Congratulations to Darcie Little Badger and Tananarive Due as CHILDREN OF OWL and MAZYWOOD have been named among Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2026!
Children of Owl
Darcie Little Badger, illus. by Abigail Rajunov (Levine Querido)
Informed by the son of a legendary Lipan Apache being that “a terrible fate looms,” a teen attempts to save her home from forces both supernatural and benign in Little Badger and Rajunov’s stunning contemporary fantasy. Mystery and speculative elements converge across this sinuous, elaborately constructed story that balances suspenseful plotting with emotional resonance and cultural depth.
Darcie Little Badger on Heritage and Hope
Mazywood
Tananarive Due (Saga)
NAACP Image Award winner Due toggles between the 1920s—when Black aspiring actor Mazelle Washington makes a dangerous wish to become a Hollywood starlet—and the present day, when her filmmaker grandson and his family face the consequences of her actions. The result is a staggering work of horror that combines hair-raising action with sharp-toothed reflections on the politics of Black performance.