Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney Chronicle Books Nominated by: Jo Knowles With Blue Plate Special, Michelle Kwasney has crafted a finely woven plot where the threads of three lives in three different decades create an emotional and gripping tapestry.  The depth of that tapestry builds as threads are broken, severed and tied back together.  It is about how …

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose Farrar, Straus & Giroux Nominated by: Elaine Phillip Hoose’s Claudette Colvin tells the story of a remarkable yet largely unknown civil rights figure.  In March 1955, nine months before the famous Rosa Parks incident, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in …

Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History! by Shana Corey Scholastic Nominated by: Kelly Fineman Annette Kellerman is a woman who made many waves in her life. The story encompasses her early physical disability, her swimming accomplishments, her introduction of the woman’s swimming suit to the public, and …

Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford Putnam Juvenile Nominated by: Dawn Mooney Even though he’s smart and capable, Newt is the neglected younger brother of a high school football star, mostly content with sliding through the cracks of life.  Then a couple of events–his older brother ends up in a coma the night of the Big Game and Newt is forced …

Curious Garden, The by Peter Brown Little, Brown Nominated by: Eric Carpenter When a little boy discovers a near-dying garden atop the buildings in his drab city, he quickly learns the changes that can occur under the caring hands of one dedicated person. This magical tale–coupled with beautiful illustrations–enables children to see just how much they, too, are capable of. …

Middle Grade: Creepy Crawly Crime (Joey Fly, Private Eye) by Aaron Reynolds Henry Holt Nominated by: Cynthia Leitich Smith Written in classic Thirties’ private-eye style, this crime noir mystery has Joey Fly and his sidekick Sammy Stingtail searching all over Bugville looking for a missing diamond pencil case.  With an eccentric cast of insect and arachnid characters that are sure …

African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways written by Avis Harley with photographs by Deborah Noyes Candlewick Press Nominated by: Becky In this collection of 18 poems, each accompanied by a gorgeous photograph of the subject, Harley takes the form of the acrostic to new heights. The poems are deftly created and move well beyond the single-word acrostic to include phrases, …