TEXAS BLUEBONNET AWARD 2014 - 2015 NOMINEES

Jon Scieszka and Mac Barnett read the list

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W. C. Mack (upper middle grade novel about twin brothers; one loves math and the other sports; they narrate the story in alternating chapters; first in a series)

Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan (upper middle grade;  about 12 year old Willow Chance - eccentric genius and finding family - compared to "Wonder" and "Mockingbird")

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt; illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (picture book about crayons going on strike)

Dead City by James Ponti (zombies; Manhattan; strong female protagonist; and a series - upper middle grade!)

The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man's Canyon by S. S. Taylor; illustrated by Katherine Roy (steampunk for middle school - first in the series)

Face Bug By Patrick J. Lewis; Illustrated by Kelly Murphy; photography by Frederic B. Siskind (poetry for the 2nd - 4th grade crowd about a museum of bugs for bugs!)

Flora and Ulysses:  The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo (Flora is a girl; Ulysses is a squirrel that gets sucked up in the vacuum -- and then starts to write poetry.  3rd - 7th grade)

Lester's Dreadful Sweaters by K. G. Campbell (picture book for K-3; Lester's visiting Aunt knits him some truly awful sweaters to wear to school - what's a kid to do?)

Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead (middle school about friendship, family and facing your fears)

Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck by Emily Fairlie; illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo (a mystery for the 4th - 6th grade crowd)

Monsieur Marceau by Leda Schubert; illustrated by Gerard DuBois (Did you know that Marcel Marceau worked for the French Underground during WW2 before he became a world famous mime? - biography for 3rd - 4th grade)

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales:  One Dead Spy by Nathan Hale (Famous spy Nathan Hale is swallowed by a history book just before his execution and lives to present history’s roughest, toughest, and craziest stories in graphic novel format for 4th - 7th graders! and - it's a series)

The Neptune Project by Polly Holyoke (upper middle school dystopian sci-fi with genetic engineering thrown in; also the first in a series)

Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald (a Holocaust story about a young Jewish girl in Paris who manages to stay hidden in the country - 5th and up)

Pickle:  The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School by Kim Baker; illustrated by Tim Probert (school friendship and sixth grade pranks)

Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (8 & 9  year olds should love this series about platypi that solve crimes; Kroscozka writes "The Lunch Lady" series)

Rebel McKenzie by Candice Ransom (realistic fiction about a 12-year old girl that wants to be a paleontologist but ends up babysitting her nephew in a trailer park and decides to enter a beauty contest)

Rump:  The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff (the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale turned inside out for upper middle school)

Spy Camp by Stuart Gibbs (a sequel to "Spy School" - our hero thinks he gets to go home for the summer after completing his first year at Spy School; instead he gets to go to Spy Camp! Gibbs wrote "Belly Up"; this should appeal to upper middle school)

The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng; illustrated by Abigail Halpin (a series of books about Anna - this one is about Anna in 4th grade and how hard it is sometimes to make friends.)

I've read a few of these and hope to read more over the next few months.  I have "Flora & Ulysses" and "The Neptune Project" so those will probably be the first two that I read.  Right now I would vote for "Liar & Spy" but there are a few others that sound compelling!  Which one would you vote for?