mark_twain

Mark Twain Award 2002-2003 Nominees
Each year, Missouri schoolchildren in grades 4-8 vote for their favorite book from a list of
nominated titles. The Mark Twain Award is awarded to the author of this book by the Missouri
Association of School Librarians.

	*Book Nominees*	*Related Links*
	Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson In the Philadelphia of 1793 an epidemic of yellow fever strikes and 16-year-old Matilda Cook must learn to cope on her own.	The History of Yellow Fever in the USA
	Ereth's Birthday by Avi Grouchy Porcupine Ereth thinks Poppy had forgotten his birthday, so he goes off to sulk in the forest, only to become caretaker for three young foxes and face a wicked fisher.
	Jake's Orphan by Peggy Brooke Tree, adopted away from his younger brother, Acorn, by the harsh Gundersons, tries everything he can think of to protect Acorn when he suddenly shows up at the Gunderson farm.	Review of Jakes Orphan
	Wanderer by Sharon Creech Sophie's journal entries written as a record on a trans Atlantic sail can't be true according to her uncles and cousins, but why then do they have the ring of truth?	http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0060277300.asp
	Play to the Angel by Maurine F. DahlbergIn 1938 Vienna, Greta was able to find her own piano teacher, but could she help her depressed mother recover from the death of her brother?	http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-0374359946-1
	Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamilloWinn-Dixie is a good listening dog and lonely 10- year-old India Opal needs someone to listen to her.	http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-dicamillo-kate.asp
	Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Giff The potato famine in Ireland threatens to tear Nory's family apart, especially when her fisherman father fails to return home with the rent money.
	Holding up the Earth by Dianne Gray Orphaned Hope feels like a fish out of water when foster mother Sarah takes her to a Nebraska farm, but finding journals written by earlier women helps Hope find her way.	http://www.prairievoices.com/
	Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs Recounting the trials of two Polish Jewish sisters in a German Work Camp that makes blankets for the German Army.	http://www.anneisaacs.com/books/thread/frame2.html
	Dear Mrs. Ryan, You're Ruining My Life by Jennifer Jones arvey's life is hard enough with a children's book author mom who writes about him then she starts dating his principal!
	My Brother Made Me Do It by Peg Kehret Letters written to an elderly pen pal relay eleven year old Julie's life the year she develops Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.
	No More Dead Dogs by Korman, Gordon Wally Wallace always tells the truth. But his English teacher is not amused when Wally reports that the teacher's favorite book is really lame, so Wally gets detention instead of football practice.	http://gordonkorman.com/
	Color Me Dark by McKissack, Patricia his entry in the "Dear America" series chronicles 1919 when Nellie Lee Love and her family move from Tennessee to Chicago and become enmeshed in the "Red Summer" riots.	http://www.childrenslit.com/f_mckissack.html
	Graduation of Jake Moon by Park, Barbara Coping with a beloved grandfather's descent into dementia from Alzheimers was harder than Jake ever imagined.	http://www.rebeccacaudill.org/2003/Park/Curriculum.htm
	Year Down Yonder by Peck, Richard This sequel to "A Long Way from Chicago" sees a now 15-year-old Mary Alice facing her senior year with Grandma Dowdel.
	Gib and the Gray Ghost by Snyder, Zilpha Returned to the Thornton Ranch, orphaned Gib befriends a badly treated horse and learns more about families.
	Strickland, Brad When Mack Came Back Maury's soldier brother's dog returns to their farm and Maury must figure out how to keep him over his father's objections.
	Wallace, Bill Coyote Autumn Brad, wanting a dog, saves a coyote pup from hunters and secretly tends it only to have to decide what to do with it once it's grown.
	Wittlinger, Ellen Gracie's Girl 6th grader Bess befriends a homeless woman only to learn that things are not fair.	http://ravenstonepress.com/Wittlinger.html
	Yep, Laurence Dream Soul Joan, Bobby and Emily want to fit in in their small West Virginia town, only it's hard when your father runs the Chinese laundry and insists on following Chinese ways

Past Mark Twain Award Winners
2001 Holes by Louis Sachar
2000 Saving Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
1999 Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret
1998 Titanic Crossing by Barbara Williams
1997 Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn

Last Updated December 6, 2002
by Mrs. Moore (emoore@willard.k12.mo.us)
Willard R-2 Schools
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