With the caveat that there are many highly touted books that I haven’t seen, here are fifty of my favorites from 2010:
- Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
- April and Esme Tooth Fairies by Bob Graham
- As Easy as Falling Off the Face of the Earth by Lynn Rae Perkins
- Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca
- Bunny Days by Tao Nyeu
- The Cardturner by Louis Sachar
- City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems, illustrated by Jon J. Muth
- A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
- Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
- Countdown by Deborah Wiles
- Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen
- The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Peter Sis
- The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Suzy) by Barbara Kerley, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
- Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
- Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Frozen Secrets by Sally M. Walker
- The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie by Tanya Lee Stone
- Henry in Love by Peter McCarty
- Here Comes the Garbage Barge! by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Red Nose Studio
- Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutch
- I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
- Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
- Keeper by Kathi Appelt
- A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
- Mirror by Jeannie Baker
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Modern Fairies, Dwarves, Goblins, and Other Nasties by Lesley M.M. Blume, illustrated by David Foote
- Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
- Northward to the Moon by Polly Horvath
- The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds
- One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
- A Pocketful of Posies by Salley Mavor
- The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood
- The Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett
- The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
- The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
- A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead
- Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering
- Sparky: The Life and Art of Charles Schulz by Beverly Gherman
- Spork by Isabelle Aresenault
- Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
- A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
- There’s Going to be a Baby by John Burningham, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury
- They Called Themselves the K.K.K. by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
- Trash by Andy Mulligan
- The Wager by Donna Jo Napoli
- The War to End All Wars by Russell Freeman
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
- Zen Ghosts by Jon J. Muth
- Zora and Me by Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon