Similarly to last year’s post, I’ve decided that rather than do ‘best books of the year’, I would focus on books that I have particularly enjoyed this year. This is not an exhaustive list, just a few of those books that I have made an impact on me this year. I have read less children’s books than usual this year, instead I seem to have read more in French than I usually do, and more “adult” fiction.
I have split my highlights in two categories: novels in verse and visual narratives.
I have read a lot of free verse novels this year, and they have all been outstanding. It is a very exciting time for this form, and 2019 looks like it will be just as exciting with a new Sarah Crossan title due for release.
-The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Electric Monkey)
-Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Andersen Press)
-In Paris with You by Clémentine Beauvais, translated by Sam Taylor (Faber & Faber)
-Everything All at Once by Steven Camden (Macmillan Children’s Books)
-For Every One by Jason Reynolds (Knights Of)
-Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds with drawings by Chris Priestley (Faber & Faber)
My visual narratives highlight contain picturebooks as well as other illustrated works.
-The Restless Girls by Jessie Burton & Angela Barrett (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
-The Visitor by Antje Damm, translated by Sally-Ann Spencer (Gecko Press)
–Captain Rosalie by Tinothée de Fombelle & Isabelle Arsenault, translated by Sam Gordon (Walker Books)
–A Stone for Sascha by Aaron Becker (Walker Books)
-Up the Mountain by Marianne Dubuc, translated by Sarah Ardizzone (Book Island)
-The Last Wolf by Mini Grey (Jonathan Cape)
-Beyond the Fence by Maria Gulemetova (Child’s Play)
-Mary’s Monster by Lita Judge (Wren & Rook)
–The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (First Second)
-Out, Out Away from Here by Rachel Woodworth & Sang Miao (Flying Eye books)
Merry Christmas !
