2024 Staff Reading Challenge

The first graphic novel ever to win the prestigious Newbery award and an overall really, really good story about struggling to fit in and overcoming difficult situations.

One of the best graphic novels I've ever read! The swim team's mascot is the Mighty Manatee, and I learned things about our social history in this book that I'd never thought about before.

This was last year's Pura Belpre award winner, and it's incredible! Frizzy is all about learning to love and accept yourself as you are, and advocating for others to do the same. 

This has won many, many awards - and rightfully so! A great story about learning to love yourself and taking up the space you deserve. 

Another award winner, this was recently turned into a series on Disney+. 

When Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn. 

This book manages to be hilarious, heartwarming, and enlightening all at once. Also great as an audiobook! (There are parts of the audio I had to rewind and force my kids to listen to because they were just so good. 😊) 

This is one of those books that you'll never forget! A brilliant girl with cerebral palsy is able to speak for the first time through assistive technology. 

Ava's heart condition and severe anxiety hold her back until she learns to push through and joins a school improv group. 

I haven't gotten to read this yet, but it's on my list! New York Times called it "a gentle, glowing wonder, full of love and understanding." 

A story about being true to yourself and what it means to be an ally for those you love, with a bit of murder mystery thrown in for funsies.

A truly joyous, heartwarming story of a girl learning to shine. This is a Time Magazine Best YA of All Time pick, and it was chosen for Reese Witherspoon's book club.

In this fascinating story of survival in the Guatemalan jungle, young Carlos has to race ahead of a band of soldiers to warn his grandmother's village. 

When a racist incident rocks her small Michigan town, eleven-year-old Lekha must decide whether to speak up or stay silent.

This beautifully written story is inspired by the author's own experience as a child refugee in America - very relevant for our community!

Any book by Jason Reynolds is great, but Ghost or Long Way Down are good places to start. Reynolds was the first US Ambassador for Young Peoples Literature, and is overall just an incredible human. 

Soontornvat is a three time Newbery honoree. The Tryout, her first graphic novel based on her own experience of being one of the few people of color trying out for her middle school team, has been popular in our MHES library.

A citizen of the Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation, Bruchac's Native ancestry has inspired him to write about important parts of the Indigenous traditions, peoples, and experiences of the Americas. Rez Dogs is a novel in verse taking place during the Covid pandemic.