Michigan Notable Books

Every year, the Library of Michigan selects up to twenty of the most notable books, either written by a Michigan resident or about Michigan or the Great Lakes. The selected books are honored in the year after their publication or copyright date. Each selected title speaks to our state's rich cultural, historical, and literary heritage and proves without a doubt that some of the greatest stories are found in the Great Lakes State.

Updated October 11, 2023
Upper Peninsula Region of Library Cooperation
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Warrior girl unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller!A Publisher's Lunch Best YA of 2023! An Amazon Best Book of the Year!Winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award!A Horn Book Fanfare Title! A BookPage Best...
Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese restaurant : a memoir
Chin, Curtis
Paper Book
This "vivid, moving, funny, and heartfelt" memoir tells the story of Curtis Chin's time growing up as a gay Chinese American kid in 1980's Detroit (Lisa Ko, author of The Leavers). Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe haven:...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
Just Another Missing Person : A Novel
McAllister, Gillian
Paper Book
"Twisty and complex, with unexpected turns...and characters you really root for."--Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author From the author of the Reese's Book Club Pick and the New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes a new heart-stopping thriller in which...
In the Upper Country : A Novel.
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Paper Book
*NATIONAL BESTSELLER* *WINNER OF THE 2023 WRITER'S TRUST ATWOOD GIBSON PRIZE* SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOVERNER GENERAL'S AWARD FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE ...
In the Upper Country : A Novel.
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Paper Book
*NATIONAL BESTSELLER* *WINNER OF THE 2023 WRITER'S TRUST ATWOOD GIBSON PRIZE* SHORTLISTED FOR THE GOVERNER GENERAL'S AWARD FOR FICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE AMAZON CANADA FIRST NOVEL AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE KOBO EMERGING WRITER PRIZE ...
My murder
Williams, Katie
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER  NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND GLAMOUR! "One of those rare emotionally intelligent books that are also fun reads... Going to keep readers turning pages late into the night." -The New York Times ...
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids
Smith, Cynthia Leitich
Paper Book
Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride. Native families from Nations across the...
Love radio. [online electronic book]
LaDelle, Ebony
Ebook
"Readers won't be able to get enough of these dope-ass characters." --Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Clap When You Land Hitch meets The Sun Is Also a Star in this "mega swoon-worthy, effortlessly cool" (Casey McQuiston, New York Times bestselling...
The star that always stays
Johnson, Anna Rose
Paper Book
When bright and spirited Norvia moves from the country to the city, she has to live by one new rule- Never let anyone know you're Ojibwe. Growing up on Beaver Island, Grand-p re told Norvia stories-stories about her ancestor Migizi, about Biboonke-o-nini the Wintermaker, about...
Fire keeper's daughter /
Boulley, Angeline.
Paper Book
A PRINTZ MEDAL WINNER! A MORRIS AWARD WINNER! AN AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARD YA HONOR BOOK! A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller Soon to be adapted at Netflix...
The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history
Blackhawk, Ned
Paper Book
National Bestseller Winner of the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Award in History * Winner of 2024 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction * Winner of the 2024 Mark Lynton History Prize ...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline.
Audiobook
What the fireflies knew : a novel
Harris, Kai
Paper Book
An NAACP Image Award Nominee Longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize A Marie Claire Book Club pick Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by *Marie Claire* *Teen Vogue* *Buzzfeed* *Essence* *Ms. Magazine* *NBCNews.com* *...
The other me
Jeng, Sarah Zachrich
Paper Book
"Who hasn't wondered what alternate versions of their lives might look like?...As relatable as it is suspenseful cleverly exploring adulthood, identity, and shifting realities." --Margarita Montimore, USA Today bestselling author of Oona Out of Order ...
Dead of winter
Jones, Stephen Mack
Paper Book
Authentico Foods Inc. has been a part of Detroit's Mexicantown for over thirty years, grown from a tiny business to a block-long facility that supplies tortillas to restaurants. Ex-cop and Mexicantown native August Snow has been invited for a business meeting at Authentico. Its owner, Ronaldo Ochoa,...
The women of the copper country : a novel
Russell, Mary Doria
Paper Book
From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Sparrow comes an inspiring historical novel about "America's Joan of Arc" Annie Clements--the courageous woman who started a rebellion by leading a strike against the largest copper mining company in the world. In July...
Early morning riser.
Heiny, Katherine
Paper Book
A Good Morning America Buzz Pick A New York Times Book to Watch For * A Washington Post Best Book to Read in April * An Esquire Best Book of 2021 * An E! News Best Book of April * A Refinery29 Book to Read in 2021 * An Apartment Therapy<...
Ancestor approved : intertribal stories for kids /
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Paper Book
Edited by award-winning and bestselling author Cynthia Leitich Smith, this collection of intersecting stories by both new and veteran Native writers bursts with hope, joy, resilience, the strength of community, and Native pride. Native families from Nations across the...
R-E-S-P-E-C-T : Aretha Franklin, the queen of soul
Weatherford, Carole Boston
Paper Book
Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustration Award! From a New York Times bestselling author and an acclaimed illustrator comes this vibrant portrait of Aretha Franklin that pays her the R-E-S-P-E-C-T this Queen of Soul deserves. Aretha Franklin was born to sing. The...
The dead are arising : the life of Malcolm X
Payne, Les
Paper Book
Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X--all living siblings of the Malcolm Little family, classmates, street friends, cellmates, Nation of Islam...
Lakewood : a novel
Giddings, Megan
Paper Book
NPR Book of the Year 2020 Electric Literature: One of 55 Books by Women and Nonbinary Writers of Color to Read in 2020 |  Lit Hub & The Millions: Most Anticipated Books of 2020 | Ms. Magazine: Anticipated 2020 Feminist Books | Refinery29: Books by Black Women We are Looking Forward To...

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