feature | 2021 preview

Most anticipated books of 2021

It’s going to be a great year for books! Mark your calendars for the upcoming releases our editors can’t wait to dive in to.

Four Hundred Souls, edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain One World, February 2

Kendi and Blain have compiled a history of African America unlike any before, bringing together 90 contributors who cover 400 years through short bursts of history, poetry, reporting and personal essay. The list of voices includes Nikole Hannah-Jones, Clint Smith, Jericho Brown, Donika Kelly and many more, and the resulting chorus is sure to be resounding.

Shy Willow by Cat Min Levine Querido, February 16

We’re always on the lookout for beautifully illustrated picture books that leave us feeling hopeful, and Cat Min’s debut has piqued our interest. It’s the story of a very shy rabbit who lives in an abandoned mailbox and must figure out how to deliver a very important letter—to the moon.

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen Grove, March 2

Vietnam-born author Nguyen’s 2016 Pulitzer Prize-winning debut novel, The Sympathizer, was an instant classic, starring an unnamed double agent whose ability to hold starkly opposing worldviews causes a division of self. This year Nguyen returns with the long-awaited sequel, promising philosophical deep dives and a unique look at Vietnamese refugee life in 1980s Paris.

That Way Madness Lies, edited by Dahlia Adler Flatiron, March 16

Fifteen of today’s best and brightest YA writers, including Anna-Marie McLemore, Mark Oshiro, Melissa Bashardoust and Tochi Onyebuchi, reenvision some of Shakespeare’s best known works, from Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet to The Tempest and All’s Well That Ends Well. Adler’s 2019 collection, His Hideous Heart, gave a similar treatment to Edgar Allan Poe, so we’re looking 16

forward to her helming of this new compendium.

Merci Suárez Can’t Dance by Meg Medina Candlewick, April 6

Medina and the beloved heroine of her 2019 Newbery Medal winner, Merci Suárez Changes Gears, are back! This sequel finds Merci in seventh grade confronting all the new—and familiar— experiences and challenges it brings.

Good Company by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney Ecco, May 4

Sweeney’s 2016 debut novel, The Nest, became an instant bestseller, and no wonder—she’s got a clear knack for family drama. She returns to the landscape of lifelong relationships with her second book, the story of a woman who’s trying to make sense of her husband’s long-ago lie about a lost wedding ring. We can’t wait for these bonds to unfold before us.

The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel HMH, May 4

In her first graphic memoir since 2012, Fun Home author and cartoonist Bechdel tackles her relationship to exercise—the fads, the equipment, the ever-elusive promise of better, newer, more. It’s a playful premise, but in true Bechdel style, there’s likely to be plenty of insight and introspection brewing just below the surface.

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo Tor .com, June 1

The best character in The Great Gatsby is Daisy’s friend Jordan Baker, full stop—we will not be taking questions at this time. So we truly cannot wait for Vo’s first novel, a magical take on the Jazz Age classic that reimagines Jordan as an Asian American immigrant and magic user.

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston St . Martin’s Griffin, June 1

What comes next after Red, White & Royal Blue, one of the best romance novels in years? Something completely different! McQuiston’s sophomore novel will be a time-traveling romance between August, a modern-day New Yorker, and Jane, a painfully cool lesbian from the 1970s who’s been somehow trapped on the subway.

Somebody’s Daughter by Ashley C. Ford Flatiron, June 1

Ford is already widely admired for her journalism, personal writing and podcasting, but Somebody’s Daughter will be her first book. Growing up in Indiana, Ford felt isolated and misunderstood. She longed to reunite with her incarcerated father, but when she found out what crime sent him to prison, everything changed.

The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker Harper, June 8

There are few novels we’ve more patiently waited for a follow-up to than 2013’s The Golem and the Jinni, and the moment has finally come. Wecker brings her formidable imaginative powers back to the world of Chava the golem and Ahmad the jinni, and this new novel will span the years from the turn of the century to early World War I.

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby Flatiron, July 6

Cosby’s 2020 debut, Blacktop Wasteland, was our Best Mystery & Suspense book of the year, and thank goodness we don’t have to wait too long for his second. Two ex-cons go on a quest for vengeance when their married sons are murdered. But since both men failed to accept their sons’ sexuality when they were alive, they must also confront shame and guilt in what sounds like another complex and ambitious thriller.