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/.
How to Perform a Search and Save a List
Search
Advanced Search
Release
by Patrick Ness
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Almost 18, Adam Thorn relies on his new boyfriend and his best friend as he copes with his religiously conservative family and his threatening boss.
by Patrick Ness
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Almost 18, Adam Thorn relies on his new boyfriend and his best friend as he copes with his religiously conservative family and his threatening boss.
Retribution Rails
by Erin Bowman
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In alternating voices, the stories of the youngest member of a train-robbing gang and an aspiring girl reporter unfold against the backdrop of the wild, lawless Arizona territory in the late 1800's.
by Erin Bowman
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In alternating voices, the stories of the youngest member of a train-robbing gang and an aspiring girl reporter unfold against the backdrop of the wild, lawless Arizona territory in the late 1800's.
Running Full Tilt
by Michael Currinder
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
ARC Caleb runs to escape his autistic brother's increasingly unpredictable behavior. Will joining the cross-country team at his new school help him?
by Michael Currinder
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
ARC Caleb runs to escape his autistic brother's increasingly unpredictable behavior. Will joining the cross-country team at his new school help him?
Saint Death
by Marcus Sedgwick
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
If not for the wild profitability of selling illegal drugs to Americans, the deadly gangs of Juárez would not exist. One boy's courageous yet devastating story.
by Marcus Sedgwick
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
If not for the wild profitability of selling illegal drugs to Americans, the deadly gangs of Juárez would not exist. One boy's courageous yet devastating story.
Soldier Boy
by Keely Hutton
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Ricky, 13, is captured by the rebel army led by Joseph Kony. This fictionalized account details his brutal and chilling experience as a child soldier.
by Keely Hutton
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Ricky, 13, is captured by the rebel army led by Joseph Kony. This fictionalized account details his brutal and chilling experience as a child soldier.
Solo
by Kwame Alexander
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Blade, son of a rock star with addiction issues, finds out he is adopted and seeks his birth mother, a volunteer in Ghana. Told in verse.
by Kwame Alexander
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Blade, son of a rock star with addiction issues, finds out he is adopted and seeks his birth mother, a volunteer in Ghana. Told in verse.
Song of the Current
by Sarah Tolcser
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
To free her father who has been taken prisoner, Caro journeys down dangerous riverlands avoiding pirates and drakons to deliver a mysterious shipment.
by Sarah Tolcser
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
To free her father who has been taken prisoner, Caro journeys down dangerous riverlands avoiding pirates and drakons to deliver a mysterious shipment.
Speak of Me as I Am
by Sonia Belasco
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Melanie and Damon come together and share grief over their losses, and eventually the love that helps them cope.
by Sonia Belasco
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Melanie and Damon come together and share grief over their losses, and eventually the love that helps them cope.
Spindle Fire
by Lexa Hillyer
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
An imaginative retelling of Sleeping Beauty where two half-sisters, cursed by the faeries, battle to discover their inner strengths and love for each other.
by Lexa Hillyer
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
An imaginative retelling of Sleeping Beauty where two half-sisters, cursed by the faeries, battle to discover their inner strengths and love for each other.
Spinning
by Tillie Walden
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Figure skating dictates Tillie's life, but she must distance herself from the conformity of that competitive world to find her true self. In graphic format.
by Tillie Walden
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Figure skating dictates Tillie's life, but she must distance herself from the conformity of that competitive world to find her true self. In graphic format.
Splinter
by Sasha Dawn
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Sami's mother disappeared ten years ago. Was she abandoned? Or was there a murder? Sami needs to know - even if the evidence points to her father.
by Sasha Dawn
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Sami's mother disappeared ten years ago. Was she abandoned? Or was there a murder? Sami needs to know - even if the evidence points to her father.
Strange the Dreamer
by Laini Taylor
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Orphaned librarian Lazlo Strange pursues his dream of finding the city of Weep, where godspawn and ghosts still reside after near-eradication by humans centuries prior.
by Laini Taylor
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Orphaned librarian Lazlo Strange pursues his dream of finding the city of Weep, where godspawn and ghosts still reside after near-eradication by humans centuries prior.
Suspect Red
by L. M. Elliott
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Everybody is suspect. Anyone could be a communist spy. It's 1953 and Richard befriends Vladimir whose family is exiled from Czechoslovakia Are they hiding something? Photographs and back matter.
by L. M. Elliott
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Everybody is suspect. Anyone could be a communist spy. It's 1953 and Richard befriends Vladimir whose family is exiled from Czechoslovakia Are they hiding something? Photographs and back matter.
Tash Hearts Tolstoy
by Kathryn Ormsbee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
When the web series Tash and her best friend produce goes viral, she must learn to handle the notoriety, and other changes in her life.
by Kathryn Ormsbee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
When the web series Tash and her best friend produce goes viral, she must learn to handle the notoriety, and other changes in her life.
That Thing We Call a Heart
by Sheba Karim
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Finishing high school in New Jersey and preparing to go away to college, two Muslim-American girls try to balance family loyalty with new romantic relationships.
by Sheba Karim
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Finishing high school in New Jersey and preparing to go away to college, two Muslim-American girls try to balance family loyalty with new romantic relationships.
The 57 Bus
by Dashka Slater
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In a hate crime, Sasha is critically burned on a bus ride home. The story focuses on the victim, Sasha, and Richard, who started the fire.
by Dashka Slater
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In a hate crime, Sasha is critically burned on a bus ride home. The story focuses on the victim, Sasha, and Richard, who started the fire.
The Agony of Bun O'Keefe
by Heather Smith
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
When 14-year-old Bun's mother, a hoarder, forces her out of her home, she finds shelter with other young adults who have suffered trauma.
by Heather Smith
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
When 14-year-old Bun's mother, a hoarder, forces her out of her home, she finds shelter with other young adults who have suffered trauma.
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
by F. C. Yee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Can Genie, a 16-year-old Chinese American, be the reincarnation of a mythological weapon? Is Quentin really the immortal Monkey King? A rollicking, action-packed adventure.
by F. C. Yee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Can Genie, a 16-year-old Chinese American, be the reincarnation of a mythological weapon? Is Quentin really the immortal Monkey King? A rollicking, action-packed adventure.
The Fashion Committee
by Susan Juby
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
A scholarship to an arts high school is the prize for the student with the best fashion design. Charlie and John both need to win.
by Susan Juby
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
A scholarship to an arts high school is the prize for the student with the best fashion design. Charlie and John both need to win.
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
by Mackenzi Lee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
A frank, engaging escapade of young homosexual love in the 1700's. What begins as lust and selfish desire evolves into a journey to find a “cure” and lust becomes love.
by Mackenzi Lee
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
A frank, engaging escapade of young homosexual love in the 1700's. What begins as lust and selfish desire evolves into a journey to find a “cure” and lust becomes love.
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Young. Black. Unarmed. Killed by police. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter was there. She has to tell her story and fight back, but how? (Also available in Spanish.)
by Angie Thomas
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Young. Black. Unarmed. Killed by police. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter was there. She has to tell her story and fight back, but how? (Also available in Spanish.)
The Inexplicable Logic of My Life
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In his senior year, Salvador's grief is assuaged by the powerful love of friends and adoptive Mexican-American family.
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In his senior year, Salvador's grief is assuaged by the powerful love of friends and adoptive Mexican-American family.
The Librarian of Auschwitz
by Antonio Iturbe
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Based on true events, Dita, 14, is a prisoner in Auschwitz, where she maintains a secret library of eight books, giving hope to hundreds of other prisoners.
by Antonio Iturbe
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Based on true events, Dita, 14, is a prisoner in Auschwitz, where she maintains a secret library of eight books, giving hope to hundreds of other prisoners.
The Marrow Thieves
by Cherie Dimaline
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In a future Canada when the world is crumbling a group of Indigenous people live on the run evading the bone marrow thieves.
by Cherie Dimaline
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
In a future Canada when the world is crumbling a group of Indigenous people live on the run evading the bone marrow thieves.
The Memory Trees
by Kali Wallace
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Sorrow returns to her ancestral home eight years after her sister's death hoping to recover her memory of the incident, but discovers long-buried family secrets.
by Kali Wallace
Ages: 14+
Published: 2017
Sorrow returns to her ancestral home eight years after her sister's death hoping to recover her memory of the incident, but discovers long-buried family secrets.