CCBC Booklists

CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.

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The Outsmarters

by Deborah Ellis

CCBC Review:

Kate, 12 (white) has lived with her grandmother, who runs a junk shop, at the edge of their Canadian town, even since her mom, a drug addict, left her there several years before. Kate’s prickly grandmother has one ongoing battle with a neighbor, a second with a customer, and has been visited by the police. Kate has also felt Gran’s resentment at having to care for her, but Gran supports Kate’s various money-making endeavors (her latest is a Peanuts-inspired philosophical advice booth), clearly determined to teach Kate to be independent. Kate, who was expelled at the end of grade 7 for behavioral issues (she was labeled “trouble”), is back for grade 8 and proves to be, simply and profoundly, someone who doesn’t look away when she sees bullying behavior in others, child or adult. To her surprise, she’s also making a few friends, including Gran’s neighborly nemesis, a retired teacher. When Kate begins to learn more about her mom’s history in the town—that a local doctor was responsible for her OxyContin addiction; that Kate’s own dad was a local teen who died in a freak accident while drunk at college—she’s angry at Gran for withholding so much information, and for doing nothing when surely she could do something, about the doctor for a start. Sharp, funny, tender characters propel this heartfelt novel in which kindness and community meet courage and action. ©2025 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 9-13
Age Range: Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10) Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Format: Novel
Subjects: Arguments/Conflict Community Drugs and Alcohol Friendship Grandmothers Independence/Self-Reliance Mothers Secrets Small Town Life

On CCBC Booklist: Small Town and Rural Life: Selected Books for Children and Teens

Publishers: Groundwood, House of Anansi
Publish Year: 2024
Pages: 245
ISBN: 9781773068572
CCBC Location: Fiction, Ellis

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Our Recommended Book Search includes access to CCBC-recommended titles based on subject headings created by our staff.

Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.