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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Guy Wire
by Sarah Weeks
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Guy's wish for a best friend comes true, but is threatened when his friend Buzz has a bike accident.
by Sarah Weeks
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Guy's wish for a best friend comes true, but is threatened when his friend Buzz has a bike accident.
Halfway to the Sky
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
After two family tragedies, twelve-year-old Dani and her mother come to understand each other and the pain each has endured.
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
After two family tragedies, twelve-year-old Dani and her mother come to understand each other and the pain each has endured.
Hannah, Divided
by Adele Griffin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A twelve-year-old is plucked from her dairy-farming family to study for a scholarship in Philadelphia because of her extraordinary mathematical abilities.
by Adele Griffin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A twelve-year-old is plucked from her dairy-farming family to study for a scholarship in Philadelphia because of her extraordinary mathematical abilities.
Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons
by Jane Yolen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A thirteen-year-old Amazon princess rescues an infant brother in a series of brave adventures involving the gods themselves.
by Jane Yolen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A thirteen-year-old Amazon princess rescues an infant brother in a series of brave adventures involving the gods themselves.
Hoop Girlz
by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Eleven-year-old River, with the help of her brother, changes her B-Team's basketball image with a new and different outlook.
by Lucy Jane Bledsoe
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Eleven-year-old River, with the help of her brother, changes her B-Team's basketball image with a new and different outlook.
Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A boy tries to fit into a new place that includes a bully, burrowing owls and a junior eco-terrorist.
by Carl Hiaasen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A boy tries to fit into a new place that includes a bully, burrowing owls and a junior eco-terrorist.
House of Sports
by Marisabina Russo
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Short and skinny but fast and wiry, twelve-year-old Jim learns that there is more to life than being a star on the travel basketball team.
by Marisabina Russo
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Short and skinny but fast and wiry, twelve-year-old Jim learns that there is more to life than being a star on the travel basketball team.
How I Became a Writer and Oggie Learned To Drive
by Janet Taylor Lisle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Archie chronicles the difficult year in which his parents separate and a street gang threatens him and his brother.
by Janet Taylor Lisle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Archie chronicles the difficult year in which his parents separate and a street gang threatens him and his brother.
Imani's Music
by Sheron Williams
Illustrator: Jude Daly
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Imani the grasshopper carries music from Africa to the New World on a slave ship.
by Sheron Williams
Illustrator: Jude Daly
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Imani the grasshopper carries music from Africa to the New World on a slave ship.
Into the Labyrinth
by Roderick Townley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A sequel to The Great Good Thing. A medieval princess lives within a book which is unexpectedly uploaded onto a computer.
by Roderick Townley
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A sequel to The Great Good Thing. A medieval princess lives within a book which is unexpectedly uploaded onto a computer.
Invisible Kingdoms
retold by Howard Schwartz
Illustrator: Stephen Fieser
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Nine charming stories from fifth-century Babylon, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
retold by Howard Schwartz
Illustrator: Stephen Fieser
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Nine charming stories from fifth-century Babylon, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Jericho Walls
by
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A preacher's daughter has trouble adjusting to a small-minded southern town in the 1950s.
by
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A preacher's daughter has trouble adjusting to a small-minded southern town in the 1950s.
John Adams
by Jan Adkins
Illustrator: Meryl Henderson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
About the stalwart founding father who became second President of the United States.
by Jan Adkins
Illustrator: Meryl Henderson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
About the stalwart founding father who became second President of the United States.
Junebug in Trouble
by Alice Mead
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Growing up is hard and Junebug and his family make difficult choices against the backdrop of poverty and racism.
by Alice Mead
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Growing up is hard and Junebug and his family make difficult choices against the backdrop of poverty and racism.
keeper of the doves
by Betsy Byars
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The poetic Amen realizes that the reclusive Mr. Tominski is more complicated than her boisterous twin sisters realize. Set at the end of the ninteenth century.
by Betsy Byars
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The poetic Amen realizes that the reclusive Mr. Tominski is more complicated than her boisterous twin sisters realize. Set at the end of the ninteenth century.
Kings Mountain
by G. Clifton Wisler
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Leaving his rural South Carolina home to help with his grandmother's tavern, Francis becomes a fighter for the Patriots during the Revolutionary War.
by G. Clifton Wisler
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Leaving his rural South Carolina home to help with his grandmother's tavern, Francis becomes a fighter for the Patriots during the Revolutionary War.
Lorenzo's Secret Mission
by Lila and Rick Guzmán
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Sent by the Spanish governor of Louisiana, a fifteen-year-old threads a dangerous path from New Orleans to George Washington's army.
by Lila and Rick Guzmán
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Sent by the Spanish governor of Louisiana, a fifteen-year-old threads a dangerous path from New Orleans to George Washington's army.
Lost in the Labyrinth
by Patrice Kindl
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Affecting, thoughtful revisioning of the Minotaur myth.
by Patrice Kindl
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
Affecting, thoughtful revisioning of the Minotaur myth.
Making Music
by Susan Bonners
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A friendship with her elderly neighbor, based on their mutual love of music, helps Annie adjust to a new neighborhood.
by Susan Bonners
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A friendship with her elderly neighbor, based on their mutual love of music, helps Annie adjust to a new neighborhood.
Mama's Babies
by Gary Crew
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
In Australia at the end of the 19th century, Sarah begins to unravel the mysterious and chilling circumstances surrounding her mother's adoptive children.
by Gary Crew
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
In Australia at the end of the 19th century, Sarah begins to unravel the mysterious and chilling circumstances surrounding her mother's adoptive children.
Marika
by Andrea Cheng
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The need to survive the realities of war shatters the ordinary worries of a twelve-year-old girl in Budapest, 1939-1945.
by Andrea Cheng
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The need to survive the realities of war shatters the ordinary worries of a twelve-year-old girl in Budapest, 1939-1945.
My Life of Crime
by Richard W. Jennings
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A sixth-grader wrestles with his conscience when he decides to “rescue” a neglected class parrot.
by Richard W. Jennings
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A sixth-grader wrestles with his conscience when he decides to “rescue” a neglected class parrot.
My Perfect Life
by Dylan Sheldon
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The truth behind Ella's seemingly perfect life is exposed when she reluctantly runs for class president. Humorous school story.
by Dylan Sheldon
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
The truth behind Ella's seemingly perfect life is exposed when she reluctantly runs for class president. Humorous school story.
Once Upon a Marigold
by Jean Ferris
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A troll, a lost boy, an unhappy princess, and a selfish queen mingle in a nontraditional love story.
by Jean Ferris
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A troll, a lost boy, an unhappy princess, and a selfish queen mingle in a nontraditional love story.
Pacific Odyssey to California 1905
by Laurie Lawlor
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A Korean immigrant family's difficult experience in Hawaii and California in the early 20th century. Includes beautiful poetry.
by Laurie Lawlor
Ages: 9+
Published: 2002
A Korean immigrant family's difficult experience in Hawaii and California in the early 20th century. Includes beautiful poetry.