WinnerAin’t Burned All the BrightJason ReynoldsA Black teenager narrates his family’s experience during the first months of COVID-19. The family faces the pandemic alongside racism and violence in the United States, with the struggle to breathe serving as a central concern. Jason Reynolds tells the story through sparse prose, while Jason Griffin’s notebook-style artwork forms much of the book’s visual narrative.Picture BookATOS Book Level 5.2AR Interest Level UGView book detailsBoston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2022
The 2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards name three winners and six Honor Books. Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin wins for picture books, Sabaa Tahir's All My Rage receives the fiction and poetry award, and Brandy Colbert's Black Birds in the Sky takes nonfiction. The honors include Moon Pops and War in picture books, Rez Dogs and Borders in fiction and poetry, and two nonfiction titles.
2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book AwardsSee the original list
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Published byThe Horn Book
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Picture Book
3 selections
WinnerAin’t Burned All the BrightJason ReynoldsA Black teenager narrates his family’s experience during the first months of COVID-19. The family faces the pandemic alongside racism and violence in the United States, with the struggle to breathe serving as a central concern. Jason Reynolds tells the story through sparse prose, while Jason Griffin’s notebook-style artwork forms much of the book’s visual narrative.Picture BookATOS Book Level 5.2AR Interest Level UGView book details
HonorMoon PopsHeena Baek, illustrated by Heena Baek, Jiuen KiaerOn a sweltering summer night when the heat makes sleep difficult, a Korean fairy tale unfolds around the moon and its drops. Granny shares those drops with her neighbors and helps bunnies without homes in the heat. The book draws on East Asian stories of the moon rabbit, whose generosity and sacrifice are honored by its image on the moon.Picture BookLexile Text Measure AD540LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
HonorWarJosé Jorge Letria, illustrated by André Letria, Elisa AmadoWar pairs brief, poetic prose with surreal illustrations to examine how armed conflict begins, spreads, and changes the world around it. Rather than recounting a single historical battle, the book presents war as a destructive force whose effects reach across people and places. Its spare text and unsettling visual images create a starting point for conversations about violence, fear, and the human consequences of conflict.Picture BookLexile Text Measure 590LATOS Book Level 3.8View book detailsFiction and Poetry
3 selections
WinnerAll My RageSabaa TahirSalahudin and Noor have grown up as outcasts in Juniper, California, where they have been closer than best friends. A fight ruptures their bond. Sal then tries to keep the family motel running as his mother’s health declines and his grieving father turns to alcohol. Earlier, Sal’s parents, Misbah and Toufiq, had come to the United States after tragedy disrupted their arranged marriage and opened the Clouds’ Rest Inn Motel.Fiction and PoetryLexile Text Measure HL590LATOS Book Level 4.2View book details
HonorRez DogsJoseph BruchacMalian is visiting her grandparents on a Wabanaki reservation when COVID-19 closures leave her there until travel resumes. She continues online classes when the internet works and spends time with her elders, who share stories about their lives and their people. A stray dog arrives, and the same dog appears in her grandparents’ stories from earlier times. The dog’s connection to Malian’s family carries an element of mystery as she is embraced by her family’s Native traditions.Fiction and PoetryLexile Text Measure 830LATOS Book Level 5.1View book details
HonorBordersThomas KingA Blackfoot boy and his mother drive from their home on a Blackfoot reserve in Alberta to visit his older sister in Salt Lake City. At the Canada–United States border, officials demand that they identify as either Canadian or American. His mother answers Blackfoot and refuses to choose either national label. Denied entry in both directions, they spend several days in the space between the borders, sleeping in their car and passing time at the duty-free shop. Their journey centers on identity, family, and resistance.Fiction and PoetryView book detailsNonfiction
3 selections
WinnerBlack Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race MassacreBrandy ColbertBrandy Colbert examines the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the conditions that preceded it. The book begins with Oklahoma’s settlement history and racism in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, then considers the growth of Tulsa’s Black Greenwood neighborhood and white resentment toward it. It recounts the events of May 31 and June 1, including the accusation against a young Black man, the threat of lynching, and violence that destroyed Greenwood, killed hundreds of African Americans, and left thousands without homes.NonfictionView book details
HonorThe Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not Yet FoundDina Nayeri, Anna Bosch MiralpeixThe Waiting Place portrays ten young refugees from Afghanistan and Iran as they wait for asylum at the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece. Ranging in age from five to thirteen, their lives are suspended between a lost home and an uncertain new one. The book situates their experiences within displacement caused by war, famine, and floods, and includes full-color photographs and extensive back matter. It focuses on young people living through forced migration and waiting.NonfictionView book details
HonorYour Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved HistorySchele Williams, illustrated by Tonya EngelThis picture book introduces African American history through centuries of courage and survival. It begins with African ancestors and addresses 400 years of slavery in America, focusing on the legacy carried forward across generations. The book honors enslaved ancestors while presenting their endurance and the history passed down to their descendants.NonfictionView book details