We salute the year’s best middle grade with author Annie Barrows.
It’s time for our annual best books coverage! Each year Kirkus’ editors choose from thousands of industry-first reviews to determine the top 100 titles in fiction, nonfiction, picture books, middle grade, and YA. We’re on our fourth episode of a special series dedicated to the year’s best books—each featuring an interview with a best books author, followed by a conversation with the respective section editor.
On this episode dedicated to the best middle-grade books of 2024, Annie Barrows joins us to discuss Stella & Marigold (Chronicle Books, Oct. 1), illustrated by longtime collaborator Sophie Blackall. The New York Times–bestselling author and two-time Caldecott Medalist are, of course, the team behind the wildly popular Ivy + Bean series. Additionally, Barrows is the author of many fine books for readers of all ages, including the adult novels The Truth According to Usand The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, co-written with her aunt Mary Ann Shaffer and adapted for film in 2018.
In a starred review, Kirkus had this to say about Stella & Marigold: “In this newest series starter from Ivy & Bean creators Barrows and Blackall, two loving sisters navigate the twists and turns of childhood.…All the heart. None of the pablum. Sisterhood at its finest and freshest.”
Barrows and I begin by discussing some of the respective personality traits of 7-year-old Stella and 4-year-old Marigold. We talk about the phenomenon whereby young siblings can form a sort of shared reality based on truth and fiction—and why Barrows is so darn good at depicting that. We wax rhapsodic about her enviable creative partnership with Blackall, and explore why they chose to dedicate Stella & Marigold to the late novelist Lore Segal. Barrows reflects on her childhood reading habits, becoming a writer, some of the best books she’s read this year, and much more.
Then young readers’ editors Laura Simeon and Mahnaz Dar share some additional titles from our best middle-grade books list.
EDITORS’ PICKS:
One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Holiday House)
Red Bird Danced by Dawn Quigley (Heartdrum)
Next Stop by Debbie Fong (Random House Graphic)
Still Sal by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow Books)
Puppet by David Almond, illus. by Lizzy Stewart (Candlewick)
My Antarctica: True Adventures in the Land of Mummified Seals, Space Robots, and So Much More by G. Neri, illus. by Corban Wilkin (Candlewick)
The Underdogs of Upson Downs by Craig Silvey (Knopf)
Lone Wolf Goes to School by Kiah Thomas, illus. by K-Fai Steele (Neal Porter/Holiday House)
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS:
The Callista Assignment by Steve Gay
Nascent Witch by Melissa Bobe
December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg
Fully Booked is produced by Cabel Adkins Audio and Megan Labrise.
