Sonderbooks

Home Stand-Outs Blog Gallery Info

2020 Stand-outs

Announcing the 2020 Sonderbooks Stand-outs!

This marks my 20th list of Sonderbooks Stand-outs! These are my personal favorites from all the books I read in a year. I chose the ones that touched my heart and stand out in my mind after a year of reading. Find out more about my reading year on my blog. All these books are highly recommended! These are books I love, and I hope you'll find some you love, too.



General Nonfiction
Know My Name
  1. Know My Name
    by Chanel Miller
  2. My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me
    by Jason B. Rosenthal
  3. Me and White Supremacy
    by Layla F. Saad
  4. Keep Moving
    by Maggie Smith
  5. The Earth In Her Hands
    by Jennifer Jewell
  6. The Hidden Life of Trees
    by Peter Wohlleben
  7. So You Want to Talk About Race
    by Ijeoma Oluo
  8. The Orphaned Adult
    by Alexander Levy
  9. Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds
    by Ian Wright
  10. Beneath the Tamarind Tree
    by Isha Sesay

Christian Nonfiction
Jesus Undefeated
  1. Jesus Undefeated
    by Keith Gilesr
  2. Shameless
    by Nadia Bolz-Weber
  3. Grace Saves All
    by David Artman
  4. A More Christlike Way
    by Bradley Jersak
  5. Try Softer
    by Aundi Kolber

Longer Nonfiction for Children and Teens
Stamped
  1. Stamped
    by Jason Reynolds
  2. An Indigenous People's History of the United States
    by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
    adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese
  3. Infinite Hope
    by Ashley Bryan
  4. Almost American Girl
    by Robin Ha
  5. Playlist
    by James Rhodes
  6. The Magnificent Migration
    by Sy Montgomery

Fiction
A Dance with Fate
  1. A Dance with Fate
    by Juliet Marillier
  2. Where the Crawdads Sing
    by Delia Owens
  3. The Little Paris Bookshop
    by Nina George
  4. The Water Dancer
    by Ta-Nahesi Coates
  5. The Dutch House
    by Anne Patchett
  6. The Queen of Sorrow
    by Sarah Beth Durst
  7. The Testaments
    by Margaret Atwood


Children's Fiction
Fighting Words
  1. Fighting Words
    by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
  2. Prairie Lotus
    by Linda Sue Park
  3. The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
    by Dan Gemeinhart
  4. Wink
    by Rob Harrell
  5. Monster and Boy
    by Hannah Barnaby
  6. A Long Road on a Short Day
    by Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Stickney
  7. Catherine's War
    by Julia Billet
  8. Before the Ever After
    by Jacqueline Woodson
  9. A Home for Goddesses and Dogs
    by Leslie Connor
  10. Stepping Stones
    by Lucy Knisley
  11. Mañanaland
    by Pam Muñoz Ryan

General Children's Nonfiction
When Stars Are Scattered
  1. When Stars Are Scattered
    by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
  2. Create Your Own Secret Language
    by David J. Peterson
    illustrated by Ryan Goldsberry
  3. Sounds All Around
    by James Chapman
  4. The Superpower Field Guide
    Moles
    by Rachel Poliquin
    illustrated by Nicholas John Frith
  5. Overview
    by Benjamin Grant with Sandra Markle
  6. Can You Crack the Code?
    by Ella Schwartz
    illustrated by Lily Williams

Teen Speculative Fiction
Return of the Thief
  1. Return of the Thief
    by Megan Whalen Turner
  2. Igniting Darkness
    by Robin LaFevers
  3. The Queen of Nothing
    by Holly Black
  4. Red Hood
    by Elana K. Arnold
  5. Elatsoe
    by Darcie Little Badger
  6. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
    by Garth Nix
  7. The Guinevere Deception
    by Kiersten White
  8. Cemetery Boys
    by Aiden Thomas
  9. A Phoenix First Must Burn
    edited by Patrice Caldwell
  10. Burn
    by Patrick Ness

General Teen Fiction
The Bridge
  1. The Bridge
    by Bill Konigsberg
  2. We Used to Be Friends
    by Amy Spalding
  3. Clap When You Land
    by Elizabeth Acevedo
  4. Hand on the Wall
    by Maureen Johnson
  5. Even If We Break
    by Marieke Nijkamp
  6. The Vanishing Stair
    by Maureen Johnson
  7. The Edge of Anything
    by Nora Shalaway Carpenter
  8. Dangerous Alliance
    by Jennieke Cohen
  9. This Is My Brain In Love
    by I. W. Gregorio
  10. The Light in Hidden Places
    by Sharon Cameron

Fiction Picture Books
Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away
  1. Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away
    by Meg Medina
    illustrated by Sonia Sánchez
  2. Lift
    by Minh Le
    illustrated by Dan Santat
  3. Rita and Ralph's Rotten Day
    by Carmen Agra Deedy
    illustrated by Pete Oswald
  4. In My Garden
    by Charlotte Zolotow
    illustrated by Philip Stead
  5. Madame Badobedah
    by Sophie Dahl
    illustrated by Lauren O'Hara
  6. Every Color of Light
    by Hiroshi Osada
    illustrated by Ryoji Arai
  7. I Can Be Anything
    by Shinsuke Yoshitake
  8. The Blue House
    by Phoebe Wahl
  9. Swashby and the Sea
    by Beth Ferry
    illustrated by Juana Martinez


Nonfiction Picture Books
Honeybee
  1. Honeybee
    by Candace Fleming
    and Eric Rohmann
  2. The Fabled Life of Aesop
    by Ian Lendler
    illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
  3. The Boy Who Dreamed of Infinity
    by Amy Alznauer
    illustrated by Daniel Miyares
  4. The Imaginaries
    by Emily Winfield Martin
  5. Girl on a Motorcycle
    by Amy Novesky
    illustrated by Julie Morstad
  6. Child of St. Kilda
    by Beth Waters