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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Wolves Are Waiting, The
Natasha Friend
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
After Nora, 15, is drugged and assaulted, she wants to just forget it happened—until she learns that her father, the local college's beloved athletic director, is indirectly complicit.
Natasha Friend
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
After Nora, 15, is drugged and assaulted, she wants to just forget it happened—until she learns that her father, the local college's beloved athletic director, is indirectly complicit.
Words We Keep, The
Erin Stewart
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
After her sister's suicide attempt, Lily, 16, starts spiraling downward. An English/art project partners her with Micah, a fellow depression sufferer. Includes mental health resources.
Erin Stewart
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
After her sister's suicide attempt, Lily, 16, starts spiraling downward. An English/art project partners her with Micah, a fellow depression sufferer. Includes mental health resources.
Year to the Day, A
Robin Benway
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
Leo was a passenger in the car when her sister, Nina, was killed by a drunk driver. Can she heal despite having no memory of the accident?
Robin Benway
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
Leo was a passenger in the car when her sister, Nina, was killed by a drunk driver. Can she heal despite having no memory of the accident?
Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend
Alys Arden
Illustrator: Jacquelin de Leon
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
In contemporary Coney Island, Zatanna, a famous illusionist's daughter, suddenly understands mirror script, an inherited trait, leading her to question her parents' identities. Lush, colorful graphics.
Alys Arden
Illustrator: Jacquelin de Leon
Ages: 14+
Published: 2022
In contemporary Coney Island, Zatanna, a famous illusionist's daughter, suddenly understands mirror script, an inherited trait, leading her to question her parents' identities. Lush, colorful graphics.
Act Cool
Tobly McSmith
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Transgender teen August flees his strictly religious parents to avoid conversion therapy. Will acceptance at a prestigious performing arts school lead to the life he wants?
Tobly McSmith
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Transgender teen August flees his strictly religious parents to avoid conversion therapy. Will acceptance at a prestigious performing arts school lead to the life he wants?
Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again
Shakirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy, eds.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
This anthology of essays and a black-and-white comic strip showcases power, privilege, and allyship to support others in the quest for social justice. Many resources and activities.
Shakirah Bourne and Dana Alison Levy, eds.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
This anthology of essays and a black-and-white comic strip showcases power, privilege, and allyship to support others in the quest for social justice. Many resources and activities.
American Betiya
Anuradha D. Rajurkar
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Rani falls hard for artsy Oliver but must keep their relationship secret from her strict Indian parents, with devastating results.
Anuradha D. Rajurkar
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Rani falls hard for artsy Oliver but must keep their relationship secret from her strict Indian parents, with devastating results.
Angel of Greenwood
Randi Pink
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Two African-American teens living in Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma slowly connect over poetry and dance until a vicious white mob burns what is known as "The Black Wall Street." Back matter.
Randi Pink
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Two African-American teens living in Greenwood, Tulsa, Oklahoma slowly connect over poetry and dance until a vicious white mob burns what is known as "The Black Wall Street." Back matter.
Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Having loving, supportive families helps Mexican American Ari and Dante navigate the challenges of being gay and in love in a homophobic world. Richly told lyrical sequel.
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Having loving, supportive families helps Mexican American Ari and Dante navigate the challenges of being gay and in love in a homophobic world. Richly told lyrical sequel.
Battle of the Bands
Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith, Eds.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Sixteen high school bands compete in a once-a-year performance to win a recording contract. Their interrelated stories of music, love and identity take place during one night.
Lauren Gibaldi and Eric Smith, Eds.
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Sixteen high school bands compete in a once-a-year performance to win a recording contract. Their interrelated stories of music, love and identity take place during one night.
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales
Soman Chainani
Illustrator: Julia Iredale
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Sophisticated 20th-century reinterpretations of 12 old tales including Bluebeard, Peter Pan, and Hansel and Gretel,. Appropriately scary dark illustrations.
Soman Chainani
Illustrator: Julia Iredale
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Sophisticated 20th-century reinterpretations of 12 old tales including Bluebeard, Peter Pan, and Hansel and Gretel,. Appropriately scary dark illustrations.
Beasts of Prey
Ayana Gray
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Indentured servant Koffi and warrior-in-training Ekon, with differing motivations, join forces to hunt a murderous monster lurking in the forest. A richly textured novel. Author's note.
Ayana Gray
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Indentured servant Koffi and warrior-in-training Ekon, with differing motivations, join forces to hunt a murderous monster lurking in the forest. A richly textured novel. Author's note.
Beautiful Struggle, The: A Memoir (Adapted for Young Adults)
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Acclaimed author Coates describes growing up in Baltimore and the influences, especially those of his father and brother, that shaped him.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Acclaimed author Coates describes growing up in Baltimore and the influences, especially those of his father and brother, that shaped him.
Becoming Michelle Obama (Adapted for Young Readers)
Michelle Obama
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Michelle Obama relates her journey as an African American girl from modest circumstances who became a highly respected First Lady of the United States. Young readers edition.
Michelle Obama
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Michelle Obama relates her journey as an African American girl from modest circumstances who became a highly respected First Lady of the United States. Young readers edition.
Between Perfect and Real
Ray Stoeve
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Dean chafes at being identified as a lesbian. Cast as Romeo in the school play, he wants everyone to see him for the boy he knows himself to be.
Ray Stoeve
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Dean chafes at being identified as a lesbian. Cast as Romeo in the school play, he wants everyone to see him for the boy he knows himself to be.
Beyond the Mapped Stars
Rosalyn Eves
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
In the 1870s West, Elizabeth, 17, struggles to reconcile the expectations of her Mormon faith with her dreams of becoming an astronomer.
Rosalyn Eves
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
In the 1870s West, Elizabeth, 17, struggles to reconcile the expectations of her Mormon faith with her dreams of becoming an astronomer.
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Brandy Colbert
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Moving backward and forward in time, Colbert interweaves survivors' histories with her own to contextualize the obliteration of Greenwood, an affluent African American community in Oklahoma, by a White mob. Extensive notes, sources, additional reading.
Brandy Colbert
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Moving backward and forward in time, Colbert interweaves survivors' histories with her own to contextualize the obliteration of Greenwood, an affluent African American community in Oklahoma, by a White mob. Extensive notes, sources, additional reading.
Black Hole Chasers: The Amazing True Story of an Astronomical Breakthrough
Anna Crowley Redding
Illustrator: Archival photos
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
How can you take a picture of something you can not see? It takes a small army of scientists with big dreams. Archival photos, diagrams, bibliography, source notes.
Anna Crowley Redding
Illustrator: Archival photos
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
How can you take a picture of something you can not see? It takes a small army of scientists with big dreams. Archival photos, diagrams, bibliography, source notes.
Blackout
Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
A blackout in sweltering NYC occasions changing relationships for six Black teens navigating in the darkness: love found, confessed, renewed, reexamined, or altered.
Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
A blackout in sweltering NYC occasions changing relationships for six Black teens navigating in the darkness: love found, confessed, renewed, reexamined, or altered.
Bluebird
Sharon Cameron
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
The daughter of a notorious concentration camp doctor makes it her mission at the end of WWII to keep him from committing more atrocities.
Sharon Cameron
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
The daughter of a notorious concentration camp doctor makes it her mission at the end of WWII to keep him from committing more atrocities.
Boy from Buchenwald, The True Story of a Holocaust Survivor
Robbie Waisman, with Susan McClelland
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Romek (now Robbie) was 14 when liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. Here he chronicles his survival and return to society. Photos, backmatter.
Robbie Waisman, with Susan McClelland
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Romek (now Robbie) was 14 when liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945. Here he chronicles his survival and return to society. Photos, backmatter.
Burning, The: Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (Adapted for young people)
Tim Madigan (adapted by Hilary Beard)
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
This detailed account of White rioters' destruction of Greenwood, a prosperous Oklahoman Black community, includes updates connecting the event to the Black Lives Matter movement. Extensive back matter. Young readers edition.
Tim Madigan (adapted by Hilary Beard)
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
This detailed account of White rioters' destruction of Greenwood, a prosperous Oklahoman Black community, includes updates connecting the event to the Black Lives Matter movement. Extensive back matter. Young readers edition.
Can't Stop Won't Stop: A Hip-Hop History (YR Edition)
Jeff Chang, with Dave "Davey D" Cook
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
The birth and evolution of hip-hop are chronicled through histories and profiles of pioneering artists and their cultural and political contexts.
Jeff Chang, with Dave "Davey D" Cook
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
The birth and evolution of hip-hop are chronicled through histories and profiles of pioneering artists and their cultural and political contexts.
Carry On: Poetry by Young Immigrants
Students from the PGLO high school in Outremont, Quebec; Simon Bolerice, Ed.
Illustrator: Rogé
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Newcomers from many lands express loss and pain about what they've left behind, and hopes and concerns about their new homes. Free verse. Expressively painted portraits.
Students from the PGLO high school in Outremont, Quebec; Simon Bolerice, Ed.
Illustrator: Rogé
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Newcomers from many lands express loss and pain about what they've left behind, and hopes and concerns about their new homes. Free verse. Expressively painted portraits.
Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms
Crystal Frasier
Illustrator: Val Wise & Oscar O. Jupiter
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Annie joins the cheerleading squad, rekindling her friendship with Bebe, a transgender girl who is navigating her path with family and school relationships. Bright, colorful illustrations.
Crystal Frasier
Illustrator: Val Wise & Oscar O. Jupiter
Ages: 14+
Published: 2021
Annie joins the cheerleading squad, rekindling her friendship with Bebe, a transgender girl who is navigating her path with family and school relationships. Bright, colorful illustrations.