New York Public Library Announces Its Best Books of 2017 for Kids and Teens

100 Best Books for Kids and 50 Best Books for Teens of this year selected by children and teen librarians across the system


NOVEMBER 20, 2017 – Corinna Luyken’s “The Book of Mistakes” is one of The New York Public Library’s picks for best children’s book of the year.

A group of New York Public Library children and teen libraries from the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island banded together to pick 2017’s 100 Best Books for Kids and 50 Best Books for Teens, just in time for holiday gift-giving and long trips to visit relatives.

“Make no mistake, asking librarians to pick their favorite books is a challenge,” said Lynn Lobash, manager of the Library’s Readers Services team, which regularly offers book recommendations to the public via Twitter, Facebook, and podcast. “But we debated and discussed – even argued a little – and are very proud of this year’s selections. We know the importance of helping find the right books for kids and teens – if you want young people to read, if you want to spark a lifelong love of reading and learning, if you want them to experience all the benefits of reading, then you have to find the right books for them.”  

NYPL’s top 10 children’s books of 2017 are:

  • The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken

  • Bravo! Poems About Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle, illus. by Rafael López

  • The Crane Girl by Curtis Manley, illus. by Lin Wang

  • 5 Worlds: The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegel & Alexis Siegel, illus. by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller & Boya Sun

  • Forever, or a Long, Long Time by Caela Carter

  • The Goat by Anne Fleming

  • Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin

  • Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin, illus. by Evan Turk

  • The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea by Bryn Barnard

  • Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa, illus. by Jun Takabatake

NYPL’s top 10 teen books of 2017 are:

  • The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

  • Cells at Work, vols. 1-4  by Akane Shimizu

  • Dreadnought by April Daniels

  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

  • How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

  • I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maureen Goo

  • Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

  • Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

  • Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick

  • What Girls are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold

For decades, librarians from the New York Public Library have compiled the “best” lists for kids and teens, in an effort to help parents, schools, other libraries, and kids themselves find the right reads.  

To celebrate the announcement, the Library launched today an interactive website that sorts and categorizes the selections based on a range of categories, such as genre, format, and age. (https://www.nypl.org/books-music-dvds/recommendations/award-winners/childrens-ya)

Spanning multiple genres from picture books to graphic novels, the titles selected represent a list of books that consist of diverse subjects and rich storytelling to encourage a lifelong love of reading in children. The lists include celebrated authors, such as Nikki Grimes, Jason Reynolds, Jane Yolen, Kwame Alexander, Becky Albertalli, Lauren Wolk, and Nathaniel Philbrick as well as eagerly awaited debut titles, such as The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, Dreadnought by April Daniels, and Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin.

100 BEST BOOKS FOR KIDS

  • 42 Is Not Just a Number: The Odyssey of Jackie Robinson, American Hero by Doreen Rappaport

  • After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again) by Dan Santat

  • The Alphabet Thief by Bill Richardson, illustrated by Roxanna Bikadoroff

  • American Pharoah: Triple Crown Champion by Shelley Fraser Mickle

  • Armstrong & Charlie by Steven B. Frank

  • Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke, illustrated by Angela Brooksbank

  • Bats: Learning to Fly by Falynn Koch

  • Bertolt by Jacques Goldstyn

  • Ben's Revolution: Benjamin Russell and the Battle of Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick, illustrated by Wendell Minor

  • Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

  • The Big Bad Fox by Benjamin Renner

  • Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper

  • Boat of Dreams by Rogério Coelho

  • Bolivar by Sean Rubin

  • Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Rafael López

  • The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken

  • Captain Pug: The Dog Who Sailed the Seas by Laura James, illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans

  • Charlie & Mouse by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes

  • Colette's Lost Pet by Isabelle Arsenault

  • The Crane Girl: Based on Japanese Folktales by Curtis Manley, illustrated by Lin Wang

  • Creekfinding: A True Story by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, illustrated by Claudia McGehee

  • Danza! Amalia Hernández and El Ballet Folklórico de México by Duncan Tonatiuh

  • Dazzle Ships: World War I and the Art of Confusion by Chris Barton, illustrated by Victo Ngai

  • A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui

  • Dragons and Marshmallows by Asia Citro, illustrated by Marion Lindsay

  • The End of the Wild by Nicole Helget

  • The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

  • Feathers and Hair: What Animals Wear by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Jing Jing Tsong

  • The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez

  • Fish Girl by David Wiesner & Donna Jo Napoli, illustrated by David Wiesner

  • The Five Forms by Barbara McClintock

  • Flashlight Night by Matt Forrest Esenwine, illustrated by Fred Koehler

  • Flowers for Sarajevo by John McCutcheon, illustrated by Kristy Caldwell

  • Forever, or a Long, Long Time by Caela Carter

  • The Goat by Anne Fleming

  • The Golem of Prague by Irène Cohen-Janca, illustrated by Maurizio A.C. Quarello

  • Gone Camping: A Novel in Verse by Tamera Will Wissinger, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

  • Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Katy Wu

  • Grand Canyon by Jason Chin

  • Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

  • If You Were the Moon by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Jaime Kim

  • It All Comes Down to This by Karen English

  • King of the Sky by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin

  • Let's Clap, Jump, Sing & Shout; Dance, Spin & Turn It Out! Games, Songs & Stories from an African American Childhood collected by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

  • Little Fox in the Forest by Stephanie Graegin

  • Little Wolf's First Howling by Laura McGee Kvasnosky, illustrated by Laura McGee Kvasnosky & Kate Harvey McGee

  • Locked Up for Freedom: Civil Rights Protesters at the Leesburg Stockade by Heather E. Schwartz

  • The Many Worlds of Albie Bright by Christopher Edge

  • Martí's Song for Freedom: Martí y Sus Versos por La Libertad by Emma Otheguy, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal

  • Maya Lin: Thinking with Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin

  • Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King

  • Midnight Without a Moon by Linda Williams Jackson

  • Muddy: The Story of Blues Legend Muddy Waters by Michael Mahin, illustrated by Evan Turk

  • The Murderer's Ape by Jakob Wegelius

  • The Music of Life: Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano by Elizabeth

  • My Beautiful Birds by Suzanne Del Rizzo

  • Rusch, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

  • The New Ocean: the Fate of Life in a Changing Sea by Bryn Barnard

  • Niko Draws a Feeling by Bob Raczka, illustrated by Simone Shin

  • Noah Webster's Fighting Words by Tracy Nelson Maurer, illustrated by Mircea Catusanu

  • Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez

  • Olga and the Smelly Thing From Nowhere by Elise Gravel

  • One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

  • One Trick Pony by Nathan Hale

  • Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander with Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

  • Pandora by Victoria Turnbull

  • Pizza! An Interactive Recipe Book by Lotta Nieminen

  • Posted by John David Anderson

  • The Queen of the Frogs by Davide Cali, illustrated by Marco Somà

  • The Quilts of Gee's Bend by Susan Goldman Rubin

  • Refugee by Alan Gratz

  • The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy, illustrated by Eugene Yelchin

  • The Sand Warrior by Mark Siegel & Alexis Siegel, illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller & Boya Sun

  • Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart

  • The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby

  • Smoot: A Rebellious Shadow by Michelle Cuevas, illustrated by Sydney Smith

  • Snow & Rose by Emily Winfield Martin

  • Still a Family by Brenda Reeves Sturgis, illustrated by Jo-Shin Lee

  • The Someday Birds by Sally J. Pla

  • That Is My Dream! A Picture Book of Langston Hughes's "Dream Variation" illustrated by Daniel Miyares

  • There's a Pest in the Garden! by Jan Thomas

  • Things to Do by Elaine Magliaro , illustrated by Catia Chien

  • Thornhill by Pam Smy

  • Three Pennies by Melanie Crowder

  • Thunder Underground by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Josée Masse

  • Tony by Ed Galing, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

  • Train I Ride by Paul Mosier

  • Us, in Progress: Short Stories about Young Latinos by Lulu Delacre

  • Walk with Me by Jairo Buitrago, illustrated by Rafael Yockteng

  • Watersong by Tim McCanna, illustrated by Richard Smythe

  • The Way Home in the Night by Akiko Miyakoshi

  • When My Sister Started Kissing by Helen Frost

  • The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

  • A Whisper of Horses by Zillah Bethell

  • The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found by Martin W. Sandler

  • Wolfie & Fly by Cary Fagan, illustrated by Zoe Si

  • The World Is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

  • Yours Sincerely, Giraffe by Megumi Iwasa, illustrated by Jun Takabatake

50 BEST BOOKS FOR TEENS

  • The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

  • Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

  • Backstagers, vol. 1 by James Tynion IV, art by Rian Sygh

  • Bang by Barry Lyga

  • Bull by David Elliott

  • Cells at Work, vols. 1-4 by Akane Shimizu

  • The Closest I've Come by Fred Aceves

  • Dreadnought by April Daniels

  • Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham

  • Fault Lines in the Constitution by Cynthia Levinson and Sanford Levinson

  • Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

  • Girl Code: Gaming, Going Viral, and Getting It Done by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser

  • The Girl from the Other Side, vol. 1  by Nagabe

  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

  • Hawkeye: Kate Bishop, vol. 1 by Kelly Thompson, art by Leonardo Romero

  • How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child by Sandra Unwiringiyimana & Abigail Pesta

    I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina, art by Stacey Robinson & John Jennings

  • I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

  • Landscape with Invisible Hand by MT Anderson

  • Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

  • The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

  • Malika: Warrior Queen, vol. 1 by Roye Okupe, Ayodele Elegba (ed.), art by Chima Kalu

  • Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson

  • Mis(h)adraIasmin by Omar Ata

  • New Super-Man, vol. 1 by Gene Luen Yang, art by Viktor Bogdanovic Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

  • Now or Never! 54th Massachusetts Infantry's War to End Slavery by Ray Anthony Shepard

  • The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

  • Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

  • One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

  • Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson

  • Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager

  • Saint Death by Marcus Sedgwick

  • Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali

  • SLAM! vol. 1 by Pamela Ribon, art by Veronica Fish

  • Spill Zone, vol. 1 by Scott Westerfeld, art by Alex Puvilland

  • Spinning by Tillie Walden

  • Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman

  • Survivor's Club: The True Story of a Very Young Prisoner of Auschwitz by Michael Bornstein & Debbie Bornstein Holinstat

  • The Takedown by Corrie Wang

  • There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

  • Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin

  • The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

  • Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

  • We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

  • The Wendy Project by Melissa Jane Osborne, art by Veronica Fish

  • What Girls Are Made Of by Elana K. Arnold

  • You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

  • You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner