Rebecca+Caudill+Award+2014

Rebecca Caudill Award Books 2014

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Rebecca Caudill Award is sponsored by the Illinois Library Media Association, the Rebecca Caudill Award is given to the book selected by students in grades 4-8 in Illinois. Students who read at least five of the titles will be eligible to vote for their favorite. ===== The Apothecary Putnam, 2011 (Grades 6-8)
 * **By Maile Meloy****

A mysterious apothecary. A magic book. A missing scientist. An impossible plan.

It's 1952 and the Scott family has moved unexpectedly from Los Angeles to London. There, fourteen-year-old Janie gets a homesickness cure from the neighborhood apothecary and becomes fascinated by his defiant son, Benjamin Burrows—a boy struggling with his destiny, who isn't afraid to stand up to authority and who dreams of becoming a spy.

When Benjamin's father disappears, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's ancient book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping those secrets out of the hands of Russian spies. Discovering transformative elixirs they never imagined could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending nuclear disaster.

Bamboo People Charlesbridge, 2010 (Grades 6-8)
 * **By Mitali Perkins** **

Chiko isn’t a fighter by nature. He’s a book-loving Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for resisting the government. Tu Reh, on the other hand, wants to fight for freedom after watching Burmese soldiers destroy his Karenni family's home and bamboo fields. Timidity becomes courage and anger becomes compassion as each boy is changed by unlikely friendships formed under extreme circumstances.

This coming-of-age novel takes place against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Narrated by two fifteen-year-old boys on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government and the Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma, Bamboo People explores the nature of violence, power, and prejudice.


 * [|Bamboo People Review] **

Blizzard of Glass: The Halifax Explosion of 1917 Holt, 2011 (Grades 4-8)
 * **By Sally M. Walker** **

// O n December 6, 1917 two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One ship was loaded top to bottom with munitions and one held relief supplies, both intended for wartorn Europe. The resulting blast flattened two towns, Halifax and Dartmouth, and killed nearly 2,000 people. As if that wasn't devastating enough, a blizzard hit the next day, dumping more than a foot of snow on the area and paralyzing much-needed relief efforts. Fascinating, edge-of-your-seat storytelling based on original source material conveys this harrowing account of tragedy and recovery. //


 * The Halifax Explosion **


 * More about the Halifax explosion **


 * More about the explosion **


 * Halifax Wrecked **

Boys Without Names Balzer + Bray, 2010 (Grades 5-8)
 * By Kashmira Sheth **

Trapped. For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: // We stay, we starve //, his baba has warned. They flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.

But there is no factory, just a stuffy sweatshop where he and five other boys are forced to work for no money and little food. The boys are forbidden to talk or even to call one another by their real names. Locked away in a rundown building, Gopal despairs of ever seeing his family again. But late one night, when Gopal decides to share // kahanis //, or stories, he realizes that storytelling might be the boys' key to survival. If he can make them feel more like brothers than enemies, their lives will be more bearable in the shop—and they might even find a way to escape.

Breaking Stalin's Nose Holt, 2011 (Grades 4-8)
 * **By Eugene Yelchin** **

Sasha Zaichik has known the laws of the Soviet Young Pioneers since the age of six: The Young Pioneer is devoted to Comrade Stalin, the Communist Party, and Communism. A Young Pioneer is a reliable comrade and always acts according to conscience. A Young Pioneer has a right to criticize shortcomings. But now that it is finally time to join the Young Soviet Pioneers, the day Sasha has awaited for so long, everything seems to go awry. Perhaps Sasha does not want to be a Young Soviet Pioneer after all. Is it possible that everything he knows about the Soviet Government is a lie? The moving story of a ten-year-old boy’s world shattering is masterful in its simplicity, powerful in its message, and heartbreaking in its plausibility.

Charlesbridge, 2010 (Grades 4-8)
 * Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot" **
 * **By Michael O. Tunnell** **

**A true story of chocolate, bubble gum, and hope.** After World War II the United States and Britain airlifted food and supplies into Russian-blockaded West Berlin. US Air Force Lieutenant Gail S. Halvorsen knew the children of the city were suffering. To lift their spirits, he began dropping chocolate and gum by parachute.

Michael O. Tunnell tells an inspiring tale of candy and courage, illustrated with Lt. Halvorsen's personal photographs, as well as letters and drawings from the children of Berlin to their beloved "Uncle Wiggly Wings."


 * Gail Halverson – The Candy Bomber Video **

Operation Little Vittles

Operation Vittles

Viking, 2011 (Grades 4-8)
 * Close to Famous **
 * **By Joan Bauer** **

**A novel full of heart, humor, and charm from Newbery Honor winner Joan Bauer!**

When twelve-year-old Foster and her mother land in the tiny town of Culpepper, they don't know what to expect. But folks quickly warm to the woman with the great voice and the girl who can bake like nobody's business. Soon Foster - who dreams of having her own cooking show one day - lands herself a gig baking for the local coffee shop, and gets herself some much-needed help in overcoming her biggest challenge - learning to read. . . just as Foster and Mama start to feel at ease, their past catches up to them. Thanks to the folks in Culpepper, though Foster and her mama find the strength to put their troubles behind them for good.

** By G. Neri ** Candlewick, 2011 (Grades 4-8)
 * Ghetto Cowboy **

Twelve-year-old Cole has messed up one too many times, and now his mother has taken him from Detroit to Philadelphia to live with his father, whom Cole doesn’t know. Turns out Philadelphia isn’t much like Detroit. It’s the ’hood all right, but there are horses and stables and cowboys, right in the city. His father and his community of cowboys are continuing a tradition of urban cowboys dating back to the Civil War, maintaining stables and taking on kids to teach responsibility and provide an alternative to gangs and street life. But Cole doesn’t buy it: “You guys is funny. We in the city, with cars and computers and stuff, and you think you back in the //Wild, Wild West//!” Gradually, though, Cole finds he has a way with a horse named Boo, and in taking care of Boo he finds a new life for himself.

** This American Life: Horses in North Philly **

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous Walker, 2011 (Grades 6-8)
 * **By Georgia Bragg** **

Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. //How They Croaked// relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. For example:
 * It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state.
 * Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket.
 * Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.

Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911.

HarperCollins, 2008 (Grades 5-8)
 * The Hunt for the Seventh **
 * **By Christine Morton-Shaw** **

A haunted mansion. Six dead children. A garden of statues. With every step he takes around the carefully manicured grounds of Minerva Hall, Jim is haunted by the ghosts of children, long dead, whom no one else can see. Urging him to "find the Seventh," the children leave him cryptic clues pointing to a devastating ancient prophecy that only he can stop from being fulfilled.

Jim befriends another boy—Einstein, who lives at the Hall. Einstein is autistic and very, very smart. If anyone can help Jim find the Seventh, perhaps he can—Einstein clearly knows more than he is saying. At the same time, the dead children seem to be leaving Jim some sort of macabre treasure trail.

If Jim doesn't figure out the clues, innocent people will die. But how can Jim find the answers while the dangers of the Hall grow ever more threatening? And even if he can, the real question is—is Jim already too late?

I, Emma Freke Carolrhoda, 2010 (Grades 5-8)
 * By **Elizabeth Atkinson****

Life wasn't always like this. In fact, when I was younger and shorter and dumber I usually had one or two friends to play with at recess. My grades were good, but nothing special. Then my height and brains took off one summer as if someone watered me with too much fertilizer. Even my dull hair turned redder. To make matters worse--to make matters impossibly worse--my name is Emma Freke. Like, if you say it slowly, Am a Freak.

Putnam, 2012 (Grades 6-8)
 * The Lions of Little Rock **
 * By Kristin Levine**

As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is everything Marlee wishes she could be: she's brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn't matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.


 * Little Rock: The Lost Year: 1958–59**

Mockingbird: (Mok'ing-bûrd) **By Kathryn Erskine** Philomel, 2010 (Grades 4-8)

In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead, and her father cries a lot. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of “closure” in the dictionary, she realizes that is what she and her father need. In her search for Closure, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white --the world is full of c o l o r s --messy and beautiful, and it is through this discovery that she embarks on a road which leads her to find both healing and Closure.

Clarion, 2011 (Grades 7-8)
 * Okay for Now **
 * Trailer 2 **
 * Gary D. Schmidt**

As a fourteen-year-old who just moved to a new town, with no friends and a louse for an older brother, Doug Swieteck has all the stats stacked against him. So begins a coming-of-age masterwork full of equal parts comedy and tragedy from Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt. As Doug struggles to be more than the "skinny thug" that his teachers and the police think him to be, he finds an unlikely ally in Lil Spicer—a fiery young lady who smelled like daisies would smell if they were growing in a big field under a clearing sky after a rain. In Lil, Doug finds the strength to endure an abusive father, the suspicions of a whole town, and the return of his oldest brother, forever scarred, from Vietnam. Together, they find a safe haven in the local library, inspiration in learning about the plates of John James Audubon’s birds, and a hilarious adventure on a Broadway stage.

An interview with Gary D. Schmidt

**John Flanagan** Philomel, 2011 (Grades 5-8)
 * The Outcasts **

They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the others - they are the boys the others want no part of. Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice could tell you, are known for their size and strength. Not these boys. Yet that doesn't mean they don't have skills. And courage - which they will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands, the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. The icy waters make for a treacherous playing field. . . especially when not everyone thinks of it as playing. John Flanagan, author of the international phenomenon Ranger's Apprentice, creates a new cast of characters to populate his world of Skandians and Araluens, a world millions of young readers around the world have come to know and admire. Full of seafaring adventures and epic battles, Book 1 of The Brotherband Chronicles is sure to thrill readers of Ranger's Apprentice while enticing a whole new generation just now discovering the books.

Perfect for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone, Christopher Paolini’s Eragon series, and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire series.

The Running Dream Knopf, 2011 (Grades 6-8)
 * **Wendelin Van Draanen****

Jessica thinks her life is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. She's not comforted by the news that she'll be able to walk with the help of a prosthetic leg. Who cares about walking when you live to run? As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People who don't know what to say, act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she weren't now keenly aware that she'd done the same thing herself to a girl with CP named Rosa. A girl who is going to tutor her through all the math she's missed. A girl who sees right into the heart of her. With the support of family, friends, a coach, and her track teammates, Jessica may actually be able to run again. But that's not enough for her now. She doesn't just want to cross finish lines herself— she wants to take Rosa with her.


 * An interview with Wendelin Van Draanen**

** A Tale Dark and Grimm ** **Adam Gidwitz** Dutton, 2010 (Grades 6-8)

Warlocks with dark spells, hunters with deadly aim, and bakers with ovens retro-fitted for baking children lurk within these pages. But if you dare, Follow Hansel and Gretel as they walk out of their own story and into the wilds—where magic, terror, and a little bit of humor shine like white pebbles lighting the way. Come on in. It may be frightening, and it’s certainly bloody, but, unlike those other fairy tales you know, this one is true. Once upon a time, you see, fairy tales were awesome.
 * Reader, beware!**

**Sally Nicholls** Scholastic, 2008 (Grades 6-8)
 * Ways to Live Forever **

Sam loves facts. He wants to know about UFOs and horror movies and airships and ghosts and scientists, and how it feels to kiss a girl. And because he has leukemia he wants to know the facts about dying. Sam needs answers to the questions nobody will answer.

**R.J. Palacio** Knopf, 2012 (Grades 5-8)
 * Wonder **

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He's about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you've ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie's just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, despite appearances?

Scholastic, 2011 (Grades 7-8) In the tradition of SHABANU, DAUGHTER OF THE WIND and THE BREADWINNER, a beautiful debut about a daughter of Afghanistan discovering new friends and opportunities after the defeat of the Taliban.
 * Words in the Dust **
 * Trent Reedy**

Zulaikha hopes. She hopes for peace, now that the Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan; a good relationship with her hard stepmother; and one day even to go to school, or to have her cleft palate fixed. Zulaikha knows all will be provided for her--"Inshallah," God willing.

Then she meets Meena, who offers to teach her the Afghan poetry she taught her late mother. And the Americans come to her village, promising not just new opportunities and dangers, but surgery to fix her face. These changes could mean a whole new life for Zulaikha--but can she dare to hope they'll come true?

The Story behind the Story
= 'Words in the Dust': A soldier's story, and a girl's =

From National Guardsman to AuthorTrent Reedy tells the story of a young Afghan girl

Women for Afghan Women