This Year's Best Books for Kids

The Hazel Wood 
By Melissa Albert 
(Halley's pick) 

Publisher's description: Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: Her mother is stolen away — by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began — and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

(Recommended for teenagers to adults.)

The Bear and the Nightingale
By Katherine Arden
(Patti's pick)

Publisher's description: An enchanting mix of fairy tale, fantasy and historical fiction set in medieval Russia. Nestled between the northern wilderness and civilization is a village where old and new traditions live side by side. Vasya is destined to be like her grandmother and is gifted with powers by birthright. As time goes by, Vasya is tested. Caught in the conflict between the old spirits and the new religion, Vasya must do everything in her power to save her family and village. 

“This beautiful novel transported me to another time and place in such a wonderful way! It felt like I was immersed in an amazing Russian fairy tale with vivid and fascinating characters. This book is full of the coolest kind of magic, but I hesitate to reveal too much of the story. It was such a joy to watch the narrative unfold. Give it a try, you won't be sorry.” — Patti

(Recommended for teenagers to adults.)