CCBC Choices 2024 -- Tweens (ages 9-11)

The Cooperative Children's Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison compiles a yearly list of excellent books for young readers.

Showing 1 - 19 of 19  There are a total of 103 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for The book of turtles.
Notes:
Science, Technology, and the Natural World;5-9
Description:
"This tribute to one of the most diverse, fascinating, and beloved species on the planet (turtles) speaks to the diversity and wisdom of these long-lived reptiles." --
Book cover for Chinese menu.
Author:
Notes:
Contemporary People, Places, and Issues;8-up
Description:
"From fried dumplings to fortune cookies, here are the tales behind your favorite foods . . . Separated into courses like a Chinese menu, these tales -- based in real history and folklore -- are filled with squabbling dragons, magical fruits, and hungry monks. This book will bring you to far-off times and marvelous places, all while making your mouth water. And, along the way, you might just discover a deeper understanding of the resilience and triumph...
Book cover for Elf dog & owl head.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-11
Description:
Quarantined with his family as a global plague ravages the world, Clay retreats to the woods where he meets a special little dog who leads him on surreal adventures where choosing the wrong path could cause them both to lose their way forever.
Book cover for Hamra and the jungle of memories.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
Courage is the strongest magic there is. On Hamra's thirteenth birthday, she receives nothing but endless nagging and yet another errand to run in the Langkawi jungle that looms behind her home. No one has remembered her special day. And so, stifled and angry, Hamra ignores something she shouldn’t: the rules of the jungle. Always ask permission before you enter. Hamra walks boldly in. Never take what isn’t yours. Hamra finds the most perfect...
Book cover for The lost year.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation. But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmothers belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines...
Book cover for The many assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-11
Description:
This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young orphan Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called "Seller of Dreams." The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey's life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir--furious enough to hire assassins. These include a Viking berserker, a Rogue...
Book cover for The puppets of Spelhorst.
Series:
Norendy tales volume 1.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;7-10
Description:
"Five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning, and high spirits ... Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends--a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl--bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by...
Book cover for Remember us.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
"The summer before seventh grade, as the constant threat of housefires looms over her Brooklyn neighborhood, basketball-loving Sage is trying to figure out her place in her circle of friends, when a new kid named Freddy moves in"--
Book cover for Rise to the sky.
Notes:
Science, Technology, and the Natural World;5-10
Description:
"What are the tallest living things on Earth? Trees! Discover what growing trees need so they can rise to the sky in this lyrical look at the tree life cycle"--
Book cover for The skull.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;6-9
Description:
"In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both?"--
Book cover for Snow day.
Notes:
Books for Newly Independent Readers;6-9
Description:
"Jo Jo Makoons has noticed that the family members she loves most—Mama, Kokum, and even her cat, Mimi—all have their own ways of being healthy. So when Teacher says that their class will be learning about healthy habits, Jo Jo is ready to be neighborly by helping everyone around her be healthy too. After a snowstorm shuts down her Ojibwe reservation, Jo Jo uses her big imagination and big personality to help both Elders and classmates alike. Because...
Book cover for Tethered to other stars.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-13
Description:
Seventh grader Wendy Toledo knows that black holes and immigration police have one thing in common: they can both make things disappear without a trace. When her family moves to a new all-American neighborhood, Wendy knows the plan: keep her head down, build a telescope that will win the science fair, and stay on her family's safe orbit. But that's easier said than done when there's a woman hiding out from ICE agents in the church across the alley,...
Book cover for There was a party for Langston.
Notes:
The Arts;5-9
Description:
A celebration of Langston Hughes and African American authors he inspired, told through the lens of the party held at the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in 1991.
Book cover for ¡Vamos! Let's go read.
Notes:
Picture Books;5-9
Description:
"Little Lobo and his friends are excited for the out-of-this-world book festival that the Guadalupian Library hosts every year! Everyone has a special book they're looking for, but there's so much to see and do first"--
Book cover for The walk.
Notes:
Contemporary People, Places, and Issues;5-9
Description:
As a little girl accompanies her grandma on a walk to the polling station, members of their community join and the grandmother explains the importance of their journey.
Book cover for We still belong.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
"Wesley's hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and asking her crush to the dance) go all wrong--until she finds herself surrounded by the love of her Indigenous family and community at the intertribal powwow"--
Book cover for Wishing season.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
A moving story...about the enduring bond between twins: Anders, who has recently died, and Lily, who has to balance her grief and confusion with a brother who isn't quite gone--and how to navigate a world that is moving forward without him. Of course Anders wasn’t lonely in the afterlife. He still, like always, had Lily. Lily doesn’t believe in making wishes. Not anymore. Not since Anders died. Wishes can’t fix the terrible thing that happened....
Book cover for World made of glass.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-13
Description:
"Iris opens her eyes to hard truths and the power of her voice when her father dies of AIDS in 1987"--
Book cover for You gotta meet Mr. Pierce!.
Notes:
The Arts;7-11
Description:
"A picture book biography about the barber shop of woodcarver Elijah Pierce, recipient of the highest folk art honor in the United States." --