Highly Rated Books

Our top-rated children's books with 4.0+ stars and 50+ reviews

Showing 175 exceptional books — page 1 of 2

ACROSS SO MANY SEAS

by Ruth Behar⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Four girls. One Sephardic Jewish family. Five centuries. Ruth Behar's novel moves between 1492 Spain, 1920s Turkey, 1960s Cuba, and present-day Miami, following a different girl from the same bloodli...

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FLORA & ULYSSES

by Kate DiCamillo⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

“Forget paranormal romance; this horror-humor-romance pastiche is where those in search of hot nonhumans should set their sights.” — Kirkus Reviews When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and su

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MAGNOLIA WU UNFOLDS IT ALL

by Chanel Miller⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

In this hilarious follow-up to ChupaCarter, world-famous entertainer George Lopez delivers a spooky tale of mystery, revenge, and friendship starring 12-year-old Jorge and Carter, the fearsome but friendly Chupacabra! Inspired by his own childhood and packed with clever illustrations, George Lopez's

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NEW KID

by Jerry Craft⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than dra

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THE AUTHOR

by Duncan Tonatiuh⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

From the author of the award-winning Game Changer comes a new novel about two student-athletes searching for stardom, a young reporter searching for the truth, and a crosstown basketball rivalry that goes too far. The people of Walthorne love their basketball--and one of the things they love most is

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THE CROSSOVER

by Kwame Alexander⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.

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THE FIRST STATE OF BEING

by Erin Entrada Kelly⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

It's 1999, Y2K anxiety is everywhere, and twelve-year-old Michael meets a visitor named Ridge who claims to be from the future - that's the setup Erin Entrada Kelly builds this novel around. Michael ...

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THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN

by Katherine Applegate⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s se

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THE UNDEFEATED

by Kwame Alexander⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Winner of the 2020 Caldecott Medal A 2020 Newbery Honor Book Winner of the 2020 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award The Newbery Award-winning author of THE CROSSOVER pens an ode to black American triumph and tribulation, with art from a two-time Caldecott Honoree. Originally performed for ESPN's Th

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THE WILD ROBOT

by Peter Brown⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island. Why is she there? Where did she come from? And, most important, how will she survive in her harsh surroundings? Roz's only hope is to learn from the island's hostile animal inhabitants. When s

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WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS

by Carla Zoe LaRue⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

Winner of the 2021 Caldecott Medal Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption—a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated b

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WONDER

by R.J. Palacio⭐ 4.8/5(5,000)

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Millions of people have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face—who shows us that kindness brings us together no matter how far apart we are. Read the book that inspired the Choose Kind movement, a major motion picture, and the cr

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FALLING ANGELS

by Fisher, in the U.S. Freelance operative Torashi Kage, whom a senator has assigned to track down the virus, embarks on a personal vendetta against Maxx—and because Kage doesn’t know where Maxx is, he first goes after Gabby. Thomas caters this finale to readers familiar with the previous series installments. Exhilarating action opens the narrative, with multiple groups of people engaged in combat, rushing somewhere, or scheming to take someone out. Despite the series title featuring Maxx’s name, this is definitely an ensemble cast—the spotlight is shared among many characters, from Dr. Xi and Mr. Green to Maxx’s ever\u002Dreliable military friends Andres Sandoval and Glen Piper. An unexpected standout is one particular villain who struggles with an all\u002Dtoo\u002Drelatable emotional issue\u003B she’s involved in a sinister plan on a global scale but has difficulty overcoming her jealousy, feeling “second best” to the scientist who’s aligned with the man she loves. Maxx makes for a terrific hero and helps to protect Earth, but so do many other characters. The Others, at least in this installment, are mostly an ominous presence—they’re often voiced via the cube, and there’s not much beyond a hint of their specific biology. This doesn’t make them any less daunting, as there seems to be no question that they have the power to devastate the entire planet. The dialogue throughout is rife with cliches (“We’re playing with fire”\u003B “he’s already got one foot in the grave”), but it’s action that truly drives this story, and the author dishes it out in spades."⭐ 4.8/5(119)

Two girls from very different backgrounds carry this novel in alternating points of view, their friendship taking shape just as Edwardian England is plunged into public mourning around Queen Victoria...

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8 UNIVERSAL LAWS

by Genre⭐ 4.8/5(52)

Eight universal principles, cause and effect, energy, interconnectedness among them, get laid out here for teen readers who are starting to ask bigger questions about how the world actually works. Ea...

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DARK SQUARES

by chess but by alcohol and drugs. Rensch detours regularly to deliver a history of chess and the contemporary game largely controlled (i.e., financed) by the USSR until the 1990s, when even celebrity grandmasters barely earned travel expenses. Then came computers, the internet, and more media attention, which produced bigger prizes, plus the rise of cell phones, which facilitated cheating. Readers will sympathize with the author’s struggles but likely perk up when in 2008 he encounters two entrepreneurs operating an early internet chess site whose knowledge of serious competitive chess remained at the amateur level. He persuaded them to add features, programs, competitions, and the technology that ultimately promoted chess.com to its dominant position. During these years, the author writes of victories in his personal life, too, overcoming marital problems and escaping the influence of the cult."⭐ 4.7/5(53)

An online game called Dark Squares turns out to warp more than pixels on a screen: once high scores start translating into real-world consequences for the teens playing it, an ordinary night in front...

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SCORCHED EARTH

by Genre⭐ 4.7/5(965)

Scorched Earth drops a group of young survivors into a future reshaped by environmental collapse, where the basic resources most dystopian stories treat as a given become the entire plot engine. At 2...

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LIVING IN THE PRESENT WITH JOHN PRINE

by Covid\u002D19. He was 73. Piazza repurposed the materials he had gathered to produce this moving work. Equal parts profile, oral history, and on\u002Dthe\u002Droad adventure, the book recounts the artist’s working\u002Dclass background in suburban Chicago, his family connection to rural Kentucky, his early success with Atlantic Records, and the decision to co\u002Dfound the label Oh Boy Records. Often writing in the first person and present tense, Piazza recounts his time with Prine, including a spontaneous road trip from Nashville to Sarasota, Florida, in a cherry\u002Dred 1977 Coupe de Ville. Piazza also reviews Prine’s body of work, its broad influence, and his unassuming humanity. Comparing Prine to Bob Dylan, Piazza notes, “You don’t want to be him, you just want to hang out with him.” Along the way, the author gathers insights from Prine’s peers, friends, and family. One band member, for example, notes that Prine’s keen emotional intelligence easily overcame his limitations as a musician and singer. A two\u002Dtime cancer survivor, Prine was already in poor health when Piazza befriended him, but the artist’s good humor and low\u002Dkey grace shine through on every page."⭐ 4.7/5(62)

Musician John Prine gets the picture-book biography treatment here, tracing his path from mail carrier to celebrated singer-songwriter while centering the idea that ran through his own work: paying a...

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AWAKE

by white supremacy, racism, sexism, greed, and ugly secrets. “Imagine my surprise when I began discussing white supremacy, and tons of my Christian followers lost their shit,” she writes brightly. (There’s not a lot of blue language here, but when it comes, it’s just right.) The author goes on to write of middle\u002Dage dating, “purity culture,” body shaming, and a careful kind of forgiveness while proclaiming a hard\u002Dwon feminism: “Women are the eighth wonders of the world. May we love this little life with exposed beating hearts, tender regardless, despite it all.”"⭐ 4.7/5(1,937)

Teen readers working through their own reckoning with a complicated world are the audience for this memoir, which uses the writer's personal history as the entry point into bigger social questions ra...

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The Threads Remain

by German soldiers, which upends their lives. Postwar Germany in 1957 finds 16\u002Dyear\u002Dold Friedrich Becker grieving the recent loss of his adoptive mother, Minna. Spurred by her death to investigate the identity of his biological parents, Friedrich meets Sigrid, an orphan who works at an orphanage and joins him in his search. He remembers nothing of the time before his own adoption, but he has a crocheted bear named Bärli, which he had with him at age 4. Over the course of this layered narrative, Shapiro demonstrates an exceptional talent for storytelling as he highlights war’s capacity to separate people, but also to draw them together in common cause. Indeed, the story effectively shows how conflict can bind people together across generations and, as it happens, across time itself. As the various timelines intertwine, the author’s fine attention to detail results in a satisfying reading experience. Overall, the work ably reminds readers that although “there is no hope of creating a better past,” the future is still full of possibility."⭐ 4.7/5(217)

Olivia Chen's novel follows three teenagers whose lives were upended by a single shared tragedy, splitting the narrative across their perspectives as each one moves through high school hallways, ther...

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UNSPOKEN

by Lee Becker is only 10 years old in 1935 when she sits at the double funeral for her grandmother, Alma, and baby sister, Nell, both of whom succumbed on the same day to the deadly dust plague. Ruby’s mother, Willa Mae, is frozen with grief. Just days later, Ruby falls ill with “dust pneumonia” and is hospitalized. When she recovers, her father and older brother, Will, pick her up, but they drive her the train station, not home\u003B Will is taking her to Waco, where the air is clear. He gives her $20 and leaves her with Granny Alma’s widowed cousin, Bess, with whom she is to live until the air in Hartless, Texas, is once again safe for breathing. Angry and frightened, Ruby decides the only thing in her control is her voice, and she decides to stop speaking. She hears nothing from her family, and in 1936, shortly after her 11th birthday, Cousin Bess dies. Ruby’s next stop is the Waco State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children, where she remains for seven years, despite repeated escape attempts. Playing out in tandem with Ruby’s story is that of her mother\u003B unbeknownst to Ruby, Willa Mae has been placed in the state mental facility. The mother and daughter poignantly narrate alternating chapters in Alexander’s coming\u002Dof\u002Dage Dust Bowl narrative. In vivid, graphic prose, enhanced by dialogue that reflects the dialects and linguistic patterns of the period and social station of the characters (“A red sun augurs a bad day”), the author limns the chilling cruelty of the treatment of mental patients as well as the abuses that take place at the children’s home. There are also delightful interludes, as when Eleanor Roosevelt rescues Ruby during a dust storm, or when the school nurse gives her special (marijuana) cigarettes to help her asthma. Most appealing are the tender friendships that develop at the home and on the road as Ruby gradually learns that families can be created in all sorts of ways."⭐ 4.7/5(72)

Without a single word of text, this picture book follows a young girl who discovers a runaway slave hidden in her family's barn during the Civil War, leaving pencil illustrations alone to carry the t...

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LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA

by nature, Miranda bloomed in high school, where he made movies with a camcorder and took advantage of the school’s drama program, staging ambitious plays. In his sophomore year at Wesleyan University, Miranda wrote a musical set in Washington Heights\u003B it would become the first draft of In the Heights, his first Broadway musical. Most of Pollack\u002DPelzner’s book is dedicated to the creative process behind In the Heights, which won four Tony Awards, and Hamilton, the idea for which came when Miranda took a copy of Ron Chernow’s biography on vacation. Miranda talked to Pollack\u002DPelzner for the book, and his remarkable candor is part of why it succeeds. The author’s chronicle of the musicals’ development is equally thrilling. Pollack\u002DPelzner, who writes about theater and culture for the New Yorker, the Atlantic, and the New York Times, understands the technical and creative aspects of the stage, and he proves himself to also be an astute observer of the more human side of creating art."⭐ 4.6/5(94)

Lin-Manuel Miranda's path from a childhood steeped in New York City's arts scene to reshaping Broadway gets the full biography treatment here, with real attention paid to how In the Heights and Hamil...

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AS A JEW

by ethical principles and care for others. The struggle to embrace a heritage has been irrevocably complicated by the struggle to embrace a Jewish nation\u002Dstate. In fluent, conversational prose, the author (a former speechwriter for the Obamas) outlines some of the major historical principles behind Judaism. In her account, Judaism is a story of survival, a constant reinventing of tradition for a changing world, and a commitment to preserving the past while living in the present. More than any specific list of laws, rules, or observances, this feature of Judaism lies at the heart of the author’s story. She writes from personal experience, from historical research, and from a truly literary perspective. Responding to the prevalence of anti\u002DJewish incidents after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, she writes: “Relying on incident counts can be like trying to measure humidity with a bucket, as if it were rain. You can wind up with an empty bucket and a lot of people proclaiming that it’s all in your head. Even as you stand before them drenched in sweat and feeling suffocated, they may still insist that you’re overreacting, even making it all up.” It may be uniquely hard to be a Jew these days. But, Jewish or not, it’s even harder to be a mensch."⭐ 4.6/5(73)

Identity, inherited and then actively rebuilt, is the subject of this memoir, which braids one writer's family stories and cultural tradition together with the historical background needed to underst...

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CAT KID COMIC CLUB: PERSPECTIVE

by Dav Pilkey⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

A brand-new graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey, the internationally bestselling author and illustrator of the Dog Man and Captain Underpants series. Readers of all ages will unleash their own creativity as they open the door to visual comic-book storytelling with the help of Dav Pilkey and his heart

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CHARLOTTE'S WEB

by E.B. White⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

When he discovers that he is destined to be someone's dinner, Wilbur the pig is desolate until his spider friend Charlotte decides to help him.

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DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: NO BRAINER

by Jeff Kinney⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

From award-winning creator Felicita Sala comes a whimsical adventure about a child who's determined to recover all his misplaced belongings, wherever they may be A baseball cap. A special sweater covered in dogs. A marble collection. The baseball cap, again. Pablo just can't stop losing his things:

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DOG MAN: THE SCARLET SHEDDER

by Dav Pilkey⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

Our canine superhero returns in DOG MAN: THE SCARLET SHEDDER, the suspenseful and hilarious twelfth graphic novel in the #1 worldwide bestselling series by award-winning author and illustrator Dav Pilkey! P.U.! Dog Man got sprayed by a skunk! After being dunked in tomato juice, the stink is gone but

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FRONT DESK

by Kelly Yang⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

"Inside Out and Back Again" meets "Millicent Min, Girl Genius" in this timely, hopeful middle-grade novel with a contemporary Chinese twist.

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GUTS

by Raina Telgemeier⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

In a semi-autobiographical graphic novel, the author describes her childhood anxiety, in a story about growing up and gathering the courage to face and conquer her fears.

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HATCHET

by Gary Paulsen⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

This award-winning contemporary classic is the survival story with which all others are compared—and a page-turning, heart-stopping adventure, recipient of the Newbery Honor. Hatchet has also been nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read. Thirteen-year-old Bri

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PERCY JACKSON: THE CHALICE OF THE GODS

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

Demigods Nico di Angelo and Will Solace must endure the terrors of Tartarus to rescue an old friend in this thrilling adventure co-written by New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan and award-winning author Mark Oshiro. Percy Jackson fans, rejoice! Nico and Will have a book of their own!

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SMILE

by Raina Telgemeier⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

An autobiography in graphic novel format describes how the author lost two of her front teeth in an accident when she was twelve, and her subsequent struggles with various corrective dental techniques throughout adolescence.

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THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB: KRISTYS GREAT IDEA

by Raina Telgemeier⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

Adapted by the Eisner Award-winning creator of Smile, a graphic novel rendering of the first entry in the best-selling series introduces the original members of the Baby-Sitters Club when one of them suggests that they organize their efforts into a business. Simultaneous.

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THE HATE U GIVE

by Angie Thomas⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

8 starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" —Jason Reynolds "Stunning." —John Green "This story is necessary. This story is important." —Kirkus (starred re

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THE WILD ROBOT ESCAPES

by Peter Brown⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

Roz the robot spends this sequel trying to get back to the wild island she'd come to think of as home, except now she has to do it from inside human civilization, which is a very different kind of su...

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING (YOUNG READERS EDITION)

by Delia Owens⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

Delia Owens's bestselling adult novel gets adapted down to a young readers edition here, and what survives the trim are the two things that made the original work: Kya Clark's slow transformation fro...

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WINGS OF FIRE: HOPE

by Tui T. Sutherland⭐ 4.6/5(15,000)

The #1 New York Times bestselling series continues! A wall can't protect them anymore . . . Snowfall didn't expect to be queen of the IceWings at such a young age, but now that she is, she's going to be the best queen ever. All she has to do is keep her tribe within IceWing territory, where it's saf

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THE DEVIL REACHED TOWARD THE SKY

by Genre⭐ 4.6/5(432)

At 608 paperback pages, this one asks for a real commitment before it even gets to the point: a supernatural fight where the usual good-versus-evil line gets deliberately smudged, with celestial and ...

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GRAY DAWN

by Genre⭐ 4.6/5(168)

The premise here is that color itself has been taken away — a world gone deliberately, totally gray, where a controlling system has erased anything chromatic as a way of keeping everyone in line. A y...

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THE ELEMENTS

by inflicting her pain on new victims. And her former resident–turned–child psychologist, Aaron Umber, seeks to heal his own damaged psyche by embarking on a life\u002Dchanging journey back to Ireland with his teenage son. Originally published in the U.K. as separate novellas (Water, Earth, Fire, Air), these four interconnected stories pack a wallop when combined in one volume. If the format at times feels too tidy and contrived (especially in the final section), it doesn’t lessen the emotional impact of deeply wounded characters struggling to overcome their guilt and find redemption in the wake of catastrophic trauma. "⭐ 4.6/5(1,036)

Photography does most of the persuading in this periodic-table guide, built to make something as abstract as atomic structure feel concrete by tying each element back to something a reader already kn...

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SILENCED VOICES

by the raging war—but everything changed with the arrival of the Guatemalan army and their brutally violent “full\u002Dblown scorched\u002Dearth operation.” Thanks to her fierce queer sister, Elena, Clara escaped, but the girls were forced to separate. Clara eventually headed to the U.S. alone. Deeply affected by their mother’s story, José and Charlie reflect on their family roots, embarking on a mission to determine their long\u002Dlost aunt’s fate. Split into four chapters that share the perspectives of the central characters, Leon’s testament to the power of historical memory movingly explores how the echoes of trauma continue to reverberate across the Guatemalan and Indigenous diasporas, often spanning generations. The unflinching, grounded artwork, which emphasizes the characters’ expressions and emotions, offers a few moments of levity amid the mostly unseen acts of violence. "⭐ 4.6/5(66)

A high school literary magazine gets shut down by the administration over content someone in charge doesn't like, and that single decision sets off everything else in this novel: a group of students ...

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ALCHEMISED

by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft\u002Dtrod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance."⭐ 4.5/5(2,547)

Helena and Kaine start this fantasy romance on opposite sides of each other — one a healer, one a killer — about as wide a gap as two leads can open a book with, and the story spends its considerable...

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THE FARAWAY FOREST

by Genre⭐ 4.5/5(74)

A young protagonist wanders into a forest where the trees apparently have opinions and the mushroom circles apparently lead somewhere, and spends the book finding out how much of that magic is real a...

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A FLOWER TRAVELED IN MY BLOOD

by Jorge Rafael Videla in 1976 forever reset the country’s history. Under Videla’s direction, a violent military junta kidnapped, tortured, and murdered thousands of Argentines (by some estimates as many as 30,000 who were deemed “subversives”). Centering the saga of the Roisinblits and their matriarch Rosa, journalist Gilliland, in her first book, approaches this brutal period through the eyes of the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, a scrappy, courageous group of mothers of desaparecidos who had infants or were pregnant when they were disappeared. Over decades of instability that followed the junta’s rule, the Abuelas were at the forefront of calls for accountability and justice, anchoring their grief in the search for grandchildren who had been born in detention centers and adopted—appropriated—by new families, often with connections to Videla’s government. The author conveys the complicated, heart\u002Dwrenching fullness of her characters’ individual stories and shades their backdrop with compulsively readable history of geopolitical tension and the emerging DNA science that fueled the Abuelas’ fight. Gilliland’s work, exhaustively and compassionately researched, offers a crucial counterbalance to the dark legacy of Argentina’s desaparecidos, injecting the light of a model resistance movement that lay the groundwork for future international human rights investigations. Her humility and respect for the fraught journeys her subjects made toward each other and for the vital questions their journeys raised—about power, identity, family, and collective memory and healing—ensure the text will resonate for generations the world over."⭐ 4.5/5(602)

Poetry, not prose, is the form here, built around questions of heritage and identity — where a teenager's roots come from and how much of that shapes who they're becoming. Ages 12 to 18 is the listed...

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IN MOURNING

by the author’s depictions of her mother holding, praising, and arguing with her\u003B working as an ER nurse\u003B or volunteering at the dog shelter. Throughout, the memoir avoids sentimentality as it depicts destabilizing loss (“The only times that came to mind were when we fought. Something we did a ton of”) and tells a story that lingers long after the final page."⭐ 4.5/5(312)

In Mourning, a memoir for readers 12 to 18, sits with the death of a mother without smoothing over the messier parts of grief. The mother at its center was an ER nurse who also volunteered at a dog s...

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SPACE CASE THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

by Genre⭐ 4.5/5(61)

Space Case adapts a prose novel into a 203-page graphic novel about a group of trainees at a lunar base whose science mission turns into something stranger once odd occurrences start plaguing the cre...

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The Hunger Games (Book 1)

by Suzanne Collins⭐ 4.5/5(332)

By winning the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta have secured a life of safety and plenty for themselves and their families, but because they won by defying the rules, they unwittingly become the faces of an impending rebellion. |

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

by J.K. Rowling⭐ 4.5/5(323)

Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'. Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Address

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Number the Stars

by Lois Lowry⭐ 4.5/5(225)

The unforgettable Newbery Medal–winning novel from Lois Lowry. As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family. Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemari

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book One: The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.5/5(201)

The #1 New York Times Bestseller | Now a series on Disney+ 12-year-old Percy Jackson discovers he is the son of Poseidon in the opener to the hilarious, fast-paced adventure fantasy series for young readers ages 10 and up The eBook edition of the first book in Rick Riordan’s thrilling series, filled

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling⭐ 4.5/5(180)

'Give me Harry Potter,' said Voldemort's voice, 'and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.' As he climbs into the sidecar of Hagrid's motorbike and takes to the skies, leaving Privet Drive for the last time

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The Heroes of Olympus, Book One: The Lost Hero

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.5/5(142)

Jason has a problem. He doesn't remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently she's his girlfriend Piper, his best friend is a kid named Leo, and they're all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for "bad kids." What he did to end up here, Ja

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Where the Wild Things Are A Caldecott Award Winner

⭐ 4.5/5(135)

In the forty years since Max first cried "Let the wild rumpus start," Maurice Sendak's classic picture book has become one of the most highly acclaimed and best-loved children's books of all time. Now, in celebration of this special anniversary, introduce a new generation to Max's imaginative journe

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Five: The Last Olympian

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.5/5(93)

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos's army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan's power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typho

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

by J.K. Rowling⭐ 4.5/5(83)

'There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways ... their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.' The Triwizard Tournament is to be held at Hogwarts. Only w

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Best Behavior(r) Series (Board Books) 14-Book Set by Multiple Authors

by Multiple Authors⭐ 4.5/5(78)

This 8-book set helps to guide kids to learn good behaviors. The award-winning books include relatable stories for young kids and helpful tips for parents. Help kids learn about screen time, loud voices, using their words, and more!

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

by J.K. Rowling⭐ 4.5/5(76)

There it was, hanging in the sky above the school: the blazing green skull with a serpent tongue, the mark Death Eaters left behind whenever they had entered a building... wherever they had murdered... When Dumbledore arrives at Privet Drive one summer night to collect Harry Potter, his wand hand is

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Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.5/5(69)

Percy Jackson isn't expecting freshman orientation to be any fun. But when a mysterious mortal acquaintance appears on campus, followed by demon cheerleaders, things quickly move from bad to diabolical. In this latest installment of the blockbuster series, time is running out as war between the Olym

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Because of Winn-Dixie

by Kate DiCamillo⭐ 4.5/5(67)

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

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Fablehaven

by Brandon Mull⭐ 4.5/5(63)

Kendra and Seth find themselves in the midst of a battle between good and evil when they visit their grandparents' estate and discover that it is a sanctuary for magical creatures.

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Warriors #3: Forest of Secrets

by Erin Hunter⭐ 4.5/5(63)

Allegiances are shifting among the Clans of warrior cats that roam the forest. With tensions so delicately balanced, former friends can become enemies overnight, and some cats are willing to kill to get what they want. Fireheart is determined to find out the truth about the mysterious death of brave

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Kane Chronicles, The, Book Two: The Throne of Fire

by Rick Riordan⭐ 4.5/5(59)

In this exciting second installment of the three-book series, Carter and Sadie, offspring of the brilliant Egyptologist Dr. Julius Kane, embark on a worldwide search for the Book of Ra, but the House of Life and the gods of chaos are determined to stop them.

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Inheritance Boxed Set

by Christopher Paolini⭐ 4.5/5(57)

WITH THE HIGHLY anticipated publication of Book Three in the Inheritance cycle, the hardcover editions of all three books will be available in a handsome boxed set!

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Emergency Jobs (Emergency Jobs Dash! Leveled Readers 2)

by Julie Murray⭐ 4.5/5(54)

This series is a thank you to emergency workers! Each title will look into an emergency worker job, the training it takes, and what a day in the life looks like. This series is at a Level 2 and is written specifically for emerging readers. Aligned to Common Core standards & correlated to state stand

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LIFE, AND DEATH, AND GIANTS

by Genre⭐ 4.5/5(607)

The title lays out its own thesis: life, and death, and giants, three things this YA novel treats as equally real and equally large. A teenager reeling from a devastating family loss narrates a story...

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UNICO

by Mother. Meanwhile, the evil goddess Venus covets Unico’s horn for her own purposes and summons Iver, a reptilian interstellar hunter from the “deathly garden,” where she’s stored beings who might be useful to her. She sets Iver free to seek Unico across space and time and “make him and those around him suffer.” The storyline is highly energetic, and the bright, dynamic frames and varied layouts will sustain readers’ interest. The characters and intriguing settings are nicely detailed, and the rich colors and effective use of light and dark contribute to the atmosphere. "⭐ 4.5/5(171)

This graphic novel adapts Osamu Tezuka's manga about Unico, a tiny unicorn with the power to make the people around him happier, which is exactly why the jealous gods can't stand him and keep banishi...

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MARSEILLE 1940

by France’s collapse, most Americans opposed helping refugees. Running for reelection in November, Franklin D. Roosevelt knew that supporting immigration was a sure loser at the polls. Some readers will recognize Wittstock’s hero, Varian Fry, a young New York journalist: He is at the heart of Julie Orringer’s 2019 novel The Flight Portfolio, which inspired the Netflix series Transatlantic. Together with a few activists, Fry raised money and founded the Emergency Rescue Committee. Carrying a list of names, including 200 German\u002Dlanguage authors provided by Thomas Mann, he traveled to Marseille in August 1940, assigned to spend a few weeks organizing an office to aid refugees. He remained for more than a year. On arriving, Fry realized that thousands needed help to survive as well as navigate absurd procedures for obtaining paperwork to live, travel, and leave France. Fiercely idealistic, he did what had to be done, much of which was illegal and expensive\u003B this offended the ERC, which demanded his return, and the State Department, which refused to renew his passport and denounced him to the Vichy government. Fry finally returned in the fall of 1941\u003B declared persona non grata, he received little thanks. Wittstock detours regularly for accounts of refugees. Readers may recognize names like Max Ernst, Hannah Arendt, Marc Chagall, and Heinrich Mann, but most will be as unfamiliar as they were to Fry, who rescued more than 1,000 people, a lifesaving feat because, of course, death in concentration camps awaited many who were left behind."⭐ 4.5/5(595)

Set in the port city of Marseille as Nazi forces occupy France, this historical novel follows a young protagonist whose ordinary life is dismantled almost overnight, replaced by a daily calculation o...

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HISTORY MATTERS

by me.” Some of McCullough’s appreciations here are of writers who are not much read these days, such as Herman Wouk and Paul Horgan\u003B a long piece concerns a president who’s been largely lost in the shuffle too, Harry Truman, whose decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan McCullough defends. At his best here, McCullough uses history as a way to orient thinking about the present, and with luck to good ends: “I am a short\u002Drange pessimist and a long\u002Drange optimist. I sincerely believe that we may be on the way to a very different and far better time.”"⭐ 4.5/5(161)

History Matters takes on an enormous task, covering the moments that shaped the modern world, and handles it by leaning on primary sources rather than just summarizing events from a distance, which g...

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APHMAU

by adding a little magic to Aphmau’s birthday cake. Once consumed, the cake transforms Aphmau into a wolf\u002Dgirl. More birthday wishes backfire, cueing video game–inspired hijinks all over town. But can Aphmau right the wrongs in time? The author, a successful online content creator who shares a name with her protagonist, delivers a Minecraft\u002Dinspired graphic novel that successfully brings her brand to a new format. Cacciatore’s adorable, candy\u002Dcolored art incorporates video game conventions like status bars to effortlessly meld mediums. The fast pace and quick cuts are delightfully chaotic, echoing the original YouTube format. Age\u002Dappropriate tween romance elements especially stand out. Character bios provide a helpful entry point to those new to Aphmau’s world. Aphmau has brown skin and purple hair\u003B other cast members vary in skin tone."⭐ 4.5/5(128)

This companion guide exists for one reader in particular: the kid who already watches Aphmau's Minecraft-inspired videos and wants more of that world in book form. Rather than trying to hook new view...

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QUEST FOR THE TRUE DRAGON

by Genre⭐ 4.5/5(85)

A young protagonist sets out to find the last dragon left in a world where the mythical creatures have nearly disappeared entirely, a quest premise that borrows the familiar shape of the genre but us...

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A THOUSAND WAYS TO DIE

by police and seven times more likely to be shot dead by another civilian with a gun.” Lee traces this pattern to America’s beginnings, when “an uncleavable relationship between the trade of humans and the trade of guns” contributed to the nation’s bloody foundation. After this historical background, Lee moves around the country, describing how Southern gun traffickers illicitly arm Chicagoans despite the state’s stringent gun control laws, fueling the city’s uncontrollable violence. In New Orleans, he notes how, while reporting during Hurricane Katrina, at least one of his white colleagues makes excuses for police shootings aimed at some of the city’s poorest Black residents. In Massachusetts, he interviews a worker at the Smith \u0026amp\u003B Wesson factory who loses his job after publicly questioning the company’s ethics. Throughout these stories, he weaves in his own personal history, recounting how his grandfather’s and stepbrother’s murders left lasting, traumatic impressions on his extended family. Lee’s experience reinforces one of the book’s key messages—that gun violence is both a byproduct and cause of “the systemic, institutional, and structural racism that feeds it.” At best, Lee’s work is empathetic, analytical, and insightful, drawing subtle connections in clean and conversational prose. Some chapters hold together better than others: “(G)un\u002DCivil Rights,” for example, is cohesive, while “Gigglebox” tends to meander. All in all, the book is a provocative and informative read that expertly blends memoir with hard\u002Dhitting reporting. "⭐ 4.5/5(64)

Organized as a run of worst-case scenarios, avalanches, shark encounters, buildings coming down, this survival guide uses each disaster as a hook for teaching the actual protocol a person would need ...

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107 DAYS

by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear\u002Deyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re\u002Dcreate our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”"⭐ 4.4/5(1,697)

The number in the title is the whole premise: 107 days is how long this true account says its subject survived alone in the wilderness, and the book spends its length making that number feel less lik...

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THE PEOPLE'S PROJECT

by self\u002Dabandonment, she meant pretending “you don’t know what you know, don’t hear what you hear, don’t see what you see.” And not abandoning others, as well. Several contributors consider forms of resistance. “I think the act of resistance I take the most pleasure in is raising my sons to be good men,” writes illustrator Aubrey Hirsch. For Chase Strangio, simply being a transgender person signifies resistance: “Part of what makes trans people so central in this small and toxic moment is the power we wield by being insistently ourselves.” Disability justice activist Alice Wong considers the challenge of countering fascism: “The fear, chaos, and danger many of us live in changes our relationship with time. To fight, to provide mutual aid, to listen, care for, and love our people, to nourish and sustain yourself—all of these things take time and energy. We must give ourselves space, grace, and time if we are to fight fascism.” Some pieces exude anger\u003B others, sadness\u003B all face the future with more questions than answers. As scholar Imani Perry puts it, “Today I ask: How do we raise the young in the face of deportations, expulsions, captivity, abandonment and targeted cruelty? How do we feed those writhing with hunger pangs for freedom?” All underscore the crucial power of community."⭐ 4.4/5(148)

A city park slated for commercial development becomes the flashpoint for this story about a group of kids learning, in real time, how local government actually works: petitions, city council meetings...

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THE LACK OF LIGHT

by suicide 20 years earlier—a fact we learn in the first chapter but come to fully understand only 700 eagerly turned pages later. The narrator is Keto, who grows up in a delightfully quirky household with two battling grandmothers, a widowed physicist father, and a beloved older brother\u003B the story follows her friendships with brilliant Ira, daring Dina, and beautiful Nene, the darling daughter of a mobster family, from their schoolyard beginnings, through young loves, emerging talents, and life\u002Dchanging decisions, everything thrown into high relief by the unfolding disaster around them. Ferrante lovers will find many echoes of the Neapolitan novels here, the plot similarly featuring almost mythic levels of intensity in love and grief, centering the importance of women’s friendship. An unexpectedly moving translators’ note says that the novel, while not autobiographical, is probably Haratischwili’s \u0022most personal work to date,\u0022 a history strongly felt in myriad gorgeously written summary passages like this one: “We, the children of the nineties, who swapped our childhood and youth for Kalashnikovs and heroin—we, of all people, listened to Barry White and longed for nothing more than eternal love and the ecstatic fruits of that love, for fun and excitement. We, of all people, let the music play. And how! We played it right to the bitter end.”"⭐ 4.4/5(7,371)

Darkness here isn't a temporary crisis to be fixed by the end of chapter one; it's the permanent condition this novel's teenage characters have to build a life inside, with electricity gone and hope ...

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THE CONJURING OF AMERICA

by tracing the transformations of the conjure woman from the Negro Mammy during slavery to the Candy Lady, a revered elder in Black communities during the Civil Rights Movement. Powerful figures in Blacks’ battles against racism and sexism, conjure women have inhabited many roles, among them, healers, spiritual guides, midwives and abortion providers, weavers and quilters, hairdressers, and cooks. Enslaved African women brought their ancestors’ use of natural medicine to the plantation, where Negro Mammies applied methods that were noninvasive and boosted the immune system, far different from medical doctors’ bloodletting and purging. Among one Negro Mammy’s remedies was a salve containing turpentine, which cleared airways so effectively it was sought after by whites, including one Southern man who made a fortune marketing it as Vicks VapoRub. In antebellum New Orleans, the Voodoo Queen was central to a community of free women of color who worshiped mermaids. Associated with rebellion and vengeance, Voodoo Queens inspired fear in their white neighbors. Stewart traces the connections of conjure to Aunt Jemima (whose image derived from a minstrel act), the invention of the blues, and even the creation of blue jeans, first made and worn by enslaved people and sewn from “negro cloth,” dyed with the West African plant indigo. Conjure emerges in the art of hairdressers, in cooks whose soul food has the power to bring good luck, and in quilters who designed “busy patterns” in their blankets to distract spirits that brought bad luck. Stewart melds personal reflections, African mythology, and abundant primary sources, most notably interviews conducted by the Federal Writers’ Project, to create a brisk, spirited narrative."⭐ 4.4/5(90)

This one takes the American Revolution and asks what it would look like with occult forces and magical conflict running underneath the political history everyone already knows, following a group of y...

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ROYAL GAMBIT

by turning into trees and stegosauruses and unusual modes of death involving energetically implanted brain cubes. The occasional borrowed tiara on her head, Alix moves through an environment where nothing is ever quite what it seems. The closer she comes to finding Edmund’s killer, the more Alix uncovers about the secrets surrounding her position within both the Checquy Group and the royal family."⭐ 4.4/5(989)

A commoner with no business surviving palace politics has to learn forbidden magic fast enough to stay alive through a tournament built to weed out people exactly like them; that's the engine of this...

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THE SHATTERING PEACE

by Genre⭐ 4.4/5(1,159)

Sound is illegal in this dystopia, not just protest or dissent, but music, laughter, any voice raised above a whisper, and the premise takes that restriction completely seriously, building out sound-...

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THE RAVEN BOYS

by Academy. While he can’t always escape the perception of being a condescending rich boy, Gansey, influenced by a near\u002Ddeath experience seven years earlier, throws himself fully into finding the sleeping king, Owain Glendower. Searching for ley lines that will lead them to Glendower, Gansey, Blue, and the others get swept up in a race to activate the lines before those with dark motives can seize the ancient magic for themselves. Though some of the illustrations don’t convey the full gravitas of some moments in the original, others adroitly capture the humor, dread, and camaraderie that made the novel so intriguing and endearing. Newcomers to the story may not catch the significance of certain developments, but other elements, like the town of Henrietta and Gansey’s journal, gain extra life and added dimensions thanks to Milledge’s expressive and nostalgic artwork, which is enhanced by Ko’s luminous colors. Blue has brown skin and dark curly hair, and the boys present as white. "⭐ 4.4/5(4,326)

Blue Sargent is the one person in a household of psychics who has no visions of her own, just a standing prophecy that says she'll cause her true love to die, which makes her a strange match for the ...

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THE BOOK OF GUILT

by German conspirators in 1943\u003B since then, British scientists have had access to studies “of immense scientific value” made in “the camps,” as they are called with pointed vagueness. In 1979, this history is taught to 13\u002Dyear\u002Dold triplet brothers—mercurial William, softhearted Lawrence, and thoughtful, watchful Vincent, who narrates most of the book. They live in a group home for boys, part of the Sycamore Homes program established by the government in 1944 to raise parentless children. Doted on by a threesome of Morning, Afternoon, and Night mothers, taught from the encyclopedic Book of Knowledge (an actual publication) and in weekly ethics discussions, the Sycamore boys have had happy if isolated childhoods marred only by incessant sickliness. Those who recuperate from “the Bug” get to move to “the Big House in Margate,” which, according to the brochure, is a wonderful place next to an amusement park. Only the triplets still remain when a new Conservative government decides to discontinue the Sycamore program to cut costs. Soon the Prime Minister puts the well\u002Dmeaning but clueless Minister of Loneliness in charge of rehoming the triplets. But where? That these children have been part of a creepy scientific experiment is obvious early on, but one shocking, horrifying surprise follows another in what is, at its most basic, a cat\u002Dand\u002Dmouse thriller. Meanwhile, Chidgey forces readers to delve into moral questions concerning science (and by extension, technology), pragmatism, personal responsibility, and institutional evil. Then there’s the novel’s unavoidable, disquieting contemplation of just who is given equal right in any given society (including ours). Chidgey, a New Zealander, borrows elements from Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, but the character Vincent most resembles is Pinocchio. Broad themes and issues become deeply personal as his coming\u002Dof\u002Dage becomes a monumental struggle toward self\u002Ddiscovery."⭐ 4.4/5(2,123)

There's a deliberate vagueness to how this psychological thriller is described, and that's true to the book itself: it centers on a teenager carrying a secret heavy enough to warp their whole effort ...

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NAGASAKI

by Genre⭐ 4.4/5(52)

The final days of World War II arrive here through the eyes of Japanese civilians living through the atomic bombing and its aftermath, not through a broad account of the war's closing weeks. At 497 p...

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FLIP

by Genre⭐ 4.4/5(197)

This innovative picture book transforms the traditional reading experience into an interactive adventure, inviting young readers to physically engage with the story by flipping the book upside down t...

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CONFRONTING EVIL

by Judeo\u002DChristian standards, Genghis was the devil incarnate, but the Mongols apparently liked him just fine. O’Reilly holds that Mao Zedong was history’s worst mass murderer, “although his evil role model, Genghis Khan, might have surpassed him.” Naturally, while ticking down a rogue’s gallery that includes a few Judeo\u002DChristian figures, O’Reilly tries to own liberals: The Obama administration “does little to halt the Crimea aggression,” encouraging Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine, while Ayatollah Khomeini makes Jimmy Carter his plaything, and so on."⭐ 4.3/5(324)

Most books aimed at teenagers sidestep a direct question about what evil actually is, historically and right now. This one doesn't, and it trusts a teen reader to sit with the question instead of han...

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NOBODY KNOWS YOU'RE HERE

by one of the callous “goons” who occasionally drop off kidnap victims or, scarier still, take them away (“Maybe They would kill us all”). Beatrice, with no access to a cellphone or the internet, is ostensibly in the middle of nowhere. That, however, doesn’t stop her from contemplating escape, or attempting it when she has the chance. Greenwood’s novel is steeped in mysteries beyond Beatrice not knowing where she is\u003B for example, she can’t be sure her indifferent father, or anyone else, is even looking for her. Aiden and Isabel are likewise unpredictable—they also seem to be victims of whatever organization is behind the kidnappings, but how much of what they tell Beatrice is the truth? Beatrice, who narrates, makes for a laudable hero\u003B she’s bright, empathetic, patient when it counts the most, and a mental powerhouse. Some of what she endures is vicious, though the author implies much of the violence and consistently lets suspense drive the narrative. All of this begets a sublime final act that focuses on the enigmatic characters and their complicated relationships. "⭐ 4.3/5(457)

This gripping thriller plunges readers into the dark underbelly of a city where a determined photographer and a reluctant detective hunt a serial killer targeting young women. The narrative masterful...

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AURORA

by the Collector, who has light skin, green eyes, and black hair. Wounded blue\u002Deyed Kendal, who’s born from Vash’s remaining essence, is left for dead but saved by purple\u002Dskinned, pink\u002Dhaired Alinua, a self\u002Dexiled cloud elf with a curse—or maybe a gift. With no way of knowing which she bestowed on Kendal, the two decide to travel together to rescue Vash’s soul. Meanwhile, a great mage, who’s light\u002Dskinned and brown\u002Dhaired and has power over all the elements, accidentally springs a trap that was millennia in the making. Fighting for control of his body, he’s saved by Kendal and Alinua and agrees to assist them—if they help him find a means to expel the malevolent spirit before it implements its plans. The plot\u002Ddriven story balances action sequences with intriguing plot developments and extensive worldbuilding. Red renders her full\u002Dcolor illustrations in a clean style that effectively conveys dynamic moments. However, information is too often introduced well in advance of its relevance, interrupting the pacing and creating information overload. This disjointed approach makes it difficult to ground oneself within the story or fully connect with the characters. "⭐ 4.3/5(76)

This middle-grade novel follows a young protagonist navigating the complexities of identity and belonging against a backdrop of magical realism, blending everyday challenges with extraordinary circum...

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VICTORY '45

by the spring of 1945 huddled in his Berlin bunker directing imaginary armies and planning his suicide. A few aides stuck by, but most were planning to save themselves. The most successful was SS General Karl Wolff, in Italy, who managed to impress OSS chief Allen Dulles\u003B fend off rival (and perhaps nastier) competitors, Heinrich Himmler and Ernst Kaltenbrunner\u003B persuade leading Wermacht generals to surrender with absolutely no conditions\u003B and protect himself against prosecution for his crimes. Wolff took enormous risks (visiting a deeply suspicious Hitler during his final weeks) but succeeded eventually in testifying for the prosecution at Nuremburg. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery handled the surrender of German forces in north Germany on his own with a nod to his superior, Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, who preoccupied himself with the iconic May 7, 1945, official German government surrender. The authors precede that with accounts reminding readers of Nazi awfulness: a teenage Jewish boy’s years in concentration camps, a young American soldier’s experience encountering his first camp, and the chaos that engulfed Germany during and after the war. On the Pacific front, Japanese leaders, aware by 1943 that they were losing, worked to convince America that every Japanese man, woman, and child would fight to the death before surrendering. They assumed that the U.S., faced with this threat and lacking Japanese fortitude, would negotiate a compromise peace. By cruel irony, American leaders were indeed convinced of Japan’s resolve, but they did not negotiate\u003B they proceeded by unleashing an almost genocidal firebombing and two atomic bombs that, aided by the massive Soviet invasion, produced the desired surrender."⭐ 4.3/5(316)

This gripping historical novel plunges readers into the final, chaotic months of World War II through the eyes of a determined teenage girl. As Allied forces push toward victory, she navigates a land...

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HUSK

by a “collapse,” and the city of Epsilon, which was once a university. Isaac proves to be an engaging protagonist who rolls with the punches, enduring physical threats, betrayals, and his world being thrown into a tailspin. The supporting cast is equally compelling\u003B with the exception of Sophie, the characters sow doubt as Isaac questions whether he can trust people he’s long known and any number of individuals he encounters for the first time. There are a few action scenes, but much of this opening installment is devoted to exposition as Isaac uncovers information along with the reader (there are copious secrets tied to Meru). This leads to a string of wonderfully staggering revelations all the way to the cliffhanger ending. "⭐ 4.3/5(96)

A mysterious blight has already wrecked the world by the time Husk opens, and the teenagers caught in it are left figuring out how to stay human once nearly everything else has been stripped away. At...

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KINGDOM OF WATER

by confronts family secrets." />⭐ 4.3/5(85)

Underwater politics turn personal fast for the teenage protagonist of Kingdom of Water, once family secrets buried for a generation start threatening the kingdom she's tied to by blood. At 240 pages,...

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LION HEARTS

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(397)

This gripping novel follows a young protagonist navigating the treacherous landscape of high school while grappling with a family secret that threatens to upend everything. When ancient family docume...

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IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES

by their alarming title, Yudkowsky and Soares issue a stark warning: Unless we act now to contain powerful superintelligent AI systems, humanity may not survive. Yudkowsky, co\u002Dfounder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and Soares, its president, target politicians, CEOs, policymakers, and the general public in their urgent plea. The book opens with an accessible breakdown of what AI is, how it’s built, and why even its creators often can’t comprehend the accelerating complexity of their own systems. Through parablelike vignettes, the authors expose the underlying realities of AI algorithms—advanced AIs are not engineered so much as grown, operating with opaque and unpredictable results, untethered from human values. The most chilling passages describe how AIs could escape computers and manipulate the physical and financial worlds, eventually repurposing Earth’s resources to serve alien objectives or replacing humanity with their own “favorite things.” The authors warn, “Nobody has the knowledge or skill to make a superintelligence that does their bidding,” arguing that world governments must cooperate to restrict or ideally halt AI research. Policymakers have not yet grasped the full implications of these advanced systems, and the public hasn’t felt the impact in their lives, but the authors caution they must be persuaded to act immediately. While some scenarios seem extreme or unrealistic, including hoping global leaders can agree on defining the problem or collaborating on solutions, the book’s arguments that the risks are elevated and time is short are persuasive. There is excellent information and food for thought here, including links to resources for readers motivated to join the fray."⭐ 4.3/5(311)

This explosive thriller plunges readers into a high-stakes technological nightmare where a brilliant but reckless inventor creates a device with catastrophic potential, forcing a race against time to...

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CROOKS

by the rules.” So says small\u002Dtime criminal Raymond “Buddy” Mercurio as he rises through the ranks of the Vegas mob and courts and marries Lillian Ott, a glamorous salesgirl and nimble pickpocket. Ten years and four kids later, they’re on top of the world when Buddy gets a midnight phone call: “Go.” They escape a shootout and retreat to Lillian’s hometown of Oklahoma City. With another baby on the way, it seems like a place where they can lie low “till [they] get back on [their] feet.” Then, a comedy of errors during a restaurant robbery elevates Buddy as a local hero, and he capitalizes on his celebrity by opening up a disco that becomes a surprising hit. Gangsters be gangsters, though, and when one of his investors discovers Buddy’s skimming from the profits, it looks like it could be time to cut and run—until he realizes it’s his wife behind the takedown. After a chase, a gunshot, and a heavy kiss in the freezing rain, they make up (in full view of the children). The rest of the novel follows each of the five children and the effect of their unconventional upbringing on their own choices and paths in life. From beautiful idiot hustler Jeremy to restless adrenaline chaser Tallulah to staid and earnest mob enforcer Ray to tight\u002Dlaced strategic planner Alice and lonely writer Piggy, they’re all shaped by their criminal parents in different ways. They also move in and out of each other’s stories in appealing ways, emphasizing their loyal bonds even as they keep getting pulled back into their own versions of criminality. As is almost always true in anthology\u002Dstyle works, some stories are more engaging and effective than others, but Berney continues to expand the genre of Western noir with style, humor, and a deep understanding of human frailty and flaw."⭐ 4.3/5(204)

This gritty crime thriller plunges readers into the high-stakes world of professional heists and the complex moral codes of those who operate outside the law. The narrative follows a crew of skilled ...

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THE GHOST OF WRECKERS COVE

by their father’s tales of fictional girl detectives, Cristina and Martha form their own secret sleuthing society and set out to solve the mystery. Their search takes them to the village library, a forgotten museum, and even a crumbling cliffside cave, uncovering clues that tie together ghostly sightings, legendary land pirates called “wreckers,” and a priceless jewel lost at sea. The pair begin to suspect that they may need to help Ida accept the truth of what happened so many years ago—a fitting task for two girls who are also quietly processing the recent loss of their mother. Despite its ghostly apparitions and dark themes, Del Campo’s story is more sweet than spooky, and Liniers’ illustrations employ a muted palette and watercolor texture that matches the quietly emotional story. “I will always believe in fairies and magic,” Martha announces to dismissive Cristina at one point, and this tale of sisterly bonding does indeed feel like a fairy tale, at times. As such, slightly older readers may wish that there were more swashbuckling, ghostly adventure, Still, its quiet pace and subtle tone will resonate with younger, reflective readers who are drawn to atmosphere over action. "⭐ 4.3/5(84)

Staying with relatives for the summer is supposed to be uneventful, but the protagonist of The Ghost of Wreckers Cove stumbles onto a century-old shipwreck legend almost immediately, and the book lea...

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TO CLUTCH A RAZOR

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(805)

This gritty urban thriller plunges readers into the dangerous world of gang violence and survival, following a protagonist who must navigate treacherous alliances while questioning the very codes tha...

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A DARK AND DEADLY JOURNEY

by the duo’s nonstop banter as they ricochet from one Portuguese destination to the next. One might almost forget the wartime backdrop were it not for the occasional reference to Nazis and Hitler. Unraveling the mysteries is far less important than enjoying the duo’s badinage. Meanwhile, an ominous figure whose identity is never discovered looms over all. This, and Kelly’s cliffhanger ending, indicate more adventures to come."⭐ 4.3/5(185)

This gripping survival thriller plunges readers into a treacherous wilderness expedition where a group of teens must navigate both the unforgiving landscape and the dangerous secrets among them. The ...

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MILLIE OF THE MANOR

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(99)

Running an entire manor house falls to a twelve-year-old when her parents are unexpectedly called away in Millie of the Manor, and the book takes that responsibility seriously: household staff, a shr...

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THE HIROSHIMA MEN

by Japan’s unexpectedly sudden surrender, Americans accepted the official story that ordinary superbombs had won the war. Stories of gruesome injuries and agonizing deaths that continued to occur months afterward were censored or officially denied. By 1946 Hersey was a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, chafing at Time\u002DLife’s reluctance to let him travel. More amenable, New Yorker editors sent him to Asia, where he returned traditional stories before traveling to Hiroshima, which, despite a year’s passage, smelled of death. Interviewing widely, he concentrated on stories from half\u002Da\u002Ddozen survivors. The result, filling the Aug. 31, 1946, issue, was a jolt, and the later book a worldwide bestseller. Both gave rise to the belief, still popular if not unanimous, that the bomb must never be used again."⭐ 4.3/5(93)

This powerful historical account examines the devastating aftermath of the atomic bomb through the eyes of the Hiroshima Maidens—young women who survived the blast only to face severe burns and socia...

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THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

by a well-published scholar of that movement." />⭐ 4.3/5(94)

Modern mindfulness didn't start as a classroom technique, and this scholarly study traces it all the way back to its roots in Buddhist philosophy before following it forward into contemporary therapy...

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TICK TOWN

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(62)

This charming picture book transforms the abstract concept of time into a tangible adventure through the bustling world of Tick Town, where every clock and watch has a personality and a purpose. Youn...

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DEATH AT A HIGHLAND WEDDING

by the boorish Austrian gamekeeper and his mantraps, which, to Mallory’s fury, have wounded a Scottish wildcat and killed its mother. During a walk, Mallory, Gray, and McCreadie find part of a butchered deer and then the body of Cranston’s friend Ezra Sinclair wearing Cranston’s coat. When the inexperienced and opinionated local constable arrests Cranston, the investigative trio intervene. Was Sinclair or Cranston the target for murder? And is the killer a disgruntled local or one of their own friends?"⭐ 4.3/5(3,835)

Murder arrives partway through the celebration in this one: a wedding guest is found dead at a grand Scottish estate, and clan rivalries and old grudges that never really went away turn out to matter...

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AMONG THE BURNING FLOWERS

by Genre⭐ 4.3/5(1,919)

Perpetual twilight and lethal flora make up the world here, the backdrop for a young protagonist working through a journey that mixes real physical stakes with questions about what a person owes to t...

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THE GODS OF NEW YORK

by his perceived mismanagement on numerous fronts. Corruption scandals undermined his administration. Homelessness surged, due in part to federal funding cuts, reductions in mental health in\u002Dpatient care, and local government failures. AIDS was killing thousands of New Yorkers. With City Hall slow to act on the latter, playwright and activist Larry Kramer tried to out the closeted mayor and lambasted federal health officials like Anthony Fauci. Conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr. said people with HIV should be tattooed to prevent its spread. Meanwhile, crack decimated poor neighborhoods, as “an inherently biased law” imprisoned many Black users and spared white users of powder cocaine. Violent crime and racial conflict stoked by tabloids made Al Sharpton famous and fueled international interest in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Rudy Giuliani’s profile rose as he prosecuted Wall Street crooks. And Donald Trump, after making some bad business deals, “was now refashioning himself into the city’s white id,” Mahler writes. When Trump made inflammatory statements after five Black and Latino teens were accused—falsely, it turned out—of raping a woman in Central Park in 1989, famed columnist Jimmy Breslin wrote that he had “destroyed himself” as “all demagogues ultimately do.”"⭐ 4.3/5(323)

This urban fantasy adventure plunges readers into a New York City where ancient deities walk the streets disguised as ordinary citizens, blending mythic stakes with contemporary city life. The narrat...

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DAYBREAK

by Cog’s inhaling his homemade cornets, Marcus offers to make them lunch the next day—and soon, he’s making them lunch every Thursday. The two start spending more time together. Clueless about Marcus’ interest, candid, sincere Cog inadvertently stokes his affection. Cog’s best friend, Toma, however, is not so clueless and encourages Cog to set a firm boundary. But it turns out that Cog doesn’t really mind Marcus’ attention. This slice\u002Dof\u002Dlife rom\u002Dcom explores the feeling of being in the throes of a first crush. The fun, colorful, and dynamic artistic style suits the lighthearted vibe. However, the plot consists of a series of cute, loosely connected moments, resulting in underdeveloped characters and thin worldbuilding\u003B the latter is exemplified by the book’s unclear setting. The Black\u002Dpresenting leads are surrounded by a racially diverse cast at a school that has Japanese influences, but without a cultural anchor, some of the characters’ behavior and reactions feel unclear. Rather than the characters themselves driving the narrative, the need to maintain the tension of their unrevealed feelings is central, making the story sometimes feels contrived. Nevertheless, those seeking a straightforward, queer cotton\u002Dcandy romance likely won’t mind. Readers familiar with manga iconography will notice clues to the leads’ feelings."⭐ 4.3/5(254)

This powerful young adult novel follows a diverse group of teens navigating the complexities of identity, friendship, and self-discovery during a transformative summer experience. The narrative weave...

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