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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Faith, Hope, and Ivy June
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
What can two Kentucky girls of very different backgrounds learn about city and rural life as they participate in a seventh-grade exchange program?
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
What can two Kentucky girls of very different backgrounds learn about city and rural life as they participate in a seventh-grade exchange program?
Guardian Angel House
by Kathy Clark
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
12-year-old Susan and her six-year-old sister Vera are among 120 Jewish girls hidden from the Nazis in a Budapest convent. Based on a true story.
by Kathy Clark
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
12-year-old Susan and her six-year-old sister Vera are among 120 Jewish girls hidden from the Nazis in a Budapest convent. Based on a true story.
Gwen
by Carolyn Pogue
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Gwen, orphaned in London at a young age, is sent to Canada to earn her living as a maid. Based on the life of the author's grandmother at the end of the 19th century.
by Carolyn Pogue
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Gwen, orphaned in London at a young age, is sent to Canada to earn her living as a maid. Based on the life of the author's grandmother at the end of the 19th century.
Herbert's Wormhole
by Peter Nelson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A play date with a brilliant young inventor results in hilarious, wacky adventures in the future. Lively, humorous black-and-white illustrations.
by Peter Nelson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A play date with a brilliant young inventor results in hilarious, wacky adventures in the future. Lively, humorous black-and-white illustrations.
Here's How I See It - Here's How It Is
by Heather Henson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Twelve-year-old aspiring actress Junebug tries to make her theatrical family's life look more like her dreams.
by Heather Henson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Twelve-year-old aspiring actress Junebug tries to make her theatrical family's life look more like her dreams.
Highway Robbery
by Kate Thompson
Illustrator: Jonny Duddle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A small street boy tells how he came to have a famous highwayman's horse in eighteenth-century London.
by Kate Thompson
Illustrator: Jonny Duddle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A small street boy tells how he came to have a famous highwayman's horse in eighteenth-century London.
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow
by James Rollins
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Jake and sister Kady time-travel to ancient Mayan Belize to unravel the mystery of an artifact found by their missing archaeologist parents.
by James Rollins
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Jake and sister Kady time-travel to ancient Mayan Belize to unravel the mystery of an artifact found by their missing archaeologist parents.
January's Sparrow
written and ill. by Patricia Polacco
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Sadie and her family flee North, after her “adopted brother” is whipped to death on a Kentucky plantation. Strong marker and pencil illustrations.
written and ill. by Patricia Polacco
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Sadie and her family flee North, after her “adopted brother” is whipped to death on a Kentucky plantation. Strong marker and pencil illustrations.
Just Grace Goes Green
by Charise Mericle Harper
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Grace and her classmates avidly engage in reducing, reusing, and recycling projects. Humorous black and white illustrations.
by Charise Mericle Harper
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Grace and her classmates avidly engage in reducing, reusing, and recycling projects. Humorous black and white illustrations.
Leo and the Lesser Lion
by Sandra Forrester
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
In 1932 in rural Alabama, Bayliss learns that she is not the only family member trying to deal with the accidental death of her older brother.
by Sandra Forrester
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
In 1932 in rural Alabama, Bayliss learns that she is not the only family member trying to deal with the accidental death of her older brother.
Love, Aubrey
by Suzanne LaFleur
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
An eleven-year-old girl struggles to rebuild her life after a car accident kills her father and sister.
by Suzanne LaFleur
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
An eleven-year-old girl struggles to rebuild her life after a car accident kills her father and sister.
Lucky Breaks
by Susan Patron
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Lucky's intrepidness and jealousy get her into trouble, but friends help get her out again.
by Susan Patron
Illustrator: Matt Phelan
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Lucky's intrepidness and jealousy get her into trouble, but friends help get her out again.
Malice
by Chris Wooding
Illustrator: Dan Chernett
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Is it possible for a real kid to be trapped in a comic book? A terrifying, original adventure.
by Chris Wooding
Illustrator: Dan Chernett
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Is it possible for a real kid to be trapped in a comic book? A terrifying, original adventure.
Markus and the Girls
by Klaus Hagerup
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Young teen Markus is growing up in today's Norway and finds that his relationships with girls are always changing.
by Klaus Hagerup
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Young teen Markus is growing up in today's Norway and finds that his relationships with girls are always changing.
Melonhead
by Katy Kelly
Illustrator: Gillian Johnson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Third-grader Melonhead's ideas often get him into trouble--and zany adventures.
by Katy Kelly
Illustrator: Gillian Johnson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Third-grader Melonhead's ideas often get him into trouble--and zany adventures.
Million-Dollar Throw
by Mike Lupica
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
8th-grade quarterback Nate deals courageously with family problems, his best friend's impending blindness, and his chance to win a million dollars.
by Mike Lupica
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
8th-grade quarterback Nate deals courageously with family problems, his best friend's impending blindness, and his chance to win a million dollars.
Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt!
by Leslie Kimmelman
Illustrator: Adam Gustavson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Alice is a vivacious, almost uncontrollable challenge to her father, Teddy Roosevelt in a new look at the White House. Funny, detailed oil paintings.
by Leslie Kimmelman
Illustrator: Adam Gustavson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Alice is a vivacious, almost uncontrollable challenge to her father, Teddy Roosevelt in a new look at the White House. Funny, detailed oil paintings.
Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Practicing the Piano
by Peggy Gifford
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Another visit to the amusing Maxwell household finds Moxy preparing in her unique way for a piano recital. Funny but realistic.
by Peggy Gifford
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Another visit to the amusing Maxwell household finds Moxy preparing in her unique way for a piano recital. Funny but realistic.
Mr. Wellington
by David Rabe
Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parker
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A small squirrel falls from his nest and is rescued by a boy willing to learn about wild animals.
by David Rabe
Illustrator: Robert Andrew Parker
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
A small squirrel falls from his nest and is rescued by a boy willing to learn about wild animals.
My Brother Abe
by Harry Mazer
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
As Abe Lincoln's older sister, Sally was teacher, friend, and sometimes mother, enduring with him the difficult life of a frontier family.
by Harry Mazer
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
As Abe Lincoln's older sister, Sally was teacher, friend, and sometimes mother, enduring with him the difficult life of a frontier family.
My Life in Pink and Green
by Lisa Greenwald
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Can twelve-year-old Lucy save her family's pharmacy?
by Lisa Greenwald
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Can twelve-year-old Lucy save her family's pharmacy?
Neil Armstrong is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me
by Nan Marino
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
In this humorous first-person narrative set on Long Island in 1969, ten-year-old Tammy finds herself bullying the new kid on the block when he wants to become her friend.
by Nan Marino
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
In this humorous first-person narrative set on Long Island in 1969, ten-year-old Tammy finds herself bullying the new kid on the block when he wants to become her friend.
Newsgirl
by Liza Ketchum
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Arriving with her family in California in 1851, Amelia confronts adversity-because she is a girl-in her attempt to earn money by selling newspapers.
by Liza Ketchum
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Arriving with her family in California in 1851, Amelia confronts adversity-because she is a girl-in her attempt to earn money by selling newspapers.
Notes from the Dog
by Gary Paulsen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
During a summer vacation that he had planned to spend alone, fourteen-year-old Finn finds his outlook on life changed by a new neighbor.
by Gary Paulsen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
During a summer vacation that he had planned to spend alone, fourteen-year-old Finn finds his outlook on life changed by a new neighbor.
Odd and the Frost Giants
by Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Brett Helquist
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Odd undertakes a quest to save Asgard, home of the gods, in a wonderfully cadenced story based on Norse mythology.
by Neil Gaiman
Illustrator: Brett Helquist
Ages: 9+
Published: 2009
Odd undertakes a quest to save Asgard, home of the gods, in a wonderfully cadenced story based on Norse mythology.