YRCA: Young Reader's Choice Awards 2025

Check out the nominees for the 2025 Young Reader’s Choice Awards!

Voting for the Young Reader's Choice Awards occurs between March 15th and April 15th every year. 

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The Agathas

The Agathas

Glasgow, Kathleen, 1969-, author
2022

Alice Ogilvie's disappearance last summer is the biggest scandal at Castle Cove High School--until her ex-boyfriend is accused of murdering his new girlfriend, and Alice must pair up with her tutor Iris Adams to clear his name by relying on the wisdom of Agatha Christie.

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Castles in their bones

Castles in their bones

Sebastian, Laura, author
2022

Sixteen-year-old triplets Princesses Sophronia, Daphne, and Beatriz, each with her own secret skill and wish, begin arranged marriages to princes of neighboring nations to fulfill their mother's intention to reign over the continent.

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The Clackity

The Clackity

Senf, Lora, author
2022

To rescue her aunt from the ghost of a serial killer, twelve-year-old Evie Von Rathe embarks on a journey into a strange world filled with hungry witches, ghosts, and a story thief, all while trying to fulfill her deal with the Clackity.

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Echoes and empires

Echoes and empires

Rhodes, Morgan, author
2022

Snarky seventeen-year-old Josslyn Drake gets infected by a dangerous piece of forbidden magic and teams up with wanted criminal Jericho Nox to remove the spell corrupting her soul.

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The elephant girl

The elephant girl

Patterson, James, 1947- author
2022

Clever, sensitive Jama likes elephants better than people. While her classmates gossip - especially about the new boy, Leku - Jama takes refuge at the watering hole outside her village. There the twelve-year-old Maasai girl befriends a baby elephant she names Mbegu, Swahili for seed. When Mbegu's mother, frightened by poachers, stampedes, Jama and Mgebu are blamed for two deaths-one elephant and one human. Now Leku, whose mysterious and imposing father is head ranger at the conservancy, may be their only lifeline.

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The girl who fell beneath the sea

The girl who fell beneath the sea

Oh, Axie, author
2022

In this retelling of the Korean legend The tale of Shim Cheong, sixteen-year-old Mina is swept away to the Spirit Realm, where, assisted by a motley crew of demons, gods, and lesser spirits, she sets out to awaken the sleeping Sea God and save her homeland and family from deadly storms.

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I must betray you

I must betray you

Sepetys, Ruta, author
2022

In a country governed by isolation, fear, and a tyrannical dictator, seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer, but he decides to use his position to try to outwit his handler, undermine the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country.

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The last mapmaker

The last mapmaker

Soontornvat, Christina, author
2022

Joining an expedition to chart the southern seas, twelve-year-old mapmaker's assistant Sai, posing as a well-bred young lady with a glittering future, realizes she's not the only one on board harboring secrets when she discovers the ship's true destination.

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A magic steeped in poison

A magic steeped in poison

Lin, Judy I., author
2022

Ning enters a cutthroat magical competition to find the kingdom's greatest master of the art of brewing tea, but political schemes and secrets make her goal of gaining access to royal physicians to cure her dying sister far more dangerous than she imagined.

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The Marvellers

The Marvellers

Clayton, Dhonielle, author
2022

Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, a magic school in the clouds where Marvellers from around the world practice their cultural arts. Despite her excitement, Ella discovers that being the first isn't easy--some Marvellers mistrust her magic. Eventually, she finds friends in elixirs teacher, Masterji Thakur, and fellow misfits Brigit and Jason. When a dangerous criminal escapes prison, supposedly with a Conjuror's aid, Ella becomes the target of suspicion. Worse, Masterji Thakur mysteriously disappears while away on a research trip. With the help of her friends and her own growing powers, Ella must find a way to clear her family's name and track down her mentor before it's too late.

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Messy roots : a graphic memoir of a Wuhanese American

Messy roots : a graphic memoir of a Wuhanese American

Gao, Laura, author, artist
2022

After spending her early years in Wuhan, China, riding water buffalos and devouring stinky tofu, Laura immigrates to Texas. In Messy Roots, Laura illustrates her coming-of-age as the girl who simply wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why girls make her heart flutter.

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New from here

New from here

Yang, Kelly, author
2022

Knox works to keep his family together as they move from Hong Kong back to northern California during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

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Nothing more to tell

Nothing more to tell

McManus, Karen M., author
2022

Brynn Gallagher uses her internship at a new true crime show to investigate the unsolved murder of her favorite teacher, uncovering secrets about her school, her teacher, and her ex-best friend in the process.

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Odder

Odder

Applegate, Katherine, author
2022

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she's known. She's a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself--and about the humans who hope to save her.

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The ogress and the orphans

The ogress and the orphans

Barnhill, Kelly Regan, author
2022

The once-lovely town of Stone-in-the-Glen has fallen on hard times. After relentless fires, floods, and other calamities, they've lost their library, their school, their park, their prosperity. Even their neighborliness is lost. Only the wise and clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress who lives quietly at the edge of town see clearly how dire things are. The people of Stone-in-the-Glen have put their faith in their Mayor, a dazzling fellow with a bright shock of yellow hair and white teeth, who promises that he alone can solve their problems. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer! At least, no one has ever seen a dragon in the Mayor's presence. One terrible day, a child goes missing from the Orphan House, and the townspeople vow to find her. Thanks to the Mayor's insidious suggestion, all eyes turn to the Ogress. The Orphans know this can't be: it's the Ogress, assisted by a particularly excellent flock of crows, who secretly delivers much-needed gifts to the suffering humans. But how can the Orphans tell the story of the Ogress's goodness to people who listen only to themselves? And how can they make their enraged, deluded neighbors see the real villain in their midst?

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Places we've never been

Places we've never been

West, Kasie, author
2022

While on a cross-country RV trip with her family, aspiring video game animator Norah reunites with an old friend, prepares for her college interview, and encounters unexpected romance and revelations.

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A rover's story

A rover's story

Warga, Jasmine, author
2022

Built to explore Mars, Resilience begins to develop human-like feelings as he learns from the NASA scientists who assembled him, and as he blasts off and explores Mars, Resilience must overcome different obstacles as he explores the red planet.

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The silence that binds us

The silence that binds us

Ho, Joanna, author
2022

In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.

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A song called home

A song called home

Zarr, Sara, author.
2022

aReceiving a mysterious guitar the night before she leaves the city to live with her mom and new stepdad, Lou believes that if she learns how to play it, she can bring a piece of her old life home.

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The stars did wander darkling

The stars did wander darkling

Meloy, Colin, author.
2022

The adults in town are acting strangely. An ancient, long-buried evil has been unleashed upon the community, and it's up to Archie Coomes and his friends to stop it before it's too late.

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The summer of bitter and sweet

The summer of bitter and sweet

Ferguson, Jen, author
2022

Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with...her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago...But when she gets a letter from her biological father...Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him...While King's friendship makes Lou feel safer...when her family's business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can't ignore her father forever.

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The Sunbearer Trials

The Sunbearer Trials

Thomas, Aiden, author
2022

Transgender demigod Teo is unexpectedly selected for the Sunbearer Trials, a fierce competition among demigod heroes where the winner sacrifices the loser to Sol, their blood fueling the Sun Stones that protect Reino del Sol.

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Swim team

Swim team

Christmas, Johnnie, author, illustrator
2022

Bree can't wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees-until she's stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she's forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help. With Etta's training and a lot of hard work, Bree suddenly finds her swim-crazed community counting on her to turn the school's failing team around. But that's easier said than done, especially when their rival, the prestigious Holyoke Prep, has everything they need to leave the Mighty Manatees in their wake. Can Bree defy the odds and guide her team to a state championship, or have the Manatees swum their last lap-for good?

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This woven kingdom

This woven kingdom

Mafi, Tahereh, author
2022

To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight. The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can't put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom--and the world.

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