Members Only

Reading Circle Program

NATIONAL AWARD WINNING BOOKS

2008 Caldecott Medal
The Invention of Hugo Cabret, written and illustrated by Brian Selznick. Scholastic, ©2007. Words and illustrations are coupled so well in this book that one cannot exist without the other. A young boy lives in the walls of a train station, where he works on an invention left unfinished by his father. The words and double-page black-and-white illustrations move the suspenseful storyline along.

2008 Newbery Medal
Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village, by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Robert Byrd. Candlewick Press, ©2007. The 13th century is described through monologues each written by a different person in the village. The entries can be read singly but all should be read for a complete view of early England.

Coretta Scott King Author Award
Elijah of Buxton, by Christopher Paul Curtis. Scholastic, ©2007. Elijah is the first free-born child born in Buxton, Canada, a community of escaped slaves. The time is 1860. As he learns the realities of freedom and slavery, Elijah becomes, at 11, quite a hero.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award
Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals, by Ashley Bryan. Simon and Schuster, ©2007. With an explosion of color, Ashley Bryan celebrates three favorite spirituals: "This Little Light of Mine," "Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." The power of these beloved songs emanates through joyous interpretations using construction-paper collages.

Mildred K. Batchelder Award
Brave Story, by Miyuki Miyabe, translated from the Japanese by Alexander O. Smith. VIZ Media, ©2007. Wataru Mitani searches for a way to change his life after his mother attempts suicide and his father abandons him. The 10-year-old boy enters a fantasy realm and sets out on an adventure to change his destiny and reunite his family.

Pura Belpré Award for Narrative
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls. Henry Holt and Co., ©2007. A collection of poems based on notes written by Juan Francisco Manzano. The suffering, strength and determination of this man are illuminated. The quality of language is appropriate to the time and place.

Pura Belpré Award for Illustration
Los Gatos Black on Halloween, by Marisa Montes, illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Henry Holt and Co., ©2007. Spooky characters gather for a ball in Los Gatos Black on Halloween. There is lots of fun until a really scary creature appears. The surprise ending will delight readers. The text is written in rhyme.

Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean. HarperCollins, ©2007. Sym has a different obsession than most teenage girls — she's fascinated by Antarctica and one of its early explorers. When her uncle surprises her with a visit to the continent, her dream trip turns into a nightmare that she struggles to survive.

John Steptoe New Talent Award
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It, by Sundee T. Frazier. Random House, ©2007. Brendan Buckley is a 10-year-old rockhound who keeps a confidential notebook for his top-secret scientific discoveries. Then he finds something totally top secret — a grandfather he's never met who happens to be an expert mineral collector. Brendan visits his grandfather secretly and sets out to find the reason for his absence.

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain, by Peter Sís. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ©2007. Artist Peter Sís describes growing up in a communist country and discusses how Western culture influenced his life.

Schneider Family Book Award for Young Children
Kami and the Yaks, by Andrea Stenn Stryer, illustrated by Bert Dodson. Bay Otter Press, ©2007. A Sherpa family discovers its yaks are missing, and young Kami sets out to find the wandering herd. Kami, who is deaf, climbs a mountain slope to check the yaks' favorite grazing areas. At the same time, a fierce storm develops that requires Kami to overcome his fear of lightning and being alone.

Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School Children
Reaching for the Sun, by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer. Bloomsbury, ©2007. Josie has always wanted to forget that she was born with cerebral palsy, but her mother can't seem to let it go. When a new boy named Jordan moves in nearby, he seems oblivious to her differences. The story is told through beautiful interlinked, free-verse poetry.

Schneider Family Book Award for Teens
Hurt Go Happy, by Ginny Rorby. Tom Doherty Associates, ©2006. Joey's mother has never let her learn sign language, even though she's been deaf since the age of 6. She tries to follow conversations by reading lips, but often fails. Then she meets a scientist and a chimpanzee named Sukari, who communicate through sign language. Joey becomes friends with the two and begins learning sign language herself. The new method of communicating opens up her world, but her joy is threatened when Sukari's life is endangered.

Theodore Seuss Geisel Author Award
There Is a Bird on Your Head, by Mo Willems. Hyperion, ©2007. In this humorous account of Elephant Gerald and Piggie's friendship, Gerald learns there is something worse than having a bird on your head — having two birds on your head! Trying to help her friend, always-playful Piggie ends up with a problem of her own. Willems' color-coordinated speech bubbles, expressive cartoon art and familiar vocabulary create a funny, engaging experience for young readers.