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.
To print a CCBC booklist, click on a list below and then use your browser’s “Print” command.
This Moth Saw Brightness
CCBC Review:
When ’Wayne (who goes by “D”) is invited to participate in a high-profile Johns Hopkins study on teen health, he jumps at the chance, eager to challenge his dad’s low expectations of him. It doesn’t hurt that his crush, Jane (white, autistic), is also participating. D (Vietnamese and white) is fitted with a wristband, asked to complete daily puzzles and questions on his phone, and given a pill; he is not told what the pill is or how it might affect him. Knowing little about the study’s purpose, D and Jane begin meeting up to discuss their experience; D’s tech-whiz best friend, Kermit (South Asian), sometimes joins. Soon, the three of them wonder: Is something unethical—even sinister—going on here? Is it really a health study? What do the wristbands monitor? What makes D and Jane eligible? Why did a fellow study participant inexplicably drop out of school? Feeling increasingly paranoid, D begins tracking any observable changes in himself. He’s also reeling after receiving an unexpected email from his mom, who abandoned the family years ago and now wants to reconnect. This inventive, suspenseful novel, which incorporates emails, screenshots, footnotes, and other documents, asks important questions about the ethics of medical research in the United States, especially on vulnerable populations. While its open ending may frustrate some, it nonetheless invites speculation and discussion. ©2026 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Abandonment
Autism Spectrum
Ethical/Moral Choices
Expectations
Fathers
Love and Romance
Mental Health and Illness
Mothers
Mysteries
Open Endings
Trust
Truth and Lies
Vietnamese and Vietnamese Americans
Diversity subject:
Asian
Cognitive/Neurological
On CCBC Booklist:
Asian in America: Selected Books for PreK-Grade 12 to Support Hmong and Asian American Studies in Wisconsin
Publishers:
Dutton, Penguin Random House
Publish Year: 2025
Pages: 439
ISBN: 9780593698600
CCBC Location: Fiction, Vacharat
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.