Barnes & Noble Best Young Reader Books of 2025

Barnes & Noble have released their Best Books of 2025 lists. Here are their picks for the best Young Reader books of 2025:

The Court of the Dead by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

Dog Man: Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Partypooper by Jeff Kinney

The First Cat in Space and the Baby Pirate’s Revenge by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Shawn Harris

The Gate, the Girl and the Dragon by Grace Lin

Growing Home by Beth Ferry, illustrated by The Fan Brothers

Howl’s Moving Castle Collector’s Deluxe Edition by Diana Wynne Jones

I Am Rebel by Ross Montgomery

J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

The Poisoned King by Katherine Rundell

Scarlet Morning by ND Stevenson

Spy School Blackout by Staurt Gibbs

Vanya and the Wild Hunt by Sangu Mandanna

War Games by Alan Gratz

Barnes & Noble Best Picture Books of 2025

Barnes & Noble have announced their Best Books lists for the year. Here are their picks for Best Picture Books:

The Bakery Dragon and the Fairy Cake by Devin Elle Kurtz

Buffalo Fluffalo and Puffalo by Bess Kalb, illustrated by Erin Kraan

The Day the Crayons Made Friends by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers

Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat

Elvis & Romeo by David Soman and Jacky Davis

Firefly by Robert Macfarlane, illustrated by Luke Adam Hawker

Hansel and Gretel by Stephen King, illustrated by Maurice Sendak

Hedgehogs Don’t Wear Underwear by Marissa Valdez

The Humble Pie by Jory John, illustrated by Pete Oswald

The Littlest Yak by Lu Fraser

Snow Kid by Jessie Sima

There Are No Silly Questions: More than 200 Weird and Wacky Questions, Expertly Answered! by Mike Rampton, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten

The Trouble with Giraffes by Lisa Mantchev, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo

Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems

Amazon’s Top 20 Teen & Young Adult Books of 2025

Amazon has announced their lists of best books for 2025. Here are their picks for the top 20 YA books of 2025:

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

Balancing Act by Paula Chase

Bitten by Jordan Stephanie Gray

Coldwire by Chloe Gong

The Crimson Throne by Sara Raasch and Beth Revis

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause

Hekate: The Witch by Nikita Gill

Hour of the Pumpkin Queen by Megan Shepherd

I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin

Never Ever After by Sue Lynn Tan

Nightweaver by R. M. Gray

The Rose Field by Philip Pullman

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

Soulmatch by Rebecca Danzenbaker

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

We Fell Apart by E. Lockhart

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

Amazon’s Top 20 Children’s Books of 2025

Here are Amazon’s picks for the 20 best children’s books of the year:

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

Casey’s Cases: The Mysterious New Girl by Kay Healy

Coach by Jason Reynolds

Dog Man: Big Jim Believes by Dav Pilkey

Dragonborn by Struan Murray

Girls on the Rise by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Loveis Wise

The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo, illustrated by John Picacio

Little Blue Truck and Racer Red by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin

Mistaco by Eliza Kinkz

No More Chairs by Dan Gill,, illustrated by Susan Gal

The Pigeon WON’T Count to 10! by Mo Willems

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate

The School of Thieves by Peter Burns

Seven Little Ducklings by Annette LeBlanc Cate

Skandar and the Spirit of War by A. F. Steadman

The Snips: A Bad Buzz Day by Raúl The Third

A Snow Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead

The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman

National Book Award Winners Announced

The National Book Foundation has announced the 2025 winners of the National Book Awards. Here is the winner for Young People’s Literature:

The Teacher of Nomad Land by Daniel Nayeri

Goodreads Choice Awards

The opening round of nominees have been announced for the Goodreads Choice Awards. Here are the titles nominated in the two YA categories:

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCI-FI

Breath of the Dragon by Shannon Lee & Fonda Lee

Every Spiral of Fate by Tahereh Mafi

Fearless by Lauren Roberts

The Floating World by Axie Oh

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

Hazelthorn by C.G. Drews

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

Hekate – the Witch by Nikita Gill

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

Immortal Consequences by I.V. Marie

A Language of Dragons by S. F. Williamson

Never Ever After by Sue Lynn Tan

Oathbound by Tracy Deonn

The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith

Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi

Wings of Starlight by Allison Saft

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

And They Were Roommates by Page Powars

Audre & Bash Are Just Friends by Tia Williams

Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Falling Like Leaves by Misty Wilson

A First Time for Everything by K.L. Walther

Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang

Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours

Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales

Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris

The Scammer by Tiffany D. Jackson

Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley

The Survivor Wants to Die at the End by Adam Silvera

The Thrashers by Julie Soto

Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray

We Fell Apart by E. Lockhart

When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur

Wish You Were Her by Elle McNicoll

You’ve Found Oliver by Dustin Thao

Publishers Weekly Best Young Adult Books of 2025

Publishers Weekly has announced their list of best books for 2025. Here are the selected books in YA:

And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun

Angelica and the Bear Prince by Trung Le Nguyen

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming

The Leaving Room by Amber McBride

One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller

Reasons to Hate Me by Susan Metallo

Reasons We Break by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick

Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue

Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Nicole Goux

The Tournament by Rebecca Barrow

Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr

Publishers Weekly Best Middle Grade Books of 2025

Publishers Weekly has announced their best books lists for 2025. Here are their picks for best Middle Grade books:

Candle Island by Lauren Wolk

Graciela in the Abyss by Meg Medina, illus. by Anna and Elena Balbusso

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes

Malcolm Lives! by Ibram X. Kendi

My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda by Bibi Dumon Tak, trans. from the Dutch by Nancy Forest-Flier, illus. by Annemarie van Haeringen

Night Chef by Mika Song

The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli by Karina Yan Glaser

Oasis by Guojing

Pocket Bear by Katherine Applegate, illus. by Charles Santoso

A Sea of Lemon Trees by María Dolores Águila

The Summer of the Bone Horses by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illus. by Steph Littlebird

The Trouble with Heroes by Kate Messner

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman

A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff

Publishers Weekly Best Picture Books of 2025

Publishers Weekly has announced their picks for the best books of 2025. The juvenile picks are broken into three categories. Here are the picture book selections:

PICTURE BOOKS

Alberto Salas Plays Paka Paka con la Papa: Join the Quest with Peru’s Famed Scientist and Potato Expert by Sara Andrea Fajardo, illus. by Juana Martinez-Neal

Cranky, Crabby Crow by Corey R. Tabor

Don’t Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson, illus. by Dan Santat

Downpour: Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash! by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata, trans. from the Japanese by Emily Balistrieri

Every Monday Mabel by Jashar Awan

Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, illus. by Cátia Chien

For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo, illus. by Adriana M. Garcia

Island Storm by Brian Floca, illus. by Sydney Smith

The Keeper of Stories by Caroline Kusin Pritchard, illus. by Selina Alko

Lena the Chicken (but Really a Dinosaur) by Linda Bailey, illus. by K-Fai Steele

Let’s Be Bees by Shawn Harris

On Our Way with Mr. Jay by Chelsea Lin Wallace, illus. by Thyra Heder

Our Lake by Angie Kang

Papilio by Ben Clanton, Corey R. Tabor, and Andy Chou Musser

A Place for Us by James E. Ransome

Popo the Xolo by Paloma Angelina Lopez, illus. by Abraham Matias

So Many Years bookcover

So Many Years: A Juneteenth Story by Anne Wynter, illus. by Jerome Pumphrey

Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave by Drew Beckmeyer

The World Entire: A True Story of an Extraordinary World War II Rescue by Elizabeth Brown, illus. by Melissa Castrillón

Your Forest by Jon Klassen