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/.
How to Perform a Search and Save a List
The Benefits of Being an Octopus
by Ann Braden
Ages: 9+
Published: 2018
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
ISBN: 978-1-5107-3748-8
Keywords: Abuse, Poverty
When a teacher invites her to join the debate club, seventh-grader Zoey begins to see things differently. Can she convince her mother to leave her abusive boyfriend?