Bank Street Best Books of the Year (2022)

Stack of books

Children’s Book Committee at the Bank Street College of Education announced their best books of the year list and LQ has 11 books on the list! Three books received an asterisk for "Outstanding Merit." Here’s what they had to say…

  • The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-076-3 Twelve-year-old Esther, ignored by her mother, is determined to keep her school safe from dangerous Shadow Mages, despite having no magical powers of her own. (10-13)

  • Alien Nation written and illustrated by Sandro Bassi (Levine Querido, $18.99) 978-1-64614-038-1 Can anything disturb humans with oversized headgear, deeply absorbed on their mobile phones? A wordless allegory. Dramatically detailed black-and-white crosshatched illustrations. (6-9)

  • Red and Green and Blue and White by Lee Wind, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky (Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-087-9 A fictionalized account of a town bonding together to stop bigotry, told with stunningly simple language. Colorful layered images created with brushwork on a Wacom tablet. (6-8)

  • The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-089-3 After boarding a spaceship with other families of scientists, Petra wakes in the future to find that she is the only person left wishing to remember Earth’s stories. (11-13)

  • Middletown by Sarah Moon (Levine Querido, $18.99) 978-1-64614-042-8 Thirteen-year-old Eli and her older sister, Anna, lean on each other to feign a life of normalcy when their single mother gets sent to rehab. (12-15)

  • Neverforgotten by Alejandra Algorta, illustrated by Iván Rickenmann, translated from the Spanish by Aida Salazar (Em Querido/Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-094-7 Ten-year-old Fabio flies through the streets of Bogotá on his bike, until one day he forgets how. An allegory about loss, truth, and friendship. Detailed charcoal illustrations. Bilingual in Spanish and English. (11-14)

  • The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas by María García Esperón, illustrated by Amanda Mijangos, translated from the Spanish by David Bowles (Em Querido/Levine Querido, $21.99) 978-1-64614-015-2 Creation stories, cautionary tales, and more from the many Indigenous peoples who lived in the Americas thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Striking digital black, white, and blue illustrations. Excellent back matter. (11-14)

  • Dawn Raid by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith, illustrated by Mat Hunkin (Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-041-1 Biracial Sofia’s diary entries and pencil sketches chronicle her struggles at school and her growing awareness of the unjust treatment of Pacific Islanders in 1976 New Zealand. Black-and-white illustrations. (11-14)

  • Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask by Anton Treuer (Levine Querido, $18.99) 978-1-64614-045-9 An Ojibwe scholar debunks stereotypes of Native peoples of the current-day United States and Canada. FAQ format. Archival photographs. Back matter. Young readers edition. (13-15)

  • A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger (Levine Querido, $18.99) 978-1-64614-092-3 When a cataclysmic event on Earth occurs, the real world of Nina, a Lipan Apache teen, and the spirit world of Oli, a cottonmouth, are brought together with strange results. (13-16)

  • The Big House and the Little House by Yoshi Ueno, illustrated by Emiko Fujishima (Levine Querido, $17.99) 978-1-64614-049-7 When a storm threatens Mouse’s little house, his newly found friend and neighbor, Bear, comes to the rescue. Detailed illustrations in a gentle pastel palette. (4-6)


Team LQ