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Age 3: What's Your Sound Hound the Hound?
Willems, M. (2010). What’s your sound hound the hound? New York: Balzer + Bray. In a great read-aloud books for small children, Cat the Cat asks her animal friends to make their sounds, including a bunny that doesn’t have a sound and gets a hug instead. -
Age 5: Each Kindness
Woodson, J. (2012). Each kindness. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books. Maya shuns a new girl at school for her poverty until her teacher gives a lesson on kindness, but it’s too late for Maya to make things right. -
Age 6: Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
Williams, M. (2005). Brothers in hope. New York: Lee & Low Books. A Sudanese boy named Garang must leave his home after his village is destroyed. He travels with the Lost Boys to find a place of refuge and a new life. -
Age 9: The Higher Power of Lucky
Patron, S. (2006). The higher power of lucky. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. A ten-year-old girl named Lucky lives in the California desert with her legal guardian, Bridgette and is searching for her Higher Power. When she thinks her guardian is moving away from her, she decides to run away from her 43-person town. -
Age 10: Feathers
Woodson, J. (2007). Feathers. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. When a new boy comes to school who looks unlike anyone from her side of town, Frannie starts to see the complications of her life from a different perspective. -
Age 11: When you Reach Me
Stead, R. (2009). When you reach me. New York: Wendy Lamb Books. While on the brink of losing her best friend, twelve-year-old Miranda begins finding anonymous notes written to her in strange places. She addresses the book to this mysterious person and but the reader doesn’t figure out who the author of these notes are until the very end. -
Age 12: One for the Murphys
Hunt, L. (2012). One for the Murphys. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books. Carley, a victim of abuse and a teen in foster care, attempts to figure out the meaning of family and how she fits into that definition. -
Age 15: Out of the Easy
Sepetys, R. (2013). Out of the easy. New York: Philomel Books. Living in New Orleans in the 1950s, Josie desires more than the life her prostitute mother raised her in. She fights to make her dreams come true despite being caught in the middle of a mysterious murder. -
Age 16: The Fault in our Stars
Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton. Hazel meets Augustus, a fellow cancer patient who, like her, does not want to be defined by his terminal illness. The relationship they form is exceptional, forever changing both of their lives. -
Age 18: Fearless
Blehm, E (2012). Fearless. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook Press. A memoir about a courageous young man named Adam Brown, who overcame his troubled past by joining the Navy and earning a position on Seal Team Six. Brown’s life is cut short when he dies fighting in the War on Terror, a heartbreaking conclusion to a true story about forgiveness and redemption.
