The Running Dream

The Running Dream
Written by Wendelin Van Draanen
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Reading Level: Ages 12 and up

The Running Dream the teen (ages 14-18) award winner for the Schneider Family Book Award.  I found this book to be very inspiring.  Jessica is in her junior year in high school.  She loves to run.  Running is her life.  She wakes up at 5:45 am everyday and runs around her neighborhood with her dog, and she is in the track team.  One disastrous day, after a really great meet for Jessica, during the bus ride home a really bad accident occurs.  A man driving a car crashes into the bus that Jessica was in.  This accident injures Jessica really badly and it turns out that she has to have her leg amputated.  Jessica is crushed.  Running is her life and now she will never run again.  The beginning of this book begins with Jessica in the hospital feeling really down about her leg.  She doesn't know how to deal with the fact that she cannot take a shower let alone walk herself to the bathroom.  After moping around for a little while and avoiding her friends, her best friend convinces her to get the courage to go to school.  Once Jessica is in school, she realizes that it isn't too bad and it is a first step to being better.  During her first day back, she meets a girl named Rosa who has cerebral palsy.  Rosa is a math genius and just wants everyone to see her for who she is and not her condition.  Jessica finds out she can relate to her.  Jessica is finally able to get her new leg, and at first it seems like a dream but she learns to walk again.  This makes her very happy and get a little more optimistic.  Then she learns what her coach, best friend, and fellow track team mates are trying to do for her.  They want to raise enough money to buy Jessica a running leg.  They are calling their campaign, the Help Jessica Run campaign.  Their goal is to raise $20,000.  Jessica doesn't believe that this could happen but everyday her running dream is getting closer and closer to coming true.  Will Jessica indeed run again?  
This story is a very inspirational story and after reading it, it makes me happy for what I have.  In life you take things like your arms and legs for granted, but what would happen if you lost them?  This story makes me appreciate everything I have in life, but also makes me value my life.  I now know that if I ever hit an obstacle like Jessica did, I will be able to conquer it and get through it.  I recommend this book for any teenager and adult out there. 

The Cazuela that the farm Maiden Stirred

The Cazuela that the Farm Maiden Stirred
Illustrated by Rafael López
Written by Samantha R. Vamos
Published by Charlesbridge
Reading Level: Ages 3 and up


This book is a Belpré Illustrator Honor Book.  This story is about a farm maiden who is trying to make arroz con leche.  All the animals want to help and contribute in some way.  All the animals and the farm maiden are having a great time celebrating that they all forget about the cazuela that's bubbling! Oh no! Will it end up burning?  This book is told in English but with every turn of the page, one to three English words gets translated into a Spanish word.  This is a great way for the reader to learn how to speak some words in Spanish.  The illustrations in this book are really beautiful.  This whole book is very colorful with colors that are sure to catch the readers eye.  This book is perfect to have in any classroom or library.

I Want My Hat Back

I Want My Hat Back

Written and illustrated by Jon Klassen

Published by Candlewick Press

Reading Level: Ages 4 and up

 
I Want My Hat Back was a Geisel Honor Award.  In this hilariously written children’s book, a bear is trying to find the hat that he loves so much.  He asks all the animals around him if they have seen his hat, and all of them say no.  Sad that his hat is gone, Bear suddenly realizes that he has in fact seen his hat!  And he knows who has it!  To find out if Bear gets his hat back and to find out who took it, read this book!  Any kid and adult who does is sure to love this easy read with colored text to match the different animal speakers.  The pictures are also very nice to look at and any child will enjoy the illustrations that this book offers.

Tales for Very Picky Eaters

Tales for Very Picky Eaters

Written and illustrated by Josh Schneider

Published by Scholastic Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Reading Level: Ages 6 and up

Tales for Very Picky Eaters is the winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award.  The Geisel award is given annually to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States.  The winner(s), recognized for their literary and artistic achievements that demonstrate creativity and imagination to engage children in reading, receives a bronze medal.  The award is named for the world-renowned children’s author, Theodor Geisel.

Are you a picky eater? I know I am not a picky eater.  I love to try new things, but I happen to know a lot of very, very picky eaters.  If you are one of those picky eaters, then this is the book for you!  James is also a picky eater.  His dad expects him to eat disgusting broccoli, smelly lasagna, repulsive milk, lumpy oatmeal, and slimy eggs! Yuck! James does not want to eat any of this stuff! James’s dad tells him why he should eat the food but doesn’t force him.  In the end James decides that maybe it is better to just eat what is in front of him.  He does eventually start getting smart to his dad’s trick, but he ends up learning a good lesson about trying new things.  You should never be afraid to try new things because you just might like them.  I really enjoyed reading this story.  I found it to be very clever and also very funny.  I think any adult and child would really enjoy this book. 

Wonderstruck

Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures

Written by Brian Selznick

Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic

Reading Level: Ages 9 and up

Wonderstruck was selected for the middle school Schneider Family Book Award. 

First off, I have to say that I loved, loved, loved Hugo Cabret and the way the book is designed, so I had no doubt that I would love this one.   I love the illustrations and the way they are drawn in sketch form.  This book is divided into two stories both set 50 years apart.  Ben’s story is told in text and Rose’s story is told in pictures.

Ben is a boy who lives by a lake with his cousins.  He has just lost his mother.  He loves to collect things as well as read.  His mother was a librarian, and they used to read together.  He would go into her library and read all the books he could.  He is also deaf in one ear.  One day after Ben makes a wish on a shooting star, he discovers a light on in his old house which is only eighty three steps away.  He goes to investigate and what he finds has him asking himself many questions of who his father was and what his mother never told him.  He stumbles upon a book titled Wonderstruck and a bookmark with a phone number and address.  As he tries to dial the number, lighting from the storm that is going on outside, strikes and damages his good ear leaving him deaf.  Still, he decides to find his father.  He goes on a adventure to New York which leads him into a museum where he meets a friend named Jamie.  What he ends up finding there explains who he is and where he came from.

Rose is a girl who is deaf and is very unhappy with her life.  She has what looks like a not understanding father.  She keeps a scrapbook of someone famous and sneaks off to watch movies starring that famous person.  She runs away to find that actress and what we find out when she does is sure to surprise you.  This leads her to go to New York and stumble upon the same museum that Ben goes into 50 years later. 

How do Rose’s and Ben’s story come together?  What do these two strangers share?  In this wonderful adventure you will be taken into a world of wonders.  This story is a perfect read for elementary students in upper grade levels and any older person who would want to read it.  I can’t imagine anyone reading this book and disliking it. 

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match/Marisol McDonald no combina

Written by Monica Brown

Illustrated by Sara Palacios

Published by Children’s Book Press, an imprint of Lee and Low Books Inc.

Reading Level: Ages 4 and up

The Pura Belpre Award honors a Latino writer and illustrator whose children’s books best portray, affirm and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.

Marisol Doesn't Match is a Pura Belpre honor book. This book is a bilingual book written in both English and Spanish.  I love books like these because it can help anyone learn either language.  In this book, Marisol is a girl with brown skin and flaming red hair like fire.  She has very interesting taste.  She likes wearing stripes and polka dots which she both loves.  She likes to eat peanut butter and jelly burritos and to speak both English and Spanish in the same sentence!  She loves to write in both print and cursive as well.  She is very creative and unique and likes to put the weirdest combinations together because she feels it is more fun.  Everyone tells her she doesn’t match so one day Marisol decides to try hard and match, but she realizes that everything matching is boring!  She is one unique spirit!  This is a wonderful story that tells you it is okay to be who you are.  You should never have to change yourself for anyone else.  With great illustrations in this book, any reader who reads this book is bound to love it as well as learn some words in a different language.

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans

Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans
Written by Kadir Nelson
Published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Reading Level: Ages 9 and up

The Coretta Scott King Book Award is given to African American authors and illustrators for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions. The book titles promote understanding and appreciation of the culture of all peoples and their contribution to the realization of the American dream of a pluralistic society.


Heart and Soul is the award winner for the Coretta Scott King award for authors.  This book is a wonderful story for upper elementary grade children who want to learn more about American and African Americans, and how they were able to have hope and unwavering courage. That is also a very educational story and can be used in classrooms. In this story you will learn all about African Americans and their ole in American and how they came from not being mentioned or noticed, to being slaves and then to being free. I really enjoyed the way the author told the story and addressed the reader. It will make you feel like you are hearing the story from your grandmother or story-telling aunt. I felt that the best part of this whole book were the wonderful illustrations. I felt that the illustrations helped bring you into the story. This book is also a perfect read for an adult who is a history buff. This book will teach you much about African Americans. When I start teaching, and when I work in the library I would use this book during black history month. It would be perfect!

Paper Covers Rock

Paper Covers Rock

Written by Jenny Hubbard

Published by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books

Reading Level: Ages 14 and up

The William C. Morris YA Debut Award which was first awarded in 2009 honors a debut book published by a first-time author writing for teens and celebrating impressive new voices in young adult literature. Paper Covers Rock was not the winner of this award but it was a finalist.

Paper Covers Rock begins right after the death of Thomas, who died in an accident involving jumping off a rock at a boarding school. His friends Alex and Glen were there and witnessed it happen as well as their new and very young English teacher, who Alex happens to have a crush on. The whole book is written in journal style by Alex or “Is Male as he likes to call the author. After the accident he starts writing in a journal that he hides in the library behind the book Moby Dick which happens to be Miss Dovecott’s favorite book, but Alex isn’t really taking a liking to. The book is not so much divided into chapters but a sentence from the title Moby Dick divides the book into segments, as well as rock, paper, scissor references. In this book Alex feels guilty for being there when his friend Thomas died, and not being able to save him. He feels there is so much he could have done. Glen, the golden boy, is very paranoid and thinks that their English teacher, who showed up shortly after the accident, is going to rat them out because they were drinking which is strictly forbidden at their boarding school. Glen devises a plan to mess with Miss Dovecott’s head and get her fired. Alex, who is getting tired of Glen and how he is acting, does go along although he does not like it. Miss Dovecott believes Alex is a very good writer, and throughout this book she is helping him improve. Throughout this book there are a lot of verses of poetry written by Alex. I liked that the author included elements of poetry in this book. I would say that this book is a perfect read for teen boys who I feel can maybe in some ways relate better to Alex than any girl can. In this book, by writing in his journal, Alex is learning to cope with what happen. Will Alex ever get over what happened that day? Will Glen succeed in his plan to get Miss Dovecott fired? Will anyone ever find out the truth of what happened that day? In order to answer these questions you will have to read this amazing book and see for yourself.

Close to Famous

Close to Famous

Written by Joan Bauer

Published by Viking, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group

Reading Level: Ages 10 and up

Close to Famous was selected for Schneider Family Book Award for the middle school ages 9-13.  The Schneider Award honors an author or an illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for a child and adolescent audiences. 

When trying to figure out what book to read for this award, I saw the book titled Close to Famous.  The title of the book intrigued me but what intrigued me more was that the book was about a little girl who likes to bake.  I love to bake.  I am not that good at yet, but I am learning.  I especially love to make cupcakes.  For me this book was an easy read and I loved every moment of it.  This book tells the story of twelve year old Foster McFee who is running away from her home in Memphis with her mama.  They are trying to get away from a crazy Elvis impersonator who her mom was dating and just broke up with.  They stumble upon the small town of Culpepper where they end up close to falling off the side of a cliff.  They get rescued and not just by getting their car towed to safety.  They are also offered a place to stay rent free.  Not wanting to step on anyone’s toes, Mama decides to stay their temporarily and see how everything goes.   Throughout the story, you start learning more about Foster’s life, who she really is, why she loves to bake so much, and one of her main problems that she is very embarrassed about. Foster has a reading disability which has always left her feeling stupid and “limited”.  She cannot read recipes but she has a really good memory and with the help of her hero Sonny Kroll, a famous Food Network Chef who helped her cope with her daddy’s death, she can bake really good muffins.  She is very persistent, and is willing to learn.  With the help of the people in this new town, Foster manages to find the encouragement and confidence she needs to help with her learning disability while also still using baking as a way to cope.  She is also making herself quite famous in this town by selling her cupcakes. I loved the baking tips that were included in this book as well as the ideas for cupcake and muffin recipes.  This book is a very inspirational book, and I would recommend it for anyone from fourth grade and up.  Not only is Foster able to conquer her problem but she also helps other people with their problems along the way. This book is filled with many loveable characters, from Fosters mama, who is a beautiful singer, to her new best friend Macon who wants to be a documentary film maker, and especially Miss Charleena who was a very famous almost Oscar winning actress who has retired from acting after a scandal in her life broke out.  Will Foster be able to help Macon make films?  Will Miss Charleena find the strength to break out of retirement and start making movies again?  Well that is just something you will have to find out for yourself.