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Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award
Grades 6 - 8
The Legend of Bass Reeves:
Being the true and fictional account of the most
famous marshal in the west
Bass Reeves was a runaway slave who
lived as a fugitive among the Creek
Indians for 22 years, until the
Emancipation Proclamation freed him.
Then he became a cattle rancher in
Arkansas and, finally, one of the most
successful Federal Marshals in the US
with thousands of arrests and 14
gunfights to his credit. He never drew
his gun first, was shot at countless
times, and never hit.
By
Gary Paulsen
Black Duck
Two boys find a man's body on the
shore. He's barefoot but dressed in a
suit and has a bullet hole in his neck.
When they bring help, the body has
disappeared. It's 1929, along the
coast of Rhode Island, a site of rumrunning during the Prohibition era.
This book is based on the true story
of the Black Duck, a fast, hard-tocatch boat that ran circles around
the Coast Guard.
By
Janet Taylor Lisle
Crossing The Wire
Fifteen-year-old Victor has been
trying to eke out an existence on his
family farm ever since his father died.
When the devastating news comes
that corn prices will not sustain them
any more, Victor decides to chance a
dangerous trek and try to cross into
the United States. He jumps train
cars, hikes high into the mountains,
and tries hiding in the toolbox of a
pickup truck. Victor faces near-death
situations and must decide whom to
trust.
By
Will Hobbs
Dark Water Rising
Seth's family has just moved to
Galveston, Texas and things get off to
a pretty good start. His uncle finds him
a summer job as a carpenter's helper,
he meets a girl he likes, and Galveston
is a fun place to live. However, on
September 8, 1900, everything
changes when a deadly storm
devastates the area. Seth struggles to
reach safety, works for his own survival
and that of others, and comes to terms
with change and loss.
By
Marian Hale
Escaping Into The Night
Halina Rudowski is on the run. When
the Polish ghetto where she lives is
evacuated, she narrowly escapes, but
her mother is not as lucky. Along with
her friend Batya, Halina makes her
way to a secret encampment in the
woods where Jews survive by living
underground. As the group struggles
for food, handles infighting, and
attempts to protect themselves from
the advancing Germans, Halina must
face the reality of life without her
mother.
By
D. Dina Friedman
Fairest
In Ayortha beauty and singing are
prized above everything. Aza is
bulky, awkward, and homely but she
has a stunning singing voice and
can throw her voice, so that it
seems as if someone else is
singing. The King’s bride, Ivi,
blackmails Aza into making it seem
that she can sing. With Ayortha
verging on rebellion, Aza realizes
Ivi's magical mirror will transform
her into the fairest of all, but at a
terrible price.
By
Gail Carson Levine
Grooves
Dwayne is a regular kid living in a
regular town until evil Howard Thigpen
shows up. Thigpen seems to have the
ability to make people do whatever he
wants, and sparks of light swirl around
him wherever he goes. Dwayne
discovers that the grooves in his
Thigpen–brand blue jeans and the
ripples in his Thigpen–brand potato
chips contain a secret message. It's a
race against time to solve the mystery,
and figure out what that strange
message means.
By
Kevin Brockmeier
Heat
Michael Arroyo has a pitching arm that
throws serious heat. Newly orphaned
after his father led the family’s escape
from Cuba, Michael’s only family is his
seventeen-year old brother Carlos. If
Social Services finds out they will be
separated or sent back to Cuba. Then
someone wonders how a twelve-yearold boy could possibly throw with that
much power. With no way to prove his
age, no birth certificate, and no parent
to fight for his cause, Michael’s secret
world is blown wide open.
By
Mike Lupica
Kiki Strike
White-haired, leprechaun-size Kiki
Strike is a new student at Atalanta
School in New York City when she
meets 12-year-old Ananka Fishbein.
They recruit a team of other 12-yearolds, whose skills include hacking,
chemistry, lock picking, forging, making
handmade explosives, and mechanical
engineering. Together they begin a
detailed exploration of the Shadow
City, the subterranean rooms and
streets under New York's subway
system.
By
Kirsten Miller
Runaway
Holly writes in a journal her teacher
gave her in hopes of allowing her to
work through her mother's overdose
and stays in 5 different foster homes.
Running away again from an abusive
foster family, she makes her way to
Los Angeles. She refuses to see
herself as homeless, but as a gypsy,
making a home where she can. Her
situation gets increasingly desperate
as she longs to find a bath, a hot meal
and someone to care for her.
By
Wendelin Van Draanen
The Runaway Princess
King Stromgard offers his 15-year-old
daughter Meg's hand in marriage to
the prince who can rid the kingdom of
a dragon, a witch, and some pesky
bandits. Meg firmly objects and
instead, she sets out to win the
contest herself by enlisting the help
of her good friend, her loyal maid, an
eager guardsman, a young wizard,
and a tenacious witch. Does Meg find
her place in the kingdom, or is she
doomed to fulfill her royal duties?
By
Kate Coombs
Secrets Of My Hollywood Life
What if? Your picture was taped inside
teenage boys' lockers across America,
your closets were bursting with neverworn designer clothing, and the
tabloids constantly asked whether you
were losing your "good girl" status? It's
a glamorous life, but 16-year-old
Kaitlin Burke, co-star of one of the
hottest shows on TV, is exhausted
from the pressures of her fame. So
she decides to spend two months
undercover as an ordinary high school
student.
By
Jen Calonita
Shug
Tall, freckled, gawky 7th grader
Annemarie Wilcox has a beautiful,
popular older sister; a gorgeous,
alcoholic mother; and a father who's
always away on business. She also
has a huge crush on Mark, the
neighborhood boy who has always
been her best friend. As the school
year starts, she must deal with
Mark's rejection, her parents‘ bitter
fights, and a falling out with her
closest girlfriend.
By
Jenny Han
Sparrow
Family sticks with family. That’s the
golden rule G’ma taught Kendall. But
once G’ma’s gone, Kendall has no
family left—except for an aunt who
she barely remembers. With child
services on Kendall’s case and just
10 days to get her apartment lease
renewed, Kendall sets out for her
aunt’s home in New Orleans to get
her life in order—and her questions
answered.
By
Sherri L. Smith
Storm Thief
Orokos is a city of chaos, lashed by
probability storms that re-order the
world wherever they strike. Rail and
Moa, two ghetto brats with only each
other to depend on, steal an artifact
of ancient science that enables them
to pass through walls, but their thiefmaster wants the artifact for herself.
Fleeing to Moa's former home they
must first pass through a sector
overrun by Revenants, wraiths that
kill with a touch and then occupy the
body.
By
Chris Wooding