Welcome to the Bank Street Children's Book Committee's (CBC) Searchable Best Books List, a tool designed to help educators, families, librarians, and others access developmentally appropriate and engaging books for young readers (ages birth - 18).
Our online Searchable Best Books List draws from the committee's annual Best Children's Books of the Year-beginning with the list of books published in 2000-with each featuring more than 600 high-quality titles for young readers.
To share feedback about the tool, please feel free to email bookcom@bankstreet.edu. To learn more about the CBC, visit https://www.bankstreet.edu/cbc/.
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Mascot
Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
What if a middle school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everybody? Six eighth graders explore whether the mascot should stay or be changed. Free verse.
Charles Waters and Traci Sorell
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
What if a middle school's mascot is seen as racist, but not by everybody? Six eighth graders explore whether the mascot should stay or be changed. Free verse.
Miles Morales Suspended (Spider-Man Graphic Novel series/Miles Morales series)
Jason Reynolds
Illustrator: Zeke Peña
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A day of in-school suspension forces Miles to use his superpowers to battle a fellow student who is destroying books as a termite. Is Miles up to the challenge? Told in alternating prose and verse. Greyscale illustrations.
Jason Reynolds
Illustrator: Zeke Peña
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A day of in-school suspension forces Miles to use his superpowers to battle a fellow student who is destroying books as a termite. Is Miles up to the challenge? Told in alternating prose and verse. Greyscale illustrations.
Mona Lisa Vanishes, The: A Legendary Painter, a Shocking Heist, and the Birth of a Global Celebrity
Nicholas Day
Illustrator: Brett Helquist
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A compelling mystery that alernates between da Vinci's life during the Renaissance and the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911. Black-and-white illustrations. Extensive back matter.
Nicholas Day
Illustrator: Brett Helquist
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A compelling mystery that alernates between da Vinci's life during the Renaissance and the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911. Black-and-white illustrations. Extensive back matter.
Monkey Trial, The: John Scopes and the Battle over Teaching Evolution
Anita Sanchez
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
After giving a biology lesson in Tennessee in 1925, Scopes was arrested and put on trial for the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. Extensive back matter.
Anita Sanchez
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
After giving a biology lesson in Tennessee in 1925, Scopes was arrested and put on trial for the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. Extensive back matter.
More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
An account of the little-known work behind the historic civil rights march in 1963, including information about how women were ignored despite the contributions they made. Archival and images and photographs.
Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
An account of the little-known work behind the historic civil rights march in 1963, including information about how women were ignored despite the contributions they made. Archival and images and photographs.
Museum of Lost and Found, The
Leila Sales
Illustrator: Jacqueline Li
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Sixth grader Vanessa discovers an abandoned museum, where she creates a private exhibit of objects connected to her no-longer-best friend Bailey, trying to understand what went wrong between them. Black-and-white illustrations.
Leila Sales
Illustrator: Jacqueline Li
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Sixth grader Vanessa discovers an abandoned museum, where she creates a private exhibit of objects connected to her no-longer-best friend Bailey, trying to understand what went wrong between them. Black-and-white illustrations.
Muzoon: A Syrian Refugee Speaks Out
Muzoon Almellehan with Wendy Pearlman
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Fleeing from a Syrian village to Jordanian refugee camps and finally resettling in England, Muzoon becomes an internationally recognized advocate for educating refugee children, especially girls.
Muzoon Almellehan with Wendy Pearlman
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Fleeing from a Syrian village to Jordanian refugee camps and finally resettling in England, Muzoon becomes an internationally recognized advocate for educating refugee children, especially girls.
My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement
Willie Mae Brown
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
An intimate look at growing up Black in Selma, Alabama, where Brown joined her mother at church to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.
Willie Mae Brown
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
An intimate look at growing up Black in Selma, Alabama, where Brown joined her mother at church to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.
Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself
Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
The 18th-century autobiography of an African from his capture and enslavement as a child to his liberation and life as a free man. In found verse. Archival images. Endnotes, primary sources, annotations.
Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
The 18th-century autobiography of an African from his capture and enslavement as a child to his liberation and life as a free man. In found verse. Archival images. Endnotes, primary sources, annotations.
No Matter the Distance
Cindy Baldwin
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Penny, 11, who has cystic fibrosis, forms a deep bond with an ailing dolphin stranded in their creek. Can she help save it? Free verse.
Cindy Baldwin
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Penny, 11, who has cystic fibrosis, forms a deep bond with an ailing dolphin stranded in their creek. Can she help save it? Free verse.
No Place Like Home
James Bird
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Opin and his Ojibwe family live in their car, but his mother's spirit and humor and a new dog teach him to love learning and life.
James Bird
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Opin and his Ojibwe family live in their car, but his mother's spirit and humor and a new dog teach him to love learning and life.
Not an Easy Win
Chrystal D. Giles
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Following another school fight, African American Lawrence, 12, is suspended, but finds refuge at the local recreation center where learning to play competitive chess gives him new hope.
Chrystal D. Giles
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Following another school fight, African American Lawrence, 12, is suspended, but finds refuge at the local recreation center where learning to play competitive chess gives him new hope.
Nothing Else but Miracles
Kate Albus
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
When Dory's father joins the army, her older brother must care for the younger siblings in 1940s lower Manhattan. A lot goes wrong, but Dory never gives up.
Kate Albus
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
When Dory's father joins the army, her older brother must care for the younger siblings in 1940s lower Manhattan. A lot goes wrong, but Dory never gives up.
Of All Tribes: American Indians and Alcatraz
Joseph Bruchac
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
From 1969 to 1971, a group of Native American activists occupied the former Alcatraz Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. What led to this occupation? What is its legacy today? Archival images and photographs. Extensive back matter.
Joseph Bruchac
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
From 1969 to 1971, a group of Native American activists occupied the former Alcatraz Penitentiary in San Francisco Bay. What led to this occupation? What is its legacy today? Archival images and photographs. Extensive back matter.
Once upon a Time in the North (gift edition, His Dark Materials series)
Philip Pullman
Illustrator: Chris Wormell
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A tightly plotted adventure featuring aeronaut Lee Scoresby on his first meeting with the armored bear Iorek Byrnison. Atmospheric full-color woodblock-print-style artwork.
Philip Pullman
Illustrator: Chris Wormell
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
A tightly plotted adventure featuring aeronaut Lee Scoresby on his first meeting with the armored bear Iorek Byrnison. Atmospheric full-color woodblock-print-style artwork.
Order of Things, The
Kaija Langley
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
When Zee, a very talented violinist, enters a new STEAM school, April, his best friend, is left alone in sixth grade. Too soon tragedy strikes. Free verse.
Kaija Langley
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
When Zee, a very talented violinist, enters a new STEAM school, April, his best friend, is left alone in sixth grade. Too soon tragedy strikes. Free verse.
Plot to Kill a Queen, The
Deborah Hopkinson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Aspiring playwright Emilia is assigned to verify whether a rumored plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I is linked to Mary Queen of Scots. A witty romp. Black-and-white archival images and spot art. Extensive back matter.
Deborah Hopkinson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Aspiring playwright Emilia is assigned to verify whether a rumored plot to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I is linked to Mary Queen of Scots. A witty romp. Black-and-white archival images and spot art. Extensive back matter.
Pocketful of Stars, A
Aisha Bushby
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Thirteen-year-old Safiya doesn't see eye-to-eye with her mother, but when her mom falls into a coma, Safiya tries to save her through taking action within dreams of her mother's childhood in Kuwait.
Aisha Bushby
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Thirteen-year-old Safiya doesn't see eye-to-eye with her mother, but when her mom falls into a coma, Safiya tries to save her through taking action within dreams of her mother's childhood in Kuwait.
Probability of Everything, The
Sarah Everett
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Believing that there are only four days until the end of the earth, Kemi, an 11-year-old Nigerian American, puts together a time capsule with objects from family members. In reality, it is a very different end she is mourning.
Sarah Everett
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Believing that there are only four days until the end of the earth, Kemi, an 11-year-old Nigerian American, puts together a time capsule with objects from family members. In reality, it is a very different end she is mourning.
Race against Death: The Greatest POW Rescue of World War II (True Stories in Focus series)
Deborah Hopkinson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Brief bios of brave Americans and Filipinos who suffered starvation, disease, and brutality defending the Philippines against the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Black-and-white archival photographs. Back matter.
Deborah Hopkinson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Brief bios of brave Americans and Filipinos who suffered starvation, disease, and brutality defending the Philippines against the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Black-and-white archival photographs. Back matter.
Remember Us
Jacqueline Woodson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
As mysterious fires destroy her Bushwick community, African American Sage, 12, shares her love of basketball with her friend, Freddy, while also grappling with her father's death and her sexual identity.
Jacqueline Woodson
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
As mysterious fires destroy her Bushwick community, African American Sage, 12, shares her love of basketball with her friend, Freddy, while also grappling with her father's death and her sexual identity.
Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be
Rachel HS Ginocchio
Illustrator: Mel Latthitham
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Straightforward prose and interviews describe various ways of making a family. Clear, colorful diagrams. Glossary, source notes, index.
Rachel HS Ginocchio
Illustrator: Mel Latthitham
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Straightforward prose and interviews describe various ways of making a family. Clear, colorful diagrams. Glossary, source notes, index.
Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute
Sayantani DasGupta
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
At a summer camp casting a multicultural TV adaptation of Jane Austen, two teenagers of Bengali and Bangladeshi Chinese Singaporean heritage fall in love. Many amusing misunderstandings.
Sayantani DasGupta
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
At a summer camp casting a multicultural TV adaptation of Jane Austen, two teenagers of Bengali and Bangladeshi Chinese Singaporean heritage fall in love. Many amusing misunderstandings.
Ruptured
Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Thirteen-year-old Claire struggles to cope when her family's annual vacation in Maine is beset by marital problems and her mother's sudden life-threatening illness. In verse.
Joanne Rossmassler Fritz
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Thirteen-year-old Claire struggles to cope when her family's annual vacation in Maine is beset by marital problems and her mother's sudden life-threatening illness. In verse.
School Trip
Jerry Craft
Illustrator: Jerry Craft
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Accepted to art high school, eighth grader Jordan can't decide whether to go or to stay at the school he attends with his friends. A class trip to Europe helps him decide. Vibrant colorful panels.
Jerry Craft
Illustrator: Jerry Craft
Ages: 12+
Published: 2023
Accepted to art high school, eighth grader Jordan can't decide whether to go or to stay at the school he attends with his friends. A class trip to Europe helps him decide. Vibrant colorful panels.