Curated category · 2006—2025

Best young readers

Award-winning and editorially recommended young readers across twenty years, organized for discovery rather than sales ranking.

Selections: 703
Authors: 624
Lists & prizes: 3

Showing 241–288 of 703

2021Young readers

Mr. Watson's Chickens

Jarrett Dapier, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued

Peter Sis

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Nina: A Story of Nina Simone

Traci N. Todd, illustrated by Christian Robinson

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Not Here to Be Liked

Michelle Quach

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Redemptor

Jordan Ifueko

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People

Kekla Magoon

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Rez Dogs

Joseph Bruchac

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Six Crimson Cranes

Elizabeth Lim

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Skin of the Sea

Natasha Bowen

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Someone Builds the Dream

Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by Loren Long

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous

Suzanne Park

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Take Back the Block

Chrystal D. Giles

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The 1619 Project: Born on the Water

Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson, illustrated by Nikkolas Smith

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Big Bath House

Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Gracey Zhang

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Boy and the Sea

Camille Andros, illustrated by Amy Bates

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

Eugene Yelchin

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Gilded Ones

Namina Forna

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Legend of Auntie Po

Shing Yin Khor

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess

Tom Gauld

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The One Thing You'd Save

Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

The Raconteur's Commonplace Book: A Greenglass House Story

Kate Milford, illustrated by Nicole Wong

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Too Bright to See

Kyle Lukoff

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Too Small Tola

Atinuke, illustrated by Onyinye Iwu

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Unsolved Case Files: Escape at 10,000 Feet: D.B. Cooper and the Missing Money

Tom Sullivan

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Victories Greater Than Death

Charlie Jane Anders

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Watercress

Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

When You Trap a Tiger

Tae Keller

John Newbery Medal

2021Young readers

Why We Fly

Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Wishes

Muon Thi Van, illustrated by Victo Ngai

NPR Books We Love

2021Young readers

Yolk

Mary H.K. Choi

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

A Castle In The Clouds

Kerstin Gier, translated by Romy Fursland

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

A Game Of Fox & Squirrels

Jenn Reese

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

A Song Below Water: A Novel

Bethany C. Morrow

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

All Because You Matter

Tami Charles, illustrated by Bryan Collier

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir

Robin Ha

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Anna K: A Love Story

Jenny Lee

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Apple: (Skin To The Core)

Eric Gansworth

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Banned Book Club

Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada, illustrated by Ko Hyung-Ju

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Before The Ever After

Jacqueline Woodson

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Black Heroes Of The Wild West

James Otis Smith

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Cemetery Boys

Aiden Thomas

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Clap When You Land

Elizabeth Acevedo

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Dear Justyce

Nic Stone

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Each Of Us A Desert

Mark Oshiro

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Echo Mountain

Lauren Wolk

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Efrén Divided

Ernesto Cisneros

NPR Books We Love

2020Young readers

Elatsoe

Darcie Little Badger, illustrated by Rovina Cai

NPR Books We Love