School Library Journal 2018 Best Books
The School Library Journal Best Books of 2018 were announced today! See who is on the list below:
Picture Books
- The Patchwork Bike by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Illus. Van Thanh Rudd (Candlewick)
- Zola’s Elephant by Randall De Sève, Illus. Pamela Zagarenski (Chronicle)
- A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
- Saffron Ice Cream by Rashin Kheiriyeh (Levine/Scholastic)
- Drawn Together by Minh Lê, Illus. Dan Santat (Disney-Hyperion)
- Black Bird Yellow Sun by Steve Light (Candlewick)
- A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin (Little,Brown)
- Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love (Candlewick)
- Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal (Candlewick)
- Thank You, Omu! By Oge Mora
- The Field by Baptiste Paul, Illus. By Jacqueline Alcántara (North South)
- Fox & Chick: The Party and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier (Chronicle)
- Me and My Fear by Francesca Sanna (Flying Eye)
- Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook)
- They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki (Abrams)
- Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow (Salaam Reads/S&S)
- The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, Illus. Rafael López (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin)
Chapter Books & Middle Grade
- Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (Scholastic)
- Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya (Viking)
- Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi (Disney-Hyperion)
- Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome (Holiday House)
- The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis (Scholastic)
- The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani Dasgupta (Scholastic)
- Blended by Sharon M. Draper (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum)
- Meet Yasmin! By Saadia Faruqi, Illus. Hatem Aly (Capstone)
- The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Dial)
- The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (Levine/Scholastic)
- You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly (Greenwillow)
- The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (Wendy Lamb)
- Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina (Candlewick)
- Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano (Walden Pond/HarperCollins)
- Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older (Levine/Scholastic)
- Swallow’s Dance by Wendy Orr (Pajama Press)
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin)
- Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson (Nancy Paulsen/Penguin)
- Front Desk by Kelly Yang (Levine/Scholastic)
Young Adult
- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (HarperTeen/HarperCollins)
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Holt)
- Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed (Soho Teen)
- All That I Can Fix by Crystal Chan (Simon Pulse)
- Mirage by Somaiya Daud (Flatiron)
- Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth (Levine/Scholastic)
- Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert (Disney-Hyperion)
- Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
- Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins)
- Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough (Dutton)
- Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore (Feiwel & Friends)
- The Astonishing Life of After by Emily X.R. (Little, Brown)
- After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay (HMH)
- A Room Away from the Wolves by Ren Nova (Algonquin)
- Sadie by Courtney Summers (Wednesday Books)
- When Light Left Us by Leah Thomas (Bloomsbury)
- Pride by Ibi Zoboi (Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins)
Nonfiction
- Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Man by Tonya Bolden (Abrams)
- Eat This!: How Fast Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (And How You Can Fight Back) by Andrea Curtis, Illus. By Peggy Curtis (Red Deer)
- Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: That Sanitation Strike of 1968) by Alice Faye Duncan, Illus. R. Gregory Christie (Calkins Creek)
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness by Anastasia Higginbotham (Dottir)
- Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow (Calkins Creek)
- Prickly Hedgehogs! By Jane McGuinness (Candlewick)
- Dreamers by Yuyi Morales (Neal Porter/Holiday House)
- I Have the right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope by Chessy Prout with Jenn Abelson (Margaret K. McElderry/S&S)
- Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock, Illus. Katherine Roy (Little, Brown)
- Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi (Knopf)
- We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell, Illus. Frané Lessac (Charlesbridge)
- The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow by Jan Thornhill (Groundwood)
Poetry
- Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera (Candlewick)
- Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy by Tony Medina, Illus. various (Penny Candy Books)
- Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Illus. Brian Pinkney (Scholastic)
- Seeing into Tomorrow by Richard Wright and Nina Crews, Photo Nina Crews (Millbrook)
Graphic Novels & Nonfiction
- Speak:The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson, Illus. By Emily Carroll (Farrar, Straus, Giroux / Macmillan)
- The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot To Kill Hitler by John Hendrix (Amulet / Abrams)
- Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addiction by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Graphix / Scholastic)
- Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero, Illus. by Zeke Pena (Getty / Abrams)
- The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell (Knopf / Penguin)
- The Promised Neverland: Vol. 1; Grace Field House by Kaiu Shirai, Trans. By Satsuki Yamashita, Illus. By Posuka Demizu (Viz Media)
- Tiger vs. Nightmare by Emily Tetri (First Second / Macmillan)
- On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden (First Second / Macmillan)
- The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang (First Second / Macmillan)
Read more about all of these titles at School Library Journal here.
