2020s - Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards - LibGuides at Unger Memorial Library

2020

Saturday by Mora, Oge (Artist)
Call Number: Easy MOR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780316431279
Publication Date: 2019-10-22
When all of their special Saturday plans go awry, Ava and her mother still find a way to appreciate one another and their time together.

Birdsong by Flett, Julie (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy FLE (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781771644730
Publication Date: 2019-10-08
When a young girl moves from the country to a small town, she feels lonely and out of place. But soon she meets an elderly woman next door, who shares her love of nature and art. As the seasons change, can the girl navigate the failing health of her new friend? Acclaimed author and artist Julie Flett's textured images of birds, flowers, art, and landscapes bring vibrancy and warmth to this powerful story, which highlights the fulfillment of intergenerational relationships and shared passions. A brief glossary and pronunciation guide to Cree-Métis words that appear in the text is provided on the copyright page.
Pokko and the Drum by Matthew Forsythe (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy FOR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481480390
Publication Date: 2019-10-01
When Pokko plays her drum in the forest she suddenly finds herself surrounded by an entire band of animal musicians.

King and the Dragonflies by Callender, Kacen
Call Number: Juv F CAL (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781338129335
Publication Date: 2020-02-04
In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself.

Clap When You Land by Acevedo, Elizabeth
Call Number: YA F ACE-E (Young Adult Fiction)
ISBN: 9780062882769
Publication Date: 2020-05-05
Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people. In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash. Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered. And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other.
Clap When You Land [E-Book] by Elizabeth Acevedo
Call Number: OverDrive
ISBN: 9780062882783
Publication Date: 2020-05-05
When You Trap a Tiger by Keller, Tae
Call Number: JUV F KEL (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781524715717
Publication Date: 2020-01-28
When Lily, her sister Sam, and their mother move in with her sick grandmother, Lily traps a tiger and makes a deal with him to heal Halmoni.

Infinite Hope : a black artist's journey from World War II to peace by Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv B BRY (Juvenile Biography)
ISBN: 9781534404908
Publication Date: 2019-10-15
In May of 1942, at the age of eighteen, Ashley Bryan was drafted to fight in World War II. For the next three years, he would face the horrors of war as a black soldier in a segregated army. He endured the terrible lies white officers told about the black soldiers to isolate them from anyone who showed kindness, including each other. He received worse treatment than even Nazi POWs. He was assigned the grimmest, most horrific tasks, like burying fallen soldiers, but was told to remove the black soldiers first because the media didn't want them in their newsreels. And he waited and wanted so desperately to go home, watching every white soldier get safe passage back to the United States before black soldiers were even a thought. For the next forty years, Ashley would keep his time in the war a secret. But now, he tells his story. The story of the kind people who supported him. The story of the bright moments that guided him through the dark. And the story of his passion for art that would save him time and time again.

It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way by Julie Morstad (Illustrator); Kyo Maclear
Call Number: Juv B MAC (Juvenile Biography)
ISBN: 9780062447623
Publication Date: 2019-10-08
Gyo Fujikawa's iconic children's books are beloved all over the world. Now it's time for Gyo's story to be told--a story of artistic talent that refused to be constrained by rules or expectations. Growing up quiet and lonely at the beginning of the twentieth century, Gyo learned from her relatives the ways in which both women and Japanese people lacked opportunity. Her teachers and family believed in her and sent her to art school and later Japan, where her talent flourished. But while Gyo's career grew and led her to work for Walt Disney Studios, World War II began, and with it, her family's internment. But Gyo never stopped fighting--for herself, her vision, her family and her readers--and later wrote and illustrated the first children's book to feature children of different races interacting together.
Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes
Call Number: YA B GRI-N
ISBN: 9781629798813
Publication Date: 2019-10-08
Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night - and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki's notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards - ordinary and extraordinary - of her life.

2021

I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott; Sydney Smith (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy SCO (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780823445592
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
When a child has a "bad speech day" at school, his father gives him a new perspective on his stuttering.

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes; Gordon C. James (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy BAR (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780525518778
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Let's hear it for everything that makes you the amazing, awesome, inspiring kid that you are... Your curiosity and creativity. Your bravery and kindness. Your sense of humor and fun. Your ability to get up again when you get knocked down. Your way of helping others. Yeah--you are all that and more! You are every good thing that makes the world go round. So go ahead and show us your magnificence--all the things that make you, you.
Watercress by Andrea Wang; Jason Chin (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy WAN (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780823446247
Publication Date: 2021-03-30
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.

A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number: YA F WIL-R (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780062367297
Publication Date: 2021-05-25

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Call Number: Juv F BRA (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781984815682
Publication Date: 2020-08-11
Ten-year-old Della can rely on her older sister, Suki, for anything, but when Suki attempts suicide, Della must seek help and speak out about the sexual abuse they've both suffered at the hands of their mother's boyfriend.
Punching the Air by Zoboi, Ibi ; Yusef Salaam
Call Number: YA F ZOB-I (Young Adult Fiction)
ISBN: 9780062996480
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. "Boys just being boys" turns out to be true only when those boys are white. The story that I think will be my life starts today. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it' With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.

From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry : the killing of Vincent Chin and the trial that galvanized the Asian American movement by Paula Yoo
Call Number: YA 305.895 YOO-P (Young adult nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781324002871
Publication Date: 2021-04-20

All Thirteen : the Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat
Call Number: Juv 796.52 SOO (Juvenile nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781536209457
Publication Date: 2020-10-13
On June 23, 2018, twelve young players of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach enter a cave in northern Thailand seeking an afternoon's adventure. But when they turn to leave, rising floodwaters block their path out. The boys are trapped! Before long, news of the missing team spreads, launching a seventeen-day rescue operation involving thousands of rescuers from around the globe. Combining firsthand interviews of rescue workers with in-depth science and details of the region's culture and religion, [the author]...masterfully shows how both the complex engineering operation above ground and the mental struggles of the thirteen young people below proved critical in the life-or-death mission.
Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford; Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv 976.6 WEA (Juvenile nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781541581203
Publication Date: 2021-02-02
On May 31 and June 1, 1921, an armed mob looted homes and businesses as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed, most buried in unmarked graves. Thousands were left homeless. No official investigation occurred until seventy-five years later. Unspeakable helps young readers understand the events of the Tulsa, Oklahoma race massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history.

2022

Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds; illustrated by Jason Griffin

Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds; Jason Griffin (Illustrator)
Call Number: YA F REY-J (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9781534439467
Publication Date: 2022-01-11
Jason Reynolds and his best bud, Jason Griffin, had a mind-meld. And they decided to tackle it, in one fell swoop, in about ten sentences, and 300 pages of art, this piece, this contemplation-manifesto-fierce-vulnerable-gorgeous-terrifying-WhatIsWrongWithHumans-hope-filled-hopeful-searing-Eye-Poppingly-Illustrated-tender-heartbreaking-how-The-HECK-did-They-Come-UP-with-This project about oxygen. And all of the symbolism attached to that word, especially NOW. And so for anyone who didn’t really know what it means to not be able to breathe, REALLY breathe, for generations, now you know. And those who already do, you’ll be nodding yep yep, that is exactly how it is.

Moon Pops by Heena Baek; translated by Jieun Kiaer
War by José Jorge Letria; illustrated by André Letria; translated by Elisa Amado

Moon Pops by Heena Baek; Jieun Kiaer (Translator)
Call Number: Easy BAE (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781771474290
Publication Date: 2021-08-15
One sweltering summer night, while the many residents of one apartment building are struggling to fall asleep, the moon begins to melt. Granny hears it dripping and runs out to catch the moon drops in a bucket. At first unsure what to do with the drops, she is soon inspired to turn them into popsicles--moon pops!--to help cool down her neighbors. But as everyone drifts off to sleep, a new problem arises. The fabled rabbits who, according to folklore live on the moon, have lost their home! With the last of the moon drops, Granny grows a new moon from the potted plant in her window. As the moon ascends to the starry sky above, the rabbits return to their home, and Granny returns to her bed.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
Call Number: YA F TAH-S (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780593202340
Publication Date: 2022-03-01
A family extending from Pakistan to California, deals with generations of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness.
All My Rage [E-Book] by Sabaa Tahir
Call Number: YA F TAH-S Ebook (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780593202357
Publication Date: 2022-03-01
All My Rage [streaming audiobook] by Sabaa Tahir
Call Number: YA F TAH-S Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780593502235
Publication Date: 2022

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
Borders by Thomas King; illustrated by Natasha Donovan

Black Birds in the Sky : the story and legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race massacre by Brandy Colbert
Call Number: YA 976.6 COL-B (Young adult nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780063056664
Publication Date: 2021-10-05
In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District--a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America's Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives. In a few short hours, they'd razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass? What exactly happened? And why are the events unknown to so many of us today?

The Waiting Place: when home is lost and a new one not yet found by Dina Nayeri; photographs by Anna Bosch Miralpeix
Your Legacy: a bold reclaming of our enslaved history by Schele Williams; illustrated by Tonya Engel

2023

When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

When You Can Swim by Jack Wong (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY WON (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9781338830965
Publication Date: 2023-05-02
In this exploration of what it truly means to swim, expansive vignettes introduce sandpipers, tannin-soaked lakes, and the feeling of a small waterfall on sun-soaked shoulders. But what about those who are afraid of the waters mysterious ways and resist learning to swim? Painting a compelling picture of the many joys and surprises that the water holds, artist and author Jack Wong has delivered an empowering, poetic journey that invites children to discover their confidence within to receive the warmth and wonder of the natural world.

Remember by Joy Harjo ; illustrated by Michaela Goade
Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Mondern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Frank Morrison

Remember by Joy Harjo; Michaela Goade (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY HAR (Easy fiction)
ISBN: 9780593484845
Publication Date: 2023-03-21
Remember the sky you were born under,
Know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn,
That is the strongest point of time.

So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging and accessible wa
Standing in the Need of Prayer : a modern retelling of the classic spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford; Frank Morrison (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY 291.4 WEA (Easy nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780593306345
Publication Date: 2022-09-20
The popular spiritual, Standing in the need of prayer, has been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American people and their history. The text and illustrations of this inspirational book are informative reminders of yesterday, hopeful images for today, and aspirational dreams of tomorrow.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
Call Number: YA F BOU-A (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9781250766588
Publication Date: 2023-05-02
Perry Firekeeper-Birch was ready for her Summer of Slack but instead, after a fender bender that was entirely not her fault, she's stuck working to pay back her Auntie Daunis for repairs to the Jeep. Thankfully she has the other outcasts of the summer program, Team Misfit Toys, and even her twin sister Pauline. Together they ace obstacle courses, plan vigils for missing women in the community, and make sure summer doesn't feel so lost after all. But when she attends a meeting at a local university, Perry learns about the "Warrior Girl", an ancestor whose bones and knife are stored in the museum archives, and everything changes. Perry has to return Warrior Girl to her tribe. Determined to help, she learns all she can about NAGPRA, the federal law that allows tribes to request the return of ancestral remains and sacred items. The university has been using legal loopholes to hold onto Warrior Girl and twelve other Anishinaabe ancestors' remains, and Perry and the Misfits won't let it go on any longer. Using all of their skills and resources, the Misfits realize a heist is the only way to bring back the stolen artifacts and remains for good. But there is more to this repatriation than meets the eye as more women disappear and Pauline's perfectionism takes a turn for the worse. As secrets and mysteries unfurl, Perry and the Misfits must fight to find a way to make things right - for the ancestors and for their community.

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhhà Lại

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks
Call Number: YA F BRO-N
ISBN: 9781250866974
Publication Date: 2023-01-31
J.B., Ramón, and Trey, students of the Urban Promise Prep School, must follow the school's strict rules, but when their principal is murdered, the three boys must band together to track down the real killer before they are arersted.
When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhhà Lai
Call Number: JUV F LAI (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9780063047006
Publication Date: 2023-05-09
Ha and her family have worked hard to make a life for themselves in the US, but it hasn't come easy. Ha has only just started to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.

Sunshine by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Sunshine : a Graphic Novel by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Illustrator)
Call Number: YA B KRO-J (Young adult biography)
ISBN: 9781338356328
Publication Date: 2023-04-18
The author shares his extraordinary experiences as a counselor at Camp Sunshine, a camp for seriously ill kids and their families, where he met campers and fellow counselors who forever changed the course of his life.

H Is for Harlem by Dinah Johnson ; illustrated by April Harrison
Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy

H Is for Harlem by Dinah Johnson; April Harrison (Illustrator)
Call Number: EASY 974.71 JOH
ISBN: 9780316322379
Publication Date: 2022-07-19
A richly informative alphabet picture book celebrating Harlem's vibrant traditions, past and present.
Choosing Brave : how Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy; Janelle Washington (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV B TIL (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9781250220950
Publication Date: 2022-09-06
The story of the mother of Emmett Till, and how she channeled grief over her son's death into a call to action for the civil rights movement.

2024

Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith; illustrated by the author

I'm From by Gary R. Gray, Jr. ; illustrated by Oge Mora
Ode to a Bad Day by Chelsea Lin Wallace ; illustrated by Hyewon Yum

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson
Call Number: JUV F WOO
ISBN: 9780399545467
Publication Date: 2023-10-10
The summer before seventh grade, as the constant threat of housefires looms over her Brooklyn neighborhood, basketball-loving Sage is trying to figure out her place in her circle of friends, when a new kid named Freddy moves in.

The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold
Rez Ball by Byron Graves

The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold
Call Number: YA F ARN-EK
ISBN: 9780062990853
Publication Date: 2023-10-10
Frederieke Teitler and her older sister, Astra, live in a house, in a city, in a world divided. Their father ran out on them when Rieke was only six, leaving their mother a wreck and their grandfather as their only stable family. He’s done his best to provide for them and shield them from antisemitism, but now, seven years later, being a Jew has become increasingly dangerous, even in their beloved home of Czernowitz, long considered a safe haven for Jewish people. And when Astra falls in love and starts pulling away from her, Rieke wonders if there’s anything in her life she can count on—and, if so, if she has the power to hold on to it. Then—war breaks out in Europe. First the Russians, then the Germans, invaded Czernowitz. Almost overnight, Rieke and Astra’s world changes, and every day becomes a struggle: to keep their grandfather’s business, to keep their home, to keep their lives. Rieke has long known that she exists in a world defined by those who have power and those who do not, and as those powers close in around her, she must decide whether holding on to her life might mean letting go of everything that has ever mattered to her—and if that’s a choice she will even have the chance to make.
Rez Ball by Byron Graves
Call Number: YA F GRA-B
ISBN: 9780063160378
Publication Date: 2023-09-12
These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team, even though he can't help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident. When Jaxon's former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. But stepping into his brother's shoes as a star player means that Tre can't mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with. After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon's dreams, their story isn't over yet.

NONFICTION WINNER

Mona Lisa Vanishes : a legendary painter, a shocking heist, and the birth of a global celebrity by Nicholas Day ; illustrated by Brett Helquist

POETRY WINNER

Kin : rooted in hope by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illlustrated by JefferyBoston Weatherford

The Mona Lisa Vanishes : a legendary painter, a shocking heist, and the birth of a global celebrity by Nicholas Day; Brett Helquist (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV 364.16 DAY
ISBN: 9780593643846
Publication Date: 2023-09-05
A narrative nonfiction about how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre, how the robbery made the portrait the most famous artwork in the world-and how the painting by Leonardo da Vinci should never have existed at all.
Kin : rooted in hope by Carole Boston Weatherford; Jeffery Boston Weatherford (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV F WEA
ISBN: 9781665913621
Publication Date: 2023-09-19
A multi-generational family history told in the voices of the author's ancestors, spanning enslavement alongside Frederick Douglass at Maryland's Wye House plantation, service in the U.S. Colored Troops, and the founding of all-Black Reconstruction-era communities.

Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards: 2020s

2020

2021

2022

Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds; illustrated by Jason Griffin

Moon Pops by Heena Baek; translated by Jieun Kiaer

War by José Jorge Letria; illustrated by André Letria; translated by Elisa Amado

Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

Borders by Thomas King; illustrated by Natasha Donovan

The Waiting Place: when home is lost and a new one not yet found by Dina Nayeri; photographs by Anna Bosch Miralpeix

Your Legacy: a bold reclaming of our enslaved history by Schele Williams; illustrated by Tonya Engel

2023

When You Can Swim by Jack Wong

Remember by Joy Harjo ; illustrated by Michaela Goade

Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Mondern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Frank Morrison

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhhà Lại

Sunshine by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

H Is for Harlem by Dinah Johnson ; illustrated by April Harrison

Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement by Angela Joy

2024

Do You Remember? by Sydney Smith; illustrated by the author

I'm From by Gary R. Gray, Jr. ; illustrated by Oge Mora

Ode to a Bad Day by Chelsea Lin Wallace ; illustrated by Hyewon Yum

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold

Rez Ball by Byron Graves

NONFICTION WINNER

Mona Lisa Vanishes : a legendary painter, a shocking heist, and the birth of a global celebrity by Nicholas Day ; illustrated by Brett Helquist

POETRY WINNER

Kin : rooted in hope by Carole Boston Weatherford ; illlustrated by JefferyBoston Weatherford

NONFICTION & POETRY HONOR BOOK

Fungi Grow by Maria Gianferrari ; illlustrated by Diana Sudyka