Illustration from Our Lake by Angie Kang.

The following books will receive starred reviews in the May/June 2025 Horn Book Magazine:

Our Lake by Angie Kang (Kokila/Penguin)

Downpour: Splish! Splash! Ker-splash! by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata; trans. from Japanese by Emily Balistrieri (Red Comet)

Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Dlouhy/Atheneum)

I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins (Viking)

Sọmadịna by Akwaeke Emezi (Knopf)

The Strongest Heart by Saadia Faruqi (Quill Tree/HarperCollins)

Max in the Land of Lies [Operation Kinderspion] by Adam Gidwitz (Dutton)

Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

Outsider Kids [Parachute Kids] by Betty C. Tang (Graphix/Scholastic)

How Elegant the Elephant: Poems About Animals and Insects by Mary Ann Hoberman; illus. by Marla Frazee (Tingley/Little, Brown)

Elsa’s Chessboard by Jenny Andrus; illus. by Julie Downing (Porter/Holiday)

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming (Schwartz/Random)

A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa by Caroline McAlister; illus. by Jamie Green (Roaring Brook)

The Endless Sea by Chi Thai; illus. by Linh Dao (Candlewick)