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Children's and Young Adult Books for Advanced Readers: Home

Looking for books for kids who read above their grade level but are still age appropriate? Here are some recommended titles for advanced readers!

Children's Book Council

Reading Beyond List 2017-2019

Reading Beyond List 2020-2021

Advanced Reader Resources

Grade K-1 Reading at a 3rd Grade Level

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

Chef Roy Choi and The Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee

The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again

Detective Gordon: The First Case by Ulf Nilsson

Do not lick this book* : *it's full of germs by Idan Ben-Barak and Julian Frost

Echo Echo : Reverso Poems about Greek Myths by Marilyn Singer

Firebird : ballerina Misty Copeland shows a young girl how to dance like the firebird by Misty Copeland

Flora & Ulysses : the illuminated adventures by Kate DiCamillo

I Dissent : Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy

Insect Superpowers: 18 Real Bugs That Smash, Zap, Hypnotize, Sting, and Devour! by Kate Messner

Mr. Wolf's class by Aron Nels Steinke

National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry by J. Patrick Lewis

One Proud Penny by Randy Siegel

The Princess in Black #1 by Shannon Hale

Pugs of the Frozen North by Philip Reeve

The Roots of Rap 16 Bars on the 4 Pillars of Hip-Hop By Carole Boston Weatherford

Sam Wu Is NOT Afraid of Ghosts! (Sam Wu is Not Afraid series) by Kevin and Katie Tsang

Snowman – Cold = Puddle Spring Equations by Laura Purdie Salas

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer

The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter by Shabazz Larkin

Trombone Shorty by Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews

Weekends with Max and His Dad by Linda Urban

Wet Cement A Mix of Concrete Poems by Bob Raczka

Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton

Grade 2-3 Reading at a 5th Grade Level

Amelia lost : the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart by Candace Fleming

Echo: a novel by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Genius! The Most Astonishing Inventions of All Time by Deborah Kespert

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman

Go for the Moon A Rocket, a Boy, and the First Moon Landing by Chris Gall

Her Own Two Feet by Rebeka Uwitonze

Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Borders: by ICPBS

Mountain dog by Margarita Engle

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

A Place to Belong by Cynthia Kadohata

The Poetry of Us by J. Patrick Lewis

Random Body Parts: Gross Anatomy Riddles in Verse by Leslie Bulion. Illus. by Mike Lowery

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant. Illus. by Melissa Sweet

Science Comics: Trees: Kings of the Forest by Andy Hirsch

Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang. Illus. by Mike Holmes

The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani DasGupta

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

The Way Things Work Now by David Macaulay

What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? by Chris Barton. Illus. by Ekua Holmes

What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein

When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown

Wings of Fire: The Graphic Novel by Tui Sutherland. Illus. by Mike Holmes

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

Grade 4-5 Reading at a 7th Grade Level

The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Reader’s Edition by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya Lee Stone

Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky

Harbor me by Jacqueline Woodson

Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender

Illegal by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin. Illus. by Giovanni Rigano

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz. Illus. by Hatem Aly

Internment by Samira Ahmed

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis

Legends, Icons & Rebels: Music that Changed the World by Robbie Robertson et al.

The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau

Lincoln’s Grave Robbers by Steve Sheinkin

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

Pathfinders: The Journeys of 16 Extraordinary Black Souls by Tonya Bolden

Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story by Caren Stelson

Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune by Pamela S. Turner. Illus. by Gareth Hinds

The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf

We Will Not Be Silent by Russell Freedman