Book Reviews

The Definitive Novel of Black American Dignity Mildred D. Taylor published Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry in 1976, and it won the Newbery Medal the following year. It is widely considered one of the finest American children’s novels ever written and one of the most important pieces of historical fiction for young readers in…

Gothic Atmosphere, Genuine Scares John Bellairs published The House with a Clock in Its Walls in 1973, illustrated by Edward Gorey, and it launched a beloved series of gothic mysteries for children that extended through twelve books. It has remained in print for over fifty years and has introduced generations of young readers to horror…

Bridge to Terabithia is a children’s novel by Katherine Paterson, first published in October 1977 by Thomas Y. Crowell. It won the Newbery Medal in 1978 and has never gone out of print. In the nearly five decades since, it has become one of the most taught and most frequently challenged books in American elementary…

The Perfect Dark Fairy Tale Neil Gaiman published Coraline in 2002 as a novella for children – at 162 pages, it is unusually short for a standalone children’s novel – and it has become one of the defining works of contemporary children’s literature. It is precisely constructed, intensely atmospheric, and genuinely frightening in a way…

Neil Gaiman published The Graveyard Book in 2008, and it won the Newbery Medal, the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and the Carnegie Medal in the two years that followed. No other book has won all three. That fact alone is worth sitting with for a moment, because what it tells you is that critics…

A Book That Earns Its Emotional Power R.J. Palacio published Wonder in 2012, and it became one of the most widely read and widely taught middle-grade novels of the decade. By 2023 it had sold over 15 million copies worldwide. It has been adapted into a successful film, spawned companion novellas and a graphic novel…

The Most Purely Entertaining Children’s Book Ever Written Roald Dahl published Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964, and it has never been out of print. It has been adapted twice for film, adapted for the stage, and translated into dozens of languages. Its central image – the golden ticket, the chocolate factory, the eccentric…

The Book That Changed Children’s Literature Forever Lewis Carroll published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865, and children’s literature has never been the same since. Before Alice, books for children were largely didactic – designed to teach moral lessons, instill good habits, and demonstrate the rewards of virtue. Carroll’s book demolished this tradition with cheerful…