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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My Eyes Are Up Here
Laura Zimmermann
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Greer's enormous breasts dominate her life in ways she knows are unhealthy. A possible boyfriend, a powerful sports bra, and her volleyball teammates help.
Laura Zimmermann
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Greer's enormous breasts dominate her life in ways she knows are unhealthy. A possible boyfriend, a powerful sports bra, and her volleyball teammates help.
New David Espinoza, The
Fred Aceves
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In this cautionary tale, seventeen-year-old David, who's unhappy with his body image, begins using steroids with disastrous results. The author draws from personal experience.
Fred Aceves
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In this cautionary tale, seventeen-year-old David, who's unhappy with his body image, begins using steroids with disastrous results. The author draws from personal experience.
Not So Pure and Simple
Lamar Giles
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In a small Virginia Black community, where high school sex education courses get cancelled despite numerous teenage pregnancies, Del and his classmates face unprecedented social pressure.
Lamar Giles
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In a small Virginia Black community, where high school sex education courses get cancelled despite numerous teenage pregnancies, Del and his classmates face unprecedented social pressure.
One Real American: The Life of Ely S. Parker, Seneca Sachem and Civil War General
Joseph Bruchac
Illustrator: Archival photos and drawings
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This unique figure in US history achieved success in two worlds, yet was caught between them. Includes archival photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, and timeline.
Joseph Bruchac
Illustrator: Archival photos and drawings
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This unique figure in US history achieved success in two worlds, yet was caught between them. Includes archival photos, maps, endnotes, bibliography, and timeline.
One Way or Another
Kara McDowell
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Decision-making is beyond challenging for 17-year-old Paige. Two very different possibilities for a special Christmas experience unfold in alternating chapters in this romantic story.
Kara McDowell
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Decision-making is beyond challenging for 17-year-old Paige. Two very different possibilities for a special Christmas experience unfold in alternating chapters in this romantic story.
Only Mostly Devastated
Sophie Gonzales
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Ollie has a perfect summer fling with Will. When they unexpectedly attend the same school in the fall, Ollie is thrilled -- until Will says their relationship must remain secret.
Sophie Gonzales
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Ollie has a perfect summer fling with Will. When they unexpectedly attend the same school in the fall, Ollie is thrilled -- until Will says their relationship must remain secret.
Open Fire
Amber Lough
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Katya joins the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death during WWI. Intensely violent battles fuel her ambivalence about patriotism, Bolshevism, class struggles and misogyny.
Amber Lough
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Katya joins the 1st Russian Women's Battalion of Death during WWI. Intensely violent battles fuel her ambivalence about patriotism, Bolshevism, class struggles and misogyny.
Out Now: Queer We Go Again!
Saundra Mitchell, ed.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
These 17 short stories feature teens representing different gender identities. The themes of self-acceptance vs. societal pressure run throughout.
Saundra Mitchell, ed.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
These 17 short stories feature teens representing different gender identities. The themes of self-acceptance vs. societal pressure run throughout.
Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation
Octavia E Butler, Adapted by Damian Duffy
Illustrator: John Jennings
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Set in a near-future, violently apocalyptic United States, hyper-empathic Lauren flees her community hoping to establish a safe space to practice her Afrofuturistic religion. Deep tonal digital illustrations.
Octavia E Butler, Adapted by Damian Duffy
Illustrator: John Jennings
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Set in a near-future, violently apocalyptic United States, hyper-empathic Lauren flees her community hoping to establish a safe space to practice her Afrofuturistic religion. Deep tonal digital illustrations.
Parachutes
Kelly Yang
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Scholarship student Dani hosts wealthy Claire from Shanghai when she enrolls in Dani's private school in California. Initial antipathy gives way to alliance as they each face their own traumas.
Kelly Yang
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Scholarship student Dani hosts wealthy Claire from Shanghai when she enrolls in Dani's private school in California. Initial antipathy gives way to alliance as they each face their own traumas.
Phoenix First Must Burn, A: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance and Hope
Patrice Caldwell (ed)
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This diverse and wonderful collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories features protagonists who are women of color.
Patrice Caldwell (ed)
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This diverse and wonderful collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories features protagonists who are women of color.
Pretty Funny for a Girl
Rebecca Elliott
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Haylah is heavy (she says fat), clever, witty, and funny. Can she make it as a stand-up comic or will she forever ghostwrite Leo's sets?
Rebecca Elliott
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Haylah is heavy (she says fat), clever, witty, and funny. Can she make it as a stand-up comic or will she forever ghostwrite Leo's sets?
Private Lessons
Cynthia Salaysay
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Seventeen-year-old Claire gets more than she bargained for when her protective Filipina mother agrees to let her take piano lessons with a prestigious, demanding male teacher.
Cynthia Salaysay
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Seventeen-year-old Claire gets more than she bargained for when her protective Filipina mother agrees to let her take piano lessons with a prestigious, demanding male teacher.
Punching the Air
Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
One bad punch during a confrontation between groups of boys results in Amal's incarceration. This novel in verse reveals his sensitivity, talent, intellect, and worth.
Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
One bad punch during a confrontation between groups of boys results in Amal's incarceration. This novel in verse reveals his sensitivity, talent, intellect, and worth.
Puppetmaster's Apprentice
Lisa DeSelm
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A wooden puppet brought to life by her father's use of forbidden magic, Pirouette is forced by an evil ruler to create an army of marionettes.
Lisa DeSelm
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A wooden puppet brought to life by her father's use of forbidden magic, Pirouette is forced by an evil ruler to create an army of marionettes.
Raybearer
Jordan Ifueko
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Tarisai must find the strength to seek justice rather than revenge, but her mother's enchantment seems impossible to overcome.
Jordan Ifueko
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Tarisai must find the strength to seek justice rather than revenge, but her mother's enchantment seems impossible to overcome.
Rebelwing
Andrea Tang
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In a near-future dystopia, diverse teenage activists and a sentient mechanized dragon join the resistance against a totalitarian military-industrial complex.
Andrea Tang
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
In a near-future dystopia, diverse teenage activists and a sentient mechanized dragon join the resistance against a totalitarian military-industrial complex.
Red Hood
Elana K. Arnold
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A wolf attacks Bisou, 17. After she kills it, the body turns into that of a classmate. More attacks follow. Is she a hunter or a murderer? Sexual content.
Elana K. Arnold
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A wolf attacks Bisou, 17. After she kills it, the body turns into that of a classmate. More attacks follow. Is she a hunter or a murderer? Sexual content.
Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh, The
Candace Fleming
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This unflinching account of the pilot's life includes his solo flight from New York to Paris, his son's kidnapping, and his embrace of eugenics and Nazism. Bibliography, source notes, and index.
Candace Fleming
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This unflinching account of the pilot's life includes his solo flight from New York to Paris, his son's kidnapping, and his embrace of eugenics and Nazism. Bibliography, source notes, and index.
Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions About Small-Town America
Nora Shalaway Carpenter (ed)
Illustrator: Graphic Short Stories illustrated by Veeda Bybee and Randy DuBurke; B&W Spot Illustration by NasuÄĦraq Rainey Hopson
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Authors explore and celebrate issues of identity and growing up in rural America. Includes two black-and-white graphic shorts and one spot illustration.
Nora Shalaway Carpenter (ed)
Illustrator: Graphic Short Stories illustrated by Veeda Bybee and Randy DuBurke; B&W Spot Illustration by NasuÄĦraq Rainey Hopson
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Authors explore and celebrate issues of identity and growing up in rural America. Includes two black-and-white graphic shorts and one spot illustration.
Sanctuary
Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Vali, 16, and her brother flee from Vermont to California, after her mother is captured by the Deportation Force; a horrifying picture of a 2032 dystopian USA.
Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Vali, 16, and her brother flee from Vermont to California, after her mother is captured by the Deportation Force; a horrifying picture of a 2032 dystopian USA.
Sarah Bernhardt: The Divine and Dazzling Life of the World's First Superstar
Catherine Reef
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This legendary French actress led an unusual life and became a world-wide celebrity. Illustrated with numerous archival photographs.
Catherine Reef
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
This legendary French actress led an unusual life and became a world-wide celebrity. Illustrated with numerous archival photographs.
Self-Love Revolution, The: Radical Beauty Positivity for Girls of Color (Instant Help Solutions series)
Tovar, Virgie
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Tovar addresses the importance of self-love by sharing her own journey. She guides girls to self-love with exercises and insight on societal standards for women.
Tovar, Virgie
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
Tovar addresses the importance of self-love by sharing her own journey. She guides girls to self-love with exercises and insight on societal standards for women.
Six Angry Girls
Adrienne Kisner
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A high school Mock Trial team ousts its only female member. Millie forms her own, all-female team, but what starts as retaliation grows into true social activism.
Adrienne Kisner
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
A high school Mock Trial team ousts its only female member. Millie forms her own, all-female team, but what starts as retaliation grows into true social activism.
Snow Fell Three Graves Deep, The: Voices From the Donner Party
Allan Wolf
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
The harrowing, tragic story of the Donner Party is told in free verse, narrated by multiple voices. Extensive back matter, sources, and maps.
Allan Wolf
Ages: 14+
Published: 2020
The harrowing, tragic story of the Donner Party is told in free verse, narrated by multiple voices. Extensive back matter, sources, and maps.