2017 Bluestem Award Nominees
Sponsored by the Illinois School Library Media Association
Absolutely Almost
by Lisa Graff
“Albie has always been an almost. He's almost good at tetherball. He's almost smart enough to pass his spelling test. He almost makes his parents proud. And now that Albie is starting a brand new school for fifth grade, he's never felt more certain that almost simply isn't good enough. With everyone around him expecting him to be one thing or another, how is an almost like Albie ever supposed to figure out who he really wants to be?”
---http://www.lisagraff.com/absolutely-almost.html
Becoming Babe Ruth
by Matt Tavares�
“Before he is known as the Babe, George Herman Ruth is just a boy who lives in Baltimore and gets into a lot of trouble. But when he turns seven, his father brings him to the gates of Saint Mary's Industrial School for Boys, and his life is changed forever. At Saint Mary's, he's expected to study hard and follow a lot of rules. But there is one good thing about Saint Mary's: almost every day, George gets to play baseball.” Read this book to find out more about how a trouble-making kid turned into the famous Babe Ruth. --from the publisher
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.
By Kate Messner
“Gianna Zales is a star runner with one more hurdle to jump before she goes to cross-country sectionals – a monster leaf collection project. To get it done, she’ll have to survive a rival who desperately wants to take her place at sectionals, a grandmother who leaves her false teeth in the refrigerator, and a best friend whose feelings about her are changing like the leaves. Gianna Z needs a stroke of brilliance to make it work!”
---http://www.katemessner.com/the-brilliant-fall-of-gianna-z/
Eddie Red Undercover: Mystery on Museum Mile
By Marcia Wells
“Sixth-grader Edmund Xavier Lonnrot code-name “Eddie Red,” has a photographic memory and a prodigious talent for drawing anything he sees. When the NYPD is stumped by a mastermind art thief, Eddie becomes their secret weapon to solve the case, drawing Eddie deeper into New York’s famous Museum Mile and closer to a dangerous criminal group known as the Picasso Gang. Can Eddie help catch the thieves in time, or will his first big case be his last?”
---http://marciawellsauthor.com/books/
El Deafo
by Cece Bell
“Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful--and very awkward--hearing aid. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become "El Deafo, Listener for All." And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and find the friend she's longed for.”
--from the publisher
Genius Files:
Mission Unstoppable
by Dan Gutman
“The most exciting road trip in history begins! In this action-packed adventure, twelve-year-old twins Coke and Pepsi McDonald embark on a family vacation you’ll have to read to believe. As Coke and Pepsi dodge nefarious villains from the Pez museum in California all the way to the Infinity Room in Wisconsin, black-and-white photographs and maps put young readers right into the action. And don’t miss the next leg of the journey in The Genius Files: Never Say Genius!”
--http://dangutman.com/dans-books/the-genius-files/
Gone Fishing:
A novel in verse
by Tamera Will Wissinger
“Nine-year-old Sam loves fishing with his dad. So when his pesky little sister, Lucy, horns in on their fishing trip, he's none too pleased: "Where's my stringer? / Something's wrong! / The princess doll does not belong!" All ends well in this winsome book of poems—each labeled with its proper poetic form, from quatrain to tercet. Together the poems build a dawn-to-dusk story of a father-son bond, of sibling harmony lost and found—and most of all, of delicious anticipation.”
--http://www.tamerawillwissinger.com/books/
Justin Case: School, Drool and other Daily Disasters
By Rachel Vail
“It’s the start of the school year, and nothing feels right to Justin. He didn’t get the teacher he wanted, he’s not in the same class as his best friend, and his little sister, Elizabeth, is starting kindergarten at his school. Elizabeth doesn’t seem nervous at all. Justin is very nervous about third grade. And to top it off, he’s lost his favorite stuffed animal, but he can’t tell anyone, because technically he’s too old to still have stuffed animals. Right?”
--http://rachelvail.com/justin-case/
Lulu’s Mysterious Mission
By Judith Viorst
Eeny meeny miney mo, that babysitter’s got to go.
Lulu has put her tantrum-throwing days behind her. That is, until her parents announce that they are going on vacation—WITHOUT LULU. Not only that, but they are leaving her with the formidable Ms. Sonia Sofia Solinsky, who says hello by bellowing, “The Eagle has landed,” and smiles at you with the kind of smile that an alligator might give you before eating you for dinner. The second her parents are out of the house, Lulu tries out several elaborate schemes to bring them straight back. But just when she seems to finally be making some headway, her babysitter reveals an astonishing secret…one that has Lulu crossing her fingers that her parents will go on vacation all the time—without her!
--http://books.simonandschuster.com/Lulus-Mysterious-Mission/Judith-Viorst/9781442497474
Mrs. Frisby and the
Rats of NIMH
By Robert C. O’Brien
“When mouse widow Mrs. Frisby needs advice on how to move her children safely, she consults the rats who live under the rosebush. Not only do they help her, they tell her of their escape from a laboratory where experimentation had made them literate, and of the brave death of her husband.”
--http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/mrs-frisby-and-rats-nimh#cart/cleanup
Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California’s Farallon Islands
By Katherine Roy
“Every September the great white sharks return to San Francisco. While their 800,000 human neighbors dine on steak, salad, and sandwiches, the white sharks hunt for their favorite meal… We both fear and admire great white sharks’ fierce hunting skills. But how exactly do they track down their prey? Based on the latest information and abounding with fascinating glimpses into a great white’s life and habits, Neighborhood Sharks will astound young shark fans.”
--http://katherineroy.com/sharks/
Rain Reign
by Ann M. Martin
“Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different – not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search.” --http://us.macmillan.com/rainreign/annmmartin
Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914
By John Hendrix
In a letter home to his mother, a British soldier describes how, despite fierce fighting earlier from both sides, Allied and German soldiers ceased firing and came together on the battlefield to celebrate Christmas Eve. They sang carols, exchanged gifts, and even lit Christmas trees. But as the holiday came to a close, they returned to their separate trenches to await orders for the war to begin again.
--http://www.abramsbooks.com/product/shooting-at-the-stars_9781419711756/
Sit-In: How Four Friends |Stood Up By Sitting Down
by Andrea Pinkney�
It was February 1, 1960. They didn't need menus. Their order was simple. A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side.
This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement.
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/andrea-davis-pinkney/sit-in/9780316070164/#desc
Spirit Animals: Wild Born
By Brandon Mull
Four children separated by vast distances all undergo the same ritual, watched by cloaked strangers. Four flashes of light erupt, and from them emerge the unmistakable shapes of incredible beasts—a wolf, a leopard, a panda, a falcon. Suddenly the paths of these children—and the world—have been changed forever.
Enter the world of Erdas, where every child who comes of age must discover if they have a spirit animal, a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. A dark force has risen from distant and long-forgotten lands, and has begun an onslaught that will ravage the world. Now the fate of Erdas has fallen on the shoulders of four young strangers . . . and on you.�
-- http://brandonmull.com/site/spirit-animals
The Fourteenth Goldfish
By Jennifer L. Holm
“Galileo. Newton. Salk. Oppenheimer. Science can change the world . . . but can it go too far?
Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He’s bossy. He’s cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who’s always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this gawky teenager really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?”�
--http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/215476/the-fourteenth-goldfish-by-jennifer-l-holm/9780375871146/
The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey
by Louise Borden
“Everybody loves Curious George, the mischievous monkey, but few know the harrowing story behind his creators' narrow escape from Paris just hours before the Nazis seized control of the city. In 1940, Hans and Margret Rey had to flee their home as the German army advanced. They began their journey to freedom on bicycles, pedaling to southern France with their children's book manuscripts among their few possessions. One of these manuscripts went on to become Curious George, the tale of that inquisitive monkey who is one of the most enduring characters in children's literature.”
-- http://www.hmhbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/borden/
The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher
By Dana Alison Levy
“The start of the school year is not going as hoped for the Fletcher brothers. Their miserable new neighbor, Mr. Nelson, complains about everything. Even worse, each boy finds his plans for school success veering off in unexpected directions. As the year continues, the boys learn the hard and often hilarious lesson that sometimes what you least expect is what you come to care about the most.
From camping trips to scary tales told in the dark, from new schools to old friends, from imaginary cheetahs to very real skunks, the Fletchers’ school year—as always—is anything but boring.”--http://danaalisonlevy.com/books/
The War that Saved My Life
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley�
“Nine-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?” http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314816/the-war-that-saved-my-life-by-kimberly-brubaker-bradley/9780147510488/
Tuck Everlasting
by Natalie Babbitt
“Blessed with-or doomed to-eternal life after drinking from a magic spring, the Tuck family wanders about trying to live as inconspicuously and comfortably as they can. When ten-year-old Winnie Foster stumbles on their secret, the Tucks take her home and explain why living forever at one age is less of a blessing than it might seem. Complications arise when Winnie is followed by a stranger who wants to market the spring water for a fortune.”
http://us.macmillan.com/tuckeverlasting/nataliebabbitt