Best Children’s Books of 2016

by Kyong Hwa Lee, University of New Mexico Press, 184 pp., $19.95.
Using the art of origami to teach the principles of flight, Lee has designed templates for 32 paper airplanes including the Convair QF-106 (your basic dart airplane), the F-4 Phantom (intermediate level), and the P-38 (an advanced design, no surprise). Ages 9-up.   

by Katie Kennedy. Bloomsbury, 352 pp., $17.99.
An asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, and will obliterate California unless 17-year-old physics prodigy Yuri Strelnikov can work with NASA scientists to change its course. Memorable characters and a tightly plotted storyline make this one a winner. Ages 13-up.