Best Books of the Year
Menu

The Horn Book

Horn Book Fanfare 2014

Horn Book Fanfare 2014 names 29 books across 5 categories. 17 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. Egg & Spoon by Gregory Maguiresource (opens in a new tab)
  2. My Heart Is Laughing by Rose Lagercrantz, translated by Julia Marshallsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Rain Reign by Ann M. Martinsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The Key That Swallowed Joey Pigza by Jack Gantossource (opens in a new tab)
  5. The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtissource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Turtle of Oman by Naomi Shihab Nyesource (opens in a new tab)
  7. This One Summer by Mariko Tamakisource (opens in a new tab)
  8. We Were Liars by E. Lockhartsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. West of the Moon by Margi Preussource (opens in a new tab)

Folklore

  1. Little Roja Riding Hood by Susan Middleton Elyasource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Buried Sunlight: How Fossil Fuels Have Changed the Earth by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholmsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. El Deafo by Cece Bellsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powellsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands by Katherine Roysource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Flemingsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryantsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Story of Buildings: From the Pyramids to the Sydney Opera House and Beyond by Patrick Dillonsource (opens in a new tab)

Picture Books

  1. Bow-Wow’s Nightmare Neighbors by Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cashsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Draw! by Raúl Colónsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Gaston by Kelly DiPucchiosource (opens in a new tab)
  4. My Bus by Byron Bartonsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jefferssource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnettsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackallsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazeesource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Viva Frida by Yuyi Moralessource (opens in a new tab)

Poetry

  1. Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems by Paul B. Janeczkosource (opens in a new tab)
  2. How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelsonsource (opens in a new tab)

About the Horn Book Fanfare

The Horn Book Magazine's annual Fanfare list of the year's best children's and young adult books, chosen by its editors and reviewers. Read from hbook.com's own Fanfare pages through Wayback Machine snapshots, because hbook.com blocks automated fetches; each sourceUrl is the snapshot used. 2006-2018 come from the annotated Fanfare articles, 2019-2025 from the Fanfare booklist pages. Year is the year in the list's name (books of that year); it is announced in December. Category is Horn Book's own section (Picture Books, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Folklore). Every entry is a Selection. Author is the writer; for wordless or author-illustrated books it is the illustrator. Series names Horn Book prints in brackets after a title are dropped. Expected counts are the titles printed under each section on the cited page; for 2006-2018 they match the number of review citations on the page.

Organization: The Horn Book. Official site (opens in a new tab)

The most recommended books of 2014