By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: Moon Song by Michaela Goade (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2025).
Author/Illustrator Insights
WNDMG Author Interview: Khushboo Patel on Her Verse Novel All That Chandni Knows by Shifa Safadi from From The Mixed-Up Files of Middle-Grade Authors.
The Cynsational Books of 2025 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):
At the Edge of Lost by Martha Brokenbrough (Scholastic,
“Acclaimed illustrator and author Jeanette Winter, a pioneer of picture book biographies and nonfiction, many of which focused on brave women fighting for social justice, died Nov. 7 in New York City of heart and kidney failure. She was 86,” reported Shannon Maughan for Publishers Weekly. Winter’s picture book biography,
Continue Reading In Memory: Author-Illustrator Jeanette Winter »
By Mitu Malhotra
Today we are excited to welcome Cathy Petter to share her writing journey with Cynsations.
Cathy’s debut, Dear Moxie, Dear Rex, illustrated by Bryony Clarkson (Reycraft Books, 2025), was released on Sept. 16. This picture book is an epistolary experiment that reveals the true feelings of two pets.
Your latest book, At The Edge Of Lost (Scholastic, 2025), is a survival adventure story set in Seattle and Bainbridge Island. What was the inspiration for this story?
I really wanted to write another dog story—but one more intimate, even, than To Catch a Thief (Scholastic,
Continue Reading Author Interview: Writing, Teaching & a New MFA Program with Martha Brokenbrough »
Thank you for being a Cynsations reader!
Effective immediately, the Cynsations digital magazine is on hiatus. We’ll return in December with more inspiration, insights and information on children’s-YA writing, illustration, literature and publishing.
At Cynsations, we celebrate Native authors and illustrators all year long, but we know more teachers and child-caregivers may be searching for titles with supplemental educational and/or entertaining resources during Native Heritage Month.
By Cynthia Leitich Smith, Gayleen Rabakukk, Suma Subramaniam, A.J. Eversole, Mitu Malhotra, and Gail Vannelli for Cynsations
Spotlight Image: My Street Remembers by Karen Krossing, illustrated by Cathie Jamieson (Groundwood Books, 2025).
By AJ Eversole
I was delighted to chat with respected Cherokee historian, Twila M. Barnes, about her latest release from Capstone, The Cherokee People, Culture and History. The book is part a wonderful Indigenous Peoples series from Capstone that seeks to showcase a deep look into various Natives across the present-day United States,
Today we have the final installment of the MG Escapades series with Graphic Novelists Stan Yan and Angela Hsieh. And we’re also chatting with the group’s founder, Sara Shacter about how the group got started in case you’ve been thinking about putting together a marketing group.
Today we continue meeting more members of the MG Escapades group, this time chatting with debut authors who have fantasy novels publishing this year: Leslie Adame, Alby C. Williams, Carey Blankenship-Kramer, Sarah Mendonca, Christina Cornwell,