Awesome Award Books

In the Terman Library

 

 

Here are the awards you will find marked on the following book list:

 

California Young Reader Medal Winners

The best Middle School and Young Adult level books voted on annually by students all over the state of California.

 

Coretta Scott King Award

Annual award for a book written by and about African Americans.

 

Edgar Allen Poe Award

Annual award for a mystery book written for young people.

 

National Book Award

Annual award given for distinguished Fiction for young people.

 

Newbery Award and Honor Books

Annual award given for distinguished Fiction for young people.

 

Printz Award and Honor Books

Bi-annual award given for distinguished Fiction for Young Adults.

These books are for more mature readers.

 

Pura Belpre Award

Annual award given for books written by and about Latino Americans.

 

Sibert Award

Annual award given for distinguished Non Fiction books for young people.

 

 

 

See Below

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome Award Books

In the Terman Library

 

 

379.2 Mor      Remember: The Journey to School Integration  Morrison, Toni

 

Presents a selection of archival photographs that document events surrounding the integration of U.S. schools following the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, and includes captions in which Toni Morrison imagines what the people in the pictures must have been thinking and feeling.

2005 Coretta Scott King Award

 

614.5 Mur      An American Plague                           Murphy, Jim

 

Provides an account of the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia in 1793, discussing the chaos that erupted when people began evacuating in droves, leaving the city without government, goods, or services, and examining efforts by physicians, the Free African Society, and others to cure and care for the sick. 2004 Newbery Honor & 2004 Sibert Award

 

629.45 Thi     Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed         Thimmesh, Catherine

 

Chronicles the Apollo 11 mission, the spaceflight that landed the first man on Earth's moon on July 20, 1969, emphasizing the contributions and reactions

of the thousands of people who made the mission successful. 2007 Sibert Award

 

741.5 Yan      American Born Chinese                        Yang, Gene

    

Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture. Presented in comic

book format.  2007 Printz Award

 

811 Nel        A Wreath for Emmett Till                     Nelson, Marilyn

                 

This illustrated poetry collection eulogizes Emmett Till, an African American man who was killed in a brutal, racially motivated lynching in 1955.

2006 Printz Honor

 

812.6 Sch      Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!                  Schlitz, Laura Amy

 

A collection of short one-person plays featuring characters, between ten and fifteen years old, who live in or near a thirteenth-century English manor.

2008 Newbery Award

 

921 Anderson   The Voice That Challenged a Nation           Freedman, Russell

 

Tells the life story of singer Marian Anderson, describing her famous 1939 Lincoln Memorial performance and explaining how she helped end segregation

in the American arts after being refused the right to perform at Washington's Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin.

2005 Newbery Honor & 2005 Sibert Award

 


921 Lennon     John Lennon: All I want Is the Truth         Partridge, Elizabeth

 

Presents a biography of musician John Lennon, chronicling his life and times from his troubled childhood in Liverpool, England, through his career

writing, recording, and performing as a member of the Beatles. Includes 140

black-and-white photographs. 2006 Printz Honor

 

921 Manzano    The Poet Slave of Cuba                       Engle, Margarita

 

A portrait in poems of Juan Francisco Manzano, the poet who was born a slave in Cuba in 1797. 2008 Pura Belpre Award

 

921 Sís        The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain Sís, Peter

 

Artist Sís Peter describes what it was like growing up in a Communist country and discusses how Western culture influenced his life. 2008 Sibert Award

 

943.08 Bar     Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow  Bartoletti, Susan

 

A photo-illustrated look at the youth organizations Adolf Hitler founded and used to meet his sociopolitical and military ends; includes profiles of

individual Hitler Youth members as well as young people who opposed the Nazis, such as Hans and Sophie Scholl. 2006 Newbery Honor

 

973.7 Wal      Secrets of a Civil War Submarine             Walker, Sally

 

Tells the story of the "H. L. Hunley," the Confederate submarine that in 1864 became the first to ever sink an enemy ship but lay missing on the ocean floor

for more than a century, describing its creation, its discovery, skeletons and objects found onboard, and facial reconstructions of several crew members by forensic anthropologists. 2006 Sibert Award

 

E Woo          Show Way                                     Woodson, Jacqueline

 

A mother passes on the tradition of making quilts, or "Show ways", that serve as secret maps for freedom seeking slaves. 2006 Newbery Honor

 

F Ale          The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian  Alexie, Sherman

 

Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other

Indian is the school mascot. 2007 National Book Award

 

F Alv          Before We Were Free                          Alvarez, Julia

 

In the early 1960s in the Dominican Republic, twelve-year-old Anita learns that her family is involved in the underground movement to end the bloody

rule of the dictator, General Trujillo. 2004 Pura Belpre Award

 

F And          The Pox Party                                Anderson, M. T.

 

Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is    brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War. 2006 National Book Award & 2007 Printz Honor


F Arm          Whittington                                  Armstrong, Alan

 

Whittington, a feline descendant of Dick Whittington's famous cat of English folklore, appears at a rundown barnyard plagued by rats and restores harmony

while telling his ancestor's story. 2006 Newbery Honor

 

F Arn          Rat Life                                     Arnold, Tedd

 

After developing an unusual friendship with a young Vietnam War veteran in 1972, fourteen-year-old Todd discovers his writing talent and solves a murder mystery. 2008 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Bal          Chasing Vermeer                              Balliett, Blue

 

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, eleven-year-olds Petra and Calder combine

their talents to solve an international art scandal. 2005 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Bir          The Penderwicks                              Birdsall, Jeanne

 

While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local

boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother. 2005 National Book Award

 

F Can          The Tequila Worm                             Canales, Viola

 

Sofia finds that her experiences as a scholarship student at an Episcopal boarding school in Austin only strengthen her ties to her family in the

barrio community of McAllen, Texas. 2006 Pura Belpre Award

 

F Cho          Al Capone Does My Shirts                     Choldenko, Gennifer

 

A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new

environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

2007 California Young Reader Medal & 2005 Newbery Honor

 

F Cla          One Whole and Perfect Day                    Clarke, Judith

 

As her irritating family prepares to celebrate her grandfather's eightieth birthday, sixteen-year-old Lily yearns for just one whole perfect day together.

2008 Printz Honor

 

F Cle          Things Not Seen                              Clements, Andrew

 

When fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up and finds himself invisible, he and his parents and his new blind friend Alicia try to find out what caused his    condition and how to reverse it. 2005 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Cle          Room One: a Mystery or Two                   Clements, Andrew

 

Ted Hammond, the only sixth grader in his small Nebraska town's one-room schoolhouse, searches for clues to the disappearance of a homeless family.

2007 Edgar Allen Poe Award


F Cor          12 Again                                     Corbett, Sue

 

Bernadette, having wished on the eve of her fortieth birthday to be young again, wakes up the next morning as a twelve-year-old, and enrolls in her son Patrick's class in hopes of somehow enlisting his help in returning to her old self.

2006 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Cur          Elijah of Buxton                             Curtis, Christopher

 

Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859, uses his wits   and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family’s freedom.

2008 Coretta Scott King Award & 2008 Newbery Honor

 

F DiC          The Tale of Despereaux                       DiCamillo, Kate

 

The adventures of Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a   devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. 2004 Newbery Award

 

F Don          A Northern Light                             Donnelly, Jennifer

 

Sixteen-year-old Mattie, determined to attend college and be a writer against the wishes of her father and boyfriend, takes a job at a hotel in 1906 where   the death of a guest renews her determination to live her own life.

2004 Printz Honor

 

F Dra          Copper Sun                                   Draper, Sharon

 

Two fifteen-year-old girls, one a slave and the other an indentured servant, escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.

2007 Coretta Scott King Award

 

F Fei          Last Shot: a Final Four Mystery              Feinstein, John

 

After winning a basketball reporting contest, eighth graders Stevie and Susan Carol are sent to cover the Final Four tournament, where they discover that a talented player is being blackmailed into throwing the final game.

2006 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Gil          Shattering Glass                             Giles, Gail

 

When Rob, the charismatic leader of the senior class, turns the school nerd into Prince Charming, his actions lead to unexpected violence.

2007 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Goi          Fat Kid Rules the World                      Going, K.L.

 

Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly three hundred pounds, gets a new perspective on life when Curt, a semi-homeless teen who is a genius on guitar, asks Troy to be the drummer in a rock band. 2004 Printz Honor

 


F Hal          Princess Academy                             Hale, Shannon

 

While attending a strict academy for potential princesses with the other girls from her mountain village, fourteen-year-old Miri discovers unexpected talents and connections to her homeland. 2006 Newbery Honor

 

F Hau          Godless                                      Hautman, Pete

 

When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own. 2004 National Book Award

 

F Hen          Olive's Ocean                                Henkes, Kevin

 

On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer. 2004 Newbery Honor

 

F Hol          Penny From Heaven                            Holm, Jennifer

 

As she turns twelve during the summer of 1953, Penny gains new insights into herself and her family while also learning a secret about her father's death.

2007 Newbery Honor

 

F Hoo          In Darkness, Death                           Hoobler, Dorothy

 

In eighteenth-century Japan, young Seikei becomes involved with a ninja as he helps Judge Ooka, his foster father, investigate the murder of a samurai.

2005 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Hor          Stormbreaker                                 Horowitz, Anthony

 

After the death of the uncle who had been his guardian, fourteen-year-old Alex Rider is coerced to continue his uncle's dangerous work for Britain's   intelligence agency, MI6. 2005 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Joh          The First Part Last                          Johnson, Angela

 

Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.  2004 Printz Award & 2004 Coretta Scott King Award

 

F Kad          Kira-Kira                                    Kadohata, Cynthia

 

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s and the despair when   one sister becomes terminally ill. 2005 Newbery Award

 

F Kno          Dreamquake                                   Knox, Elizabeth

 

While investigating the government's involvement in the disappearance of her father, Tziga Hame, and the decline of the art of projecting dreams,    dreamhunter Laura learns more about "The Place." 2008 Printz Honor


F Lar          Hattie Big Sky                               Larson, Kirby

 

After inheriting her uncle's homesteading claim in Montana, sixteen-year-old orphan Hattie Brooks travels from Iowa in 1917 to make a home for herself and   encounters some unexpected problems related to the war being fought in Europe. 2007 Newbery Honor

 

F Les          Day of Tears                                 Lester, Julius

 

Presents a historical fiction written in first-person format that follows Emma, the slave of Pierce Butler, through a series of events in her life as her   master hosts the largest slave auction in American history in Savannah, Georgia in 1859 in order to pay off his mounting gambling debts.

2006 Coretta Scott King Award

 

F Lor          Rules                                        Lord, Cynthia

 

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic. 2007 Newbery Honor

 

F Mac          The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things Mackler, Carolyn

 

Feeling like she does not fit in with the other members of her family, who are all thin, brilliant, and good-looking, fifteen-year-old Virginia tries to deal   with her self-image, her first physical relationship, and her disillusionment with some of the people closest to her. 2004 Printz Honor

 

F Mar          The Night Tourist                            Marsh, Katherine

 

After fourteen-year-old classics prodigy Jack Perdu has a near-fatal accident he meets Euri, a young ghost who introduces him to New York's underworld, where those who died in New York reside until they are ready to move on, and Jack vows to find his dead mother there. 2008 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F McC          The White Darkness                           McCaughrean, G.

 

Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation, Symone, a troubled fourteen year old, discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth. 2008 Printz Award

 

F McN          Acceleration                                 McNamee, Graham

 

Stuck working in the lost and found department of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him. 2004 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Mor          Private Peaceful                             Morpurgo, Michael

 

When Thomas Peaceful's older brother is forced to join the British Army, Thomas decides to sign up as well, although he is only fourteen years old, to prove   himself to his country, his family, his childhood love, Molly, and himself.

2008 California Young Reader Medal


F Nam          Ties That Bind, Ties That Break              Namioka, Lensey

 

Ailin's life takes a different turn when she defies the traditions of upper class Chinese society by refusing to have her feet bound.

2004 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Nay          Bernie Magruder & the Bats in the Belfry     Naylor, Phyllis

 

Many residents of Middleburg, Indiana, are already going crazy from the ever-ringing church bells and now, after a bat is spotted in the hotel run by Bernie's family, they worry that the dangerous Indiana Aztec bat has finally arrived. 2004 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Opp          Airborn                                      Oppel, Kenneth

 

Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship, and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with her chaperone, team up to search for the existence of   mysterious winged creatures reportedly living hundreds of feet above the Earth's surface. 2005 Printz Honor

 

F Pat          The Higher Power of Lucky                    Patron, Susan

 

Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also   continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life.

2007 Newbery Award

 

F Per          Criss Cross                                  Perkins, Lynne

 

Teenagers in a small town in the 1960s experience new thoughts and feelings, question their identities, connect, and disconnect as they search for the   meaning of life and love. 2006 Newbery Award

 

F Pro          After                                        Prose, Francine

 

In the aftermath of a nearby school shooting, a grief and crisis counselor takes over Central High School and enacts increasingly harsh measures to control students, while those who do not comply disappear.

2006 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Ros          How I Live Now                               Rosoff, Meg

 

To get away from her pregnant stepmother in New York City, fifteen-year-old Daisy goes to England to stay with her aunt and cousins, with whom she instantly   bonds, but soon war breaks out and rips apart the family while devastating the land. 2005 Printz Award

 

F Sch          Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy        Schmidt, Gary

 

In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers, and Turner's, want to change into a tourist spot. 2005 Newbery Honor & 2005 Printz Honor


F Sch          The Wednesday Wars                           Schmidt, Gary

 

During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker’s classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in. 2008 Newbery Honor

 

F Shu          The Schwa Was Here                           Shusterman, Neal

 

A Brooklyn eighth-grader nicknamed Antsy befriends the Schwa, an "invisible-ish" boy who is tired of blending into his surroundings and going unnoticed by   nearly everyone. 2008 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Smi          The Boys of San Joaquin                      Smith, D.J.

 

In a small California town in 1951, twelve-year-old Paolo and his deaf cousin Billy get caught up in a search for money missing from the church collection, leading them to complicated discoveries about themselves, other family members, and townspeople they thought they knew. 2006 Edgar Allen Poe Award

 

F Str          Chanda's Secrets                             Stratton, Allan

 

Chanda Kabelo, a sixteen-year-old in a small South African town, faces down shame and stigma in her efforts to help friends and family members who are   dying of AIDS. 2005 Printz Honor

 

F Van          Flipped                                      Van Draanen, W.

 

In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years.

2004 California Young Reader Medal

 

F Woo          Feathers                                     Woodson, Jacqueline

 

When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light. 2008 Newbery Honor

 

F Zus          The Book Thief                               Zusak, Markus

 

Trying to make sense of the horrors of World War II, Death relates the story of Liesel, a young German girl whose book-stealing and story-telling talents help sustain her family and the Jewish man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors. 2007 Printz Honor