2021 Kirkus Best Books of the Year (Awarded by Kirkus)

Awards List

Affirming Picture Books

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
(*)
Joanna Ho

What Will You Be?
(*)
Yamile Saied Mendez

The Wind May Blow
(*)
Sasha Quinton

When We Say Black Lives Matter
(*)
Maxine Beneba Clarke

Bedtime Books

I Sang You Down from the Stars
(*)
Tasha Spillett-Sumner

Full Moon
(*)
Camilla Pintonato

Moon Pops
(*)
Heena Baek

As Babies Dream
(*)
Leslea Newman

Before We Sleep
(*)
Giorgio Volpe

Little Bird's Day
(*)
Sally Morgan

Board Books

Ollie Feels Fine
(*)
Toni Yuly

This Is Still Not A Book
(*)
Jean Jullien

Sharkblock
(*)
Christopher Franceschelli

Book Club Fiction

Bina
(*)
Anakana Schofield

The Committed
(*)
Viet Thanh Nguyen

Foregone
(*)
Russell Banks

Second Place
(*)
Rachel Cusk

Wayward
(*)
Dana Spiotta

Beautiful World, Where Are You
(*)
Sally Rooney

Our Country Friends
(*)
Gary Shteyngart

The Sentence
(*)
Louise Erdrich

Books for Beginning Readers

The Protest
(*)
Samantha Thornhill

I'm On It!
(*)
Andrea Tsurumi

Fish and Sun
(*)
Sergio Ruzzier

Shell Quest
(*)
Steph Waldo

See the Dog
(*)
David LaRochelle

Fergus and Zeke and the 100th Day of School
(*)
Kate Messner

Debut Fiction

Detransition, Baby
(*)
Torrey Peters

Milk Blood Heat
(*)
Dantiel W. Moniz

No One Is Talking About This
(*)
Patricia Lockwood

Land of Big Numbers
(*)
Te-Ping Chen

The Final Revival of Opal & Nev
(*)
Dawnie Walton

Winter in Sokcho
(*)
Elisa Shua Dusapin

The Fugitivities
(*)
Jesse McCarthy

The Other Black Girl
(*)
Zakiya Dalila Harris

Walking on Cowrie Shells: Stories
(*)
Nana Nkweti

Build Your House Around My Body
(*)
Violet Kupersmith

Afterparties: Stories
(*)
Anthony Veasna So

Damnation Spring
(*)
Ash Davidson

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
(*)
Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Skinship: Stories
(*)
Yoon Choi

Three Rooms
(*)
Jo Hamya

My Monticello: Fiction
(*)
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Environmental Fiction

How Beautiful We Were
(*)
Imbolo Mbue

Hummingbird Salamander
(*)
Jeff VanderMeer

Damnation Spring
(*)
Ash Davidson

Bewilderment
(*)
Richard Powers

Harrow
(*)
Joy Williams

Chronicles from the Happiest People on Earth
(*)
Wole Soyinka

What Storm, What Thunder
(*)
Myriam J.A. Chancy

Fiction in Translation

Loop
(*)
Brenda Lozano

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
(*)
Mariana Enriquez

In Memory of Memory
(*)
Maria Stepanova

Untraceable
(*)
Sergei Lebedev

The Twilight Zone
(*)
Nona Fernandez

Winter in Sokcho
(*)
Elisa Shua Dusapin

Kin
(*)
Miljenko Jergovic

Bolla
(*)
Pajtim Statovci

The Corpse Flower
(*)
Anne Mette Hancock

Trust
(*)
Domenico Starnone

Fictional Families

The Removed
(*)
Brandon Hobson

The Arsonists' City
(*)
Hala Alyan

The Five Wounds
(*)
Kirstin Valdez Quade

Monkey Boy
(*)
Francisco Goldman

Secrets of Happiness
(*)
Joan Silber

Golden Girl
(*)
Elin Hilderbrand

The Netanyahus
(*)
Joshua Cohen

The War for Gloria
(*)
Atticus Lish

Crossroads
(*)
Jonathan Franzen

Fight Night
(*)
Miriam Toews

Funniest Picture Books

Something's Wrong!
(*)
Jory John

How to Apologize
(*)
David LaRochelle

What Does Little Crocodile Say?
(*)
Eva Montanari

The Mysterious Sea Bunny
(*)
Peter Raymundo

Invasion of the Unicorns
(*)
David Biedrzycki

Ruffles and the Red, Red Coat
(*)
David Melling

Historical Fiction

The Rib King
(*)
Ladee Hubbard

Zorrie
(*)
Laird Hunt

Great Circle
(*)
Maggie Shipstead

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch
(*)
Rivka Galchen

The Great Mistake
(*)
Jonathan Lee

Harlem Shuffle
(*)
Colson Whitehead

Matrix
(*)
Lauren Groff

Palmares
(*)
Gayl Jones

The Lincoln Highway
(*)
Amor Towles

Informational Picture Books

The Snail with the Right Heart
(*)
Maria Popova

Without Separation
(*)
Larry Dane Brimner

Joyous Picture Books

Mel Fell
(*)
Corey R. Tabor

My First Day
(*)
Phung Nguyen Quang

To Carnival!
(*)
Baptiste Paul

Your Mama
(*)
Nonieqa Ramos

We All Play
(*)
Julie Flett

Best Day Ever!
(*)
Marilyn Singer

Room for Everyone
(*)
Naaz Khan

Middle-Grade Family Stories

Summer of Brave
(*)
Amy Noelle Parks

Treasure of the World
(*)
Tara Sullivan

Unsettled
(*)
Reem Faruqi

Rez Dogs
(*)
Joseph Bruchac

Sisters of the Neversea
(*)
Cynthia Leitich Smith

Bad Sister
(*)
Charise Mericle Harper

Born Behind Bars
(*)
Padma Venkatraman

How to Find What You're Not Looking For
(*)
Veera Hiranandani

Playing the Cards You're Dealt
(*)
Varian Johnson

Stuntboy, in the Meantime
(*)
Jason Reynolds

Middle-Grade Fantasy and SF

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency
(*)
L.D. Lapinski

Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt
(*)
Rhiannon Williams

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
(*)
Kaela Rivera

Da Vinci's Cat
(*)
Catherine Gilbert Murdock

River Magic
(*)
Ellen Booraem

Willa of Dark Hollow
(*)
Robert Beatty

Time Villains
(*)
Victor Pineiro

The War to Save the Worlds
(*)
Samira Ahmed

Dust & Grim
(*)
Chuck Wendig

The Great Bear
(*)
David A. Robertson

The Last Cuentista
(*)
Donna Barba Higuera

The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne
(*)
Jonathan Stroud

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy
(*)
Anne Ursu

Middle-Grade Fiction

Can You Whistle, Johanna?
(*)
Ulf Stark

Boy Meets Ghoul
(*)
Birdie Milano

Knight of the Cape
(*)
Terry Catasus Jennings

The House That Wasn't There
(*)
Elana K. Arnold

Merci Suarez Can't Dance
(*)
Meg Medina

The Used-to-Be Best Friend
(*)
Dawn Quigley

Ways to Grow Love
(*)
Renee Watson

Maya and the Robot
(*)
Eve L. Ewing

Temple Alley Summer
(*)
Sachiko Kashiwaba

Cold-Blooded Myrtle
(*)
Elizabeth C. Bunce

The Mailbox in the Forest
(*)
Kyoko Hara

Middle-Grade Graphic Fiction

Island Book
(*)
Evan Dahm

The Legend of Auntie Po
(*)
Shing Yin Khor

Monster Friends
(*)
Kaeti Vandorn

Lilla the Accidental Witch
(*)
Eleanor Crewes

Borders
(*)
Thomas King

Barb the Last Berzerker
(*)
Dan Abdo

The Golden Hour
(*)
Niki Smith

Manu
(*)
Kelly Fernandez

When Pigs Fly
(*)
Rob Harrell

Living With Viola
(*)
Rosena Fung

Middle-Grade Historical Fiction

Barbed Wire Baseball
(*)
Marissa Moss

Voyage of the Sparrowhawk
(*)
Natasha Farrant

Root Magic
(*)
Eden Royce

Amber and Clay
(*)
Laura Amy Schlitz

Dawn Raid
(*)
Pauline Vaeluaga Smith

Soul Lanterns
(*)
Shaw Kuzki

Being Clem
(*)
Lesa Cline-Ransome

Cuba in My Pocket
(*)
Adrianna Cuevas

The Beatryce Prophecy
(*)
Kate DiCamillo

The Swallows' Flight
(*)
Hilary McKay

Middle-Grade Novels About Growing Up

The Sea in Winter
(*)
Christine Day

Take Back the Block
(*)
Chrystal D. Giles

The Year I Flew Away
(*)
Marie Arnold

Boy, Everywhere
(*)
A.M. Dassu

It Doesn't Take a Genius
(*)
Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

Too Bright to See
(*)
Kyle Lukoff

Not All Heroes
(*)
Josephine Cameron

Kaleidoscope
(*)
Brian Selznick

Room to Dream
(*)
Kelly Yang

Mysteries and Thrillers

Untraceable
(*)
Sergei Lebedev

Infinite
(*)
Brian Freeman

Lady Joker, Volume 1
(*)
Kaoru Takamura

Northern Spy
(*)
Flynn Berry

A Lonely Man
(*)
Chris Power

The Other Black Girl
(*)
Zakiya Dalila Harris

False Witness
(*)
Karin Slaughter

Razorblade Tears
(*)
S.A. Cosby

Billy Summers
(*)
Stephen King

Unthinkable
(*)
Brad Parks

Harlem Shuffle
(*)
Colson Whitehead

The Corpse Flower
(*)
Anne Mette Hancock

The Man Who Died Twice
(*)
Richard Osman

Picture Books About Crossing Borders

Like a Dandelion
(*)
Huy Voun Lee

When Lola Visits
(*)
Michelle Sterling

My Two Border Towns
(*)
David Bowles

The Big Bath House
(*)
Kyo Maclear

Olu and Greta
(*)
Diana Ejaita

Picture Books Celebrating Community

Most Days
(*)
Michael Leannah

The Lost Package
(*)
Richard Ho

The Smile Shop
(*)
Satoshi Kitamura

I Am the Subway
(*)
Hyo-eun Kim

Little Witch Hazel
(*)
Phoebe Wahl

The New Friend
(*)
Charlotte Zolotow

The Big Bath House
(*)
Kyo Maclear

Dream Street
(*)
Tricia Elam Walker

Picture Books Celebrating Family

I See You See
(*)
Richard Jackson

Milo Imagines the World
(*)
Matt De La Pena

The Electric Slide and Kai
(*)
Kelly J. Baptist

The Night Walk
(*)
Marie Dorleans

Watercress
(*)
Andrea Wang

On the Trapline
(*)
David A. Robertson

Strollercoaster
(*)
Matt Ringler

Dad Bakes
(*)
Katie Yamasaki

Picture Books for Starting Conversations

The Big Bad Wolf in My House
(*)
Valerie Fontaine

The Big House and the Little House
(*)
Yoshi Ueno

Rissy No Kissies
(*)
Katey Howes

The Wind and the Trees
(*)
Todd Stewart

The Day the Rain Moved In
(*)
Eleonore Douspis

Jenny Mei Is Sad
(*)
Tracy Subisak

Black and White
(*)
Debora Vogrig

Bright Star
(*)
Yuyi Morales

Can You See Me?
(*)
Gokce Irten

The Longest Storm
(*)
Dan Yaccarino

The Sour Cherry Tree
(*)
Naseem Hrab

The Longest Letsgoboy
(*)
Derick Wilder

Picture-Book Biographies

Jump at the Sun
(*)
Alicia D. Williams

Romance

Battle Royal
(*)
Lucy Parker

Act Your Age, Eve Brown
(*)
Talia Hibbert

People We Meet On Vacation
(*)
Emily Henry

The Soulmate Equation
(*)
Christina Lauren

One Last Stop
(*)
Casey McQuiston

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb
(*)
Cat Sebastian

Seven Days in June
(*)
Tia Williams

Bombshell
(*)
Sarah MacLean

The Dating Playbook
(*)
Farrah Rochon

A Lot Like Adios
(*)
Alexis Daria

Science Fiction and Fantasy

Klara and the Sun
(*)
Kazuo Ishiguro

Machinehood
(*)
S.B. Divya

Project Hail Mary
(*)
Andy Weir

A Radical Act of Free Magic
(*)
H.G. Parry

No Gods, No Monsters
(*)
Cadwell Turnbull

Destroyer of Light
(*)
Jennifer Marie Brissett

The Free Bastards
(*)
Jonathan French

Light From Uncommon Stars
(*)
Ryka Aoki

Short Fiction

Echo Tree
(*)
Henry Dumas

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
(*)
Mariana Enriquez

Milk Blood Heat
(*)
Dantiel W. Moniz

Land of Big Numbers
(*)
Te-Ping Chen

The Souvenir Museum
(*)
Elizabeth McCracken

Filthy Animals: Stories
(*)
Brandon Taylor

Walking on Cowrie Shells: Stories
(*)
Nana Nkweti

Afterparties: Stories
(*)
Anthony Veasna So

American Estrangement
(*)
Said Sayrafiezadeh

Skinship: Stories
(*)
Yoon Choi

My Monticello: Fiction
(*)
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson

Five Tuesdays in Winter
(*)
Lily King

Reality and Other Stories
(*)
John Lanchester

Wordless Picture Books

Over the Shop
(*)
JonArno Lawson

The Midnight Fair
(*)
Gideon Sterer

Alien Nation
(*)
Sandro Bassi

The Dog Walk
(*)
Sven Nordqvist

Writers to Discover

The Blizzard Party
(*)
Jack Livings

The Life of the Mind
(*)
Christine Smallwood

What's Mine and Yours
(*)
Naima Coster

Early Morning Riser
(*)
Katherine Heiny

The Blackmailer's Guide to Love
(*)
Marian Thurm

The Great Mistake
(*)
Jonathan Lee

Intimacies
(*)
Katie Kitamura

Lean Fall Stand
(*)
Jon McGregor

I Love You but I've Chosen Darkness
(*)
Claire Vaye Watkins

YA Activist Reads

We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire
(*)
Joy McCullough

Off the Record
(*)
Camryn Garrett

One Great Lie
(*)
Deb Caletti

Like Other Girls
(*)
Britta Lundin

Where I Belong
(*)
Marcia Argueta Mickelson

Tell It True
(*)
Tim Lockette

YA Fantasy and SF

The Broken Raven
(*)
Joseph Elliott

The Wide Starlight
(*)
Nicole Lesperance

A Queen of Gilded Horns
(*)
Amanda Joy

Aetherbound
(*)
E.K. Johnston

Mister Impossible
(*)
Maggie Stiefvater

Blood Like Magic
(*)
Liselle Sambury

Rainbow in the Dark
(*)
Sean McGinty

Redemptor
(*)
Jordan Ifueko

The Sisters of Reckoning
(*)
Charlotte Nicole Davis

Beasts of Prey
(*)
Ayana Gray

Before We Disappear
(*)
Shaun David Hutchinson

Little Thieves
(*)
Margaret Owen

Vial of Tears
(*)
Cristin Bishara

When Night Breaks
(*)
Janella Angeles

All of Us Villains
(*)
Amanda Foody; Christine Lynn Herman

The Grimrose Girls
(*)
Laura Pohl

YA Fiction

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega
(*)
Crystal Maldonado

When We Were Infinite
(*)
Kelly Loy Gilbert

The Cost of Knowing
(*)
Brittney Morris

Zara Hossain Is Here
(*)
Sabina Khan

On the Hook
(*)
Francisco X. Stork

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
(*)
Jonny Garza Villa

When We Make It
(*)
Elisabet Velasquez

Tonight We Rule the World
(*)
Zack Smedley

The Words in My Hands
(*)
Asphyxia

YA Graphic Novels

The Crossroads at Midnight
(*)
Abby Howard

Nubia
(*)
L.L. McKinney

The Hazards of Love Vol. 1: Bright World
(*)
Stan Stanley

Run: Book One
(*)
John Lewis

Himawari House
(*)
Harmony Becker

The Devil's Music
(*)
Nathan Page

YA Historical Fiction

The Awakening of Malcolm X
(*)
Ilyasah Shabazz

Last Night at the Telegraph Club
(*)
Malinda Lo

Mazie
(*)
Melanie Crowder

A Sitting in St. James
(*)
Rita Williams-Garcia

Walls
(*)
L.M. Elliott

Beyond the Blue Border
(*)
Dorit Linke

Traitors Among Us
(*)
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

Freedom Swimmer
(*)
Wai Chim

YA Mystery and Thriller

The Girls I've Been
(*)
Tess Sharpe

The Project
(*)
Courtney Summers

She's Too Pretty to Burn
(*)
Wendy Heard

The Block
(*)
Ben Oliver

All Our Hidden Gifts
(*)
Caroline O'Donoghue

The Box in the Woods
(*)
Maureen Johnson

The Dead and the Dark
(*)
Courtney Gould

The River Has Teeth
(*)
Erica Waters

White Smoke
(*)
Tiffany D. Jackson

YA Reads About Family and Community

Concrete Rose
(*)
Angie Thomas

One of the Good Ones
(*)
Maika Moulite; Maritza Moulite

Home Is Not a Country
(*)
Safia Elhillo

Misfit in Love
(*)
S.K. Ali

An Emotion of Great Delight
(*)
Tahereh Mafi

In the Wild Light
(*)
Jeff Zentner

Vampires, Hearts & Other Dead Things
(*)
Margie Fuston

A Snake Falls to Earth
(*)
Darcie Little Badger

YA Reads About Living Courageously

Chessboxer
(*)
Stephen Davies

The Life I'm In
(*)
Sharon G. Flake

The Mirror Season
(*)
Anna-Marie McLemore

Your Heart, My Sky
(*)
Margarita Engle

What Beauty There Is
(*)
Cory Anderson

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
(*)
Benjamin Alire Saenz

You'd Be Home Now
(*)
Kathleen Glasgow

We Light Up the Sky
(*)
Lilliam Rivera

YA Romance

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet
(*)
Laekan Zea Kemp

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry
(*)
Joya Goffney

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating
(*)
Adiba Jaigirdar

Slingshot
(*)
Mercedes Helnwein

Instructions for Dancing
(*)
Nicola Yoon

The Passing Playbook
(*)
Isaac Fitzsimons

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe
(*)
Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Not Here to Be Liked
(*)
Michelle Quach

Award Categories

Affirming Picture Books

Bedtime Books

Beginning Readers

Board Books

Book Club Fiction

Books for Beginning Readers

Debut Fiction

Empowering Picture Books

Environmental Fiction

Fiction

Fiction in Translation

Fictional Families

Fictional Voices

Funniest Picture Books

Historical Fiction

Informational Picture Books

Joyous Picture Books

Middle-Grade About Speaking Up

Middle-Grade Activist

Middle-Grade Adventures

Middle-Grade Family Stories

Middle-Grade Fantasy and SF

Middle-Grade Fiction

Middle-Grade Friendship Stories

Middle-Grade Graphic Fiction

Award Years

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019