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
- Dory Fantasmagory: Head in the Clouds by Abby Hanlon
- Bat and the Waiting Game by Elana K. Arnold, illustrated by Charles Santoso
- Beatrice Zinker Upside Down Thinker: Incognito by Shelley Johannes
- King & Kayla and the Case of the Lost Tooth by Dori Hillestad Butler, illustrated by Nancy Meyers
- Jasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl by Debbi Michiko Florence, illustrated by Elizabeth Vukovic
- Fergus and Zeke At the Science Fair by Kate Messner, illustrated by Heather Ross
- The Itchy Book! (Elephant & Piggie Like Reading) by LeUyen Pham
- I Lost My Tooth! (Unlimited Squirrels) by Mo Willems
- Fox & Chick: The Party and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier
- Ugly Cat & Pablo and the Missing Brother by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Tom Knight
- Meet Yasmin by Saadia Faruqi, illustrated by Hatem Aly
- Rosie Revere And the Raucous Riveters (The Questioneers) by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts
- Two Dogs in a Trench Coat: Go to School by Julie Falatko, illustrated by Colin Jack
- The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Mya in the Middle by Crystal Allen
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