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 21 - 40 of 45  There are a total of 103 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for The museum of lost and found.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
When eleven-year-old Vanessa discovers an abandoned museum, she starts filling it with her own projects and art and memories, thinking maybe, if she can put them all together in just the right way, she can finally understand why she and her relationships are the way they are.
Book cover for My powerful hair.
Notes:
Picture Books;5-10
Description:
After generations of short hair in her family, a little girl celebrates growing her hair long to connect to her culture and honor the strength and resilience of those who came before her.
Book cover for Parachute kids.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:

**National Book Award Longlist Title**

**Asian/Pacific American Award Honor Book**

This funny, fast-paced, and heartrending story about three siblings living on their own as undocumented new immigrants is perfect for fans of New Kid and Front Desk.

A DREAM TRIP TO AMERICA TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARE!

Feng-Li can't wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed

...
Book cover for A pocketful of stars.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-13
Description:
When thirteen-year-old Safiya's mother falls into a coma, Safiya comes to terms with their complicated relationship and discovers more about herself through dreams that transport her to her mother's childhood in Kuwait.
Book cover for The probability of everything.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
"Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion, and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out. But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. AMPLUS-68 has an 84.7% chance...
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 The secret pocket.
Notes:
Picture Books;6-9
Description:
Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius idea: drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew...
Book cover for Simon sort of says.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
Two years after a tragedy saddles him with viral fame, twelve-year-old Simon O'Keeffe and his family move to Grin And Bear It, Nebraska, where the internet and cell phones are banned so astrophysicists can scan the sky for signs of alien life, and where, with the help of two new friends, a puppy, and a giant radio telescope, Simon plans to restart the narrative of his life.
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 Something like home.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
"Laura Rodríguez Colón has a plan: no matter what the grown-ups say, she will live with her parents again. Can you blame her? It’s tough to make friends as the new kid at school. And while staying at her aunt’s house is okay, it just isn’t the same as being in her own space. So when Laura finds a puppy, it seems like fate. If she can train the puppy to become a therapy dog, then maybe she’ll be allowed to visit her parents. Maybe the dog...
Book cover for Stars in their eyes.
Notes:
Fiction for Young Adults;11-up
Description:

A Stonewall Honor Book

In this lighthearted YA romance, Maisie and Ollie discover that nothing beats the feeling of falling in love for the first time.

Maisie is on her way to Fancon! She's looking forward to meeting her idol, Kara Bufano, the action hero from her favorite TV show, who has a lower-leg amputation, just like Maisie. But when Maisie and her mom arrive at the convention center, she is stopped

...
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 To the ice.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;7-10
Description:
Three children go on a polar expedition in this thrilling adventure for newly independent readers-an epic story that blurs realism and imagination, illustrated in color throughout. An epic story set in a polar wilderness that blurs realism and imagination-fully illustrated for newly independent readers. Ida, Max and Jack go to the creek one winter's day. They play on an ice floe then find themselves floating away-all the way to the polar ice, with...
Book cover for Tomfoolery!.
Notes:
The Arts;6-10
Description:
"Meet Randolph Caldecott, the artist who revolutionized picture book illustration and for whom the prestigious Caldecott medal is named!" --
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 Will on the inside.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
"After dedicated soccer player Will is sidelined from the season--and his friend group--due to complications from his newly diagnosed Crohn's disease, he finds himself figuring out who he really is on the inside in this heartfelt and thoughtful middle grade novel that's perfect for readers who love books by Maulik Pancholy and Christine Day"--
Book cover for The Windeby puzzle.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
The suspenseful dual narrative of a boy and girl both battling to survive. In an utterly one-of-a-kind blend of fiction and history, a master storyteller explores the mystery and life of the 2,000-year-old Windeby bog body. Estrild is not like the other girls in her village; she wants to be a warrior. Varick, the orphan boy who helps her train in spite of his twisted back, also stands apart. In a world where differences are poorly tolerated, just...