Tangerines Wins Silver at the 2025 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

I’m honored to share that Tangerines received the Silver Medal in the Pre-Teen, Mature Issues category at the 2025 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

The Moonbeam Awards celebrate books that inspire a love of reading and reflect the spirit of childhood. It’s deeply meaningful for me to see Tangerines recognized among works that champion imagination, compassion, and emotional honesty.

At its heart, Tangerines is the diary of ten-year-old Gilly, a curious and tender observer of her small but complicated world. Through her eyes, we glimpse the wonder and ache of growing up—her belief that even the smallest prayers, carved hearts, and made-up words can mend what’s been lost.

Readers have described Tangerines as “a warm hug” and “a story that feels like quiet therapy,” praising its mix of innocence and depth. One reviewer wrote, “It’s messy, funny, heartbreaking, and full of those weirdly specific thoughts only kids seem to have.” Another called it “a book that adults need as much as children do.”

You can find many more reviews here. Each one felt like a small gift when it arrived.

This award is as much a celebration of Gilly’s world as it is of everyone who believed in it—readers, listeners, and reviewers who saw in her story a reflection of their own childhood questions.

Thank you to the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards for this honor, and to everyone who’s joined Gilly and Oggy under the tangerine tree.

—Tsvi Jolles
Author of Tangerines (Brave Fawn Books)
Silver Medalist, 2025 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards