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 Cynsational Books of 2023 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.
For more book recommendations, see Cynthia’s 2023 YA picks featured on NPR: Books We Love.
The Cynsational Books of 2022 were selected by Cynthia Leitich Smith from nominations by Cynsations Team members.
The selections:
Berry Song by Michaela Goade (Tlingit/Haida) (Little, Brown, 2022) From the promotional copy:
On an island at the edge of a wide, wild sea, a girl and her grandmother gather gifts from the earth.
Today we welcome Veeda Bybee to the Cynsations team as a reporter. With a background in journalism as well as someone who participates enthusiastically in conversations surrounding the kidlit community, she is well-suited in this role. Veeda has contributed to the anthologies Rural Voices, edited by Nora Shalaway Carpenter (Candlewick,