Boasting 70 stellar titles, the SLJ 2014 Best Books were revealed November 20 at a Twitter event that kicked off at 7 PM ET. The list is broken down into four different categories—picture books, middle-grade fiction, young adult fiction, and nonfiction—and represents the notable, can’t-miss books out of the thousands of children’s and YA titles published each year. This list often features books that will go on to garner coveted awards, such as this year’s Brown Girl Dreaming, which recently won Jacqueline Woodson the National Book Award.
The Best Books represent a long, painstaking process that begins months in advance, with SLJ’s book review editors starting in early fall to revisit titles that have received starred reviews the previous year and homing in on those that they believe are not simply great but truly excellent. Over several intensive meetings—with separate discussions devoted to each category—taking place over a period of months, editors nominate the titles they feel truly deserve inclusion, arguing for and defending the merits of a particular title. After lengthy discussion, several rounds of voting are held, with editors retaining the option to bring back books that may not have made the cut the first time round, in what is informally termed “the zombie round.” Often, a single editor may champion a particular title and even successfully convince the rest of the team of the book’s distinction.
Integral to the process is not only selecting high-quality literature but also a solid balance of titles. For instance, editors made an effort to include picture books that appeal to toddlers as well as to older readers, nonfiction that tackles both science and technology as well as humanities and the arts, and fiction that represents protagonists with a wide variety of experiences, among many other criteria. Editors also paid close attention to a book’s impact on its targeted audience; for example, Byron Barton’s vibrant picture book My Bus was considered a strong choice because it appeals to toddlers and novice readers alike.
Often, trends that editors noticed on the list represent those in the larger publishing world, such as the high number of wordless picture books (Marla Frazee’s The Farmer and the Clown, Raúl Colón’s Draw!), titles about the concept of creating books and literature (Katy Beebe’s Brother Hugo and the Bear, Marie-Louise Gay’s Any Questions?, Scott Westerfeld’s Afterworlds, Lois Ehlert’s The Scraps Book), and memoirs or novels that blurred the lines between autobiography and fiction (Cece Bell’s El Deafo, Raina Telgemeier’s Sisters, Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming).
While librarians may already be well aware of these books, SLJ hopes for the list’s impact to disseminate and be felt among those outside of the library community as well. In her December editorial, editor-in-chief Rebecca T. Miller emphasizes the need to put books directly in the hands of users: “Engage patrons, caregivers, and teachers directly, list in hand. Encourage users, for instance, to check out a Best Books title before they buy it as a gift.”
This year’s process also represented a change in the formation of the list. As in the past, careful attention was given to each starred title, the new process also resembled a Caldecott or Newbery Award Committee meeting, with timed discussion and voting, as well as editors being given a list of criteria to keep in mind as they debated.
Once the list was finalized and complete, the editors took to social media to announce the Best Books, in their fourth annual Best Books Twitter Party, with editors speaking briefly about their personal favorites and tweeting fun categories of mock superlatives: for instance, Chris Raschka’s The Cosmobiography of Sun Ra was named “most likely to inspire you to bust a move.” Librarians, publishers, and even authors of some of the books attended the event and weighed in, voicing their opinions about the selected offerings.
What? What?! http://t.co/94WlYP91dw #sljbestbooks
— isabel quintero (@isabelinpieces) November 21, 2014
So right! RT @TLT16: I’ve read every title except 1 on the #sljbestbooks YA list so I feel like I’m probably doing my job basically right :D
@dgrabarek my copy is underlined and corner folded in all the good bits (aka all the bits), but Stevie got me the most. #sljbestbooks
— Stacy Dillon (@mytweendom) November 21, 2014
— Amber Keyser (@amberjkeyser) November 21, 2014
@dgrabarek my copy is underlined and corner folded in all the good bits (aka all the bits), but Stevie got me the most. #sljbestbooks
— Stacy Dillon (@mytweendom) November 21, 2014
