Click on a book title for more information about that book, including the CTRO readers’ toolkit.
Toolkits are available for free download, printing, and distribution. They feature discussion questions, author biographies, activities that build on the themes of the book, and other ideas for library, classroom, or book club.
Toolkits are developed and published at the beginning of each program cycle. Links and other information are not guaranteed to be current.
Abdurraqib, Hanif. Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest.
Backderf, Derf. Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio.
Chaon, Dan. Ill Will.
Chaon, Dan. You Remind Me of Me.
Chesnutt, Charles. The Wife of His Youth: and Other Stories of the Color Line.
Chiaverini, Jennifer. The Lost Quilter.
DeMarco, Laura. Lost Cleveland.
Doerr, Anthony. All the Light We Cannot See.
Dove, Rita. On the Bus with Rosa Parks.
Gaus, P. L. Blood of the Prodigal: An Amish-Country Mystery.
Giffels, David. All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House.
Goldbach, Eliese Colette. Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit.
Hagedorn, Anne. Beyond the River: The Untold Story of the Heroes of the Underground Railroad.
Harper, Karen. Mistress Shakespeare.
Haygood, Wil. Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America.
Kittle, Katrina. The Blessings of the Animals.
Lepionka, Kristen. The Last Place You Look.
Madison, Robert P., with Carlo Wolff. Designing Victory: A Memoir: The Architect Who Dared, Dreamed, and Achieved International Acclaim.
Majmudar, Amit. The Abundance.
Martin, Lee. River of Heaven.
McLain, Paula. The Paris Wife.
Moore, Dan Méndez. Six Days in Cincinnati: A Graphic Account of the Riots that Shook the Nation a Decade Before Black Lives Matter.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye.
Morrison, Toni. A Mercy.
Nezhukumatathil, Aimee. World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments.
Ng, Celeste. Everything I Never Told You.
Olmstead, Robert. Coal Black Horse.
Orlean, Susan. The Library Book.
Orlean, Susan. Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend.
Ricca, Brad. Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—The Creators of Superman.
Rosen, Michael J. A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber.
Russell, Mary Doria. Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral.
Stewart, Leah. The History of Us.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. The Annotated Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Takei, George, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker. They Called Us Enemy.
Umrigar, Thrity. The Story Hour.
Watts, Lisa; et al. Good Roots: Writers Reflect on Growing Up in Ohio.
Yocum, Robin. Favorite Sons.
Zickefoose, Julie. The Bluebird Effect: Uncommon Bonds with Common Birds.
Adoff, Jamie. The Death of Jayson Porter.
Arnold, David. Mosquitoland.
Barzak, Christopher. The Gone Away Place.
Becker, Harmony. Himawari House.
Bickle, Laura. The Hallowed Ones.
Carson, Rae. The Girl of Fire and Thorns.
Charlton Trujillo, e. E. Fat Angie.
Chima, Cinda Williams. The Demon King: A Seven Realms Novel.
Clayton, Colleen. What Happens Next.
Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons.
Crutcher, Chris. Deadline.
Davis, Ronni. When the Stars Lead to You.
Dinan, Kurt. Don’t Get Caught.
Draper, Sharon M. Copper Sun.
Gebhart, Ryan. There Will Be Bears.
Giblin, James Cross. Good Brother, Bad Brother: The Story of John Wilkes Booth and Edwin Booth.
Hattemer, Kate. The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy.
Henry, Nathan L. Good Behavior: A Memoir.
Johnson, Angela. Sweet, Hereafter.
Klein, Lisa. Two Girls of Gettysburg.
Lewis, J. Patrick and George Ella Lyon. Voices from the March on Washington.
Lord, Emery. When We Collided.
McCahan, Erin. The Lake Effect.
McGinnis, Mindy. The Female of the Species.
McGinnis, Mindy. Heroine.
McGinnis, Mindy. Not a Drop to Drink.
McKinley, Robin. The Blue Sword.
Miller, Brandon Marie. Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers.
Nelson, Marilyn. American Ace.
Pattou, Edith. East.
Qamar, Amjed. Beneath My Mother’s Feet.
Reynolds, Justin A. Opposite of Always.
Rigaud, Debbie. Simone Breaks All the Rules.
Smith, Jeff. Bone #1: Out from Boneville.
Stamper, Phil. The Gravity of Us.
Taylor, Mildred D. All the Days Past, All the Days to Come.
Taylor, Mildred D. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Tolan, Stephanie S. Surviving the Applewhites.
Turner, Megan Whalen. The Thief.
Woodson, Jacqueline. After Tupac & D Foster.
Abbott, Tony. Firegirl.
Adoff, Arnold; illus. R. Gregory Christie. Roots and Blues: A Celebration.
Babbitt, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting.
Bishop, Jenn. Where We Used to Roam.
Borden, Louise. The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey.
Buckley, Michael. The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives.
Campbell, Marcy. Rule of Threes.
Carson, Mary Kay. Beyond the Solar System.
Carson, Mary Kay; photographs by Tom Uhlman. The Tornado Scientist: Seeing Inside Severe Storms.
Cheng, Andrea. Where the Steps Were.
Cheng, Andrea; illus. Abigail Halpin. The Year of the Book.
Creech, Sharon. The Boy on the Porch.
Draper, Sharon M. Blended.
Draper, Sharon M. Out of My Mind.
Giovanni, Nikki; illus. Bryan Collier. Rosa.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Found.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Just Ella.
Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Under Their Skin.
Hamilton, Virginia; illus. Leo and Diane Dillon. The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales.
Hines, Anna Grossnickle. Peaceful Pieces: Poems and Quilts about Peace.
Houts, Michelle. Count the Wings: The Life and Art of Charley Harper.
Houts, Michelle. Winterfrost.
Klages, Ellen. Out of Left Field.
Knight, Mary. Saving Wonder.
Lewis, J. Patrick. The Brothers’ War: Civil War Voices in Verse.
Libenson, Terri. Invisible Emmie.
Maschari, Jennifer. Things that Surprise You.
Nelson, Marilyn; illus. Jerry Pinkney. Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World.
Pearsall, Shelley. The Seventh Most Important Thing.
Pearsall, Shelley. Things Seen from Above.
Pearsall, Shelley. Trouble Don’t Last.
Pilkey, Dav. Dog Man.
Pimm, Nancy Roe. Colo’s Story: The Life of One Grand Gorilla.
Rosen, Michael J. Our Farm: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family’s Farm.
Springstubb, Tricia; illus. Gilbert Ford. Moonpenny Island.
Van Vleet, Carmella. Eliza Bing Is (Not) a Big Fat Quitter.
Wang, Andrea. The Many Meanings of Meilan.
Warga, Jasmine. Other Words for Home.
Woods, Brenda. Zoe in Wonderland.
Alexander, Kwame; illus. Tim Bowers. Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band.
Andreasen, Dan. The Giant of Seville: A “Tall” Tale Based on a True Story.
Awan, Jashar. Only Ants for Andy.
Borden, Louise; illus. Emma Dodd. Big Brothers Don’t Take Naps.
Brown, Skila; illus. Jamey Christoph. Clackety Track: Poems About Trains.
Daywalt, Drew; illus. Adam Rex. The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors.
de la Peña, Matt; illus. Loren Long. Love.
Fitzsimmons, David. Curious Critters: Marine.
Fleming, Denise. The First Day of Winter.
Gerber, Carole; illus. Leslie Evans. Leaf Jumpers.
Gorman, Amanda; illus. Loren Long. Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem.
Guidroz, Rukhsanna; illus. Dinara Mirtalipova. Leila in Saffron.
Hubbard, Rita Lorraine; illus. Oge Mora. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read.
Johnson, Angela; illus. Loren Long. Wind Flyers.
Kennedy, Anne Vittur. The Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh!
Kirk, Daniel. Library Mouse.
Long, Loren. Otis.
Macy, Sue; illus. C. F. Payne. Miss Mary Reporting: The True Story of Sportswriter Mary Garber.
Markle, Sandra; illus. Howard McWilliam. Hush Up and Hibernate!
McCloskey, Robert. Make Way for Ducklings.
Mora, Pat; illus. Raúl Colón. Tomas and the Library Lady.
Orloff, Karen Kaufman; illus. David Catrow. I Wanna Go Home.
Rusch, Elizabeth; illus. Will Hillenbrand. Zee Grows a Tree.
Rylant, Cynthia; illus. Brendan Wenzel. Life.
Rylant, Cynthia; illus. Stephen Gammell. The Relatives Came.
Schonberg, Marcia; illus. Bruce Langton. B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet.
Sheth, Kashmira; illus. Jeffrey Ebbeler. Tiger in My Soup.
Stanek, Linda; illus. Shennen Bersani. Once Upon an Elephant.
Subisak, Tracy. Jenny Mei Is Sad.
Trent, Shanda; illus. Jane Dippold. Farmers’ Market Day.
Wahl, Jan; illus. Rosalinde Bonnet. The Art Collector.
Wang, Andrea; illus. Jason Chin. Watercress.
Ward, Lindsay. Henry Finds His Word.
Warwick, Dionne and David Freeman Wooley; illus. Fred Willingham. Little Man.
Woodson, Jacqueline; illus. James Ransome. This Is the Rope.
Wright, Maureen; illus. Will Hillenbrand. Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep!