Kevin HenkesAuthor & Illustrator
Cover of The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes
Newbery Honor

Novels2013A Miller Family Story

The Year of Billy Miller

Kevin Henkes

“A Miller Family Story”

Billy Miller visits the statue of the Jolly Green Giant at the end of summer vacation, he has an unlucky fall and ends up with a small lump on his head. What a way to start second grade, with a lump on your head! As the year goes by, though, Billy figures out how to navigate elementary school, how to appreciate his little sister, and how to be a more grown up and responsible member of the family and a help to his high school teacher mom and work-at-home artist dad. Newbery Honor author and Caldecott Medalist Kevin Henkes delivers a short, satisfying, laugh-out-loud-funny school and family story that features a diorama homework assignment, a school poetry slam, cancelled sleepovers, and epic sibling temper tantrums. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white spot art by the author, this is a perfect short novel for the early elementary grades.

A 2014 Newbery Honor Winner!

Buy the bookMore novels

Purchases via HarperCollins · official publisher of Kevin Henkes’s books

What the critics said

praise from the pages of the reviews

“Funny and often poignant . . . Eager young readers will find this a great first chapter book to share or read solo.”— School Library Journal (starred review)”
“Billy Miller’s second-grade year is quietly spectacular in a wonderfully ordinary way.”— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)”
“A vivid yet secure portrait of a boy coming into his confidence . . . Nuanced and human.”— The Horn Book (starred review)”
“Henkes has . . . created a character for the ages.”— Elizabeth Bird, A Fuse #8 Production”
“A story with a lot of heart.”—Booklist”
“Smartly attuned to emerging readers.”—Publishers Weekly”

If you loved this, try these

Back to the libraryMore novels