the journey than the destination as the reader navigates Whimsy and Faerry’s realizations.


This title will resonate with any teen reader who loves magic, novels in verse, or is looking for creative titles dealing with mental health, bullying, or grief. Recommend this title to readers who enjoyed Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo or Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi.

-Gia Ruiz

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: November 2, 2022
Release Date: October 18, 2022
Release Date: January 31, 2022
HighlySupciousAndUnfairlyCutebyTaliaHibbert
Release Date: January 3, 2023

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2024) Featured Review: Tower of God, Vol. 1, by SIU

  • Tower of God, Vol. 1
  • by SIU
  • Publisher: Webtoon Unscrolled
  • Publication Date: November 2, 2022
  • ISBN-13: 9781990259906

Welcome to the Tower. Everyone’s dream is to ascend to the top. Hundreds will try; few, if any, will rise. So what are the chances for an average kid like Twenty-Fifth Bam? In volume one, Bam is taught the rules of the Tower by its rabbit-like guardian, Headon: each level is its own world, with new rules, characters, challenges, and bosses. Bam will be tested in every imaginable sense, competing with friends and enemies he meets along the way on his quest to find his lost friend, Rachel, who entered the Tower before him. How will he find her, and how will he survive?

Tower of God has been bound into print volumes for the first time after years of popularity on Webtoon. While the transition from web to print stumbles a bit in this first volume, readers will hardly notice once they are swept up in the mysterious worldbuilding and crisp, visually-rich artwork typical of South Korean manhwa. While there is violence and nail-biting suspense, the author wisely gives readers moments of levity through backstory, relationship building, and a little humor.

Hand this first volume of Tower of God to teens who love Solo Leveling by Chungong. Fans of dark science fiction survival stories like The Hunger Games and Netflix’s Squid Game will also be hooked on this series. Gamers will find familiarity in the Tower’s levels and world bosses, and be eager to discover which skills (and secrets) Bam will need to survive each new challenge.

-Kelly Blue

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: September 1, 2022
Release Date: October 11, 2022
Release Date: September 27, 2022
Release Date: October 25, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Amazing Audiobooks (#AA2024) Featured Review: For Lamb by Lesa-Cline Ransome

  • For Lamb
  • by Lesa Cline- Ransome
  • Narrated by Tyla Collier, Kevin R. Free, Dion Graham, Rebecca Lee, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Angel Pean
  • Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC/Dreamscape Media
  • Publication Date: January 10, 2023
  • ISBN: 9781666631708

Lesa Cline-Ransome’s latest, For Lamb, is an intense and tragic story of how an innocent friendship can place a family in mortal danger in 1930’s Mississippi. Lamb is a quiet student in Jackson’s African-American high school; she is bright but naïve, unaware that her mother’s “friend” is a fellow lesbian, for instance. When Marny, a white girl, strikes up a conversation about a book they are both reading, Lamb tries to ignore her as she has been instructed, to the point of rudeness–but the two enter into a defiant and secretive friendship that leads to danger for Lamb, a flight north for her brother and charismatic uncle, a reunion with her estranged father…and a violent lynching scene that is immediate and heart-wrenching. 

The gripping full-cast audio production features Tyla Collier, Kevin R. Free, Dion Graham, Rebecca Lee, Jaime Lincoln Smith, and Angel Pean. Their voices capture the many layers present in every social interaction in the post-Depression Deep South, from Lamb’s naivete to her mother’s cultivated secrecy. It is also evident that the various narrators consulted on each other’s voices as well as crafting their own; each character’s voice is distinctive, no matter who is voicing whom at any given moment. Lesa Cline-Ransome’s “Langston” trilogy earned the author a readership in middle grade audiences; For Lamb assures her a special place in historical fiction for older teens as well.

Those who appreciate Harper’s Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson, and/or Simeon’s Story: An Eyewitness Account of Kidnapping Emmett Till by Herb Boyd and Simeon Wright should definitely consider For Lamb.

-Cathy Andronik

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: September 13, 2022
Release Date: November 8, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: The Secrets We Keep by Cassie Gustafson

  • The Secrets We Keep
  • By Cassie Gustafson
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR
  • Release Date: November 8, 2022
  • ISBN: 9781665906944

Fifteen-year-old Emma’s life is turned upside down when her father is accused of molesting Hannah, her best- and only- friend. Life in a small coastal town is barely tolerable for the socially awkward San Francisco transplant, so Emma’s loyalties are strained as her father tries to get her to find evidence that would suggest that Hannah is a liar. Both parents make it clear that what Emma knows could destroy her family forever.

Author, Cassie Gustafson, invites readers into Emma’s world and memories through a deft use of second person point of view, then propels them through Emma’s current challenges using first person narration. The topic of sexually exploitation is difficult to navigate, but each of the main characters is thoughtfully developed and carefully portrayed in all of their messy humanity without descending into titillating, irrelevant details. The grooming process is accurately portrayed, but the book ends in hope as Emma is forced to confront her own abuse. Emma’s fears are fully realized when her family- as she knew it- is destroyed. However, the plot would lack authenticity if everything was tied up in a neat, “happily ever after” bow.

Teen readers who gravitate toward the gritty fiction of Kathleen Glasgow will find this book utterly engrossing. Give this to readers who liked The Art of Breaking Things by Laura Sibson, Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow, and Practice Girl by Estelle Laure.

-Jodi Kruse

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: January 10, 2023
HighlySupciousAndUnfairlyCutebyTaliaHibbert
Release Date: January 3, 2023
Release Date: January 31, 2022
Release Date: October 18, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2024) Featured Review: Hollow by Watters, Boyer-White, & Nelle

  • Hollow
  • by Shannon Watters, Branden Boyer-White, and Berenice Nelle (Illustrator)
  • Publisher: Boom Box!
  • Publication Date: October 4, 2022
  • ISBN-13: 9781684158522

Izzy Crane is the new kid in the titular town of Sleepy Hollow. There is no relation between her and Ichabod Crane of the famous tale, but there is a relation between Vicky Van Tassel and the female character of that story. Izzy soon discovers that this town takes the legend very seriously, that she’s moved here just in time for all the annual festivities, and that the Headless Horseman is making another appearance! But has he been misunderstood all this time? Is he there to protect Vicky or harm her? And why does Izzy feel like her new friendship with Vicky could be more than she thought? The clock is ticking and Halloween is right around the corner! Will Izzy and her new friends be able to solve the mystery and keep Vicky safe?

Hollow is a fun and spooky story that plays on an older legend, but knowledge of it is not necessary to enjoy this title. The artwork is enjoyable to look at and the coloring of the fall landscape is vibrant without stealing the show. The characters are well-defined and multi-faceted as well as being likable and funny. There is great diversity in the characters’ backgrounds as well as queer representation that is part of the story but not the basis for it.

Hollow will appeal to readers who enjoy not-too-spooky stories, beginning relationships and friendships, being a new kid in school when everyone knows everyone else, and even stories set in the fall. Hand this to readers who are fans of Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu, Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks, and The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag.

-Mariela Siegert

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: September 6, 2022
Release Date: September 27, 2022
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Release Date: October 18, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

  • When the Angels Left the Old Country
  • by Sacha Lamb
  • Publisher: Levine Querido
  • Release Date: October 18, 2022
  • ISBN: 9781646141760

A patient angel and a mischievous demon who have been studying Talmud together for centuries in their little Russian shtetl travel to America to perform a mitzvah. They locate a young woman who left for the “golden land” to find her fortune but hasn’t been heard from since. Along the way, they encounter more humans who need help and obstacles both human and supernatural. More troubling, they find they must change their eternal ways if they are to truly make a difference.

This delightful, charming story reads with the timelessness of a classic fable, yet is steeped in period-specific detail and cultural norms that convey a strong sense of place, whether in Russia or America or travelling between. Lamb deftly explores issues of identity, duty, good and evil, theology, and the bonds of friendship and love from the perspectives of her supernatural duo, who grow closer as they learn that changing who they are doesn’t have to mean growing apart. These realizations are echoed by the human characters, especially Rose, the young queer woman they meet on their travels and who accompanies them to the end of their mission. The story is wholesome without being moralizing. Whether Uriel, the angel, and Little Ash, the demon, confront corrupt officials, sweatshop owners, other demons, or vengeful dybbuks, there is a divine sense that everything is turning out as it should be.

This will appeal to teens who like quiet novels with a lot of heart and understated humor, teens who are looking for authentic Jewish stories, and those who like a blend of fantasy, historical fiction, and magical realism. This novel is a rare perfect read-alike for Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. For more Jewish mysticism, recommend From Dust, a Flame by Rebecca Podos, or for readers looking for a more contemporary connection, recommend The Life and Crimes of Hoodie Rosen by Isaac Blum.

-Krista Hutley

Other Nominated Titles

RainRisingbyCourtneComrie
Release Date: September 30, 2022
Release Date: January 31, 2023

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.
The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2024) Featured Review: Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa

  • Belle of the Ball
  • by Mari Costa
  • Publisher: First Second
  • Publication Date: March 21, 2023
  • ISBN-13: 9781250784124

Quiet high schooler/mascot Belle has a crush on head cheerleader Gina. Gina, a high achiever, has an on-and-off relationship with her jock girlfriend, Chloe, who is currently failing her English class. In order for Chloe and Gina to be on the same ten year plan, Gina befriends Belle to convince her to tutor Chloe. After a rocky start, Belle and Chloe start to bond over their shared interests and childhood friendship. As Gina finds herself working more and more towards achieving her academic dream, and Chloe and Belle get closer, it becomes clear that the things these three initially thought they wanted may have changed.

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa takes a simple premise, a high school love triangle, but develops it into a sapphic romcom story that sparks with humor and emotion throughout. All three protagonists feel realistic and likable in a way that makes you root for all three. The artist’s decision to provide distinct body types, hairstyles, and expressions for each character’s design is another way she successfully develops the character-driven story. The choice of a pink color palette gives the book a swoon-worthy vibe.  It successfully merges art and dialogue seamlessly in its narrative, and provides an enjoyable experience for readers who will definitely want more.

Hand this comic to fans of the graphic novel series Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, or The Girl From the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag, all books that share similarities in light romance stories with a strong emotional core. This is also a perfect book for fans of sapphic romance stories that follow enemies to lovers, such as the book She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen.

—Rachel Johannigmeier

Other Nominated Titles

Released: September 20, 2022
Released: September 27, 2022
Released: October 4, 2022
Released: October 11, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers (#QP2024) Featured Review: 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers by Adam Sass

  • 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers
  • by Adam Sass
  • Publisher: Penguin Books
  • Imprint: Viking Books for Young Readers
  • Release Date: September 20, 2022
  • ISBN: 9780593464786

Micah Summers wants a boyfriend, but approaching a boy makes him extremely anxious. Instead, he draws potential boyfriends in fantastical settings and anonymously shares them on his Insta-loves Instagram account. He’s drawn 99 boys and is looking for Boy 100, whom he hopes will be the one. Micah thinks his dream has come true when he has a chance encounter with a cute boy aboard the L train.

Told in first-person, this meet-cute LGTBQIA+ rom com is is filled with fairytale romance. The dialogue is well-written, showcasing humor and angst in equal measure. The black and white illustrations add to the cute romance quotient. This Cinderella story definitely will have fans.

Teens who enjoy romance, social media, and art will most appreciate this book. Those who enjoyed the Heartstopper series will also enjoy this title. Fans of Phil Stamper, Becky Albertalli, and Casey McQuiston will love this book.

-Lorrie Roussin

Other Nominated Titles

Release Date: September 13, 2022
Release Date: November 8, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.

Best Fiction for Young Adults (#BFYA2024) Featured Review: Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

  • Promise Boys
  • by Nick Brooks
  • Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
  • ISBN: 9781250866974

J.B., Ramón, and Trey are students at the prestigious Urban Promise Prep School, where they “promise” to follow the school’s strict disciplinary and academic codes, to set them on the path for college and save them from the streets. When their principal is murdered at school, the three become the prime suspects. The trio must join together to find out what really happened and prove their innocence.

Told in alternating viewpoints from the boys, their families, friends, teachers, and school donors, this fast-paced murder mystery unfolds into a compulsively readable story. Excellent characterization, tight pacing, and a memorable plot make this an easy sell.

Teen readers interested in real-life stories, thrillers, and relatable characters will most appreciate this title. Comparable titles include One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus, Light It Up by Kekla Magoon, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

-Emily Williams

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.


The Best Fiction for Young Adults Committee appreciates teen feedback as members evaluate the nominated titles. Teen librarians are encouraged to share the List of Potential Nominees under consideration with their patrons and solicit feedback using the link: https://bit.ly/BFYA24TeenFB

Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2024) Featured Review: My Life Among Humans by Jed McGowan

  • My Life Among Humans
  • by Jed McGowan
  • Publication Date: February 7, 2023
  • Publisher: Oni Press
  • ISBN: 9781637151990

When the unnamed alien protagonist of My Life Among Humans is sent to Earth, their mission is clear: send their scouts into the minds of humans to observe their lives and send daily reports back to their Manager. If they are detected, their mission, and they themselves, will be terminated. Everything goes smoothly during the initial data collection cycles, but when the Manager asks for more subjects, the alien is discovered. In order to hide their error, the alien begins mind-controlling a family. The alien quickly realizes how difficult it is to puppet them through normal human interactions, and suddenly needs to cover up the initial cover-up.

My Life Among Humans is a whimsical and accessible story for teens who are new to science fiction, while still containing powerful reflections on what it means to be human. The alien is designed adorably and voiced in a way that allows readers to identify with its accidental invasion. Anyone who has had a terrible boss in retail or food service will recognize the alien’s experiences.

Fans of gentle stories about aliens, like Steven Universe, will enjoy My Life Among Humans. Teens may also enjoy last year’s Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, which also features aliens hiding in plain sight of humans. 

—Jean Broughton

Release Date: September 20, 2022
Release Date: September 20, 2022
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Release Date: December 27, 2022

The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the title suggestion form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination.

Each week, the teams feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation are listed as well. At year’s end, the team will curate a final list from all nominated titles and select a Top Ten.