2018 Nerdy Book Awards

Fiction Picture Books

  • A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
  • All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold; illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
  • Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
  • Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller; illustrated by Jen Hill
  • Drawn Together by Minh Lê; illustrated by Dan Santat
  • Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
  • Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall
  • I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
  • Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera; illustrated by Lauren Castillo
  • Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
  • Mommy’s Khimar by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow; illustrated by Ebony Glenn
  • Potato Pants by Laurie Keller
  • The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson; illustrated by Rafael López
  • Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora
  • The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
  • The Remember Balloons by Jessie Oliveros; illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte
  • They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki
  • We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
  • What If… by Samantha Berger; illustrated by Mike Curato

 

Non Fiction Picture Books

  • Between the Lines: How Ernie Barnes Went From the Football Field to the Art Gallery by Sandra Neil Wallace, illustrated by Bryan Collier
  • Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Saved Apollo 13 by Helaine Becker, illustrated by Dow Phumiruk
  • Cute as an Axolotl: Discovering the World’s Most Adorable Creatures by Jess Keating
  • Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams by Lesa Cline-Ransome, illustrated by James Ransome
  • Joan Procter Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez, illustrated by Felicita Sala
  • Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson, illustrated by Frank Morrison
  • Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968 by Alice Fay Duncan, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
  • No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas by Tonya Bolden, illustrated by Don Tate
  • Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathysphere by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Katherine Roy
  • Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis
  • Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Steven Salerno
  • She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History by Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexander Boiger
  • The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs: The Story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation by Kate Messner, illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
  • The Flying Girl: How Aida de Acosta Learned to Soar by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sara Palacios
  • Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Melissa Iwai
  • Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale
  • We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell, illustrated by Frané Lessac
  • What Do You Do With a Voice Like That?: The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton, illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Early Readers and Chapter Books

 

Long Form Non Fiction

  • Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card by Sara Saedi
  • Back from the Brink: Saving Animals From Extinction by Nancy Castaldo
  • Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam by Elizabeth Partridge
  • Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin by James L. Swanson
  • Dog Days of History: The Incredible Story of Our Best Friends by Sarah Albee
  • Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Man by Tonya Bolden
  • First Generation: 36 Trailblazing Immigrants and Refugees Who Make America Great by Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace, illustrated by Agata Nowicka
  • Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! by Marley Dias
  • Something Rotten: A Fresh Look at Roadkill by Heather L. Montgomery, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley
  • Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
  • The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
  • Two Truths and a Lie: Histories and Mysteries by Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Lisa K. Weber
  • Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump by Martha Brockenbrough
  • We Rise We Resist We Raise Our Voices edited by Cheryl and Wade Hudson

 

Graphic Novels

  • Speak: The Graphic Novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Emily Carroll
  • Be Prepared written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol
  • The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees written and illustrated by Don Brown
  • Lowriders Blast from the Past written by Cathy Camper, illustrated by Raul the Third
  • Crush written and illustrated by Svetlana Chmakova
  • Illegal written by Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano
  • Supernova (Amulet) written and illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi
  • Hey, Kiddo written and illustrated by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
  • All Summer Long written and illustrated by Hope Larson
  • Positively Izzy written and illustrated by Terri Libenson
  • Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey
  • Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide written by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña
  • The Cardboard Kingdom Created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from: Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez
  • Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey written and illustrated by Ngozi Ukazu
  • The Prince and the Dressmaker written and illustrated by Jen Wang

 

Poetry and Novels in Verse

  • Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship by Irene Latham & Charles Waters, illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko
  • Knockout by K.A. Holt
  • Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood
  • Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
  • Rebound by Kwame Alexander
  • Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boy by Tony Medina, illustrated by 13 Artists
  • Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
  • For Every One by Jason Reynolds
  • Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots by Magarita Engle, illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez
  • Mary’s Monster: Love, Madness, and How Mary Shelley Created Frankenstein by Lita Judge
  • Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess
  • The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
  • Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners by Naomi Shihab Nye

 

Middle Grade Fiction

  • Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
  • Apple in the Middle by Dawn Quigley
  • Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
  • Blended by Sharon Draper
  • Bob by Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead
  • Breakout by Kate Messner
  • Front Desk by Kelly Yang
  • Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
  • Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
  • Louisiana’s Way Home by Kate DiCamillo
  • Lu (Track series) by Jason Reynolds
  • Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
  • Naomis Too by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich & Audrey Vernick
  • Sweep by Jonathan Auxier
  • The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden
  • The Endling by Katherine Applegate
  • The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
  • The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacey McAnulty
  • The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
  • The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
  • The Serpent’s Secret by Sayantani Dasgupta
  • The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
  • Tight by Torrey Maldonado
  • You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly

 

Young Adult Fiction: Part I and Part II

  • A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
  • American Panda by Gloria Chao
  • Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  • Darius The Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
  • Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
  • Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
  • Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
  • Fresh Ink: An Anthology ed. by Lamar Giles
  • Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth
  • Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
  • Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
  • Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert
  • Pride by Ibi Zoboi
  • Sadie by Courtney Summers
  • The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
  • The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
  • Thunderhead (Arc of Scythe) by Neal Shusterman
  • Truly Devious: A Mystery by Maureen Johnson
  • We’ll Fly Away by Bryan Bliss
  • What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera