2025 Global Reads for 1st - 6th grade

Updated May 20, 2025
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Daughters of the lamp
Lewers, Nedda
Paper Book
A USA Today Bestseller · A stunning middle grade fantasy inspired by Arabian legends about a girl who becomes the guardian of Ali Baba's treasure. Believe in fairy tales. Sahara Rashad lives by logic. Loves science. And always has a plan....
Gigi and Ojiji : What's in a name?
Iwai, Melissa
Paper Book
Gigi wants to go by something besides her baby name--but her full name, Geraldine, is too long to write and Hanako, her middle name, doesn't feel quite right. Will Gigi find the perfect name? This exciting new I Can Read series is brought to you by author-illustrator Melissa Iwai, whose...
Kareem between
Safadi, Shifa Saltagi
Paper Book
This award-winning, heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle school. "The exact type of book I would've loved, and needed, as a kid." -Jasmine Warga, New...
The last Rhee witch
Lee-Yun, Jenna
Paper Book
A 2025 Children's Book Council Favorites Award Winner in three categories: Middle-Grade, Teacher, & Librarian! For fans of The Last Fallen Star, Witchlings, and Ghost Squad, a heartfelt middle grade debut where Korean folklore is all too real and summer...
Lily Xiao speaks out
Chen, Nicole
Paper Book
From the author of It's Boba Time for Pearl Li! comes an empowering, heartfelt middle grade novel about a grunge-loving Taiwanese American tween who must use her voice to fight for ESL support at her school. Lily Xiao can't wait to go to Camp Rock Out this summer, where she'll...
Maizy Chen's last chance
Yee, Lisa
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER . NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST . ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR YOUTH LITERATURE Twelve year-old Maizy discovers her family's Chinese restaurant is full of secrets in this irresistible novel that celebrates food, fortune, and family. NAMED...
The queen of thieves
Rundberg, Johan 1973-
Ebook
An Outstanding International Book (USBBY) A 2025 TEACHERS' FAVORITE! Mika will do what it takes to uncover a string of thefts in the city--and keep her fellow orphans safe. After a merciless winter, spring has sprung in 1880 Stockholm, and the city awaits...
The secret of the jade bangle
Trinh, Linda
Paper Book
"Engaging and empowering." --STARRED review, Nonstop Reader A charming early chapter book series that explores Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in.  Organized and...
A sky of paper stars
Yi, Susie
Paper Book
A Sky of Paper Stars is a heartrending middle-grade graphic novel by Susie Yi about a girl's ill-fated wish to fit in, perfect for readers of Stargazing and Pashmina. All Yuna wants is to belong. She wants to go to sleepovers, have a smart...
When clouds touch us
Lai, Thanhha
Paper Book
A Boston Globe-Horn Book Award finalist! Inspired by the author's own childhood, this stunning novel in verse, the sequel to the award-winning #1 bestseller Inside Out and Back Again, picks up two years after Hà and her family arrive in Alabama as refugees from the Việt Nam War....

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