91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the 91´«Ã½ (91´«Ã½), has selected its 2020 list of Notable Children’s Books. The list of titles, published in the previous year, includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry and picturebooks of special interest, quality, creativity and value to children 14 years of age and younger.

The titles include:

Younger Readers

“Across the Bay.” By Carlos Aponte. Illus. by the author. Penguin Workshop.

“Art This Way.” By Tamara Shopsin. Illustrated by Jason Fulford. Phaidon.

“At the Mountain's Base.” By Traci Sorell. Illus. by Weshoyot Alvitre. Penguin/Kokila.

“B Is for Baby.” By Atinuke. Illus. by Angela Brooksbank, Candlewick.

“The Balcony.” By Melissa Castrillón. Illus. by the author. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman.

“Bear Came Along.” By Richard T. Morris. Illus. by LeUyen Pham. Little, Brown.

“The Bell Rang.” By James E. Ransome. Illus. by the author. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

“Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border.” By Mitali Perkins. Illus. by Sara Palacios. Farrar.

“A Big Bed for Little Snow.” By Grace Lin. Illus. by the author. Little, Brown.

"The Bluest of Blues: Anna Atkins and the First Book of Photographs.” By Fiona Robinson. Illus. by the author. Abrams.

“Brown: My Alter Ego Is a Superhero.” By Håkon Øvreås. Illus. by Øyvind Torseter. Tr. by Kari Dickson. Enchanted Lion.

“The Book Hog.” By Greg Pizzoli. Illus. by the author. Disney/Hyperion.

“The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to “Come.” By Sue Macy. Illus. by Stacy Innerst. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman.

“Carter Reads the Newspaper.” By Deborah Hopkinson. Illus. by Don Tate. Peachtree.

“Chick and Brain: Smell My Foot!” By Cece Bell. Illus. by the author. Candlewick.

“Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreño Played the Piano for President Lincoln.” By Margarita Engle. Illus. by Rafael López. Atheneum.

“Dinosaur Feathers.” By Dennis Nolan. Illus. by the author. Holiday/Neal Porter.

“Do Fish Sleep?” By Jens Raschke. Illus. by Jens Rassmus. Tr. by Belinda Cooper. Enchanted Lion.

“Double Bass Blues.” By Andrea J. Loney. Illus. by Rudy Gutierrez. Knopf.

“Field Trip to the Moon.” By John Hare. Illus. by the author. Holiday/Margaret Ferguson.

“Firefighters' Handbook.” By Meghan McCarthy. Illus. by the author. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman.

“Flubby Is Not a Good Pet!” By J. E. Morris. Illus. by the author. Penguin Workshop.

“Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story.” By Kevin Noble Maillard. Illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal. Roaring Brook.

“Going Down Home with Daddy.” By Kelly Starling Lyons. Illus. by Daniel Minter. Peachtree.

“Grandpa's Top Threes.” By Wendy Meddour. Illus. by Daniel Egnéus. Candlewick.

“Hey, Water!” By Antoinette Portis. Illus. by the author. Holiday/Neal Porter.

“How to Read a Book.” By Kwame Alexander. Illus. by Melissa Sweet. Harper.

“It Began with a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way.” By Kyo Maclear. Illus. by Julie Morstad. Harper.

“Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet.” By Curtis Manley. Illus. by Jessica Lanan. Roaring Brook.

“The Last Peach.” By Gus Gordon. Illus. by the author. Roaring Brook.

“Let's Scare Bear.” By Yuko Katakawa. Illus. by the author. Holiday.

“Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons.” By Laura Purdie Salas. Illus. by Mercè López. Lerner/Millbrook.

“Luca's Bridge/El Puente de Luca.” By Mariana Llanos. Illus. by Anna López Real. Penny Candy.

“The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh.” By Supriya Kelkar. Illus. by Alea Marley. Sterling.

“A Map into the World.” By Kao Kalia Yang. Illus. by Seo Kim. Carolrhoda/Lerner.

“Moth.” By Isabel Thomas. Illus. by Daniel Egnéus. Bloomsbury.

“My Footprints.” By Bao Phi. Illus. by Basia Tran. Capstone.

“My Grandma and Me.” By Mina Javaherbin. Illus. by Lindsey Yankey. Candlewick.

“My Papi Has a Motorcycle.” By Isabel Quintero. Illus. by Zeke Peña. Penguin/Kokila.

“A New Home.” By Tania de Regil. Illus. by the author. Candlewick.

“Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time.” By Linda Sue Park. Illus. by Brian Pinkney. Clarion.

“One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller.” By Kate Read. Illus. by the author. Peachtree.

“Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist.” By Julie Leung. Illus. by Chris Sasaki. Random/Schwartz & Wade.

“Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré.” By Anika Aldamuy Denise. Illus. by Paola Escobar. Harper.

“Pokko and the Drum.” By Matthew Forsythe. Illus. by the author. Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman.

"The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family.” By Ibtihaj Muhammad with S. K. Ali. Illus. by Hatem Aly. Little, Brown.

“Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom.” By Teresa Robeson. Illus. by Rebecca Huang. Sterling.

“Saturday.” By Oge Mora. Illus. by the author. Little, Brown.

“Sing a Song: How “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Inspired Generations.” By Kelly Starling Lyons. Illus. by Keith Mallett. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.

“Small in the City.” By Sydney Smith. Illus. by the author. Holiday/Neal Porter.

“A Stone Sat Still.” By Brendan Wenzel. Illus. by the author. Chronicle.

“Stop! Bot!” By James Yang. Illus. by the author. Viking.

“Stormy: A Story about Finding a Forever Home.” By Guojing. Illus. by the author. Random/Schwartz & Wade.

“Thinker: My Puppy Poet and Me.” By Eloise Greenfield. Illus. by Ehsan Abdollahi. Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky.

“Todos Iguales / All Equal: Un Corrido De Lemon Grove / A Ballad of Lemon Grove.” By Christy Hale. Illus. by the author. Lee & Low.

“¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market.” By Raúl Gonzalez. Illus. by the author. HMH/Versify.

“What Is Given from the Heart.” By Patricia C. McKissack. Illus. by April Harrison. Random/Schwartz & Wade.

“When Aidan Became a Brother.” By Kyle Lukoff. Illus. by Kaylani Juanita. Lee & Low.

“When Spring Comes to the DMZ.” By Uk-Bae Lee. Illus. by the author. Translated by Chungyon Won and Aileen Won. Plough.

“Why?” By Laura Vaccaro Seeger. Illus. by the author. Holiday/Neal Porter.

Middle Readers

“All in a Drop: How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World.” By Lori Alexander. Illus. by Vivien Mildenberger. HMH.

“The Beast Player.” By Nahoko Uehashi. Illus. by Yuta Onoda. Tr. by Cathy Hirano. Holt/Godwin.

“Because of the Rabbit.” By Cynthia Lord. Scholastic.

“The Bridge Home.” By Padma Venkatraman. Penguin/Nancy Paulsen.

“The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree.” By Paola Peretti. Illus. by Carolina Rabei. Tr. by Denise Muir. Atheneum.

“Each Tiny Spark.” By Pablo Cartaya. Penguin/Kokila.

“For Black Girls Like Me.” By Mariama J. Lockington. Farrar.

“The Forgotten Girl.” By India Hill Brown. Scholastic.

“Hector: A Boy, a Protest, and the Photograph That Changed Apartheid.” By Adrienne Wright. Illus. by the author. Page Street.

“Indian No More.” By Charlene Willing McManis and Traci Sorrell. Lee & Low/Tu.

“It Rained Warm Bread: Moishe Moskowitz's Story of Hope.” By Gloria Moskowitz-Sweet and Hope Anita Smith. Illus. by Lea Lyon. Holt/Christy Ottaviano.

“Lalani of the Distant Sea.” By Erin Entrada Kelly. Illus. by Lian Cho. Greenwillow.

“Let 'er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People's Champion.” By Vaunda Micheaux Nelson. Illus. by Gordon C. James. Carolrhoda/Lerner.

“Lety Out Loud.” By Angela Cervantes. Scholastic.

“Pie in the Sky.” By Remy Lai. Illus. by the author. Holt.

“Scary Stories for Young Foxes. Christian McKay Heidicker. Illus. by Junyi Wu. Holt.

“Some Places More than Others.” By Renée Watson. Bloomsbury.

“Stargazing.” By Jen Wang. Illus. by the author. First Second.

Older Readers

“Accused! The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment.” By Larry Dane Brimner. illus. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek.

“All the Greys on Greene Street.” By Laura Tucker. Illus. by Kelly Murphy. Viking.

“Beverly, Right Here.” By Kate DiCamillo. Candlewick.

“Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race across America.” By Steve Sheinkin. Illus. by Bijou Karman. Roaring Brook.

“Games of Deception: The True Story of the First U.S. Olympic Basketball Team at the 1936 Olympics in Hitler's Germany.” By Andrew Maraniss. illus. Philomel.

“Genesis Begins Again.” By Alicia D. Williams. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

“I Can Make This Promise.” By Christine Day. Harper.

“An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People.” By Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese. illus. Beacon.

“Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey from World War II to Peace.” By Ashley Bryan. Illus. by the author. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

“Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks.” By Jason Reynolds. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

“Maybe He Just Likes You.” By Barbara Dee. Aladdin.

“New Kid.” By Jerry Craft. Illus. by the author. Harper.

“Ordinary Hazards: A Memoir.” By Nikki Grimes. WordSong.

“The Other Half of Happy.” By Rebecca Balcárcel. Chronicle.

“Other Words for Home.” By Jasmine Warga. HarperCollins/Balzer+Bray.

“A Place to Belong.” By Cynthia Kadohata. Illus. by Julia Kuo. Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy.

“The Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in our Food and Drugs.” By Gail Jarrow. illus. Boyds Mills/Calkins Creek.

“Sal and Gabi Break the Universe.” By Carlos Hernandez. Disney/Hyperion.

“A Story about Cancer (with a Happy Ending).” By India Desjardins. Illus. by Marianne Ferrer. Quarto/Frances Lincoln.

“Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers.” By Celia C. Pérez. Penguin/Kokila.

“Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children. Ed. by Kath Shackleton. Illus. by Zane Whittingham. Sourcebooks/Jabberwocky.

“They Called Us Enemy.” By George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott. Illus. by Harmony Becker. Top Shelf.

“This Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality.” By Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy. illus. Bloomsbury.

“Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship." By Deborah Heiligman. illus. Holt.

“Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky.” By Kwame Mbalia. Disney/Hyperion.

“Wait, What? A Comic Book Guide to Relationships, Bodies, and Growing Up.” By Heather Corinna. Illus. by Isabella Rotman. Limerence.

“We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls around the World.” By Malala Yousafzai. Little, Brown.

“Where the Heart Is.” By Jo Knowles. Candlewick.

“Words on Fire.” By Jennifer Nielsen. Scholastic.

“The Year We Fell from Space.” By Amy Sarig King. Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine.

All Ages

“I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage. Ed.” By Lee Bennett Hopkins. illus. Lee & Low.

“Liberty Arrives!: How America's Grandest Statue Found Her Home.” By Robert Byrd. Illus. by the author. Dial.

“A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation.” By Barry Wittenstein. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. Holiday/Neal Porter.

“Soldier for Equality: José de la Luz Sáenz and the Great War.” By Duncan Tonatiuh. Illus. by the author. Abrams.

“Thanku: Poems of Gratitude. Ed.” By Miranda Paul. Illus. by Marlena Myles. Lerner/Millbrook.

“The Undefeated.” By Kwame Alexander. Illus. by Kadir Nelson. HMH/Versify.

“You Are Home: An Ode to the National Parks.” By Evan Turk. Illus. by the author. Atheneum.

For an and past Notable Children’s Books lists, visit the ALSC website. More is available on the ALSC website.

Members of the 2020 Notable Children's Books Committee are: Melody R. Frese, Ladue Middle School, St. Louis, Mo., chair; Alexandra Bell, Bloomington (Ill.) Public Library; Christopher A. Brown, Parkway Central Library/Free Library of Philadelphia; Beatrice Canales, San Antonio, Texas; Anna R. Healy, East Hampton (N.Y.) Library; KT Horning, Madison, Wis.; Marie A. LeJeune, Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Ore.; Sharon Levin, Redwood City, Calif.; Janelle B. Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton; Sada Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library; and Kimberly Patton, Lawrence, Kan.

Related Links