Kirkus Best Books of the Year - Middle-Grade Fantasy and SF (Awarded by Kirkus)

Awards List

2025

The Edge of the Silver Sea
(*)
Alex Mullarky

Bird of a Thousand Stories
(*)
Kiyash Monsef

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
(*)
Aubrey Hartman

The Garden Just Beyond
(*)
Lindsey Leavitt

The Gate, the Girl, and the Dragon
(*)
Grace Lin

The Story of Gumluck and the Heroes
(*)
Adam Rex

The Village Beyond the Mist
(*)
Sachiko Kashiwaba

Graciela in the Abyss
(*)
Meg Medina

The Island of Forgotten Gods
(*)
Victor Pineiro

Defanged
(*)
H.E. Edgmon

The Forest of a Thousand Eyes
(*)
Frances Hardinge

The Ink Witch
(*)
Steph Cherrywell

The Last Resort
(*)
Erin Entrada Kelly

The Poisoned King
(*)
Katherine Rundell

Scarlet Morning
(*)
N.D. Stevenson

The Last Ember
(*)
Lily Berlin Dodd

2024

Impossible Creatures
(*)
Katherine Rundell

Eowulf: Of Monsters & Middle School
(*)
Mike Cavallaro

DnDoggos
(*)
Scout Underhill

A Game of Noctis
(*)
Deva Fagan

Out of the Valley of Horses
(*)
Wendy Orr

Lunar Boy
(*)
Wibowo, Cin; Wibowo, Jes

Amir and the Jinn Princess
(*)
M.T. Khan

Majestica
(*)
Sarah Tolcser

Island of Whispers
(*)
Frances Hardinge

Kwame Crashes the Underworld
(*)
Craig Kofi Farmer

2023

Juniper Harvey and the Vanishing Kingdom
(*)
Nina Varela

Elf Dog and Owl Head
(*)
M.T. Anderson

The Sun and the Star
(*)
Rick Riordan

The Demon Sword Asperides
(*)
Sarah Jean Horwitz

The Story of Gumluck the Wizard
(*)
Adam Rex

The Mossheart's Promise
(*)
Rebecca Mix

Forever Twelve
(*)
Stacy McAnulty

Juniper's Christmas
(*)
Eoin Colfer

Just a Pinch of Magic
(*)
Alechia Dow

2022

Ghostcloud
(*)
Michael Mann

The Legend of the Dream Giants
(*)
Dustin Hansen

The Ogress and the Orphans
(*)
Kelly Barnhill

The Last Mapmaker
(*)
Christina Soontornvat

The Marvellers
(*)
Dhonielle Clayton

The Patron Thief of Bread
(*)
Lindsay Eagar

Thunderbird
(*)
Sonia Nimr

Black Bird, Blue Road
(*)
Sofiya Pasternack

The Secrets of the Stormforest
(*)
L.D. Lapinski

2021

The Strangeworlds Travel Agency
(*)
L.D. Lapinski

Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt
(*)
Rhiannon Williams

Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
(*)
Kaela Rivera

Da Vinci's Cat
(*)
Catherine Gilbert Murdock

River Magic
(*)
Ellen Booraem

Willa of Dark Hollow
(*)
Robert Beatty

Time Villains
(*)
Victor Pineiro

The War to Save the Worlds
(*)
Samira Ahmed

Dust & Grim
(*)
Chuck Wendig

The Great Bear
(*)
David A. Robertson

The Last Cuentista
(*)
Donna Barba Higuera

The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne
(*)
Jonathan Stroud

The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy
(*)
Anne Ursu

2020

Race to the Sun
(*)
Rebecca Roanhorse

The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street
(*)
Lauren Oliver

The Water Bears
(*)
Kim Baker

Curse of the Night Witch
(*)
Alex Aster

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch
(*)
Julie Abe

The Girl and the Ghost
(*)
Hanna Alkaf

Paola Santiago and the River of Tears
(*)
Tehlor Kay Mejia

The Barren Grounds
(*)
David A. Robertson

Maya and the Rising Dark
(*)
Rena Barron

Spindlefish and Stars
(*)
Christiane M. Andrews

The Secret Life of Sam
(*)
Kim Ventrella

The Sisters of Straygarden Place
(*)
Hayley Chewins

Girl Giant and the Monkey King
(*)
Van Hoang

Award Categories

Affirming Picture Books

Bedtime Books

Beginning Readers

Board Books

Book Club Fiction

Books for Beginning Readers

Debut Fiction

Dystopian Fiction

Empowering Picture Books

Environmental Fiction

Fiction

Fiction in Translation

Fictional Families

Fictional Voices

Funniest Picture Books

Historical Fiction

Informational Picture Books

Joyous Picture Books

Middle Grade Exploring Social Themes

Middle-Grade About Speaking Up

Middle-Grade Activist

Middle-Grade Adventures

Middle-Grade Family Stories

Middle-Grade Fantasy and SF

Middle-Grade Fiction

Award Years

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019