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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Michael, Wait for Me
by Patricia Calvert
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A sixth-grader can't stop the tragedy that ensues when her older sister breaks off her relationship with a troubled boyfriend.
by Patricia Calvert
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A sixth-grader can't stop the tragedy that ensues when her older sister breaks off her relationship with a troubled boyfriend.
Miles' Song
by Alice McGill
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A twelve-year-old slave learns to hide his ability to read, and his hunger for freedom behind “field-slave talk”.
by Alice McGill
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A twelve-year-old slave learns to hide his ability to read, and his hunger for freedom behind “field-slave talk”.
Minnow on the Say
by Philippa Pearce
Illustrator: Edward Ardizzone
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A mystery with likeable characters and an absorbing description of life in an English village and river exploration by canoe.
by Philippa Pearce
Illustrator: Edward Ardizzone
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A mystery with likeable characters and an absorbing description of life in an English village and river exploration by canoe.
Miss Alaineus
written and ill. by Debra Frasier
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A delightful delivery of dictionary and daffy definitions.
written and ill. by Debra Frasier
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A delightful delivery of dictionary and daffy definitions.
Night Hoops
by Carl Deuker
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Two boys from very different families have only their passion for basketball in common. Vivid and fast-paced.
by Carl Deuker
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Two boys from very different families have only their passion for basketball in common. Vivid and fast-paced.
No More Dead Dogs
by Gordon Korman
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
An eighth-grade football star develops a talent for theater during his detention at the school play rehearsal.
by Gordon Korman
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
An eighth-grade football star develops a talent for theater during his detention at the school play rehearsal.
Nory Ryan's Song
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Heart-rending picture of a girl and her family during the Irish famine of 1847.
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Heart-rending picture of a girl and her family during the Irish famine of 1847.
Nothing Wrong with a Three-Legged Dog
by Graham McNamee
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Being the only white boy in an inner-city school is only one of the burdens Keath copes with in this gently humorous story.
by Graham McNamee
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Being the only white boy in an inner-city school is only one of the burdens Keath copes with in this gently humorous story.
Not One Damsel in Distress
collected and told by Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Susan Guevara
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Fourteen tales of heroic women from around the world, including Atalanta, Nana, Miriam, Li Chi, and more.
collected and told by Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Susan Guevara
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Fourteen tales of heroic women from around the world, including Atalanta, Nana, Miriam, Li Chi, and more.
Pharaoh's Daughter
by Julius Lester
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Vivid re-creation of the Egyptian world centering on the life of Moses' sister. Compelling, provocative.
by Julius Lester
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Vivid re-creation of the Egyptian world centering on the life of Moses' sister. Compelling, provocative.
Play to the Angel
by Maurine F. Dahlberg
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
As the Nazis approach Vienna in 1938, talented twelve-year-old Greta helps to save the important people in her life.
by Maurine F. Dahlberg
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
As the Nazis approach Vienna in 1938, talented twelve-year-old Greta helps to save the important people in her life.
Precious Gold, Precious Jade
by Sharon E. Heisel
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
During gold rush days, a fourteen-year-old befriends a Chinese girl, and sees how destructive prejudice can be.
by Sharon E. Heisel
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
During gold rush days, a fourteen-year-old befriends a Chinese girl, and sees how destructive prejudice can be.
Promises to the Dead
by Mary Downing Hahn
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
As the Civil War begins, Jesse makes a difficult promise to a dying slave. A suspenseful adventure.
by Mary Downing Hahn
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
As the Civil War begins, Jesse makes a difficult promise to a dying slave. A suspenseful adventure.
Protector of the Small
by Tamora Pierce
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
In this sequel to First Test, Kel, who wishes to become a knight, struggles through her years as a page, trying not to succumb to those who would thwart her.
by Tamora Pierce
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
In this sequel to First Test, Kel, who wishes to become a knight, struggles through her years as a page, trying not to succumb to those who would thwart her.
Rebel
by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A young Tibetan, forced to flee to a monastery, rebels against her life there but begins to find his place.
by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A young Tibetan, forced to flee to a monastery, rebels against her life there but begins to find his place.
Remember Me
by Irene N. Watts
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A young Jewish refugee discovers friendship and rejection, sympathy and distrust in wartime Britain.
by Irene N. Watts
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A young Jewish refugee discovers friendship and rejection, sympathy and distrust in wartime Britain.
Samir and Yonatan
by
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A Palestinian boy in an Israeli hospital faces the enemy he was taught to fear. Realism combined with moments of fantasy.
by
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A Palestinian boy in an Israeli hospital faces the enemy he was taught to fear. Realism combined with moments of fantasy.
Sammy Keyes and the Curse of Moustache Mary
by Wendelin Van Draanen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Quiet New Year's plans quickly turn into a raucous adventure and puzzle for four inquisitive seventh graders.
by Wendelin Van Draanen
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Quiet New Year's plans quickly turn into a raucous adventure and puzzle for four inquisitive seventh graders.
Shadow-Catcher
by Betty Levin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
In 1892, A Maine farm boy accompanies his grandfather, a traveling photographer, broadens his world, and solves a real life mystery.
by Betty Levin
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
In 1892, A Maine farm boy accompanies his grandfather, a traveling photographer, broadens his world, and solves a real life mystery.
Shakespeare's Scribe
by Gary Blackwood
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
The adventures of a fourteen-year-old orphan as an actor with Shakespeare's troupe, while all England is menaced by the plague. Sequel to The Shakespeare Stealer.
by Gary Blackwood
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
The adventures of a fourteen-year-old orphan as an actor with Shakespeare's troupe, while all England is menaced by the plague. Sequel to The Shakespeare Stealer.
Silent to the Bone
by E.L. Konigsburg
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Connor works hard to reverse his friend's sudden muteness, which has set in after his baby sister slips into a coma.
by E.L. Konigsburg
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
Connor works hard to reverse his friend's sudden muteness, which has set in after his baby sister slips into a coma.
Skin
by Roald Dahl
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
New collection of the author's masterful short stories especially selected for teen readers.
by Roald Dahl
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
New collection of the author's masterful short stories especially selected for teen readers.
Skullduggery
by Kathleen Karr
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A job as assistant to a phrenologist leads an orphaned New Yorker to a life of adventure and intrigue in mid-nineteenth century Europe.
by Kathleen Karr
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A job as assistant to a phrenologist leads an orphaned New Yorker to a life of adventure and intrigue in mid-nineteenth century Europe.
Space Race
by Sylvia Waugh
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A father and son from another planet are trapped on earth by an accident and by their friendships with earthlings. Funny and beautiful.
by Sylvia Waugh
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
A father and son from another planet are trapped on earth by an accident and by their friendships with earthlings. Funny and beautiful.
Spider Sparrow
by Dick King-Smith
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
An abandoned boy, who communicates with animals better than with humans, gains acceptance in his rural English community during WWII.
by Dick King-Smith
Ages: 9+
Published: 2000
An abandoned boy, who communicates with animals better than with humans, gains acceptance in his rural English community during WWII.