Illinois State Reading Lists

Kitten and the Night Watchman

Winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Margaret Wise Brown Prize Five starred reviews! Selected as a Best Book of 2018 by The Boston Globe, Kirkus...

The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street

A girl unravels a centuries-old mystery after moving into a haunted house in this deliciously suspenseful mystery.Tessa Woodward isn’t exactly thrilled...

Cape

“Readers…will be enamored by this blend of history, mystery, and superpowered action.” —Booklist (starred review) “Has the exciting pace of a superhero...

All That I Can Fix

“A superbly entertaining read.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Will win over teens.” —School Library Journal (starred review) A teen boy’s world...

Between the Lines

How Ernie Barnes Went from the Football Field to the Art Gallery

“A visually striking, enlightening picture-book biography.” —Booklist (starred review) “An absolutely indispensable illustrated biography.” —School...

Lifeboat 12

“This page-turning true-life adventure is filled with rich and riveting details and a timeless understanding of the things that matter most.”—Dashka...

Power Forward

From the critically acclaimed author of Amina’s Voice comes the first book in an exciting new middle grade series about a fourth-grader with big dreams...

Long Way Down

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is...

Obsessed

A Memoir of My Life with OCD

A brave teen recounts her debilitating struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder—and brings readers through every painful step as she finds her way...

A Heart in a Body in the World

“This is one for the ages.” —Gayle Forman, author of the #1 bestseller If I Stay “A book everyone should read right now.” —The New York Times Book...

Price of Duty

From award-winning author Todd Strasser comes a gripping new novel that explores the struggles of war, the price paid by those who fight in them, and...

Dry

When the California drought escalates to catastrophic proportions, one teen is forced to make life and death decisions for her family in this harrowing...