Staff Faves 2025: Kids Chapter Books, Graphic Novels & Nonfiction
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! Annotations are by staff, or as noted. (Created November 2025)
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Zero! the Number That Almost Wasn't
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. This fun and fascinating story traces the lengthy path from “nothing” to a functioning zero. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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To Walk the Sky
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. Buckley (Kahnawá:ke Mohawk) and Lewis (Lenni-Lenape) pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of Iroquois steelworkers. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Hurricane
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. Caldecott Medalist Chin braids together three stories: how hurricanes form, how scientists track their potential impact, and how the people of Cape Hatteras, a barrier island off the North Carolina coast, prepare for landfall. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Queen Bees of Tybee County
CHAPTER BOOK. Chinese American Derrick explores his queer identity by competing in a small-town beauty pageant where he shares his new love of drag with his family and friends. [NoveList Plus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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The Black Mambas
NONFICTION: On patrol with an all-women unit of rangers who work to protect the rhinos, pangolins, and other rare wildlife of South Africa’s Olifants West Nature Reserve from poachers. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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What Fell From the Sky
CHAPTER BOOK. Pineda, a Cuban American boy, must join forces with his friends to help reunite an alien girl with her parents while their Texas town is swarming with military officers, in a story based on true events from 1950s America. [NoveList Plus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda
NONFICTION. Hilarity ensues when...a variety of animals highlight other species in a version of class presentations. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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The Strongest Heart
CHAPTER BOOK. A 13-year-old boy struggles with the pain, anger, and sadness of living with his father, who struggles with mental illness. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Dracula's Brunch Club
GRAPHIC NOVEL. If there’s one thing that can bridge the human/undead divide, it’s donuts. A friendly, funny vampire story with a little bit of bite. [Kirkus]
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Into the Bewilderness
GRAPHIC NOVEL. Best friends Luis (the large furry one) and Pablo (the small furry one) decide to venture from their cozy home into the Big City – and even though it’s not what they’d hoped, they still have their home and each other! [publisher description]
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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