Top Books of 2020

In the 1960s, tensions between two rival gangs separated along economic lines reach a violent breaking point.

Twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a regimented community that is free from pain and suffering — but also free from joy, independence, and even color. When he is appointed the community's Receiver of Memory, Jonas begins to question everything he has been taught.

A boy named Salva struggles to survive after being separated from his family in war-torn Sudan. A girl named Nya spends hours each day collecting water for her parents and sister. Their lives eventually intersect in this novel based on a true story.

Percy Jackson's normal life is turned upside down when gods from Greek mythology accuse him of stealing a supernatural weapon. Percy must find the real thief — and figure out his connection to the gods.

The sole survivor of a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson will need resourcefulness, courage, and strength in order to stay alive.

When the Watson family pays Grandma a visit in Alabama, they find themselves caught up in the battle for civil rights.

Three young refugees — a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939, a Cuban girl suffering under the Castro regime in 1994, and a Muslim boy trying to escape war-torn Syria in 2015 — make desperate journeys in search of freedom and safety.

During the Great Depression, a ten-year-old boy hits the road in search of the father he has never known.

Freak the Mighty tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an awkward, lumbering outcast and a physically challenged genius. Together, the two boys become a force for good.

During World War II, ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her family take part in a courageous effort to protect the Jewish citizens of Denmark from the Nazis.

In this classic coming-of-age story, Scout Finch recounts her childhood in Maycomb, Alabama. When Scout's father is appointed to defend a black man in a high-profile trial, racial tensions in the small town come to a head.

When tragedy strikes, Esperanza's family has to leave their ranch in Mexico and move to a farmworkers' camp during the Great Depression.

In this comic adventure, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a juvenile detention center where the inmates spend their days digging mysterious holes. But what on earth are they looking for?

Fleeing to America to escape the Vietnam War, Hà and her family end up in Alabama, where they must adapt to a new culture. This novel in verse was inspired by author Thanhha Lai's own experiences.

In this novel, a boy with facial anomalies tries to navigate the sometimes treacherous world of public school.

After meeting the Tucks, a family that is able to live forever after drinking from a magical spring, Winnie Foster questions whether immortality is a blessing or a curse.

Katniss Everdeen must fight for her life in a televised survival competition. Learn these words from the first book of Suzanne Collins's dystopian trilogy.

While in hiding with her family in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, 13-year-old Anne Frank kept a diary of her experiences. Published after Anne's death in a Nazi concentration camp, the diary remains a powerful testament to the everyday horrors of the Holocaust.

In this action-packed adventure story, a domesticated dog must shed his civilized ways to become a proper sled dog during the Yukon Gold Rush.

This dramatic adaptation of the diary of a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis won both a Tony Award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Jess and Leslie spend their free time playing in the fantasy land of Terabithia; but when tragedy strikes, one of them will have to learn to cope with loss in the real world.

Set in Mississippi during the Great Depression, this classic novel follows Cassie Logan and her family as they face prejudice and economic hardship.

An ordinary Pakistani girl is shot by the Taliban while fighting for her right to an education. Co-written with Patricia McCormick, in this memoir, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, tells her story.

On his eleventh birthday, orphan Harry Potter learns the shocking truth: he's a wizard about to begin his education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

What would happen if the Russian Revolution of 1917 took place on a small English farm? This provocative novella blends fable, satire, and allegory while grappling with some of the twentieth-century's most consequential political ideas.