Navigating Night
Winner
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards
Annual awards from The Boston Globe and The Horn Book recognizing excellence in children's and young adult literature.
Published byThe Horn Book
Years available2016–2026
Editions11
About this book list
The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards celebrate excellence in children's and young adult literature. First presented in 1967, they are jointly associated with The Boston Globe and The Horn Book. An independent panel of three judges, appointed by The Horn Book's editor in chief, selects the recipients. Eligible books are first United States editions, and their authors and illustrators may come from any country. The awards have recognized picture books, fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, with category arrangements changing across the years. Recent editions consider books published from June of the preceding year through May of the award year. Winners and Honor Books offer different starting points for readers exploring the selections. The range includes books to share aloud as well as longer works for older children and teenagers. Families can browse by year and category, then choose a subject, format, or creator that interests them.
Visit the official programRecent winners and honors
Browse by year
Latest editionThe Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2026
The 2026 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards recognize three winners and six Honor Books. Navigating Night by Julie Leung, illustrated by Angie Kang, wins for picture books, Lisa Graff's A Scar Like a River for fiction, and A World Without Summer by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Yas Imamura, for nonfiction. Each category includes two Honor Books, with selections such as The Great Frog, The Second Life of Snap, and When Beavers Move In.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2025
The 2025 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards honor nine books across picture books, fiction, and nonfiction. I Know How to Draw an Owl by Hilary Horder Hippely, illustrated by Matt James, receives the picture book award. Randy Ribay's Everything We Never Had wins for fiction, and Candace Fleming's Death in the Jungle takes nonfiction. Two Honor Books join each winner, including Nose to Nose, My Daddy Is a Cowboy, Oasis, and Uprooted.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2024
The 2024 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards feature four winners and five Honor Books. Sydney Smith's Do You Remember? wins for picture books, Jacqueline Woodson's Remember Us for fiction, and The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Brett Helquist, for nonfiction. A separate Poetry Award goes to Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. The Honor Books are I'm From, Ode to a Bad Day, The Blood Years, Rez Ball, and Fungi Grow.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction · Nonfiction · Poetry
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2023
The 2023 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards recognize nine books in picture books, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction. Jack Wong's When You Can Swim, Angeline Boulley's Warrior Girl Unearthed, and Jarrett J. Krosoczka's Sunshine receive the three awards. Each category also includes two Honor Books, among them Remember, Promise Boys, When Clouds Touch Us, H Is for Harlem, and Choosing Brave.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston 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.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2021
The 2021 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards recognize nine books across picture books, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction. I Talk like a River by Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith, wins the picture book award. Rita Williams-Garcia's A Sitting in St. James and Paula Yoo's From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry receive the other two awards. Six Honor Books include Watercress, Fighting Words, All Thirteen, and Unspeakable.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2020
The 2020 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards include three winners and six Honor Books. Oge Mora's Saturday receives the picture book award, Kacen Callender's King and the Dragonflies wins for fiction and poetry, and Ashley Bryan's Infinite Hope takes the nonfiction award. The remaining selections include Birdsong, Pokko and the Drum, Clap When You Land, When You Trap a Tiger, Ordinary Hazards, and It Began with a Page.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2019
The 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards name nine books across picture books, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction. The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke and Van Thanh Rudd wins the picture book award, while Kekla Magoon's The Season of Styx Malone takes fiction and poetry. Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy receive the nonfiction award for This Promise of Change. Each category also has two Honor Books.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2018
Jillian Tamaki's They Say Blue, Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X, and Photographic by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña, lead the 2018 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards. The nine selections span picture books, fiction and poetry, and nonfiction. Each category includes one winner and two Honor Books, ranging from When's My Birthday? and A Different Pond to The Parker Inheritance and The 57 Bus.
- Ages and grades
- Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry · Nonfiction
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2017
The 2017 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards honor nine books in nonfiction, picture books, and fiction and poetry. The winners are Vincent and Theo by Deborah Heiligman, Freedom Over Me by Ashley Bryan, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Two Honor Books join each winner, including works by Melissa Sweet, Matthew Cordell, Nikki Grimes, and Richard Peck.
- Ages and grades
- Nonfiction · Picture Book · Fiction and Poetry
- Selections
- 9
The Horn Book
Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards 2016
The 2016 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards recognize nine books across nonfiction, fiction, and picture books. Steve Sheinkin's Most Dangerous receives the nonfiction award, Frances Hardinge's The Lie Tree wins for fiction, and Jazz Day by Roxane Orgill, illustrated by Francis Vallejo, takes the picture book award. Six Honor Books complete the year's selections, with two in each category.
- Ages and grades
- Nonfiction · Fiction · Picture Book
- Selections
- 9