Every year we ask our staff across the library system for their favorite books published in a given year. Enjoy this list of some of our favorite chapter books, graphic novels and nonfiction books for kids - some with staff annotations, and some with annotations from Kirkus, School Library Journal, and others.
Cactus Queen
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / A rousing tale about the rescuer of California's famed desert, Joshua Tree. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Cactus QueenVolcanoes
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / A dramatic introduction to volcanic eruptions and those who study them. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View VolcanoesMiles of Style
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / An African American fashion pioneer, Eunice Johnson turned her love of style into a way to help others. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Miles of StyleLife After Whale
LOCAL AUTHOR / PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / A blue whale "whirls above and below the currents of the Pacific Ocean" until she dies a natural death. Infused with wonder, [this is] an account of a natural cycle that occurs, mostly, far below the ocean's surface. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Life After WhaleThe Observologist
NONFICTION / In this engaging guide, Clarkson invites young readers to pay attention to the small things around them. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
View The ObservologistBridge to Bat City
MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL / After her mother's death, thirteen-year-old Opal moves to her uncle's farm where she befriends a group of orphaned, music-loving bats, and summons the courage to protect them from a mining company as she attempts to find them a new home. [catalog]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Bridge to Bat CityKatie, Big and Strong
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / In an era when "proper ladies" were expected to be helpless and frail, Katie showed everyone that women could be powerful. She also spoke up for women's equality and the right to vote. [publisher]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Katie, Big and StrongThe Partition Project
MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL / As 7th-grader Maha learns more about [her grandmother] Dadi's childhood in Punjab, she realizes that the stories of partition...are as relevant today as they ever were. [New York Times Book Review]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View The Partition ProjectNarwhal
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION / A young narwhal joins others of its kind on a long and perilous Arctic migratory round.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View NarwhalLeila and the Blue Fox
MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL / An Arctic fox leads a mother and daughter back to one another. A reverent, wondrous feast for the senses and a balm for bruised souls. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
View Leila and the Blue Fox