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Children's and Young Adult Literature: TDRL Book Lists

This guide is a starting place for exploring children's and young adult literature

Staff Book Lists

The booklists on this page were compiled by library staff at the TDRL and can be used as a starting place to explore various juvenile and young adult titles related to specific themes. 

Displays at the TDRL

Our September 2023 Curated Book Display celebrates your #RightToRead.  The TDRL, as a branch of UNLV's Unversity Libraries proclaims your right to read these books because these stories and these voices matter.

Mythology, be it historical, secular, or a living religion, impacts everyone. 

Our August display highlights a variety of traditional stories, celebrates their richness and diversity through a variety of interpretations, and provides a doorway into a powerful force that shapes us on a personal and cultural level.

This display was primarily curated by TDRL Student Worker Laura Solsona Plazola, and was inspired by her personal interest in the subject and her studies in Anthropology 420: Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.

In July 2023 we are using our shadowbox display area to showcase a display curated by TDRL student assistant, Laura Solsona Plazola.

Mental health and wellbeing are as important as physical health.  Minorities face additional barriers of stigma and racism when dealing with mental health issues.  These books were chosen to represent part of what the mental health experience can look like for minority groups.

In today's diverse and evolving world, it is vital that young people engage with books and media that help them better understand the world around them, so they can make informed choices and learn the fundamentals of being a good citizen. Our July 2023 Curated Book Display focuses on selections from the Notable Social Studies Trade Books, an invaluable resource for educators, mentors, and parents. 

Join the TDRL for a diverse celebration of Pride Month!  Be it fiction, non-fiction, graphic novels, books for older readers, books to share with a toddler, we have something for everybody to enjoy on our June Curated Book Display!

For our May display, we are celebrating Asian-American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!  The books in this list spotlights are but a fraction of our books by and about AAPI peoples.

Join the TDRL for an April long observation of Earth day.

Climate change is real, and in addition to the need to heed the science, it is also an issue of creating a more just society for all.  

But, knowledge is power, and this month's books will help empower the next generation to step up.

Our March 2023 display celebrates Woman's History Month through the lives of women and girls who worked to open doors of educational opportunity through activism and innovation.  

Leadership is the art of moving people to act towards a common goal through innovation and inspiration.  In February of 2023, the TDRL looked at Black History Month through the lens of Excellence in Leadership.

For November-December of 2022, we are taking an extended look at STEM, and the ways in which Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics have made our world a better and more just place, intersected with the world of Art, and even inspired the next round of innovations and creative insights by showing what is possible when received wisdom is questioned and not blindly accepted.   

The books chosen for our November virtual curated display represent only a fraction of the books by and about Indigenous Americans available at the TDRL.  We hope they inspire you to learn more about the diversity and richness of America's native peoples.

This year for Teen'tober, we spotlight young adult books and graphic novels that have won awards or are nominated for the Teens Top Ten booklist.  We've got a selection of 16 must-reads perfect for the teen in your life ... or for anybody who is young at heart.

You (and every other person) have the fundamental Right to Read a diverse and inclusive variety of books, including books that may frighten, anger, or upset you, books that contain vital truths, books that reflect you, books that open doors to new points of view, books that spark joy and books that empower you to face an ever changing world.  You have the #RightToRead; come celebrate with us all September long!

Our August 2022 display turned Book Lovers Day into a month long celebration of the ways in which books and reading can shape our dreams and open doors to change in our lives.

Our July 2022 display spotlights titles from our collection that recieved an Eisner Nomination.  Named after noted creator, critic, and advocate Will Eisner, the Eisners are one of the most prestigious awards in the industry, and are considered the "Oscars of Comics".  The books on this display represent the diversity of talent and creative ideas in comics.

Our virtual book display for June-July 2022 spotlights Crown Day, July 3rd.  California was the first state (July 3, 2019) to pass the CROWN Act, forbidding discrimination based based on wearing natural afro-centric hair styles such as afros, locs, twists, box braids, or cornrows.  Nevada signed the CROWN Act into law in June 2021.  The items on this list are but a sample of the books TDRL has affirming diverse beauty and cultures. We invite you to celebrate "the beauty, the splendor, the wonder" contained in these books with a young reader in your life.

To learn more about the CROWN Act, visit: https://www.thecrownact.com/

 

Join us for a wide ranging celebration of Pride!  Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to what makes (and keeps) our country great, and this month's display has books for readers of all ages and tastes:  fantasy, superheroes, slice of life, fiction, and non-fiction.  Whatever book you choose, read it with Pride!

Our May 2022 Curated Book Display focuses on authors attending the 2022 Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature.  This diverse group of creators and their works reflect the needs of contemporary students and educators for stories that inspire, challenge, and delight.