Last modified on Wed 17 Feb 2021 13.02 EST
The year may be off to a dismal start, but Januaryâs best books for children are filled with adventurous magic. For readers of nine-plus, BB Alstonâs
Amari and the Night Brothers(Egmont) is a Chosen One fantasy with a fabulous protagonist: a whip-smart black girl from the projects. Amari is convinced her brilliant brother Quinton isnât dead, but the police have given up investigating his disappearance. Stumbling across a mysterious briefcase and an invitation to try out for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, Amari discovers the everyday worldâs occult underbelly â and her own powerful magical gift. A splendidly imaginative debut, ideal for fans of the Percy Jackson or Nevermoor series.
JonArno Lawson, illus. by Qin Leng. Candlewick, $16.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-5362-0147-5. Ages 3–7.
A lonely girl and her grandparent need to fill the rundown apartment in their building. But taking over the quarters above their store will mean major renovations for the new occupants, and none of the potential renters can envision the possibilities of the space until one special couple shows up. The book received a starred review from
PW.
Ray Anthony Shepard, illus. by Keith Mallett. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-374-30704-2. Ages 3–6.
In a stunning picture book debut, historian Shepard pens a free verse poem addressing Ona Judge, a young Black woman who emancipated herself from George and Martha Washington’s ownership. The book received a starred review from
In Roslund’s heart-pounding fourth Grens and Hoffman novel (after 2019’s
Three Hours with the late Börge Hellström), a break-in at the Stockholm apartment where every member of the Lilaj family, except five-year-old Zana, was killed 17 years earlier prompts Det. Supt. Ewert Grens to reexamine the case. Grens discovers that Zana’s witness protection file has disappeared from a secure police archive just as several criminals are murdered in the same manner as her family. Meanwhile, Piet Hoffman is contacted anonymously by a person who knows all about Hoffman’s time infiltrating Stockholm’s criminal underworld for the police. If Hoffman doesn’t start a gang war and thereby kick start demand for this new player in the weapons smuggling business, he and his family will be killed. Grens and Hoffman combine forces, as Grens senses they’re working two ends of the same problem. While the peril that Hoffman faces is palpable, Grens’s impending retirement and loss of purpose