Boy21 by Matthew Quick Little, Brown Nominated by: DLacks Boy21 got game. And that game is basketball, as played diligently by narrator Finley, sublimely by his girlfriend Erin, and almost supernaturally by the titular Boy21, also known as Russell Allen. Boy21 also has heart, as it explores loyalty, friendship, class and racial differences, and the way the past impinges on …

BookSpeak! Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas Clarion Books Nominated by: Katie Fitzgerald In a world where e-readers are becoming more and more popular, BookSpeak pays homage to the physical book. Twenty-one poems explore the magic of books and everything about them cover to cover. These well-crafted poems include literary allusions such as a frightened dog hanging on to …

Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Nominated by: Aaron Zenz With her trademark colorful collage style, Melissa Sweet brings to life the story of Tony Sarg, the man behind the world-famous balloons in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. Starting with his early career as a puppeteer, …

Almost Home by Joan Bauer Viking Nominated by: Sarah Potvin Sugar’s life is not easy. She has a gambling father who comes and goes as he pleases and a mother who often crumbles under financial hardship and single motherhood. Eventually Sugar is stranded in a strange city with only her puppy, Shush, to cling to. Then Child Protective Services steps …

Elementary/Middle Grade Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller (Center for Cartoon Studies Presents) by Joseph Lambert Hyperion Nominated by: Paul W. Hankins Many middle-grade readers will be familiar with the basics of the biography of Helen Keller and her visually impaired teacher, Annie Sullivan, but Joseph Lambert’s graphic novel expands the story far beyond the facts. Anne’s story …

Black Dog by Levi Pinfold Templar Nominated by: librarygrl2One day a black dog of inderminate (but undoubtedly large) size scares the Hope family terribly, leaving the youngest member, called Small, to face the animal. In her bright yellow jacket, she leads the dog on a merry chase with the refrain, “You can”t follow where I go, unless you shrink, or …

And All the Stars by Andrea K Höst Höst, Andrea Nominated by: Kate M. The apocalypse has come to Australia, and with it come the Spires, a kind of velvety protuberance sprouting up everywhere, gouting fountains of a choking dry dust that leaves humanity changed. But what makes us human is within us–and Madeleine Cost and her friends take a gamble …

Beswitched by Kate Saunders Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers Nominated by: Ms. YinglingWhen Flora, off to boarding school under duress, wakes up on the train to find that she’s now on her way to school way back in 1935, her horror is great. How will she survive? Though she manages to adapt to the nasty bathrooms, alien food, and …