2012 Nutmeg Book Award Nominees, part two

Tuesday Top Ten

As I said in last week’s Tuesday Top Ten, I’m a big fan of Connecticut’s own Nutmeg Book Award. It is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians, and is aimed at 4th – 8th graders in an attempt to get them to read more, and better, books.

Children in those grades choose the winner from a list of nominees, so it really is kids telling other kids what their favorite books are, not just an adult saying, “Here’s a great book.  Read it.”

As I promised last week, here is this year’s list of Teen Nominees (Grades 7 and 8).  For the Intermediate Nominees (Grades 4th – 6th), see last week’s post.

1.  The Compound by S.A. Bodeen – Nine-year-old Eli, his sisters, and parents move into the Compound, an expansive underground bunker built by Eli’s billionaire father as a refuge from nuclear attack. Waiting for the outside environment to be safe to reenter, fifteen -year -old Eli is starting to have doubts about his father’s motives, explanations, and sanity. Can Eli trust his father?

2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – In the ruins of North America lies the nation of Panem, a capitol surrounded by twelve districts. Each year, the districts send one boy and one girl to participate in Hunger Games, a brutal fight to the death televised for Panem’s entertainment. Sixteen-year-old Katniss steps in to take the place of her sister in the Hunger Games, hoping to survive the competition.

3. I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb – Running for seventh-grade class president looks easy to Oliver Watson. With his good looks, intelligence, and wealth, he can control his classmates, teachers, and parents. But can he control the outcome of an election?

4. The Maze Runner by James Dashner – Sixteen-year-old Thomas wakes up in an elevator with no memory except for his first name.  He’s arrived in “the glade,’ an area surrounded by stone walls that open to a maze every morning.  With him in the glade are about 60 boys, all searching for an escape route. And then a girl appears with a message, and things begin to change.

5. Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray – After their best friend Ross dies, English teenagers Blake, Kenny, and Sim plan a proper memorial by taking his ashes to Ross, Scotland, an adventure-filled journey that tests their loyalty to each other and forces them to question what friendship means.

6. Pop by Gordon Korman – Quarterback Marcus Jordan has a big problem: his new school isn’t interested in adding Marcus to their winning football team. Practicing in the park, Marcus meets a childlike 50-year-old by the name of Charlie with startling football abilities. Charlie’s pranks and spotty memory have Marcus wondering what Charlie’s story is.

7. Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George – Galen, a soldier recently returned from the war, now works in the royal palace, where he meets 12 beautiful princesses.  As innocent as the king’s twelve daughters seem, they harbor a secret. Will Galen be the one to uncover what activity leaves their slippers in tatters, as if worn for years? Or will he, like the others, fail… and die for his trouble?

8. The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon – The year is 1968 and the Civil Rights Movement is in full swing in Chicago, Illinois.  Teenager Sam Childs is caught between his father, who follows the non-violent path of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,  and his older brother who has joined the Black Panther Party and its sometimes violent methods.   Will Sam choose the rock or the river?

9. Scat by Carl Hiaasen – After mean Mrs. Starch goes missing during a class field trip to the Black Vine Swamp, two of her students, Nick and Marta, believe her disappearance is mysterious and that there is something strange about the note that she left behind.  Can Nick and Marta solve the mystery of the missing teacher?

10. Viola in Reel Life by Adriana Trigiani – Aspiring filmmaker 14-year-old Viola is the child of devoted documentary filmmakers, but her parents’ overseas assignment brings her to Prefect Academy, a boarding school for girls. Viola is sure that she’ll hate Prefect, but she befriends her roommates, learning that she can flourish in a new environment.

All book descriptions come from the Nutmeg Book Award site.

 

2012 Nutmeg Book Award Nominees

Tuesday Top Ten

The Nutmeg Book Award is something I’ve always been a huge fan of.  It is a Connecticut-based award, and is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Library Association and the Connecticut Association of School Librarians.

The aim of the contest is to get 4th – 8th graders to read more and better books.  The winner is chosen by children in those grades here in Connecticut, which is my favorite part of it.  It’s not just a group of adults telling kids what the best book for their age group is, it’s kids saying which one they liked best, although adults do pick the nominees.

Past winners have included books like City of Ember, Hoot, The Lightening Thief and many more easily recognized titles.

Here is this year’s list of Intermediate Nominees (Grades 4th – 6th).  For the Teen list (Grades 7 and 8), check back next Tuesday.

1.  Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
Ali is excited to spend the summer with her aunt and cousin at the lake.  Life is great until her cousin meets a young girl.  Why does she act so nasty? Will Ali’s summer warm up or will the cold and icy lake claim another victim?

2.  Dying to Meet You by Kate Klise
I.B. Grumply, a children’s book author, moves into a Victorian mansion in Ghastly, IL to write a new book and meets with some unusual obstacles.  He finds an 11 year old boy and a ghost already there.  Of course Grumply doesn’t believe in real ghosts, so he blames the boy and his cat for all the ghostly deeds.  Will Grumply become a believer, or will the ghost have the last laugh?

3.  Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
Abby needs to do well on the extra credit pen pal assignment.  But to Sadeed, her assigned pen pal in the hills of Kabul, Afghanistan, the project is just extra work.  Although their cultures and lifestyles are vastly different, Abby and Sadeed develop a friendship that is based on their similarities.  Not everyone is happy with the relationship, and they are forbidden to continue writing letters; can their friendship possibly survive?

4.  The Gollywhopper Games by Jody Feldman
The Golly Toy and Game Company is having a competition and Gil Goodson is determined to be the grand prize winner.  He finds that the puzzles and stunts are only half the challenge: his teammates and his father’s history as a Golly employee drive the stakes even higher.

5.  Herbert’s Wormhole by Peter Nelson
Alex is forced to spend the day at his super geeky next door neighbor Herbert’s house. The day takes a surprising twist when Alex and Herbert fall through a wormhole to 100 years in the future.  Returning home will be an adventure they won’t forget.

6.  The Key to Rondo by Emily Rodda
Leo and his cousin Mimi use their aunt’s ancient music box to travel to the magical world of Rondo, where fairy tale characters behave in unexpected ways. The children must stick together if they hope to rescue Mimi’s dog from the frighteningly powerful Blue Queen.

7.  Masterpiece by Elise Broach
Did you know that beetles can draw? Well, Marvin can!  James’ ‘roommate’ Marvin draws an intricate, museum-quality sketch for a birthday present.  It is shown to a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and before long James and Marvin find themselves caught up in a world of mystery and art theft.  Can the two friends find ways to communicate and save priceless works of art?

8.  Savvy by Ingrid Law
Special supernatural powers are part of the lives of the Beaumont family.  As Mibs approaches her 13th birthday, she eagerly anticipates her uniquely personal savvy.  Her brother controls electricity, her grandpa moves mountains, and her mother is perfect.  What will Mibs be able to do, and how will it change her life?

9.  Signal by Cynthia DeFelice
Owen has lost his mother and his father doesn’t seem to care.  So, when he meets a girl named Campion claiming to be an alien in need of help getting back to her own planet he believes the story she tells.  This book follows Owen as he decides whether he should keep her secret and help her get “home”.

10.  Stolen Children by Peg Kehret
14 year-old Amy is babysitting for a rich family when she and 3 year-old Kendra are kidnapped.  Amy uses her cleverness to try and save the day.  Will the ransom be paid, will they escape, and will they ever get home?

All book descriptions come from the Nutmeg Book Award site.

 

Why I Love My Library

Image via Wikipedia

Tuesday Top Ten

I live in Storrs, CT.  It is a small town, very rural, but is also a college town (Go Huskies!).  Our town library is terrific.  I grew up loving the library and going regularly with my mom to our local one in the (other) small town where I lived until college, but I love ours even more.  Here’s why:

1.  Free books to read!  (duh!) As well as DVDs; kids’ videos; books on CD and cassette–yes, still; educational PC games to  borrow on CD-rom; toys, puzzles and even stuffed animals for kids; museum passes to various museums,  zoos and aquariums in the area that offer free or discounted admission.

2.  Very friendly librarians who are always ready to help, and are very knowledgeable.

3.  A great play area for my daughter with toys, puzzles and a large supply of board books to borrow or read there.

4.  Lots of great places to sit and read, both for adults and kids.  From armchairs and sofas to the tomato-shaped “house” in the children’s area, there are terrific seats everywhere, with and without moveable writing desks attached.

5.  An ever-changing section of new books.

6.  A playground with swings and equipment, benches, a picnic table, a large green field and beautiful trees to sit under.

7.  Activities!  There are playtimes and storytimes, children’s activities, book groups for teens through adults, a mid-week farmer’s market (to supplement our town’s Saturday farmer’s market on the green), lectures, classes and more.

8.  A helpful and useful website where you can check your account, renew books, reserve books or order them through inter-library loan, and get digital audio downloads of books to borrow for free.

9.  BOOK SALES!  At least twice a year, the “Friends of” our library host used book sales.  Residents donate throughout the year, and they also pull old or out-of-date books from the library shelves.  The sales are amazing.  We are a family of prolific readers, especially Chris who reads at twice the speed of a normal human I think, and for the cost of two new hardcovers at a chain bookstore we can come home from the book sale with two boxes of books of all sorts.  When they’re paperback, that is a LOT of books.

10.  Story Kits.  These are theme-based kits in a large vinyl/canvas bag.  They are for pre-school to elementary aged children, and can be used for fun or to supplement home-schooling units.  Each kit has a number of books (anywhere from 5-12 from what I’ve seen) plus an extra item or two.  The extras could be a puzzle or game related to the theme, a stuffed animal or puppet, or a felt finger-play set.  There is also a handy binder that lists everything in the kit so there is no last-minute scramble to make sure I have everything when it’s time to return it.  Themes range from farms or specific animals to holidays, life events or other interests (trucks, trains, etc).  The library has 20-30 kits and they are all fabulous.

So there you have it.  Those are some of the reasons why I love my library.  How often do you visit yours?

 

My Favorite Young Children’s Books

Cover via Amazon

Tuesday Top Ten

1.  Know what?  No, what? by Arline Baum published in 1964 by Parents’ Magazine Press

As far as I know this book is out of print, but I’m including it anyway because it was my very favorite book as a child.  It’s a story of two children talking to each other and imagining different and fantastic things.  The artwork is beautiful, done in just a couple of colors.  As an adult, I love anything that encourages a child’s imagination, so I found a used copy of it for my own kids.

2.  The Little Book by Sherl Horvath published by Golden Books

This is a simple rhyming book about things that are little.  (“A little train is a caboose.  A little Indian is a  papoose.”)  It was a very close second in my list of favorite books when I was a child, and now I absolutely love the beautiful illustrations.  It is a little outdated, as you can see in the excerpt above, but it is still a cute book to read to little ones.

3.  There’s a Monster at the End of this Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin (a Sesame Street book)

For anyone not familiar with this, it stars lovable, furry old Grover.  In it, Grover speaks directly to the reader urging them not to turn pages because that gets them closer to the monster at the end of the book.  It never fails to make my youngest daughter laugh, and had the same effect on me when I was her age.

4. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak

A rhyme for each month, with Sendak’s wonderful artwork.

5.  Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

This is a classic.  It has been studied in literature classes, and read by generations of children.  Can you find the mouse on each page?

6.  Chica Chica Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambeault

One of the best alphabet books ever, the rhymes are catchy and the colors are vibrant.  It’s fun to read and to hear.

7.  Brown Bear,  Brown Bear by Erik Carle

My youngest daughter has known this book by heart since she was two.  It is so easy to learn, and has Erik Carle’s beautiful artwork.  It’s also a great way to teach colors.

8.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Erik Carle

I couldn’t decide between the two, I’ll admit it.  This book was always just so much fun, with all the little pages and the holes eaten through them.

9.  But Not the Hippopatomus by Sandra Boynton

I actually had a very hard time deciding which Sandra Boynton book to choose.  I love all of them, and it was a very close call between this one and The Going to Bed Book, but this one won out.  The book is about a shy hippo overcoming her nervousness and joining in with the other animals to play.  I was a shy kid, so I’m always a fan of this kind of book.

10.  Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardtd

Another classic, this book is fun because there is something to do on every page.  My favorite part was always smelling the flowers.  It seemed like magic to me when I was very little that the flowers actually smelled.  Silly now, I know, but it’s still my favorite part.

What are your favorite books for young children?

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