CCBC Choices 2024 -- Teens (ages 12 and up)

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

Showing 1 - 20 of 39  There are a total of 92 valid entries on the list.
Book cover for Code red.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-13
Description:
Thirteen-year-old former elite gymnast Eden is feeling lost after a career-ending injury, but when she meets new friends who open her eyes to period poverty, the struggle that low-income people have trying to afford menstrual products, she becomes an advocate for fair treatment and rediscovers her passion and drive.
Book cover for The cricket war.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
Escaping from Communist Vietnam by boat in 1980, eleven-year-old Tho Phạm tries to be brave as he sets out into the unknown without his family, in this gripping survival story drawn from real-life experiences.
Book cover for Cross my heart and never lie.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
★ WINNER of the 2024 Stonewall Book Award, American Library Association
Perfect for fans of The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag, HeartStopper by Alice Oseman, and Jen Wang's The Dressmaker and the Prince.

In this fresh, sensitive, diary-style graphic novel, 12-year-old Tuva's questions about becoming a teenager are confusing—so when her first crush turns out to be on another
...
Book cover for Dear Mothman.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
After the death of his best friend and the only other trans boy at school, Noah starts writing letters expressing his feelings to the humanoid creature Mothman and risks everything when he treks into the woods to prove Mothman's existence.
Book cover for The dubious pranks of Shaindy Goodman.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
Helping her popular next-door neighbor Gayil set up what she thinks are harmless pranks, 12-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl Shaindy must figure out how to stop them before she becomes the next target when the pranks escalate and turn malicious.

6. Duel

Book cover for Duel.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-14
Description:
A rivalry between sisters culminates in a fencing duel in this funny and emotional debut graphic novel sure to appeal to readers of Raina Telgemeier and Shannon Hale.
Sixth grader Lucy loves fantasy novels and is brand-new to middle school. GiGi is the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade (as well as everything else she does). They've only got one thing in common: fencing. Oh, and they're sisters. They never got along super well, but ever...
Book cover for Eagle drums.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-13
Description:
In preparation for winter, a skilled young hunter embarks on a perilous journey up the mountain to gather obsidian, where he encounters the fearsome eagle god Savik and is presented with a life-altering choice.
Book cover for Elliot Jelly-Legs and the Bobblehead Miracle.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
Is a magical Carey Price bobblehead the key to Elliot's success on the ice? Eleven-year-old Elliot loves hockey and finally convinces his parents to sign him up. There's just one problem: he can barely skate. But he is determined. He practices every chance he gets and even takes extra lessons. He is still miles behind the rest of his teammates in terms of skills and speed, though. So when the goalie gets injured, Elliot surprises everyone by offering...
Book cover for Enlighten me.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
When Bình fights back against a bully who makes fun of his Vietnamese heritage, he expects to be cheered as the hero. He defeated the bad guy, right? Instead, it gets him a stern warning from his vice principal and worried parents. Now he's stuck on a family trip to a silent meditation retreat. That means no talking--and no video games!--for a whole weekend. Could things possibly get any worse? However, when a nun gathers all the kids to tell them...
Book cover for Ginny off the map.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-12
Description:
On the last day of fifth grade, super-smart eleven-year-old Ginny learns that her father, who is a military ER doctor, is being deployed to Afghanistan--devastating news because they are already moving to another post in Maryland and Ginny depends on her father to help her manage her obsessions, panic attacks, and general meltdowns. One of her obsessions is geographical facts, and somehow Ginny hopes to use her geographical knowledge to overcome her...
Book cover for Hamra and the jungle of memories.
Author:
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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 house of the lost on the cape.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-12
Description:
"In the wake of a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Yui, fleeing her violent husband, and Hiyori, a young orphan, are taken in by a strange but kind old lady named Kiwa in the small town of Kitsunezaki. The newly formed family finds refuge in a mayoiga, a lost house, perched atop a beautiful cape overlooking the sea. While helping to rebuild Kitsunezaki, the three adapt to their new lives and supernatural new home, slowly healing from their troubled...
Book cover for The house that whispers.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
Eleven-year-old Simon and his siblings, Talia and Rose, are staying the week at Nanaleen's century-old house. This time, though, it’s not their usual summer vacation trip. In fact, everything’s different. It’s fall, not summer. Mom and Dad are staying behind to have a “talk.” And Nanaleen’s house smells weird, plus she keeps forgetting things. And these aren’t the only things getting under Simon’s skin: He’s the only one who knows...
Book cover for In the tunnel.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;10-14
Description:
Myung-gi knows war is coming: War between North and South Korea. Life in communist North Korea has become more and more unbearabl途there is no freedom of speech, movement, association, or thought́€”and his parents have been carefully planning the familý€™s escape. But when his father is abducted by the secret police, all those plans fall apart. How can Myung-gi leave North Korea without his dad? Especially...
Book cover for Jawbreaker.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-12
Description:
"Max Plink’s life is complicated. Her parents aren’t getting along. The school bullies are relentless—and her own sister is the cruelest of them. Worst of all, her mouth is a mess. With a mismatched puzzle of a jaw, Max has a Class II malocclusion, otherwise known as a severe overbite. She already has braces, which means she lives on Advil and soft foods after each orthodontist appointment. But now Max has to wear painful (and totally awkward)...
Book cover for Julia and the shark.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-13
Description:
Ten-year-old Julia loves the mysteries of the ocean and marine biology, just like her scientist mother. Her family is spending the summer on a remote island where her mom is searching for the elusive Greenland shark, a creature that might be older than the trees, and so rare that it’s only been seen a few times. But the ocean is reluctant to give up its secrets, and Julia tries not to worry as her mother returns disappointed at the end of each...
Book cover for Land of broken promises.
Author:
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
After a rocky first year, Anna's family have settled into life in California--their small restaurant is even turning a profit. Then her parents make a shattering discovery: their visas have expired. Anna's world is quickly overwhelmed by unfamiliar words like "undocumented" and "inequality." She longs to share the towering secret that looms over every aspect of her life with a friend, but her parents strictly forbid her from telling anyone. As Anna...
Book cover for The lost library.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;8-12
Description:
When a mysterious Little Free Library guarded by a large orange cat appears overnight, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.
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...

20. Miracle

Book cover for Miracle.
Notes:
Fiction for Children;9-12
Description:
Amie struggles to find herself through friendship and music in the wake of her father's death.