The Last Cuentista written by Donna Barba Higuera

Habia una vez…There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children have been chosen to journey to a new planet. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet–and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Watercress illustrated by Jason Chin and written by Andrea Wang

Embarrassed about gathering watercress from a roadside ditch, a girl learns to appreciate her Chinese heritage after learning why the plant is so important to her parents.

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre written by Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Floyd Cooper

A powerful look at the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history.

Firekeeper’s Daughter written by Angeline Boulley

Daunis, who is part Ojibwe, defers attending the University of Michigan to care for her mother and reluctantly becomes involved in the investigation of a series of drug-related deaths.

Young Children’s Awards: My City Speaks written by Darren Lebeuf and illustrated by Ashley Barron

In this charming ode to city life, a visually impaired young girl travels around the city she loves, enjoying all it has to offer.

Middle Grades Awards: A Bird Will Soar by Alison Green Myers

After a tornado, Axel, who loves birds, finds an injured eaglet, and helps to rescue it–and also helps to resolve the problems in his broken family, and draw his father back home.

Teens Award: The Words in My Hands written and illustrated by Asphyxia

Near-future Australia is controlled by Organicore, a company that produces the “perfectly balanced” synthetic meals that have all but replaced wild food, but Piper McBride, sixteen, deaf, and cued white, begins to wonder if wild food is as dangerous as Organicore’s propaganda says.

Temple Alley Summer written by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Miho Satake and translated from the Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa

From renowned Japanese children’s author Sachiko Kashiwaba, Temple Alley Summer is a fantastical and mysterious adventure filled with the living dead, magical pearls, and a suspiciously nosy black cat named Kiriko featuring beautiful illustrations from Miho Satake.

Children Award Winner: Boogie Boogie, Y’all written, illustrated and narrated by C.G. Esperanza

Lively and colorful with a read-aloud beat, this picture book celebrates the rich culture of the Boogie Down Bronx, inviting readers to an epic block party!

Young Adult Award Winner: When You Look Like Us written by Pamela N. Harris and narrated by Preston Buttler III

A timely, gripping teen novel about a boy who must take up the search for his sister when she goes missing from a neighborhood where black girls’ disappearances are too often overlooked.

Youth Illustration Award winner: !Vamos, Let’s Cross the Bridge! Raúl Gonazlez

Using their new truck to carry party supplies over the bridge, Little Lobo and his dog Bernab are stuck in traffic and decide to throw an epic party to pass the time.

Children’s Author Award winner: The Last Cuentista written by Donna Barba Higuera

Habia una vez…There lived a girl named Petra Peña, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra’s world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children have been chosen to journey to a new planet. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet–and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity’s past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again?

Young Adult Author Award winner: How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love With the Universe written by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

When she takes a job as a “merch girl” on a tour bus full of beautiful influencers, Moon Fuentez, the twin sister of a social media star, questions her destiny as the unnoticed, unloved wallflower she always thought she was.

The People’s Painter: How Ben Schan Fought for Justice With Art written by Cynthia Levinson ; pictures by Evan Turk

A lyrically told, exquisitely illustrated biography of influential Jewish artist and activist Ben Shahn.  In this moving and timely portrait, award-winning author Cynthia Levinson and illustrator Evan Turk honor an artist, immigrant, and activist whose work still resonates today: a true painter for the people.

Children’s Literature Award winner: Too Bright to See written by Kyle Lukoff

It’s the summer before middle school and eleven-year-old Bug’s best friend Moira has decided the two of them need to use the next few months to prepare. For Moira, this means figuring out the right clothes to wear, learning how to put on makeup, and deciding which boys are cuter in their yearbook photos than in real life. But none of this is all that appealing to Bug, who doesn’t particularly want to spend more time trying to understand how to be a girl. Besides, there’s something more important to worry about: A ghost is haunting Bug’s eerie old house in rural Vermont…and maybe haunting Bug in particular.

Young Adult Literature Award winner: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

“That book. It was about two women, and they fell in love with each other. Have you ever heard of such a thing?” Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father–despite his hard-won citizenship–Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Fox at Night written and illustrated by Corey R. Tabor

Fox—the hilarious trickster character featured in Geisel Award-winning Fox the Tiger—overcomes his fear of monsters when he meets real nocturnal animals.