This document provides summaries of children's books from 2020. It lists the titles and briefly summarizes the plots and themes of each book. There are over 30 books summarized with a focus on topics like friendship, problem solving, diversity, family, and self-acceptance. The books cover a wide range of genres including graphic novels, biographies, and mysteries.

1. Great Children
Books of
2020 (that I saw)
Sally Snyder
Nebraska Library Commission
January 2021

3.  Set in Canada.
Humor, a touch of
scary, with some
sibling squabbling.

4. Monster under the bed,
but not scary.
Mom says monsters
don’t exist.
He comes out to show
he does (after mom left),
boy almost screams so
the monster swallows
him.
Friendship
Problem-solving
Monsters don’t have to
be scary.

5. Big City Scouts go
camping.
Quirky characters who
step up.
The outdoors
Working together
Supporting each other
Friendship
Problem-solving

6. Full color graphic
novel.
Nate just crash
landed on earth,
Fazel brings him
home.
 Humor
 Helping others
 Learning about a
new place
 Respecting Nate’s
culture.

8.  Iris & Daniel choose a
school project that
involves a forgotten
segregated graveyard
in North Carolina.
 A girl, Avery, is buried
there appears as a
ghost to Iris.
 Avery is becoming
less friendly and more
threatening.

9.  Sequel to New Kid.
 Drew Ellis, Jordan’s
friend, is the main
character
 Touches on
 microaggressions,
 inappropriate actions,
 stopped by police

10.  Piper (7th grade)
switches to Chumley
Prep since her father
was hired there.
 a new competition, The
Excelsior Prize, no one
quite knows what it is
for.
 Piper continues being
herself, helping others
& working hard in her
classes.

11.  Full color graphic
novel of a young
Diana…
 Makes a friend from
clay and blows on it
– it becomes alive
 Family, love,
friendship – and
staying true to who
you are

12.  President’s 2017
Muslim ban …
refugees from Syria.
 Noura and Jordyn,
both 12, become
friends
 They each have
something they are
trying to overcome.

13.  Beginning middle
school; graphic novel
 Formerly inseparable,
now Francine/Fran
wants to be different/
herself.
 Maureen is hurt, and
ends up running
against Fran for 6th
grade Student
Council President.

14.  Full color graphic novel.
 Jen’s mom remarried,
they all left the city for
a farm.
 Jen is having trouble
with math, the booth at
the market is too much
pressure
 Fiction based on the
author’s life

15. Fantasy, full color
graphic novel.
A novice thief, Lily
always gets the
unimportant jobs, but
she wants to prove
herself worthy.
A plot to resurrect an
evil king.
Derring-do,
swordplay and arrows!

16.  Full color graphic
novel.
 An alternate Green
Lantern origin
story.
 Tai Pham (13)
inherits his
grandmother’s jade
ring
 Vietnamese
American

17.  Companion book to
Heat.
 Nick García (12) is a
star pitcher for his Little
League team.
 Nick & sister born in
US, but parents here
illegally, fear is ongoing.
 The acknowledge they
made mistakes
 Lots of sports action

18.  Zoe receives a card
from her father for
the first time on her
12th birthday.
 Her grandmother
helps her.
 Injustices, racial
profiling
 Friends – real friends
 Family
 Taking too big of a
risk

19.  1954 federal
government terminated
the tribal status of
several nations.
 Leaving their tribal
lands in Oregon, for
Los Angeles is trying.
 The family encounters
racism and prejudice
 Excellent historical
fiction

20.  Weird creatures in a
scary story.
 Children are
disappearing from town.
 Black and white
illustrations on every
page.

21.  Set in London.
 Omar is attending a
different school since
they moved.
 Omar and bully Daniel
get separated from their
class while in the
subway.
 Doodle-like art and
lettering on every two-
page spread

22.  Good characters
 Good mystery
 The solution is there,
though maybe not
obvious
 upbeat, positive, and
informative, plenty of
humor

23.  “a biographical novel of
Muhammad Ali”
 Based on facts of his
young life, and his start
in boxing.
 An outstanding sports
book/ biographical
novel.
 Occasional black and
white illustrations.

24.  Book 2
 People are acting the
opposite of how they
usually act.
 Graphic novel pages
interspersed with text.
Illustrations on every
page.

25.  Family
 Helping others
 Handling
disappointment
 Finding the good in
others

26.  Natalie (Nat’s) first day
of middle school is
confusing
 Her former best friend,
Lily, now mostly
ignores her
 Accepting yourself
 Letting go of the
negative
 Begins to embrace her
artistic talents

27.  Mom & Dad divorce
 Father is gay and
planning to marry
 Bea (10) learns that she
needs to forgive herself
 Families are
complicated
 Feelings need to be
acknowledged
 Accept others as they
are

28.  G’ma takes Scoob on a
trip
 Revisiting some places
she and Grandpa saw,
or missed, on their
honeymoon trip – Civil
Rights history
 Grandma is a skilled
pickpocket, Scoob tries
to keep track of her
 Occasional black &
white illustrations

29.  Book 1 of new series
 Ryan (4th grade) & her
family recently moved
to a smaller, older
house.
 Occasional spats with
Ray, but mostly the
family supports each
other.
 Upbeat, seeing the best
and doing your best.

30.  Told in free verse, set in
early 2000s
 ZJ’s father is a
professional football
star.
 Formerly a loving family
man
 Now he is experiencing
painful headaches and
memory loss

32.  Full color graphic
memoir.
 Refugees from
Somalia, the camp is
in Kenya.
 The day to day life in
the camp
 2021-2022 Golden
Sower Chapter Book
nominee.

33.  24 creatures
you may not
want to know
about.
 Paragraph of
information and
a note about
the degree of
enlargement
 An actual size
silhouette (or a
pinpoint).
 Fascinating

34.  Picture book
biography
 Based on
Franklin’s
autobiography.
 He learned from
several jobs he
disliked, finding
the right one
eventually.