It’s time for the mid-year reading round-up! (Here’s 2023’s mid-year reading round-up.) Looking back on the first half of 2024, what books stand out? To clarify, these are books that I’ve read in that time frame (January-June 2024); some of them were published earlier, while many are new this year. I’ve sorted by intended audience age; graphic novels are indicated with (GN) and nonfiction with (NF). I’ve chosen these not necessarily based on the ratings or reviews I gave just after finishing them; sometimes a book wows me but doesn’t linger in my mind, while others that seem merely very good when I finish them lodge firmly in my memory. So, with that scientific explanation out of the way, let’s go!

Picture Books

Tender and sweet, funny and silly, creative, informative, sobering, and perfect for storytimes: there’s a little bit of everything.

• Love Grows by Ruth Spiro, illus. Lucy Ruth Cummins
• Connor Kissed Me by Zehava, illus. Sarah K. Turner
• Stranded! A Mostly True Story from Iceland by Ævar Þór Benediktsson (NF)
• A House by Kevin Henkes
• At Home with the Prairie Dog: The Story of a Keystone Species by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (NF)
• Wintergarden by Janet Fox, illus. Jasu Hu
• Ready, Set, Run! The Amazing New York City Marathon by Leslie Kimmelman (NF)
• Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage by Lisa Rogers (NF; see quote below)
• Dim Sum Palace by X. Fang (this has real echoes of The Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak, and is a brilliant read-aloud for storytimes)
• The Last Stand by Antwon Eady, illus. J&J Pumphrey
• Lucky Duck by Greg Pizzoli
• Invisible Things by Andy J. Pizza
• Rosie and the Pre-Loved Dress by Leanne Hatch
• One of These Is Not Like the Others by Barney Saltzberg
• Great Carrier Reef by Jessica Stremer (NF)
• The Rainbow Snail by Karin Åkesson
• Eclipse by Andy Rash
• Ahoy! by Sophie Blackall
• Nothing: John Cage and 4’33” by Nicholas Day (NF; see also Beautiful Noise)
• Mama in the Moon by Doreen Cronin
• Where Is My Nose? by Lucas Zanotto
• A Kite for Moon by Jane Yolen
• Exactly As Planned by Tao Nyeu*
• Gina Kaminski Saves the Wolf by Craig Barr-Green
• I Won’t Eat That by Christopher Silas Neal
• Just Like Millie by Lauren Castillo
• The Big Princess by Taro Miura
• The Spider in the Well by Jess Hannigan
• Finding Things by Kevin Henkes
• All From A Walnut by Ammi-Joan Paquette
• Touch the Sky by Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic
• Joyful Song by Leslea Newman
• Home in a Lunchbox by Mo Cherry

Above: quote from Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage

Middle Grade

Novels in every genre, with different styles and tones. I’ve been reading 2024 releases with an eye toward what books might be Newbery contenders and getting suggestions from the Heavy Medal blog.

• Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell (fantasy/animal fiction)
• Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell (novel in verse)
• Not Quite A Ghost by Anne Ursu (ghost story with a little horror)
• One Mixed-Up Night by Catherine Newman (I love how the kids in this book are inspired by From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankeweiler)
• Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt (novel in verse)
• The Guardian Test by Christina Soontornvat (fantasy)
• Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes (realistic fiction)
• Watership Down by Richard Adams and James Sturm (GN)
• The Extincts by Scott Magoon (GN)
• All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor (classic)
• No One Leaves the Castle by Christopher Healy (fantasy)
• Rewind by Lisa Graff (time travel!)
• Ferris by Kate DiCamillo (realistic, mostly; there’s a ghost)
• The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly (more time travel!)
• The Color of Sound by Emily Barth Isler (even more time travel! but mostly music and synesthesia and family relationships and history)
• Summer at Squee by Andrea Wang (summer camp!)
• Oddball Histories: Pests and Pets by Andy Warner (NF, GN)
• Dust & Grim by Chuck Wendig (fantasy)
• Nuts to You by Lynne Rae Perkins (animal fiction)
• The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (historical/ghost fiction)
• Spy School by Stuart Gibbs (GN)
• Deep Water by Jamie Sumner (novel in verse)
• Sink or Swim! Batcat #2 by Meggie Ramm (GN)
• Another Kind by Trevor Bream and Cait May (GN, sci-fi)
• Tree. Table. Book by Lois Lowry (realistic)
• A Little Bit Super (various authors)
• Witchlings by Claribel Ortega (fantasy)
• And Then, Boom! by Lisa Fipps (novel in verse)
• Telephone of the Tree by Alison McGhee (realistic)
• Camp Sylvania by Julie Murphy (paranormal)
• Keep It Like A Secret by John David Anderson (realistic)
• Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz (historical)
• Thornwood by Leah Cypess (fantasy)
• The Wrong Way Home by Kate O’Shaughnessy (realistic)

Young Adult

Unflinching, harrowing historical fiction; relationships and first loves; lion dancing and basketball; mental health; and two different forays into Shakespeare.

• Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham (GN)
• Gather by Kenneth Cadow
• Rez Ball by Byron Graves
• Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher
• As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
• The Blood Years by Elana K. Arnold
• Hamlet Is Not OK by R.A. Spratt
• America Redux by Ariel Aberg-Riger (NF)
• Here I Am, I Am Me by Cara Bean (NF, GN)
• Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth (romance)

Adult

Some surprisingly reassuring climate books, a fantastic cookbook by my college friend Sarah, and novels of all genres.

• Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken (NF)
• We All Want Impossible Things by Catherine Newman (realistic)
• Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire (Wayward Children series)
• The Road from Belhaven by Margot Livesey
• You’ll Do: A History of Reasons for Marrying Other Than Love by Marcia Zug (NF)
• Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel by Shahnaz Habib (NF)
• The Hunter by Tana French (mystery)
• Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet by Hannah Ritchie (NF)
• H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z by Elizabeth Kolbert (NF)
• Good Food, Good Mood by Tamara Green and Sarah Grossman (NF, cookbook)
• Table for Two by Amor Towles (realistic/historical)
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (mystery)
• Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller (romance)
• To & Fro by Leah Hager Cohen*
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (speculative)
• I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle (fantasy)
• Anything’s Pastable by Dan Pashman (NF, cookbook)
• The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson (historical)
• The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine (realistic)
• Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World by Leah Hager Cohen (NF)

*There are TWO books on this list that can be read starting from either cover: Exactly As Planned and To & Fro. It’s an unusual format that could be gimmicky but in both cases works perfectly.