Reading Olympics Books 2025-26

Across the desert

Bowling, Dusti,


While using a public library computer to find help for her mother who is addicted to pain medicine, twelve-year-old Jolene witnesses a friend's livestreamed crash-landing in the Arizona desert and embarks on a journey to rescue her.
Date Published:2022

Brother's keeper

Lee, Julie, (Children's fiction writer),


School Library Journal starred, June 2020. Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.), January 2021. Booklist starred, May 2020. Pub Weekly, June 2020. Kirkus Starred, April 2020. Bulletin (Center for Children's Books), July 2020. Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea's oppressive Communist regime on their own in 1950. Includes historical notes, photographs of the author's family, glossary of Korean words, and timeline.
Date Published:2022

School Library Journal starred, June 2020. Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.), January 2021. Booklist starred, May 2020. Pub Weekly, June 2020. Kirkus Starred, April 2020. Bulletin (Center for Children's Books), July 2020. Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea's oppressive Communist regime on their own in 1950. Includes historical notes, photographs of the author's family, glossary of Korean words, and timeline.

Date Published:2022

The campaign

Sales, Leila,


School Library Journal, July 2020. "Twelve-year-old Maddie runs her babysitter Janet's campaign to become mayor of their city and protect arts funding"--Provided by publisher.
Date Published:2020

Countdown : 2979 days to the Moon /

Slade, Suzanne,


School Library Journal starred, October 2018. Booklist starred, September 2018. Pub Weekly, July 2018. Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.), August 2018. Kirkus Review, July 2018. Library Media Connection, November 2018. "Free verse and . . . illustrations tell the true story of the American effort to land the first man on the Moon"--Amazon.
Date Published:2022

Farther than the moon

Lackey, Lindsay,


"Roaring Brook Press." Publishers Weekly, July 2023. Kirkus Review, August 2023. Thirteen-year-old Houston and his younger brother Robbie dream of becoming astronauts, but when Houston is accepted to the Junior Astronaut Recruitment Program he realizes that Robbie's dream may not be achievable due to his cerebral palsy, so he makes a new plan that shoots for the stars.
Date Published:2024

My brigadista year

Paterson, Katherine,


School Library Journal, October 2017. Publisher's Weekly, August 2017. Booklist, October 2017. Bulletin (Center for Children's books), November 2017. Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.), October 2017. Kirkus Review, September 2017. "[Thirteen-year-old Lora] a young Cuban teenager ... volunteers for Fidel Castro's national literacy campaign and travels into the impoverished countryside to teach others how to read"--Amazon.
Date Published:2017

School Library Journal, October 2017. Publisher's Weekly, August 2017. Booklist, October 2017. Bulletin (Center for Children's books), November 2017. Voice of Youth Advocates (V.O.Y.A.), October 2017. Kirkus Review, September 2017. "[Thirteen-year-old Lora] a young Cuban teenager ... volunteers for Fidel Castro's national literacy campaign and travels into the impoverished countryside to teach others how to read"--Amazon.

Date Published:2017

A night divided

Nielsen, Jennifer A.,


When the Berlin Wall went up, Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz were trapped on the eastern side, while her father, and her other brother Dominic were in the West, and now four years later, Gerta sees her father and realizes he wants her to risk her life trying to tunnel to freedom. When the Berlin Wall went up, Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz were trapped on the eastern side, while her father, and her other brother Dominic were in the West, and now four years later, Gerta sees her father and realizes he wants her to risk her life trying to tunnel to freedom.
Date Published:2018

When the Berlin Wall went up, Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz were trapped on the eastern side, while her father, and her other brother Dominic were in the West, and now four years later, Gerta sees her father and realizes he wants her to risk her life trying to tunnel to freedom. When the Berlin Wall went up, Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz were trapped on the eastern side, while her father, and her other brother Dominic were in the West, and now four years later, Gerta sees her father and realizes he wants her to risk her life trying to tunnel to freedom.

Date Published:2018

Omar rising

Saeed, Aisha,


"Omar must contend with being treated like a second-class citizen when he gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school"--Provided by publisher.
Date Published:2022