Award-winning YA and Middle Grade BooksLike this list

24 items

• The First State of Being

  Kelly, Erin Entrada,

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  Two friends in 1999 act as tour guides to a time-traveling teen from the future, with a fun twist ending, in this winner of the 2025 Newbery Medal. Target audience: Middle grade

• Twenty-four Seconds From Now...

  a LOVE Story

  Reynolds, Jason,

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  Two teens think about the history of their romance as they contemplate the next step in their relationship. Winner of the 2025 Coretta Scott King award. Target audience: Teen

• Kwame Crashes the Underworld

  Farmer, Craig Kofi,

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  Perfect for fans of Rick Riordan books, join Kwame on his adventure through the Ghanian underworld in this exciting winner of the 2025 John Steptoe New Talent Award. Target audience: Middle grade

• Brownstone

  Teer, Samuel,

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  A relatable graphic novel about a girl who navigates new knowledge about her heritage and getting to know her father despite a language barrier in this graphic novel winner of the 2025 Printz award. Target audience: Teen

• Kareem Between

  Safadi, Shifa Saltagi,

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  When Kareem doesn’t earn a spot the football team, he’s tempted to take his classmate’s offer to help – if Kareem helps him cheat. This novel in verse won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2024. Target audience:…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Popcorn

  Harrell, Rob,

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  Nothing is going right for Andrew on school picture day in this funny, heartwarming winner of the 2025 Schneider Family Book award. Target audience: Middle grade

• Chronically Dolores

  Van Wagenen, Maya,

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  In the YA winner of the 2025 Schneider Family Book award, Dolores navigates new friendships, family strain, and a now-diagnosed chronic illness after an embarrassing incident at school. Target audience: Teen

• How the Boogeyman Became a Poet

  Keith, Anthony R., Jr.,

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  Became a Poet (YA): A lyrical memoir-in-verse about the author’s experience as a senior in high school discovering his knack for poetry and his sexuality. Check out the audiobook, which won the 2025 Odyssey Award! Target audience: Teen

• Lola

  Valenti, Karla,

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  Lola travels to a magical world in an effort to save her enchanted tree, and her brother, which are both getting sick. Can she help the new queen overcome her sadness? Winner of the Pura Belpre Children’s Author award in 2025. Target…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Shut Up, This Is Serious

  Ixta, Carolina,

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  No matter what, from absent fathers to unplanned pregnancies, best friend Belen and Leti always have each other in this poignant exploration of family trauma. Pura Belpre Young Adult Author award winner in 2025. Target audience: Teen

• Lunar Boy

  Wibowo, Jessica,

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  Born in outer space, Indu is having a hard time getting used to living on Earth with their adopted mother and new stepfamily. Will they choose to return to the stars? Winner of the 2025 Stonewall award. Target audience: Middle grade

• Canto Contigo

  a Novel

  Garza Villa, Jonny

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  Rafie is furious to be secondary vocalist in his new school’s mariachi band rather than the star spot. Worse? The lead is the boy Rafie had a one-time makeout session with and hasn’t been able to forget. Stonewall award winner. Target…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Not Like Other Girls

  Adamo, Meredith,

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  Jo-Lynn grapples with the impact of her classmates turning against her when photos of her are shared without her permission. When a former friend disappears, Jo-Lynn must untangle her own experience. 2025 Morris award winner. Target…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Rising From the Ashes

  Los Angeles, 1992 : Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire

  Yoo, Paula,

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  In this winner of the 2025 Excellence in Nonfiction award, the author explores the events of the 1992 uprising by focusing on Rodney King’s family, and the families of a Black teenager and Korean American man who were killed. Target…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Continental Drifter

  Macleod, Kathy,

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  Kathy feels out of place when her family visits America in the summer, especially when she goes to summer camp. This autobiographical graphic novel won the Asian/Pacific American award. Target audience: Middle grade

• Everything We Never Had

  Ribay, Randy,

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  Alternating between four generations of family members, this winner of the Asian/Pacific American award explores how trauma can shape an entire family’s lives. Target audience: Teen

• The Girl Who Sang

  a Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival

  Nadel, Estelle,

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  A powerful graphic memoir about a young Jewish girl’s experience in the time leading up to the Holocaust, through surviving the war. Winner of the 2025 Sydney Taylor Book award. Target audience: Middle Grade

• Night Owls

  Vishny, A. R.,

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  Two sisters who are estries – shapeshifting owls from Jewish myth – find their secret life threatened when one’s girlfriend is kidnapped and another starts to fall for someone she shouldn’t. Sydney Taylor Book award winner. Target…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Shark Teeth

  Winston, Sherri,

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  Kita is devastated when her mother disappears again, leaving Kita to pick up the pieces when her siblings are sent to different foster families. Winner of the Walter Dean Myers award. Target audience: Middle grade

• Black Girl You Are Atlas

  Watson, Renée,

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  Full of illustrations and poetry, this semi-autobiographical work explores the author’s childhood and growth. Winner of the Walter Dean Myers award. Target audience: Teen