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Picture Books

Suggested grade level for all entries: PS–2

Together We Ride by Valerie Bolling; illus. by Kaylani Juanita (Chronicle)

I’m Not Small by Nina Crews (Greenwillow)

A Song of Frutas by Margarita Engle; illus. by Sara Palacios (Atheneum)

The Tide Pool Waits by Candace Fleming; illus. by Amy Hevron (Porter/Holiday)

Uncle John’s City Garden by Bernette G. Ford; illus. by Frank Morrison (Holiday)

Little Houses by Kevin Henkes; illus. by Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow)

Room for Everyone by Naaz Khan; illus. by Mercè López (Dlouhy/Atheneum)

A Day for Sandcastles by JonArno Lawson; illus. by Qin Leng (Candlewick)

Bathe the Cat by Alice B. McGinty; illus. by David Roberts (Chronicle)

Climb On! by Baptiste Paul; illus. by Jacqueline Alcántara (NorthSouth)

A Seed Grows by Antoinette Portis (Porter/Holiday)

Solitary Animals: Introverts of the Wild by Joshua David Stein; illus. by Dominique Ramsey (Rise/Penguin Workshop)

Big Truck Little Island by Chris Van Dusen (Candlewick)

Beginning Readers and Primary Grades

Suggested grade level for all entries: 1–3

Otto: A Palindrama by Jon Agee (Dial)

Frank and the Bad Surprise [Frank and the Puppy] by Martha Brockenbrough; illus. by Jon Lau (Levine Querido)

Cornbread & Poppy and Cornbread & Poppy at the Carnival by Matthew Cordell (Little, Brown)

Niki Nakayama: A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites by Jamie Michalak and Debbi Michiko Florence; illus. by Yuko Jones (Farrar)

Boris the Cat: The Little Cat with Big Ideas by Erwin Moser; illus. by the author; trans. from German by Alistair Beaton (NorthSouth)

Book of Questions / Libro de las preguntas: Selections / Selecciones by Pablo Neruda; illus. by Paloma Valdivia; trans. from Spanish by Sara Lissa Paulson (Enchanted Lion)

The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale by Charly Palmer (Farrar)

Fish and Sun [I Can Read!: Comics] by Sergio Ruzzier (HarperAlley/HarperCollins)

Endlessly Ever After: Pick Your Path to Countless Fairy Tale Endings! by Laurel Snyder; illus. by Dan Santat (Chronicle)

The Mystery Monster [Paige Proves It] by Amy Marie Stadelmann (Aladdin)

Sir Ladybug and Sir Ladybug and the Queen Bee by Corey R. Tabor (Balzer + Bray/HarperAlley/HarperCollins)

Nibi’s Water Song by Sunshine Tenasco; illus. by Chief Lady Bird (Lee & Low)

Sarah and the Big Wave: The True Story of the First Woman to Surf Mavericks by Bonnie Tsui; illus. by Sophie Diao (Holt)

Intermediate

Suggested grade level for all entries: 4–6

Amira & Hamza: The War to Save the Worlds by Samira Ahmed (Little, Brown)

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton (Holt)

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo; color by Mariana Azzi (Graphix/Scholastic)

Sunny Makes a Splash by Jennifer L. Holm; illus. by Matthew Holm; color by Lark Pien (Graphix/Scholastic)

Playing the Cards You’re Dealt by Varian Johnson (Scholastic)

Marshmallow Clouds: Two Poets at Play Among Figures of Speech by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek; illus. by Richard Jones (Candlewick)

Cress Watercress by Gregory Maguire; illus. by David Litchfield (Candlewick)

The Prisoner of Shiverstone by Linette Moore (Amulet/Abrams)

Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds; illus. by Raúl the Third; color by Elaine Bay (Dlouhy/Atheneum)

A Comb of Wishes by Lisa Stringfellow (Quill Tree/HarperCollins)

Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti; illus. by Dana Sanmar (Knopf)

The Snowy Owl Scientist [Scientists in the Field] by Mark Wilson (Clarion/HarperCollins)

Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee (Random)

Middle School

Suggested grade level for all entries: 6–8

The Race of the Century: The Battle to Break the Four-Minute Mile by Neal Bascomb (Focus/Scholastic)

Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case (Ferguson/Holiday)

Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales by Soman Chainani; illus. by Julia Iredale (Harper/HarperCollins)

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (Levine Querido)

Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow)

Salt Magic by Hope Larson; illus. by Rebecca Mock (Ferguson/Holiday)

In the Key of Us by Mariama J. Lockington (Farrar)

Ellen Outside the Lines by A. J. Sass (Little, Brown)

The Last Mapmaker by Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick)

The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud (Knopf)

Healer and Witch by Nancy Werlin (Candlewick)

When Winter Robeson Came by Brenda Woods (Paulsen/Penguin)

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi (Dutton)

High School

Suggested grade level for all entries: 9 and up

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon (Quill Tree/HarperCollins)

My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen (HarperTeen)

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by Jen Ferguson (Heartdrum/HarperCollins)

Murder Among Friends: How Leopold and Loeb Tried to Commit the Perfect Crime by Candace Fleming (Schwartz/Random)

Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao; color and art assistance by Weiwei Xu (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray (Putnam)

Survive the Dome by Kosoko Jackson (Sourcebooks)

Family of Liars by E. Lockhart (Delacorte)

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel)

Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams (Little, Brown)

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan (Little, Brown)

The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero (Peachtree Teen)

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (Simon)

From the April 2022 issue of Notes from the Horn Book: Summer Reading. For past years’ summer reading lists from The Horn Book, click on the tag summer reading.