2026 Caudill Book Award | Oak Park Public Library

Author

Baptist, Kelly J

Description

"In this dual-POV novel in verse, Black seventh graders Ebony "Eb" Wilson and De'Kari "Flow" Flood contemplate the conflict that sees them both suspended from school. A ten-day suspension has tweens De'Kari and Ebony seeing the world with a fresh perspective. Don't miss this poignant novel in verse from the award-winning author of Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero. Two kids. One fight. No one thinks they're wrong."-- Publisher description. Ebony and De'Kari...

2) Simon sort of says

Author

Description

"Simon O'Keeffe's biggest claim to fame should be the time his dad accidentally gave a squirrel a holy sacrament. Or maybe the alpaca disaster that went viral on YouTube. But the story the whole world wants to tell about Simon is the one he'd do anything to forget: the story in which he's the only kid in his class who survived a school shooting. Two years after the infamous event, twelve-year-old Simon and his family move to the National Quiet Zone...

3) Final season

Author

Description

From New York Times bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green comes a gripping, deeply personal standalone football novel about a star middle school quarterback faced with a life-changing decision after his dad is diagnosed with ALS. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica! With two all-star college football players for brothers and a former Atlanta Falcons defensive lineman for a father, it is only natural for sixth-grade quarterback Benjamin Redd...

4) The Bellwoods Game

Author

Krampien, Celia

Description

A group of sixth graders participating in an annual Halloween tradition to pacify the ghost of Abigail Snook quickly realize that the Bellwoods contains an even bigger threat to their town.

Author

Description

"July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren't real. So she pretends they don't exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it's Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He's a wandering soul wavering between life and death. As the new friends...

6) A work in progress

Author

Lerner, Jarrett

Description

Will is the only round kid in a school full of string beans. So he hides in baggy jeans and oversized hoodies, in the back row during class, and anywhere but the cafeteria during lunch. But shame isn't the only feeling that dominates Will's life. He's also got a crush on a girl named Jules who knows he doesn't have a chance with, string beans only date string beans, but he can't help wondering what if? Will's best shot at attracting Jules's attention...

7) The Swifts, a dictionary of scoundrels

Author

Series

Swifts (Series) volume 1

Description

"On the day they are born, every Swift child is brought before the sacred Family Dictionary. They are given a name, and a definition. A definition it is assumed they will grow up to match. Meet Shenanigan Swift: Little sister. Risk-taker. Mischief-maker. Shenanigan is getting ready for the big Swift Family Reunion and plotting her next great scheme: hunting for Grand-Uncle Vile's long-lost treasure. She's excited to finally meet her arriving relatives...

Author

Maldonado, Torrey

Series

Thorndike Press youth large print middle reader

Description

Twelve-year-old Trevor has an adult problem to deal with: how to protect himself, his sisters, and his mother from his abusive stepfather, who is currently in prison. He takes up boxing, figuring if he learns how to build himself up, nobody can knock him down. Trev is a talented artist-- and others are advising him to follow that path to the future, rather than fighting. When the boyfriend of one of his sisters becomes disrespectful and threatens...

Author

Marsh, Katherine

Series

Myth of monsters volume 1
The myth of monsters

Description

"A descendant of Medusa, Ava is sent to the Accademia del Forte in Venice after an altercation with a classmate, where she must learn to control her emotions, especially when she unearths a terrible secret that could change the world forever"-- Provided by publisher.

10) Mexikid: a graphic memoir

Author

Description

"Pedro Martin's grown up in the U.S. hearing stories about his legendary abuelito, but during a family road trip to Mexico, he connects with his grandfather and learns more about his own Mexican identity in this moving and hilarious graphic memoir"-- Provided by publisher.

Author

Description

Newbery Honor Book
Pura Belpré Author Award
Pura Belpré Illustrator Award
Odyssey Honor Audiobook

A poignant, hilarious, and unforgettable graphic memoir—adapted for audio—about a Mexican-American boy’s family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico to live with them.
Pedro Martín has grown up hearing stories...

12) Mexikid en Español

Author

Description

"Pedro/Peter Mart̕n es un Mexikid, o un nįo que naci̤ en Estados Unidos de padres mexicanos: un nįo que no pertenece a ninguno de los dos lugares. As̕ que no sabe qǔ pensar cuando su padre anuncia que toda la familia (¡11 personas!) se apretar̀ dentro del Winnebago para manejar 2,000 millas hasta M̌xico con una misi̤n: traer a su misterioso abuelito de la era de la Revoluci̤n Mexicana a vivir con ellos. Esta divertid̕sima memoria gr̀fica...

13) Mexikid: a graphic memoir

Author

Description

An unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican-American boy's family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico to live with them that National Book Award Finalist Victoria Jamieson calls "one of those books that kids will pass to their friends as soon as they have finished it." Pedro Martin has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito--his legendary crime-fighting, grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican...

14) Don't want to be your monster

Author

Description

Adam and Victor are brothers who have the usual fights over the remote, which movie to watch and whether or not it's morally acceptable to eat people. Well, not so much eat... just drink a little blood. They're vampires, hiding in plain sight with their eclectic yet loving family. Ten-year-old Adam knows he has a better purpose in his life (well, immortal life) than just drinking blood, but fourteen-year-old Victor wants to accept his own self-image...

15) D&D dungeon club: 1, Roll call

Author

Ostertag, Molly Knox

Series

D&D Dungeon Club volume 1

Description

"Middle school is a dungeon ... At least, that's how Jess sees it. Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little kid games of make-believe, and more recently with the fantasy roleplaying game, Dungeons & Dragons. When they play, Olivia runs the game as Dungeon Master and Jess is the solo party member, playing a take-no-prisoners,...

16) dungeons and dragons dungeon club roll call

This entry no longer exists in the catalog

Author

Ostertag, Molly Knox

Series

Dungeon Club
Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Club

Description

From New York Times bestselling author Molly Knox Ostertag and critically acclaimed illustrator Xanthe Bouma comes an all-new Dungeons & Dragons graphic novel series!

Middle school is a dungeon... At least, that's how Jess sees it.

Luckily, she and her best friend Olivia know how to escape into the sprawling worlds of their own imaginations. The two friends have always loved making up stories, first with little

...

18) The fire, the water, and Maudie McGinn

Author

Description

"Maudie McGinn has a secret. It's a big, scary one. And right before Maudie, who's autistic, travels to spend the summer with her dad, her mom makes her promise not to reveal it. As Mom puts it: "A promise is a promise, and must be kept." When a wildfire forces Maudie and her dad to flee to the small beach town where her dad grew up, Maudie's summer is turned upside down. Yet she becomes captivated by the surfers she sees each morning. And as Maudie...

19) World made of glass

Author

Description

"Iris opens her eyes to hard truths and the power of her voice when her father dies of AIDS in 1987"-- Provided by publisher.

20) Impossible escape: a true story of survival and heroism in Nazi Europe

Author

Sheinkin, Steve

Description

"From award-winning author Steve Sheinkin, a true story of two Jewish teenagers racing against time during the Holocaust-one in hiding in Hungary, and the other in Auschwitz, plotting escape"-- Provided by publisher. It is 1944. A teenager named Rudolph (Rudi) Vrba has made up his mind. After barely surviving nearly two years in the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, he knows he must escape. Even if death is more likely. Rudi has learned the...