2 of 4 Target "Books of the Year" Are Random House Children's Books Titles
On September 30, 2024, Target Corporation announced its 2024 Books of the Year, and Random House Children’s Books, is proud to publish two of the four featured titles: THE GLASS GIRL by Kathleen Glasgow, the Young Adult Book of the Year, and IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES by Katherine Rundell, the Middle Grade Book of the Year.
Newly on sale, The Glass Girl is an honest, beautiful, and heart-wrenching story about grief, survival, and healing, in which a teen girl faces alcoholism and her journey to recovery. It has received three starred reviews, including one from Publishers Weekly, which states, “Pairing searing dialogue with hard-hitting story beats rendered in unfiltered prose, Glasgow puts a microscope to adolescent self-destruction that is both engrossing and devastating. Combining The Bell Jar with Euphoria, this heart-wrenching read offers a resonant and compassionate look at teenage substance reliance.”
For the Middle Grade Book of the Year, Target has chosen Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell, the first in an enthralling new middle-grade series.
A story of two daring children who embark on an urgent quest to save the Archipelago, a collection of islands hidden in the North Atlantic where all the creatures of myth and legend are real . . . and in danger. At once a fast-paced, rip-roaring adventure and a soul-stirring call to protect what we love, this sensational novel has been likened by reviewers to some of the greatest children’s fantasy classics of all time, including His Dark Materials, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Hobbit. The Washington Post calling it “utterly charming” while The New York Times praised Rundell as “well nigh irresistible.” Rundell was also named the 2024 British Book Award’s Author of the Year and called “the George R.R. Martin of middle grade fantasy” by School Library Journal in their starred review, one of several starred reviews the novel has received.
The book first published in the UK in September 2023 where it went on to win the UK’s most prestigious literary awards, including the 2023 Waterstones Book of the Year and the 2024 British Book Award for Children’s Fiction. The stunning U.S. edition released on September 10, 2024 and features a gorgeous package that includes red stained edges, full-color designed endpapers, a red case cover with gold stamping, and more than 60 illustrations, including a map and a bestiary of magical creatures. Rundell sets out on her North America book tour this October 2025.