Best Of

The SLJ reviews editors rounded up our reviews of the books lauded at the 2023 Youth Media Awards.

Every year I look forward to the Youth Media Awards, and this time is no different. Last year had several strong standouts that I hope were considered by the Printz committee.

That first wiggly tooth and the subsequent visit by the tooth fairy is the stuff of childhood lore but it's still hard to explain! We've found a few of our favorite books on the subject to help you guide young patrons and their adults through this peculiar rite of passage.

2023 starts off with a good selection of starred reviews that range from picture books by Laeken Zea Kemp and David Bowles to the latest YA novel in verse by 2021 National Book Award for Young People's Literature finalist Amber McBride.

It's that time, again—will Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage, already a winner this season, win the Printz? Works from Tiffany D. Jackson and Candace Fleming are also among this year's contenders.

This year's SLJ Best Books cover, was created by Guojing, author/illustrator of The Flamingo, a 2022 SLJ Best Book. Guojing is the 25th cover artist in an annual tradition of Best Books covers that began in 1998.

Starred titles closing out the year include the latest releases from Cinda Williams Chima and Kwame Alexander, and more.

SLJ's reviews editors list their favorite Best Books quotations of 2022.

SLJ book reviews editors list their favorite book covers from the 2022 Best Books.