The State Library of Ohio, Ohioana Library Association, with the Ohio Center for the Book and the Choose To Read Ohio Council announced selections for Choose to Read Ohio (CTRO) 2021 and 2022. The book list is announced biennially and contains 20 titles that explore a wide range of topics representative for all ages that highlight the diverse literature published by Ohio authors and illustrators. CTRO promotes reading across Ohio by encouraging Ohioans of all ages to read and share books by authors native to, residing in, or associated with the Buckeye State.
The book list was developed by an advisory council representing schools, libraries, and literary organizations with input from 59 teachers, librarians, and other book lovers who served as CTRO electors.
Choose to Read Ohio Booklist. Each CTRO book features a downloadable toolkit available at no cost. The toolkits have resources that include an author biography, discussion questions, activities, book jacket and author photos, and links for further exploration of the book’s themes or setting. Toolkits for CTRO titles to date (2009-2020) are available at http://library.ohio.gov/ctro by just clicking on any book image. Toolkits for the 2021 & 2022 titles will be created and added beginning this fall.
Choose to Read Ohio Booklist for 2021 & 2022
Books for Young Children
Clackety Track: Poems About Trains by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Jamey Christoph | Love by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Loren Long
Leila in Saffron by Rukhsanna Guidroz, illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova
The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard, illustrated by Oge Mora | Hush Up and Hibernate! by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Howard McWilliam
Books for Tweens/Middle Grades
The Tornado Scientist: Seeing Inside Severe Storms by Mary Kay Carson
Blended by Sharon M. Draper
Count the Wings: The Life and Art of Charley Harper by Michelle Houts
Invisible Emmie by Terri Libenson
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga
Books for Teens
Mosquitoland by David Arnold
The Gone Away Place by Christopher Barzak
When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis
The Lake Effect by Erin McCahan
Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds
Books for Adults
Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest by Hanif Abdurraqib
Designing Victory: A Memoir by Robert P. Madison with Carlo Wolff
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
A Mile and a Half of Lines: The Art of James Thurber by Michael J. Rosen
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, and Harmony Becker
Many CTRO titles are also available as ebook and digital audio. Click here to browse the CLEVNET eMedia services, the system of our host institution, Cleveland Public Library.
To check your local library’s collection, try WorldCat, too!