The top characters of Asian descent list is a new thing for this year. I selected them based on how well they represent their culture, give readers of that culture someone to cheer for in literature, and how much appeal they have to draw in readers who then get to know that culture better.
I saved the YA, MG, and Picture Book lists until the last because they were the hardest to narrow down. I read hundreds of books in each of those categories each year (especially the picture books). There are several amazing books which didn’t make this post because I had just too many great reads this year in these divisions. The 2018 Picture Books list actually ended up consisting of all 5 star review books, and I had to cut some 5 star books in making that list. (That's something that doesn't often happen. Usually there are 2-5 5 star reviews in each list at most.) There are also several great books that came out in 2018 which I just didn't have the chance to read in 2018 (particularly those which came out end of October through December). That is why many of these lists are narrowed down to books published in 2017-2018 or 2016-2018; I'm catching up on the books I didn't get to in the year they came out.
That said, the books that appear in these lists may have been published in any year unless I needed to narrow down my choice. In that case, I stated the limiters I used by the heading (and the publication year indicates 1st English publication anywhere in the world). My favorite choices are listed first and then it kinda sorta trickles down in descending order, but many of them I'd have trouble choosing between so it is more like some absolute favorites at the top and a 6-8 place tie for runners up. In the Top Characters section, I've listed the character or real person from the book after the title. Click on the titles of the books to read my reviews and see any content notes. Enjoy!
Dec 7: Top Adult Fiction, Top YA & Adult Nonfiction, Top YA & Adult Graphic Novels, Top Picture Book Biographies, Top Leveled Readers, Top Christian Nonfiction
Dec 14: Guest Post: Ms Sarah Foit’s Top 10s of 2018
Dec 21: Top Biographies, Top LG/MG Nonfiction, Top LG/MG Graphic Novels, Top LG Fiction, Top Creators of Asian Descent
This Week: Top YA Fiction, Top MG Fiction, Top Fiction Picture Books, Top Asian Characters
Clarification of terms: Lower Grade (LG) refers to Kindergarten-2nd Grade interest level books typically but I'm including Preschool in this division too, Middle Grade (MG) refers to 3rd-8th grade interest level books, and Young Adult (YA) refers to teenage interest level books. Some books will appeal to multiple divisions. For those books I picked the age division I felt it most appealed to.
Top Scifi & Fantasy Young Adult Fiction
(limited to only 1 per series)
Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe, #2) by Neal Shusterman
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda
2 Fuzzy 2 Furious (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, #2) by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Skyward (Skyward, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
Mark of the Raven (The Ravenwood Saga, #1) by Morgan L. Busse
Renegades (Renegades, #1) by Marissa Meyer
Arabella the Traitor of Mars (Adventures of Arabella Ashby, #3) by David D. Levine
Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands, #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
Top Historical & Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
Suitors and Sabotage by Cindy Anstey
Duels and Deception by Cindy Anstey
From Twinkle with Love by Sandhya Menon
Lost Girl of Astor Street by Stephanie Morrill
Carols and Chaos by Cindy Anstey
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
The Leaving by Tara by Tara Altebrando
Auma’s Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo
Hurricane Dancers: the First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle
Top Scifi & Fantasy Middle Grade Fiction
(limited to 2017 & 2018, and only 1 book per series)
Grump: the (Fairly) True Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Liesl Shurtliff
Time Jumpers (Five Kingdoms, #5) by Brandon Mull
Beanstalker and other Hilarious Scarytales by Kiersten White
Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star, #1) by Kevin Emerson
Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #1) by Jessica Townsend
The Serpent’s Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, #1) by Sayantani DasGupta
How to Tame a Human Tornado (The Genius Factor, #3) by Paul Tobin
Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet, #1) by Roshani Chokshi
The Monster’s Daughter (Ministry of SUITs, #2) by Paul Gamble
Crash Course (Project Terra, #1) by Landry Q. Walker
Top Historical & Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction
(limited to 2017 & 2018)
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (Vanderbeekers, #1) by Karina Yan Glaser
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Trapped! (Framed, #3) by James Ponti
Rebound (The Crossover, #0.5) by Kwame Alexander
Sunny (Track, #3) by Jason Reynolds
Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn
Spy School Secret Service (Spy School, #5) by Stuart Gibbs
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
Mr. Lemoncello’s Great Library Race (Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, #3) by Chris Grabenstein
Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty
Top Fiction Picture Books of 2018
(limited to 2018)
Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies, ill. by Josée Bisaillon
Drawn Together by Minh Lê, ill. by Dan Santat
Diva Delores and the Opera Mouse by Laura Sassi, ill. by Rebecca Gerlings
Ocean Meets Sky by the Fan Brothers
Pearl by Molly Idle
A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano, ill. by Lane Smith
Time for Bed, Miyuki by Roxane Marie Galliez, ill. by Seng Soun Ratanavanh
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, ill. by Rafael López
I Walk with Vanessa: a Story about a Simple Act of Kindness by Kerascoët
Santa Bruce (Bruce, #5) by Ryan T. Higgins
Top Fiction Picture Books of 2017
(limited to 2017)
The Book of Gold by Bob Staake
The First Journey by Phùng Nguyên Quang & Huỳnh Kim Liên
The Bad Seed by Jory John, ill. by Pete Oswald
A Cooked-up Fairytale by Penny Parker Klostermann, ill. by Ben Mantle
The Great Puppy Invasion by Alastair Heim, ill. by Kim Smith
Sam, the Most Scaredy-Cat Kid in the Whole World (Leonardo, #2) by Mo Willems
This Book Will Not Be Fun by Cirocco Dunlap, ill. by Olivier Tallec
Bizzy Mizz Lizzie by David Shannon
Be a Star, Wonder Woman! by Michael Dahl, ill. by Omar Lozano
We Are Brothers, We Are Friends by Alexandra Penfold, ill. by Eda Kaban
Top Characters of South & Southeast Asian Descent
(limited to 2017 & 2018, may include real people in biographies)
Manjhi Moves a Mountain by Nancy Churnin, ill. by Danny Popovici
Real Person: Manjhi
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Character: Amal
Ten Cents a Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies, ill. by Josée Bisaillon
Character: Mother
The Serpent’s Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, #1) by Sayantani DasGupta
Character: Kiran
From Twinkle with Love by Sandhya Menon
Character: Twinkle (with her grandmother a close 2nd)
Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Quartet, #1) by Roshani Chokshi
Character: Aru
Arabella the Traitor of Mars (Adventures of Arabella Ashby, #3) by David D. Levine
Character: Captain Singh
Drawn Together by Minh Lê, ill. by Dan Santat
Character: Grandfather
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
Character: Nisha
Mela and the Elephant by Dow Phumiruk, ill. by Ziyue Chen
Character: Mela
Top Characters of East Asian Descent
(limited to 2017 & 2018, may include real people in biographies)
Where’s Halmoni? by Julie Kim
Character: Halmoni
Jasmine Toguchi, Drummer Girl (Jamine Toguchi, #3) by Debbi Michiko Florence, ill. by Elizabet Vukovic
Character: Jasmine Toguchi
No Kimchi for Me by Aram Kim
Character: Yoomi
Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
Character: Tash
Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn
Character: Krista (though her grandmother is also a close 2nd)
Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines: Designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by Jeanne Walker Harvey, ill. by Dow Phumrik
Real Person: Maya Lin
Rebel Seoul (Rebel Seoul, #1) by Axie Oh
Character: Lee Jaewon
Giant Spider & Me: a Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 1 by Kikori Morino
Character: Nagi
Dumpling Dreams: How Joyce Chen Brought the Dumpling from Beijing to Cambridge by Carrie Clickard, ill. by Katy Wu
Real Person: Joyce Chen
Time for Bed, Miyuki by Roxane Marie Galliez, ill. by Seng Soun Ratanavanh
Character: Grandfather
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