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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Where the Steps Were
by Andrea Cheng
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Facing the closure of their school, five third graders in Miss D's class share the details of their lives in verse.
by Andrea Cheng
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Facing the closure of their school, five third graders in Miss D's class share the details of their lives in verse.
Who's Jim Hines?
by Jean Alice Elster
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Proud of his father, owner of a lumber yard, a black twelve-year-old confronts racial injustice in Detroit during the Depression.
by Jean Alice Elster
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Proud of his father, owner of a lumber yard, a black twelve-year-old confronts racial injustice in Detroit during the Depression.
Word Nerd
by Susin Nielsen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
12-year-old Ambrose is allergic, awkward, and over-protected. When he needs something to take pride in, a Scrabble club proves just the thing.
by Susin Nielsen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
12-year-old Ambrose is allergic, awkward, and over-protected. When he needs something to take pride in, a Scrabble club proves just the thing.
Write Before Your Eyes
by Lisa Williams Kline
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Diary entries coming true? Whether “magic” or coincidences, Gracie's jottings cause her friends serious problems.
by Lisa Williams Kline
Ages: 9+
Published: 2008
Diary entries coming true? Whether “magic” or coincidences, Gracie's jottings cause her friends serious problems.
A Crooked Kind of Perfect
by Linda Urban
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Zoe wants a piano and gets a second hand organ. Her performance at a competition, amidst difficult family circumstances helps her achieve her dreams.
by Linda Urban
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Zoe wants a piano and gets a second hand organ. Her performance at a competition, amidst difficult family circumstances helps her achieve her dreams.
A Friendship For Today
by Patricia C. McKissack
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
When desegregation comes to Missouri, sixth-grader Rosemary is the only African American in her class.
by Patricia C. McKissack
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
When desegregation comes to Missouri, sixth-grader Rosemary is the only African American in her class.
Ain't Nobody a Stranger to Me
by Ann Grifalconi
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Gran'pa shares memories of his daring escape from slavery to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Watercolors of today contrast with sepia tones of hardship.
by Ann Grifalconi
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Gran'pa shares memories of his daring escape from slavery to freedom on the Underground Railroad. Watercolors of today contrast with sepia tones of hardship.
Amaterasu: Return of the Sun
by Paul D. Storrie
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
With larger than life comic book style heroes and heroines, a retelling of the Shinto myth of the goddess of the sun.
by Paul D. Storrie
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
With larger than life comic book style heroes and heroines, a retelling of the Shinto myth of the goddess of the sun.
A Song for Harlem
by Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Gordon C. James
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Lilly Belle comes to Harlem where she experiences the Harlem Renaissance as part of a young writers workshop.
by Patricia C. McKissack
Illustrator: Gordon C. James
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Lilly Belle comes to Harlem where she experiences the Harlem Renaissance as part of a young writers workshop.
Attack of the Turtle
by Drew Carlson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
A boy overcomes his fears and helps fight the British with a top-secret new weapon--the first submarine.
by Drew Carlson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
A boy overcomes his fears and helps fight the British with a top-secret new weapon--the first submarine.
At the Firefly Gate
by Linda Newbery
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
In his new community in a British village, twelve-year-old Henry meets people who seem strangely familiar.
by Linda Newbery
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
In his new community in a British village, twelve-year-old Henry meets people who seem strangely familiar.
Barbaro
by Shelley Fraser Mickle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
The young racer won the Kentucky Derby, but lost the game of life after failing to overcome an injury.
by Shelley Fraser Mickle
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
The young racer won the Kentucky Derby, but lost the game of life after failing to overcome an injury.
Being Bee
by Catherine Bateson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Will having her dad's girlfriend move in with them be as terrible as Bee fears?
by Catherine Bateson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Will having her dad's girlfriend move in with them be as terrible as Bee fears?
Beowulf
retold by Nicky Raven
Illustrator: John Howe
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
This retelling of Beowulf's slaying of Grendel pits a true hero against the most fearsome of monsters. Watercolor, ink and colored pencil illustrations.
retold by Nicky Raven
Illustrator: John Howe
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
This retelling of Beowulf's slaying of Grendel pits a true hero against the most fearsome of monsters. Watercolor, ink and colored pencil illustrations.
Beowulf
retold and ill. by James Rumford
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
A retelling of the exploits of the Anglo-Saxon warrior and how he came to defeat the monster Grendel.
retold and ill. by James Rumford
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
A retelling of the exploits of the Anglo-Saxon warrior and how he came to defeat the monster Grendel.
Billy Creekmore
by Tracey Porter
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
In 1905, a story-telling ten-year-old escapes from a cruel orphanage and finds many challenging adventures.
by Tracey Porter
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
In 1905, a story-telling ten-year-old escapes from a cruel orphanage and finds many challenging adventures.
Bird Springs
by Carolyn Marsden
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Gregory learns how to cope with his family's break-up and the move from their Navaho reservation.
by Carolyn Marsden
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Gregory learns how to cope with his family's break-up and the move from their Navaho reservation.
Blown Away
by Joan Hiatt Harlow
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
During the devastating 1935 hurricane in the Florida keys, thirteen-year-old Jake learns about life and survival.
by Joan Hiatt Harlow
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
During the devastating 1935 hurricane in the Florida keys, thirteen-year-old Jake learns about life and survival.
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It
by Sundee Tucker Frazier
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Biracial ten-year-old Brendan loves scientific investigation. Can it help him understand why his Mom will have nothing to do with her father?
by Sundee Tucker Frazier
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Biracial ten-year-old Brendan loves scientific investigation. Can it help him understand why his Mom will have nothing to do with her father?
Camel Rider
by Prue Mason
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Two boys from two different cultures face the unrelenting desert together.
by Prue Mason
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Two boys from two different cultures face the unrelenting desert together.
Champions on the Bench
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Leonard Jenkins
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
The discrimination that occurred in 1955 against the YMCA Little League All-Stars is depicted throughthe eyes of a boy. Impressionistic acrylic and spray paint illustrations.
by Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Leonard Jenkins
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
The discrimination that occurred in 1955 against the YMCA Little League All-Stars is depicted throughthe eyes of a boy. Impressionistic acrylic and spray paint illustrations.
Chase
by Jessie Haas
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Witnessing a murder by an Irish secret society member, Phin flees, pursued by a detective and his horse that tracks like a bloodhound.
by Jessie Haas
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Witnessing a murder by an Irish secret society member, Phin flees, pursued by a detective and his horse that tracks like a bloodhound.
Chess Rumble
by G. Neri
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
After his sister's death and his father's departure, Marcus fights with everyone and everything until he meets the chess master.
by G. Neri
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
After his sister's death and his father's departure, Marcus fights with everyone and everything until he meets the chess master.
Circle The Truth
by Pat Schmatz
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
When Rith finds a staircase, he begins to learn something about his “dead” father, his family and himself.
by Pat Schmatz
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
When Rith finds a staircase, he begins to learn something about his “dead” father, his family and himself.
Darkwing
by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Unexpected shifts in the food chain and mutations which allow a gliding bat to begin flying bring chaos and fear to this imagined Paleocene landscape.
by Kenneth Oppel
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Ages: 9+
Published: 2007
Unexpected shifts in the food chain and mutations which allow a gliding bat to begin flying bring chaos and fear to this imagined Paleocene landscape.