2023 Kirkus Best Books of the Year (Awarded by Kirkus)

Awards List

Beginning Readers

Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends
(*)
Kaz Windness

Henry, Like Always
(*)
Jenn Bailey

Too Small Tola Gets Tough
(*)
Atinuke

See the Ghost
(*)
David LaRochelle

The Stars and Other Stories
(*)
Jarvis

Forever Friends
(*)
Susan Lubner

Hornbeam All In
(*)
Cynthia Rylant

Book Club Fiction

A House for Alice
(*)
Diana Evans

Birnam Wood
(*)
Eleanor Catton

Old God's Time
(*)
Sebastian Barry

Yellowface
(*)
R.F. Kuang

Your Love is Not Good
(*)
Johanna Hedva

Lucky Dogs
(*)
Helen Schulman

The Apartment
(*)
Ana Menendez

Breaking and Entering
(*)
Don Gillmor

Liquid Snakes
(*)
Stephen Kearse

Land of Milk and Honey
(*)
C. Pam Zhang

The MANIAC
(*)
Benjamin Labatut

Same Bed Different Dreams
(*)
Ed Park

Debut Fiction

The New Life
(*)
Tom Crewe

Shubeik Lubeik
(*)
Deena Mohamed

Western Lane
(*)
Chetna Maroo

Lucky Red
(*)
Claudia Cravens

The Deep Sky
(*)
Yume Kitasei

Promise
(*)
Rachel Eliza Griffiths

The Museum of Human History
(*)
Rebekah Bergman

Dearborn
(*)
Ghassan Zeineddine

Good Women
(*)
Halle Hill

The World Wasn't Ready for You: Stories
(*)
Justin C. Key

These Burning Stars
(*)
Bethany Jacobs

Empowering Picture Books

What Happened to You?
(*)
James Catchpole

We Are Here
(*)
Tami Charles

Sometimes It's Nice to Be Alone
(*)
Amy Hest

Friends Beyond Measure
(*)
Lalena Fisher

My Powerful Hair
(*)
Carole Lindstrom

Big
(*)
Vashti Harrison

The Good Hair Day
(*)
Christian Trimmer

When You Can Swim
(*)
Jack Wong

Salat in Secret
(*)
Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow

Greenlight
(*)
Breanna Carzoo

Everybody Has a Body
(*)
Molli Jackson Ehlert

The Artivist
(*)
Nikkolas Smith

Mole Is Not Alone
(*)
Maya Tatsukawa

Not He or She, I'm Me
(*)
A.M. Wild

Fiction in Translation

Shubeik Lubeik
(*)
Deena Mohamed

Heart Sutra
(*)
Yan Lianke

Greek Lessons
(*)
Han Kang

This is Not Miami
(*)
Fernanda Melchor

The House on Via Gemito
(*)
Domenico Starnone

Lies and Sorcery
(*)
Elsa Morante

Beyond the Door of No Return
(*)
David Diop

My Work
(*)
Olga Ravn

Reykjavik
(*)
Ragnar Jonasson

Fictional Families

The Last Animal
(*)
Ramona Ausubel

The New Earth
(*)
Jess Row

The Bee Sting
(*)
Paul Murray

Tom Lake
(*)
Ann Patchett

Dayswork
(*)
Chris Bachelder

Happiness Falls
(*)
Angie Kim

The Wren, the Wren
(*)
Anne Enright

Family Meal
(*)
Bryan Washington

The Unsettled
(*)
Ayana Mathis

Day
(*)
Michael Cunningham

Fictional Voices

Sterling Karat Gold
(*)
Isabel Waidner

Biography of X
(*)
Catherine Lacey

Chain-Gang All-Stars
(*)
Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

The Five-Star Weekend
(*)
Elin Hilderbrand

Ripe
(*)
Sarah Rose Etter

Monica
(*)
Daniel Clowes

The Vulnerables
(*)
Sigrid Nunez

Historical Fiction

Essex Dogs
(*)
Dan Jones

The Covenant of Water
(*)
Abraham Verghese

The End of Drum-Time
(*)
Hanna Pylvainen

The New Life
(*)
Tom Crewe

The Sun Walks Down
(*)
Fiona McFarlane

The Great Reclamation
(*)
Rachel Heng

Lone Women
(*)
Victor Lavalle

Good Night, Irene
(*)
Luis Alberto Urrea

Loot
(*)
Tania James

Promise
(*)
Rachel Eliza Griffiths

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
(*)
James McBride

North Woods
(*)
Daniel Mason

The Armor of Light
(*)
Ken Follett

Let Us Descend
(*)
Jesmyn Ward

Absolution
(*)
Alice McDermott

The Frozen River
(*)
Ariel Lawhon

We Must Not Think of Ourselves
(*)
Lauren Grodstein

Middle-Grade About Speaking Up

Code Red
(*)
Joy McCullough

We Still Belong
(*)
Christine Day

Mascot
(*)
Charles Waters

Alebrijes
(*)
Donna Barba Higuera

Coyote Queen
(*)
Jessica Vitalis

Gone Wolf
(*)
Amber McBride

Jawbreaker
(*)
Christina Wyman

Tethered to Other Stars
(*)
Elisa Stone Leahy

Middle-Grade Family Stories

A Pocketful of Stars
(*)
Aisha Bushby

Julia and the Shark
(*)
Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu
(*)
Maisie Chan

Aniana Del Mar Jumps In
(*)
Jasminne Mendez

The Firefly Summer
(*)
Morgan Matson

The Labors of Hercules Beal
(*)
Gary D. Schmidt

Ruby Lost and Found
(*)
Christina Li

Ginny Off the Map
(*)
Caroline Hickey

The House of the Lost on the Cape
(*)
Sachiko Kashiwaba

Maggie Lou, Firefox
(*)
Arnolda Dufour Bowes

Middle-Grade Fantasy and SF

Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom
(*)
Nina Varela

Elf Dog and Owl Head
(*)
M.T. Anderson

The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
(*)
Rick Riordan

The Demon Sword Asperides
(*)
Sarah Jean Horwitz

The Story of Gumluck the Wizard
(*)
Adam Rex

The Mossheart's Promise
(*)
Rebecca Mix

Forever Twelve
(*)
Stacy McAnulty

Juniper's Christmas
(*)
Eoin Colfer

Just a Pinch of Magic
(*)
Alechia Dow

Middle-Grade Fiction

Tiger Daughter
(*)
Rebecca Lim

The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels
(*)
Beth Lincoln

The Book That No One Wanted to Read
(*)
Richard Ayoade

How to Make a Movie in 12 Days
(*)
Fiona Hardy

The Eyes and the Impossible
(*)
Dave Eggers

The Notorious Scarlett and Browne
(*)
Jonathan Stroud

The Remarkable Rescue at Milkweed Meadow
(*)
Elaine Dimopoulos

How to Stay Invisible
(*)
Maggie C. Rudd

Salsa Magic
(*)
Letisha Marrero

The Dreamatics
(*)
Michelle Cuevas

Flying Up the Mountain
(*)
Elizabeth Irene-Baitie

Pine Island Visitors
(*)
Polly Horvath

Treasure Island
(*)
Jewell Parker Rhodes

Middle-Grade Graphic Fiction

Bea Wolf
(*)
Zach Weinersmith

A First Time for Everything
(*)
Dan Santat

The Moth Keeper
(*)
K. O'Neill

The Ojja-Wojja
(*)
Magdalene Visaggio

Parachute Kids
(*)
Betty C. Tang

School Trip
(*)
Jerry Craft

Mexikid
(*)
Pedro Martin

Saving Sunshine
(*)
Saadia Faruqi

Oliver's Great Big Universe
(*)
Jorge Cham

Saving H'non
(*)
Trang Nguyen

Where's Joon?
(*)
Julie Kim

The Magicians
(*)
Blexbolex

Middle-Grade Historical Fiction

The Lost Year
(*)
Katherine Marsh

World Made of Glass
(*)
Ami Polonsky

The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams
(*)
Daniel Nayeri

Hope in the Valley
(*)
Mitali Perkins

Farewell Cuba, Mi Isla
(*)
Alexandra Diaz

Remember Us
(*)
Jacqueline Woodson

Shira and Esther's Double Dream Debut
(*)
Anna E. Jordan

The Night Raven
(*)
Johan Rundberg

Middle-Grade Novels About Growing Up

Starboard
(*)
Nicola Skinner

Sisters of the Lost Marsh
(*)
Lucy Strange

Simon Sort of Says
(*)
Erin Bow

Not an Easy Win
(*)
Chrystal D. Giles

Ellie Engle Saves Herself
(*)
Leah Johnson

Heroes of the Water Monster
(*)
Brian Young

The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry
(*)
Chad Morris

Something Like Home
(*)
Andrea Beatriz Arango

Hidden Truths
(*)
Elly Swartz

Middle-Grade Paranormal

The Carrefour Curse
(*)
Dianne K. Salerni

The Enchanted Life of Valentina Mejia
(*)
Alexandra Alessandri

The Ojja-Wojja
(*)
Magdalene Visaggio

The Skull
(*)
Jon Klassen

Don't Want to Be Your Monster
(*)
Deke Moulton

Grumbones
(*)
Jenn Bennett

Extra Normal
(*)
Kate Alice Marshall

Mysteries and Thrillers

Green for Danger
(*)
Christianna Brand

Blaze Me a Sun
(*)
Christoffer Carlsson

Every Man a King
(*)
Walter Mosley

The Lost Americans
(*)
Christopher Bollen

A Line in the Sand
(*)
Kevin Powers

Code of the Hills
(*)
Chris Offutt

Night Will Find You
(*)
Julia Heaberlin

Crook Manifesto
(*)
Colson Whitehead

The Stolen Coast
(*)
Dwyer Murphy

Reykjavik
(*)
Ragnar Jonasson

Bright Young Women
(*)
Jessica Knoll

One Last Kill
(*)
Robert Dugoni

Picture Books

An American Story
(*)
Kwame Alexander

Darwin's Super-Pooping Worm Spectacular
(*)
Polly Owen

Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!
(*)
Tonya Bolden

Glitter Everywhere!
(*)
Chris Barton

Picture Books About Nature

9 Kilometers
(*)
Claudio Aguilera

Nell Plants a Tree
(*)
Anne Wynter

Little Land
(*)
Diana Sudyka

Desert Jungle
(*)
Jeannie Baker

The World's Best Class Plant
(*)
Audrey Vernick

Stickler Loves the World
(*)
Lane Smith

A Walk in the Woods
(*)
Nikki Grimes

Picture Books Celebrating Community

Remember
(*)
Joy Harjo

Afterward, Everything was Different
(*)
Jairo Buitrago

Like Lava In My Veins
(*)
Derrick Barnes

The Walk
(*)
Winsome Bingham

Something, Someday
(*)
Amanda Gorman

The Concrete Garden
(*)
Bob Graham

Picture Books Celebrating Family

At the Drop of a Cat
(*)
Elise Fontenaille

My Strange Shrinking Parents
(*)
Zeno Sworder

My Baba's Garden
(*)
Jordan Scott

We Are Lions!
(*)
Jens Mattsson

Oh No, the Aunts Are Here
(*)
Adam Rex

Papa's Home
(*)
David Soman

Summer Is for Cousins
(*)
Rajani LaRocca

Martina Has Too Many Tias
(*)
Emma Otheguy

Papa's Magical Water-Jug Clock
(*)
Jesus Trejo

Spanish Is the Language of My Family
(*)
Michael Genhart

Together We Swim
(*)
Valerie Bolling

A Letter for Bob
(*)
Kim Rogers

Zora, the Story Keeper
(*)
Ebony Joy Wilkins

Do You Remember?
(*)
Sydney Smith

Picture Books for Animal Lovers

The Courage of the Little Hummingbird
(*)
Leah Henderson

Simon and the Better Bone
(*)
Corey R. Tabor

Penny & Pip
(*)
Candace Fleming

The Search for the Giant Arctic Jellyfish
(*)
Chloe Savage

The Voice in the Hollow
(*)
Will Hillenbrand

Picture Books for Starting Conversations

All Aboard the Schooltrain
(*)
Glenda Armand

The Bear and the Wildcat
(*)
Kazumi Yumoto

Yellow Butterfly
(*)
Oleksandr Shatokhin

Corner
(*)
Zo-O

The Hospital Book
(*)
Lisa Brown

To the Other Side
(*)
Erika Meza

The Tree and the River
(*)
Aaron Becker

The Shape of You
(*)
Muon Thi Van

Remembering
(*)
Xelena Gonzalez

Boyogi
(*)
David Barclay Moore

How This Book Got Red
(*)
Margaret Chiu Greanias

Picture Books To Inspire Budding Artists

How to Write a Poem
(*)
Kwame Alexander

Breaking to the Beat!
(*)
Linda J. Acevedo

Ten-Word Tiny Tales
(*)
Joseph Coelho

Zora, the Story Keeper
(*)
Ebony Joy Wilkins

Picture-Book Read-Alouds

Evergreen
(*)
Matthew Cordell

Jump In!
(*)
Shadra Strickland

Once Upon a Book
(*)
Grace Lin

Ancient Night
(*)
David Bowles

Awake, Asleep
(*)
Kyle Lukoff

How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?
(*)
Mac Barnett

Every Dreaming Creature
(*)
Brendan Wenzel

Romance

Georgie, All Along
(*)
Kate Clayborn

Ana Maria and the Fox
(*)
Liana De la Rosa

Jana Goes Wild
(*)
Farah Heron

An Island Princess Starts a Scandal
(*)
Adriana Herrera

Mortal Follies
(*)
Alexis Hall

Business or Pleasure
(*)
Rachel Lynn Solomon

How to Tame a Wild Rogue
(*)
Julie Anne Long

Knockout
(*)
Sarah MacLean

Marry Me by Midnight
(*)
Felicia Grossman

Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
(*)
S.A. Chakraborty

A Day of Fallen Night
(*)
Samantha Shannon

Infinity Gate
(*)
M.R. Carey

Translation State
(*)
Ann Leckie

Blade of Dream
(*)
Daniel Abraham

The Deep Sky
(*)
Yume Kitasei

Immortal Longings
(*)
Chloe Gong

These Burning Stars
(*)
Bethany Jacobs

We Are the Crisis
(*)
Cadwell Turnbull

Short Fiction

A New Race of Men from Heaven
(*)
Chaitali Sen

When Trying to Return Home: Stories
(*)
Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Games and Rituals
(*)
Katherine Heiny

White Cat, Black Dog: Stories
(*)
Kelly Link

Fat Time and Other Stories
(*)
Jeffery Renard Allen

The Curious Lives of Nonprofit Martyrs
(*)
George Singleton

Witness: Stories
(*)
Jamel Brinkley

Dearborn
(*)
Ghassan Zeineddine

Good Women
(*)
Halle Hill

Holler, Child: Stories
(*)
LaToya Watkins

Wednesday's Child: Stories
(*)
Yiyun Li

The World Wasn't Ready for You: Stories
(*)
Justin C. Key

Roman Stories
(*)
Jhumpa Lahiri

YA Books: Exploring Mental Health

All the Things We Never Said
(*)
Yasmin Rahman

Delicious Monsters
(*)
Liselle Sambury

Saints of the Household
(*)
Ari Tison

The Dos and Donuts of Love
(*)
Adiba Jaigirdar

I Am Not Alone
(*)
Francisco X. Stork

Cold Girls
(*)
Maxine Rae

Unnecessary Drama
(*)
Nina Kenwood

YA College & High School Stories

Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim
(*)
Patricia Park

Promise Boys
(*)
Nick Brooks

Where You See Yourself
(*)
Claire Forrest

Gay Club!
(*)
Simon James Green

When It All Syncs Up
(*)
Maya Ameyaw

The Narrow
(*)
Kate Alice Marshall

All You Have To Do
(*)
Autumn Allen

No One Left But You
(*)
Tash McAdam

YA Fantasy and SF

Unraveller
(*)
Frances Hardinge

The Buried and the Bound
(*)
Rochelle Hassan

Iron Wolf
(*)
Siri Pettersen

A Door in the Dark
(*)
Scott Reintgen

Sing Me to Sleep
(*)
Gabi Burton

Champion of Fate
(*)
Kendare Blake

Before the Devil Knows You're Here
(*)
Autumn Krause

Sinner's Isle
(*)
Angela Montoya

This Cursed Light
(*)
Emily Thiede

YA Fiction

Savage Her Reply
(*)
Deirdre Sullivan

All That It Ever Meant
(*)
Blessing Musariri

We Are All So Good at Smiling
(*)
Amber McBride

Mindwalker
(*)
Kate Dylan

An Appetite for Miracles
(*)
Laekan Zea Kemp

Funeral Songs for Dying Girls
(*)
Cherie Dimaline

Spin
(*)
Rebecca Caprara

Throwback
(*)
Maurene Goo

Wings in the Wild
(*)
Margarita Engle

America Redux
(*)
Ariel Aberg-Riger

Forever Is Now
(*)
Mariama J. Lockington

Star Splitter
(*)
Matthew J. Kirby

Fire From the Sky
(*)
Moa Backe Astot

All the Fighting Parts
(*)
Hannah V. Sawyerr

Impossible Escape
(*)
Steve Sheinkin

Into the Bright Open
(*)
Cherie Dimaline

The Blackwoods
(*)
Brandy Colbert

Gather
(*)
Kenneth M. Cadow

Salt the Water
(*)
Candice Iloh

The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be
(*)
Shannon Gibney

YA Graphic Novels

Hungry Ghost
(*)
Victoria Ying

Mage and the Endless Unknown
(*)
S.J. Miller

Monstrous: A Transracial Adoption Story
(*)
Sarah Myer

Messenger: The Legend of Muhammad Ali
(*)
Marc Bernardin

Phoebe's Diary
(*)
Phoebe Wahl

Look on the Bright Side
(*)
Lily Williams

Courage to Dream
(*)
Neal Shusterman

YA Historical Fiction

The Davenports
(*)
Krystal Marquis

I'll Take Everything You Have
(*)
James Klise

Pedro & Daniel
(*)
Federico Erebia

Just a Hat
(*)
S. Khubiar

Into the Bright Open
(*)
Cherie Dimaline

The Prince and the Coyote
(*)
David Bowles

The Blood Years
(*)
Elana K. Arnold

Charming Young Man
(*)
Eliot Schrefer

YA Horror

City Of Nightmares
(*)
Rebecca Schaeffer

She Is a Haunting
(*)
Trang Thanh Tran

This Delicious Death
(*)
Kayla Cottingham

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth
(*)
Andrew Joseph White

When Ghosts Call Us Home
(*)
Katya de Becerra

Gorgeous Gruesome Faces
(*)
Linda Cheng

YA Mystery and Thriller

My Flawless Life
(*)
Yvonne Woon

A Long Stretch of Bad Days
(*)
Mindy McGinnis

Into the Light
(*)
Mark Oshiro

Warrior Girl Unearthed
(*)
Angeline Boulley

Good as Gold
(*)
Candace Buford

Some Shall Break
(*)
Ellie Marney

And Don't Look Back
(*)
Rebecca Barrow

Bittersweet in the Hollow
(*)
Kate Pearsall

The Voice Upstairs
(*)
Laura E. Weymouth

YA Novels About Social Issues

Different for Boys
(*)
Patrick Ness

The Next New Syrian Girl
(*)
Ream Shukairy

Only This Beautiful Moment
(*)
Abdi Nazemian

An Echo in the City
(*)
K.X. Song

The Eternal Return of Clara Hart
(*)
Louise Finch

The Moonlit Vine
(*)
Elizabeth Santiago

Invisible Son
(*)
Kim Johnson

Under This Forgetful Sky
(*)
Lauren Yero

Those Pink Mountain Nights
(*)
Jen Ferguson

Plan A
(*)
Deb Caletti

YA Romance

Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
(*)
Talia Hibbert

The Love Match
(*)
Priyanka Taslim

Imogen, Obviously
(*)
Becky Albertalli

The Fall of Whit Rivera
(*)
Crystal Maldonado

Check & Mate
(*)
Ali Hazelwood

Emmett
(*)
L.C. Rosen

Finding My Elf
(*)
David Valdes

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

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019