The Sunshine State Young Readers Award (SSYRA) Program is a statewide reading motivational program for students in grades K through 8, sponsored by the Florida Department of Education (DOE) and Florida Association for Media in Education (FAME).
The purpose of the SSYRA Program is to encourage students to read independently for pleasure and to read books that are on, above, and below their reading level in order to improve their reading fluency. Sunshine State books are selected for their wide appeal, literary value, varied genres, curriculum connections, and/or multicultural representation. The SSYRA committee is comprised of 20 qualified school librarians located throughout the state of Florida.
For more information on the Sunshine State Young Readers Awards, click here. View the booklist in our catalog.
Picture Books
The Fastest Tortoise in Town by Howard Calvert
The Quacken by Justin Colon Squirrel-ish by Bambi Edlund
We are Definitely Human by X Fang
Mavis the Bravest by Lu Fraser
Penny Lu Porcupine by Katie Gilstrap
How This Book Got Red by Margaret Greanias
Lugi ,the Spider Who Wanted to be a Kitten by Michelle Knudsen
The Spotless Giraffe by Peter Millett
The Man Who Didn’t Like Animals by Deborah Underwood
Independent Readers
Orris and Timble by Kate DiCamillo
Scare School Diaries: Welcome to Scare School by Jarrett Lerner
Kwame’s Magic Quest: Rise of the Green Flame by Bernard Mensah
Disaster Squad: Wildfire Rescue by Rekha Rajan
George the Flybot and the Lost Camera on Mount Everest by Nessa Bellido Schwarz
The Adventures of Invisible Boy by Doogie Horner
Always, Clementine by Carlie Sorosiak
The Amazon by Roland Smith
Battle for the Park by H.D. Hunter
Benny Ramirez and the Nearly Departed by Jose Pablo Iriarte
The Callers by Kiah Thomas
Clementine Fox and the Great Island Adventure by Leigh Luna
Dogtown by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
The Guardian Test by Christina Soontornvat
Lightningborn by Julie Kagawa
The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
The Mystery of Locked Rooms by Lindsay Currie
Peril at Price Manor by Laura Parnum
Trex by Christyne Morrell
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry by Chad Morris and Shelly Brown
Brick Dust and Bones by M.R Fournet
Confessions of a Class Clown by Arianne Costner
Control Freaks by J.E Thomas
Curlfriends: New in Town by Sharee Miller
The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla
The Firefly Summer by Morgan Matson
The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly
Fowl Play by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb
Heroes by Alan Gratz
The Hoop Con (Play the Game) by Amar Shah
The Lost Year by Katherine Marsh
Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams
Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
Skyriders by Polly Holyoke
Florida Teens Read 2025-2026 Grades 9-12
The Florida Teens Read (FTR) program is a student- choice reading award program to determine which YA book wins the annual award as the favorite of teens in Florida. The reading list is comprised of fifteen titles that have been chosen by a committee of fourteen school librarians specifically to engage high school students (grades 9 through 12) in reading and reflect their interests as well as represent a variety of genres, formats, reading levels, viewpoints, and ethnic and cultural perspectives.
The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert
Going Dark by Melissa de la CruzWander in the Dark by Jumata Emill
Twelfth Knight by Alexene Farol Follmuth
Rez Ball by Byron Graves
Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin
Star Splitter Matthew J. Kirby
Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu
Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin
The Kill Factor by Ben Oliver
Ready or Not Andi Porretta
Another First Chance by Couch Robbie
All the Fighting Parts by Hannah V. Sawyerr
Swimming in a Sea of Stars by Julie Wright
Sunrise Nights by Jeff Zetner & Brittany Cavallaro