Hillsboro Reads 2026 — Community Choice!

Hillsboro Reads is returning in 2026 as TWO events.

In March 2026, Hillsboro Reads will focus on an exciting book for adults. The title will be announced in October, so watch for it.

Over the summer, Hillsboro Reads will return with a focus on younger patrons. The theme is Plant a Seed, Read. Our goal is to have a book that reflects positively on the importance of community in everyday life. That may be something different for everyone.

Please help us select the books we'll be reading in each age category (one per age group).

Children (up to 5 years old)

• A Crown for Corina by Laekan Zea Kemp

Corina's Abuela helps her select flowers that mean something to Corina from the garden for her Mexican flower crown that she will wear on her birthday, and explains the symbolic meaning of a birthday crown.

• Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré by Denise Anika Aldamuy

"From the author of MONSTER TRUCK and STARRING CARMEN comes a gorgeous and lyrical story about Pura Belpré, a Puerto Rican librarian who changed the world"-

• Where Wonder Grows by Xelena González

A children's picture book about a grandmother bonding with her granddaughters as she teaches them how much they can learn from nature just by being curious.

Youth (ages 6 to 11)

• Little Monarchs by Jonathan Case

In the twenty-second century, a sun shift has made it impossible for mammals to survive in the daylight, and ten-year-old Elvie and her caretaker, Flora, are studying the migration route of monarch butterflies along what used to be the western coast of the United States, hoping that something in the butterflies wing scales can be used to protect people from the sun and save humanity from extinction.

• Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqui

"It's hard enough being a kid without being teased for a funny sounding name or wearing a hijab. It's even harder when you're constantly fighting your sibling--and Zara and Zeeshan really can't stand each other. During a family trip to Florida, when the bickering, shoving, and insults reach new heights of chaos, their parents sentence them to the worst possible fate--each other's company! But when the twins find an ailing turtle, it presents a rare opportunity for teamwork--if the two can put their differences aside at last" – from book jacket

• The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera

"A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again? " -- from book jacket

Youth Adults (ages 12-18)

• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

"In a future world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population - and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow - and dreams - means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a 15-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones, and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing 'factories.'"

• Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne

Picked on at home, criticized for talking trash while beating boys at basketball, and always seen as less than her best friend, a girl struggles to like and accept herself.

• With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago has been doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. She dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, but knows that is impossible. But once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free. – Adapted from book jacket

Note: descriptions came from WCCLS Catalog.

Vote now through September 15.