Random House Children’s Books Celebrates our NCTE Honorees and Finalists!

ORBIS PICTUS AWARD - HONOR BOOK

Hidden Systems By Dan Nott

We use water, electricity, and the internet every day--but how do they actually work? And what’s the plan to keep them running for years to come? This nonfiction science graphic novel takes readers on a journey from how the most essential systems were developed to how they are implemented in our world today and how they will be used in the future.

What was the first message sent over the internet? How much water does a single person use every day? How was the electric light invented?

For every utility we use each day, there’s a hidden history--a story of intrigue, drama, humor, and inequity. This graphic novel provides a guided tour through the science of the past--and reveals how the decisions people made while inventing and constructing early technology still affect the way people use it today.

Full of art, maps, and diagrams, Hidden Systems is a thoughtful, humorous exploration of the history of science and what needs to be done now to change the future.

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ORBIS PICTUS AWARD - RECOMMENDED BOOK

The Bees of Notre-Dame By Meghan P. Browne; illustrated by E. B. Goodale

This lyrical, poignant nonfiction picture book tells the fascinating story of the honeybee colonies that lived on the roof of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and survived the devastating 2019 fire.

High above the bustling streets and gardens of Paris is a little-known wonder: a cluster of beehives. They sit atop the roof of the Notre-Dame cathedral, lovingly tended to by a beekeeper named Sibyle. But when fire broke out in the catherdral in 2019, the bees almost didn’t make it. Firefighters battled heat and smoke, carefully spraying their hoses around the hives, pumping in water from fireboats on the Seine, and, miraculously, they survived.

Meghan P. Browne and E. B. Goodale imbue the story of Notre-Dame’s bees and the fire that almost killed them with great hope. After the fire, there is rebuilding to be done, but with hard work and collaboration, perhaps the cathedral can be restored after all. From the rooftops of Paris to the intricacies of a beehive, here is a moving picture book about resilience in the face of disaster.

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NOTABLE POETRY BOOKS AND VERSE NOVELS

Remember By Joy Harjo; illustrated by Michaela Goade

THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER • AN AMERICAN INDIAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HONOR BOOK • A BOSTON GLOBE–HORN BOOK HONOR AWARD • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY School Library Journal • Publishers Weekly • The Horn Book • NPR • The Bulletin • Kirkus Reviews

US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s iconic poem "Remember," illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, invites young readers to pause and reflect on the wonder of the world around them, and to remember the importance of their place in it.

Remember the sky you were born under,
Know each of the star's stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun's birth at dawn,
That is the strongest point of time.

So begins the picture book adaptation of the renowned poem that encourages young readers to reflect on family, nature, and their heritage. In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected. Michaela Goade, drawing from her Tlingit culture, has created vivid illustrations that make the words come alive in an engaging and accessible way.

This timeless poem paired with magnificent paintings makes for a picture book that is a true celebration of life and our human role within it.

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Something Like Home By Andrea Beatriz Arango

The Pura Belpré Honor winning novel in verse, in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.

“Trust me: this book will touch your heart." —Barbara O’Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Wish

Titi Silvia leaves me by myself to unpack,
but it’s not like I brought a bunch of stuff.
How do you prepare for the unpreparable?
How do you fit your whole life in one bag?
And how am I supposed to trust social services
when they won’t trust me back?

Laura Rodríguez Colón has a plan: no matter what the grown-ups say, she will live with her parents again. Can you blame her? It’s tough to make friends as the new kid at school. And while staying at her aunt’s house is okay, it just isn’t the same as being in her own space.

So when Laura finds a puppy, it seems like fate. If she can train the puppy to become a therapy dog, then maybe she’ll be allowed to visit her parents. Maybe the dog will help them get better and things will finally go back to the way they should be.

After all, how do you explain to others that you’re technically a foster kid, even though you live with your aunt? And most importantly . . . how do you explain that you’re not where you belong, and you just want to go home?

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THE AMELIA ELIZABETH WALDEN AWARD - FINALIST

Invisible Son By Kim Johnson

From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love.

Life can change in an instant.
When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime.
When a virus shuts everything down.
When the girl you love moves on.

Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased.

The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids—especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra’s brother Eric is missing, and the facts don’t add up as their adoptive parents fight to keep up the act that their racially diverse family is picture-perfect. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.

Critically acclaimed author Kim Johnson delivers another social justice thriller that shines a light on being young and Black in America—perfect for fans of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Dear Justyce by Nic Stone.

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A letter from Emily Jenkins, author of All the Best Dogs

Dear Teachers, Librarians, and Media-Specialists,

All the Best Dogs is about being a nerdy kid with just one real friend. And then losing that friend. It’s about being a popular girl who’s misunderstood by many of the people around her. It’s about being a kid with a struggling parent and starting to heal as that parent gets help. And it’s about being a kid who has done something he’s really ashamed of.

It’s also about how four very different kids with very different problems find their ways forward… with the help of dogs. The human-dog connection makes days brighter, makes people braver. Loving a dog can empower a person to show their true selves, their best selves, to other people.

I used to be an educator, both for elementary students and college students. When I write, I love to imagine things teachers and kids might do with my texts. Maybe you’ll look at the conflict between Kaleb and May-Alice and have students role-play, each defending their position. You could do that with the conflict between Kaleb and Ezra, too.

Maybe you’ll study the different communities represented in the Brooklyn of the book — helping kids explore the intersection of bodegas, pizza places, bagel stores, chocolate shops and bubble tea stores in one neighborhood, and what that says about who lives there.

Maybe you’ll talk about the economic and family structure differences between the kids in the book — Ezra with a married mom and dad, dad out of work. Kaleb and his sister living with a single mom, Kaleb in a makeshift bedroom, Dad living nearby. Jilly living with her single aunt while her mom is in recovery, no father in the picture. And May-Alice, with two fairly affluent parents living together.

Or maybe you’ll just talk about dogs! Who has a dog at home. Who would like to have a dog at home. Perhaps you’ll all imagine your “best dog” and draw it. Maybe you’ll brainstorm the silliest dog names you can think of as a creative writing exercise, and then have kids write a story about an imaginary best dog with the name they think is funniest. In the story, the dog will be trying to convince a human to give it a snack when it isn’t doggie snack time. A persuasive essay in the voice of a dog.

I think that would be a good day in an elementary school classroom. At least, it’s a day that the ten-year-old writer I used to be would have loved.

Thank you for thinking of sharing All the Best Dogs with your kids. And thank you for bringing literature and all its joys to your students in this difficult time.

Yours,

Emily Jenkins

All the Best Dogs By Emily Jenkins; illustrated by Manuel Preitano

For anyone who loves a dog--and anyone who loves a laugh, comes this sensitive (and silly!) story about growing up and mending fences. An enduring message of friends, community, and the joy of pets.

Ask anyone who has a dog and they’ll tell you that their dog is the best. Really, truly, the best dog in the world. Theirs is the best dog that ever lived, ever, ever, in the history of the known universe.

Welcome to the dog park! It’s a playground for dogs in the big city. Here, four sixth graders (and their dogs!) overlap on one hilarious and important June weekend.
    Ezra needs to find his lost dog.
    Cup-Cup needs a friend. (She also needs to learn to walk on a leash.)
    Mei-Alice wonders if anyone will ever understand her.
    Panda wonders what will happen if she breaks the rules.
    Kaleb is covering up a terrible mistake.
    Grover and Lottie are making lots of terrible mistakes. (Some of them are disgusting.)
    And Jilly needs to make a new life in a new place.
    On this almost-summer weekend, a series of surprises, mishaps, and misunderstandings will end up changing all of their lives.

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Emily Jenkins

Emily Jenkins has written many highly acclaimed books for children, including Water in the Park, a Booklist Editors' Choice and a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book; Lemonade in Winter, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; and two Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Books: Five Creatures and That New Animal. She is also the author of the popular Toys trilogy: Toys Go Out, Toy Dance Party, and Toys Come Home. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.