Sometimes you’re reading a book, and you think you know what is going to happen. Then, all of a sudden, WHAM! Plot twist!
A plot twist is a surprise development that can change the direction of the story and things that the reader thinks they have already figured out. Readers learn to look for clues in the story or try to anticipate the ending, but a good plot twist will provide a big surprise that fits with the beginning of the story when you look back. Here’s a list of plot-twisting books your children may enjoy.
Picture Books
Eat Pete by Michael Rex
Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
The Bear Ate Your Sandwich by Julia Sarcone-Roach
Finders Keepers by Keiko Kasza
This Book Will Not Be Fun by Cirocco Dunlap
Juvenile Fiction
The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha M. Clark
The Boundless by Kenneth Oppel
Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
The Night Gardner by Jonathon Auxier
The Shadow Cipher by Laura Ruby
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
– Jackie, Youth Services Assistant