Staff Faves 2025: Kids Chapter Books, Graphic Novels & Nonfiction
Every year we ask our staff across the library system for their favorite books published in a given year. Enjoy this list of some of our favorite chapter books, graphic novels and nonfiction books for kids! Annotations are by staff or adapted from review sources as noted. (Created November 2025)
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Zero! the Number That Almost Wasn't
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. This fun and fascinating story traces the lengthy path from “nothing” to a functioning zero. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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To Walk the Sky
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. Buckley (Kahnawá:ke Mohawk) and Lewis (Lenni-Lenape) pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of Iroquois steelworkers. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Cabin Head and Tree Head
GRAPHIC NOVEL. Cabin Head and Tree Head are best friends who live in a world where everyone sports something on their head. A wildly original tale with the buddy-based charm of Frog and Toad but imbued with a wacky energy all its own. [Kirkus]
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: All copies in use
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Hurricane
PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION. Caldecott Medalist Chin braids together three stories: how hurricanes form, how scientists track their potential impact, and how the people of Cape Hatteras, a barrier island off the North Carolina coast, prepare for landfall. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Queen Bees of Tybee County
CHAPTER BOOK. Chinese American Derrick explores his queer identity by competing in a small-town beauty pageant where he shares his new love of drag with his family and friends. [NoveList Plus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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The Black Mambas
NONFICTION: On patrol with an all-women unit of rangers who work to protect the rhinos, pangolins, and other rare wildlife of South Africa’s Olifants West Nature Reserve from poachers. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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What Fell From the Sky
CHAPTER BOOK. Pineda, a Cuban American boy, must join forces with his friends to help reunite an alien girl with her parents while their Texas town is swarming with military officers, in a story based on true events from 1950s America. [NoveList Plus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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My Presentation Today Is About the Anaconda
NONFICTION. Hilarity ensues when...a variety of animals highlight other species in a version of class presentations. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: All copies in use
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The Strongest Heart
CHAPTER BOOK. A 13-year-old boy struggles with the pain, anger, and sadness of living with his father, who struggles with mental illness. [Kirkus]
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Dracula's Brunch Club
GRAPHIC NOVEL. If there’s one thing that can bridge the human/undead divide, it’s donuts. A friendly, funny vampire story with a little bit of bite. [Kirkus]
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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