News & Announcements

Award Finalists for 2017

By Linda Burke and Ana Lois-Borzi for the Library Committee

The Library Award Committee is happy to announce the finalists for the 2017 AWS Children’s Choice Awards.  The Library and The Juniper Tree have copies of each book and the public libraries around town have most of them as well. The Juniper Tree will give you a 10% discount when you buy one of them and a 20% discount for two or more. We read approximately 170 books published in 2016 and have chosen the following as the best for your children’s enjoyment.

Once again we are announcing the Read Aloud winner, so there will not be a competition, but our Read Aloud winner this year is a new book called When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin. This is the third book in a series by Grace Lin. The first, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, was voted the Read Aloud winner the first year of the AWS awards. Similarly, this one offers something for everyone in the family. It is a magical adventure of a shy girl searching for her grandmother. Grace Lin brilliantly weaves inter-related fairy tale -like stories that disarm in their simplicity, yet are complex and subtle in symbolism.

We have chosen two books for rising Third through rising Eighth to read over the summer. The third and fourth grade books are good enough to read aloud also. So if your child isn’t quite ready to read them on their own, please read them with or to them. We are confident you will enjoy them also.

Voting for the children’s favorite will take place in their classrooms on Friday, September 8.

THIRD GRADE

Making Mistakes on Purpose by Elise Primavera
Elise Primavera’s sequel to Ms. Rapscott’s Girls is another enjoyable read full of quirky lessons, upside down logic, and delightful, whimsical misadventures. Ms. Rapscott’s seemingly backwards advice to her students fills the book with humor and warmth. These books stand by themselves but fit comfortably in the world of Amelia Bedelia and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.

Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln? by Kate DiCamillo
You may know Baby from Kate DiCamillo’s “Mercy Watson” series. In this latest book, in the “Tales from Deckawoo Lane” the endearing Baby Lincoln takes a seemingly ordinary trip that becomes magical in its full-hearted telling. Her inner transformation is tenderly and confidently narrated in surprisingly touching encounters and humorous observations.

FOURTH GRADE

Sweet Home Alaska by Carole Estby Dagg
First up for fourth grade is set in the Depression. Terpsichore’s family leaves their home in Wisconsin to try homesteading in Alaska, an adventure just right for Trip. Based on a little known New Deal program that helped families in need start over with forty acres and a $3000 loan, it tells the story of the struggles they both had to build a community. On top of those struggles, Terpsichore’s family has to convince her music loving mother to stay.

Waylon! One Awesome Thing by Sara Pennypacker
Waylon! is the heartwarming story of a passionate, brilliant, thoughtful, and slightly awkward fourth grade boy trying to make his way through the year. It is a beautiful book that explores relevant social dynamics with rounded characters and the loveliness of a slowed down life. It makes you laugh and touches your heart.

FIFTH GRADE

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart
A boy, a watch, and unraveling mysteries make for a phenomenally thrilling adventure with endearing characters and a setting both familiar and freakily fantastic. The book has a well-crafted, ingenious plot with attention to detail that keeps readers on their toes to the end!

Tru & Nelle by G. Neri
An episodic novel about the unlikely friendship of two misfit children in a small southern town during the depression. It is based on the real friendship of Truman Capote and Harper Lee. Written in an uplifting, timeless quality, the rollicking adventures are funny, outrageous, and heartwarming.

SIXTH GRADE

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
This is a coming-of-age, page turning, non-traditional fairy tale. Complete with monster, dragon, and magic, it will lead the reader through an enthralling journey to the heroine’s self-discovery. The rich imagery embedded in the sophisticated writing offers a picture both exciting and mysterious to the Sixth Grade reader.

Waiting for Augusta by Jessica Lawson
Set in the South in 1972, this is a well-crafted adventure of two runaways with two sets of secrets and a surprising ending that overturns your expectations. It is heartwarming, multi-layered, and powerful.

SEVENTH GRADE

The Best Man by Richard Peck
A funny, tender coming-of-age story that takes serious subjects (bullying, gay marriage, media) and, without trivializing them, treats them with a light touch. We follow Archer Magill from first through sixth grades. He deals with the usual problems children encounter, many with very funny incidences. Our hero is charming and a bit clueless but he is blessed with admirable adults as his role models.

Ghost by Jason Reynolds
Ghost runs. He runs away from his many problems, a father in prison, poverty, bullying. Then one day he impulsively breaks in on a team’s track practice, outrunning the fastest boy. The coach invites him to join the team. He never had thought track would be for him, but it becomes something he really wants to do, if he can just not mess it up. Told in a real but simple and compelling style, it pulls you in and holds you, leaving you wishing for more by this author.

EIGHTH GRADE

The Inquisitor’s Tale by Adam Gidwitz
Three children from very different backgrounds, each with their own special gifts, are on a quest and running from King Louis of France. The year is 1242. Why this is happening is told in a Canterbury Tales style with different travelers taking up the portion of the story they observed. The author includes history as well as entertaining and outrageous tales based on real medieval legends. The ending is satisfying and a little surprising.

Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolf
Set during WW II in rural Pennsylvania, this story is told by 12-year-old Annabelle who encounters cruelty for the first time when a new girl, Betty, comes to live in the community.   The adults don’t suspect her of committing a cruel act, but instead focus on a WWI veteran, Toby, one of Annabelle’s friends. Even though there is evil, there is also responsibility and kindness, an upright heroine who searches for the truth, loving parents, redemption in the end and, a lesson about judging on appearances or speculation.