Cynsations is celebrating its 20th anniversary by switching to a quarterly publishing schedule, featuring in-depth interviews and articles. Thank you for your ongoing support and enthusiasm!
The Cynsational Books of 2024 were selected by Cynthia Leitich Smith from nominations by Cynsations Team members. Titles published by Heartdrum or authored/illustrated by Cynsations team members are ineligible.
The selections (in alphabetical order):
The Art Thieves by Andrea L. Rogers (Levine Querido) from the publisher’s website:
It’s the year 2052. Stevie Henry is a Cherokee girl working at a museum in Texas, trying to save up enough money to go to college. The world around her is in a cycle of drought and superstorms, ice and fire. People get by. But it’s about to get a whole lot worse.
When a mysterious boy shows up at Stevie’s museum saying that he’s from the future — and telling her what is to come — she refuses to believe him. But soon she will have no choice.
From the author of the Walter Award-winning Man Made Monsters comes a YA novel that conjures our futures in startling life – the ones that we are headed towards, and the ones we can still work towards.
See AJ’s Cynsations interview with Andrea.
Bibsy Cross and the Bad Apple by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Dung Ho (Alfred A. Knopf) from the publisher’s website:
Meet Bibsy Cross, the precocious eight-year-old heroine of this charming chapter book series, as she navigates a relationship with a teacher who thinks that Bibsy is just too much.
Most things are easy-peasy, regular-pegular for Bibsy Cross. She loves her parents, her cat, her best friend, Natia. And she loves going to school. She might just love that most of all!
This year, Bibsy has Mrs. Stumper for a teacher… and Mrs. Stumper doesn’t seem too keen on Bibsy. She thinks Bibsy talks too much–especially about her science fair project.
But one day, when Bibsy talks a little too much, and goes a stone too far, Mrs. Stumper punishes her by punching a hole in her paper apple that hangs in the classroom. And Bibsy is devastated.
How can she make the best science fair project when she feels so rotten?
Birds On The Brain by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Julianna Swaney (Groundwood Books) from the publisher’s website:
The sequel to the award-winning Book Uncle and Me features bird lover Reeni and her quest to save her city’s bird count event when the mayor tries to shut it down.
Reeni is wild about birds! So when she and her best friend, Yasmin, have to pick a survey topic for a school project, asking their neighbors what they know about birds is an obvious choice. They are shocked to learn that no one — not one single person! — has heard about Bird Count India and the major event it is about to launch all over the country. Thousands of birdwatchers will be out counting birds as part of a global movement. Global means world, and isn’t this city part of the world? How come people don’t seem to care about the threats to city birds? And why is the mayor intentionally thwarting their city’s bird count event?
Reeni and Yasmin enlist help from Book Uncle, Reeni’s family and even their school bus driver. They must get people interested in the bird count, get them to ask the city government to support the event. After all, what’s good for the birds is good for all of us … right?
A funny, triumphant story about learning to advocate for both the human and non-human inhabitants of your community.
See Mitu’s Cynsations interview with Uma here.
Future Tense: How We Made Artificial Intelligence — and How It Will Change Everything by Martha Brockenbrough (Feiwel & Friends) from the publisher’s website:
Human history has always been shaped by technology, but AI is like no technology that has come before it. Unlike the wheel, combustion engines, or electricity, AI does the thing that humans do best: think. While AI hasn’t reproduced the marvelously complex human brain, it has been able to accomplish astonishing things. AI has defeated our players at games like chess, Go, and Jeopardy!. It’s learned to recognize objects and speech. It can create art and music. It’s even allowed grieving people to feel as though they were talking with their dead loved ones.
On the flip side, it’s put innocent people in jail, manipulated the emotions of social media users, and tricked people into believing untrue things.
In this non-fiction book for teens, acclaimed author and teacher Martha Brockenbrough guides readers through the development of this world-changing technology, exploring how AI has touched every corner of our world, including education, healthcare, work, politics, war, international relations, and even romance. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how artificial intelligence got here, how to make the best use of it, and how we can expect it to transform our lives.
Kisses, Codes & Conspiracies by Abigail Hing Wen (Feiwel & Friends) from the publisher’s website:
Tan Lee finds himself embroiled in an unusual love triangle, all while trying to defuse a heist in this novel by New York Times bestseller Abigail Hing Wen.
After a magical kiss at Prom, best friends Tan Lee and Winter Woo agree to cool it off, a plan that goes awry when their parents jointly head off to Hawaii and leave Tan and Winter to babysit Tan’s sister Sana together. If that isn’t complicated enough, Tan’s ex-girlfriend from Shanghai arrives on his doorstep with money stolen from her billionaire father and thugs on her heels.
Tan soon finds himself on the run through the San Francisco Bay Area, trying to out-manuever international hackers and protect his friends, family and sister—and his own heart.
See Mitu’s Cynsations interview with Abigail.
Olivetti by Allie Millington (Feiwel & Friends) from the publisher’s website:
Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family—the family he’s lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they’ve typed on him. It’s a thankless job, keeping memories alive.
Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest’s mom, Beatrice—his used-to-be most frequent visitor—only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the “typewriterly code” and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice’s memories stored inside him.
Their search takes them across San Francisco—chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they’ve lost.
The One & Only Googoosh by Azadeh Westergard (Viking Books for Young Readers) from the publisher’s website:
A celebration of one of Iran’s most iconic musical artists.
The legendary Iranian singer and actress Googoosh (born Faegheh Atashin) made her stage debut at age two while performing alongside her acrobat father. By the time she reached adulthood, she was widely considered to be Iran’s first superstar. Googoosh was in the prime of her career and on the brink of international stardom, but after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, she was silenced and disappeared from public life for over twenty years. However, her fans did not forget her. And as they sought refuge around the globe, they found ways to keep her music alive.
Azadeh Westergaard has crafted an unforgettable love letter to the home she once knew in Iran and to the woman who was and still is a cultural icon—a dazzling performer known as the one and only Googoosh.
See Mitu’s Cynsations interview with Azadeh.
Pockets Of Love by Yamile Saied Mendez, illustrated by Sara Palacios (Harper Collins, 2024) from the publisher’s website:
Sweet or savory.
Fried or baked.
Little pockets filled with love and a taste from home.
Grandma Monona always made the best empanadas for Mami’s birthday. But this year Monona is in heaven and Mami is sad. Her birthday won’t be the same without Monona.
Star and Sebi know they need a special birthday surprise to cheer up Mami. Maybe they can make Mami Monona’s empanadas themselves! But will they be able to capture the same magic as Monona’s empanadas if they don’t know her secret ingredient?
From Yamile Saied Méndez (acclaimed author of Where Are You From? and What Will You Be?) and Sara Palacios comes a moving and heartfelt picture book about the ways in which we carry those we’ve lost with us always—in pockets of love.
Strange Wonders of Roots by Evan Griffith (Quill Tree) from the publisher’s website:
From the acclaimed author of Manatee Summer comes a poignant story about a girl who learns to lay down roots as she’s drawn into a fight over a local grove of trees that’s in danger of being torn down. Perfect for fans of Hoot and Operation Redwood.
Holly Foster knows that nothing lasts—not hometowns or schools, or even family. It’s just safer to keep herself uninvolved. So when she’s sent to spend part of the summer with her uncle, she knows better than to get attached to him…or any part of his small Vermont town of Arden.
But when she arrives, she’s drawn into the drama that’s split the town: The local plastic factory is trying to tear down the trees in the center of Arden to build a visitor’s center and museum. Holly shocks herself by stepping into the fray and taking on one of the most powerful families in the area. But as she learns more about the town—and makes a new friend or two—Holly is determined to protect the one place she thinks she could finally belong. But will she be able to convince the other townspeople that the trees deserve to stay?
Skybound by Sue Ganz-Schmitt, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno (Calkins Creek) from the publisher’s website:
In this STEAM picture book, take to the skies with Mary Myers, aka “Carlotta,” an aeronaut and inventor whose careful scientific work improved balloons and our understanding of flight, weather patterns, and the atmosphere.
In the 1850s, proper young ladies were supposed to keep their feet on the ground (literally and metaphorically), but Mary dreamed of flying. Luckily, she married Carl Myers, a balloon enthusiast whose dreams were just as lofty as hers. Together, they designed and constructed balloons of all shapes and sizes, a difficult and dangerous job that required knowledge of chemistry, engineering, and meteorology. But how could they know which balloon designs worked best? They needed someone adventurous who could do balloon tricks for crowds while recording flight data. Mary knew just the person . . . herself! She gave herself the stage name Carlotta and anxiously awaited her first flight. Would she make it into the air? Could she collect the data they needed? Mary battled thick clouds and bone-chilling cold, but she went higher and farther than she hoped, and returned ready for her next flight.
A Two-Placed Heart by Doan Phuong Nguyen, illustrated by Olga Lee (Tu Books, 2024) from the publisher’s website:
Bom can’t believe that her sister doesn’t see herself as Vietnamese, only American. She says she doesn’t remember Vietnam or their lives there, their family there, their house and friends. How could her sister forget the terrible journey through Saigon and the airplanes and… everything?
And what about Bom? She remembers now, but how long will she keep her memories? She always found comfort in the sound of her father’s typewriter Clickity-clack, clickity-clack. So she has an idea. She’ll write down all that she can remember: the time when her father was a spy, when her mother was nicknamed a “radio,” when they were so hungry Bom couldn’t walk well, when the family all said goodbye.
Bom will even tell her sister, and herself, about what it was like moving to Tennessee. The ESL classes, bullies, strange new foods, icy weather, friendships, and crushes–and how her family worked to keep their heritage alive.
She’ll type one poem at a time, until they’ll never forget again.
See Gail’s Cynsations interview with Doan.
We are Big Time by Hena Khan, illustrated by Safiya Zerrougui (Penguin Random House, 2024) from the publisher’s website:
SWISH! Cheer courtside for a Muslim teen as she joins an all-girls, hijab-wearing basketball team and learns that she’s much more than a score. This energetic graphic novel is inspired by a true story!
Aliya is new to Wisconsin, and everything feels different than Florida. The Islamic school is bigger, the city is colder, and her new basketball team is…well, they stink.
Aliya’s still excited to have teammates (although the team’s captain, Noura, isn’t really Aliya’s biggest fan), and their new coach really understands basketball (even if she doesn’t know much about being Muslim). This season should be a blast…if they could just start to win. As they strengthen their skills on the court, Aliya and the Peace Academy team discover that it takes more than talent to be great–it’s teamwork and self-confidence that defines true success.
For fans of The Crossover and Roller Girl, this graphic novel goes big with humor and heart as it explores culture and perceptions, fitting in and standing out, and finding yourself, both on and off the court.
See Mitu’s Cynsations interview with Hena.
Wings Of An Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills by Billy Mills and Donna Janell Bowman, illustrated by S.D. Nelson (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024) from the publisher’s website:
Billy Mills was once an orphan on the Oglala Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation. But before his father was called to the ancestors, he told Billy how to conquer his suffering: You have broken wings, son. You have to dig deeper, below the anger, the hurt, the self-pity. The pursuit of a dream will heal you.
Despite poverty, racism, and severe health challenges, Billy raced toward his goal of becoming an Olympic athlete, inspired by his indigenous ancestors who stood strong when the odds were against them. Though at times he felt like his wings were clipped—a lone bird falling from the sky—he adapted and overcame, finally earning his place at the 1964 Olympics.
This autobiographical tale of Billy Mills’s awe-inspiring flight to a record-breaking gold medal, breathtakingly illustrated by award-winning Lakota artist SD Nelson, is a soaring testament to Billy’s legacy and the Lakota prayer: we are all related.