Books for teens, kids top librarians’ best-of list
One of the best things about the end of the year is the slew of annual “best of” lists that comes with it. It’s fun to read others’ choices of must-have movies, books and music. We wanted to create our own list of favorites and share our top picks among the year’s literary offerings for kids and teens. Here are the books we enjoyed reading most in 2014.
God Got a Dog
by Cynthia Rylant
Beach Lane Books, 2013
For age 10 and older
If God feels guilty when he sees a lonely, hungry, abandoned dog, what might he do about it? Told in verse, this humorous and reflective book considers what God would do if he lived a human existence. God gets sick, drinks coffee, finds a desk job (survivable only by eating 30 Snicker bars in one sitting) and discovers roller blading, among other instantly relatable human experiences.
This volume is a compilation of 16 poems pulled from Rylant’s longer book God Went to Beauty School, and God is portrayed through Marla Frazee’s gorgeous and detailed illustrations as being every race, age and gender — truly one of all of us.
Grasshopper Jungle
by Andrew Smith
Dutton Juvenile, 2014
For age 13 and older
This may be the strangest book you’ve ever read. The bizarre and twisty tale, set in rural Iowa, seems like a series of outlandish occurrences that have nothing to do with each other — but they do, and the outcome will blow your socks off (and make you forever obsessive about corn).
Austin struggles to find his place with his girlfriend, Shann, and his best friend, Robbie, whom he also has feelings for. And throughout the book he relates the trio’s present adventures to the stories of his Polish ancestors.
When man-eating, sex-obsessed, giant, mutant praying mantises are unleashed on the world (Yes! Really!), the trio fights to stop the impending destruction. Along the way, they also encounter secret messages, underground bunkers and a genetically engineered plague safely encased in a glass vial that is accidentally shattered.
If all of that isn’t enough to deal with, Austin also has to confront his own teen sex drive, a dog that doesn’t bark, paintball guns full of sacred human blood and his own conflicted feelings about love, societal norms and what it means to be one of only a few human beings left on the planet.
Told in a hilarious style that is both apocalyptic and hysterical, this is a book worth sticking with all the way to its end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it conclusion. We’re not surprised that a movie version of the book is in development.
Hooray for Hat
by Brian Won
Houghton Mifflin, 2014
For ages 3-6
A fun and repetitive book about friendship, this will have your favorite reader chanting “Hooray for hat.” When grumpy Elephant receives a surprise gift of a stack of silly and festive hats on his doorstep, he has a hard time staying in a bad mood. He decides to share his silly hat stack with his friends and the good cheer spreads.
But, Giraffe is a little harder to convince: Will a hat be able to bring him out of his grumpy mood like it did for Zebra, Turtle, Owl and Lion? Happy and colorful illustrations make this an inviting picture book about how a simple act of kindness can turn around your day.
In the After
by Demitria Lunetta
HarperTeen, 2013
For age 13 and older
Amy Harris’ life changed forever on the day They arrived — the deadly beings that took over everything, blindly killing most of life on Earth. Her parents are gone and both the government and society are demolished. Amy manages to survive using only her wits and her one advantage: a heavily secured house designed by her super-paranoid scientist parents.
While out on a supply run, she discovers an injured toddler, and bringing Baby into her life changes everything. Suddenly, Amy has a new reason to survive. After years of living in isolation and silence, Amy and Baby are rescued and taken to a human refuge called New Hope. At first it seems to be the answer to everything, but dark secrets lurk within the community.
The book’s sequel, In the End, is just as heart-stoppingly thrilling. Just go ahead and get it, too, so you can read straight through to the story’s end.
The Iridescence of Birds, a book about Henri Matisse
by Patricia MacLachlan; illustrated by Hadley Hooper
Roaring Book Press, 2014
For ages 6-10
This was a year of great picture book biographies, especially about some of our favorite artists (Viva Frida, by Yuyi Morales, and Hello, I’m Johnny Cash, by G. Neri, were published this year, as was The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet). But MacLachlan magically captures the childhood of Henri Matisse, who loved his mother’s patterned red rugs and beautifully painted plates, as well as the way she encouraged him to explore his amazing artistic eye.
His book is simple and magical and conveys the love of color, light and movement that Matisse was exposed to at an early age. Little artists will understand and be inspired by the words and beautiful illustrations that pay homage to Matisse’s works.
Once Upon an Alphabet
by Oliver Jeffers
Philomel Books, 2014
For ages 8-12
Oliver Jeffers (author of one of our faves, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, and illustrator of seemingly everyone’s fave, The Day the Crayons Quit) has created a quirky collection of short stories about all the letters in the alphabet. This is not your ordinary alphabet book that introduces the letters to little ones.
Instead Jeffers uses the letters as inspiration for imaginative stories about an astronaut for the letter A, a jelly door for J and a puzzled parsnip for P, of course. Older kids who are writing on their own will enjoy the short-story concept as well as the goofiness that Jeffers’ writing brings.
Jeffers is both author and illustrator of this collection.
The Pigeon Needs a Bath
by Mo Willems
Disney-Hyperion, 2014
For age 3 and older
Pigeon just had a bath last month, and he doesn’t want another one. Told in Willems’ unique and recognizable style, Pigeon sets out to convince the reader that bathing is unnecessary. Parents will recognize every excuse: There aren’t enough toys and then there are too many, and the water is too hot, too cold and too hot again.
When Pigeon finally is forced into the tub, what will happen? Parents and kids alike will sympathize with (and enjoy) the outcome.
Wendy Dunn is a teen programming librarian and Lisa Smant is a children’s librarian with the Fort Worth Public Library.
This story was originally published December 25, 2014 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Books for teens, kids top librarians’ best-of list."