Share these selections from Hena Khan, Saadia Faruqi, Huda Fahmy, and more in January and all year long.
 

A growing number of young people are using artificial intelligence chatbots as companions or therapists.

A creepy YA focusing on Edgar Allan Poe's descendant, a nonfiction title honoring Black basketball players, and board book and audiobook offerings appear on the first starred list of 2026.

Contrary to popular belief, SLJ reviews editors read non-children’s books. Every now and then, we’ll dip into some (gasp) adult books, though some of us can’t step out of the kid lit world for long. Here are our favorite books we read this year—and why.