01of 10
The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess by Tom Gauld
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Fairy-tale tropes are upended in Gauld's charming tale of royal siblings who take turns rescuing each other. (Ages 4-8)
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02of 10
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
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A maid of Chinese ancestry in 1890 Atlanta has a surprising side hustle — as an advice columnist challenging the city's prejudices. (Ages 12-17)
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03of 10
Lotería by Karla Arenas Valenti
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Clara has been chosen for a game of chance — the Mexican card game Lotería — in this spellbinding story about fate versus free will. (Ages 8-12)
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04of 10
Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen
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In a searing but uplifting memoir, the author of Hatchet tells of the harrowing childhood he overcame. (Ages 8-12)
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05of 10
The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin
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What was life like behind the Iron Curtain? Yelchin wittily recounts his hardscrabble upbringing in Cold War Russia. (Ages 10-15)
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06of 10
There's a Ghost in This House by Oliver Jeffers
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Now you see 'em, now you don't: Translucent overlay pages let readers join a little girl in a spooky (but not too scary) game of hide-and-seek inside the Victorian mansion she calls home. (Ages 4-8)
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07of 10
Me (Moth) by Amber McBride
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A powerful novel-in-verse about how tragedy transforms the lives of Moth, an orphaned ballerina grieving the loss of her family, and Sani, a depressed Navajo boy in search of his roots. (Ages 12-17)
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08of 10
Bright Star by Yuyi Morales
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A newborn fawn awakens to a dangerous world in this sumptuously illustrated picture book set in the Sonoran Desert. (Ages 4-8)
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09of 10
Every Little Kindness by Marta Bartolj
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This "lost dog" story explains the concept of paying it forward wordlessly, as one kindness leads to another until finally: a joyous reunion between girl and pup. (Ages 5-8)
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10of 10
A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia
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The lives of the privileged and the exploited intertwine in Williams-Garcia's masterpiece of historical fiction set in antebellum Louisiana. (YA)
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