2009 Master List
K-2
- Badger’s Fancy Meal/By Keiko Kasza.
- New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2007.
- Badger is bored with the same old meals, but his search for more exciting food only leads to trouble.
- Beetle Bop/By Denise Fleming.
- Harcourt, 2007
- Crawling with beautiful beetles, this is a spectacular celebration of bugs by a Caldecott honor winner.
- Dogku/By Andrew Clements; Tim Bowers, Ill.
- New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.
- A collection of Haiku describing how a stray dog is taken in and finally adopted by a family.
- First the Egg/By Laura Vaccaro Seeger.
- Connecticut: Roaring Brook Press, 2007.
- A concept book showing developmental biology. A Caldecott honor book.
- How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?/By Margaret McNamara; G. Brian Karas, Ill.
- New York: Schwartz & Wade, 2007.
- Charlie, the smallest child in his first grade class, is amazed to discover that of the three pumpkins his teacher brings to school, the smallest one has the most seeds.
- I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean/By Kevin Sherry.
- New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2007.
- A giant squid brags about being bigger than everything else in the ocean—almost.
- Mind Your Manners, B. B. Wolf/By Judy Sierra; Jotto Seibold, Ill.
- New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2007.
- When B. B. Wolf, who is now lives in the Villain Villa Retirement Residence, is invited to the library for a storybook tea, he is careful to follow the advice of his crocodile friend and impresses everyone with how polite he can be.
- New Socks/By Bob Shea.
- Little, Brown, 2007
- Something new can change the way you look; it can change the way you feel; and, in the case of new socks, it can change the way you walk—especially if you're a chicken.
- Pssst!/By Adam Rex
- Harcourt Children's Books, 2007
- The animals at the zoo have some unusual requests for a little girl who comes to visit.
- Rainstorm/By Barbara Lehman.
- Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007.
- In this wordless picture book, a boy finds a mysterious key which leads him on an adventure one rainy day.
- Toy Boat/By Randall de Seve; Loren Long, Ill.
- New York: Philomel Books, 2007.
- A toy boat gets separated from his owner and has an adventure on the high seas.
- When Dinosaurs Came With Everything/By Elise Broach: David Small, ill.
- New York: Atheneum, 2007.
- Although his mother is a little worried, a young boy is delighted to discover that every shop in town is giving away real dinosaurs to their customers.
3-5
- Annie’s War/By Jacqueline Levering Sullivan
- Eerdmans, 2007. ISBN: 9780802853257
- In 1946, imaginary conversations with President Truman help ten-year-old Annie cope with having to live with her grandmother in Walla Walla, Washington, her uncle's prejudice toward her grandmother's black tenant, and her intense desire for news of her father, a pilot in the Army Air Corps who was reported missing in action.
- Attack of the Turtle/ By Drew Carlson
- Eerdmans, 2007. ISBN: 9780802853080
- During the Revolutionary War, fourteen-year-old Nathan joins forces with his older cousin, the inventor David Bushnell, to secretly build the first submarine used in naval warfare.
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid/By Jeff Kinney
- Abrams, 2007. ISBN: 9780810993136
- Greg records his sixth grade experiences in a middle school where he and his best friend, Rowley, undersized weaklings amid boys who need to shave twice daily, hope just to survive, but when Rowley grows more popular, Greg must take drastic measures to save their friendship.
- Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree/By Lauren Tarshis
- Dial, 2007. ISBN: 9780803731646
- A quirky and utterly logical seventh-grade girl named Emma-Jean Lazarus discovers some interesting results when she gets involved in the messy everyday problems of her peers.
- The House of a Million Pets/By Ann Hodgman
- Henry Holt, 2007. ISBN: 9780805079746
- Learn about Ann and her life with all her pets.
- How to Steal a Dog/By Barbara O’Connor
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. ISBN: 9780374334970
- Living in the family car in their small North Carolina town after their father leaves them virtually penniless, Georgina, desperate to improve their situation and unwilling to accept her overworked mother's calls for patience, persuades her younger brother to help her in an elaborate scheme to get money by stealing a dog and then claiming the reward that the owners are bound to offer.
- Me and the Pumpkin Queen/By Marlane Kennedy
- Greenwillow, 2007. ISBN: 9780061140228
- Although Aunt Arlene tries to interest her in clothing and growing up, ten-year-old Mildred is entirely focused on growing a pumpkin big enough to win the annual Circleville, Ohio, contest, as her mother dreamed of doing before she died.
- The Mysterious Benedict Society /by Trenton Lee Stewart
- Little, Brown, 2007. ISBN: 9780316057776
- After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.
- No Talking!/By Andrew Clements
- Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN: 9781416909835
- The noisy fifth grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth grade girls to a "no talking" contest.
- Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One/By Judy Blume
- Delacorte, 2007. ISBN: 9780385733052
- Revisits the sometimes challenging relationship between a six-year-old (The Pain) and his eight-year-old sister (The Great One) through seven chapters featuring such events as learning to ride a bicycle, having a birthday party, and dog-sitting.
- Where I Live/By Eileen Spinelli
- Dial, 2007. ISBN: 9780803731226
- In a series of poems, Diana writes about her life, both before and after her father loses his job and she and her family move far away to live with Grandpa Joe.
- The White Giraffe/By Lauren St. John
- Dial, 2007. ISBN: 9780803732117
- After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe.
6-8
- The Alchemyst/By Michael D. Scott
- Delacorte, 2007. ISBN: 9780385733571
- Fifteen-year-old twins find themselves caught up in the deadly struggle between rival alchemists over the possession of an ancient book that holds the secret formula for everlasting life.
- Beauty Shop for Rent/By Laura Bowers
- Harcourt, 2007. ISBN: 9780152057640
- Raised by a great-grandmother and her beauty shop buddies, fourteen-year-old Abbey resolves to overcome her unhappy childhood and disillusionment with the mother who deserted her.
- Call Me Hope/By Gretchen Olson
- Little, Brown, 2007. ISBN: 9780316012362
- With the help of two older women who own a second-hand shop in her small Oregon town, eleven-year-old Hope tries to cope with her mother’s verbal abuse by devising survival strategies for herself based on a school history unit about Anne Frank and the Holocaust.
- Cracker: The Best Dog in Vietnam/By Cynthia Kadohata
- Atheneum, 2007. ISBN: 9781416906377
- The story of a young soldier in Vietnam who bonds with his bomb-sniffing dog through the trials and tribulations of war.
- Diamonds in the Shadow/By Caroline B. Cooney
- Delacorte, 2007. ISBN: 9780385732611
- When his family decides to sponsor four African refugees in need, fifteen-year-old Jared seems to be the only person questioning the inconsistent facts surrounding this Nigerian family, leading him on a journey to discover the truth behind their lies.
- Elijah of Buxton/By Christopher Paul Curtis
- Scholastic, 2007. ISBN: 9780439023443
- Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman is the first free-born child in Buxton Canada, a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859. Elijah’s eyes are opened to the perils of slavery when he must use his wits and skills to travel south to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family’s freedom.
- Football Genius/By Tim Green
- HarperCollins, 2007. ISBN: 9780061122705
- Troy, a sixth-grader with an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur, attempts to use his ability to help his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, but he must first prove himself to the coach and players.
- Frannie in Pieces/By Delia Ephron
- HarperTeen, 2007. ISBN: 9780060747169
- When fifteen-year-old Frannie’s father dies, only a mysterious, handmade jigsaw puzzle that he leaves behind can help her come to terms with his death.
- Hiroshima Dreams/By Kelly Easton
- Dutton, 2007. ISBN: 9780525478218
- When her elderly grandmother comes from Japan to live with their totally Americanized family, Lin O-Neil, a talented but shy girl, soon develops a close relationship with her grandmother and discovers that they share the gift of precognition.
- Lawn Boy/By Gary Paulsen
- Wendy Lamb Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780385746861
- Things get out of hand for a twelve-year-old boy when a neighbor convinces him to expand his summer lawn mowing business.
- Leepike Ridge/By N.D. Wilson
- Random House, 2007. ISBN: 9780375838736
- While his widowed mother continues to search for him, eleven-year-old Tom, presumed dead after drifting away down a river, finds himself trapped in a series of underground caves with another survivor and dog while being pursued by murderous treasure-hunters.
- Night of the Howling Dogs/By Graham Salisbury
- Wendy Lamb Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780385731225
- Eleven boy scouts, their leaders, and some new friends camping at Halape, Hawaii, find their survival skills put to the test when a massive earthquake strikes, followed by a tsunami.
- Peak/By Roland Smith
- Harcourt, 2007. ISBN: 9780152024178
- A fourteen-year-old boy attempts to be the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest.
- Shooting the Moon/By Frances O’Roark Dowell
- Atheneum, 2008. ISBN: 9781416926900
- When her brother is sent to fight in Vietnam, twelve-year-old Jamie is thrilled by the pictures he sends home until they start to change causing Jamie to reconsider the army world that she has grown up in.
- Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jestam, and the Science of Ocean Motion/By Loree Griffin Burns
- Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ISBN: 9780618581313
- This book describes the work of oceanographer Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer who tracks trash as it travels unbelievable distances by way of our ocean currents. From sneakers to hockey gloves to toys, these scientists monitor the watery fate of human-made cargo that has spilled into the ocean.
9-12
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian/By Sherman Alexie
- Little, Brown, 2007. ISBN: 9780316013680
- 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.
- The Arrival/By Shaun Tan
- Arthur A. Levine Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780439895293
- In this wordless graphic novel, a man leaves his homeland and sets off for a new country, where he must build a new life for himself and his family.
- Before I Die/By Jenny Downham
- David Fickling Books, 2007. ISBN: 9780385751551
- A terminally ill teenaged girl makes and carries out a list of things to do before she dies.
- Buried/By Robin MacCready
- Dutton Books, 2006. ISBN 978052547724
- When her alcoholic mother goes missing, seventeen-year-old Claudine begins to spin out of control, despite her attempts to impose order on every aspect of her life.
- Firestorm/By David Klass
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006. ISBN: 9780374323073
- After learning that he has been sent from the future for a special purpose, eighteen-year-old Jack receives help from an unusual dog and a shape-shifting female fighter.
- First Shot/By Walter Sorrells
- Dutton, 2007. ISBN: 9780525478010
- As David enters his senior year of high school, a family secret emerges that could solve the mystery of why his mother was murdered two years ago.
- General Winston’s Daughter/By Sharon Shinn
- Viking, 2007. ISBN: 9780670062485
- Seventeen-year-old heiress Averie Winston travels with her guardian to faraway Chiarrin, a country her father's army has occupied, and once she arrives and is reunited with her fiance, she discovers that her notions about politics, propriety, the military, and even her intended have changed.
- Gym Candy/By Carl Deuker
- Houghton Mifflin, 2007. ISBN: 9780618777136
- Groomed by his father to be a star player, football is the only thing that has ever really mattered to Mick Johnson, who works hard for a spot on the varsity team his freshman year, then tries to hold onto his edge by using steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier/By Ishmael Beah
- Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. ISBN: 9780374105235
- Ishmael Beah, now 25 years old, tells how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
- Red Glass/By Laura Resau
- Delacorte, 2007. ISBN: 9780385734660
- Sixteen-year-old Sophie has been frail and delicate since her premature birth, but discovers her true strength during a journey through Mexico, where the six-year-old orphan her family hopes to adopt was born, and to Guatemala, where her would-be boyfriend hopes to find his mother and plans to remain.
- Slam/By Nick Hornby
- Putnam, 2007. ISBN: 9780399250484
- At the age of fifteen, Sam Jones's girlfriend gets pregnant and Sam's life of skateboarding and daydreaming about Tony Hawk changes drastically.
- Story of a Girl/By Sara Zarr
- Little, Brown, 2007. ISBN: 9780316014540
- In the three years since her father caught her in the back seat of a car with an older boy, sixteen-year-old Deanna's life at home and school has been a nightmare, but while dreaming of escaping with her brother and his family, she discovers the power of forgiveness.
- Thirteen Reasons Why/By Jay Asher
- Razorbill, 2007. ISBN: 9781595141712
- When high school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide, he spends a bewildering and heartbreaking night crisscrossing their town, listening to Hannah's voice recounting the events leading up to her death.
- Trigger/By Susan Vaught
- Bloomsbury, 2006. ISBN: 9781582349206
- Teenager Jersey Hatch must work through his extensive brain damage to figure out why he decided to shoot himself.
- Twisted/By Laurie Halse Anderson
- Viking, 2007. ISBN: 9780670061013
- After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.
updated: Monday, 14-Apr-2008 15:09:58 EDT