Best Children's Books of the Year TWELVE to FOURTEEN 2020
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Best Children’s Books of the Year TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 2020 Edition *= Outstanding (11-13) = Age Range = Graphic Format = Diversity = Read Aloud = Mature Content __________________________________________________________________________________________ FICTION The Story Pirates Present: Digging Up Danger Adventure and Mystery (Story Pirates series) by Jacqueline West, illustrated by Hatem Aly The 1000 Year Old Boy (Random House BFYR/PRH, $13.99) 978-1-63565-091-4 by Ross Welford A 13-year-old ghost-hunter and her horticulturalist (Schwartz & Wade Books/Random House/PRH, $16.99) mom find weird plants in a flower shop. Black-and- 978-0-525-70745-5 white illustrations throughout. Includes a section on When you are 1000 years old but look only 11, you need how to write a mystery. (11-13) friends like never before. Will Alfie ever be able to start aging normally? (11-13) Coming of Age *Dog Driven by Terry Lynn Johnson All the Ways Home (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99) 978-1-328-55159-7 by Elsie Chapman Although McKenna, 14, is beginning to lose her sight (Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan, $16.99) from Stargardt disease, she decides to participate in a 978-1-250-16679-1 grueling Canadian dog sled race anyway. (12-14) A Japanese Canadian boy’s mother is killed in an accident. Now he must spend the summer in Japan with Our Castle by the Sea his estranged father and write an essay on the meaning by Lucy Strange of home. (12-15) (Chicken House/Scholastic, $17.99) 978-1-338-35385-3 Living in a lighthouse facing the English Channel during WWII, Pet, 11, begins to suspect someone in her family Beast Rider is committing treason. Could it be her German mother? by Tony Johnston, and Maria Elena Fontanot de Rhoads (11-13) (Amulet Books/Abrams , $17.99) 978-1-4197-3363-5 Leaving his small Mexican corn farm, Manuel, 12, begins Running Wild a perilous three-year journey to reunite with his older by Lucy Jane Bledsoe brother in Los Angeles. Glossary of Spanish terms. (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House, $16.99) (12-14) 978-0-8234-4363-5 Willa’s father moved the family to the Alaskan The Crossover (The Crossover series) wilderness. Now Willa needs all her survival skills to by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile save herself and her younger brothers—partly from (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $22.99) 978-1-328-96001-6 their father. (11-13) Thanks to former pro Chuck Bell, their dad, twins Josh and Jordan, 12, are the kings of the basketball court ... until tragedy strikes. Dynamic black, white, and orange graphics. (11-13) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education 1 Best Children’s Books of the Year TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 2020 Edition *= Outstanding (11-13) = Age Range = Graphic Format = Diversity = Read Aloud = Mature Content __________________________________________________________________________________________ Coming of Age, continued It’s the End of the World As I Know It by Matthew Landis Dear Sweet Pea (Dial BFYR/Penguin YR/PRH, $16.99) 978-0-7352-2801-6 by Julie Murphy After the sudden death of his mother, eighth grader (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, $16.99) Derrick prepares for doomsday, until friendship 978-0-06-247307-3 convinces him life is worth living. (12-14) As seventh grade ends, Sweet Pea struggles with her parents’ unconventional divorce, confronts changes in Mean friendships, and discovers she has a knack for giving by Justin Sayre advice. (11-13) (Penguin Workshop/Penguin YR/PRH, $16.99) 978-1-5247-8795-0 The Doughnut King (The Doughnut Fix series) In the weeks leading up to her bat mitzvah, Ellen tries to by Jessie Janowitz, illustrated by Nina Goffi puzzle out what it means to become a young woman, (Sourcebooks Young Readers, $16.99) while navigating the middle school battlefield. (11-14) 978-1-4926-5544-2 Tris thought moving from New York City to the middle of nowhere would make his life worse. As he starts his *New Kid doughnut business, things get better, but much more written and illustrated by Jerry Craft, complicated. Spot black-and-white illustrations. (11-13) color by Jim Callahan (Harper/HarperCollins, $21.99) 978-0-06-269120-0 When seventh grader Jordan Banks begins school at a Genesis Begins Again predominantly rich, white, private school, he discovers by Alicia D. Williams that for kids of color, fitting in isn’t always easy. Vibrant (Atheneum BFYR/ Simon & Schuster, $17.99) graphic panels. (11-14) 978-1-4814-6580-9 Genesis faces her father’s alcoholism, her family’s financial instability, and colorist insults, not only in her *Other Words for Home community, but from within her own family. (11-14) by Jasmine Warga (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-274780-8 *A Good Kind of Trouble After moving from Syria to America, Jude finds by Lisa Moore Ramée everything too fast and too loud. Will she ever be able (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins, $16.99) to be herself and feel at home again? (11-13) 978-0-06-283668-7 As Shayla begins junior high, she must cope with Revenge of the Red Club increased racial and ethnic diversity, including Black by Kim Harrington Lives Matter. Track meets present challenges and (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster, $17.99) 978-1-5344-3572-8 successes. (11-13) Riley takes action to keep her favorite club (a support group for young women that addresses menstruation and other issues) and the middle school newspaper functioning. (11-14) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education 2 Best Children’s Books of the Year TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 2020 Edition *= Outstanding (11-13) = Age Range = Graphic Format = Diversity = Read Aloud = Mature Content __________________________________________________________________________________________ Coming of Age, continued Fantasy Right as Rain Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandava Series) by Lindsey Stoddard by Roshani Chokshi (Harper/HarperCollins, $16.99) 978-0-06-265294-2 (Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion Books, $16.99) When Rain’s beloved brother dies, the family abruptly 978-1-3680-1384-0 moves to the city. Her initial isolation is assuaged by If Aru doesn’t find the god of love’s bow and arrow in new friends with stories of their own. (11-14) ten days, she’ll be expelled from the Otherworld. Will she succeed in her quest? (11-13) Stand on the Sky Changeling (Oddmire series) by Erin Bow written and illustrated by William Ritter (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.99) 978-1-328-55746-9 (Algonquin Young Readers/Algonquin Books of Chapel In Kazakh nomad culture, all eagle trainers must be Hill, $16.95) 978-1-61620-839-4 male. Will Aisulu defy tradition in order to have a A goblin bungles an assignment to switch a changeling chance at saving her brother’s life? (12-15) for a newborn baby, leaving Annie with two seemingly identical boys who she loves equally. Spot black-and- Where the Heart Is white illustrations. (11-13) by Jo Knowles (Candlewick Press, $16.99) 978-1-5362-0003-4 Cicada The summer before eighth grade, Rachel, 13, struggles written and illustrated by Shaun Tan with friendship, her sexual identity, social class, and the (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic, $19.99) foreclosure of her home. Change is certainly 978-1-338-29839-0 bittersweet. (12-14) After 17 years of facing constant workplace discrimination, a cicada retires and comes into his own. *The Whispers Somber grey oils. (11-14) by Greg Howard (G.P. Putnam’s Sons/PRH, $16.99) 978-0-525-51749-8 Game of Stars In South Carolina, 11-year-old Riley fears that his (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond series) mother’s disappearance is connected to her having seen by Sayantani DasGupta, illustrated by Vivienne To him kiss a boy. But why can’t he remember what (Scholastic Press, $17.99) 978-1-338-18573-7 happened? (11-14) A 12-year-old Indian princess living in New Jersey returns to another dimension to rescue a friend. Author’s note informs readers about Bengali folk tales, alchemy, astronomy, and more. Grey-toned spot illustrations. (11-14) __________________________________________________________________________________________ Children’s Book Committee Bank Street College of Education 3 Best Children’s Books of the Year TWELVE TO FOURTEEN 2020 Edition *= Outstanding (11-13) = Age Range = Graphic Format = Diversity = Read Aloud = Mature Content __________________________________________________________________________________________ Fantasy, continued Throwback by Peter Lerangis Ghost: (Harper/HarperCollins, $17.99) 978-0-06-240638-5 Thirteen Haunting Tales to Tell Corey has inherited his grandfather’s ability to travel in written and illustrated by Illustrátus time. But unlike his grandfather, Corey can change the (Chronicle Books, $21.99) 978-1-4521-7128-9 past. Can he prevent his grandmother’s untimely death? Two boys in summer camp sneak off to the (11-14) groundskeeper’s cabin in the middle of the night to hear his frightening tales. Spooky digital illustrations. (11-14) Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong series) The Library of Ever by Kwame Mbalia by Zeno Alexander (Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion Books, $17.99) (Imprint/Macmillan, $16.99) 978-1-250-16917-4 978-1-3680-3993-2 When rich, wretched Lenora escapes from her nanny in When Tristan tumbles into the MidPass while a mysterious library where she is appointed as an attempting to rescue a friend’s journal, he must underling librarian, a multitude of adventures await. contend with haunted ships and iron monsters and find (11-14) the god Anansi. (11-13) Sal & Gabi Break the Universe (Sal & Gabi series) by Carlos Hernandez Historical Fiction (Rick Riordan Presents/Disney-Hyperion, $16.99) 978-1-3680-2282-8 For to See the Elephant In a Miami school for the arts, Cuban American seventh by Tammi J.