Rank 1We Don’t Lose Our Class GoldfishRyan T. Higgins, illustrated by Ryan T. HigginsThe companion to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates centers on Penelope Rex, a young dinosaur. Walter, the goldfish in her classroom, is the fear she cannot shake. Assigned to care for Walter during the weekend, Penelope must spend time with the pet that scares her. Ryan T. Higgins wrote this 48-page book, published by Disney Publishing Group in 2023.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 622View book detailsCBC Favorites Awards 2024
The 2024 edition contains 500 selections published by the Children's Book Council. The source uses 12 audience or subject sections, including Kids Favorites, Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, Kids Favorites, 3rd through 5th Grade, Kids Favorites, 6th through 8th Grade, and Kids Favorites, 9th through 12th Grade. It is one year of the CBC Favorites program, whose results may be grouped by Kids, Teachers, and Librarians.
2024 CBC Favorites AwardsSee the original list
Selections500
Published byChildren's Book Council
Sections12 sections
Browse sections12 sections
Kids Favorites — K–2nd Grade
60 selections
Rank 1We Don’t Lose Our Class GoldfishRyan T. Higgins, illustrated by Ryan T. HigginsThe companion to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates centers on Penelope Rex, a young dinosaur. Walter, the goldfish in her classroom, is the fear she cannot shake. Assigned to care for Walter during the weekend, Penelope must spend time with the pet that scares her. Ryan T. Higgins wrote this 48-page book, published by Disney Publishing Group in 2023.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 622View book details
Rank 2Back to School BackpackSimon Rich, illustrated by Tom ToroA child’s backpack faces first-day-of-school nerves and feels out of place in the school’s crowded spaces. Its worries unfold through hallways, lonely cafeteria tables, and toilet stalls. This picture book gives the backpack its own anxious perspective as it confronts the unfamiliar experience of going back to school.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 3Loud LibrarianJenna Beatrice, illustrated by Erika Lynne JonesPenelope is well suited to be a student librarian, but her larger-than-life voice makes her an unconventional fit for the role. As she looks for where she belongs, the story centers on her loudness and being true to herself. It follows a young librarian whose voice does not require shushing.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 4The SkullJon KlassenAfter fleeing danger and becoming lost in a dark forest, Otilla finds a mansion occupied by a talking skull. The skull welcomes her, and the two share tea, pears from the garden, masks, and a ballroom dance. Their friendship is threatened when the skull reveals that a headless skeleton searches for him every night. When the skeleton arrives, Otilla protects them both and later works to destroy its bones. The story is a retelling shaped by a Tyrolean folktale.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 5Scaredy CatsJeff MackA kitten receives a mysterious package tied with ribbon and assumes that it contains a cake. His two friends are far less certain. As they consider what might be inside, the package sets off increasingly wild ideas and fears. The story follows the contrast between the kitten’s simple expectation and his friends’ anxious guesses, using the unopened parcel as the focus of a playful guessing game about what could be waiting within.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 6All We Need Is Love and a Really Soft Pillow!Peter H. Reynolds, illustrated by Henry Rocket ReynoldsPoppy and Little One talk about what they need in life, naming a soft pillow and a roof over their heads alongside love. A storm sweeps away their home, putting those needs into immediate question. Even after the loss, the pair remain optimistic. Their conversations return to the idea that love and having each other matter most as they face the consequences of the storm together.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD470LATOS Book Level 3.2View book details
Rank 7Frank and BertChris Naylor-Ballesteros, illustrated by Chris Naylor-BallesterosFrank and Bert are best friends planning a big bicycle ride. Bert rides slowly and wobbles, creating a problem for their outing. Frank considers whether being quickest is what matters most and chooses to support Bert with kindness and thoughtfulness. His help gives Bert confidence as the friends prepare to ride together. The story centers on their friendship during this shared activity.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 8Mine!Candace FlemingA red apple hangs high in a tree, drawing Mouse, Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear beneath it. Each animal expects the fruit to belong to them alone, and their competing claims erupt into a melee when it finally falls. While they focus on the prize, the apple rolls away. A passing possum finds it and chooses to call it “ours” with the worm already inside it, shifting the ending from possession to generosity.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 9Holey MoleyBethan ClarkeAn overly exuberant goat keeps offering increasingly silly rhyming ideas about where a mole lives. The guessing game unfolds in a cumulative pattern as the goat insists on trying to solve the question. Gus the Goat and Mavis Mole are the book’s named characters, with Mavis as the mole the goat is trying to locate. Playful illustrations accompany the rhyming suggestions.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 10Croc-a-doodle-doo!Huw Lewis Jones, illustrated by Sébastien BraunCroc visits Old MacDonald’s farm in search of a snack, moving among its animals. The story reshapes the familiar “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” song around a crocodile’s antics on the farm. Its sing-along format follows Croc as he looks for animals there, turning the well-known farm song into a playful story. Croc is presented as a cheeky visitor whose arrival brings trouble to the farm.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
10 DogsEmily GravettTen hungry dogs pursue sausages as the amount held by each group repeatedly reverses: first one dog has all ten while nine have none, and later nine have all ten while one has none. The story follows the shifting contest for the treats and asks whether the dogs can ultimately share them. It is a counting story built around dogs, food, and the changing distribution of ten sausages.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 0.1View book details
100 Mighty Dragons All Named BroccoliDavid LaRochelle, illustrated by Lian ChoOne hundred dragons named Broccoli live on a mountain, but their number steadily changes as groups leave. A powerful wind carries away half of them, while ten depart to surf in Hawaii. The oldest and youngest travel to New York City to form a heavy-metal band, and a wizard transforms four others. The departures and transformations leave one dragon behind.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD600LATOS Book Level 3.9View book details
All In a DayChihiro Takeuchi, illustrated by Chihiro TakeuchiReaders follow the journeys of different characters through the windows of a building over the course of one day, including events that happen while nearly everyone sleeps. The book focuses on what occurs at each hour, using detailed paper-cut artwork. It combines a daylong narrative with a seek-and-find activity and introduces analog clock reading.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Arletis, Abuelo, and the Message in a BottleLea Aschkenas, illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright, Ying-Hwa HuOn an island shaped like an alligator in a wide sea, a young girl loves maps and dreams of seeing other places. An older man dreams of sailing around the world. A message in a bottle connects them, beginning a correspondence that leads to a visit. Their meeting forms a lasting friendship and broadens the worlds each of them knows.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Benita and the Night CreaturesMariana Llanos, illustrated by CocorettoThe National Education Association's Read Across America October 2024 Elementary Pick! "Booo!" screamed Cuco, and the tree outside the window shivered. "You too!" Benita replied, and she flipped a page.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Big CheeseJory John, illustrated by Pete OswaldThe Big Cheese considers himself unsurpassed and makes sure others know it. Expecting to take first place in the annual Cheese-cathlon, he meets Wedge Wedgeman, a quiet newcomer who finishes ahead of him. The competition makes the boastful cheese confront losing and consider whether being the best is the most important thing. It follows a food-character cast through rivalry, disappointment, and humility.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD420LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
Can You Dance like a Peacock?Rekha Rajan, illustrated by Hannah AbboCan You Dance like a Peacock? is a picture book about animals and movement. It asks whether readers can dance in the manner of a peacock. The book brings together animal-focused content and an invitation to get moving, using a peacock as its central example for dance and physical activity.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Cottonwood SingsAlfreda Beartrack-Algeo, illustrated by Alfreda Beartrack-AlgeoHunku, known as First Woman, is immortal and never grows old. Animals and plants love her, yet she feels lonely and spends each day at the riverbank, where she cries herself to sleep. Beaver, who lives in the river, falls in love with Hunku and asks the Great Spirit to transform him into a man. His wish is granted, and Beaver becomes Takahe, First Man. The Great Spirit gives him a condition: one day, he must return to his life as Beaver.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Danbi’s Favorite DayAnna KimDanbi looks forward to inviting her friends to celebrate Children’s Day in the way she knew in Korea. She anticipates kites, tigers, and magic train rides, but the gathering takes place as a picnic behind her parents’ deli and does not match her plans. When the celebration falters, Danbi uses creativity to try to rescue the day for her friends. Her Korean celebration traditions shape what she hopes to share.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
A Delicious StoryBarney SaltzbergTwo mice find themselves without a story when Big Mouse admits that he has eaten it. Little Mouse had been waiting to hear one and refuses to let the matter rest. Their spare back-and-forth conversation drives the book toward a surprise ending, with cartoon-style illustrations set against a white background. The premise centers on the missing story and the consequences of its disappearance.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD450LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
Dillan McMillan Please Eat Your PeasDavid Schneider, illustrated by Jeff ShellyDillan McMillan faces a plate of peas that are small, green, warm, and buttery. He is a finicky eater and refuses to eat them, even as family members and friends plead with, prod, and nudge him. The story stays with Dillan’s firm resistance to the peas and the increasingly persistent people around him at mealtime, in a comic domestic conflict.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Don’t Touch That Flower!Alice Hemming, illustrated by Nicola SlaterSpring’s arrival makes Squirrel uneasy. When a wildflower begins to blossom, Squirrel decides it belongs to him and tries to keep it for himself. His intense wish to protect the flower has unintended harmful effects, because he does not recognize that his possessiveness is causing damage. The story centers on Squirrel, the flower, and his response to the changing season.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
EvergreenMatthew CordellEvergreen is a young squirrel frightened by loud sounds, strangers, heights, swimming, germs, and thunderstorms. When her mother asks her to bring soup to a sick Granny Oak, Evergreen travels through Buckthorn Forest despite those fears. Along the way, she helps a rabbit, retrieves the soup, is caught by a hawk, and meets a frightened toad in a river. Each new challenge prompts Evergreen to tell herself that she can manage it.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book details
Farm BootsLisl H. Detlefsen, illustrated by Renée KurillaFarm Boots follows families working and playing on farms throughout spring, summer, fall, and winter. They care for crops and animals, with different boots needed for the tasks and adventures of farm life. Told in verse, the book traces this seasonal work as families cooperate on their farms across the year.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Girl Who Heard the MusicMarni Fogelson, with Mahani TeaveThis book tells of Mahani Teave, who grew up on Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island, where she took lessons on the island’s only piano. Teave became a musician and environmentalist. She used garbage as part of building an arts school on Rapa Nui. The book includes digital paintings and back matter, connecting music, environmental action, and the island she calls home.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Gustav Is Missing!Andrea ZuillGustav, a little mushroom, discovers that his pet slug is missing. To find the slug, he leaves for a world that he finds frightening. The story follows this search beyond Gustav's familiar surroundings, pairing the missing-pet problem with his decision to venture out despite fear. Gustav's bond with his pet shapes the journey, which is framed around friendship and bravery.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD430LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
Henry the SnailKatarina Macurova, illustrated by Katarina MacurovaKatarina Macurova’s Henry the Snail is a picture book marked by tenderness and intended for young children. It names resilience, creativity, and self-acceptance among its subjects. It also presents the experience of being different as something that can help someone shine. Henry is identified as a snail. Albatros Media published this edition on June 13, 2023.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Hooked on BooksMargaret Chiu Greanias, illustrated by Kristyna LittenPearl wants to read her new book without interruption, but other fish and sea creatures repeatedly disturb her. Signs, seaweed, and a shipwreck do not give her the quiet she seeks. Pearl swims farther down in search of a place to think and read, only to encounter a light display from comb jellies after she settles in. Her search for solitude unfolds amid persistent underwater distractions.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
I Am a Dragon!Sabina Hahn, illustrated by Sabina HahnA group of frogs spots a Very Big Frog in its pond and eagerly claims it as one of their own. The creature insists that it is not a frog, but the frogs refuse to accept the correction and tell it that it is mistaken. Their argument grows into a dispute over who the creature really is. When the creature finally tires of their quibbling, the misunderstanding brings questions of imagination, forgiveness, and friendship to the fore.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
I Want 100 DogsStacy McAnulty, illustrated by Claire KeaneA girl dreams of having 100 dogs. She and her parents consider what might happen if they brought home that many animals, imagining both the appealing possibilities and the difficult ones. Her wish leads to challenges and a lesson that surprises her. The book focuses on a child’s desire for pets and the family’s thoughts about the consequences of adding an enormous number of dogs to their home.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 220View book details
I Want to Be Spaghetti!Kiera Wright-Ruiz, illustrated by Claudia LamRamen, a small packet on a supermarket shelf, lives in a world where spaghetti is heavily celebrated. Wanting to be spaghetti, Ramen faces a conflict between that desire and who they are. The story follows this food character’s movement toward self-love and a sense of belonging, using the contrast between ramen and spaghetti to frame questions of identity and acceptance.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
If I Was a HorseSophie BlackallA child imagines spending a day as a horse. In this imagined life, the child would gallop wherever they wanted, carry their sister to school, and roll in mud when rain falls. Being a horse would also mean no baths and no need for clothes. The child’s horse-sized ideas unfold within a loving family and home setting.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 109View book details
If You Wake a SkunkCarol Doeringer, illustrated by Florence WeiserTwo campers approach a skunk and face a question about what to do. The skunk gives warnings, but the pair dismisses them, creeps closer, and tempts fate. Their actions make tension build with every page. The book uses humor in a cautionary-tale approach. Each page is intended to make readers cringe at the campers’ choices and their refusal to heed the skunk’s warnings.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Jeffrey Loves BlueLoretta Garbutt, illustrated by Lily Snowden-FineDuring art class, Jeffrey is strongly attached to particular preferences, including his favorite color. He faces a choice between holding onto that preference and helping a friend. In the process, Jeffrey steps beyond what feels comfortable, tries something different, and does something kind for someone else. The story places this change within an art-class situation shaped by friendship and consideration.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Jungle CatAndrew Larsen, illustrated by Udayana LugoBob is a cat whose story brings together people in his neighborhood. When Bob learns to ask for help, he helps create connection among neighbors, including people who might otherwise live alone. The book was inspired by an apartment cat named Georgia, whose presence connected people around her. It focuses on the ties that form through a cat, shared help, and neighborhood life.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD440LATOS Book Level 3View book details
Just One FlakeTravis JonkerLiam goes out into a snowstorm with one goal: catching a perfect snowflake. He experiments with several approaches, including looking up with his tongue out and building a snowman so he can get closer to the falling snow. Each effort fails, while his search eventually leads to an unexpected discovery. The story follows Liam's wintertime curiosity and outdoor play.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Kitty and Cat: Opposites AttractMirka Hokkanen, illustrated by Mirka HokkanenCat is grumpy, old, and tired, and prefers to nap and be left alone. Kitty is new, cheerful, energetic, and hopes to make friends. Their sharply different dispositions introduce a sequence of opposites, contrasting the two feline characters’ attitudes and desires. The story places Cat’s wish for solitude beside Kitty’s eagerness for connection, using their relationship to explore both companionship and opposing qualities throughout their encounters with one another.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Legend of Soggy HollowRyan T. Higgins, illustrated by Ryan T. HigginsThe Legend of Soggy Hollow is by Ryan T. Higgins. It features Bruce, who is identified as a bear. Bruce has no fondness for holidays in general, and Halloween is one he particularly dislikes. Scary things are part of its Halloween context. Disney Publishing Group is recorded as its publisher, and the publication date is July 11, 2023. Its ISBN is 9781368098137.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Let’s Build a Dam!Daniel Fehr, illustrated by Mariachiara Di GiorgioMay, Lily, and Noah are siblings who set out to build a dam. Their project begins as a simple plan, but the book describes the results as comic. This picture-book story centers on the three siblings and their shared construction effort, following what happens when they work on the dam together.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Library Fish Learns to ReadAlyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Gladys JoseLibrary Fish lives happily in a bowl and is described as an unusually literary fish. Everyone around her loves reading, and she begins learning to read as well. The story follows the fish as she tries to take part in the activity enjoyed by those around her, centering books and reading.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Long Goes to Dragon SchoolHelen H. Wu, illustrated by Mae BesomOn the first day of Dragon School, young dragons practice using their breath to cook food. While the others are excited to test fire-breathing, Long is uneasy: he comes from the East and breathes water instead. The fantasy draws on Eastern and Western dragon lore as Long faces a school setting in which fire seems essential and he struggles to fit in.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
Make Way for Butterfly (A Very Impatient Caterpillar Book)Ross Burach, illustrated by Ross BurachRoss Burach’s Make Way for Butterfly is an adventure in the Very Impatient Caterpillar series. The book brings science together with social-emotional learning, using humor throughout its presentation of a caterpillar’s world. Its subject matter includes butterfly and caterpillar life, while the playful tone gives the scientific material a light, comic quality. Scholastic, Inc. published this edition in 2023.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Moon Is a Ball: Stories of Panda & SquirrelEd FranckPanda and Squirrel appear in nine linked stories about friendship. The tales take a contemplative approach to their enduring relationship, showing that a close friendship can have many facets. Together, the stories explore its meaning through the two characters' connection. Watercolor and ink illustrations accompany this collection of interconnected tales centered on Panda, Squirrel, and the depth of their bond.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Mouse Who Ate BooksJosé Carlos Andrés, illustrated by Katharina SiegKlaus is constantly hungry, but ordinary food does not satisfy him. When he finds a bookstore and nibbles its pages, stories make him feel full in a different way. He and the bookseller reach an agreement: she will read stories to him, and he will help in the store. After one tale, Klaus devises an idea intended to draw more story-hungry visitors.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
My House, My FamilyC. Hope Flinchbaugh, illustrated by Laurel AylesworthA child spends time living with Mommy and at Dad’s house while remaining part of one family in both homes. Mommy’s and Dad’s homes are different houses. The book presents homes as places that can change without changing family connection. It also states that families need not look alike. Love links the family members regardless of which house the child is in.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
NO Is All I Know!Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Leo EspinosaOliver McSnow says “no” so often that the word begins to grow. His repeated refusal shapes the world around him until he encounters his cousin’s cheerful “yes.” The contrast between Oliver’s constant no and his cousin’s yes changes his situation. The story follows his outsized response to language and the possibility of a different way of answering.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD450LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
Oh, Olive!Lian Cho, illustrated by Lian ChoOlive Chen is an artist whose imaginative work stands apart from the neat, carefully controlled shapes painted by her artist parents. The adults in her world are shown in greyscale, reflecting their restricted imaginations, while Olive’s paintings are distinctive and full of color. As other children respond to the freedom and excitement in her work, Olive’s art changes the look of their otherwise drab world. The story centers on a child artist finding expression in a family of artists with a very different approach.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Party Hearty Kitty-CornShannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen PhamKitty plans a kitty-corn party, but a newcomer named Puppy disrupts the arrangements and receives Unicorn’s attention. Kitty becomes jealous as her carefully made plan goes wrong. The tension raises a question for Kitty and Unicorn’s friendship: whether the arrival of someone new can change a bond that has seemed secure. The story focuses on a party, jealousy, and friendship.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 527View book details
The Princess and the (Greedy) PeaLeigh Hodgkinson, illustrated by Leigh HodgkinsonA hungry green pea eats a sprout, then moves through soup, bread, cake, pickle, cheese, tea, and even the table holding the meal. Inspired by a cumulative rhyme and a classic fairy tale, the story brings the pea into contact with a princess whose appetite is equally large. Their encounter makes for a playful cautionary tale about greed and food.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
RainCynthia Rylant, illustrated by Lisa CongdonSam wants to go outside even though rain is pouring, but Granddad says they must remain indoors until it stops. As they wait, Sam drinks hot chocolate, reads books, and imagines adventures while Granddad works on paperwork. Later, Sam and Granddad face rain and flooding together in an adventure of their own.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD450LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
Ramen for EveryonePatricia Tanumihardja, illustrated by Shiho PateHiro wants to make ramen that measures up to the bowl his father prepares each Sunday. His father’s recipe came from Hiro’s grandfather and includes nori, a soft-centered egg, and chashu pork. When Hiro tries making the dish himself, his first effort brings unexpected challenges as he works toward his goal.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 530LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
Saint Patrick the Forgiver: The History and Legends of Ireland’s BishopNed Bustard, illustrated by Ned BustardUsing Patrick’s Confessions alongside legends about him, this retelling presents the life of Saint Patrick, Ireland’s renowned bishop. Patrick, who was not Irish, travels across Ireland and uses a green shamrock while speaking about the Christian Trinity: Father, Spirit, and Son. The book brings together historical material and legend to tell a story shaped by faith, love, and forgiveness. Patrick’s own words from the Confessions are part of that account.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Seals Are Jerks!Jared Chapman, illustrated by Jared ChapmanLorelei loves seals and wants to determine whether the claims made about them are true. Her questions focus on whether seals eat penguins and whether they deserve their unflattering reputation. To investigate, she travels to Antarctica, where the search for answers brings her closer to the animals she admires. The book follows a young girl’s determined effort to learn more about seals by testing what she has heard about their behavior and their relationship to penguins.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 401LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
Snake’s Big MistakeSarah Kurpiel, illustrated by Sarah KurpielSnake enjoys art class until a project goes badly wrong. The disaster leads him to make a mistake that hurts a friend, and a broken pot leaves their friendship damaged. Snake must confront what happened and consider how he might repair the harm he caused. The story asks how he can make amends after the art project.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
This Book Is My Best FriendRobin RobinsonSunny and Aarush both love to read. When they reach for the same book in a library, each claims it as a best friend. Their dispute takes them through the stacks, but they learn to share the book. What begins as competition over one book becomes the start of a friendship between the two readers.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD500LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
Tiny T. Rex and the Grand Ta-Da!Jonathan Stutzman, illustrated by Jay FleckTiny and Pointy enter their school's talent show, where they take on magic and stage fright. The two friends challenge themselves as they prepare for their performance. Their story brings friendship, school, and the nervousness of appearing onstage together at the center of the show as they face their challenge.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD540LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
A Unicorn, a Dinosaur, and a Shark Walk into a BookJonathan FenskeA unicorn, a dinosaur, and a shark enter a book whose narrator is trying to tell their tale. The narrator calls it the best book ever, but the three characters are unimpressed and refuse to follow the storyteller's instructions. Their resistance turns the attempted story into a chaotic adventure for all three.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD460LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
Watch Out for the Lion!Brooke Hartman, illustrated by Anna SüßbauerThe book warns readers that a fierce lion may be nearby, pointing to a bristly tail, claws, ears, and fangs as signs. Yet it keeps asking whether those details really belong to a lion and what might be around the next corner. The story turns frightening possibilities into a surprise, inviting readers to confront fear and perhaps laugh at it.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Wolfboy is ScaredAndy HarknessWolfboy insists that the rabbits should go first because he needs to keep watch behind them. Yet the appearance of monster claws suggests that Wolfboy may be frightened himself. His journey leads toward the Grumble Monster’s lair, with moonset setting a deadline for whether he can face it. The story follows a character who tries to appear brave while confronting fear, and it presents being scared as a normal feeling rather than something Wolfboy must hide.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Yoga at the AquariumTeresa Anne Power, illustrated by Emma AllenOn a hot summer day, Little Mouse visits an aquarium for the first time with his friend, Mr. Opus, an orange tabby cat. They encounter octopi, dolphins, crabs, turtles, and sharks. As Little Mouse has yoga fun during the visit, he considers both the similarities he shares with these aquatic animals and the ways they differ.Kids Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsKids Favorites — 3rd–5th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1The Great Banned-Books Bake SaleAya Khalil, illustrated by Anait SemirdzhyanKanzi has begun to feel welcome at her American school when books about immigrant children and children of color disappear from the school library. She then learns that her school district has banned books featuring children who resemble her. As the books vanish, the loss leaves Kanzi feeling frightened and helpless.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 2Angel and the Paper TrailMakenzie Hice, illustrated by Natasja HorneAt a library, a boy discovers an unexplained note tucked inside a book. He begins looking for the person who wrote it. As he pursues the clue, he meets new friends who want to decode the note’s mystery with him. The book combines a library discovery with a search for an unknown writer and a growing group of collaborators in the investigation.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 3Once Upon a BookGrace Lin, Kate MessnerOn a cold winter day, bored Alice disrupts a book lying on the floor and enters its pages. Her journey moves through several imagined places: a tropical forest, then a desert on a camel, before weather sends her onward each time. Talking animals and visual hints accompany the adventure, including an unnamed white rabbit. Although the book offers one enticing escape after another, the smells of dinner and comfort of home ultimately draw Alice back to her family table.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 440LATOS Book Level 3View book details
Rank 4Two-Headed Chicken: Beak to the FutureTom Angleberger, illustrated by Tom AnglebergerAfter losing the Astrocap somewhere in the multiverse, the hero turns to time travel to recover it. Wearing the Timecap, the character searches across the timestream, a place compared to broccoli. The quest moves through a setting where many universes exist and even time travel is possible. The missing Astrocap gives the journey a clear goal as the hero traces its path through different points in time.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 5Tacos TodayRaúl the Third, illustrated by Raúl the ThirdYoung El Toro and his friends pause their lucha training for lunch, each hoping for a different favorite taco. When they discover that their money is not enough to buy tacos, the friends need a creative way to earn more dinero. Their effort to solve the problem together leads toward a taco meal, with Spanish phrases woven into the story.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 6A Day in the Life of an Astronaut, Mars, and the Distant StarsMike Barfield, illustrated by Jess BradleyThis comic collection tours the galaxy and more distant reaches of space through humorous entries. It visits Venus’s poisonous clouds, Saturn’s rings, and Jupiter’s storm, then moves into nebulae, black holes, supernovas, and faraway galaxies. The book also looks at people who helped pioneer space travel, animals sent into space before human missions, and the technology that enabled those journeys. Across more than 90 entries, it combines information about celestial objects, exploration, and the history of reaching space.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure GN840LATOS Book Level 5.4View book details
Rank 7Luna RancheraRodrigo MorlesinLuna and Ranchera are a canine mother-and-daughter singing act whose fame reaches around the world. Their story begins when Luna is struggling to feed her pups and steals from nearby ranchers. While escaping another theft, she hides on top of a beehive. The tale is set in a Nuevo Wild West populated by desert animals, cowboys, and cowgirls.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 8The Sky Is Not the LimitJérémie DecalfVoyager 2 narrates its own journey through outer space in this account of the space probe’s mission. Built in 1977 with its twin, it departs Earth and spends years traveling through darkness toward Jupiter and Saturn. It then reaches Uranus and Neptune, farther than earlier missions, before continuing beyond the solar system. The craft carries a Golden Record as it travels through interstellar space.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 9Search for a Giant Squid: Pick Your PathAmy Seto ForresterThis choice-driven ocean adventure follows an expedition into deep waters where giant squids live. Readers’ decisions lead the research journey in different directions and can produce different results. Set in the ocean’s twilight zone, the book centers on investigating giant squids in their habitat, with detailed color panels accompanying the branching expedition. It combines a deep-sea search with reader-selected paths through the mission.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 10Felice and the Wailing WomanDiana LópezTwelve-year-old Felice learns that she is the daughter of La Llorona and travels to the magical town of Tres Leches. Her mother is said to haunt the river there and is trapped between worlds. Felice, who was rescued from drowning as a child and fears water, vows to free her mother while reversing curses that affect the town.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 720LATOS Book Level 4.6View book details
Alithia Ramirez Was an ArtistViolet Lemay, illustrated by Alithia Ramirez2024 Reading the West Book Awards Winner, Picture BooksA 2024 CBC Children’s Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Librarian Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Teacher Favorites WinnerEric Hoffer Book Awards, 2024 Grand Prize WinnerNautilus Book Awards, 2024 Gold WinnerThe Book Fest, 2024 Gold Winner for Children’s HistoricalThe Book Fest, 2024 Silver Winner for Best Picture…Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
An American StoryKwame AlexanderA teacher tries to tell the history of American slavery in a society that avoids confronting its past atrocities. The narrative moves from fireside storytelling in an African village, across the Atlantic, to forced labor in Southern fields. It portrays the struggle, suffering, strength, and resilience of African American people under slavery. Mixed-media illustrations accompany the text. The story addresses a history that must be understood while also looking toward what the African American community may become.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Bean the Stretchy DragonAri StocrateBean is a cheerful, stretchy dragon who lives in the forest with Sally, a grumpy witch. This graphic novel follows Bean through an ordinary day that becomes a series of small adventures. Bean spends time burying bones, meeting new friends, eating favorite breakfasts, chasing magical creatures, taking baths, and practicing flight. Whether Bean is alone or with Sally, each activity gives the dragon another occasion for exploration and play.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Body Music: Poems About the Noises Your Body MakesJane Yolen, Ryan G. Van Cleave, illustrated by Luis San VicenteThis poetry collection makes bodily sounds its subject. Its poems include noisy bottoms, giggles, and gasps, treating the noises bodies make as a kind of music. The collection focuses on everyday sounds produced by the body, moving from small exclamations to comic noises and giving each of them a place in verse.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Border CrossingsSneed B. Collard III, illustrated by Howard GrayTwo endangered ocelots try to pass through the biologically diverse land along the United States–Mexico border. Barriers and related construction interrupt routes wildlife uses to move, harm habitat, and make it harder for animals to reach food and mates. The book introduces borderland plants and animals while showing why connected habitat matters for species survival and environmental protection.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Building a Dream: How the Boys of Koh Panyee Became ChampionsDarshana Khiani, illustrated by Dow PhumirukBased on a true story, this book follows a Thai soccer team from the stilted village of Koh Panyee in Phang Nga Bay. The boys love the sport but have nowhere to practice, so they look to the water for a solution. Despite neighbors’ laughter, they gather tools, saw wood, hammer nails, and tie barrels together to make a floating field. Their project creates a place where they can dribble, juggle, shoot, and score, tracing their persistence and practical problem-solving.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Daytime and NighttimeMichael Bright, illustrated by Nic JonesDaytime and Nighttime is a two-way nonfiction book that examines twelve habitats worldwide in daylight and after dark. It compares animals active in places including rain forests, savannas, deserts, oceans, and cities, as well as creatures that appear at dawn or dusk. Michael Bright explains how animals live in each habitat, alongside illustrations by Nic Jones.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Ellen Takes Flight: The Life of Astronaut Ellen OchoaDoreen RappaportThis picture-book biography traces Ellen Ochoa’s path from flutist and electrical engineer to astronaut. Ochoa became the first Latina to travel into space. She later directed the Johnson Space Center and was its first Latinx director. Written by Doreen Rappaport, the book was published in 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Emperor’s Last StandDavid LubarDavid Lubar’s third and concluding Emperor of the Universe adventure sends seventh grader Nicholas on a chase across the universe. Accompanied by a gerbil, ground beef, and an alien spacecraft, Nicholas must complete a mission to defend the universe. If he fails, the threat would mean the end of life itself. The premise combines an intergalactic pursuit with an unlikely group of companions and cargo.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Everywhere, Still: A Book about Loss, Grief, and the Way Love ContinuesM.H. Clark, illustrated by Claire Sahara LempEverywhere, Still considers what happens to love after someone cared for is no longer present. It asks where that love can go when there is no longer a person to receive it. The book focuses on grief, loss, and the continued sense of love and connection that remains after someone special is gone.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
GlobalEoin Colfer, Andrew DonkinSami lives with his grandfather in a village on the Indian Ocean, where they fish for a living. As the ocean rises, their catches shrink. In northern Canada, warming temperatures melt the ice, leaving polar bears with less food and bringing them into town. Yuki is determined to help the bears as environmental change threatens both children’s homes and lives.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure HL330LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling BeeCarole Boston WeatherfordThis account follows MacNolia Cox, an eighth grader who won her school and city spelling bees in Akron, Ohio, before traveling to Washington, D.C., for the 1936 National Spelling Bee. She was the first African American winner of Akron’s contest. The journey exposes the segregation facing MacNolia and her mother: they are made to change train cars in Maryland, cannot stay at the contestants’ hotel, and must use stairs rather than the banquet elevator. At the competition, MacNolia and another Black contestant sit apart from the white participants.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
How Does Our Food Grow?Brooke Jorden, Kitchen Connection. Kay WiddowsonHow Does Our Food Grow? follows the question of how familiar fruits and vegetables reach a plate. It points to farms as the place where these fresh foods grow, connecting the colorful produce people recognize with its source. The book centers fruits and vegetables, farms, and the journey from growing food to serving it on a plate.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
How to Eat in SpaceHelen Taylor, illustrated by Stevie LewisThis picture book looks at the practical difficulties of eating in outer space. Without gravity, food and people float, while kitchens, plates, and cups are unavailable. It outlines the need to prepare food patiently, avoid crumbs that can drift everywhere, and clean up stray snacks before they become a problem.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure AD580LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
The Kid with Big, Big IdeasBritney Winn Lee, illustrated by Jacob SouvaThis story introduces a nonbinary child known around town for unusual ideas. The child wears colorful socks and glittery nails, while their habit of thinking beyond familiar solutions shapes how others know them. The book is part of a series that also includes stories about big feelings and big questions, and it focuses on a child whose ideas stand out.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
A Miscellany of Mischief and MagicTom Adams, illustrated by Jasmine FloydThis nonfiction miscellany examines deception and trickery from more than one angle, including its harmful and harmless uses. It introduces famous illusions and tricks, then turns to historical stories of hoaxes, pranks, and confidence schemes. The book brings magic and mischief together as related subjects, focusing on the techniques and episodes behind efforts to fool, surprise, or mislead people throughout history, and considers the range of playful and deceptive acts it describes.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Monster Support Group: The Mummy’s CurseLaura Suárez, illustrated by Laura SuárezAnatiti, a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, is selected by the gods and becomes convinced that she knows better than her advisors. After tragedy brings a curse, she recognizes that their advice may have mattered. Confined in a tomb for thousands of years, Anatiti is taken by an explorer to Dreadbury. The story asks whether this mummy will learn to listen before moving on to the afterlife.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Obscura the Cat Sees BeyondBen Franchi, illustrated by Cheyenne BighamObscura the Cat Sees Beyond offers a darker, more suspenseful take on familiar fairy-tale territory. Its description contrasts a chill and a thrill with princess stories that may feel sleepy, signaling a playful mood alongside the spooky edge. The title identifies Obscura as a cat who sees beyond. Ben Franchi wrote the book, and Brown Books Kids published it on October 23, 2023.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Peaches: English-Spanish Bilingual EditionsIdries Shah, illustrated by Prashant MirandaIn this English-Spanish bilingual tale, several families become absorbed in competing over the finest way to prepare peaches. Their rivalry and increasingly elaborate approaches leave them unable to enjoy the fruit itself. The book uses the families’ choices to show how competition and needless complication can distract people from what they already have. Idries Shah’s story is presented in both English and Spanish.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the GameLaurie Wallmark, illustrated by Stevie LewisWritten by Laurie Wallmark, The Queen of Chess is a 32-page book from little bee books, published on July 25, 2023. It recounts the true story of Judit Polgár, whose chess play captivated people around the world. Polgár worked toward becoming chess’s youngest-ever grandmaster. Her effort to attain that distinction is the book’s subject, and the account connects it with her worldwide recognition.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Reggie: Kid PenguinJen de Olivera, illustrated by Jen de OliveraReggie: Kid Penguin is an early graphic novel featuring Reginald Guinn, known as Reggie, a little penguin whose personality is larger than his size. His everyday adventures include energetic high jinks, giving ordinary moments a playful turn. Written by Jen de Olivera, the book brings together a young penguin character, daily experiences, and mischievous action in a graphic-novel format. It belongs to a series.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
ScurryMac Smith, illustrated by Mac SmithIn a world where people have disappeared and sunlight is scarce, a group of house mice tries to survive a long winter. Cold, dark rain affects everything it touches. The mice search abandoned nearby homes for food scraps while facing starvation and predators. Their effort to endure centers on scarce food, a desolate landscape, and the hazards surrounding them each day of winter.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure GN240LATOS Book Level 2View book details
A Sky of Paper StarsSusie YiYuna longs to feel included by her middle-school friends, wishing for sleepovers, a smartphone, summer camp, and lunches she considers more typically American. Her frustration with her mother, Umma, leads her to recall a legend from her grandmother, Halmoni. A wish goes awry, overturning Yuna’s world and leaving her to try to undo it. The graphic novel connects Yuna’s desire to belong with family conflict and a grandmother’s story.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure GN510LATOS Book Level 3.4View book details
Stand as Tall as the TreesPatricia Gualinga, Laura Resau, illustrated by Vanessa JaramilloThis true story follows Patricia (Paty) Gualinga, who grew up in a Kichwa village in Ecuador's Amazon. There, the forest is associated with Amazanga, mystical beings said to help protect it. As an activist, Gualinga joins with other Indigenous communities in work to protect sacred lands and forests. The account connects a community’s relationship with its forest to organized efforts to preserve it for the future.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Super Space Weekend: Adventures in AstronomyGaëlle Alméras, David WarrinerSuper Space Weekend is a nonfiction graphic novel about a trip through the universe. Its subject is astronomy, and it presents that subject as an adventure. The book uses graphic-novel form for its nonfiction material, joining its exploration of the universe with an astronomy-themed journey through space. Its approach is explicitly nonfiction even as it frames this cosmic subject as a voyage.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Ten-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and UnsettleJoseph Coelho, illustrated by VariousTwenty tales use exactly ten words apiece, with a separate artist illustrating every story. Joseph Coelho’s compact collection moves through an underwater world, demon hamsters, bears in outer space, and gateways to unknown places. The stories present imaginative situations in an especially brief form and invite readers to consider how a complete tale can be shaped within only ten words.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
This Is Not My HomeVivienne Chang, Eugenia Yoh, illustrated by Vivienne Chang, Eugenia YohLily moves from the United States to Taiwan with her mother so they can help care for her Ah Ma. She misses the familiar parts of her former life, including fireflies, school, a friend, and the farmers’ market, and finds Taiwan unfamiliar, including its language. Over time, Lily’s new surroundings begin to feel welcoming as she rethinks what home can be. The change becomes a turning point for both Lily and her mother.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 92LATOS Book Level 1.2View book details
Tiger Trouble (Tig and Lily Book 1)Dan ThompsonLily, a tiger at a local zoo, has never had to question what makes a tiger until she gets a roommate: Tig. Although Tig looks and sounds like a house cat, he insists that he is a Tiger. Their shared zoo life becomes complicated as Lily considers the difference between Tig’s appearance and the identity he claims for himself at the zoo.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Welcome to the Wonder HouseRebecca Kai Dotlich, Georgia HeardTwenty-nine poems are arranged as rooms in a metaphorical Wonder House, with twelve spaces organized around subjects including curiosity, nature, science, time, imagination, mystery, and wishes. Each subject receives two to four poems with complementary and contrasting approaches. Nature poems include rain and thunder, while science poems feature an entomologist studying whirligig beetles and a crystal’s interior. Dreamy, muted-palette backgrounds accompany the poems.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Wild Life of AnimalsMike Barfield, illustrated by Paula BossioThis nonfiction book looks at animals’ adaptations, behavior, and natural skills across several habitats. Its subjects live in seas, forests, deserts, and grasslands. The material focuses on ways animals are suited to their environments, including little-known adaptations and unusual behaviors. By moving between these habitats, the book presents a broad view of the varied lives of animals in the natural world across the world.Kids Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsKids Favorites — 6th–8th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1School TripJerry Craft, illustrated by Jerry CraftEighth grader Jordan has been accepted to an art high school but is unsure whether to leave the school he shares with his friends. During a class trip to Europe, the students confront unexpected changes to their guides, and the trip becomes chaotic. The experience abroad helps Jordan make his decision about his next school.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeWord Count 17119View book details
Rank 2The Spirit GlassRoshani ChokshiDrawing on Filipino mythology, this quest centers on Corazon, who wants to become a babaylan and reconnect with her parents after their deaths. A hostile ghost takes her soul key, putting the balance between worlds at risk. With Saso, her gecko companion, Corazon travels through spirit realms in an effort to create a replacement key.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Rank 3It Found UsLindsay CurrieHazel Woods enjoys investigating mysteries in her town, a habit others may see as snooping. After overhearing her brother Den plan a nighttime hide-and-seek game in a cemetery, she secretly joins it to examine claims that the cemetery is haunted. When the game finishes, Hazel discovers that something has gone badly wrong. She must follow eerie clues while a missing boy’s connection to the cemetery emerges.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 540LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
Rank 4Parachute Kids: A Graphic NovelBetty C. TangSet in 1981, this graphic novel follows Feng-Li and her siblings after their Taiwanese parents leave them in the United States to attend school. Their father returns to work in Taiwan, while their mother remains only until her visa expires. As the oldest sibling takes responsibility for the household, Feng-Li struggles with the language barrier, schoolwork, and making friends. Her brother, meanwhile, reacts angrily to their new circumstances and connects with other immigrant Asian children.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL250LATOS Book Level 2.5View book details
Rank 5HandsTorrey MaldonadoTwelve-year-old Trev wants to protect his family, especially his mother, from his violent stepfather. Learning that his stepfather may leave jail pushes him toward boxing because he believes fighting is his only way to help. At the same time, Trev weighs using his hands to make art instead. Adults around him challenge his plan, and he comes to understand that his community is his greatest source of strength.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL430LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
Rank 6Dear RosieMeghan Boehman, Rachael BrinerIn this graphic novel, seventh-grader Millie and her friends Florence, Claire, Gabby, and Rosie are close. After Rosie dies in a car accident, the four friends left behind must contend with grief and try to continue forward. Millie is already uncertain about her everyday preteen feelings and avoids the more difficult ones by pursuing a mystery. Her investigation begins with a cryptic notebook that was left at her family’s laundromat.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 7The Dog KnightJeremy Whitley, illustrated by Bre Indigo with colors by Melissa CapriglioneFrankie is a nonbinary middle schooler and drummer preparing for a band-concert solo. After saving a dog from bullies, Frankie is offered the role of Dog Knight. The position involves defending a magical agreement between dogs and humans, but Frankie must show they are worthy of it. The story follows Frankie as an ordinary school life takes an unexpected turn toward this new responsibility.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL400LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
Rank 8The Demon Sword AsperidesSarah Jean HorwitzFor two centuries, the demon sword Asperides has guarded the body of an evil sorcerer while much of its consciousness takes a break from its former work. That work involved persuading humans to wield the sword, with their souls as the cost. Nack Furnival has trained from birth to become a brave, noble knight, though he is not very good at it. Asperides and Nack then set out on a quest to save the world.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 9The Mark of Athena: The Graphic NovelRick Riordan, illustrated by Orpheus CollarThe Mark of Athena: The Graphic Novel is the third graphic-novel entry in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series. The related account in The Son of Neptune introduces Percy, Hazel, and Frank at Camp Jupiter, described as Camp Half-Blood’s Roman equivalent. The three travel beyond the gods’ lands to carry out a dangerous quest. This installment presents the series in graphic-novel form.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 10Curlfriends: New In TownSharee MillerTwelve-year-old Charlie Harper is used to arriving as the new kid because her military family moves often. Starting middle school gives her another chance to begin again, and she hopes this time she can become cool. But fitting in seems to require acting unlike herself. Charlie’s new-school experience centers on the pull between social acceptance and being genuine, as she tries to find her place without losing who she is.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Abeni’s SongP. Djèlí ClarkA song is presented as a possible guide in darkness, but the warning urges caution about which song one hears. The action begins when warriors carrying burning blades attack a village, leaving no time to run. The book pairs this assault with a danger rooted in listening and song. It introduces the attack as an urgent event, stressing that danger is already approaching.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Adventures of the Flash Gang, Episode One: The Exploding ExperimentS. J. Waugh, M. M. DowningThe Flash Gang leaves a blue smudge and a lasting stink after another strike. In Pittsburgh, police and newspapers describe the group as highly trained, dangerous thieves. Their crimes include stealing food. The book’s first episode, The Exploding Experiment, is by S. J. Waugh and M. M. Downing and was published by Regal House Publishing, LLC, in 2023. It carries ISBN 9781646033225.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Akim Aliu: Dreamer (Original Graphic Memoir)Akim Aliu, Greg Anderson Elysée, illustrated by Karen de la VegaPublished by Graphix in 2023, this 128-page graphic memoir recounts the life of Akim Aliu, a professional athlete and activist. It looks back on his time as a hockey prodigy in Canada and presents that life in comic form. Aliu and Greg Anderson Elysée are credited as its authors. The memoir connects Aliu’s athletic career with his work as an activist.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Black Sand Beach 4: Where Do Monsters Come From?Richard FairgrayIn the fourth Black Sand Beach graphic novel, Andy is trapped in the Darkness while Dash, Lily, and Eleanor work to save him. Harry, also known as Dash from the previous summer, shows Andy frightening things in the lightless world. As the rescue unfolds, secrets connected to Black Sand Beach’s past and present emerge, and the group receives unexpected help from Eleanor and Andy’s silent father. Its dark setting frames the rescue.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Colin Kaepernick: Change the Game (Graphic Novel Memoir)Colin Kaepernick, Eve L. Ewing, illustrated by Orlando CaicedoColin Kaepernick: Change the Game is a graphic novel memoir created by Colin Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing. The catalog describes it as a high school graphic novel memoir and identifies Kaepernick as both an athlete and an activist. Its visual format combines drawn storytelling with memoir. Graphix published this 144-page edition in 2023, connecting sports and activism through a personal nonfiction form.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Danny Phantom: A Glitch in TimeGabriela Epstein, illustrated by ViacomCBS / NickelodeonDanny and his group begin experiencing glitches involving time travel. Vlad Masters, identified as Danny’s archenemy, comes to Danny’s doorstep with alarming information. He reports that Dark Danny has escaped from prison. Written by Gabriela Epstein, the book combines the group’s time-travel disruptions with the threat posed by Dark Danny’s escape.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Death & Life of Benny BrooksEthan LongBenny Brooks is contending with a series of troubles at home and at school. His parents have divorced, and his mother moves away, leaving Benny, his brother, and his sister with their father, who has received a lung-cancer diagnosis. Benny is also picked on by his older brother, unnoticed by his crush, and having difficulty in all classes other than art. The story follows how these pressures accumulate for Benny.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Doña Quixote: Rise of the KnightRey Terciero, illustrated by Monica M. MagañaIn a Texas town, residents see a strange older man who wears knightly clothing and says he protects the world from monsters visible only to him. Years later, Lucia and her best friend Sandro, described as her dependable squire, make a startling discovery: the town mayor is secretly a beast able to change shape. The story brings together a town’s skepticism about the old man’s claims with Lucia and Sandro’s encounter with a threat that appears to confirm a world of hidden monsters.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Garvey’s Choice: The Graphic NovelNikki Grimes, illustrated by Theodore Taylor IIIGarvey’s father wishes he were athletic, but Garvey prefers astronomy, science fiction, and reading to sports. Feeling unsuccessful in his father’s eyes, Garvey turns to food for comfort. He is overweight, lonely, and bullied, though he is also a kind, funny, smart, loyal friend. At a friend’s suggestion, he joins the school chorus, where he becomes a soloist and finds a musical way to connect with his distant father.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Grave Mistakes (Dade Family #1)Kitty CurranMolly Dade is preparing for a violin audition, assigned to a group project with her nemesis, and keeping a life-or-death secret from nearly everyone. Her family once seemed ordinary and lived in a reportedly haunted house in a local cemetery in Maine. Their deadly embarrassing family history becomes part of a ghostly mystery and a perilous plot at school.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during World War IIRalph Shayne, illustrated by Tatiana GoldbergSet in Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, this historical graphic novel depicts Mette, a young Jewish girl, as her family tries to evade an impending roundup. Alongside Mette’s family, teachers, fishers, members of the resistance, and other Danish residents help Jewish neighbors make it safely to Sweden. Ralph Shayne incorporated experiences from his mother’s life, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center helped develop the book.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
How to Handle STRESS for Middle School SuccessSilvi Guerra, illustrated by DeAndra HodgeHow to Handle Stress for Middle School Success addresses stress during middle school. It recognizes that someone can look as though everything is going well on the outside while experiencing stress. Written by Silvi Guerra, the book was published in 2023 by Magination Press, part of the American Psychological Association.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
LightsBrenna Thummler, illustrated by Brenna ThummlerLights is the third and concluding volume in the Sheets trilogy, following Sheets and Delicates. It brings Marjorie, Eliza, and Wendell, a ghost, back as they investigate unanswered parts of Wendell’s life before he became a ghost. Published by Oni Press in 2023, this graphic novel continues the series through the characters’ search into the secrets of Wendell’s earlier human life.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Lo and BeholdWendy Mass, illustrated by Gabi MendezAfter her family life is disrupted, Addie finds it harder to notice the things that once mattered to her. When her father’s summer work takes the family across the country, she meets Mateo despite not wanting another friend. Their encounter draws her into a project and a virtual-reality adventure that gives Addie a different way to view her world.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL420LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Taking the BlameLouie Stowell, illustrated by Louie StowellLoki, a trickster god trapped in the body of a cranky eleven-year-old, records life on Earth in an enchanted diary of grumbles, snarks, and doodles. When Thor’s hammer disappears, Loki wants to establish that he did not take it. Odin has offered him another chance to show himself worthy of Asgard, despite his lack of moral progress. To clear his name, he must find the missing hammer.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 640LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
Mapmakers and the Enchanted MountainCameron Chittock, Amanda CastilloAlidade is a Mapmaker who, with Lewis and Blue, plans to restore magic beyond the Valley. The group also wants to learn what happened to the Memris, guardians who vanished when the Night Coats took power. They meet Cado, a boy who leads them to his hidden Mountain village, where not everyone welcomes a Mapmaker or a Memri, as hidden dangers close in.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure GN270LATOS Book Level 2.1View book details
MascotCharles Waters, Traci SorellAt Rye Middle School, students debate whether their school's mascot should remain or be replaced. Some see the mascot as racist, while others disagree. The discussion brings out differing emotions, viewpoints, and cultural perspectives among the students. Told in free verse, the book presents six eighth graders considering the implications of a symbol tied to both school tradition and racial identity.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.9View book details
MexikidPedro MartínPedro Martín’s graphic memoir recalls growing up as one of nine children in a Mexican American family during the 1970s. One summer, the family travels 2,000 miles from California to Pegueros, his parents’ hometown in Mexico, to bring Abuelito home to live with them. Pedro, the first child in the family born in the United States, feels more American than Mexican, while his older siblings remember Mexico and tease the younger children. The journey brings family history, sibling dynamics, and questions of cultural belonging into view.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL530LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
The Moth KeeperK. O'NeillAnya has become a Moth Keeper, charged with protecting lunar moths. The moths make it possible for the Night-Lily to bloom once each year, and Anya’s village relies on that flower to thrive. Eager to prove herself and thank her friends through her work, she finds that the role is not what she expected. Anya considers stepping away from moonlit duty to experience the sun for the first time.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure GN710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
The Night RavenJohan RundbergSet in Stockholm in 1880, The Night Raven follows twelve-year-old Mika and a detective as they investigate a chilling mystery. A cryptic message and a sinister past are part of the case they seek to unravel in a frigid city where death is said to lurk around every corner. The story combines historical Stockholm, a young girl determined to prove herself, and a dark investigation into the past at its center.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 680LATOS Book Level 4.8View book details
The Probability of EverythingSarah EverettKemi, eleven, learns that a life-ending asteroid may collide with Earth. A lover of science and probability, she is confronted with an 87 percent chance of a full collision. Her family stays with relatives in their former neighborhood, where Kemi begins creating a time capsule about her family for possible future humans. She also hopes to help her father consider meaningful work before their time runs out.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeWord Count 52720View book details
Punch Up!Zachary Sterling, illustrated by Zachary SterlingPitch is an orphan determined to leave his current surroundings for the city, where he hopes to enter the Wide Plains Fighting Tournament. He secretly wants training from Sonny Chan, an older competitor who is still involved in the contest. Reaching the city brings a new danger, since some of its people intend to harm him. The book presents this journey as an all-ages adventure in a shonen manga style.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Remember UsJacqueline WoodsonSage’s world seems to be burning during the summer before she enters seventh grade. A fire affects her neighborhood, while her friendships are changing. The story considers time, memory, and what people carry forward into the future. As Sage confronts the fire and shifting relationships around her, memories help point toward what comes next. The book centers a summer of upheaval in which a neighborhood fire and changes in friendship shape Sage’s experience.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 669LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
Serafina and the Black Cloak: The Graphic NovelRobert Beatty, illustrated by Braeden SherrellSerafina and the Black Cloak: The Graphic Novel adapts Robert Beatty’s gothic fantasy in graphic-novel form. Its central figure is a heroine, and the story includes a man in a black cloak who binds young victims. Richly atmospheric illustrations accompany the adaptation, giving the fantasy a visual presentation throughout its pages.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
SilverwingKenneth Oppel, illustrated by Christopher SteiningerSilverwing follows Shade, a young bat who is the smallest member of the Silverwing colony. Separated from his colony during a dangerous migration, he must find the flock again and demonstrate his own strength. The journey changes him, helping him grow in ways that prepare him for later, larger journeys. Kenneth Oppel’s 224-page book was published by Aladdin in 2002.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Skip!Sarah BurgessJay feels like a nobody when they meet Beah, a fierce, athletic teen devoted to Double Dutch. Their connection unfolds in a slice-of-life graphic novel about a platonic friendship. Jay finds a voice through poetry and skipping while navigating belonging and identity. The story centers their growing relationship and the ways the sport becomes part of Jay’s self-expression.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL220LATOS Book Level 1.9View book details
Spider-Man’s Bad ConnectionPreeti ChhibberThis novel follows teenage Peter Parker during his earliest experiences as Spider-Man. Still getting accustomed to using his web-based abilities, Peter continues to learn how to act as Spider-Man. He also has a new girlfriend, MJ, who becomes his partner in fighting crime. It is the second novel in a series about Peter Parker’s first Spider-Man adventures, following Spider-Man’s Social Dilemma as he takes on this new role in his life.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
A Spoonful of TimeFlora AhnMaya’s grandmother, Halmunee, is losing her memory but continues to make dishes including miyeok-guk and songpyeon. Her kitchen stories about Korea become vivid for Maya. After a bite of food carries the pair into one of Halmunee’s memories, Maya encounters family secrets through time travel. The journey connects Halmunee’s cooking with the past she remembers and the stories she shares with Maya.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 750LATOS Book Level 4.8View book details
Tagging FreedomRhonda RoumaniSet in Damascus, Syria, this story centers on Kareem Haddad, who never expects to make graffiti. After boys from another town paint messages critical of authority outside their school and a boy dies in custody, Kareem and his friends begin secretly placing freedom messages across their city. Graffiti also connects two cousins living on different continents as courage and convictions are challenged. Their actions become a form of expression and resistance in their city.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 4View book details
WildfireBreena Bard, illustrated by Breena BardMaple Hills students Russ Callaghan and Aurora Roberts cross paths at a party celebrating the end of the academic year, where a drinking game results in them having a passionate one-night stand.Kids Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 479LATOS Book Level 3.2View book detailsKids Favorites — 9th–12th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1Hungry GhostVictoria YingValerie Chu is quiet, studious, and secretly living with bulimia; even her best friend Jordan does not know. After a crisis, Val reconsiders her priorities, choices, and relationship with her body. Her mother’s perfectionism and fixation on weight shape that struggle, while Val must find the strength to seek help. This graphic novel follows her movement toward self-love and happiness.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 2FronteraJulio Anta, illustrated by Jacoby SalcedoMateo undertakes a perilous return journey to the United States across the Sonoran Desert. Guillermo, a ghost he has newly met, accompanies him. Julio Anta’s graphic novel, illustrated by Jacoby Salcedo, combines a supernatural borderland journey with questions of migration, sacrifice, home, and love. Mateo’s passage and Guillermo’s presence place the dangers of crossing the desert alongside an otherworldly companionship.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 3We Don’t Swim HereVincent TiradoVincent Tirado’s 2023 novel places Bronwyn in rural Hillwoods, where she is meant to stay for only a year. The available premise also says that she intends to make people pay, without identifying the event behind that intention. Sourcebooks published the book on May 30, 2023. Bronwyn’s temporary residence in Hillwoods and her stated resolve to retaliate define the information provided.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 4Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass: The Graphic NovelMeg Medina, illustrated by Mel Valentine VargasThis graphic-novel edition adapts Meg Medina’s YA novel about school bullying, with art by Mel Valentine Vargas. The story begins at the start of sophomore year, when Piedad “Piddy” Sanchez is struggling to adjust to a new high school. It centers on Piddy’s experience during this transition and on bullying at school, presenting the earlier novel in graphic-novel form. Medina is credited as its author, and Vargas as adapter and illustrator.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 5Invisible SonKim JohnsonAfter two months in juvenile detention for a crime he did not commit, Andre Jackson returns home. He must adjust to a world altered by Covid-19 while trying to locate his missing best friend. Andre also faces the aftermath of being wrongfully accused and of the girl he loves moving on, as he works to reclaim his identity. The story follows his efforts to adapt after detention and reconnect with what matters to him.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 6House of MarionneJ. ElleQuell and her mother have moved from city to city while concealing the deadly magic Quell carries. When someone discovers the secret, an assassin begins hunting her. To protect her mother and find safety, Quell enters the Order, a debutante society of magical social elites she never knew existed. The story opens a romantic fantasy series in which hidden magic and danger disrupt a family on the run.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 7UnfamiliarHaley NewsomeYoung kitchen witch Planchette buys a house in a magical town, only to find that it is haunted. Her attempts to make the ghosts leave do not work, so she decides to help with their problems instead. As she does, Planchette meets a shy siren troubled by popularity, a girl living with a curse, and a witch whose magic falls short of her powerful coven’s expectations.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 8You’re Not Supposed To Die TonightKalynn BayronIn Kalynn Bayron’s 2023 novel, guests pay to participate in a hands-on scare attraction at Camp Mirror Lake. Charity and her summer crew reenact scenes from a slasher film called The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. Although the horror game is staged for visitors, it becomes deadly during the night. Bloomsbury USA published the book on June 20, 2023.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 9The Library of Broken WorldsAlaya Dawn JohnsonA girl faces off intellectually against a god of war in an expansive story about oppression and the price of peace. Stories are embedded within other stories, and narrative itself has the potential to mend what is broken or cause devastating destruction. As the girl confronts this powerful opponent, the book links conflict, peace, and the dangerous possibilities held within the stories people create and carry forward.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 10Slaughterhouse-Five OGN SCKurt Vonnegut, Ryan North, illustrated by Albert MonteysBilly Pilgrim’s journey moves through time and is centered on the firebombing of Dresden. It portrays a search for meaning in frightening events and in lives described as fractured. The story confronts war’s horror and tragedy, including children on the front lines who die, and considers human fallibility in the face of fear and violence. Billy’s odyssey through time reflects a mythic journey as people seek meaning.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
All the Dead Lie DownKyrie McCauleyFollowing her mother's death, Marin Blythe becomes a caretaker for two children at the isolated Lovelace House, an estate where disturbing events happen. Their mother is a famous horror writer, and Evie, the children's older sister, is both wary and compelling. As Marin's relationship with Evie grows closer, she investigates the house's history and secrets connecting the family to unsettling deaths.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Ava’s Demon: Book One: RebornMichelle Fus, illustrated by Michelle FusAva, a shy young girl, discovers that the demon haunting her is Wrathia, the spirit of an ancient alien queen. The two make a pact: Ava is promised a better life while Wrathia pursues revenge against TITAN, a god-like being. Their agreement binds Ava’s future to Wrathia’s unfinished conflict and to the demands of the powerful spirit who has entered her life.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Aya: An Anthology of Racial Justice, Healing and the Black ExperienceVeronica Chapman, Kevin Reese, illustrated by Erianna JilesAya is an inaugural anthology published in 2022 by Planting People Growing Justice. It brings together reflections from Black Minnesota voices, including youth and community activists. Their contributions address racial justice and healing, framing the volume around experiences of the Black community. Veronica Chapman and Kevin Reese are credited as its authors. The book is 32 pages long in this edition.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Be That WayHope LarsonIt is 1996, and seventeen-year-old high school junior Christine begins keeping a journal through a consequential year. She feels unnoticed beside her striking best friend, Landry, and wants to become the kind of cool person others recognize. While recording her efforts to find her own sense of shine, Christine navigates difficult friendships and looks for love. Her journal follows her attempt to shape a path that feels like her own rather than living in Landry’s shadow.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
BlackwardLawrence Lindell, illustrated by Lawrence LindellBlackward centers on people who are Black, queer, nerdy, punk, and sometimes seen as weird or awkward. Rather than rejecting those identities, they claim them with pride. After feeling that they do not belong, they seek a place to relax, talk, and find community. The book focuses on the need for connection and for a welcoming space where people with these overlapping identities can spend time together without having to fit somewhere else.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Collectors: StoriesA. S. KingThe Collectors: Stories is an anthology edited by A. S. King. It brings together nine young-adult novelists, with King also contributing a story, to write fiction from a prompt she supplied. The pieces focus on remarkable people and their strange, surprising collections. The volume gathers short stories rather than one continuous account, with each contribution offering its own fictional subject and collection.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Dark Ascension Series: The Wicked OnesRobin BenwayDrizella and Anastasia are sisters struggling to escape the control of their mother, Lady Tremaine. They are determined not to become like her. Their father left when they were young, taking the family fortune with him, and a later death leaves their mother as the cruel head of the household. The story follows the sisters before they are known as the wicked ones.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Family FortunaLindsay EagarAvita belongs to the Family Fortuna circus, where she performs an act that astonishes audiences. She has a beak, razor teeth, and feathers, and her role in the circus is central to her life. Behind the scenes, the story asks whether being a circus performer is all that Avita is, following a family whose world is built around the show.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Flight PlanEric WaltersThirteen-year-old Jamie is flying out of Chicago when the plane loses power, lighting, and communications. Although the aircraft lands safely, cars, phones, and other technologies have also stopped across a wide area. Roughly 1,200 miles from home, Jamie travels with flight crew members, other passengers, and a rescued dog named Godzilla as panic spreads. Their dangerous journey calls on survival skills, judgment, courage, and cooperation after familiar systems collapse.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Four Found DeadNatalie D. RichardsOnce the movie audience has departed, Jo and six coworkers remain for the final shift. Their workday takes a dark turn when a stranger arrives and makes a chilling accusation. The employees are together in the theater after hours, and the unexpected visitor disrupts what should have been a routine closing shift. This tense setup brings an unsettling mystery into an everyday workplace.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Harvest HouseCynthia Leitich SmithWith Halloween approaching, Hughie Wolfe volunteers at Harvest House, a new rural attraction built around a spooky show. His excitement fades when he learns that one performer will portray a vengeful spirit called an “Indian maiden,” based on a local legend. At night, disturbing events unfold near the crossroads: a man stalks teenage girls and young women, especially Indigenous women, while dogs grow anxious and wild animals behave strangely. The book combines coming-of-age tension, social justice concerns, and paranormal suspense.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The HauntingNatasha PrestonPenny is trying to forget her former boyfriend, Nash, after his father is exposed as the serial killer who terrorized their small town the previous Halloween. Her parents forbid contact with Nash and his family. While shopping for a costume with friends, Penny finds a student bleeding in a dressing room, and a copycat killer begins to threaten the town.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure HL610LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra KimPatricia ParkAfter her Papi dies, high school senior Alejandra Kim feels she belongs neither at her Manhattan prep school nor in her immigrant Queens neighborhood. At school, her Spanish name and Korean appearance set her apart from mostly white classmates and teachers. Alejandra hopes to leave for her dream college, but first must reckon with the disconnection she feels across the places that should be familiar. Her story brings grief, school life, identity, and the search for belonging together.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
In LimboDeb JJ LeeThis graphic memoir follows Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee, a Korean American immigrant whose life moves between suburban New Jersey and Seoul. After emigrating from South Korea, Deborah feels marked as different and struggles with English. She recounts mental-health challenges and conflict with a demanding mother, tracing both a coming-of-age experience and a return home. The memoir presents her experiences as an immigrant alongside her family life.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Last One to FallGabriella LeporeSavana Caruso has known Jesse Melo since childhood, so she agrees to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse late at night. Before she can locate Jesse, Savana witnesses a horrifying murder: a mysterious figure is pushed from the warehouse’s fourth floor. Six teenagers were present, and five become possible suspects. As police investigate, Savana worries that the wrong person may be charged while someone works to keep the truth hidden.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The LegaciesJessica GoodmanAt Excelsior Prep, the Legacy Ball serves as entry to the Legacy Club, an exclusive network tied to New York City’s wealthiest people. An invitation offers far more than a school social event: membership promises long-term access to wealth, influence, safety, and a group whose members protect their own. The story places the club’s power at the center of an elite-school world where invitations shape access, belonging, and social connection.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Live Your Best LieJessie WeaverSummer Cartwright is a social-media influencer whose curated online image presents a privileged life: millions of followers, designer and vintage clothing, a book deal, friends, and a relationship at an elite prep school. Beneath the polished Instagram feed, however, the story signals darker and bloodier secrets. Her highly visible online persona contrasts with what may be concealed behind it, as school life and social status frame her world and relationships.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Lucha of the Night ForestTehlor Kay MejiaTehlor Kay Mejia wrote Lucha of the Night Forest, a young-adult fantasy novel released in 2023 by Random House Children’s Books. Its publication date was March 21, 2023. A girl is prepared to take any step to keep her sister safe. In pursuing that protection, she makes a bargain described as dangerous. The choice ties her sister’s safety to a risky agreement.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
my culture is not a costumeStirred Stories, illustrated by Suwin Chanmy culture is not a costume presents itself as a poetic mixtape and concept work. It explores identity and cultural heritage through contributors from different backgrounds. Their traditions, anthems, and regalia are presented as elements to celebrate. The work addresses complex longings while considering shared humanity and the understandings people bring to it. Published by Stirred Stories, it has 54 pages.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
No Boy SummerAmy SpaldingPublished in 2023, Amy Spalding's novel begins when Lydia and her younger sister, Penny, agree to avoid boy-related drama for the summer. Their pact is tested when Lydia develops feelings for a girl. Instead of immediately discarding the agreement, Lydia looks for a loophole in its terms. The sisters' summer promise and Lydia's new romantic feelings collide with each other.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Paper PlanesJennie Wood, illustrated by DozerdrawsDylan Render and Leighton Worthington, once close friends, are assigned to a summer camp for young people in trouble following an incident that changes their lives. Each needs a favorable assessment to safeguard what comes next. At camp, they revisit the events that broke their friendship and reconsider how those events have shaped their futures.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure AD580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book details
Plan ADeb CalettiWhen Texas law bars abortion after six weeks, sixteen-year-old Ivy is pregnant following a nonconsensual encounter. She travels across the country to Oregon with her boyfriend to obtain a legal abortion. The road trip places her circumstances within a conflict over law, access, and personal choice. As Ivy makes the journey, the story centers on the vulnerability and strength involved in pursuing the medical care that is unavailable to her at home.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Princess & the Grilled Cheese SandwichDeya MunizThe Princess & the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, a YA romance by Deya Muniz, presents love as something found in an unexpected place. Grilled-cheese sandwiches recur throughout its premise. The title names a princess and a grilled-cheese sandwich. Its description characterizes the book as comic and heartfelt. Little, Brown Ink published the 256-page edition on 2023-05-09; the listed ISBN is 9780316538725.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Queen BeeAmalie HowardSince then, nationally recognized thought leader and speaker Rosalind Wiseman has interviewed and listened to thousands of girls talk about the powerful role cliques play in shaping what they wear and say, how they respond to boys, and how they feel about themselves.This fully revised and greatly updated edition of this parenting…Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Ride or DieDelilah S. DawsonBrie sees an overnight trip to the Wildwoods amusement park as a chance to join the school’s most popular girls while keeping a damaging secret hidden. The group’s game of truth or dare leaves her alone in an abandoned, unsettling part of the park. There she meets older teens who seem welcoming, unaware that an awakened evil is nearby and threatens to turn the night into a deadly encounter.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeWord Count 47913View book details
RoamingJillian Tamaki, Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, Mariko TamakiRoaming is a graphic novel by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki. Set during spring break in 2009, it brings three friends to a big city for five days. The friends travel together during their break, encountering new experiences in the city. The book identifies both the trip's duration and its three-person friendship group. It was published in September 2023 by Drawn & Quarterly.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Silver in the BoneAlexandra BrackenTamsin Lark is a mortal Hollower without magical abilities who breaks into ancient crypts in search of treasure. After her foster father disappears, she keeps herself and her brother Cabell alive this way. Rumors link her missing guardian to a powerful ring from Arthurian legend, and an encounter with her rival Emrys gives Tamsin hope that the ring could lift Cabell’s dangerous curse.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure HL820LATOS Book Level 5.2View book details
A Spark in the CindersJenny Elder MokeThis fantasy retells a familiar fairy-tale world after the young woman once known as a peasant has married the prince and become queen. Her stepsister Aralyn, previously cast as a wicked supporting figure, begins a quest of her own. Meanwhile, Novador faces deepening hardship: drought has damaged the land, famine has spread, and disease adds to the kingdom’s troubles. Against this threatened backdrop, Aralyn’s story shifts from the margins toward her own role as a heroine.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Things I’ll Never SayCassandra NewbouldFifteen authors contribute short fiction about secrets people keep, struggle to reveal, or must carry for someone else. The stories consider truths about selves, families, fears, and threatening circumstances. Some secrets are used for protection, while others cause harm; in some cases, deception makes the truth difficult to determine. The collection spans different styles and subject matter, including a secret pregnancy unknown to others.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Vern, Custodian of the UniverseTyrell Waiters, illustrated by Tyrell WaitersVern, Custodian of the Universe is a graphic novel by debut creator Tyrell Waiters. At the edge of burnout, Vern decides to go back to his family in the Sunshine State and begin again. His journey moves through time and space while considering what it means to be human amid uncertainty. Published in June 2023, it comes from Flying Eye Books Ltd.Kids Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsTeacher Favorites — K–2nd Grade
40 selections
Rank 1We Don’t Lose Our Class GoldfishRyan T. Higgins, illustrated by Ryan T. HigginsThe companion to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates centers on Penelope Rex, a young dinosaur. Walter, the goldfish in her classroom, is the fear she cannot shake. Assigned to care for Walter during the weekend, Penelope must spend time with the pet that scares her. Ryan T. Higgins wrote this 48-page book, published by Disney Publishing Group in 2023.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 622View book details
Rank 2I Will Read to YouGideon Sterer, illustrated by Charles SantosoAt night, a boy leaves home and makes his way to lonely monsters, bringing them bedtime stories. Told in rhyme, the story connects reading aloud with empathy as its monster-filled journey moves between spooky moments and a gentle bedtime mood. The boy’s nighttime visit makes storytime an act of care for the monsters he meets.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsRank 3Scaredy CatsJeff MackA kitten receives a mysterious package tied with ribbon and assumes that it contains a cake. His two friends are far less certain. As they consider what might be inside, the package sets off increasingly wild ideas and fears. The story follows the contrast between the kitten’s simple expectation and his friends’ anxious guesses, using the unopened parcel as the focus of a playful guessing game about what could be waiting within.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsRank 4Just One FlakeTravis JonkerLiam goes out into a snowstorm with one goal: catching a perfect snowflake. He experiments with several approaches, including looking up with his tongue out and building a snowman so he can get closer to the falling snow. Each effort fails, while his search eventually leads to an unexpected discovery. The story follows Liam's wintertime curiosity and outdoor play.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsRank 5Watch Out for the Lion!Brooke Hartman, illustrated by Anna SüßbauerThe book warns readers that a fierce lion may be nearby, pointing to a bristly tail, claws, ears, and fangs as signs. Yet it keeps asking whether those details really belong to a lion and what might be around the next corner. The story turns frightening possibilities into a surprise, inviting readers to confront fear and perhaps laugh at it.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 6All Kinds of KidsBill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson, illustrated by Paul MeiselAll Kinds of Kids, published in 2002, observes the ways children differ from one another. They may look different, choose different activities, and have different food preferences. The children share great smiles despite those differences. By Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson, the book presents appearance, pastimes, and favorite foods as varied among children. It has 22 pages and was issued by Scholastic, Inc.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 7Daddy Dressed MeMichael Gardner, Ava Gardner, illustrated by Nadia FisherAva is chosen to recite a poem for her kindergarten class’s Move Up Day, but worries that she will forget the words. Her father promises to help her practice until she feels confident. He also decides to sew her a dress for the occasion, then faces his own uncertainty about the stitches and techniques. Together, father and daughter practice and sew as they prepare for the day.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD760LATOS Book Level 4.9View book details
Rank 8Molly’s TuxedoVicki Johnson, illustrated by Gillian ReidMolly is preparing for school picture day and wants a portrait to display at home. She decides that a tuxedo is how she wants to look for the occasion. Her mother prefers that Molly wear a dress, while Molly asks to wear her brother’s tuxedo instead. As the day approaches, Molly must choose the outfit that feels right to her.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsRank 9Snake’s Big MistakeSarah Kurpiel, illustrated by Sarah KurpielSnake enjoys art class until a project goes badly wrong. The disaster leads him to make a mistake that hurts a friend, and a broken pot leaves their friendship damaged. Snake must confront what happened and consider how he might repair the harm he caused. The story asks how he can make amends after the art project.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 10Bitsy Bat, School StarKaz Windness, illustrated by Kaz WindnessWhen Bitsy arrives at school, she does not feel that she fits in. Sitting upright makes her dizzy, and she prefers painting with her toes while the other children use their fingers. After being told she is doing things wrong, Bitsy tries harder and has a meltdown. With help from her family, she gathers the courage to make a new plan, returns to school, and discovers that friendship is one way she can shine.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 329LATOS Book Level 2.4View book details10 DogsEmily GravettTen hungry dogs pursue sausages as the amount held by each group repeatedly reverses: first one dog has all ten while nine have none, and later nine have all ten while one has none. The story follows the shifting contest for the treats and asks whether the dogs can ultimately share them. It is a counting story built around dogs, food, and the changing distribution of ten sausages.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 0.1View book detailsBack to School BackpackSimon Rich, illustrated by Tom ToroA child’s backpack faces first-day-of-school nerves and feels out of place in the school’s crowded spaces. Its worries unfold through hallways, lonely cafeteria tables, and toilet stalls. This picture book gives the backpack its own anxious perspective as it confronts the unfamiliar experience of going back to school.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsThe Big CheeseJory John, illustrated by Pete OswaldThe Big Cheese considers himself unsurpassed and makes sure others know it. Expecting to take first place in the annual Cheese-cathlon, he meets Wedge Wedgeman, a quiet newcomer who finishes ahead of him. The competition makes the boastful cheese confront losing and consider whether being the best is the most important thing. It follows a food-character cast through rivalry, disappointment, and humility.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD420LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
City BeetTziporah Cohen, illustrated by Udayana LugoCity Beet retells an older folktale in a humorous way. Victoria and a neighbor respond after a notice announces a community potluck. A huge beet resists being pulled up. The community must join forces to harvest it, bringing the old tale's problem into a community setting. Written by Tziporah Cohen, it was published in March 2023 by Sleeping Bear Press.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsDanbi’s Favorite DayAnna KimDanbi looks forward to inviting her friends to celebrate Children’s Day in the way she knew in Korea. She anticipates kites, tigers, and magic train rides, but the gathering takes place as a picnic behind her parents’ deli and does not match her plans. When the celebration falters, Danbi uses creativity to try to rescue the day for her friends. Her Korean celebration traditions shape what she hopes to share.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book detailsFrank and BertChris Naylor-Ballesteros, illustrated by Chris Naylor-BallesterosFrank and Bert are best friends planning a big bicycle ride. Bert rides slowly and wobbles, creating a problem for their outing. Frank considers whether being quickest is what matters most and chooses to support Bert with kindness and thoughtfulness. His help gives Bert confidence as the friends prepare to ride together. The story centers on their friendship during this shared activity.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Goodbye: A First Conversation About GriefMegan Madison, Jessica Ralli, illustrated by Isabel RoxasThis picture book introduces grief and death with clear, concrete language and imagery. It considers what death means and how loss can feel, using questions that may arise when people grieve and offering simple, honest answers. The book is a picture-book edition of an earlier board book on grief and makes room for conversations about loss.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Hattie Harmony: Opening NightElizabeth Olsen, Robbie Arnett, illustrated by Marissa ValdezOpening Night continues Hattie's earlier story. As the school play opens, Hattie offers ways to handle anxiety. Many people involved in the opening-night performance feel nervous. The book links those anxious feelings with the school play and Hattie's new tools. Written by Elizabeth Olsen and Robbie Arnett, it was published in 2023.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Heart Berry BlingJenny Kay Dupuis, illustrated by Eva CampbellDuring a visit to her granny, Maggie starts her first beading project. She hopes to make a pair of earrings shaped like strawberries. The work proves more difficult than she expected. The project begins with excitement. Written by Jenny Kay Dupuis and published by Portage & Main Press in 2023, the book places Maggie's new craft project within her visit with her grandmother.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Hidden GemLinda Liu, illustrated by Linda LiuAn ordinary pebble arrives at the Museum of Rocks after noticing other rocks gather on its steps. Inside, he finds that its exhibits feature gemstones, geodes, and crystals, and he compares his own plain appearance with theirs. While taking in the museum's rocky marvels, the pebble comes to recognize value in himself. The pebble's question is whether he, too, can be special.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD440LATOS Book Level 3View book details
The Hole StoryKelly Canby, illustrated by Kelly CanbyBefore 1847, sailors commonly ate small fried cakes whose greasy centers made them heavy. Hanson Gregory, a sixteen-year-old cook’s assistant on a schooner, listened to complaints about these “sinkers” and cut out their centers with the top of a pepper shaker before frying them. The changed cakes proved popular. When Hanson returned home, his mother made the new holey cakes to sell on the docks, and other ships’ cooks began making them as well. The narrative also includes later tall tales about the doughnut’s invention.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD900LATOS Book Level 4.9View book detailsHoley MoleyBethan ClarkeAn overly exuberant goat keeps offering increasingly silly rhyming ideas about where a mole lives. The guessing game unfolds in a cumulative pattern as the goat insists on trying to solve the question. Gus the Goat and Mavis Mole are the book’s named characters, with Mavis as the mole the goat is trying to locate. Playful illustrations accompany the rhyming suggestions.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsJungle CatAndrew Larsen, illustrated by Udayana LugoBob is a cat whose story brings together people in his neighborhood. When Bob learns to ask for help, he helps create connection among neighbors, including people who might otherwise live alone. The book was inspired by an apartment cat named Georgia, whose presence connected people around her. It focuses on the ties that form through a cat, shared help, and neighborhood life.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD440LATOS Book Level 3View book details
Lifesize Deadly AnimalsSophy Henn, illustrated by Sophy HennLifesize Deadly Animals is an interactive nonfiction book about deadly animals, using life-size illustrations for comparison. It includes creatures such as a black caiman, Burmese python, and slow loris, alongside other very small and very large animals. Readers are invited to measure themselves against the animals and consider their size.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Make More S’moresCathy Ballou Mealey, illustrated by Ariel LandyRoscoe lights a campfire and prepares a s'more with toasted marshmallow, graham crackers, and chocolate. Grizzly Bear arrives, followed by more bears, turning Roscoe's snack into a forest feast. Roscoe keeps the hungry, grumbly guests satisfied by sharing s'mores and making more. The campfire feast grows as the unexpected bear visitors appear. The 32-page book was published in March 2023 by Sleeping Bear Press.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 480LATOS Book Level 3.2View book detailsMake Way for Butterfly (A Very Impatient Caterpillar Book)Ross Burach, illustrated by Ross BurachRoss Burach’s Make Way for Butterfly is an adventure in the Very Impatient Caterpillar series. The book brings science together with social-emotional learning, using humor throughout its presentation of a caterpillar’s world. Its subject matter includes butterfly and caterpillar life, while the playful tone gives the scientific material a light, comic quality. Scholastic, Inc. published this edition in 2023.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
MarkerAnna Kang, illustrated by Christopher WeyantMarker is a dependable classroom supply until Pink, a pair of pinking shears, arrives with sharp new creations that draw attention. No longer feeling like the star of the desk, Marker starts making mistakes. Because her marks cannot simply be erased, she believes she is not allowed to fail. A later realization helps Marker recover confidence in what she can do.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD490LATOS Book Level 2.5View book details
Meowl-o-weenDiane Muldrow, illustrated by Tiffany ChenOn Halloween, cats move through streets of carved pumpkins, intending to startle trick-or-treaters. Amid flashing lights, costumes, and crowds, one kitten becomes frightened and lost. Unsure which way to go, she must find her way through the busy celebration and decide whether she can join the other cats’ festivities. The story sets her fear against a night of feline Halloween activity.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book detailsMine!Candace FlemingA red apple hangs high in a tree, drawing Mouse, Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear beneath it. Each animal expects the fruit to belong to them alone, and their competing claims erupt into a melee when it finally falls. While they focus on the prize, the apple rolls away. A passing possum finds it and chooses to call it “ours” with the worm already inside it, shifting the ending from possession to generosity.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsMy House, My FamilyC. Hope Flinchbaugh, illustrated by Laurel AylesworthA child spends time living with Mommy and at Dad’s house while remaining part of one family in both homes. Mommy’s and Dad’s homes are different houses. The book presents homes as places that can change without changing family connection. It also states that families need not look alike. Love links the family members regardless of which house the child is in.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Night Market RescueCharlotte Cheng, illustrated by Amber RenA stray dog wanders through Taipei's night market, a place filled with sights and food scents. The dog is named Gogo and rests on a stoop, where sweet and spicy smells reach him on the breeze. During the nighttime visit, Gogo finds friendship and perhaps a home. Written by Charlotte Cheng and published in May 2023, the book was released by Penguin Young Readers Group.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsNO Is All I Know!Chris Grabenstein, illustrated by Leo EspinosaOliver McSnow says “no” so often that the word begins to grow. His repeated refusal shapes the world around him until he encounters his cousin’s cheerful “yes.” The contrast between Oliver’s constant no and his cousin’s yes changes his situation. The story follows his outsized response to language and the possibility of a different way of answering.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD450LATOS Book Level 3.1View book detailsOh, Olive!Lian Cho, illustrated by Lian ChoOlive Chen is an artist whose imaginative work stands apart from the neat, carefully controlled shapes painted by her artist parents. The adults in her world are shown in greyscale, reflecting their restricted imaginations, while Olive’s paintings are distinctive and full of color. As other children respond to the freedom and excitement in her work, Olive’s art changes the look of their otherwise drab world. The story centers on a child artist finding expression in a family of artists with a very different approach.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsParty Hearty Kitty-CornShannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen PhamKitty plans a kitty-corn party, but a newcomer named Puppy disrupts the arrangements and receives Unicorn’s attention. Kitty becomes jealous as her carefully made plan goes wrong. The tension raises a question for Kitty and Unicorn’s friendship: whether the arrival of someone new can change a bond that has seemed secure. The story focuses on a party, jealousy, and friendship.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 527View book detailsRamen for EveryonePatricia Tanumihardja, illustrated by Shiho PateHiro wants to make ramen that measures up to the bowl his father prepares each Sunday. His father’s recipe came from Hiro’s grandfather and includes nori, a soft-centered egg, and chashu pork. When Hiro tries making the dish himself, his first effort brings unexpected challenges as he works toward his goal.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 530LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
Red & GreenLois Ehlert, illustrated by Lois EhlertA small mouse interrupts a wintry version of “The Night Before Christmas” in this rhyming holiday story. Across die-cut pages, the mouse encounters seasonal images including wreaths, garland, mittens, cookies, fresh snow, and a snowman. After enjoying a sweet snack, the mouse settles into a bed made from a mitten. The book’s cutouts create peeks and reveals as the story moves through the house, ending when a red-suited visitor notices the missing cookies.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
See the Ghost: Three Stories About Things You Cannot SeeDavid LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike WohnoutkaMax the dog and Baby Cakes the cat appear in three stories about unseen forces and creatures. A ghost eager to scare others has an encounter with a mirror, while the wind disrupts a picnic by blowing leaves, the dog, and other things off the page. A tiny fairy with an errant wand also enters the action. Each episode plays with things the characters cannot see.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Three Hens, a Peacock, and the Enormous EggLester L. Laminack, illustrated by Henry ColeFarm animals find an enormous egg in the road and bring it to safety. Once they have rescued it, they must decide how to look after the egg and the unknown creature it contains. The animal caretakers do not know what is inside. They also wait for the unusually large egg to hatch, wondering why it is taking so long.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Whose Egg Is That?Darrin LundeThis nonfiction guessing game pairs seven eggs with the animals that laid them. Color, shape, and texture provide clues, while double-page spreads show the animals in their natural habitats. The book connects each animal, its eggs, and its habitat, and includes information about the animals’ ways of surviving. Readers are invited to work out the parent of each egg before the answer is revealed. Back matter extends the information beyond the main guessing-game pages.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsWolfboy is ScaredAndy HarknessWolfboy insists that the rabbits should go first because he needs to keep watch behind them. Yet the appearance of monster claws suggests that Wolfboy may be frightened himself. His journey leads toward the Grumble Monster’s lair, with moonset setting a deadline for whether he can face it. The story follows a character who tries to appear brave while confronting fear, and it presents being scared as a normal feeling rather than something Wolfboy must hide.Teacher Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsTeacher Favorites — 3rd–5th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1A Take-Charge Girl Blazes a Trail to Congress: The Story of Jeannette RankinGretchen Woelfle, illustrated by Rebecca GibbonThis book tells the story of Jeannette Rankin, the first U.S. congresswoman. As a girl, Jeannette took responsibility for caring for horses and her younger brothers and sisters. Later, after seeing children in poor conditions in San Francisco, she wanted to change the circumstances that affected them. In the early twentieth century, however, women could not vote to alter laws that failed to protect children. The account follows Rankin’s efforts to take action in response to injustice.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 2How the Sea Came to Be And All the Creatures In ItJennifer BerneThis book traces 4.5 billion years of change, following the development of the sea and the life in it. Combining verse with information on geology, oceanography, and marine biology, it travels from the beginning of time toward the ocean floor. The account considers how ocean organisms evolved and the range of creatures that make their home in the sea. Back matter extends the scientific material beyond the main poetic narrative.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 3Poetry PromptsJoseph Coelho, illustrated by Grasya Oliyko, Amanda Quartey, Georgie Birkett, Viola WangDiscover the joy of expressing what’s inside you, with fill-in-the-blank poems that are sparking a creative movement We all have stories inside us—whether or not we consider ourselves “creative.” Poet and novelist Joseph Fasano has developed a remarkable tool that allows anyone to experience the joy of creative expression.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 4Big TreeBrian Selznick, illustrated by Brian SelznickNear the end of the dinosaur era, Louise and Merwin, two sycamore seedlings, seek somewhere safe to grow in an unsafe world. Louise hears a mysterious voice in her dreams, and she and her brother hope eventually to take root as large trees. Their journey is a search for a place where they can grow. The book also includes pencil drawings and extensive notes on science.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 4View book details
Rank 5Giraffe MathStephen Swinburne, illustrated by Geraldo ValerioTwiga the giraffe introduces facts about giraffes and their relationships with other creatures through math and science. The book uses measurements, graphs, shapes, and word problems to examine the animals. It includes facts about the size of giraffe hooves, the amount of blood their hearts can pump in a minute, their speed, and their weight.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsRank 6Once Upon a BookGrace Lin, Kate MessnerOn a cold winter day, bored Alice disrupts a book lying on the floor and enters its pages. Her journey moves through several imagined places: a tropical forest, then a desert on a camel, before weather sends her onward each time. Talking animals and visual hints accompany the adventure, including an unnamed white rabbit. Although the book offers one enticing escape after another, the smells of dinner and comfort of home ultimately draw Alice back to her family table.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 440LATOS Book Level 3View book detailsRank 7Body Music: Poems About the Noises Your Body MakesJane Yolen, Ryan G. Van Cleave, illustrated by Luis San VicenteThis poetry collection makes bodily sounds its subject. Its poems include noisy bottoms, giggles, and gasps, treating the noises bodies make as a kind of music. The collection focuses on everyday sounds produced by the body, moving from small exclamations to comic noises and giving each of them a place in verse.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsRank 8Alithia Ramirez Was an ArtistViolet Lemay, illustrated by Alithia Ramirez2024 Reading the West Book Awards Winner, Picture BooksA 2024 CBC Children’s Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Librarian Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Teacher Favorites WinnerEric Hoffer Book Awards, 2024 Grand Prize WinnerNautilus Book Awards, 2024 Gold WinnerThe Book Fest, 2024 Gold Winner for Children’s HistoricalThe Book Fest, 2024 Silver Winner for Best Picture…Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 9A Funny Thing Happened After SchoolDavide Cali, illustrated by Benjamin ChaudHenry and Ali set out to finish their homework, but their study session becomes an unexpected journey through space. A spaceship jam delays them first, followed by a detour to the moon, an exploration of Mars, and a visit to the gravity-defying International Space Station. With one surprise after another, the pair try to study the solar system while being swept into increasingly unusual interstellar situations.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 550LATOS Book Level 2.4View book details
Rank 10Eb & Flow (In Verse)Kelly J. BaptistKelly J. Baptist’s 224-page book Eb & Flow (In Verse) was published by Yearling on March 26, 2024. The narrative is told in verse. Tweens De'Kari and Ebony each receive ten-day suspensions. Neither believes they are at fault. Time away leads each to see the world differently. One voice denies hitting girls, and another reacts by rolling their eyes and looking down at their shoes.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Alligator or Crocodile?Jennifer ShieldsAlligator or Crocodile? presents a close encounter with a very large, hungry animal armed with sharp teeth. The situation is so intimidating that a person facing it might care less about identifying the animal precisely. The title asks readers to distinguish between an alligator and a crocodile, two animals associated with this frightening question.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsAn American StoryKwame AlexanderA teacher tries to tell the history of American slavery in a society that avoids confronting its past atrocities. The narrative moves from fireside storytelling in an African village, across the Atlantic, to forced labor in Southern fields. It portrays the struggle, suffering, strength, and resilience of African American people under slavery. Mixed-media illustrations accompany the text. The story addresses a history that must be understood while also looking toward what the African American community may become.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 4.5View book detailsAngel and the Paper TrailMakenzie Hice, illustrated by Natasja HorneAt a library, a boy discovers an unexplained note tucked inside a book. He begins looking for the person who wrote it. As he pursues the clue, he meets new friends who want to decode the note’s mystery with him. The book combines a library discovery with a search for an unknown writer and a growing group of collaborators in the investigation.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Animals in Surprising Shades: Poems About Earth’s Colorful CreaturesSusan Johnston TaylorAnimals in Surprising Shades is a collection of poems about colorful creatures from around the world. Its subjects include birds, bugs, snails, and slugs, whose feathers, fur, skin, or scales show many colors. The book also considers why a blue-footed booby dances and how a Picasso bug uses a chemical defense against predators. The poems pair animal color with behavior and survival.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsBean the Stretchy DragonAri StocrateBean is a cheerful, stretchy dragon who lives in the forest with Sally, a grumpy witch. This graphic novel follows Bean through an ordinary day that becomes a series of small adventures. Bean spends time burying bones, meeting new friends, eating favorite breakfasts, chasing magical creatures, taking baths, and practicing flight. Whether Bean is alone or with Sally, each activity gives the dragon another occasion for exploration and play.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsBorder CrossingsSneed B. Collard III, illustrated by Howard GrayTwo endangered ocelots try to pass through the biologically diverse land along the United States–Mexico border. Barriers and related construction interrupt routes wildlife uses to move, harm habitat, and make it harder for animals to reach food and mates. The book introduces borderland plants and animals while showing why connected habitat matters for species survival and environmental protection.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Brothers ZzliAlex Cousseau, illustrated by Anne-Lise Boutin, Vineet LalAlex Cousseau’s 40-page book brings the brothers Zzli to the doorstep of a young girl named Welcome. Their arrival is framed as an allegory concerning immigration and hospitality. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers published the book on October 24, 2023. The encounter between Welcome and the brothers provides the available story premise, linking their arrival with questions of welcome and migration.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsBuilding a Dream: How the Boys of Koh Panyee Became ChampionsDarshana Khiani, illustrated by Dow PhumirukBased on a true story, this book follows a Thai soccer team from the stilted village of Koh Panyee in Phang Nga Bay. The boys love the sport but have nowhere to practice, so they look to the water for a solution. Despite neighbors’ laughter, they gather tools, saw wood, hammer nails, and tie barrels together to make a floating field. Their project creates a place where they can dribble, juggle, shoot, and score, tracing their persistence and practical problem-solving.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Cat Jokes vs. Dog Jokes: A Read-from-Both-Sides Comic BookDavid Lewman, illustrated by John McNameeThis comic-style joke book is designed to be read from either side. One direction presents dog jokes told by cats, while the reverse presents cat jokes told by dogs. Together, the two sides contain more than 200 jokes, creating a playful exchange between the animals through opposing comic viewpoints. David Lewman is credited as author, and this edition has 128 pages.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsEllen Takes Flight: The Life of Astronaut Ellen OchoaDoreen RappaportThis picture-book biography traces Ellen Ochoa’s path from flutist and electrical engineer to astronaut. Ochoa became the first Latina to travel into space. She later directed the Johnson Space Center and was its first Latinx director. Written by Doreen Rappaport, the book was published in 2023 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Gift of Being DifferentMonica, Abigail Berg, illustrated by Sonia PossentiniThe Gift of Being Different considers what may be happening in the mind of a child with dyslexia. It invites readers into that perspective and focuses on understanding difference from within a child’s experience. The book presents being distinct as a source of power while keeping dyslexia at the center of its subject. Its focus is on how a child with dyslexia may think and on the meaning of being different.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Glitter Everywhere!Chris BartonThis nonfiction book examines the science of glitter’s shine and traces people’s long fascination with sparkling materials. It looks at uses of iridescent beetle wings, mica, and other substances in ancient Egyptian, South African, Greek, and Mayan art and objects. The book also follows twentieth-century manufacturing, including mica and plastic pieces, and explains how glitter came to appear in products ranging from makeup to motorcycles.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 950LATOS Book Level 6.3View book detailsThe Great Banned-Books Bake SaleAya Khalil, illustrated by Anait SemirdzhyanKanzi has begun to feel welcome at her American school when books about immigrant children and children of color disappear from the school library. She then learns that her school district has banned books featuring children who resemble her. As the books vanish, the loss leaves Kanzi feeling frightened and helpless.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsHow Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling BeeCarole Boston WeatherfordThis account follows MacNolia Cox, an eighth grader who won her school and city spelling bees in Akron, Ohio, before traveling to Washington, D.C., for the 1936 National Spelling Bee. She was the first African American winner of Akron’s contest. The journey exposes the segregation facing MacNolia and her mother: they are made to change train cars in Maryland, cannot stay at the contestants’ hotel, and must use stairs rather than the banquet elevator. At the competition, MacNolia and another Black contestant sit apart from the white participants.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsThe Kid with Big, Big IdeasBritney Winn Lee, illustrated by Jacob SouvaThis story introduces a nonbinary child known around town for unusual ideas. The child wears colorful socks and glittery nails, while their habit of thinking beyond familiar solutions shapes how others know them. The book is part of a series that also includes stories about big feelings and big questions, and it focuses on a child whose ideas stand out.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The King Without a Trade: English-Ukrainian Bilingual EditionIdries Shah, illustrated by Charlotte MarshallA king who lacks nothing learns that having plenty cannot take the place of practical abilities or sound judgment. This English-Ukrainian bilingual edition follows his realization that comfort and wealth do not replace skills or common sense. The story contrasts abundance with knowing how to do things, as the king confronts what is missing from a life that otherwise seems to contain everything.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Less is More: Join the Low-Waste MovementLeah PayneLess is More introduces the low-waste movement, whose participants are taking a firmer approach to the trash they produce. It places this effort in a global context and points to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the ocean. The book focuses on waste and on people working to reduce it, connecting everyday trash with a large accumulation of garbage at sea.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Low PowerMichael Rex, illustrated by Michael RexFred, a robot peacemaker, relies on a solar battery that pollution-darkened skies can no longer recharge. He and his friend Wormy head to SunTop, where a clan resembling garbage endangers the city. As Fred’s power dwindles, he must uncover what is happening there. The graphic novel uses a humorous science-fiction adventure to explore listening, collaboration, pollution, and practical problem-solving.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsLuna RancheraRodrigo MorlesinLuna and Ranchera are a canine mother-and-daughter singing act whose fame reaches around the world. Their story begins when Luna is struggling to feed her pups and steals from nearby ranchers. While escaping another theft, she hides on top of a beehive. The tale is set in a Nuevo Wild West populated by desert animals, cowboys, and cowgirls.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Major Taylor: World Cycling ChampionCharles R. Smith JrThis picture-book biography in verse follows Marshall “Major” Taylor, an African American cyclist whose career included the Six-Day Race. It portrays his setbacks and achievements in a period when bicycle racing drew large crowds. In 1899, Taylor became the first African American to hold a world cycling championship. Digital illustrations accompany the account of his path through competitive cycling.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsMonster Support Group: The Mummy’s CurseLaura Suárez, illustrated by Laura SuárezAnatiti, a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, is selected by the gods and becomes convinced that she knows better than her advisors. After tragedy brings a curse, she recognizes that their advice may have mattered. Confined in a tomb for thousands of years, Anatiti is taken by an explorer to Dreadbury. The story asks whether this mummy will learn to listen before moving on to the afterlife.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
NoticingKobi Yamada, illustrated by Elise HurstA young girl and an accomplished painter learn to attend closely to the world around them. Their story moves from small and large details to imagined and concealed ones, linking observation with imagination. As they notice beauty and magic in ordinary days, they explore possibility and the idea that extraordinary things can be discovered everywhere, including in daily life when people slow down to look.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
On the Edge of the WorldAnna Desnitskaya, illustrated by Anna Desnitskaya, Lena TraerVera lives on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, beside the Pacific Ocean, while Lucas lives with his family on Chile’s Pacific coast. Each child is told that their home stands at the world’s real edge. Two stories begin from opposite ends of the book and meet in the middle. Vera and Lucas share their valued possessions, their uses of time, and a wish for a friend.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The One and Only RubyKatherine ApplegateRuby is a young elephant living with her adopted herd in a wildlife sanctuary. Her story continues several months after The One and Only Bob, when the caretaker from the African elephant orphanage where Ruby was raised comes to visit. Ruby worries about becoming older as she learns more about her past, her family, and herself. The book includes greyscale spot illustrations, a glossary, and an author’s note.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 650LATOS Book Level 4.2View book detailsThe Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the GameLaurie Wallmark, illustrated by Stevie LewisWritten by Laurie Wallmark, The Queen of Chess is a 32-page book from little bee books, published on July 25, 2023. It recounts the true story of Judit Polgár, whose chess play captivated people around the world. Polgár worked toward becoming chess’s youngest-ever grandmaster. Her effort to attain that distinction is the book’s subject, and the account connects it with her worldwide recognition.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Squished: A Graphic NovelMegan Wagner Lloyd, Michelle Mee NutterAvery lives in a family of nine, where family life can feel crowded and chaotic. In this graphic novel, she struggles to claim space of her own while facing a coming change. Her effort to find room for herself unfolds amid the demands and bustle of a large household. The story centers on Avery’s need for privacy, her place within her family, and the pressures that arrive when home life shifts.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure GN520LATOS Book Level 3.4View book detailsTacos TodayRaúl the Third, illustrated by Raúl the ThirdYoung El Toro and his friends pause their lucha training for lunch, each hoping for a different favorite taco. When they discover that their money is not enough to buy tacos, the friends need a creative way to earn more dinero. Their effort to solve the problem together leads toward a taco meal, with Spanish phrases woven into the story.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
They Hold the LineDan PaleyA wildfire begins with lightning and a single spark, then grows into billowing smoke and immediate danger. This book follows the work of firefighters as they confront fierce blazes in wildlands. It shows them holding a fire line while working to protect nearby communities from the advancing flames. The account focuses on the demanding, high-stakes task of responding when a natural disaster threatens people and places.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 840LATOS Book Level 5.4View book details
What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon?Rachel Ignotofsky, illustrated by Rachel IgnotofskyThis nonfiction picture book looks at butterflies and moths. It contrasts butterflies that fly in sunlight with moths that flutter at night beneath the moon and stars. The book considers the insects' similarities and differences and follows their metamorphosis, using art and informational text to explore their transformations and the natural world.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure AD700LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
A Whole World of ArtSarah Phillips, illustrated by Dion Mehaga Bangun DjayasaputraThis illustrated nonfiction book examines art from many cultures, times, and places through selected works. It presents a global account of visual art rather than a single familiar tradition. The book notes that people made pictures to tell stories before writing, then moves across the world and through different periods to consider key artworks. Its approach connects art history with the varied ways cultures have created and shared visual stories.Teacher Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsTeacher Favorites — 6th–8th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1My SelmaWillie Mae BrownSet in Selma, Alabama, this account looks at Willie Mae Brown’s childhood as the civil rights movement and the campaign for voting rights unfolded around her. It includes life within and beyond the Brown family home, alongside events connected with the 1965 march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Brown describes growing up Black in Selma and recalls attending church with her mother to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 2School TripJerry Craft, illustrated by Jerry CraftEighth grader Jordan has been accepted to an art high school but is unsure whether to leave the school he shares with his friends. During a class trip to Europe, the students confront unexpected changes to their guides, and the trip becomes chaotic. The experience abroad helps Jordan make his decision about his next school.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeWord Count 17119View book details
Rank 3We Need To Talk About VaginasAllison K. Rodgers, illustrated by Annika Le LargeWe Need to Talk About Vaginas addresses the distinction between a vagina and a vulva. It centers questions that tweens may hesitate to voice and recognizes that vaginas are often not discussed. The book places anatomical terminology and the act of talking about it at its core, inviting an open discussion of a topic that can feel embarrassing or difficult.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 4Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My LifeJerry PinkneyJerry Pinkney’s memoir recounts his childhood in a Black Philadelphia neighborhood during the 1950s. Drawing helped Jerry make sense of the world as he grew up in crowded spaces, struggled with dyslexia, and lived during segregation. He was constantly drawing or thinking about it, and a teacher recognized him as the class artist and incorporated art assignments into his schoolwork. While selling papers at a newsstand, he sketched passersby and sold the drawings. A customer, comic-strip artist John Liney, later invited Jerry to observe his studio process.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 5Aniana del Mar Jumps InJasminne MendezAniana loves swimming, but she and Papi hide her practices and meets from Mami, whose grief after a loss in the water has left her fearful. After Ani develops stiffness and swollen joints and cannot get out of bed, her commitment to swimming becomes impossible to conceal. Newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, she experiences chronic pain while pursuing her ambition to become a professional swimmer. Her doctor believes medication and swimming can help manage her disease, while Mami forbids her return to the water.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 6The Windeby PuzzleLois LowryBlending fiction with history, this novel is set in an Iron Age village. Estrild wants to become a warrior, and Varick, an orphan boy with a twisted back, helps train her. Both stand apart in a community where differences are poorly tolerated. Inspired by the discovery of a 2,000-year-old bog body in Northern Germany, the story considers the danger facing them.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 7I Am KaviThushanthi PonweeraIn 1998 Colombo, Kavi is a ten-year-old scholarship student caught between a poverty-stricken village and an affluent city school. She wants to be liked by the popular girls and lies in pursuit of that acceptance, until she is caught. Told in free verse, the story follows her as she faces questions of who she is and where she belongs across these sharply different parts of her life.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 8A Mighty Long Way (Adapted for Young Readers)Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier PageIn 1957, at fourteen, Carlotta Walls LaNier joined the nine Black students responsible for integrating Little Rock Central High School, which had been all white. The group came to be called the Little Rock Nine. Lisa Frazier Page is credited with LaNier on this adapted edition. Delacorte Press published the 304-page book on January 17, 2023. Its ISBN is 9780593486757.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 9Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during World War IIRalph Shayne, illustrated by Tatiana GoldbergSet in Nazi-occupied Denmark in 1943, this historical graphic novel depicts Mette, a young Jewish girl, as her family tries to evade an impending roundup. Alongside Mette’s family, teachers, fishers, members of the resistance, and other Danish residents help Jewish neighbors make it safely to Sweden. Ralph Shayne incorporated experiences from his mother’s life, and the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center helped develop the book.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 10Remember UsJacqueline WoodsonSage’s world seems to be burning during the summer before she enters seventh grade. A fire affects her neighborhood, while her friendships are changing. The story considers time, memory, and what people carry forward into the future. As Sage confronts the fire and shifting relationships around her, memories help point toward what comes next. The book centers a summer of upheaval in which a neighborhood fire and changes in friendship shape Sage’s experience.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 669LATOS Book Level 4.3View book detailsAbeni’s SongP. Djèlí ClarkA song is presented as a possible guide in darkness, but the warning urges caution about which song one hears. The action begins when warriors carrying burning blades attack a village, leaving no time to run. The book pairs this assault with a danger rooted in listening and song. It introduces the attack as an urgent event, stressing that danger is already approaching.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories (and Recipes)Nadia L. HohnTwenty-one authors from across North America contribute personal stories and recipes in this collection. Their pieces draw on family life, culture, race, and experiences of racism. The contributors share food alongside accounts of how racism affected their families and communities, presenting a range of backgrounds and perspectives. Folk-art-style illustrations accompany the stories and recipes. Together, the entries connect cooking and family traditions with reflections on culture and racial injustice.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Astronaut’s Guide to Leaving the Planet: Everything You Need to Know, from Training to Re-entryTerry Virts, illustrated by Andrés LozanoWritten by a former NASA astronaut, this nonfiction guide addresses questions about becoming an astronaut and preparing for a trip beyond Earth. It explains how people train for space travel, then turns to daily life while living and working in space. The book also covers the course of a mission from training through re-entry, organizing its information around the practical questions young people may have about human spaceflight.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Calling the Moon: 16 Period Stories from BIPOC AuthorsAida Salazar, Yamile Saied MendezThis collection brings together short fiction and poetry about menstruation by Black, Indigenous, and other authors of color. Its pieces approach periods through a range of cultural and ethnic perspectives, making room for humor, joy, and the more serious feelings the experience can bring. One story begins when Angela gets her period while playing basketball on a boys’ team. Together, the entries present menstruation as a subject with many personal circumstances and voices.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsColin Kaepernick: Change the Game (Graphic Novel Memoir)Colin Kaepernick, Eve L. Ewing, illustrated by Orlando CaicedoColin Kaepernick: Change the Game is a graphic novel memoir created by Colin Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing. The catalog describes it as a high school graphic novel memoir and identifies Kaepernick as both an athlete and an activist. Its visual format combines drawn storytelling with memoir. Graphix published this 144-page edition in 2023, connecting sports and activism through a personal nonfiction form.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsThe Death & Life of Benny BrooksEthan LongBenny Brooks is contending with a series of troubles at home and at school. His parents have divorced, and his mother moves away, leaving Benny, his brother, and his sister with their father, who has received a lung-cancer diagnosis. Benny is also picked on by his older brother, unnoticed by his crush, and having difficulty in all classes other than art. The story follows how these pressures accumulate for Benny.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsDoña Quixote: Rise of the KnightRey Terciero, illustrated by Monica M. MagañaIn a Texas town, residents see a strange older man who wears knightly clothing and says he protects the world from monsters visible only to him. Years later, Lucia and her best friend Sandro, described as her dependable squire, make a startling discovery: the town mayor is secretly a beast able to change shape. The story brings together a town’s skepticism about the old man’s claims with Lucia and Sandro’s encounter with a threat that appears to confirm a world of hidden monsters.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Farewell Cuba, Mi IslaAlexandra DiazIn 1960 Cuba, Victoria loves her home, her large family, and her cousin and best friend Jackie. As the political situation becomes dangerous, Victoria, her parents, and her younger siblings leave for refuge in America with only two changes of clothing and five dollars. They must leave relatives behind in Cuba. In Miami, Victoria helps Jackie bring the rest of their family to America.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
GallowgateK. R. AlexanderA boy with the forbidden ability to travel through the lands of the dead arrives at Gallowgate Academy, a school of magic. He must learn to use his new powers against a monster pursuing him while navigating a world of ghosts, ghouls, and eccentric classmates. A dangerous family history brought him to the academy, where the boundary between a curse and survival keeps shifting.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsGarvey’s Choice: The Graphic NovelNikki Grimes, illustrated by Theodore Taylor IIIGarvey’s father wishes he were athletic, but Garvey prefers astronomy, science fiction, and reading to sports. Feeling unsuccessful in his father’s eyes, Garvey turns to food for comfort. He is overweight, lonely, and bullied, though he is also a kind, funny, smart, loyal friend. At a friend’s suggestion, he joins the school chorus, where he becomes a soloist and finds a musical way to connect with his distant father.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Great Cold Queen: A Poppenohna Land Adventure (Book 1)Carrie Turley, illustrated by Lara LawThe Great Cold Queen: A Poppenohna Land Adventure begins in Poppenohna, beyond Tickletoes River, where Fairy Glade is located. Two gnomes, Murray and Apple Blossom, stop at the glade to explore. Their visit reveals that it is not simply an area of grass and trees. Carrie Turley wrote this first Poppenohna Land Adventure, published in 2023 by Lawley Enterprises LLC.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsHandsTorrey MaldonadoTwelve-year-old Trev wants to protect his family, especially his mother, from his violent stepfather. Learning that his stepfather may leave jail pushes him toward boxing because he believes fighting is his only way to help. At the same time, Trev weighs using his hands to make art instead. Adults around him challenge his plan, and he comes to understand that his community is his greatest source of strength.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL430LATOS Book Level 3.1View book detailsHow to Handle STRESS for Middle School SuccessSilvi Guerra, illustrated by DeAndra HodgeHow to Handle Stress for Middle School Success addresses stress during middle school. It recognizes that someone can look as though everything is going well on the outside while experiencing stress. Written by Silvi Guerra, the book was published in 2023 by Magination Press, part of the American Psychological Association.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
How to NAVIGATE Middle SchoolAnna Pozzatti, Bonnie Massimino, illustrated by DeAndra HodgeAnna Pozzatti and Bonnie Massimino’s 2023 book challenges earlier advice that told children facing bullying to ignore it or repeat a familiar saying. The supplied text states that this guidance did not work. Published by Magination Press on February 21, 2023, the book addresses navigating middle school rather than presenting those responses as solutions. Its title identifies middle school as its setting.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
How to Stay InvisibleMaggie C. RuddTwelve-year-old Raymond Hurley has grown accustomed to being alone because his parents repeatedly move the family from place to place. After they leave him behind in a trailer in a new state, Raymond and his dog must manage on their own in the woods. Their survival depends on facing the natural world while Raymond also confronts difficult questions about trust and having no lasting home.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 730LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
KaribaDaniel Clarke, James Clarke, Daniel Snaddon, illustrated by Daniel ClarkeKariba tells of the daughter of a river god who is raised by a human father. Her life is bound to a tragic destiny, bringing together a divine parentage, a human family, and an ominous future. The story centers on this girl’s place between those two origins as she grows up with her father while carrying the fate connected to her river-god heritage.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsMapmakers and the Enchanted MountainCameron Chittock, Amanda CastilloAlidade is a Mapmaker who, with Lewis and Blue, plans to restore magic beyond the Valley. The group also wants to learn what happened to the Memris, guardians who vanished when the Night Coats took power. They meet Cado, a boy who leads them to his hidden Mountain village, where not everyone welcomes a Mapmaker or a Memri, as hidden dangers close in.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure GN270LATOS Book Level 2.1View book detailsThe Mark of Athena: The Graphic NovelRick Riordan, illustrated by Orpheus CollarThe Mark of Athena: The Graphic Novel is the third graphic-novel entry in Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series. The related account in The Son of Neptune introduces Percy, Hazel, and Frank at Camp Jupiter, described as Camp Half-Blood’s Roman equivalent. The three travel beyond the gods’ lands to carry out a dangerous quest. This installment presents the series in graphic-novel form.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsMascotCharles Waters, Traci SorellAt Rye Middle School, students debate whether their school's mascot should remain or be replaced. Some see the mascot as racist, while others disagree. The discussion brings out differing emotions, viewpoints, and cultural perspectives among the students. Told in free verse, the book presents six eighth graders considering the implications of a symbol tied to both school tradition and racial identity.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.9View book detailsThe Moth KeeperK. O'NeillAnya has become a Moth Keeper, charged with protecting lunar moths. The moths make it possible for the Night-Lily to bloom once each year, and Anya’s village relies on that flower to thrive. Eager to prove herself and thank her friends through her work, she finds that the role is not what she expected. Anya considers stepping away from moonlit duty to experience the sun for the first time.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure GN710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Race Against Death: The Greatest POW Rescue of World War II (Scholastic Focus)Deborah HopkinsonThis nonfiction account traces American and Filipino soldiers and medical personnel from the attack on Pearl Harbor through the Bataan Death March and imprisonment in camps in the Philippines. Drawing chiefly on firsthand testimony, it follows events in chronological order and returns to the same voices across chapters. Photographs, maps, and drawings by soldiers and prisoners accompany the narrative. The book also addresses the violence of the Japanese occupation and recounts the January 1945 rescue, including the roles of Filipino resistance fighters and local farmers.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Race for the Ruby TurtleStephen BramucciAs summer ends, Jake Rizzi stays at his great-aunt’s cabin in Oregon’s damp, moss-covered backwoods while his parents leave for a couples retreat. Jake wonders whether his ADHD is part of why they need time away. His aunt lives off the grid and tells stories about a turtle whose shell is the color of a ruby. When Jake discovers the turtle is real, an online article draws searchers to the area, including a suspicious park ranger and twin visitors who say they are zoologists.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Sky RopesSondra SoderborgBreanna sees herself as strong, tough, and her district's greatest prankster. She already has close friends, Pascale and Niraj, and does not want to meet new people. At her school's required teambuilding camp, however, she refuses to climb Sky Ropes, the state's highest ropes course. The story follows her effort to confront trauma, fear, friendship, and what bravery can mean.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 660LATOS Book Level 4.3View book detailsThe Spirit GlassRoshani ChokshiDrawing on Filipino mythology, this quest centers on Corazon, who wants to become a babaylan and reconnect with her parents after their deaths. A hostile ghost takes her soul key, putting the balance between worlds at risk. With Saso, her gecko companion, Corazon travels through spirit realms in an effort to create a replacement key.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book detailsA Spoonful of TimeFlora AhnMaya’s grandmother, Halmunee, is losing her memory but continues to make dishes including miyeok-guk and songpyeon. Her kitchen stories about Korea become vivid for Maya. After a bite of food carries the pair into one of Halmunee’s memories, Maya encounters family secrets through time travel. The journey connects Halmunee’s cooking with the past she remembers and the stories she shares with Maya.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 750LATOS Book Level 4.8View book details
Sunshine: A Graphic NovelJarrett J. Krosoczka, illustrated by Jarrett J. KrosoczkaAfter returning from Bible camp, a boy learns that Alex, the boyfriend whose relationship he kept secret, experienced a breakdown and has vanished. He regrets having left that day and wishes he had not gone to camp when Alex disappeared. The book presents his response to Alex’s disappearance and the painful uncertainty surrounding it.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsTagging FreedomRhonda RoumaniSet in Damascus, Syria, this story centers on Kareem Haddad, who never expects to make graffiti. After boys from another town paint messages critical of authority outside their school and a boy dies in custody, Kareem and his friends begin secretly placing freedom messages across their city. Graffiti also connects two cousins living on different continents as courage and convictions are challenged. Their actions become a form of expression and resistance in their city.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 4View book details
This Indian Kid: A Native American Memoir (Scholastic Focus)Eddie ChuculateThis Native American memoir by Eddie Chuculate includes a family history in which the author’s grandmother, Granny, is identified as full-blooded Creek. It is presented within Scholastic Focus, whose narrative nonfiction books are described as thoroughly researched and designed for middle-grade and young adult readers. The series description connects such books with learning about the world, examining the past, discussing the present, and helping shape the future.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Time to RollJamie SumnerEllie is not interested in beauty pageants, which she thinks suit her friend Coralee better. When Coralee asks Ellie to enter one, their friend Bert offers to manage them. Ellie also faces a summer with a father who barely knows her while her mother is on her honeymoon with Ellie's gym teacher. The story follows Ellie as she considers the pageant, her friendships, and finding her own way to shine.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 750LATOS Book Level 4.9View book details
The Umbrella HouseColleen Nelson, map by Peggy CollinsRoxy and her best friend Scout make videos about life in the East Village. When a news organization announces a video competition for young people, Roxy looks for a story worth telling. The two creative twelve-year-olds become involved in an effort to stop developers from destroying their apartment building. As Roxy works to protect her home, she also investigates the identity of a mysterious artist. The book includes a map, archival photograph, sources, and black-and-white spot art.Teacher Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsTeacher Favorites — 9th–12th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1Pride and Prejudice and PittsburghRachael LippincottPride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh is a 2024 novel by Rachael Lippincott. Audrey Cameron has lost her spark after a single difficult week. Her first love ends their relationship, and her preferred art school places her on its waitlist. After those setbacks, Audrey decides she will not make herself emotionally vulnerable again in an effort to regain what she has lost.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 2The Other Pandemic: An AIDS MemoirLynn CurleeIn this photo-illustrated memoir, Lynn Curlee recalls childhood and young adulthood before moving to New York City in the early 1970s. He describes finding friends, community, love, and an artistic career as a young gay man. The book follows the growing alarm around HIV/AIDS, the deaths of people in his circle and wider community, and the fear, grief, anger, public ignorance, and government inaction experienced by gay and LGBTQ communities during the epidemic.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 3Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Recharged VolRyan Parrott, illustrated by Marco Renna, Moisés HidalgoRyan Parrott wrote this 112-page continuation of the relaunched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, published by BOOM! Studios on August 29, 2023. It connects dreams about a distant past with a battle involving Earth and the Moon. The book discloses further information about Zedd, Zordon, and Rita. Its conflict spans the two named celestial bodies and past events revealed in dreams.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 4Make Me a LiarMelissa LandersMake Me a Liar features a girl whose consciousness can be transferred from body to body. She uses this ability for good until another person uses her body to carry out a murder. The novel is framed as a fantastical take on Veronica Mars. Melissa Landers wrote it; Disney Publishing Group released it on 2023-12-05, with its recorded ISBN 9781368098380.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 5Plan ADeb CalettiWhen Texas law bars abortion after six weeks, sixteen-year-old Ivy is pregnant following a nonconsensual encounter. She travels across the country to Oregon with her boyfriend to obtain a legal abortion. The road trip places her circumstances within a conflict over law, access, and personal choice. As Ivy makes the journey, the story centers on the vulnerability and strength involved in pursuing the medical care that is unavailable to her at home.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 6Hidden: A True Story of the HolocaustKati Preston, illustrated by Dilleen MarshTold from Kati Preston's childhood perspective, this graphic novel recounts survival during the Holocaust. Born in Hungary in 1939 to a Jewish father and Catholic mother, Kati lost her extended Jewish family and was saved when she was five years old. As an adult, she shares this story of survival and addresses the consequences of hate and prejudice. The book is illustrated in color.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 7Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark TomorrowAlex SeguraAnya Corazon was an ordinary Brooklyn teenager until she gained spiderlike abilities, including strength, agility, and web-slinging. After losing both her mentor and her mother, Anya is sent across a century and stranded in the future New York City of Spider-Man 2099. There she must draw on her powers to confront an immortal threat and help save the universe.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 8Gay Club!Simon James GreenBarney expects to become president of his school's LGBTQ+ Society, but the election is opened to the whole student body and Danny Orlando is chosen instead. Danny appears to be the school's straightest boy and is unprepared to lead the club. When a national charity offers a competition to select an LGBTQ+ Society as youth ambassadors, Danny needs Barney's help. The students organize around the club's election and its new opportunity.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 9Ab(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health StereotypesNora Shalaway Carpenter, Rocky CallenThis fiction anthology brings together sixteen authors writing from their own experiences to challenge stereotypes about mental health. Its stories include a teen activist dealing with anxiety and PTSD connected to protest, a vampire whose social anxiety complicates saving his town, and a girl whose letters to a former boyfriend address angry outbursts related to PMDD. Another story follows a boy whose uncontrollable crying helps make space for someone else’s healing.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 10Spice RoadMaiya IbrahimIn Qalia, a hidden desert city protected by secret spice magic for a thousand years, Imani is an expert swordfighter raised to defend her nation from monsters in the sands. When her brother’s betrayal becomes a threat to the country, she leaves the city for a distant outer world to find him. This opening volume of a fantasy series centers a journey through an Arabian-inspired setting shaped by magic, danger, and family ties.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It ChangedDashka SlaterThis nonfiction account examines what happened after a private Instagram account posted racist memes targeting Black girls in Albany, California. The Korean American boy who created the account considered the girls his friends; other students learned of it, and its discovery affected the targets, the creator, followers, educators, parents, school, and wider community. The book traces how efforts by adults to repair the damage could make matters worse, amid the consequences of racism and online behavior.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsAya: An Anthology of Racial Justice, Healing and the Black ExperienceVeronica Chapman, Kevin Reese, illustrated by Erianna JilesAya is an inaugural anthology published in 2022 by Planting People Growing Justice. It brings together reflections from Black Minnesota voices, including youth and community activists. Their contributions address racial justice and healing, framing the volume around experiences of the Black community. Veronica Chapman and Kevin Reese are credited as its authors. The book is 32 pages long in this edition.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Being Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and ConnectionMadeline Dyer with contributing authorsEdited by Madeline Dyer, this anthology brings together short fiction and poetry by established and emerging YA writers. Its pieces range across contemporary, fantasy, and science-fiction settings while exploring and celebrating sub-identities on the asexual spectrum. The collection draws on contributors’ own experiences and presents varied literary forms and genres focused on asexual love and connection.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Blood DebtsTerry J. Benton-WalkerBlood Debts is Terry J. Benton-Walker’s contemporary fantasy, set amid deadly drama in New Orleans. It brings together powerful magical families and curses that stretch across generations. Gods intervene, and magic is portrayed as capable of betrayal. The book is described as the author’s contemporary fantasy debut, with justice positioned against its supernatural dangers and family histories within the city.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
BorderlessJennifer De LeonSixteen-year-old Maya attends Salomé Fashion Institute in Guatemala City on scholarship. Her mother takes extra jobs to cover what the scholarship does not, and both look toward the school’s fashion show and Maya’s future career. When Maya’s mother fails to attend the show, Maya faces a troubling explanation: gang threats in their neighborhood have reached their home, involving a boy Maya thought might be a friend.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Bring Me Your MidnightRachel GriffinBring Me Your Midnight follows Tana Fairchild, whose future has been arranged since birth. She is expected to marry Landon, the governor’s son, in order to establish an alliance between her island’s witches and mainlanders. The mainlanders see the witches’ existence as a threat, so the planned marriage is tied to political tension between the island and mainland. Tana lives on the island.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Chaos TheoryNic StoneShelbi is a talented student with bipolar depression who has withdrawn from classmates after being hurt at a previous school. Andy is grieving, struggling with alcohol, and dealing with the aftermath of a crash caused by drunk driving. An accidental message begins contact between the two Black teenagers, and later meetings turn their friendship romantic. Their relationship raises questions about grief, recovery, boundaries, public attention, and supporting someone without taking responsibility for their mental health.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsThe Collectors: StoriesA. S. KingThe Collectors: Stories is an anthology edited by A. S. King. It brings together nine young-adult novelists, with King also contributing a story, to write fiction from a prompt she supplied. The pieces focus on remarkable people and their strange, surprising collections. The volume gathers short stories rather than one continuous account, with each contribution offering its own fictional subject and collection.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Eternal Return of Clara HartLouise FinchSpence has known Anthony for years, yet a devastating incident at a house party changes how he perceives their friendship. After Clara Hart is struck by a car, the same sequence of events repeats, leaving Spence caught in a time loop. As the pattern continues, an unusual break in time allows him to recognize Anthony in a new way while he tries to escape the cycle.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Family StyleThien PhamThien’s earliest recollections are tied to food, including watermelon and fish eaten while his family fled Vietnam by sea. After reaching a refugee camp in Thailand, the Pham family struggles to survive before resettling in California. Food takes on different meanings through each stage of their lives: strawberries become connected with the parents’ search for work, while Thien’s journey through food is also a search for belonging in America.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure 401LATOS Book Level 2.8View book detailsHarvest HouseCynthia Leitich SmithWith Halloween approaching, Hughie Wolfe volunteers at Harvest House, a new rural attraction built around a spooky show. His excitement fades when he learns that one performer will portray a vengeful spirit called an “Indian maiden,” based on a local legend. At night, disturbing events unfold near the crossroads: a man stalks teenage girls and young women, especially Indigenous women, while dogs grow anxious and wild animals behave strangely. The book combines coming-of-age tension, social justice concerns, and paranormal suspense.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
House Partyjustin a. reynoldsHouse Party is a collaborative novel by ten authors, including justin a. reynolds, Angeline Boulley, Jerry Craft, and Natasha Díaz. It asks how many love stories might unfold during a single house party. Random House Children’s Books published the title on June 27, 2023. Other contributors include Lamar Giles, Christina Hammonds Reed, and Ryan La Sala. The party provides the shared occasion for several romantic stories.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsHungry GhostVictoria YingValerie Chu is quiet, studious, and secretly living with bulimia; even her best friend Jordan does not know. After a crisis, Val reconsiders her priorities, choices, and relationship with her body. Her mother’s perfectionism and fixation on weight shape that struggle, while Val must find the strength to seek help. This graphic novel follows her movement toward self-love and happiness.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsInvisible SonKim JohnsonAfter two months in juvenile detention for a crime he did not commit, Andre Jackson returns home. He must adjust to a world altered by Covid-19 while trying to locate his missing best friend. Andre also faces the aftermath of being wrongfully accused and of the girl he loves moving on, as he works to reclaim his identity. The story follows his efforts to adapt after detention and reconnect with what matters to him.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Last Canto of the DeadDaniel José OlderLast Canto of the Dead is a sequel to Ballad & Dagger that follows Mateo Matisse and Chela Hidalgo. They are teenagers in love, but also powerful gods in human form. Mateo and Chela fight simultaneous battles in the Caribbean and Brooklyn. The book presents their relationship alongside a supernatural conflict that connects these two places at the same time in each region.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsLive Your Best LieJessie WeaverSummer Cartwright is a social-media influencer whose curated online image presents a privileged life: millions of followers, designer and vintage clothing, a book deal, friends, and a relationship at an elite prep school. Beneath the polished Instagram feed, however, the story signals darker and bloodier secrets. Her highly visible online persona contrasts with what may be concealed behind it, as school life and social status frame her world and relationships.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Love in Winter WonderlandAbiola BelloSet during Christmas in London, this romance centers on Trey Anderson and Ariel Spencer. Trey is well known at school and works at his family’s Black-owned bookshop, Wonderland. Ariel is creative and hopes to secure tuition for a prestigious art program. Their story unfolds amid the bookshop and the holiday season, with the question of whether the two will find a lasting romantic connection at its center.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Many Deaths of Laila Starr, The Deluxe Edition HCRam V, illustrated by Filipe AndradeWhen humanity nears the discovery of immortality, Death’s avatar is forced down to Earth and must live as a mortal in Mumbai. She becomes twenty-something Laila Starr and struggles with her altered condition. Laila finds a way to be present when the person who will create immortality is born, confronting the possibility of stopping a permanent change to the cycle of life and death.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Miles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man NovelJason Reynolds, illustrated by Zeke PeñaMiles Morales is a teenager preoccupied with poetry and awkward around his crush, as well as Spider-Man. After using his powers to save the world from the Warden, he is given in-school suspension. What starts as a tedious day is interrupted when his Spidey Sense signals that something is wrong. Miles soon faces a strange confrontation involving an insidious termite.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Night in Question (An Agatha’s Mystery, #2)Kathleen Glasgow, Liz LawsonAfter Alice Ogilvie’s former best friend Brooke Donovan was killed, Alice and her tutor Iris Adams worked together using Agatha Christie’s complete works, avoiding a wrongful imprisonment. Castle Cove’s police have a reputation for failing to solve crimes. During the high school’s annual Sadie Hawkins dance, Alice explores Levy Castle, the site of one of the town’s most notorious deaths.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
NorthrangerRey Terciero, illustrated by Bre IndigoSixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz, a closeted queer Latino teen in rural Texas, finds real life more frightening than the horror movies he enjoys. Sent to work as a ranch hand over the summer to help his family earn money, he falls for the ranch owner’s son. The romance is complicated by the boy’s mystery and the possibility that he is concealing a dangerous secret.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Our Divine Mischief: The Course of True Love Never Did Lack ChaosHanna C. HowardOur Divine Mischief is a fantasy inspired by Scottish history and folklore. Its journey is narrated from three perspectives: a heroine determined to meet her challenge, an outcast young man, and a dog able to grant wishes. They travel between a royal court and a fishing community on an island. Áila LacInis prepares for the Goddess Trial, a test intended to take young people to their limits as they come of age.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Pirate and the Porcelain GirlEmily Riesbeck, illustrated by NJ BarnaFerra Brickminder prays to regain the love of her life, but the gods answer unexpectedly: her skin becomes delicate porcelain that can break dangerously easily. Brigantine de la Girona, an orc pirate captain who has been disgraced, is penniless and barred from her home. She struggles to support herself alongside the crew she relies on. This fantasy centers on their separate problems.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
A Ruinous FateKaylie SmithA Ruinous Fate is a debut set in a world on the brink of war. The book brings together adventure and romance with a cast of characters presented as lovable. Its premise places these elements in a world facing serious conflict, where the characters move toward danger and into the shadows. The result is a story shaped by love, exploration, and looming war.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
She Is A HauntingTrang Thanh TranJade Nguyen travels to Vietnam to visit her estranged father, Ba, who is restoring a French colonial house. She plans to survive five weeks while pretending that they are a happy family, because Ba has promised her money for college. Jade has learned to alter herself to fit in, questioning whether she is straight enough, Vietnamese enough, or American enough. The house itself carries a threatening presence, adding supernatural danger to Jade’s struggle with family and identity.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Sleepless in DubaiSajni PatelWritten by Sajni Patel and published in 2023, this romantic comedy features Nikki, an aspiring photographer. She joins her family on a trip to Dubai during the five days of Diwali. A second teen is also traveling to the city for the Festival of Lights. Dubai provides the setting for the teens’ visit, Nikki’s family trip, her interest in photography, and the Diwali celebration.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
UnravellerFrances HardingeIn a world where anyone can make a curse capable of ruining a life, fifteen-year-old Kellen can undo curses. He travels with Nettle, whose earlier curse changed her into a heron. After Kellen angers a wealthy client and they are jailed, Gall offers their release in return for work for an unnamed patron. As they take assignments, Kellen and Nettle confront the complicated motives behind curses: mistakes, secrets, faults, and strong feelings, rather than simple evil.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
We Deserve MonumentsJas HammondsSeventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is taken from her life in Washington, DC, to stay with her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The strained relationship between Avery’s mother and grandmother makes the arrival difficult and exposes old family conflict they will not discuss. Avery seeks the truth behind the secrets that divided her family, while a town’s troubling past also challenges that search.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure HL730LATOS Book Level 5View book detailsWe Don’t Swim HereVincent TiradoVincent Tirado’s 2023 novel places Bronwyn in rural Hillwoods, where she is meant to stay for only a year. The available premise also says that she intends to make people pay, without identifying the event behind that intention. Sourcebooks published the book on May 30, 2023. Bronwyn’s temporary residence in Hillwoods and her stated resolve to retaliate define the information provided.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
WolfwoodMarianna BaerA gallery offers Zoe a chance to revive Wolfwood, her unfinished hit series. Indigo sees the exhibition as a way to restore stability and secretly takes up the painting herself. As she paints, Indigo is drawn into the pictured Wolfwood, a dangerous jungle. There, grotesque plants form an army fighting a band of girls. Indigo’s mother wants no involvement with Wolfwood, and the account points to a possible reason for her reluctance.Teacher Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsLibrarian Favorites — K–2nd Grade
40 selections
Rank 1100 Mighty Dragons All Named BroccoliDavid LaRochelle, illustrated by Lian ChoOne hundred dragons named Broccoli live on a mountain, but their number steadily changes as groups leave. A powerful wind carries away half of them, while ten depart to surf in Hawaii. The oldest and youngest travel to New York City to form a heavy-metal band, and a wizard transforms four others. The departures and transformations leave one dragon behind.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD600LATOS Book Level 3.9View book details
Rank 2My Powerful HairCarole LindstromAn Ojibwe girl grows out her black hair and reflects on its importance in her community and family. Her mother and grandmother were denied the chance to wear their hair long, including when her grandmother’s braids were cut at boarding school. As her hair lengthens, the girl marks family milestones, learns to fish from her grandfather, and makes moccasins. Traditional beliefs connect hair with energy, power, medicine, and closeness to Mother Earth.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 530LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
Rank 3There’s Always Room for One MoreRobyn Mcgrath, illustrated by Ishaa LoboBeaver builds a boat for himself, beginning another adventure with Hedgehog, Bear, and Badger. When his friends want to join him for a ride, the boat will not hold the whole group. Beaver responds by making a raft with enough room for everyone. The friends’ outing shifts from a solo boat-building project into a shared trip on the water.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 4Have You Seen My Invisible Dinosaur?Helen Yoon, illustrated by Helen YoonA child’s invisible dinosaur friend disappears after a bath, prompting a search. Although an invisible creature is difficult to see, mud, rain, snow, and leaves can reveal its outline. These visual traces help the child look for the missing dinosaur. The story brings the girl and her invisible friend back together, centering their reunion and the imaginative challenge of finding someone who cannot ordinarily be seen.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 143View book detailsRank 5This Book Is My Best FriendRobin RobinsonSunny and Aarush both love to read. When they reach for the same book in a library, each claims it as a best friend. Their dispute takes them through the stacks, but they learn to share the book. What begins as competition over one book becomes the start of a friendship between the two readers.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD500LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
Rank 6Some of These Are SnailsCarter Higgins, illustrated by Carter HigginsSome of These Are Snails is a concept book about sorting, classification, patterns, and perspective. It presents familiar ideas in unexpected ways and uses a playful approach to ask how things can be grouped, distinguished, and seen differently. Rather than following a conventional plot, the book focuses on changing points of view and on the relationships among patterns and categories.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 0.1View book details
Rank 7Old to JoyAnita Crawford Clark, illustrated by Anita Crawford ClarkOld to Joy, by Anita Crawford Clark, focuses on Joy’s Grandmama and where she lives. Her home is an aged house on a long-established street. The surroundings include mature trees and a variety of aged belongings. The book places Grandmama amid these long-standing surroundings: the home, its street, the trees, and the various old things.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 8Granny RexKurtis Scaletta, illustrated by Nik HendersonLittle Dee is harassed by a hawk in her neighborhood. Her mother explains that Dee’s distant ancestor was an enormous dinosaur called Granny Rex, and that the dinosaur remains in Dee’s feathers and bones. Dee learns that birds descend from dinosaurs and are related to Tyrannosaurus rex. As she remembers this ancestry, Dee discovers that being small does not mean she cannot be mighty.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 9The Penguin of Ilha GrandeShannon Earle, illustrated by Renato AlarcãoThe true story follows Seu João after an oil-covered penguin comes ashore in Brazil. He saves the bird’s life, and the two become friends. The account centers on their connection after the rescue; Dindim does not return to the wild. It places the encounter on Brazil’s coast and focuses on the relationship between a man and a penguin. A man rescues the bird after it washes up, covered in oil.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Rank 10Something Happened to Our Planet: Kids Tackle the Climate CrisisMarianne Celano, Marietta Collins, illustrated by Bhagya MadanasingheA narrator works with friends on efforts intended to help the planet. Their action at school is to campaign for reusable plates, making a specific change to how meals can be served. The book places that effort within the climate crisis and depicts young people acting together at school. Marianne Celano and Marietta Collins wrote this 40-page book, published in 2023.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
10 CatsEmily Gravett, illustrated by Emily GravettTen kittens play while their mother sleeps, pouncing, batting, and swatting around buckets of paint. Their games leave both the kittens and their sleeping mother covered in color. When Mama Cat wakes, the play changes into bath time. The picture book also incorporates counting, colors, and spot-the-difference pages.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 33View book details
Books Make Good FriendsJane Mount, illustrated by Jane MountLotti is shy and uncertain about making friends. While the people around her are playful, outgoing, and loud, she chooses quiet places and books. To Lotti, books hold magic and feel less frightening than new friends. The story follows a book-loving child as she encounters friendship in everyday moments.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Cooler Than LemonadeHarshita Jerath, illustrated by Chloe BurgettEva plans to open a lemonade stand, but a boy across the street competes with free offerings and clever tactics, causing her to question her own ideas. Frustration gives way to a new inspiration: Eva makes homemade kulfi. The new idea helps her regain confidence and creativity as she adapts to the setback at her summer business.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD470LATOS Book Level 3.2View book details
Ganesha’s Great RaceSanjay Patel, Emily Haynes, illustrated by Sanjay PatelA retelling of a classic Hindu myth pits Ganesha against his older brother, Kartikeya, in a race around the world. The challenge will determine who receives a magical mango given by the gods. Ganesha appears with his mouse companion in this story about a contest between brothers and a prize.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
How This Book Got RedMargaret Chiu Greanias, illustrated by Melissa IwaiRed is excited to find a new book about pandas, but it includes only black-and-white pandas and leaves out red pandas like her. Tired of never seeing pandas like herself in these stories, Red decides to write a book of her own. As she creates it, she wonders why the world notices only one kind of panda and not others like her.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD490LATOS Book Level 2.1View book detailsI Want 100 DogsStacy McAnulty, illustrated by Claire KeaneA girl dreams of having 100 dogs. She and her parents consider what might happen if they brought home that many animals, imagining both the appealing possibilities and the difficult ones. Her wish leads to challenges and a lesson that surprises her. The book focuses on a child’s desire for pets and the family’s thoughts about the consequences of adding an enormous number of dogs to their home.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 220View book details
The Kindest RedIbtihaj Muhammad, S. K. Ali, illustrated by Hatem AlyOn picture day, Faizah is eager to wear a red dress and matching ribbons that came from her mother and sister. Her teacher asks the class to imagine the kind of world they want, and Faizah and her friends spend the day helping one another. Later, while preparing for sibling photographs, Faizah notices that she and her older sister, Asiya, are dressed differently from other sibling pairs.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 690View book details
The Littlest Yak and the New ArrivalLu Fraser, illustrated by Kate HindleyGertie, the littlest yak, is preparing to become a big sister. She looks forward to welcoming a new yakling and thinks about the things she can share, including her curly-wool comb and pinecones used for games. At the same time, Gertie wonders whether her mother’s heart has enough room for both her and the new baby. The story follows her anticipation and questions about the family’s new arrival.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Lolo’s Sari-sari StoreSophia N. LeeA young Filipina girl carries lessons from her grandfather’s sari-sari store as she adjusts to a new home. After joining her mother in the United States, she begins building community there. Her memories of summers helping Lolo run his store remain important as she forms connections in her new surroundings.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsLong Goes to Dragon SchoolHelen H. Wu, illustrated by Mae BesomOn the first day of Dragon School, young dragons practice using their breath to cook food. While the others are excited to test fire-breathing, Long is uneasy: he comes from the East and breathes water instead. The fantasy draws on Eastern and Western dragon lore as Long faces a school setting in which fire seems essential and he struggles to fit in.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
Ludwig and the RhinocerosNoemi Schneider, illustrated by GOLDEN COSMOSLudwig insists that a rhinoceros is in his room, raising a central question: can something be real when it cannot be seen? The claim creates a mystery in Ludwig’s room and is presented with humor. The book returns to the idea of an unseen rhinoceros and considers whether visibility is required for existence. Its story centers on Ludwig’s declaration and the philosophical question that follows from it.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Mermaid and PirateTracey Baptiste, illustrated by Leisl AdamsA mermaid and a pirate come from separate worlds and do not share a language, so they cannot understand one another at first. When stormy weather makes the water dangerous, each is ready to help the other. Their acts of generosity create a friendship despite the distance between their backgrounds and the words they speak.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsMine!Candace FlemingA red apple hangs high in a tree, drawing Mouse, Hare, Fox, Deer, and Bear beneath it. Each animal expects the fruit to belong to them alone, and their competing claims erupt into a melee when it finally falls. While they focus on the prize, the apple rolls away. A passing possum finds it and chooses to call it “ours” with the worm already inside it, shifting the ending from possession to generosity.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Mother of SharksMelissa Cristina Márquez, illustrated by Devin Elle KurtzMeli lingers at Puerto Rico’s La Playita Del Condado after sunset because the ocean matters greatly to her. With only minutes before she must leave, she visits tidal pools filled with ocean creatures. There she encounters a crab named Jaiba, who leads a dreamlike journey below the water and explains why sharks need protection. The experience reveals that Meli is meant to become the Mother of Sharks.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure 620LATOS Book Level 4View book details
The New BicycleDarcy Day Zoells, illustrated by Darcy Day ZoellsDarcy Day Zoells’s The New Bicycle presents Mari’s home as ordinary and places her in an equally ordinary neighborhood. The text uses concise, lyrical language alongside elegant representational line drawings with watercolor. Clavis Publishing released the book in 2023. It earned the 2022 Gold Medal from the Key Colors Competition, a nationwide contest held every other year for children’s-book illustrators.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsNight Market RescueCharlotte Cheng, illustrated by Amber RenA stray dog wanders through Taipei's night market, a place filled with sights and food scents. The dog is named Gogo and rests on a stoop, where sweet and spicy smells reach him on the breeze. During the nighttime visit, Gogo finds friendship and perhaps a home. Written by Charlotte Cheng and published in May 2023, the book was released by Penguin Young Readers Group.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
The Noise Inside BoysPete OswaldAt the beach, two older brothers tease their younger brother. The teasing makes overwhelming feelings surface and leaves him wanting to push his brothers away. The story examines the confusing, turbulent emotions inside boys and shows these feelings being managed by naming and understanding them. It follows three brothers as their day at the beach brings emotional conflict into view together.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD450LATOS Book Level 3.1View book details
The North Wind and the SunPhilip C. Stead, illustrated by Philip C. SteadThree gray-haired sisters hold tightly to their patchwork coats as the North Wind tries to force them off with harsh gusts and taunts. The sisters stand together and refuse to yield. When the Sun takes a turn, she uses warmth and patience instead, leaving the women free to decide when to remove their coats. Philip C. Stead's illustrated retelling of Aesop's fable contrasts aggression with gentleness. The sisters' response gives the familiar contest a focus on solidarity, persistence, and the difference between compelling someone and allowing them a choice.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeFountas & Pinnell Text Level PView book detailsParty Hearty Kitty-CornShannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen PhamKitty plans a kitty-corn party, but a newcomer named Puppy disrupts the arrangements and receives Unicorn’s attention. Kitty becomes jealous as her carefully made plan goes wrong. The tension raises a question for Kitty and Unicorn’s friendship: whether the arrival of someone new can change a bond that has seemed secure. The story focuses on a party, jealousy, and friendship.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 527View book details
A Pigeon in Paris: Petite Takes FlightPaige Howard, illustrated by Joanie StoneA mother pigeon settles in Paris, builds a nest, lays eggs, and cares for her chicks until they can fly. Petite watches her siblings take flight but decides she is too frightened to do so herself. With encouragement from her family, she attempts flight, falls, and keeps trying. Her experience focuses on confronting fear, coping with failure, and finding inner strength.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Pup and Dragon: How to Catch an ElfAlice Walstead, illustrated by Paul GillPup and Dragon begin a Christmas graphic-novel adventure with a mission to catch one of Santa’s elves. Pup approaches the plan with great enthusiasm, while Dragon first needs to learn what Santa and an elf are. Together, the friends set out to pursue the holiday helper before Christmas, balancing Pup’s excitement with Dragon’s questions about the mission.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure GN500LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
The Recess Genius 1Janet Sumner Johnson, illustrated by Stacy EbertRegina Grey struggles with math, spelling, and gym, but she loves disappearing into books. After casually resolving a classmate's trouble with a brother, she becomes a playground problem solver. Before that moment, Regina sees herself as having little aptitude beyond reading; schoolwork and gym routinely leave her muddled. She uses quick thinking, practical ideas, persistence, and creative perspective to help schoolmates with difficult problems.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsScaredy CatsJeff MackA kitten receives a mysterious package tied with ribbon and assumes that it contains a cake. His two friends are far less certain. As they consider what might be inside, the package sets off increasingly wild ideas and fears. The story follows the contrast between the kitten’s simple expectation and his friends’ anxious guesses, using the unopened parcel as the focus of a playful guessing game about what could be waiting within.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsThe SkullJon KlassenAfter fleeing danger and becoming lost in a dark forest, Otilla finds a mansion occupied by a talking skull. The skull welcomes her, and the two share tea, pears from the garden, masks, and a ballroom dance. Their friendship is threatened when the skull reveals that a headless skeleton searches for him every night. When the skeleton arrives, Otilla protects them both and later works to destroy its bones. The story is a retelling shaped by a Tyrolean folktale.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book details
Something, SomedayAmanda Gorman, illustrated by Christian RobinsonWhen the world feels broken and problems appear too large to repair, this picture book considers how people can make a difference. It presents small gestures, faith, and a friend's help as ways to create change and find beauty together. The book asks readers to consider trying even when they are told an effort will fail.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD430LATOS Book Level 2.9View book details
Sometimes I KaploomRachel Vail, illustrated by Hyewon YumKatie Honors can manage a small night-light and sometimes hold back tears when she says goodbye to her mother at school. But on days when she is not ready to part, she does not feel brave. Katie calls these emotional moments “Kaplooms”: she clings to her mother and begins to cry. The story follows her struggle with fear, separation, and the version of herself she wants to be.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 420View book details
A Walk in the WoodsNikki GrimesA week after his father dies, a Black boy finds a map in an envelope his father left behind. It marks a place in the woods they had shared. Though reluctant to go there alone, he follows the route and encounters wildlife, a fireplace remnant, and a box containing his father’s animal drawings and poems. A note invites him to choose whether to finish the stories and to make his own.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsWe Don’t Lose Our Class GoldfishRyan T. Higgins, illustrated by Ryan T. HigginsThe companion to We Don’t Eat Our Classmates centers on Penelope Rex, a young dinosaur. Walter, the goldfish in her classroom, is the fear she cannot shake. Assigned to care for Walter during the weekend, Penelope must spend time with the pet that scares her. Ryan T. Higgins wrote this 48-page book, published by Disney Publishing Group in 2023.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeWord Count 622View book details
Willow and BunnyAnitra Rowe Schulte, illustrated by Christopher DeniseAfter a long journey, Bunny finds shelter beneath Willow’s branches and makes a home with her. They share their days until a fierce storm sweeps through the woods. Forest creatures run to Willow for protection, and she shelters them as the storm rages. When it passes, Willow’s branches are damaged and permanently changed, leaving the forest community to recover and rebuild.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeLexile Text Measure AD580LATOS Book Level 3.8View book details
Zora, the Story KeeperEbony Joy Wilkins, illustrated by Dare CoulterZora is a young Black girl who hopes to grow up to be like her aunt, Aunt Bea. Together, the two celebrate their family’s legacy by telling stories. Their storytelling is described as a source of wonder and magic, connecting Zora’s hopes for the future with her family’s past. The book focuses on the relationship between a niece and aunt as they share and honor that legacy through stories.Librarian Favorites — K–2nd GradeView book detailsLibrarian Favorites — 3rd–5th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1The Great Banned-Books Bake SaleAya Khalil, illustrated by Anait SemirdzhyanKanzi has begun to feel welcome at her American school when books about immigrant children and children of color disappear from the school library. She then learns that her school district has banned books featuring children who resemble her. As the books vanish, the loss leaves Kanzi feeling frightened and helpless.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsRank 2How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling BeeCarole Boston WeatherfordThis account follows MacNolia Cox, an eighth grader who won her school and city spelling bees in Akron, Ohio, before traveling to Washington, D.C., for the 1936 National Spelling Bee. She was the first African American winner of Akron’s contest. The journey exposes the segregation facing MacNolia and her mother: they are made to change train cars in Maryland, cannot stay at the contestants’ hotel, and must use stairs rather than the banquet elevator. At the competition, MacNolia and another Black contestant sit apart from the white participants.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsRank 3Once Upon a BookGrace Lin, Kate MessnerOn a cold winter day, bored Alice disrupts a book lying on the floor and enters its pages. Her journey moves through several imagined places: a tropical forest, then a desert on a camel, before weather sends her onward each time. Talking animals and visual hints accompany the adventure, including an unnamed white rabbit. Although the book offers one enticing escape after another, the smells of dinner and comfort of home ultimately draw Alice back to her family table.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 440LATOS Book Level 3View book detailsRank 4The Kid with Big, Big IdeasBritney Winn Lee, illustrated by Jacob SouvaThis story introduces a nonbinary child known around town for unusual ideas. The child wears colorful socks and glittery nails, while their habit of thinking beyond familiar solutions shapes how others know them. The book is part of a series that also includes stories about big feelings and big questions, and it focuses on a child whose ideas stand out.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsRank 5Alithia Ramirez Was an ArtistViolet Lemay, illustrated by Alithia Ramirez2024 Reading the West Book Awards Winner, Picture BooksA 2024 CBC Children’s Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Librarian Favorites WinnerA 2024 CBC Teacher Favorites WinnerEric Hoffer Book Awards, 2024 Grand Prize WinnerNautilus Book Awards, 2024 Gold WinnerThe Book Fest, 2024 Gold Winner for Children’s HistoricalThe Book Fest, 2024 Silver Winner for Best Picture…Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 6The Puppets of SpelhorstKate DiCamillo, illustrated by Julie MorstadFive puppets—a girl, boy, king, wolf, and owl—are trapped in darkness. They each hold different dreams, including song, light, freedom, flight, purpose, and glory. Their shared fate links them, and their dreams unfold through a play inside the larger story. Pencil illustrations accompany this tale of puppets discovering the destiny they have in common. Each puppet is part of that larger story.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 570LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
Rank 7It’s Not Bragging If It’s TrueZaila Avant-garde with Marti DumasThis book by Zaila Avant-garde with Marti Dumas looks at the attention that followed Avant-garde’s win at the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The victory made her the competition’s first African American student champion and brought sudden public notice. Eight pages of previously unpublished photographs supplement the account. It was published by Random House Children’s Books in 2023.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rank 89 KilometersClaudio Aguilera, illustrated by Gabriela Lyon, Lawrence SchimelBefore daylight, a boy leaves home for school and walks nine kilometers through Chilean mountains and rain forest. During the journey, he counts butterflies and lizards and considers the fifteen thousand steps he takes each morning. The distance is also compared with measures such as soccer fields and tall buildings. His route eventually brings him to the classroom, while the book reflects on the length and meaning of that daily trip.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeATOS Book Level 3.1AR Interest Level LG K-3View book detailsRank 9Glitter Everywhere!Chris BartonThis nonfiction book examines the science of glitter’s shine and traces people’s long fascination with sparkling materials. It looks at uses of iridescent beetle wings, mica, and other substances in ancient Egyptian, South African, Greek, and Mayan art and objects. The book also follows twentieth-century manufacturing, including mica and plastic pieces, and explains how glitter came to appear in products ranging from makeup to motorcycles.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 950LATOS Book Level 6.3View book detailsRank 10Body Music: Poems About the Noises Your Body MakesJane Yolen, Ryan G. Van Cleave, illustrated by Luis San VicenteThis poetry collection makes bodily sounds its subject. Its poems include noisy bottoms, giggles, and gasps, treating the noises bodies make as a kind of music. The collection focuses on everyday sounds produced by the body, moving from small exclamations to comic noises and giving each of them a place in verse.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsAn American StoryKwame AlexanderA teacher tries to tell the history of American slavery in a society that avoids confronting its past atrocities. The narrative moves from fireside storytelling in an African village, across the Atlantic, to forced labor in Southern fields. It portrays the struggle, suffering, strength, and resilience of African American people under slavery. Mixed-media illustrations accompany the text. The story addresses a history that must be understood while also looking toward what the African American community may become.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure NP0LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
The Bellwoods GameCelia Krampien, illustrated by Celia KrampienFall Hollow is said to be haunted after Abigail Snook disappeared in the woods many years earlier. On Halloween, sixth graders at Beckett Elementary continue the Bellwoods Game: three children enter the woods, and the one who rings a bell wins. Local legend says that if Abigail’s ghost catches the players first, her spirit will be freed to cause havoc in the town.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 720LATOS Book Level 4.6View book detailsBig TreeBrian Selznick, illustrated by Brian SelznickNear the end of the dinosaur era, Louise and Merwin, two sycamore seedlings, seek somewhere safe to grow in an unsafe world. Louise hears a mysterious voice in her dreams, and she and her brother hope eventually to take root as large trees. Their journey is a search for a place where they can grow. The book also includes pencil drawings and extensive notes on science.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 4View book detailsCat Jokes vs. Dog Jokes: A Read-from-Both-Sides Comic BookDavid Lewman, illustrated by John McNameeThis comic-style joke book is designed to be read from either side. One direction presents dog jokes told by cats, while the reverse presents cat jokes told by dogs. Together, the two sides contain more than 200 jokes, creating a playful exchange between the animals through opposing comic viewpoints. David Lewman is credited as author, and this edition has 128 pages.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library: The Graphic NovelChris Grabenstein, illustrated by Douglas HolgateKyle Keeley loves games and wants to attend the opening-night lock-in at his town's new library, designed by game maker Luigi Lemoncello. The event is invitation-only, so Kyle is determined to get in. Once inside, the central challenge changes: leaving the library proves more difficult than entering it. This graphic-novel adaptation follows Kyle's attempt to escape from the new library.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Finally SeenKelly YangAfter five years apart, Lina Gao travels from Beijing to California to join her family in America. She adjusts to a new school while helping with the family’s bath-bomb business as they try to cover overdue rent. Lina also searches for a sense of belonging in her new life. Along the way, she discovers the power of books and begins to raise her voice.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 650LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
Friend of Numbers: The Life of Mathematician Srinivasa RamanujanPriya Narayanan, illustrated by Satwik GadeThis biography follows Srinivasa Ramanujan, who grew up in southern India under British rule and became absorbed by patterns in numbers. He devoted himself to mathematical ideas, explored concepts, and attempted to publish his work. In 1914, at age twenty-six, he traveled to England to work with G. H. Hardy. Although Cambridge differed greatly from home, Ramanujan continued pursuing the questions and discoveries that mattered to him.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsA Funny Thing Happened After SchoolDavide Cali, illustrated by Benjamin ChaudHenry and Ali set out to finish their homework, but their study session becomes an unexpected journey through space. A spaceship jam delays them first, followed by a detour to the moon, an exploration of Mars, and a visit to the gravity-defying International Space Station. With one surprise after another, the pair try to study the solar system while being swept into increasingly unusual interstellar situations.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 550LATOS Book Level 2.4View book detailsGiraffe MathStephen Swinburne, illustrated by Geraldo ValerioTwiga the giraffe introduces facts about giraffes and their relationships with other creatures through math and science. The book uses measurements, graphs, shapes, and word problems to examine the animals. It includes facts about the size of giraffe hooves, the amount of blood their hearts can pump in a minute, their speed, and their weight.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsGlobalEoin Colfer, Andrew DonkinSami lives with his grandfather in a village on the Indian Ocean, where they fish for a living. As the ocean rises, their catches shrink. In northern Canada, warming temperatures melt the ice, leaving polar bears with less food and bringing them into town. Yuki is determined to help the bears as environmental change threatens both children’s homes and lives.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure HL330LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
Hear Them RoarJune Smalls, illustrated by Becky ThornsHear Them Roar focuses on animals across the globe that are now endangered despite having once flourished. The animals named include the black-footed ferret and the kakapo. By bringing together wildlife from different parts of the world, the book highlights species at risk and contrasts their earlier thriving populations with their current endangered status. Its subject is endangered wildlife from around the world.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Hippo or Rhino?Samantha CollisonAt the zoo, this compare-and-contrast book asks readers to distinguish a hippopotamus from a rhinoceros, two animals that can be confused. It notes that both occur in parts of Africa and that rhinos also live in parts of Asia. The book focuses on recognizing these animals and comparing where they live.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie OrmesTraci N. ToddThis picture-book biography chronicles Jackie Ormes, the first Black woman cartoonist to be nationally syndicated. In the 1930s, she sought reporting work at a Black Pittsburgh newspaper while hoping to illustrate. Her comics included Torchy Brown’s move from Mississippi to New York during the Great Migration and Patty-Jo, a Black girl whose strips addressed racism and social justice. The book also follows Ormes’s political scrutiny and her creation of a Patty-Jo doll.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 701LATOS Book Level 4.5View book details
Kin: Rooted in HopeCarole Boston WeatherfordThrough free verse, the author traces and shares a family tree shaped by enslavement and liberation. The book identifies Carole and Jeffery Boston Weatherford’s ancestors as among Maryland’s founders. Its family history is presented alongside black-and-white scratchwork illustrations, connecting the author’s search for forebears with the stories of their lives.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsLuna RancheraRodrigo MorlesinLuna and Ranchera are a canine mother-and-daughter singing act whose fame reaches around the world. Their story begins when Luna is struggling to feed her pups and steals from nearby ranchers. While escaping another theft, she hides on top of a beehive. The tale is set in a Nuevo Wild West populated by desert animals, cowboys, and cowgirls.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsMajor Taylor: World Cycling ChampionCharles R. Smith JrThis picture-book biography in verse follows Marshall “Major” Taylor, an African American cyclist whose career included the Six-Day Race. It portrays his setbacks and achievements in a period when bicycle racing drew large crowds. In 1899, Taylor became the first African American to hold a world cycling championship. Digital illustrations accompany the account of his path through competitive cycling.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsMonster Support Group: The Mummy’s CurseLaura Suárez, illustrated by Laura SuárezAnatiti, a pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, is selected by the gods and becomes convinced that she knows better than her advisors. After tragedy brings a curse, she recognizes that their advice may have mattered. Confined in a tomb for thousands of years, Anatiti is taken by an explorer to Dreadbury. The story asks whether this mummy will learn to listen before moving on to the afterlife.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
My Incredible IndiaJasbinder BilamA grandmother uses mementos she has collected to introduce her granddaughter to their homeland, India. The book travels across the country’s varied regions, including elephants bathing from a houseboat in Kerala, ancient cave paintings in Bhimbetka, Delhi’s streets, and a train through snow-covered peaks. It looks at people and places as well as India’s plants and animals, with an index and back matter. Mixed-media artwork reflects the country’s colors.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
A Natural History of Magical BeastsEmily Hawkins, illustrated by Jessica RouxPresented as a 1920s zoologist’s notebook, this volume examines legends of creatures including unicorns, dragons, centaurs, and griffins. It asks whether stories about magical creatures might contain truth and describes a hidden world of beasts living among people. Illustrations and notes record the imagined creatures’ secret lives in a field-guide format. Tales of these beings have been told worldwide for generations. The book treats them as subjects for investigation.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsPoetry PromptsJoseph Coelho, illustrated by Grasya Oliyko, Amanda Quartey, Georgie Birkett, Viola WangDiscover the joy of expressing what’s inside you, with fill-in-the-blank poems that are sparking a creative movement We all have stories inside us—whether or not we consider ourselves “creative.” Poet and novelist Joseph Fasano has developed a remarkable tool that allows anyone to experience the joy of creative expression.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Rocket: The Blue-Ribbon PonyEllen F. Feld, illustrated by Nicole LapostaSara wants to earn a blue ribbon with Rocket, a two-year-old colt who has grown into an unruly pony. Rocket runs away when called in from the field, chews his lead ropes, and nips at Sara when she works with him. Believing that showing Rocket may help him become a better pony, Sara decides to bring him to a local horse show.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Salma Makes a HomeDanny RamadanAfter nearly two years apart, Salma’s father joins the family in Canada. She is thrilled by the reunion but fears that he may miss Damascus so deeply that he will leave again. Salma shows Baba around their city and helps him learn English, while his memories of Syria make her recognize her own homesickness. The story follows the family as they navigate reunion, migration, and what home can mean.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeLexile Text Measure 680LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
The Secret Life of OceansMoira Butterfield, illustrated by Vivian MinekerA collection of stories and factual material about oceans includes a fact about blue whales, identified as the largest creatures on Earth. The book brings together information and stories about ocean life and the natural world. It focuses on oceans and the animals associated with them. Its material spans different aspects of these waters.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
Stuntboy, In-Between TimeJason Reynolds, illustrated by Raúl the ThirdPortico Reeves sees himself as an unrecognized superhero whose job is to keep people safe. He is distressed that he could not prevent his parents’ divorce and that they now live on separate floors of the same apartment building. Portico calls the divorce “Xs” and avoids discussing it, while the changes in his family leave him with what he calls the frets.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
The Swifts: A Dictionary of ScoundrelsBeth LincolnIn the Swift family, each person receives a name paired with a definition that is expected to shape who they become. At a family reunion, young Shenanigan Swift looks for Grand Uncle Vile’s concealed treasure. The search is interrupted when Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude is pushed down the stairs. As the danger turns deadly, Shenanigan works with relatives to identify the person responsible for the attack.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsTacos TodayRaúl the Third, illustrated by Raúl the ThirdYoung El Toro and his friends pause their lucha training for lunch, each hoping for a different favorite taco. When they discover that their money is not enough to buy tacos, the friends need a creative way to earn more dinero. Their effort to solve the problem together leads toward a taco meal, with Spanish phrases woven into the story.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsTen-Word Tiny Tales: To Inspire and UnsettleJoseph Coelho, illustrated by VariousTwenty tales use exactly ten words apiece, with a separate artist illustrating every story. Joseph Coelho’s compact collection moves through an underwater world, demon hamsters, bears in outer space, and gateways to unknown places. The stories present imaginative situations in an especially brief form and invite readers to consider how a complete tale can be shaped within only ten words.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book details
To Catch a ThiefMartha BrockenbroughIn a small seaside town, a thief takes the dragonfly staff believed to provide the community's good fortune. The missing staff is also central to the upcoming Dragonfly Day Festival, putting the town's celebration at risk. Eleven-year-old Amelia MacGuffin is quiet and has no special talent like her four younger siblings. The story places Amelia amid the mystery surrounding the stolen staff.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeWord Count 44437View book details
Weird But True SharksNational Geographic KidsWeird But True Sharks presents shark information alongside photographs. It notes that whale sharks have tiny teeth over their eyeballs. The book also reports that a great white can sense one drop of blood in water from roughly one-third of a mile away. Its examples concern two different kinds of shark and highlight unusual physical features and sensory abilities.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsThe Wild Life of AnimalsMike Barfield, illustrated by Paula BossioThis nonfiction book looks at animals’ adaptations, behavior, and natural skills across several habitats. Its subjects live in seas, forests, deserts, and grasslands. The material focuses on ways animals are suited to their environments, including little-known adaptations and unusual behaviors. By moving between these habitats, the book presents a broad view of the varied lives of animals in the natural world across the world.Librarian Favorites — 3rd–5th GradeView book detailsLibrarian Favorites — 6th–8th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1School TripJerry Craft, illustrated by Jerry CraftEighth grader Jordan has been accepted to an art high school but is unsure whether to leave the school he shares with his friends. During a class trip to Europe, the students confront unexpected changes to their guides, and the trip becomes chaotic. The experience abroad helps Jordan make his decision about his next school.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeWord Count 17119View book detailsRank 2We Need To Talk About VaginasAllison K. Rodgers, illustrated by Annika Le LargeWe Need to Talk About Vaginas addresses the distinction between a vagina and a vulva. It centers questions that tweens may hesitate to voice and recognizes that vaginas are often not discussed. The book places anatomical terminology and the act of talking about it at its core, inviting an open discussion of a topic that can feel embarrassing or difficult.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 3Remember UsJacqueline WoodsonSage’s world seems to be burning during the summer before she enters seventh grade. A fire affects her neighborhood, while her friendships are changing. The story considers time, memory, and what people carry forward into the future. As Sage confronts the fire and shifting relationships around her, memories help point toward what comes next. The book centers a summer of upheaval in which a neighborhood fire and changes in friendship shape Sage’s experience.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 669LATOS Book Level 4.3View book detailsRank 4Parachute Kids: A Graphic NovelBetty C. TangSet in 1981, this graphic novel follows Feng-Li and her siblings after their Taiwanese parents leave them in the United States to attend school. Their father returns to work in Taiwan, while their mother remains only until her visa expires. As the oldest sibling takes responsibility for the household, Feng-Li struggles with the language barrier, schoolwork, and making friends. Her brother, meanwhile, reacts angrily to their new circumstances and connects with other immigrant Asian children.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL250LATOS Book Level 2.5View book detailsRank 5Curlfriends: New In TownSharee MillerTwelve-year-old Charlie Harper is used to arriving as the new kid because her military family moves often. Starting middle school gives her another chance to begin again, and she hopes this time she can become cool. But fitting in seems to require acting unlike herself. Charlie’s new-school experience centers on the pull between social acceptance and being genuine, as she tries to find her place without losing who she is.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 6Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My LifeJerry PinkneyJerry Pinkney’s memoir recounts his childhood in a Black Philadelphia neighborhood during the 1950s. Drawing helped Jerry make sense of the world as he grew up in crowded spaces, struggled with dyslexia, and lived during segregation. He was constantly drawing or thinking about it, and a teacher recognized him as the class artist and incorporated art assignments into his schoolwork. While selling papers at a newsstand, he sketched passersby and sold the drawings. A customer, comic-strip artist John Liney, later invited Jerry to observe his studio process.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Rank 7On Air with Zoe WashingtonJanae MarksTwo years after Zoe Washington helped clear Marcus’s name, her birth father is released from prison with support from the community. Marcus hopes to open a restaurant, and Zoe wants to help, imagining herself as its pastry chef. Starting the business is more difficult than expected, while Marcus also faces challenges as he returns to life outside prison. Zoe’s podcast may help renew interest in their story.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 701LATOS Book Level 4.5View book detailsRank 8The Antiracist Kitchen: 21 Stories (and Recipes)Nadia L. HohnTwenty-one authors from across North America contribute personal stories and recipes in this collection. Their pieces draw on family life, culture, race, and experiences of racism. The contributors share food alongside accounts of how racism affected their families and communities, presenting a range of backgrounds and perspectives. Folk-art-style illustrations accompany the stories and recipes. Together, the entries connect cooking and family traditions with reflections on culture and racial injustice.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsRank 9MexikidPedro MartínPedro Martín’s graphic memoir recalls growing up as one of nine children in a Mexican American family during the 1970s. One summer, the family travels 2,000 miles from California to Pegueros, his parents’ hometown in Mexico, to bring Abuelito home to live with them. Pedro, the first child in the family born in the United States, feels more American than Mexican, while his older siblings remember Mexico and tease the younger children. The journey brings family history, sibling dynamics, and questions of cultural belonging into view.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL530LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
TastyVictoria Grace ElliottThis nonfiction graphic novel traces the origins and history of familiar foods, beginning with questions such as who first made a pickle. It considers how foods came to be and presents their development through a mix of factual material, legends, and recipes. The book focuses on food innovation and invites readers to explore the stories behind things they may recognize from everyday eating.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure GN790LATOS Book Level 5View book detailsAniana del Mar Jumps InJasminne MendezAniana loves swimming, but she and Papi hide her practices and meets from Mami, whose grief after a loss in the water has left her fearful. After Ani develops stiffness and swollen joints and cannot get out of bed, her commitment to swimming becomes impossible to conceal. Newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, she experiences chronic pain while pursuing her ambition to become a professional swimmer. Her doctor believes medication and swimming can help manage her disease, while Mami forbids her return to the water.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
ArtificeSharon CameronDuring Nazi occupation in Amsterdam, Gallery de Smit’s art is confiscated while artists are hidden or deported, and the Nazis take Dutch cultural works. Isa faces unpaid taxes on the empty gallery and decides to sell the regime a forged Rembrandt painted by her father. The transaction puts her close to being regarded as a collaborator, while raising the question of whether the forgeries can serve another purpose. The story draws on historical figures.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Born Reading: 20 Stories of Women Reading Their Way into HistoryKathleen Krull, Virginia Loh-Hagan, illustrated by Aura LewisKathleen Krull and Virginia Loh-Hagan present twenty illustrated biographies of influential women. The profiles connect books and reading with the women’s paths into history, describing reading as a foundation for their influence. Rather than a single narrative, the 144-page collection gathers separate accounts of girls and women whose reading helped empower them to change history. It presents reading as an act that can shape historical lives.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
BuzzingSamuel SattinIsaac Itkin is a lonely twelve-year-old living with OCD, and intrusive thoughts make ordinary tasks, including studying and looking in the mirror, difficult. His mother insists on strict therapy, but it does not seem to help. When friends invite Isaac to an after-school role-playing game, he finds community and some relief from the thoughts. Conflict follows when his therapist warns about games, his grades fall, and his mother stops him from playing.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeWord Count 12912View book details
Chilling With GhostsInsha Fitzpatrick, illustrated by Lilla BöleczChilling With Ghosts is a nonfiction guide to ghosts that brings together spooky stories, scientific material, and historical information. Its subject is the supernatural, but the book also approaches it through factual discussion and tales. Readers encounter ghost-related accounts alongside explanations rooted in science and history, creating a handbook focused on questions and stories surrounding ghosts.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Cities: How Humans Live TogetherMegan Clendenan, illustrated by Suharu OgawaCities: How Humans Live Together examines the past and future of urban life. It asks when and why cities began, then considers how a city could be designed as both a desirable place to live and environmentally responsible. The book notes that more than half the world’s people already live in cities and discusses pressures from climate change, food access, clean water, and swift population growth. It also presents cities as sites of innovation and sustainability.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsColin Kaepernick: Change the Game (Graphic Novel Memoir)Colin Kaepernick, Eve L. Ewing, illustrated by Orlando CaicedoColin Kaepernick: Change the Game is a graphic novel memoir created by Colin Kaepernick and Eve L. Ewing. The catalog describes it as a high school graphic novel memoir and identifies Kaepernick as both an athlete and an activist. Its visual format combines drawn storytelling with memoir. Graphix published this 144-page edition in 2023, connecting sports and activism through a personal nonfiction form.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust: A Graphic NovelNeal ShustermanThis graphic novel presents five stories set during the Holocaust. Each draws on real examples of resistance to Nazi cruelty while incorporating elements of folklore and fantasy. The stories use surreal visions to approach heroism, courage, and hope amid persecution. Clear-lined artwork in a somber palette accompanies the tales, and the book includes back matter. Its focus is on people facing the Holocaust and the forms of resistance represented through these imagined retellings.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Everlasting Icicles: A Poppenohna Land Adventure (Book 2)Carrie Turley, illustrated by Lara LawThe Great Cold Queen’s aching heart unleashes a freeze that spreads from the mountains to Tickletoes River and endangers everyone in Fairy Glade. Princess Thamilla undertakes a dangerous quest to rescue water sprites. Meanwhile, the fairies Ruse and Buttons travel through a dark, freezing forest to save the queen’s children, the young dragons. Encountering creatures, poppens, and new allies, they seek peace for the queen and safety for the land.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
The Flying Horse (Once Upon a Horse #1)Sarah Maslin Nir, illustrated by Laylie FrazierThe Flying Horse opens a fictional series drawn from real horses and people’s attachment to them. Its central horse, Trendsetter, is said to be destined to fly in more than one way. Sarah Maslin Nir wrote the book, which includes black-and-white art by Laylie Frazier. It links one horse’s future to a series about horses and human devotion.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Forgive Me NotJennifer BakerEmma returns to Foxglove Farm after a battle with addiction. When she left, she had hurt and disappointed the people who cared for her. Now she hopes to make amends for her past, but nobody wants her home. Her mother no longer remembers her, leaving Emma to face the damage she caused and consider what reconciliation may demand from her.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsGarvey’s Choice: The Graphic NovelNikki Grimes, illustrated by Theodore Taylor IIIGarvey’s father wishes he were athletic, but Garvey prefers astronomy, science fiction, and reading to sports. Feeling unsuccessful in his father’s eyes, Garvey turns to food for comfort. He is overweight, lonely, and bullied, though he is also a kind, funny, smart, loyal friend. At a friend’s suggestion, he joins the school chorus, where he becomes a soloist and finds a musical way to connect with his distant father.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsHandsTorrey MaldonadoTwelve-year-old Trev wants to protect his family, especially his mother, from his violent stepfather. Learning that his stepfather may leave jail pushes him toward boxing because he believes fighting is his only way to help. At the same time, Trev weighs using his hands to make art instead. Adults around him challenge his plan, and he comes to understand that his community is his greatest source of strength.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure HL430LATOS Book Level 3.1View book detailsHow to Handle STRESS for Middle School SuccessSilvi Guerra, illustrated by DeAndra HodgeHow to Handle Stress for Middle School Success addresses stress during middle school. It recognizes that someone can look as though everything is going well on the outside while experiencing stress. Written by Silvi Guerra, the book was published in 2023 by Magination Press, part of the American Psychological Association.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsHow to Stay InvisibleMaggie C. RuddTwelve-year-old Raymond Hurley has grown accustomed to being alone because his parents repeatedly move the family from place to place. After they leave him behind in a trailer in a new state, Raymond and his dog must manage on their own in the woods. Their survival depends on facing the natural world while Raymond also confronts difficult questions about trust and having no lasting home.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 730LATOS Book Level 4.7View book detailsKaribaDaniel Clarke, James Clarke, Daniel Snaddon, illustrated by Daniel ClarkeKariba tells of the daughter of a river god who is raised by a human father. Her life is bound to a tragic destiny, bringing together a divine parentage, a human family, and an ominous future. The story centers on this girl’s place between those two origins as she grows up with her father while carrying the fate connected to her river-god heritage.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Like a HurricaneJonathan Bécotte, Jonathan KaplanskySet in the mid-1960s, Like a Hurricane presents a period marked by several movements pushing for change. Black Americans campaign for civil rights, women press for liberation, and countercultural activists challenge the Vietnam War. Together, these strands connect civil rights, women’s rights, and opposition to war within the book’s account of a turbulent era. Jonathan Bécotte’s book was published by The New Press in 1997.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsMascotCharles Waters, Traci SorellAt Rye Middle School, students debate whether their school's mascot should remain or be replaced. Some see the mascot as racist, while others disagree. The discussion brings out differing emotions, viewpoints, and cultural perspectives among the students. Told in free verse, the book presents six eighth graders considering the implications of a symbol tied to both school tradition and racial identity.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.9View book details
Mission Arctic: A Scientific Adventure to a Changing North PoleKatharina Weiss-Tuider, illustrated by Christian SchneiderMission Arctic follows a major Arctic research expedition aboard the vessel Polarstern. As the ship drifts with sea ice, researchers investigate clues held deep in the ice and study changes affecting the Arctic ecosystem. The book frames this journey through the Arctic Circle as a scientific expedition and connects the researchers’ findings to a changing climate in the North Pole region.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsMy SelmaWillie Mae BrownSet in Selma, Alabama, this account looks at Willie Mae Brown’s childhood as the civil rights movement and the campaign for voting rights unfolded around her. It includes life within and beyond the Brown family home, alongside events connected with the 1965 march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Brown describes growing up Black in Selma and recalls attending church with her mother to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Mystery of the Radcliffe RiddleTaryn SoudersGrady and his father learn that Eudora “Kooky” Klinch has left them something in her will. The surprise is an old fragment of a three-hundred-year-old tapestry, which initially disappoints them. A note accompanying the cloth says it is not an ordinary piece of needlework, launching a mystery around the unusual inheritance and the riddle it may contain.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsThe Night RavenJohan RundbergSet in Stockholm in 1880, The Night Raven follows twelve-year-old Mika and a detective as they investigate a chilling mystery. A cryptic message and a sinister past are part of the case they seek to unravel in a frigid city where death is said to lurk around every corner. The story combines historical Stockholm, a young girl determined to prove herself, and a dark investigation into the past at its center.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 680LATOS Book Level 4.8View book details
The Phone Book: Stay Safe, Be Smart, and Make the World Better with the Powerful Device in Your HandJessica Speer, illustrated by Lesley ImgartJessica Speer’s The Phone Book begins with someone getting a phone. It notes that the device can be used to text friends, play games, and take pictures. Published by Familius in 2023, the book concerns everyday activities enabled by a handheld phone. Its full title identifies safety and smart use as additional subjects.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
Snow & PoisonMelissa de la CruzLady Sophie, known as Snow White, has lived a sheltered life in Bavaria’s mountains. Her widowed father, Duke Maximilian, is preparing to remarry, and Sophie is set to make her debut in high society on the day of the wedding. The story begins as her family changes and she leaves the seclusion of the mountains for a public social occasion.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsThe Spirit GlassRoshani ChokshiDrawing on Filipino mythology, this quest centers on Corazon, who wants to become a babaylan and reconnect with her parents after their deaths. A hostile ghost takes her soul key, putting the balance between worlds at risk. With Saso, her gecko companion, Corazon travels through spirit realms in an effort to create a replacement key.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 710LATOS Book Level 4.5View book detailsSunshine: A Graphic NovelJarrett J. Krosoczka, illustrated by Jarrett J. KrosoczkaAfter returning from Bible camp, a boy learns that Alex, the boyfriend whose relationship he kept secret, experienced a breakdown and has vanished. He regrets having left that day and wishes he had not gone to camp when Alex disappeared. The book presents his response to Alex’s disappearance and the painful uncertainty surrounding it.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsTagging FreedomRhonda RoumaniSet in Damascus, Syria, this story centers on Kareem Haddad, who never expects to make graffiti. After boys from another town paint messages critical of authority outside their school and a boy dies in custody, Kareem and his friends begin secretly placing freedom messages across their city. Graffiti also connects two cousins living on different continents as courage and convictions are challenged. Their actions become a form of expression and resistance in their city.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 4View book details
Thieves’ GambitKayvion LewisKayvion Lewis’s Thieves’ Gambit combines a heist with an enemies-to-lovers relationship. The story’s central relationship moves from opposition toward romance, while the heist supplies its action-driven premise. It is presented as cinematic and was described as headed for a major movie adaptation. This 368-page novel was published by Simon & Schuster Ltd in 2023.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsThe Windeby PuzzleLois LowryBlending fiction with history, this novel is set in an Iron Age village. Estrild wants to become a warrior, and Varick, an orphan boy with a twisted back, helps train her. Both stand apart in a community where differences are poorly tolerated. Inspired by the discovery of a 2,000-year-old bog body in Northern Germany, the story considers the danger facing them.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book details
You Are Here: Connecting FlightsEllen OhTwelve linked short stories bring together East and Southeast Asian American children and teenagers whose flights are delayed at a Chicago airport during a storm. Eleven are travelers, while another is there because childcare arrangements failed. As their interrupted journeys cross, they meet helpful and hostile people and confront both overt and subtle anti-Asian racism. The stories explore their circumstances, identities, destinations, and acts of solidarity.Librarian Favorites — 6th–8th GradeView book detailsLibrarian Favorites — 9th–12th Grade
40 selections
Rank 1The LegaciesJessica GoodmanAt Excelsior Prep, the Legacy Ball serves as entry to the Legacy Club, an exclusive network tied to New York City’s wealthiest people. An invitation offers far more than a school social event: membership promises long-term access to wealth, influence, safety, and a group whose members protect their own. The story places the club’s power at the center of an elite-school world where invitations shape access, belonging, and social connection.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 2The Princess & the Grilled Cheese SandwichDeya MunizThe Princess & the Grilled Cheese Sandwich, a YA romance by Deya Muniz, presents love as something found in an unexpected place. Grilled-cheese sandwiches recur throughout its premise. The title names a princess and a grilled-cheese sandwich. Its description characterizes the book as comic and heartfelt. Little, Brown Ink published the 256-page edition on 2023-05-09; the listed ISBN is 9780316538725.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 3Family StyleThien PhamThien’s earliest recollections are tied to food, including watermelon and fish eaten while his family fled Vietnam by sea. After reaching a refugee camp in Thailand, the Pham family struggles to survive before resettling in California. Food takes on different meanings through each stage of their lives: strawberries become connected with the parents’ search for work, while Thien’s journey through food is also a search for belonging in America.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure 401LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
Rank 4Hidden SystemsDan Nott, illustrated by Dan NottThis graphic novel explains the systems that provide water, electricity, and the internet. It looks at how these systems work, how they developed, and possibilities for their future. Questions include how clean water reaches a tap, what cell-phone towers do, and why internet services need server farms. The book also considers human changes to nature, including resource use, ownership, climate change, and tensions connected with California’s Central Valley water network.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 5Harvest HouseCynthia Leitich SmithWith Halloween approaching, Hughie Wolfe volunteers at Harvest House, a new rural attraction built around a spooky show. His excitement fades when he learns that one performer will portray a vengeful spirit called an “Indian maiden,” based on a local legend. At night, disturbing events unfold near the crossroads: a man stalks teenage girls and young women, especially Indigenous women, while dogs grow anxious and wild animals behave strangely. The book combines coming-of-age tension, social justice concerns, and paranormal suspense.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 6We Deserve MonumentsJas HammondsSeventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is taken from her life in Washington, DC, to stay with her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The strained relationship between Avery’s mother and grandmother makes the arrival difficult and exposes old family conflict they will not discuss. Avery seeks the truth behind the secrets that divided her family, while a town’s troubling past also challenges that search.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeLexile Text Measure HL730LATOS Book Level 5View book detailsRank 7The Dark Ascension Series: The Wicked OnesRobin BenwayDrizella and Anastasia are sisters struggling to escape the control of their mother, Lady Tremaine. They are determined not to become like her. Their father left when they were young, taking the family fortune with him, and a later death leaves their mother as the cruel head of the household. The story follows the sisters before they are known as the wicked ones.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Rank 8Fairest of All: A Villains Graphic NovelSerena Valentino, illustrated by Fiona MarchbankA graphic-novel version of a story from Disney’s Villains series, Fairest of All centers on Snow White’s Wicked Queen. It presents the queen’s previously untold history as a tale shaped by love and loss. The book adapts the series’ opening volume into a visual format, focusing on the character associated with Snow White rather than only the familiar fairy tale.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 9UnravellerFrances HardingeIn a world where anyone can make a curse capable of ruining a life, fifteen-year-old Kellen can undo curses. He travels with Nettle, whose earlier curse changed her into a heron. After Kellen angers a wealthy client and they are jailed, Gall offers their release in return for work for an unnamed patron. As they take assignments, Kellen and Nettle confront the complicated motives behind curses: mistakes, secrets, faults, and strong feelings, rather than simple evil.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsRank 10The Library of Broken WorldsAlaya Dawn JohnsonA girl faces off intellectually against a god of war in an expansive story about oppression and the price of peace. Stories are embedded within other stories, and narrative itself has the potential to mend what is broken or cause devastating destruction. As the girl confronts this powerful opponent, the book links conflict, peace, and the dangerous possibilities held within the stories people create and carry forward.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsAb(solutely) Normal: Short Stories That Smash Mental Health StereotypesNora Shalaway Carpenter, Rocky CallenThis fiction anthology brings together sixteen authors writing from their own experiences to challenge stereotypes about mental health. Its stories include a teen activist dealing with anxiety and PTSD connected to protest, a vampire whose social anxiety complicates saving his town, and a girl whose letters to a former boyfriend address angry outbursts related to PMDD. Another story follows a boy whose uncontrollable crying helps make space for someone else’s healing.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
¡Ay, Mija!Christine SuggsSixteen-year-old Christine makes a first trip alone to Mexico, where they stay with grandparents and an aunt. They initially find it difficult to communicate with relatives because they do not yet share a language. As Christine visits places from their mother’s earlier life, including her school and the café connected to her parents’ first date, they become increasingly aware of differences between generations in the family.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsBe That WayHope LarsonIt is 1996, and seventeen-year-old high school junior Christine begins keeping a journal through a consequential year. She feels unnoticed beside her striking best friend, Landry, and wants to become the kind of cool person others recognize. While recording her efforts to find her own sense of shine, Christine navigates difficult friendships and looks for love. Her journal follows her attempt to shape a path that feels like her own rather than living in Landry’s shadow.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsBeing Ace: An Anthology of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and ConnectionMadeline Dyer with contributing authorsEdited by Madeline Dyer, this anthology brings together short fiction and poetry by established and emerging YA writers. Its pieces range across contemporary, fantasy, and science-fiction settings while exploring and celebrating sub-identities on the asexual spectrum. The collection draws on contributors’ own experiences and presents varied literary forms and genres focused on asexual love and connection.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Black QueenJumata EmillAt Lovett High, Nova Albright was set to become the school’s first Black homecoming queen, but she is now dead. The book is a thriller built around the aftermath of Nova’s death and the interrupted promise of that historic school milestone. Its central situation combines a high-school setting with the loss of a student who had been expected to make history.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsBlackwardLawrence Lindell, illustrated by Lawrence LindellBlackward centers on people who are Black, queer, nerdy, punk, and sometimes seen as weird or awkward. Rather than rejecting those identities, they claim them with pride. After feeling that they do not belong, they seek a place to relax, talk, and find community. The book focuses on the need for connection and for a welcoming space where people with these overlapping identities can spend time together without having to fit somewhere else.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The BlackwoodsBrandy ColbertThe Blackwoods follows a Black Hollywood dynasty across multiple generations. Beginning in 1942 with film star Blossom Blackwood’s rise, it later turns to her death and the family’s grieving. The novel is told from three alternating viewpoints as relatives confront their relationship with Blossom’s fame. A secret kept for decades emerges, reshaping the family’s story and exposing strains within a celebrated Hollywood legacy. The narrative moves between past and present as the family contends with the legacy left by Blossom’s success and the truths revealed after her death.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsBorderlessJennifer De LeonSixteen-year-old Maya attends Salomé Fashion Institute in Guatemala City on scholarship. Her mother takes extra jobs to cover what the scholarship does not, and both look toward the school’s fashion show and Maya’s future career. When Maya’s mother fails to attend the show, Maya faces a troubling explanation: gang threats in their neighborhood have reached their home, involving a boy Maya thought might be a friend.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsBring Me Your MidnightRachel GriffinBring Me Your Midnight follows Tana Fairchild, whose future has been arranged since birth. She is expected to marry Landon, the governor’s son, in order to establish an alliance between her island’s witches and mainlanders. The mainlanders see the witches’ existence as a threat, so the planned marriage is tied to political tension between the island and mainland. Tana lives on the island.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsChaos TheoryNic StoneShelbi is a talented student with bipolar depression who has withdrawn from classmates after being hurt at a previous school. Andy is grieving, struggling with alcohol, and dealing with the aftermath of a crash caused by drunk driving. An accidental message begins contact between the two Black teenagers, and later meetings turn their friendship romantic. Their relationship raises questions about grief, recovery, boundaries, public attention, and supporting someone without taking responsibility for their mental health.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Come Home Safe: A NovelBrian BuckmireTwo siblings are accused of crimes they did not commit. Their story examines pain, truth, and hope while growing up as people of color in America. It also addresses the importance of “the talk” and conversations about social justice within the community, placing the siblings’ accusation in a broader context of family, racial identity, and justice.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Dear MedusaOlivia A. ColeIn free verse, sixteen-year-old bisexual Alicia confronts the aftermath of abuse by a well-liked teacher. At school, rumors about her become cruel insults centered on her sexual experience. As she struggles with body image, promiscuity, and her sexual identity, Alicia’s experience is shaped by the whispers around her and by the allies she ultimately finds in unexpected places.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Ever SinceAlena BruzasSeventeen-year-old Virginia is the target of gossip about her choices, but relies on a close circle of friends to shut it out. Her connection with Rumi, who is Poppy’s boyfriend, develops privately into love. Virginia also learns that Rumi’s younger sister Lyra is being prepared for abuse by a respected community member, while he is respected in the community.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
First-Year OrientationLauren Gibaldi, Eric SmithFirst-Year Orientation is an anthology of linked short stories set during the first days at fictional Rolland College. Its characters arrive with different backgrounds, identities, interests, and plans as they meet roommates, attend orientation activities, join groups, and form friendships or relationships. Most stories are realistic, while some shift into paranormal fantasy or science fiction. Across the collection, students navigate parents, parties, campus life, work, financial aid, and the uncertainty of starting college.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Hawkeye: Bishop Takes KingAshley PostonAfter Kate Bishop solves a small crime and rescues Milo, their bags are accidentally switched. Kate discovers that the bag holds a mysterious book containing dangerous secrets sought by the Kingpin, a powerful New York City supervillain. She goes on the run while trying to find Milo and learn what he knows. With encouragement by text from her superhero friends, Kate works to untangle the mystery before it puts her in danger.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsHidden: A True Story of the HolocaustKati Preston, illustrated by Dilleen MarshTold from Kati Preston's childhood perspective, this graphic novel recounts survival during the Holocaust. Born in Hungary in 1939 to a Jewish father and Catholic mother, Kati lost her extended Jewish family and was saved when she was five years old. As an adult, she shares this story of survival and addresses the consequences of hate and prejudice. The book is illustrated in color.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsHouse Partyjustin a. reynoldsHouse Party is a collaborative novel by ten authors, including justin a. reynolds, Angeline Boulley, Jerry Craft, and Natasha Díaz. It asks how many love stories might unfold during a single house party. Random House Children’s Books published the title on June 27, 2023. Other contributors include Lamar Giles, Christina Hammonds Reed, and Ryan La Sala. The party provides the shared occasion for several romantic stories.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
How to Find a Missing GirlVictoria WlosokA year after cheerleader Stella Blackthorn disappears, her younger sister Iris is still trying to find answers. Iris has already pursued her own investigation, but her efforts frightened away the police’s sole lead. She also receives a warning that continuing to interfere could bring prison-level consequences once she turns eighteen. The search for Stella places Iris in conflict with the limits imposed on her investigation.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsHungry GhostVictoria YingValerie Chu is quiet, studious, and secretly living with bulimia; even her best friend Jordan does not know. After a crisis, Val reconsiders her priorities, choices, and relationship with her body. Her mother’s perfectionism and fixation on weight shape that struggle, while Val must find the strength to seek help. This graphic novel follows her movement toward self-love and happiness.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsIn LimboDeb JJ LeeThis graphic memoir follows Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee, a Korean American immigrant whose life moves between suburban New Jersey and Seoul. After emigrating from South Korea, Deborah feels marked as different and struggles with English. She recounts mental-health challenges and conflict with a demanding mother, tracing both a coming-of-age experience and a return home. The memoir presents her experiences as an immigrant alongside her family life.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
Into the LightMark OshiroAfter being separated from his family, Manny survives in the American Southwest by following rules he created for himself. He considers joining the traveling Varela family, while Carlos, their appealing but difficult son, seems to offer the possibility of a different future. Eli lives elsewhere in an isolated community shaped by family rules and the belief that obedience will bring rewards. Their circumstances bring survival, family separation, travel, and conflicting expectations into the book.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsLast Canto of the DeadDaniel José OlderLast Canto of the Dead is a sequel to Ballad & Dagger that follows Mateo Matisse and Chela Hidalgo. They are teenagers in love, but also powerful gods in human form. Mateo and Chela fight simultaneous battles in the Caribbean and Brooklyn. The book presents their relationship alongside a supernatural conflict that connects these two places at the same time in each region.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsThe Last One to FallGabriella LeporeSavana Caruso has known Jesse Melo since childhood, so she agrees to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse late at night. Before she can locate Jesse, Savana witnesses a horrifying murder: a mysterious figure is pushed from the warehouse’s fourth floor. Six teenagers were present, and five become possible suspects. As police investigate, Savana worries that the wrong person may be charged while someone works to keep the truth hidden.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsMiles Morales Suspended: A Spider-Man NovelJason Reynolds, illustrated by Zeke PeñaMiles Morales is a teenager preoccupied with poetry and awkward around his crush, as well as Spider-Man. After using his powers to save the world from the Warden, he is given in-school suspension. What starts as a tedious day is interrupted when his Spidey Sense signals that something is wrong. Miles soon faces a strange confrontation involving an insidious termite.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsmy culture is not a costumeStirred Stories, illustrated by Suwin Chanmy culture is not a costume presents itself as a poetic mixtape and concept work. It explores identity and cultural heritage through contributors from different backgrounds. Their traditions, anthems, and regalia are presented as elements to celebrate. The work addresses complex longings while considering shared humanity and the understandings people bring to it. Published by Stirred Stories, it has 54 pages.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsNorthrangerRey Terciero, illustrated by Bre IndigoSixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz, a closeted queer Latino teen in rural Texas, finds real life more frightening than the horror movies he enjoys. Sent to work as a ranch hand over the summer to help his family earn money, he falls for the ranch owner’s son. The romance is complicated by the boy’s mystery and the possibility that he is concealing a dangerous secret.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
The Spells We CastJason JuneNigel Barrett has prepared throughout his life for the Culling, a contest that decides which teenage magicians will lose their powers in order to maintain magical balance. He meets Ori Olson, a rival whose sharp manner conceals a painful history. As Nigel and Ori grow closer, their abilities become stronger, but the competition becomes more dangerous. They come to see that their connection may affect magic, their futures, and humanity.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details
UnseelieIvelisse HousmanSeelie’s unpredictable magic makes fitting in difficult, and it draws her and her sister Isolde into a search for a legendary treasure. When a heist goes wrong, the sisters find unexpected allies and begin uncovering a mystery rooted in the histories of both humans and fae. The secrets they encounter may matter more than treasure. Seelie must learn to use her magic in time to protect herself and Isolde.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsWe Don’t Swim HereVincent TiradoVincent Tirado’s 2023 novel places Bronwyn in rural Hillwoods, where she is meant to stay for only a year. The available premise also says that she intends to make people pay, without identifying the event behind that intention. Sourcebooks published the book on May 30, 2023. Bronwyn’s temporary residence in Hillwoods and her stated resolve to retaliate define the information provided.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book detailsWolfwoodMarianna BaerA gallery offers Zoe a chance to revive Wolfwood, her unfinished hit series. Indigo sees the exhibition as a way to restore stability and secretly takes up the painting herself. As she paints, Indigo is drawn into the pictured Wolfwood, a dangerous jungle. There, grotesque plants form an army fighting a band of girls. Indigo’s mother wants no involvement with Wolfwood, and the account points to a possible reason for her reluctance.Librarian Favorites — 9th–12th GradeView book details