For a handy take-along list of titles, download our printable PDF.

Picture Books

Suggested grade level for all entries: PS–2

The Little Guys by Vera Brosgol (Roaring Brook)
The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke; illus. by Van Thanh Rudd (Candlewick)
Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale (Porter/Roaring Brook)
Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora (Little, Brown)
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales (Porter/Holiday)
My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero; illus. by Zeke Peña (Kokila/Penguin)
¡Vamos!: Let’s Go to the Market by Raúl the Third; color by Elaine Bay (Versify/Houghton)
Another by Christian Robinson (Atheneum)
Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons by Laura Purdie Salas; illus. by Mercè López (Millbrook)
Dogs in Space by Vix Southgate; illus. by Iris Deppe (Kane Miller)

 

Easy Readers and Primary Grades

Suggested grade level for all entries: 1–3

Detective Paw of the Law: The Case of Piggy’s Bank and The Case of the Stolen Drumsticks [Time to Read] by Dosh Archer (Whitman)
I Am Hermes!: Mischief-Making Messenger of the Gods by Mordicai Gerstein (Holiday)
The Proper Way to Meet a Hedgehog: And Other How-To Poems selected by Paul B. Janeczko; illus. by Richard Jones (Candlewick)
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder by Nie Jun; trans. by Edward Gauvin (Graphic Universe/Lerner)
See Pip Flap [Ready-to-Read: Adventures of Otto] by David Milgrim (Simon Spotlight)
Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a Very Smart Octopus Found His Way Home by Sy Montgomery; illus. by Amy Schimler-Safford (Wiseman/Simon)
Let ’Er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson; illus. by Gordon C. James (Carolrhoda)
Good Boy by Sergio Ruzzier (Atheneum)
Harold & Hog Pretend for Real! [Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!] by Dan Santat with additional illustrations by Mo Willems (Hyperion)
Charlie & Mouse Even Better by Laurel Snyder; illus. by Emily Hughes (Chronicle)

 

Intermediate

Suggested grade level for all entries: 4–6

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier (Amulet/Abrams)
Wildheart: The Daring Adventures of John Muir by Julie Bertagna; illus. by William Goldsmith (Yosemite Conservancy)
Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott; illus. by Geneva B (Random House)
The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles; illus. by Dapo Adeola (Versify/Houghton)
The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America by Jaime Hernandez (TOON)
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (Lamb/Random House)
No More Poems!: A Book in Verse That Just Gets Worse by Rhett Miller; illus. by Dan Santat (Tingley/Little, Brown)
The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine/Scholastic)
Max & the Midknights by Lincoln Peirce (Crown)

 

Middle School

Suggested grade level for all entries: 6–8

The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge by M. T. Anderson; illus. by Eugene Yelchin (Candlewick)
Best Babysitters Ever by Caroline Cala (Houghton)
Backyard Bears: Conservation, Habitat Changes, and the Rise of Urban Wildlife [Scientists in the Field] by Amy Cherrix (Houghton)
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices edited by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson (Crown)
Where the Heart Is by Jo Knowles (Candlewick)
All Summer Long by Hope Larson (Farrar)
Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee (Riordan/Disney-Hyperion)
Love to Everyone by Hilary McKay (McElderry)
Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina (Candlewick)
The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith (Clarion)

 

High School

Suggested grade level for all entries: 9 and up

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen)
Lovely War by Julie Berry (Viking)
Soaring Earth by Margarita Engle (Atheneum)
The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg (Levine/Scholastic)
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee (Tegen/HarperCollins)
Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri; illus. by Corban Wilkin (Tu/Lee & Low)
Dealing in Dreams by Lilliam Rivera (Simon)
Monsters [Reckoner] by David A. Robertson (HighWater)
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (First Second/Roaring Brook)

These titles were featured in the 2019 Summer Reading list.