Brainstorm 226: Top 10s of 2020 Part 1: Newer Fiction

It’s time for this year’s Top 10s of 2020! 

For the next 4 weeks I will be sharing with you my favorite reads of the year (with one guest post from my amazing fellow school librarian, Sarah Foit). If you are looking for a good read for yourself or someone you love, these are some of my top recommendations! 

In general, I’ve put my favorite book(s) on top and then in descending order, but considering many of these books beat out 100s of others in the same category, that’s a minor thing at this point. They are all amazing in my opinion if they’ve made these lists. I’ve set limiters for certain lists to help myself narrow things down, and all of these are books I've read in the past 12 months. I've also limited it to books that are already in our libraries at ICS, or books that are in our next book order.

You can click on the titles to read my full review of each book.

Here’s the Top 10s of 2020s Schedule for this year:

Dec 4: Most recent fiction (Picture Books, Lower Grade, Middle Grade, YA, Adult, & Graphic Novels mostly published in 2019-2020)

Dec 11: Elementary librarian, Sarah Foit’s Top 10s

Dec 18: Nonfiction (Lower Grade, Middle Grade & YA, Adult, Christian, Graphic Novels)

Dec 24: Older fiction (More Picture Books, Lower Grade, Middle Grade, & YA mostly published 2018/2019 and older) & Asian Lit

In past years I have separated the Biographies and Christian fiction into separate lists, but this year I decided to just incorporate them in the other lists (except for picture book biographies). For those who are still interested in those specific genres, I’m marking these books with asterisks. (One for Biography, two for Christian fiction.)

Some notes on terms:

Lower Grade books are aimed at Pre-K-3 grade readers

Middle Grade books are aimed at 3rd-8th grade readers
Young Adult books are aimed at teen readers

Fiction Picture Books of 2020 

(limited to those published in 2020)

No Fuzzball! by Isabella Kung

The Barnabus Project by The Fan Brothers

The Farmer and the Monkey (The Farmer Books, #2) by Marla Frazee

We Will Rock Our Classmates (Penelope, #2) by Ryan T. Higgins

Natsumi’s Song of Summer by Robert Paul Weston, ill. by Misa Saburi

Don’t Forget to Remember by Ellie Holcomb, ill. by Kayla Harren**

What about Worms!? (Elephant & Piggie Like Reading, #7) by Ryan T. Higgins & Mo Willems

No More Naps! by Chris Grabenstein, ill. by Leo Espinosa

Take a Hike (Moby Shinobi and Toby Too, #2) by Luke Flowers

Chirri & Chirra Under the Sea (Chirri & Chirra) by Kaya Doi, translated by David Boyd

Lower Grade Fiction 2019-2020 

(limited to those published in 2019-2020, and only 1 per series)

Mr. Penguin and the Catastrophic Cruise (Mr. Penguin, #3) by Alex T. Smith

Tabby’s First Quest (Kitten Kingdom, #1) by Mia Bell

King & Kayla and the Case of the Unhappy Neighbor (King & Kayla, #6) by Dori Hillestad Butler, ill. by Nancy Meyers

The Snoring Princess (Once upon a Fairy Tale, #4) by Anna Staniszewski, ill. by Macky Pamintuan

Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade (Mindy Kim, #2) by Lyla Lee, ill. by Dung Ho

Recipe for Disaster (Franny K. Stein, Mad Scientist, #9) by Jim Benton

The Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle (Princess in Black, #7) by Shannon & Dean Hale, ill. by LeUyen Pham

Jasper & Scruff (Jasper & Scruff, #1) by Nicola Colton

The Secret of Shadow Lake (Creature Campers, #1) by Joe McGee, ill. by Bea Tormo

Frost Friends Forever (Diary of an Ice Princess, #2) by Christina Soontornvat, ill. by Barbara Szepesi Szucs

Middle Grade Fiction 2020 

(limited to those published in 2020)

The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman

Glitch by Laura Martin

Hollowpox: the Hunt for Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #3) by Jessica Townsend

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found (Vanderbeekers, #4) by Karina Yan Glaser

Tyrannosaurus Wrecks (FunJungle, #6) by Stuart Gibbs

The Secret of White Stone Gate (Black Hollow Lane, #2) by Julia Nobel

In the Red by Christopher Swiedler

City Spies (City Spies, #1) by James Ponti

Really Truly (Pumpkin Falls, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

Young Adult Fiction 2019-2020 

(limited to those published in 2019-2020)

In the Hall with the Knife (Clue Mystery, #1) by Diana Peterfreund

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

Cry of the Raven (The Ravenwood Saga, #3) by Morgan L. Busse**

The Heartwood Crown (The Sunlit Lands, #2) by Matt Mikalatos**

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Allies by Allan Gratz

Undaunted (Fetch, #2) by Kat Falls

Shatter City (Impostors, #2) by Scott Westerfeld

Supernova (Renegades, #3) by Marissa Meyer

Adult Fiction 

(limited to 1 per author, and 1 per series)

Oathbringer (Stormlight Archive, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes**

The Cabinets of Barnaby Mayne by Elsa Hart

A Gilded Lady (Hope and Glory, #2) by Elizabeth Camden**

Storing Up Trouble (American Heiresses, #3) by Jen Turano**

Through Chaos (The Chronicles of Sarco, #3) by Joshua A. Johnston**

A Name Unknown (Shadows over England, #1) by Roseanna M. White**

Memories of Glass by Melanie Dobson**

Cove by Cynan Jones

Wonton Terror (A Noodle Shop Mystery, #4) by Vivien Chien

Lower Grade Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga

Happy Narwhalidays (Narwhal & Jelly, #5) by Ben Clanton

Adventures of the Super Zeroes (Bots, #7) by Russ Bolts, ill. by Jay Cooper

Bo and the Dragon Pup (Unicorn Diaries, #2) by Rebecca Elliott

Bad Kitty Joins the Team (Bad Kitty, #13) by Nick Bruel

A Good Team (Unicorn and Yeti, 2) by Heather Ayris Burnell, ill. by Hazel Quintanilla

Fancy Friends (BunBun & BonBon, #1) by Jess Keating

Noodleheads Lucky Day (Noodleheads, #5) by Todd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, and Mitch Weiss, ill. by Todd Arnold

Cubs in the Tub: the True Story of the Bronx Zoo’s First Woman Zookeeper by Candace Fleming, ill. by Julie Downing*

Who Needs a Checkup? (Hello, Hedgehog, #3) by Norm Feuti

Let’s Play, Crabby (A Crabby Book, #2) by Jonathan Fenske

Middle Grade Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga 

(limited to fiction)

Nico Bravo and the Cellar Dwellers (Nico Bravo, #2) by Mike Cavallaro

Bird & Squirrel All or Nothing (Bird & Squirrel, #6) by James Burks

Bodie Troll by Jay Fosgitt

Field Trip (Sanity & Tallulah, #2) by Molly Brooks

Kodi by Jared Cullum

The Big Break by Mark Tatulli

Queen of the Nile (Cleopatra in Space, #6) by Mike Maihack

Virtual Unicorn Experience (Phoebe and Her Unicorn, #12) by Dana Simpson

The Missing Dragon (Student Ambassador, #1) by Ryan Estrada, ill. by Axur Eneas

Orientation (Marvel: Avengers Assembly, #1) by Preeti Chhibber, ill. by James Lancett

YA & Adult Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga 

(limited to fiction)

Beyond the Clouds, Vol. 1 by Nicke

Strange Planet (Strange Planet, #1) by Nathan W. Pyle

Cat’s Café by Matt Tarpley

Invader Zim Vol. 8 by Sam Logan, Eric Trueheart, Kate Sherron, et al

Silver Spoon Vol. 3 by Hiromu Arakawa, translated by Amanda Haley

The Promised Neverland Vol. 1 by Kaiu Shirai, ill. by Posuka Demizu

Space Boy 7 by Stephen McCranie

Cells at Work Vol. 3 by Akane Shimizu

Heroes of the Round Table (Marvel Rising) by Nilah Magruder, ill. by Roberto di Salvo

Animal Farm based on the novel by George Orwell, adapted/ill. by Odyr

*Biography
**Christian fiction