School Library Journal
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 2018
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year 2018 names 89 books across 7 categories. 32 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.
Chapter Books
- Meet Yasmin!source (opens in a new tab)
- Tiger vs. Nightmaresource (opens in a new tab)
Graphic Novels
- Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addictionsource (opens in a new tab)
- On a Sunbeamsource (opens in a new tab)
- Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbidesource (opens in a new tab)
- Speak: The Graphic Novelsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Cardboard Kingdomsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot To Kill Hitlersource (opens in a new tab)
- The Prince and the Dressmakersource (opens in a new tab)
- The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1: Grace Field Housesource (opens in a new tab)
- Tiger vs. Nightmaresource (opens in a new tab)
Middle Grade
- Amal Unboundsource (opens in a new tab)
- Aru Shah and the End of Timesource (opens in a new tab)
- Blendedsource (opens in a new tab)
- Dactyl Hill Squadsource (opens in a new tab)
- Finding Langstonsource (opens in a new tab)
- Front Desksource (opens in a new tab)
- Harbor Mesource (opens in a new tab)
- Hurricane Childsource (opens in a new tab)
- Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the Worldsource (opens in a new tab)
- Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Troublesource (opens in a new tab)
- Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanishsource (opens in a new tab)
- Merci Suárez Changes Gearssource (opens in a new tab)
- Swallow’s Dancesource (opens in a new tab)
- The Cardboard Kingdomsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Journey of Little Charliesource (opens in a new tab)
- The Night Diarysource (opens in a new tab)
- The Parker Inheritancesource (opens in a new tab)
- The Season of Styx Malonesource (opens in a new tab)
- The Serpent’s Secretsource (opens in a new tab)
- They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poemssource (opens in a new tab)
- You Go Firstsource (opens in a new tab)
Nonfiction
- Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Cardsource (opens in a new tab)
- Dreamerssource (opens in a new tab)
- Eat This!: How Fast Food Marketing Gets You To Buy Junk (and How You Can Fight Back)source (opens in a new tab)
- Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Mansource (opens in a new tab)
- I Have The Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hopesource (opens in a new tab)
- Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968source (opens in a new tab)
- Not My Idea: A Book About Whitenesssource (opens in a new tab)
- Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record-Setting Dive of the Bathyspheresource (opens in a new tab)
- Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbidesource (opens in a new tab)
- Prickly Hedgehogs!source (opens in a new tab)
- Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of Americasource (opens in a new tab)
- The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot To Kill Hitlersource (opens in a new tab)
- The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrowsource (opens in a new tab)
- We Are Grateful: Otsaliheligasource (opens in a new tab)
Picture Books
- A Big Mooncake for Little Starsource (opens in a new tab)
- A Parade of Elephantssource (opens in a new tab)
- Alma and How She Got Her Namesource (opens in a new tab)
- Black Bird Yellow Sunsource (opens in a new tab)
- Bluesource (opens in a new tab)
- Drawn Togethersource (opens in a new tab)
- Fox + Chick: The Party and Other Storiessource (opens in a new tab)
- Julián Is a Mermaidsource (opens in a new tab)
- Me and My Fearsource (opens in a new tab)
- Mommy’s Khimarsource (opens in a new tab)
- Saffron Ice Creamsource (opens in a new tab)
- Thank You, Omu!source (opens in a new tab)
- The Day You Beginsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Fieldsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Patchwork Bikesource (opens in a new tab)
- They Say Bluesource (opens in a new tab)
- Zola's Elephantsource (opens in a new tab)
Poetry
- Jabberwalkingsource (opens in a new tab)
- Martin Rising: Requiem for a Kingsource (opens in a new tab)
- Seeing into Tomorrowsource (opens in a new tab)
- Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Boysource (opens in a new tab)
Young Adult
- A Room Away from the Wolvessource (opens in a new tab)
- After the Shot Dropssource (opens in a new tab)
- All That I Can Fixsource (opens in a new tab)
- Blanca & Rojasource (opens in a new tab)
- Blood Water Paintsource (opens in a new tab)
- Children of Blood and Bonesource (opens in a new tab)
- Dread Nationsource (opens in a new tab)
- Give Me Some Truthsource (opens in a new tab)
- Hey, Kiddo: How I Lost My Mother, Found My Father, and Dealt with Family Addictionsource (opens in a new tab)
- Love, Hate & Other Filterssource (opens in a new tab)
- Miragesource (opens in a new tab)
- Monday’s Not Comingsource (opens in a new tab)
- On a Sunbeamsource (opens in a new tab)
- Picture Us in the Lightsource (opens in a new tab)
- Pridesource (opens in a new tab)
- Sadiesource (opens in a new tab)
- Speak: The Graphic Novelsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Astonishing Color of Aftersource (opens in a new tab)
- The Poet Xsource (opens in a new tab)
- The Prince and the Dressmakersource (opens in a new tab)
- The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1: Grace Field Housesource (opens in a new tab)
- When Light Left Ussource (opens in a new tab)
About the School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
School Library Journal's annual Best Books list, 2006-2025. Year is the list year (published each November or December). Categories follow the sections SLJ used that year: 2006, 2007 and 2009 were one alphabetical list (category 'Best Books'); 2008 and 2010-2013 used Picture Books, Fiction and Nonfiction; 2014 onward split Fiction into Middle Grade and Young Adult; Chapter Books (SLJ also called it Transitional Chapter Books or Transitional Books) from 2016; Graphic Novels from 2018; Poetry in 2018 and from 2021; Manga (SLJ's Top 10 Manga, linked as a Best Books section) from 2019; Nonfiction split into Nonfiction Elementary and Nonfiction Middle to High School from 2023. A book SLJ placed in two sections appears in both. Excluded: the separately edited Adult Books 4 Teens and Top 10 Graphic Novels lists, and non-book lists (apps, audiobooks, music, DVDs). Sources: slj.com pages; Wayback Machine copies for 2006 (schoollibraryjournal.com), 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016-2017 (slj.com/bestofYYYY microsites), where the live pages no longer carry the list.
Organization: School Library Journal. Official site (opens in a new tab)