Michigan State Reading Lists
2018 - 2019 Great Lakes Great Books Master List
The Youngest Marcher
The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist
Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you’re...
Three Pennies
A girl in foster care tries to find her birth mother before she loses her forever in this spare and beautifully told novel about last chances and new...
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...
The Great American Whatever
From the award-winning author of Five, Six, Seven, Nate! and Better Nate Than Ever comes “a Holden Caulfield for a new generation” (Kirkus Reviews,...
Life
Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wenzel explore the beauty and tenacity of life.Life begins small, then grows… There are so many wonderful things about life,...
2017 - 2018 Great Lakes Great Books Master List
Pond
“A loving portrayal of a never-forgotten connection with the natural world.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review “It’s a powerful vision of making one’s...
Ada's Violin
The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay
From award-winning author Susan Hood and illustrator Sally Wern Comport comes the extraordinary true tale of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay, an...
You Can Fly
The Tuskegee Airmen
Award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford’s innovative history in verse celebrates the story of the Tuskegee Airmen: pioneering African-American...
Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea
Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor
“A finely told, beautifully illustrated biography that saves a world class scientist from obscurity.” —School Library Journal, starred review “An ideal...
Paper Hearts
Amid the brutality of Auschwitz during the Holocaust, a forbidden gift helps two teenage girls find hope, friendship, and the will to live in this...
2016 - 2017 Great Lakes Great Books Master List
Logan Pryce Makes a Mess
Meet Logan Pryce, an eight-year-old boy whose family hardships are made better by his small-town community in this start to a wholesome series that’s...
Lulu's Mysterious Mission
This irresistible third illustrated chapter book starring Judith Viorst’s Lulu is full of hilarious hijinks, delightful twists, and a top-secret...
Stella by Starlight
When the Ku Klux Klan’s unwelcome reappearance rattles Stella’s segregated southern town, bravery battles prejudice in this Depression-era tour de...
The Boy in the Black Suit
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book. Just when seventeen-year-old Matt thinks he can’t handle one more piece of terrible news, he meets a girl...
Violent Ends
In a one-of-a-kind collaboration, seventeen of the most recognizable YA writers—including Shaun David Hutchinson, Neal and Brendan Shusterman, and Beth...
2015 - 2016 Great Lakes Great Books Award Winner
Gaston
A bulldog and a poodle learn that family is about love, not appearances in this adorable doggy tale from New York Times bestselling author Kelly...
My Explosive Diary
Meet Eliza Boom—assistant inventor, junior spy, and full-on fantastic—as she tells all in this first book of a chapter book series packed with jokes,...
2015 - 2016 Great Lakes Great Books Master List
Mama Built a Little Nest
A delightful exploration of the incredibly variety of nests birds build for their babies, illustrated by a Caldecott Honoree.Mama built a little...
One Big Pair of Underwear
Count and share with…underwear! Come along on a zany adventure with hilarious pictures from the New York Times bestselling illustrator of Goodnight,...
The Farmer and the Clown
Whimsical and touching images tell the story of an unexpected friendship and the revelations it inspires in this moving, wordless picture book from...
Fly Away
From the Newbery Award–winning author of Sarah, Plain and Tall comes a story about one brave girl who saves her family from losing everything.Everyone...
The Scraps Book
Notes from a Colorful Life
The renowned Caldecott Honoree and illustrator of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom provides a moving, intimate, and inspiring inside look at her colorful...
Space Case
It’s a murder mystery on the moon in this humorous and suspenseful space adventure from the author of Belly Up and Spy School.Like his fellow...
Absolutely Truly
An unsent letter in a first edition copy of Charlotte’s Web leads to a hunt for treasure in this heartwarming middle grade mystery from the author of...
Ali
An American Champion
The impressive life story of Muhammad Ali is interwoven with vital moments in American history in this visually stunning, full-color biography.The...
Half a World Away
A kid who considers himself an epic fail discovers the transformative power of love when he deals with adoption in this novel from Cynthia Kadohata,...
2016 Thumbs Up! Award Winner
All American Boys
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature. In this Coretta Scott...
2016 Thumbs Up! Master List
The Nest
“The Nest leaves a lasting mark on the memory.” —The New York Times Book Review Steve just wants to save his baby brother—but what will he lose in the...