Best Books of 2010
Today is 2/4/2012
Ames Public Library Youth Services
Best Books ©2010
Many of these books are available in audio and e-book format versions. If interested, please check the catalog or ask a Librarian.
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes titles that the youth services staff feel are of special distinction among this year’s favorite picks.
Board Books
Toddlers and infants enjoy reading these sturdy books. Look for them in the green alligator bin.
Counting Duckies. (Begin Smart series) (E BEG)
*Where's Your Nose? (Begin Smart series) (E BEG)
Noisy Tractors. (Bright Baby series) (E BRI)
* Where are Maisy's Friends? Cousins, Lucy. (E COU)
*Duck Goes Potty. Dahl, Michael. (E DAH)
*Baby at the Farm. Katz, Karen. (E KAT)
*Orange. (My Colorful World series) Pristash, Nicole. (E MY)
*The Number 4. (Numbers in My World series) (E NUM)
*Brush, Brush, Brush! (Rookie Toddler series) (E ROO)
*Do You See Shapes? (Rookie Toddler series) (E ROO)
*Everywhere a Moo, Moo. (Rookie Toddler series) (E ROO)
Hide-and-Peek. (Rookie Toddler series) (E ROO)
I Go Potty. (Rookie Toddler series) (E ROO)
*Hey Diddle Diddle. Sickler, Jonas. (E SIC)
*Sandbox. Wells, Rosemary. (E WEL)
Picture Books
Picture books can be read just for enjoyment, alone or with family. They also serve a unique and important role for new readers since the picture book’s combination of text and pictures works together to help the reader master all of the early literacy skills.
Mr. Putney's Quacking Dog. Agee, Jon. (E AGE)
*Push Button. Aliki. (E ALI)
Brand-New Baby Blues. Appelt, Kathi. (E APP)
*LMNO Peas. Baker, Keith. (E BAK)
*Shark Vs. Train. Barton, Chris. (E BAR)
Forever Friends. Berger, Carin. (E BER)
Ducking for Apples. Berry, Lynne. (E BER)
*Flora's Very Windy Day. Birdsall, Jeanne. (E BIR)
*Lucky Beans. Birtha, Becky. (E BIR)
Seasons. Blexbolex. (E BLE)
*Miss Brooks Loves Books (and I don't). Bottner, Barbara. (E BOT)
The 3 Little Dassies. Brett, Jan. (E BRE)
The Easter Egg. Brett, Jan. (E BRE)
*Polar Opposites. Brook, Erik. (E BRO)
The Fathers are Coming Home. Brown, Margaret Wise. (E BRO)
*Children Make Terrible Pets. Brown, Peter. (E BRO)
Me and You. Browne, Anthony. (E BRO)
*There's Going to Be a Baby. Burningham, John. (E BUR)
Willow's Whisper. Button, Lana. (E BUT)
I Really, REALLY Need Actual Ice Skates. Child, Lauren. (E CHI)
The Desperate Dog Writes Again. Christelow, Eileen. (E CHR)
Hip & Hop, Don't Stop! Czekaj, Jef. (E CZE)
*Llama Llama Holiday Drama. Dewdney, Anna. (E DEW)
Socksquatch. Dormer, Frank W. (E DOR)
A String of Hearts. Elliott, Laura Malone. (E ELL)
Summer Birds. Engle, Margarita. (E ENG)
The Wild, Wild Inside - A View from Mommy's Tummy! Feiffer, Kate. (E FEI)
Clever Jack Takes the Cake. Fleming, Candace. (E FLE)
*Willoughby & the Moon. Foley, Greg. (E FOL)
Let's Count Goats. Fox, Mem. (E FOX)
The Boss Baby. Frazee, Marla. (E FRA)
Lots of Dots. Frazier, Craig. (E FRA)
April and Esme, Tooth Fairies. Graham, Bob. (E GRA)
*Dogs. Gravett, Emily. (E GRA)
Moon Bear. Guiberson, Brenda. (E GUI)
Pink Me Up. Harper, Charise Mericle. (E HAR)
*Teeny Tiny Tales for Toddlers. Hayes, Sarah. (E HAY)
Always Listen to Your Mother. Heide, Florence Parry. (E HEI)
Dust Devil. Isaacs, Anne. (E ISA)
A Chanukah Noel. Jennings, Sharon. (E JEN)
Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks. Joose, Barbara. (E JOO)
Monsters Eat Whiny Children. Kaplan, Bruce Eric. (E KAP)
*The Village Garage. Karas, G. Brian. (E KAR)
Big Red Lollipop. Khan, Rukhsana. (E KHA)
1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions. LaRochelle, David. (E LAR)
Bats at the Ballgame. Lies, Brian. (E LIE)
The Pirate of Kindergarten. Lyon, George Ella. (E LYO)
*Spork. Maclear, Kyo. (E MAC)
*Pocketful of Posies A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. Mavor, Salley. (E MAV)
Henry in Love. McCarty, Peter. (E MCC)
*So Many Days. McGhee, Alison. (E MCG)
Hibernation Station. Meadows, Michelle. (E MEA)
*Busing Brewster. Michelson, Richard. (E MIC)
*Snook Alone. Nelson, Marilyn. (E NEL)
Subway. Niemann, Christoph. (E NIE)
The Firehouse Light. Nolan, Janet. (E NOL)
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters. Obama, Barack. (E OBA)
Ooh La La Polka-Dot Boots. Olson-Brown, Ellen. (E OLS)
Animal Crackers Fly the Coop. O’Malley, Kevin. (E OMA)
Zero. Otoshi, Kathryn. (E OTO)
A Paddling of Ducks: Animals in Groups from A to Z. Parker, Marjorie Blain.
(E PAR)
Three Little Kittens. Pinkney, Jerry. (E PIN)
Kindergarten Diary. Portis, Antoinette. (E POR)
*The Sandwich Swap. Rania, Her Majesty Queen. (E RAN)
Too Purpley. Reidy, Jean. (E REI)
*The Chicken Thief. Rodriguez, Béatrice. (E ROD)
Just One Bite. Schaefer, Lola. (E SCH)
What If? Seeger, Laura Vaccaro. (E SEE)
It's Christmas, David! Shannon, David. (E SHA)
Race You to Bed. Shea, Bob. (E SHE)
It's a Book. Smith, Lane. (E SMI)
Born Yesterday. Solheim, James. (E SOL)
*A Sick Day For Amos McGee. Stead, Philip. (E STE)
Interrupting Chicken. Stein, David Ezra. (E STE)
Fiesta Babies. Tafolla, Carmen. (E TAF)
The Ring Went Zing. Taylor, Sean. (E TAY)
*Chalk. Thomson, Bill. (E THO)
*A Balloon for Isabel. Underwood, Deborah. (E UND)
*The Quiet Book. Underwood, Deborah. (E UND)
Grandma's Gift. Velasquez, Eric. (E VEL)
*Banana! Vere, Ed. (E VER)
Balancing Act. Walsh, Ellen Stoll. (E WAL)
Li'l Rabbit's Kwanzaa. Washington, Donna L. (E WAS)
*Art & Max. Wiesner, David. (E WIE)
*City Dog, Country Frog. Willems, Mo. (E WIL)
Knuffle Bunny Free. Willems, Mo. (E WIL)
The Cow Loves Cookies. Wilson, Karma. (E WIL)
How to Raise a Dinosaur. Wing, Natasha. (E WIN)
Here Comes the Garbage Barge! Winter, Jonah. (E WIN)
*Elsie's Bird. Yolen, Jane. (E YOL)
The Mud Fairy. Young, Amy. (E YOU)
Easy-to-Read (ETR)
Easy-to-Read books are geared toward children learning to read independently. They may be appropriate for children in grades K-3, depending on the complexity of the words and concepts.
*Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! Lin, Grace. (ETR E LIN)
*Short Vowel Phonics 5: Catfish and Bass and other Tales. Norton, Patricia.
(ETR E NOR)
*Cat the Cat, Who is That? Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
*Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly! Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
*We are in a Book! Willems, Mo. (ETR E WIL)
*Mouse and Mole: A Winter Wonderland. Yee, Wong Herbert. (ETR E YEE)
Juvenile Fiction
Generally, these books will appeal to youth in elementary school who are fluent readers.
Keeper. Appelt, Kathi. (J APP)
Zora and Me. Bond, Victoria. (J BON)
*Crunch. Connor, Leslie. (J COO)
*Bink & Gollie. DiCamillo, Kate. (J DIC)
The Search for WondLa. DiTerlizzi, Tony. (J DIT)
*Falling In. Dowell, Frances O'Roark. (J DOW)
The Familiars. Epstein, Adam Jay. (J EPS)
*Mockingbird. Erskine, Kathryn. (J ERS)
*A Tale Dark & Grimm. Gidwitz, Adam. (J GID)
*Sophie Simon Solves Them All. Graff, Lisa. (J GRA)
Happy Birthday, Sophie Hartley. Greene, Stephanie. (J GRE)
*Guys Read: Funny Business. Edited by Jon Scieszka. (J GUY)
*Boom! Haddon, Mark. (J HAD)
*Turtle in Paradise. Holm, Jennifer. (J HOL)
*Scumble. Law, Ingrid. (J LAW)
Alvin Ho: Allergic to Birthday Parties, Science Projects, and Other Man-
Made Catastrophes. Look, Lenore. (J LOO)
*The Birthday Ball. Lowry, Lois. (J LOW)
Emily's Fortune. Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. (J NAY)
The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester. O'Connor, Barbara. (J OCO)
A Long Walk to Water. Park, Linda Sue. (J PAR)
*Big Nate: In a Class by Himself. Peirce, Lincoln. (J PEI)
Big Nate: Strikes Again. Peirce, Lincoln. (J PEI)
Star in the Forest. Resau, Laura. (J RES)
Ninth Ward. Rhodes, Jewell. (J RHO)
The Dreamer. Ryan, Pam Muñoz. (J RYA)
*The Night Fairy. Schlitz, Laura Amy. (J SCH)
The Dancing Pancake. Spinelli, Eileen. (J SPI)
My Life as a Book. Tashjian, Janet. (J TAS)
*Moon Over Manifest. Vanderpool, Clare. (J VAN)
*LuLu and the Brontosaurus. Viorst, Judith. (J VIO)
*One Crazy Summer. Williams-Garcia, Rita. (J WIL)
Juvenile Nonfiction
Generally, these books will appeal to youth in elementary or middle school.
Young Zeus. Karas, G. Brian. (J 292 KAR)
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down. Pinkney, Andrea Davis.
(J 323.1 PIN)
*The Dark Game: True Spy Stories. Janeczko, Paul. (J 327.73 JAN)
*Disasters: Natural and Man-made Catastrophes Through the Centuries.
Guiberson, Brenda Z. (J 363.34 GUI)
Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge. Cole, Joanna.
(J 363.7387 COL)
*Global Warming. Simon, Seymour. (J 363.7387 SIM)
*We Want You To Know: Kids Talk About Bullying. Ellis, Deborah.
(J 371.58 ELL)
*Bullying and Me: Schoolyard Stories. Shapiro, Ouisie. (J 371.58 SHA)
You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fables to Read Together.
Hoberman, Mary Ann. (J 398.2 HOB)
Saving the Baghdad Zoo: A True Story of Hope and Heroes. Halls, Kelly.
(J 590.74 HAL)
How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships.
Jenkins, Steve. (J 591.785 JEN)
Insect Detective. Voake, Steve. (J 595.7 VOA)
*Lizards. Bishop, Nic. (J 597.95 BIS)
Alligators and Crocodiles. Gibbons, Gail. (J 597.98 GIB)
*The Chiru of High Tibet. Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. (J 599.646 MAR)
*Bones: Skeletons and How They Work. Jenkins, Steve. (J 611.7 JEN)
*In The Garden with Dr. Carver. Grigsby, Susan. (J 635 GRI)
*The Hive Detectives: Chronicles of a Honey Bee Catastrophe.
Burns, Loree Griffin. (J 638.1 BUR)
*Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. Montgomery, Sy.
(J 639.9 MON)
*Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom and Science. Aronson, Marc. (J 664 ARO)
Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum. McCarthy, Meghan. (J 664.6 MCC)
The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us.
Stone, Tanya Lee. (J 688.72 STO)
*Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. Hill, Laban Carrick. (J 738 HIL)
*Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring. Greenberg, Jan.
(J 792.8 GRE)
*Switching on the Moon: A First Book of Bedtime Poems. Yolen, Jane.
(J 808.81 YOL)
*Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night. Sidman, Joyce. (J 811 SID)
*Ubiquitous: Celebrating Nature's Survivors. Sidman, Joyce. (J 811 SID)
*Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse. Sinclair, Marilyn. (J 811 SIN)
Henry Aaron's Dream. Tavares, Matt. (J 920 AARON, H.)
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, and Treachery. Sheinkin, Steve. (J 920 ARNOLD, B.)
Lost Boy: The Story of the Man Who Created Peter Pan. Yolen, Jane.
(J 920 BARRIE, J.)
Black Elk's Vision: A Lakota Story. Nelson, S.D. (J 920 BLACK ELK)
Frederick Douglass: A Noble Life. Adler, David A. (J 920 DOUGLASS, F.)
*A Wizard from the Start: The Incredible Boyhood and Amazing Inventions of Thomas Edison. Brown, Don. (J 920 EDISON, T.)
*Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald. Orgill, Roxane.
(J 920 FITZGERALD, E.)
*Driven: A Photobiography of Henry Ford. Mitchell, Don. (J 920 FORD, H.)
*Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot".
Tunnell, Michael. (J 920 HALVORSEN, G.)
*Jimi: Sounds Like A Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix. Colio, Gary. (J 920 HENDRIX, J.)
*Black Jack: The Ballad of Jack Johnson. Smith, Jr., Charles R. (J 920 JOHNSON, J.)
My Uncle Martin's Big Heart. Watkins, Anna Faris. (J 920 KING, M.)
Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything. Byrd, Robert. (J 920 KUBLA KHAN)
*Lafayette and the American Revolution. Freedman, Russell.
(J 920 LAFAYETTE, M.)
Seeds of Change: Wangari's Gift to the World. Johnson, Jen.
(J 920 MAATHAI, W.)
*Odetta, the Queen of Folk. Alcorn, Stephen. (J 920 ODETTA)
Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schultz. Gherman, Beverly.
(J 920 SCHULTZ, C)
The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy). Kerley, Barbara.
(J 920 TWAIN, M.)
No Easy Way: The Story of Ted Williams and the Last .400 Season.
Bowen, Fred. (J 920 WILLIAMS, T.)
*Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network That Tried to
Destroy the Civil Rights Movement. Bowers, Rick. (J 923.1 BOW)
Every Bone Tells a Story: Hominin Discoveries, Deductions, and Debates.
Rubalcaba, Jill. (J 930.1 RUB)
*The War to End All Wars: World War I. Freedman, Russell. (J 940.3 FRE)
Unraveling Freedom: The Battle for Democracy on the Home Front
During World War I. Bausum, Ann. (J 940.373 BAU)
*The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution. Murphy, Jim. (J 973.3 MUR)
Lincoln's Flying Spies: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps.
Jarrow, Gail. (J 973.7 JAR)
Juvenile Graphic Novels
Generally, these books will appeal to youth in elementary school.
Zebrafish. Emerson, Sharon. (J GR NOVEL ZEB)
*The Little Prince. Sfar, Joann. (J GR NOVEL LIT)
*Meanwhile. Shiga, Jason. (J GR NOVEL MEA)
Young Adult (Teen) Fiction
Young Adult books generally appeal to youth in middle or high school. Some of the books may be located on the second floor of the library in the APL Zone, while others will be on the main floor. Please ask if you need help locating an item.
Forge. Anderson, Laurie Halse. (YA AND)
*Ship Breaker. Bacigalupi, Paolo. (YA BAC)
King of Ithaka. Barratt, Tracy. (YA BAR)
The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin. Berk, Josh. (YA BER)
White Cat. Black, Holly. (YA BLA)
Around the World in 100 Days. Blackwood, Gary. (YA BLA)
A Time of Miracles. Bondoux, Anne-Laure. (YA BON)
Tell Us We're Home. Budhos, Marina. (YA BUD)
*Heist Society. Carter, Ally. (YA CAR)
Stolen. Christopher, Lucy. (YA CHR)
Clockwork Angel. Clare, Cassandra. (YA CLA)
*Mockingjay. Collins, Suzanne. (YA COL)
Alchemy and Meggy Swann. Cushman, Karen. (YA CUS)
Annexed. Dogar, Sharon. (YA DOG)
Revolution. Donnelly, Jennifer. (YA DON)
The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. Engle, Margarita.
(YA ENG)
*The Lonely Hearts Club. Eulberg, Elizabeth. (YA EUL)
*Incarceron. Fisher, Catherine. (YA FIS)
The Half Life of Planets. Franklin, Emily. (YA FRA)
Reckless. Funke, Cornelia. (YA FUN)
Black Hole Sun. Gill, David. (YA GIL)
Ostrich Boys. Gray, Keith. (YA GRA)
*Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Green, John. (YA GRE)
13 Treasures. Harrison, Michelle. (YA HAR)
Guardian of the Dead. Healey, Karen. (YA HEA)
Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials. Hemphill, Stephanie.
(YA HEM)
The Left Hand of God. Hoffman, Paul. (YA HOF)
The Water Seeker. Holt, Kimberly Willis. (YA HOL)
Scarlett Fever. Johnson, Maureen. (YA JOH)
Enchanted Glass. Jones, Diane Wynne. (YA JON)
Please Ignore Vera Dietz. King, A.S. (YA KIN)
Stuck on Earth. Klass, David. (YA KLA)
*Griff Carver, Hallway Patrol. Kreig, Jim. (YA KRE)
*Jane. Lindner, April. (YA LIN)
*Finnikin of the Rock. Marchetta, Melina. (YA MAR)
Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. McBride, Lish. (YA MCB)
Trash. Mulligan, Andy. (YA MUL)
Lockdown. Myers, Walter Dean. (YA MYE)
*I Shall Wear Midnight. Pratchett, Terry. (YA PRA)
Heart of a Samurai. Preus, Margi. (YA PRE)
*Sorta Like a Rock Star. Quick, Matthew. (YA QUI)
Fever Crumb. Reeve, Philip. (YA REE)
The Things a Brother Knows. Reinhardt, Dana. (YA REI)
Three Rivers Rising: A Novel of the Johnstown Flood. Richards, Jame.
(YA RIC)
*The Lost Hero. Riordan, Rick. (YA RIO)
The Red Pyramid. Riordan, Rick. (YA RIO)
*The Cardturner. Sachar, Louis. (YA SAC)
Revolver. Sedgewick, Marcus (YA SED)
The Grimm Legacy. Shulman, Polly. (YA SHU)
*After Ever After. Sonnenblick, Jordan. (YA SON)
Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters. Standiford, Natalie. (YA STA)
The Ring of Solomon. Stroud, Jonathan. (YA STR)
Crossing the Tracks. Stuber, Barbara. (YA STU)
Nothing. Teller, Janne. (YA TEL)
*Toads and Diamonds. Tomlinson, Heather. (YA TOM)
A Conspiracy of Kings. Turner, Megan Whalen. (YA TUR)
Num8ers. Ward, Rachel. (YA WAR)
*Adios, Nirvana. Wesselhoeft, Conrad. (YA WES)
Countdown. Wiles, Deborah. (YA WIL)
The Freak Observer. Woolston, Blythe. (YA WOL)
Zombies Vs. Unicorns. compiled by Black, Holly. (YA ZOM)
Young Adult (Teen) Nonfiction
Young Adult books generally appeal to youth in Middle or High School. All Young Adult nonfiction is located in the APL Zone.
*They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group. Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. (YA 322.42 BAR)
Skywalkers: Mohawk Ironworkers Build the City. Weitzman, David.
(YA 690 WEI)
Spilling Ink. Mazer, Anne. (YA 808.3 MAZ)
*Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love. Mora, Pat. (YA 811.54 MOR)
Time You Let Me In: 25 Poets Under 25. (YA 811.6 TIM)
*Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing. Angel, Ann. (YA 920 JOPLIN, J.)
*Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan. Dau, John Bul.
(YA 962.4 DAU)
Young Adult Graphic Novels
Young Adult books generally appeal to youth in Middle or High School.
*A Home for Mr. Easter. Allen, Brooke A. (YA GR NOVEL ALL)
*The Marvelous Land of Oz. Baum, L. Frank.(YA GR NOVEL BAU)
*Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Dembicki, Matt. (YA GR NOVEL DEM)
Hereville: How Mirka Got her Sword. Deutsch, Barry. (YA GR NOVEL DEU)
Calamity Jack. Hale, Shannon. (YA GR NOVEL HAL)
Brain Camp. Kim, Susan. (YA GR NOVEL KIM)
The Sons of Liberty. Lagos, Alexander. (YA GR NOVEL LAG V1)
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty. Neri, G. (YA GR NOVEL NER)
*Athena Grey-Eyed Goddess. O'Connor, George. (YA GR NOVEL OCO V2)
*Smile. Telgemeier, Raina. (YA GR NOVEL TEL)
Ghostopolis. TenNapel, Doug. (YA GR NOVEL TEN)
*Foiled. Yolen, Jane. (YA GR NOVEL YOL)
We welcome emails about your favorite new books, title suggestions, or questions for staff. Email us at youthstaff@amespubliclibrary.org
