AAAS and Subaru are proud to announce the finalists for the 2024 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books in the Middle Grades Science Book category. The Prize celebrates outstanding science writing and illustration for children and young adults and is meant to encourage the writing and publishing of high-quality science books for all ages. Longlists for all four categories were announced in October.

The 2024 winner will be selected from among the following finalists:

• Good Food, Bad Waste: Let's Eat for the Planet, by Erin Silver. Illustrated by Suharu Ogawa. Orca Book Publishers, 2023.

  A deep dive into why humans waste so much food and the consequences for people and the planet

  Around the world, a billion tons of food gets thrown away every year, even when hundreds of millions of people suffer from hunger. A lot of what we don't eat ends up rotting in landfills which contributes to global warming. The good news is that many governments, communities and individuals are working hard to tackle this giant problem. You can be part of the solution, starting in your own home—and working together, we can decrease our overall waste and make sure all people have food security. Plus, by reducing food waste, we can also fight climate change!

  With inspiring profiles of food-waste activists and tasty tidbits on things like best-before dates, Good Food, Bad Waste offers much food for thought.

• How Do Meerkats Order Pizza?: Wild Facts about Animals and the Scientists Who Study Them, written and illustrated by Brooke Barker. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022.

  In this “pleasing and informative” (Kirkus Reviews) illustrated nonfiction book for middle grade readers, Brooke Barker of Sad Animal Facts introduces readers to incredible animals and the bizarre things human scientists do to understand them. Did you know that crows never forget a face? Or that jaguars have a favorite cologne? Have you ever wondered how to pet a yeti crab? Meet these weird, wonderful animals and the equally weird and wonderful scientists who study them. From crafting fake poop to slurping up bugs with a straw, there’s nothing these amazing humans won’t do to help us learn more about the animals around us. Packed with fascinating facts, this hilarious book from the bestselling creator of Sad Animal Facts reveals secrets like why roosters crow and how meerkats make decisions as a group—and how humans can better understand the wild creatures we share the planet with. 

• The Planets Are Very, Very, Very Far Away: A Journey Through the Amazing Scale of the Solar System, by Mike Vago. The Experiment, 2022.

  Quick: Picture the solar system. Do you see nine planets on tidy rings around the Sun? Then you have been lied to! It’s not without reason: We have to draw the solar system that way to fit it on a place mat, or a lunch box, or into an ordinary book. But that familiar diagram is wrong about almost everything—and so this is no ordinary book. Seven double-gatefold pages open out not once but twice, capturing our planetary neighbors at scale. The solar system unfolds before your eyes in this cheeky, myth-busting book (grounded in real math)! 

• Superpower?: The Wearable-Tech Revolution, by Elaine Kachala. Illustrated by Belle Wuthrich. Orca Book Publishers, 2022. 

  Super strength, super hearing, super vision and super connection. Wearable technology may soon give humans superpowers.

  Imagine being able to run without getting tired. Or travel to the moon to observe Earth for science class. The technologies that could make these things possible are mixing into our lives faster than we realize. The stakes are high. In Superpower?: The Wearable-Tech Revolution, young readers will discover how technological innovation can help people survive and thrive.

  But what if super strength results in endless work? What if hackers can read our thoughts? What if living in a virtual world affects our humanity? The book asks readers to question the pros and cons of technology and consider if innovation can go too far. Meet the inventors, designers, engineers, scientists and young people navigating the next tech frontier.

Winners will be announced in February 2024.

The finalists for the Children’s Science Picture Book category was announced earlier in the week.