I’ve seen a number of “Best of” book lists this week, and I always wonder how my list would stack up against the others in any given year. This year, I used a friend’s recommendation to review my Goodreads.com list, and when I looked, I found many books that received my rare “5-Star” rating (maybe not-so-rare, then). Just a note, there happens to be 20 titles on the list. I didn’t limit the list to 20; it just worked out that way.
Other notes of importance for readers…
Before I show you my “Best of 2018” list, please know that I read many books this year, and that most of them I rated “4-Star” reads. I usually like the books I read (I don’t abandon often), so I have a tremendous amount of “recommended” books. I wrote a post, #MustReadin2018″ and many of the books I read are not on this “Best of” list. To narrow this “Best of” list, I chose only the “5-Star” books from my Goodreads account. Also, I limited this list to the “5-Star” books that were published in 2018. I categorized these titles by format, but I don’t have them in any particular order. Here they are:
Picture Books — Yes, this list is heavy on the picture books. I successfully used these books at school, and/or my PD sessions, “Picture Books are Perfect for Middle School” and I highly recommend them.
Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal 
The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson 
What If… by Samantha Berger 
Mixed: A Colorful Story by Arree Chung 
A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart 
The Rough Patch by Brian Lies 
The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs by Kate Messner 
Mission Defrostable by Josh Funk 
Drawn Together by Minh Lê 
The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds 
Got to Get to Bear’s by Brian Lies 
What Do You Do With a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan by Chris Barton 
Graphic Novels — Graphic novels are becoming a favorite in school and here at home. These two titles stayed with me.
Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson (illustrated by Emily Carroll) 
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka 
Professional Texts — I’m always reading to learn, and these PD books really did change the way I think.
Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension by Sara K. Ahmed 
Game Changer! Book Access for All Kids by Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp 
Fiction/YA/MG — These stories captured my heart and stuck with me.
Loser’s Bracket by Chris Crutcher 
In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisner 
Rebound by Kwame Alexander 
Have a Happy New Year! I look forward to reading with you in 2019.
Reading Teacher Writes 