Treasury · Merit

ALSC Notables

The Association for Library Service to Children's notable children's books, chosen and annotated by librarians every year since 1940.

1,422 books in the catalog stand on this list. The list itself (opens the list's own website) ↗

A reader aged

525 of these books cover age 16.

• 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2002 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 910L · AR 5.8 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• 90 Miles to Havana by Enrique Flores-Galbis, 2010 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 790L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass: The Story Behind an American Friendship by Russell Freedman, 2012 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1110L · AR 8.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff, 2014 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Accused!: The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment by Larry Dane Brimner, 2019 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1170L · AR 8.3 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools by Debbie Levy, 2025 · ages 10–17
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• A Dream of Freedom by Diane McWhorter, 2004 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1220L · AR 9.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge, 2017 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 920L · AR 6.6 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat, 2023 · ages 10–17 · AR 2.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson, 2008 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• A Game for Swallows: To Die, to Leave, to Return by Zeina Abirached, 2007 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 680L · AR 3.4 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer, 1996 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 730L · AR 5.1 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett, 2004 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds, 2022 · ages 12–17 · AR 5.2 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Ain't Nothing But a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry by Scott Nelson, 2007 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1030L · AR 6.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, 2004 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 760L · AR 5.1 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms by Paul B. Janeczko, 2005 · ages 8–17 · AR 6.0
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• Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, 2004 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 600L · AR 3.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• All of the Above by Shelley Pearsall, 2006 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 950L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team by Christina Soontornvat, 2020 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1020L · AR 7.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha, 2020 · ages 10–17 · AR 3.4 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone, 2009 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 980L · AR 7.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck, 1998 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• A Maze Me: Poems for Girls by Naomi Shihab Nye, 2005 · ages 10–17 · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Amber & Clay by Laura Amy Schlitz, 2021 · ages 10–17 · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming, 2011 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 930L · AR 6.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell by Don Brown, 2011 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 840L · AR 5.8 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
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• American Murderer: The Parasite That Haunted the South by Gail Jarrow, 2022 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1080L · AR 8.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 by Jim Murphy, 2003 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1130L · AR 9.0 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids by Cynthia Leitich Smith, 2021 · ages 8–17 · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain by Russell Freedman, 2013 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1140L · AR 7.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming by Al Gore, 2007 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1070L · AR 7.4
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• An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2019 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1220L · AR 9.6
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• An Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub, 2005 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 640L · AR 4.6
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• Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, 2011 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 240L · AR 2.3 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A Place to Call Home by Jackie French Koller, 1995 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 670L · AR 5.1 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Apollo 8: The Mission That Changed Everything by Martin W. Sandler, 2018 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1200L · AR 8.2 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, 2012 · ages 14–17 · Lexile 380L · AR 2.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Ask Me No Questions by Marina Budhos, 2006 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 790L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger, 2021 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 710L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A Step from Heaven by An Na, 1997 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 670L · AR 4.2 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• A Story about Cancer with a Happy Ending by India Desjardins, 2019 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 830L · AR 4.6 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux, 2010 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 700L · AR 4.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman, 2014 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 720L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Attucks!: Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City by Phillip Hoose, 2018 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1110L · AR 7.5 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out by Nicholas Day, 2025 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 780L · AR 6.3 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola, 2015 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 340L · AR 2.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Babe Didrikson Zaharias: The Making of a Champion by Russell Freedman, 1999 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1060L · AR 7.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Battling Boy by Paul Pope, 2013 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 390L · AR 2.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America by Russell Freedman, 2014 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1160L · AR 7.6 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Becoming Joe DiMaggio by Maria Testa, 2002 · ages 12–17 · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson, 2020 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 780L · AR 4.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez, 2002 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 890L · AR 5.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life by Candace Fleming, 2003 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1000L · AR 8.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, 2011 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 490L · AR 3.6 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport, 2012 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1030L · AR 7.4 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk, 2017 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 770L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Big Annie of Calumet: A True Story of the Industrial Revolution by Jerry Stanley, 1996 · ages 10–17
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• Billions of Years, Amazing Changes: The Story of Evolution by Laurence Pringle, 2011 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 1000L · AR 7.5 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2020 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 400L · AR 3.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renée Watson, 2024 · ages 12–17
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• Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, 2001 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1040L · AR 8.1 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Black & White: The Confrontation of Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene “Bull” Connor by Larry Dane Brimner, 2011 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1150L · AR 8.7 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Blood Brother: Jonathan Daniels and His Sacrifice for Civil Rights by Rich Wallace, 2016 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1030L · AR 7.4 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson, 2025 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 580L · AR 3.9 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Bluefish by Pat Schmatz, 2011 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 600L · AR 4.0 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits, 2007 · ages 10–17 · AR 3.5 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Blues Journey by Walter Dean Myers, 2003 · ages 8–17 · AR 5.0 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
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• Bodies from the Bog by James M. Deem, 1998 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 1100L · AR 7.7 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past by James M. Deem, 2008 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1180L · AR 8.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—The World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin, 2012 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 920L · AR 6.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Booked by Kwame Alexander, 2016 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 660L · AR 3.9
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• Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition by Karen Blumenthal, 2011 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1250L · AR 9.1 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge, 2018 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 960L · AR 7.1 · AR Interest: MG+ (6–8)
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• Borders by Thomas King, 2021 · ages 8–17 · AR 4.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Born to Fly: The First Women's Air Race Across America by Steve Sheinkin, 2019 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 930L · AR 6.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford, 2020 · ages 10–17 · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe, 2007 · ages 10–17 · AR 4.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez, 2003 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, 2014 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 990L · AR 5.3 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Brown v. Board of Education: A Fight for Simple Justice by Susan Goldman Rubin, 2016 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 980L · AR 7.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Bucking the Sarge by Christopher Paul Curtis, 2004 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1000L · AR 5.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Building Big by David Macaulay, 2000 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1260L · AR 9.3 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Bull's-Eye: A Photobiography of Annie Oakley by Sue Macy, 2001 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1150L · AR 6.9 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Call and Response: The Story of Black Lives Matter by Veronica Chambers, 2021 · ages 10–17
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• Calling the Moon by Aida Salazar, 2023 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 730L
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• Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, 2011 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 970L · AR 5.9 · AR Interest: LG (K–3)
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• Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman, 1994 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 1090L · AR 6.4 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, 2018 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 670L · AR 4.8 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Chuck Close: Face Book by Chuck Close, 2012 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 900L
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• Chuck Close: Up Close by Jan Greenberg, 1998 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 850L · AR 5.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Clara Schumann: Piano Virtuoso by Susanna Reich, 1999 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1060L · AR 7.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose, 2009 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1000L · AR 6.8 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac, 2005 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 910L · AR 6.4 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Coraline by Neil Gaiman, 2002 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 740L · AR 5.1 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan, 2013 · ages 8–17 · Lexile 770L · AR 5.6 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers by Tanya Lee Stone, 2013 · ages 10–17 · Lexile 1090L · AR 8.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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• Courage to Dream: Tales of Hope in the Holocaust by Neal Shusterman, 2023 · ages 12–17 · AR 3.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa, 2003 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 750L · AR 4.9 · AR Interest: UG (9–12)
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• Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, 2015 · ages 12–17 · Lexile 860L · AR 6.0 · AR Interest: MG (4–8)
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Only the first 100 of 525 are listed here.