Kevin Henkes Books In Order

Return to Sender

When Whitaker writes a letter to Frogman, a TV super hero, his family laughs, but they stop laughing and start wondering when he receives an answer.

Two Under Par

It seemed to ten year old Wedge that most of the time nothing made sense anymore. Suddenly he had a brand new stepfather and a five year old stepbrother, Andrew. He lived in a new house, far from his friends, and his bedroom window looked out on a seven foot castle that marked the eighteenth hole of the miniature golf course his stepfather owned. He hated it. Wedge does not easily let go of his anger, but the moment does come when things again begin to make sense. Kevin Henkes tells the story of Wedge’s journey to understanding and acceptance with humor and sympathy.

The Zebra Wall

The Vorlob family is making preparations. Preparations for the new baby, soon to arrive. Getting ready includes painting a mural in the baby’s nursery and making a list of possible names. Adine, age ten, is used to the routine she has four sisters already: Bernice, Carla, Dot, and Effie. This time, however, the routine is broken. In more ways than one. Most significantly, Aunt Irene will be staying with the Vorlobs until Mrs. Vorlob is rested and back on her feet. Aunt Irene arrives, as does the baby, but nothing goes quite as expected. Especially for Adine.

Words of Stone

Blaze Werla is having a routine summer. He spends his days alone, wandering around the hill next door, and his nights awake, avoiding the dreams that haunt him. Then a message appears on the side of the hill and Blaze’s predictable summer suddenly takes a turn toward the mysterious. By the time he meets outgoing Joselle Stark, Blaze finds himself in entirely new territory, where the unexpected seems almost normal.

Protecting Marie

Fanny has wanted a dog all her life. For a brief moment her dream came true, but then her father decided the puppy brought too much chaos to his neat, ordered home. Fanny has never been able to forgive him for it.

So when Fanny’s father brings home a new, older dog, she’s not sure she can trust him. She reasons that perhaps she shouldn’t get too attached, in case this one is taken from her as well. But how can she help falling in love with the perfect dog?

Sun & Spoon

It’s been only two months since Spoon Gilmore’s grandmother died, but already he’s worried that he’ll forget her. He needs to own something of Gran’s, something special. But Spoon’s little sister, Joanie, won’t give him time alone to think, even when they go to their grandfather’s house. What happens there will stay with readers long after they finish Sun & Spoon. Kevin Henkes’s innate understanding of childhood illuminates his work with a rare glow. ‘ Henkes offers another meticulously crafted, quietly engaging epiphany…
Infused with the same good humor, wisdom, and respect for children’s hearts and minds that characterize all his works.’ Kirkus Reviews, pointer review ‘ Once again, Henkes captures young angst with respect and honesty…
. Images of supportive parents and love between generations shine through.’ School Library Journal, starred review

The Birthday Room

‘Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle.’

Ben was just two years old when he and his uncle, Ian, were last together, so Ben didn’t remember him. And no one in Ben’s family ever talked about the man. Thenthe letter arrived, changing Ben’s life, and changing his family in unexpected ways. And there was The Birthday Room…

00 Riverbank Review Magazine’s Children’s Books of Distinction Award Nominations

Olive’s Ocean

‘Olive Barstow was dead. She’d been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew.’

Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren’t and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.

Now Martha can’t stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.

And this year Martha’s routine at her beloved grandmother’s beachside house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if? The world can change in a minute.

Bird Lake Moon

There are ghosts at Bird Lake, and they’re haunting Mitch Sinclair and Spencer Stone. Not the Halloween kind, but ghosts of the past. Memories of how life was before before the divorce, before the accident. Can their ghosts bring Mitch and Spencer together, as friends? Or will their secrets keep them apart? Either way, it is a summer that neither Mitch nor Spencer will ever forget.