Curated category · 2006—2025
Award-winning and editorially recommended young readers across twenty years, organized for discovery rather than sales ranking.
Showing 1–48 of 703
A Book of Maps for You by Lourdes Heuer, illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
A Feast for the Eyes by Alex Crespo appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, young adult, the dark side, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out by Nicholas Day, illustrated by Yas Imamura appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, kids’ books, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
After Life by Gayle Forman appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around seriously great writing, young adult, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, mysteries & thrillers, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Brave by Weshoyot Alvitre appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around family matters, identity & culture, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Broken by X. Fang appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Crumble by Meredith McClaren, illustrated by Andrea Bell appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, funny stuff, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Dream On by Shannon Hale, illustrated by Marcela Cespedes appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Fireblooms by Alexandra Villasante appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around fiction, love & romance, young adult, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Cátia Chien appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, illustrated by Maurice Sendak appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, the dark side, for art lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Island Storm by Brian Floca, illustrated by Sydney Smith appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
J vs. K by Jerry Craft and Kwame Alexander appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Kirby's Lessons for Falling (in Love) by Laura Gao appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, staff picks, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Last Chance Live! by Helena Haywoode Henry appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around identity & culture, the dark side, rather long, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda by Bibi Dumon Tak, illustrated by Annemarie van Haeringen, translated by Nancy Forest-Flier appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, eye-opening reads, funny stuff, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around fiction, love & romance, young adult, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Oasis by Guojing appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
On Guard! by Cassidy Wasserman appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, comics & graphic novels, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel by Rita Williams-Garcia, illustrated by Sharee Miller appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around historical fiction, comics & graphic novels, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Our Lake by Angie Kang appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Pilgrim Codex by Vivian Mansour, illustrated by Emmanuel Valtierra, translated by Carlos Rodríguez Cortez appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, eye-opening reads, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, kids’ books, fiction, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Sundust by Zeke Peña appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around staff picks, sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, young adult, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Experiment by Rebecca Stead appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, kids’ books, fiction, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
A boy anxious about Y2K befriends a confused teenager who has arrived from the future.
The Gathering Table by Antwan Eady, illustrated by London Ladd appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The History of We by Nikkolas Smith appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, kids’ books, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Interpreter by Olivia Abtahi, illustrated by Monica Arnaldo appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Last Tiger by Julia Riew and Brad Riew appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, love & romance, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Midwatch Institute for Wayward Girls by Judith Rossell appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, staff picks, funny stuff, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Summer of the Bone Horses by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Steph Littlebird appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around fiction, kids’ books, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
The Survivor Wants to Die at the End by Adam Silvera appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, young adult, the dark side, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Orphaned siblings become teachers among Iran's nomadic peoples while helping a Jewish boy hide from wartime spies.
The Village Beyond the Mist by Sachiko Kashiwaba, illustrated by Miho Satake, translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, kids’ books, fiction, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, young adult, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Tuck Me In! A Science Bedtime Story by Nathan W. Pyle appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, staff picks, science!, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Whale Eyes: A Memoir About Seeing and Being Seen by James Robinson, illustrated by Brian Rea appears in NPR’s 2025 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Annie LeBlanc Is Not Dead Yet by Molly Morris appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around young adult, staff picks, love & romance, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park by María Dolores Águila, illustrated by Magdalena Mora appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, eye-opening reads, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Behind My Doors: The Story of the World’s Oldest Library by Hena Khan, illustrated by Nabila Adani appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, it’s all geek to me, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, illustrated by Ekua Holmes appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around young adult, identity & culture, short stories, essays & poetry, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
Call Me Roberto! Roberto Clemente Goes to Bat for Latinos by Nathalie Alonso, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez appears in NPR’s 2024 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.
