Favorite Books of 2023

Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman; illustrated by Christian Robinson

With intimate text and stunning illustrations, Something, Someday reveals how even the smallest gesture can have a lasting impact.

Say My Name by Joanna Ho; illustrated by Khoa Le

Six people from different parts of the world celebrate the history, culture, and beauty behind their names.

Where’s Joon? by Julie Kim

On Halmoni’s birthday after finding a mess in the kitchen but no Joon, Jin is sent through a magical portal into a fantastical world to deliver rice cakes to the notorious miser Jo-harabuhji and hopefully meet Joon and restore Halmoni’s broken magic pot.

Three Billy Goats Gruff by Jon Klassen

Three goats put their horns together to cleverly outsmart a hungry troll.

The Truth about Dragons by Julie Leung

In a mix of Eastern and Western mythologies, a mother tells her child about two forests inhabited by different, but equally enchanting dragons that coexist within the child’s heart.

What Do Brothas Do all Day? by Ajuan Mance

Inspired by Richard Scarry, this joyous book portrays Black men engaged in everyday activities, and celebrates the deep roots and rich cultures of African American Communities.

I’m From by Gary R. Gray; illustrated by Oge Mora

An invitation into the vivid world of one small boy, a poetic account of all the people and places and things that shape who he is and define where he is from.

A Letter for Bob by Kim Rogers

When it’s time to say goodbye to a part of her family, a young girl pens a love letter to Bob, the treasured family car that has taken them all over and been there in sad and scary times.

Endlessly Ever After by Dan Santat

In this rhyming mash-up of many fairy tales, the reader is invited to follow Rosie down the many possible paths which may lead to a sleeping maiden, a hungry wolf, a girl locked in a tower, or a goose that lays golden eggs–but with some luck, and some smart choices, Rosie may save herself and her fellow fairy tale characters.

Hidden World of Gnomes by Lauren Soloy

A delightful introduction and collection of facts about the secret lives of gnomes that will charm readers of all ages.

Who Will Win? By David Arihhonni

It’s fast legs vs a quick mind in this action-packed tale that follows a bear and a turtle as they race across a frozen lake.

Tater Tales: Greatest in the World by Ben Clanton

Spud siblings, Rot and Snot, hold an epic contest to prove who is ‘the greatest in the world’, judged by their small fry little sister, Tot. A hilarious series starter by the creator of the beloved Narwhal and Jelly series.

Gigi and Ojiji: Food for Thought by Melissa Iwai

It’s breakfast time and Gigi makes her favorite meal, peanut butter on toast, but Ojiji doesn’t like peanut butter and prefers natto, a Japanese food made from fermented soybeans.

Baking with mi Abuelita by Julissa Mora

A child helps her abuelita bake a tres leches cake for papi’s birthday.

Batcat by Maggie Ramm

Batcat meets journeys to find magic spell ingredients and learns about accepting themself and others along the way.

Tacos Today! by Raúl the Third

Young luchadores El Toro and his friends take a break from training to get some tacos, but when they discover they don’t have enough money for their favorite food, they come up with a creative solution to earn plenty of dinero.

Worm and Caterpillar are Friends by Kaz Windness

When Caterpillar disappears for a while and comes back as Butterfly, he wonders if Worm will still want to be his best friend, in this heartwarming celebration of friendship.

The Mona Lisa Vanishes by Nicholas Day

Transporting readers back to turn-of-the-century Paris where they will bear witness to the heist of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, which made it the most famous artwork in the world, this nonfiction thriller is filled with stories of crime, celebrity, genius and beauty.

Ghost Book by Remy Lai

After saving William, a wandering soul wavering between life and death, Judy Chen and her first-ever friend work together to return him to his body only to discover that in order for him to live, she must die.

The Swifts by Beth Lincoln

When during the Swift Family Reunion someone gives Arch-Aunt Schadenfreude a deadly push down the stairs, Shenanigan Swift, who has a penchant for mischief, decides to become a detective and solve this mysterious case.

Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martín
Join Pedro on an adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico to live with them in the U.S.

Saving H’non: Change and the Elephant by Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung

Helping rescue an injured and abused Asian elephant named H’Non in Vietnam, Chang is tasked with finding a kind mahout — elephant trainer — and learns what it means to show up for your friends, love openly, forgive compassionately and give people a chance.

Big Tree by Brian Selznick

Sycamore seed siblings Merwin and Louise must use their wits to navigate a mysterious and often dangerous world, filled with talking plants, monsters. and the fear of never finding the right conditions to set down roots and become big trees in this epic adventure for the whole family.

Finally Seen by Kelly Yang

When ten-year-old Lina Gao leaves China to live with her parents and sister, after five years apart, she must find a way to get her bearings in this new country–and the almost-new family that comes along with it.

Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

Two years after surviving a school shooting, 12-year-old Simon moves to the only place in America where the internet is banned, finally getting a chance to spin his own story with the help of a new friend.

Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson

Two years after surviving a school shooting, 12-year-old Simon moves to the only place in America where the internet is banned, finally getting a chance to spin his own story with the help of a new friend.

Dear Mothman by Robin Gow

To deal with the death of his best friend, young trans boy Noah writes to his favorite cryptid Mothman, which leads to unexpected friendship and danger as he risks everything to prove to his small Poconos town that Mothman is real.

Last Fallen Realm by Gracie Kim

As the witches prepare for war and the goddesses prepare for something much worse, Riley Oh, a divine celestial being with zero magical powers, is lured into the realm of the gods where she must believe in herself to save the world.

When Clouds Touch Us by Thanhhà Lai

This novel in verse, inspired by the author’s experience, follows Hà and her family, refugees from the Vietnam War, as they move to Texas for a new job, and despite not wanting to start over again, Hà discovers unwanted change can bring a good opportunity.

Parachute Kids by Betty Tang

When their parents return to Taiwan, leaving her and her two older siblings in California on their own, Feng-Li must keep her family together as they all get tangled in a web of bad choices while navigating this strange new world.

Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

In an alternate Tang Dynasty China, aspiring royal alchemist Zilan, who has the ability to resurrect the dead, arrives in the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country and becomes drawn into the dangerous political games of the royal family.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angelina Boulley

With the rising number of missing Indigenous women, her family’s involvement in a murder investigation, and grave robbers profiting off her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry takes matters into her own hands to solve the mystery and reclaim her people’s inheritance.

When You Wish upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao

To save her family’s struggling lantern store, Liya secretly fulfills the wishes people write on the lanterns they send into the sky and, in doing so, rekindles her friendship with Kai, which unexpectedly leads to something more.

Bring me your Midnight by Rachel Griffin

Tana Fairchild’s fate has been planned for her since the day she was born: marry the governor’s son and secure an unprecedented alliance between the witches and the mainlanders, but when Tana meets dark magician Wolfe and discovers the power of the dark magic within her, she must choose between her duty to her family and her burgeoning love for Wolfe.

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and surprises the chess world by beating notorious “King killer” Nolan Sawyer, current world champion and reigning bad boy of chess.

Invisible Son by Kim Johnson

This thriller, set in Portland, follows Andre on his release from juvenile detention for a crime he didn’t commit, as he fights to reclaim both his innocence and his first love against the backdrop of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Sunshine by Jarrett Krosoczka

The author shares his extraordinary experiences as a counselor at Camp Sunshine, a camp for seriously ill kids and their families, where he met campers and fellow counselors who forever changed the course of his life.

Only this Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian

Set against the backdrop of Tehran and Los Angeles, this sweeping intergenerational story, examining queer identity at the end of different decades, follows three boys in the same Iranian family as they each gain a new understanding of their history, culture — and themselves.

Night of the Witch by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Seeking to destroy the hexenjèagers, zealot witch hunters, Fritzi and Otto are forced to trust each other due to their common enemy while being led to the heart of a Black Forest where they discover a horrifying plot–and their growing feelings for each other.

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers whose Lives it Changed  by Dashka Slater

This thought-provoking nonfiction narrative recounts the discovery of a racist social media account in the small town of Albany, California, that forever changes the lives of a group of high school students and leaves everyone wondering about accountability for harmful online speech.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

Follows the lives of several generations of women in the Marte family after gathering to honor Flor, who can predict the day someone will die, decides to throw herself a huge party as a living wake.

Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

Chain-Gang All-Stars is a kaleidoscopic, excoriating look at the American prison system’s unholy alli­ance of systemic racism, unchecked capitalism, and mass incarceration, and a clear-eyed reckoning with what freedom in this country really means.

Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Living hidden as a courtesan, Calista, born with an intuition that makes her of great value to the power-hungry of the world, comes to the rescue of a prince who tempts her like no other and forces her to choose: follow her intuition to safety or follow her heart to her downfall.

Old Babes in the Woods: Stories by Margaret Atwood

From the author of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Testaments, a dazzling collection of short stories that look deeply into the heart of family relationships, marriage, loss and memory, and what it means to spend a life together.

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

This is both a love story and a deft examination of infidelity, mental health, sexual stereotypes, and more—from an amazingly talented, singular voice in contemporary fiction.

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Mia isn’t initially concerned when her family fails to return from a walk, until her mute brother Eugene, who suffers from a rare genetic condition, returns bloody and alone and is unable to describe what happened to their father.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

When a skeleton is unearthed in the small, close-knit community of Chicken Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1972, an unforgettable cast of characters—living on the margins of white, Christian America—closely guard a secret, especially when the truth is revealed about what happened and the part the town’s white establishment played in it.

Western Lane by Chetna Maroo

After the death of her mother, 11-year-old Gopi, who has been playing squash since she was a small child, is enlisted in a quietly brutal training regimen, and soon the game becomes her world as she slowly distances herself from her sisters in hopes of becoming the best.

Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

Music professor Bern Hendricks discovers a shocking secret about the most famous American composer of all time—his music may have been stolen from a Black Jazz Age prodigy named Josephine Reed.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Despite hoping to enter the Scribe Quadrant, the bookish Violet Sorrengail is forced to become one of the hundreds of candidates risking their lives to be a dragon rider in the first novel of a new series.

The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

Drawing on interviews with marine geologists, marine biologists and oceanographers, Casey provides a fascinating history of deep-sea exploration and shows how urgent it is that we understand the ocean in a time of increasing threats from climate change.

Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond

Drawing on history, research and original reporting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, revealing there is so much poverty in America not in spite of our wealth but because of it, and builds a startingly original case for eliminating poverty in our country.

A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist traces the Ku Klux Klan’s rise to power in the 1920s, driven by the con man D.C. Stephenson, and how a seemingly powerless woman named Madge Oberholtzer brought them to their knees.

Kung Food: Chinese American Recipes from a Third-culture Kitchen: a Cookbook by Jon Kung

Learning to embrace his diasporic identity in the kitchen after pivoting his career from law school graduate to being a cook, the author, raised in Hong Kong and Toronto, expresses himself through 100 recipes that break the boundaries of flavors and re-examine Chinese American food.

The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland

In a book that is part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, the author, midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, explores the state of being that awaits him, not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics and customs so he can not only survive this transition but grow from it.

A Man of Two Faces by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Exploring the necessity of both forgetting and of memory, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author expands the genre of personal memoir by acknowledging larger stories of refugeehood, colonization and ideas about Vietnam and America as well as a deep emotional openness about his life as a father and a son.

Washington’s Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben by Josh Trujillo & Levi Hastings

A graphic novel biography of Baron von Steuben, the soldier, immigrant, and flamboyant homosexual who influenced the course of US history during the Revolutionary War despite being omitted from our textbooks.

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Recounts the extraordinary and harrowing true story of a young, enslaved couple who, achieving one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history, embarked on three epic journeys in one monumental bid for freedom, challenging the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty and justice for all.