2012 - Selection(s)

Illustrated with exquisitely detailed artwork, this stunning picture-book introduction to Sylvia Earle incorporates many of the world-renowned marine scientist’s poetic words into the graceful text.

2012 - Selection(s)

The inner workings of doggie brains are on full display in this charmer about two almost identical dogs. Frazee’s art perfectly captures joy and chaos...

2012 - Selection(s)

This dark, sophisticated novel, true to fairy-tale conventions, follows fifteenth-century Ismae, a handmaiden to Motrain, the god of Death, as she tries to protect a...

2012 - Selection(s)

In this companion to (2009), Osborne offers another handsome, highly readable overview of African American history, focusing here on both the...

2012 - Selection(s)

At his latest orphanage, nine-year-old Nicholas Benedict relies on his intellect, courage, and ingenuity to outwit bullies while solving a mystery and forming a makeshift...

2012 - Selection(s)

Never underestimating its child audience, this ambitious, visually brilliant picture book shows how the sun supports life by sustaining the ocean’s microscopic phytoplankton, an essential...

2012 - Selection(s)

The townsfolk in Toby Mills enjoy winter fun in a snowy landscape but not the bitter, relentless freeze of a cold snap. While the lively...

2012 - Selection(s)

This delicious Regency romp takes readers through the Yorkshire countryside, as 17-year-old Althea Crawley sets out on a quest to marry rich in order to...

2012 - Selection(s)

Hoose turns his eye to the endangered rufa red-knot bird—specifically Moonbird, a humble fellow who has flown more than 325,000 miles in his lifetime. Despite...

2012 - Selection(s)

Based on historical events, Pearsall’s poignant novel, set in the Jim Crow South of 1945, follows a young teen’s reunion with his father, a member...

2012 - Selection(s)

Rapp returns with his most nightmarish vision yet. A 14-year-old genius keeps two boys in her thrall via drugs and sex, and together they hide...

2012 - Selection(s)

Annabelle, who lives in a black-and-white world, stumbles on a box filled with yarn of every color. The yarn is never ending, allowing Annabelle to...

2012 - Selection(s)

Danforth’s ambitious, sophisticated debut follows Cameron Post, a lesbian, as she falls in love for the first time and is forced to attend God’s Promise...

2012 - Selection(s)

Through original interviews, a smart use of source material, and a wonderfully easygoing style, Blumenthal gives readers a full portrait of Jobs, in all his...

2012 - Selection(s)

Lulu’s teacher doesn’t want any more animals in class, but when an unhatched egg winds up in Lulu’s pocket, she finds an unexpected ally. Lulu...

2012 - Selection(s)

A masterpiece of historical verisimilitude and gut-wrenching mystery, this is the tale of a powerful WWII friendship between a pilot named Maddie and a spy...

2012 - Selection(s)

In her latest beguiling picture book, Seeger shows that green is a color that stretches the mind—as does this clever piece of bookmaking that allows...

2012 - Selection(s)

Using searing free verse, Leavitt tells the harrowing story of 16-year-old Angel, who prostitutes herself through a drug haze while still fighting to save 11-year-old...

2012 - Selection(s)

With its focus on four young people who participated in the Birmingham Children’s March, this fascinating title offers a unique view of the role of...

2012 - Selection(s)

In this brooding Dickensian novel, three resilient children struggle with difficult circumstances and surprising plot twists in their lives. The novel’s strength lies in the...

2012 - Selection(s)

One stormy night in an alternate Victorian London, a young tosher (sewer scavenger) named Dodger rises from the sewers to rescue a mysterious lady in...

2012 - Selection(s)

Homer, an old dog, observes his small world—and the human goings-on around him—from the comfort of the porch. Loose watercolors and spare text offer up...

2012 - Selection(s)

McCormick tells the story of a young Cambodian boy who survives the killing fields only to become a soldier with the Khmer Rouge. The authentic...

2012 - Selection(s)

Illustrated with handsome photos, this informative and wholly engaging book transports readers to Maryland’s Assateague Island National Seashore, where scientists study herds of wild horses...

2012 - Selection(s)

Lin’s companion to the Newbery Honor Book (2009) introduces runaway Rendi and the Village of Clear Sky. Chinese folklore...

2012 - Selection(s)

Telgemeier (, 2010) demonstrates a sure sense of young teen life and sensibilities in this spot-on graphic-novel portrayal of the middle-school theater scene.

2012 - Selection(s)

Translated from the Spanish and first published in Colombia, this unusual story about a young boxer celebrates the power of a close community and the...

2012 - Selection(s)

The best high-concept YA thriller of the year is this paranoia-soaked novel in which an infected Colorado high school is quarantined by the government, leading...

2012 - Selection(s)

The curtain rises in 1773, as colonists plan and carry out the Boston Tea Party. Period quotes bring a sense of immediacy to the clearly...

2012 - Selection(s)

A tiny North Carolina community provides this memorable first novel’s backdrop, but murder is at the forefront as Mo, the young narrator, tells of her...

2012 - Selection(s)

What would it be like to wake up in a different body every day? Levithan explores this intriguing, highly original premise through A (his only...

2012 - Selection(s)

Thoughtful design, dynamic art, and solid information make this a standout for all those kids (all right, mostly boys) who love cars and trucks and...

2012 - Selection(s)

Miéville continues his rampage as one of sf’s new titans with this blazingly original twist on Moby-Dick, which radically reinvents everything: a barren, railroad-snarled future...

2012 - Selection(s)

In 1917, two teenagers faked photographs of fairies using paper illustrations. Their innocent ruse went international, receiving validation by experts and belief by the likes...

2012 - Selection(s)

In this precise, evocative book, 20 short chapters introduce the different kinds of ice that take one family through the winter. McClintock’s pen-and-ink drawings, subtle...

2012 - Selection(s)

Beautifully conceived and executed, this story about 16-year-old Hazel living with stage three cancer artfully examines the largest possible considerations—life, love, and death—with sensitivity, intelligence...

2012 - Selection(s)

Little mouse-girl Penny has a song in her heart. Well, it’s not just in her heart, because she likes to belt it out. Henkes understands...

2012 - Selection(s)

An exciting new high-fantasy series begins as Seraphina is thrust into the center of a collapsing peace treaty between human and dragon kingdoms. The problem...

2012 - Selection(s)

Rhythmic text and beautiful folk-art illustrations introduce celebrated “outsider artist” Bill Traylor, who drew on memories of his childhood as a slave when he started...

2012 - Selection(s)

The undisputed stand-up-and-cheer book of the year follows 10-year-old Auggie. Born disfigured but blessed with intelligence and grace, he changes the lives of an ever-increasing...

2012 - Selection(s)

A triple-overtime NCAA game yields surprising personal drama as Volponi expertly weaves in backstories via four different player points of view. Nailbiting stuff for sports...

2012 - Selection(s)

A young girl can’t sleep until she wonders about various animals and what they do for a night’s rest. A lyrical text and magical art...

2012 - Selection(s)

In 1780, four years after witnessing the hanging of Benedict Arnold, 16-year-old Sophia puts her life on the line by spying on British officers. Avi...

2012 - Selection(s)

This true story introduces the Acerra brothers—all 12 of them—who played on their local baseball team, one after another, and then formed a semipro team...

2012 - Selection(s)

In this gentle ode to a patient gardener, a young boy, with his dog at his side, plants seeds and then waits . ....

2012 - Selection(s)

Set in 1968 Chicago, this powerful sequel to the multi-award-winning (2009) follows Maxie, 14, who joins her older brother in...

2012 - Selection(s)

This subversive follow-up to (2011) features a minnow who absconds with the hat belonging to a much larger fish. In...

2012 - Selection(s)

After telling the life stories of both Lincoln and Douglass, this well-researched and wonderfully readable book describes their first meeting in 1863, their different points...

2012 - Selection(s)

Less a biography than a slice-of-life, this fictionalized story follows a young, starving Dickens as he dreams of writing. With illustrations that define “Dickensian,” this...

2012 - Selection(s)

As a young girl tells about the mallard ducks living near her home, her easygoing narration and the fresh look of the watercolor illustrations make...

2012 - Selection(s)

Based on the author and illustrator’s childhoods, this heartfelt tale introduces two Chinese girls in 1950s Indiana who come to feel more at home thanks...

2012 - Selection(s)

In Rossetti’s spellbinding debut, Frenenqer—a girl bound by her father’s strict rules—and a shape-shifting Free person with wings fly to far-flung lands. This is magic...

2012 - Selection(s)

It’s just your basic abecedarian animal parade—except that Moose is a tad overeager, crowding the early alphabet with annoying anticipation. When M goes to Mouse...

2012 - Selection(s)

This important addition to the Holocaust curriculum is one of the few histories to focus in detail on Jewish resistance across Europe. Among the meticulously...

2012 - Selection(s)

Four-foot-seven Louise Terrace lives with her grandparents following a family tragedy—the details of which she’s blocked out—in this achingly sweet, heartbreaking title.

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 3–5.

A sprightly first-person text and fabulous in-your-face paintings energetically recall the first all-female intercollegiate basketball game between Stanford and UC Berkeley in 1896.

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 5–12.

This collection of three picture books, originally published in Australia, displays a sense of deep melancholy and wide-eyed wonder as it showcases Tan’s...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–12.

Set in 1939, Sepetys’ beautifully written, deeply felt debut, seen from the viewpoint of 16-year-old Lina, offers a harrowing account of the forcible...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 2.

Graceful prose lends warmth and accessibility to the familiar Aesop tale of a tiny mouse who trips over a sharp-toothed lion and has...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12.

Many books are compared to A Separate Peace, but Hubbard’s finely crafted novel about a boarding-school death and its fallout earns that...

2011 - Selection(s)

With a scrapbook format that includes photographs, sketchbook drawings, and comic-book-style panels, this stunning autobiography tells the story of how Caldecott Award–winning Say became an...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–6.

This sequel to (2010) follows sisters Mo and Dottie through a family move. Springstubb captures the emotions of...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 8–11.

Hautman skillfully subverts clichés in this subtle, authentic, heart-tugging exploration of first love between two perceptive teens trying to survive a long-distance relationship.

2011 - Selection(s)

K–Gr. 3.

At heart (and it has lots of heart), this story about young Lola learning the fandango when she finds a pair of dance...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 1–3.

The story of Joe Louis’ 1938 bout with Max Schmeling shows how sports can take on a mythic weight. Nelson’s rounded artwork is...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 3–7.

Through 44 full-page paintings and a text told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior citizen looking back on her...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–7.

Both form and language bring Mina to life in this prequel to Almond’s award-winning (1998). This novel very much stands alone, but...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 8–12.

Briony, a secret witch at 17, is a force to be reckoned with in this story that explores the powers of guilt and...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 3.

When Mother and Father Frog lead their 999 offspring in search of a new home, looming tragedy turns to triumph. The amusing story...

2011 - Selection(s)

Striking images and free-verse poetry, rooted in Greenfield’s personal experience, create a haunting view of a pivotal moment in U.S. history—when more than a million...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 3–5.

With inventive collage illustrations and a vivid text, this memoir recalls the artist’s childhood in Shanghai, where Young’s father protected his large family...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–8.

Accessible free verse and dramatic acrylic-and-watercolor illustrations combine in this unique perspective on the Middle Passage, told from the point of view of...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–12.

Set six months after 9/11, this unforgettable novel explores crucial headline issues through the story of an English teenager who is arrested while...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 2.

Two little birds in a snowy countryside observe things around them that are similar yet different. The verse reads aloud beautifully, while the...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12

Wolf’s expertly researched masterpiece of free-form poetry tells the haunting, sweeping story of the Titanic disaster through a multi-octave chorus of two dozen...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 3–6.

Quietly telling a dramatic story in words and pictures, this picture book offers a stirring tribute to a courageous young woman who rescued...

2011 - Selection(s)

Valli flees her home in Jharia, India, only to find herself alone and afflicted with leprosy. Valli’s humor and fearlessness make this a surprisingly inspirational...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–10.

Infused with spirituality as well as heart-stopping action, this novel, set on a remote Indian island, addresses issues of modernity versus tradition as...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 2.

The winning combination of Ray and Frazee crystallizes the idea that stars are everywhere into a near-perfect picture book with airy illustrations and...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12.

Structured around the objects being returned after a breakup, this girl-meets-boy story rises far above par due to Handler’s deft depiction of the...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–8.

In short poems and prose vignettes, Adoff offers a sensory history of the blues, capturing the rhythms, sounds, and imagery that inform this...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 5–8.

Blessed, or perhaps cursed, with visions and voices foretelling the future, a young scullery maid proves her mettle in this historical fantasy, which...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12.

Fifteen-year-old Maya accompanies her Sikh father to India to spread the ashes of her Hindu mother, who committed suicide, and their arrival coincides...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 8–12.

A sober look at an oft-sensationalized period of American history, this thoroughly researched, highly readable book traces the roots of the Eighteenth Amendment...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12.

Clever doesn’t begin to cover this hard-boiled send-up riddled with wise-guy wit, as Dalton Rev trods the mean streets of a high school’s...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 2–4.

With elegantly simple language and vibrant acrylic illustrations, this exemplary picture-book biography focuses on animal advocate Jane Goodall’s life and work.

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 5–8.

In this story told with a spare tenderness, 12-year-old Raine tries to figure out why her mother has taken a job away from...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 10–12.

This hard-hitting novel about an unlikely fellowship between a football star and a gymnast tackles drugs, rape, violence, and the insular nature of...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–10.

Marrin’s landmark study of this historic tragedy not only supplies the brutal facts but also effortlessly ropes in the surrounding issues of immigration...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–7.

Phelan offers lightly fictionalized graphic-format accounts of three nineteenth-century adventurers whose inner journeys displayed as much hardiness, courage, and resilience as their globe-trotting exploits.

2011 - Selection(s)

K–Gr. 2.

This is an introduction to both a national event and to Tony Sarg, who loved puppets as a boy and grew up to...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 1–4.

The terror and emotional impact of Hurricane Katrina are on display in this forceful picture book for older children about Louis Daniel, who...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 9–12.

Peet’s look at England’s class war and the Cuban missile crisis through the viewpoint of two star-crossed lovers is heady, sophisticated, and one...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 8–12.

This is an eloquent, well-documented commentary with a clear point of view: “Weapons + poverty + inequality + dashed hopes = street gang...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 2–5.

Paterson, a Newbery Medalist and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, writes from her own abiding faith as she adds her careful embroidery...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 3.

This quietly affecting picture book tells of Jane Goodall’s childhood, spent exploring the outdoors along with her intrepid stuffed animal, a chimpanzee. A...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 5–8.

Now here’s a different sort of dystopia. In a world where children are coddled by a rigidly safeguarded society, Henrietta discovers a window...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–10.

Developing an idea left behind by the late Siobhan Dowd, Ness tells the story of a young boy who is pummeled with grief...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–10.

Renowned architect I. M. Pei is the focus of this handsome book, which offers a fascinating account of his life and discusses seven...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 5–8.

As much an homage to classic children’s stories as a fantastic yarn in itself, Valente’s richly worded story sends a girl with bottomless...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 3.

In this mesmerizing picture book, a precisely worded, free-verse text explores spirals in nature, while strong scratchboard compositions celebrate the variety of the...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–8.

This beautifully crafted, kid-friendly mystery combines two parallel stories set 50 years apart—one told in text, the other solely in illustrations—which eventually intertwine...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 8–12.

Ben (with his cerebral palsy) and Colleen (with her lingering drug problems) continue their wholly believable on-again, off-again relationship in this fast, funny...

2011 - Selection(s)

Can a photograph change the world? The answer is a resounding yes as this title in the Captured History series shows. The picture of an...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 4–8.

Written in accessible, short free-verse poems, this is the moving story of 10-year-old Hà, who is forced to flee war-torn Vietnam with her...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 7–12.

A friendly ghost turns out to have a terrifying agenda in this spooky, polished debut that offers something that’s still too rare in...

2011 - Selection(s)

PreS–Gr. 1.

This gleeful, dirt-worshipping reverie sends a young girl off with an onion-shaped glob of mud who speaks in smudges and leads the girl...

2011 - Selection(s)

Gr. 6–9.

This companion to (2007) focuses on Doug Switek’s tough home life and connection to Audubon’s portraits of birds, which serve...

2008 - Selection(s)

Older Readers

Ain’t Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry. By Scott Reynolds Nelson and Marc Aronson. illus. National Geographic...

2007 - Selection(s)

Older Readers

The Arrival. By Shaun Tan. Illus. by the author. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine, $19.99 (0-439-89530-8). Gr. 6–12.

The immigrant’s struggle in a new land...

2006 - Selection(s)

Older Readers

Almond, David. Clay. Delacorte, $15.95 (0-385-73171-X). Gr. 6–9.

A strange new kid in town convinces altar boy Davie to steal the body and...

2005 - Selection(s)

Older Readers

Abrahams, Peter. Down the Rabbit Hole. HarperCollins, $15.99 (0-06-073701-8).

Gr. 7–10. Thirteen-year-old Ingrid Levin-Hill feels like Alice plunging down the rabbit hole as...