2025 School Library Journal Best Books (Awarded by School Library Journal)

Awards List

Graphic Novels

Tuck Everlasting
(*)
Natalie Babbitt

Stitch Head
(*)
Guy Bass

Song of a Blackbird
(*)
Maria Van Lieshout

Very: Bad at Math
(*)
Hope Larson

Almost Sunset
(*)
Wahab Algarmi

Oasis
(*)
Guojing

Dream On
(*)
Shannon Hale

Ghost Town
(*)
Eric Colossal

Hunger's Bite
(*)
Taylor Robin

I'm a Dumbo Octopus!
(*)
Anne Lambelet

The Cartoonists Club
(*)
Raina Telgemeier

The Flip Side: A Graphic Novel
(*)
Jason Walz

How to Talk to Your Succulent
(*)
Zoe Persico

Huda F Wants to Know?
(*)
Huda Fahmy

Night Light
(*)
Michael Emberley

Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus: The Graphic Novel
(*)
Barbara Park

One Crazy Summer: The Graphic Novel
(*)
Rita Williams-Garcia

Dan in Green Gables: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Reimagining of Anne of Green Gables
(*)
Rey Terciero

This Place Kills Me: A Graphic Novel
(*)
Mariko Tamaki

Flip!
(*)
Ngozi Ukazu

Cabin Head and Tree Head
(*)
Scott Campbell

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban
(*)
Daniel Miyares

Zilbo's Forest
(*)
Summer Benton

Alyte
(*)
J?r?mie Moreau

Middle Grade

Radiant
(*)
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

All the Blues in the Sky
(*)
Renee Watson

The Enemy's Daughter
(*)
Anne Blankman

A World Worth Saving
(*)
Kyle Lukoff

Octopus Moon
(*)
Bobbie Pyron

Starry, Starry Heist
(*)
Karen Briner

Vanya and the Wild Hunt
(*)
Sangu Mandanna

Benny on the Case
(*)
Wesley King

Please Pay Attention
(*)
Jamie Sumner

The Poetry of Car Mechanics
(*)
Heidi E.Y. Stemple

The Queen Bees of Tybee County
(*)
Kyle Casey Chu

Dreamslinger
(*)
Graci Kim

The Trouble with Heroes
(*)
Kate Messner

Dad Rock Dragon Quest
(*)
Joan Reardon

The Extraordinary Orbit of Alex Ramirez
(*)
Jasminne Paulino

Smoke & Mirrors
(*)
Rosalyn Ransaw

Junius Leak and the Spiraling Vortex of Doom
(*)
Allan Wolf

The Better to Eat You With
(*)
Tehlor Kay Mejia

Candace, the Universe, and Everything
(*)
Sherri L. Smith

Defanged
(*)
H.E. Edgmon

The Ink Witch
(*)
Steph Cherrywell

The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli
(*)
Karina Yan Glaser

Pocket Bear
(*)
Katherine Applegate

The Tear Collector
(*)
R.M. Romero

How to Free a Jinn
(*)
Raidah Shah Idil

Picture Books

To See an Owl
(*)
Matthew Cordell

Good Golden Sun
(*)
Brendan Wenzel

Let's Be Bees
(*)
Shawn Harris

Every Monday Mabel
(*)
Jashar Awan

Our Lake
(*)
Angie Kang

Don't Trust Fish!
(*)
Neil Sharpson

Old Blue Is My Home
(*)
Lita Judge

Anything
(*)
Rebecca Stead

The Bear Out There
(*)
Jess Hannigan

Cranky, Crabby Crow (Saves the World)
(*)
Corey R. Tabor

Fireworks
(*)
Matthew Burgess

New
(*)
Nina Mata

The Arguers
(*)
Corinna Luyken

The Fig Tree
(*)
Costantia Manoli

Nightsong
(*)
Sally Soweol Han

We Are Already Haunting Here!
(*)
Gideon Sterer

Aggie and the Ghost
(*)
Matthew Forsythe

Menudo Sunday
(*)
Maria Dolores Aguila

A Place for Us
(*)
James Ransome

Sparrow
(*)
Mary Tebo

Sundust
(*)
Zeke Pena

The Witch in the Tower
(*)
Julia Sarda

Moon Song
(*)
Michaela Goade

Young Adult

Everything Is Poison
(*)
Joy McCullough

(S)Kin
(*)
Ibi Zoboi

The Rose Bargain
(*)
Sasha Peyton Smith

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
(*)
Mahogany L. Browne

Fable for the End of the World
(*)
Ava Reid

I Am the Swarm
(*)
Hayley Chewins

The Otherwhere Post
(*)
Emily J. Taylor

Sunrise on the Reaping
(*)
Suzanne Collins

When We Ride
(*)
Rex Ogle

The Corruption of Hollis Brown
(*)
K. Ancrum

Let Them Stare
(*)
Jonathan Van Ness

The Romance Rivalry
(*)
Susan Lee

The Thrashers
(*)
Julie Soto

Up in Smoke
(*)
Nick Brooks

Lady's Knight
(*)
Amie Kaufman; Meagan Spooner

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe
(*)
C.B. Lee

Donut Summer
(*)
Anita Kelly

The Dead of Summer
(*)
Ryan La Sala

Sisters in the Wind
(*)
Angeline Boulley

The Leaving Room
(*)
Amber McBride

Make Me a Monster
(*)
Kalynn Bayron

The Scammer
(*)
Tiffany D. Jackson

Coldwire
(*)
Chloe Gong

Hazelthorn
(*)
C.G. Drews

The House Saphir
(*)
Marissa Meyer

Manga

Orisha, Volume 1: With Great Power
(*)
Huzayfa Umar

RuriDragon, Vol. 1
(*)
Masaoki Shindo

The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse, Vol. 1
(*)
Haruo Iwamune

Dogsred, Vol. 1
(*)
Satoru Noda

The Failure at God School, Vol. 1
(*)
Natsu Hyuuga

Hikaru in the Light! (Volume 1)
(*)
Mai Matsuda

Minecraft: The Manga, Vol. 1
(*)
Kazuyoshi Seto

The Climber, Vol. 1
(*)
Yoshiro Nabeda

Senpai Is an Otokonoko: My Crossdressing Classmate 1
(*)
Pom

Cosmos, Vol. 1
(*)
Ryuhei Tamura

GAEA-TIMA the Gigantis 1
(*)
Kent

Spacewalking With You 1
(*)
Inuhiko Doronoda

A Witch's Life in Mongol, Vol. 1
(*)
Tomato Soup

I Wanna Be Your Girl Vol. 1
(*)
Umi Takase

Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick 01
(*)
Kamui Fujiwara

Sheeta's Little Big World 1
(*)
Yuki Kamba

Kamudo, Vol. 1
(*)
Akira Himekawa

My Life as an Internet Novel Vol. 1
(*)
A. Hyeon

Phantom Busters, Vol. 1
(*)
Neoshoco

Heaven Official's Blessing (The Comic), Volume 1: Tian Guan Ci Fu
(*)
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Transitional

Love from Anna Hibiscus!
(*)
Atinuke

The Big Splash
(*)
Angela Ahn

Henry's Picture-Perfect Day
(*)
Jenn Bailey

The Truth about the Tooth Fairy
(*)
Leah Cypess

The Bad Idea and Other Stories
(*)
Greg Pizzoli

The Summer of the Bone Horses
(*)
Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve

We Dig Fossils
(*)
Alliah L. Agostini

Elena Camps
(*)
Juana Medina

Owlets and Tarts
(*)
Cynthia Rylant

Super Ty!
(*)
Kelly Starling Lyons

Bulldozer Goes to School
(*)
Elise Broach

The Unlikely Aventuras of Ramon and El Cucuy
(*)
Donna Barba Higuera

Zoomi and Zoe and the Sibling Situation
(*)
Corey Ann Haydu

One Beaded Earring
(*)
Pat Lamondin Skene

Award Categories

Chapter Books

Graphic Novels

Manga

Middle Grade

Picture Books

Transitional

Young Adult

Award Years

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019