Virginia Readers' Choice High School List

Here is the last of the Virginia Readers' Choice lists. This is for high school students.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The Christopher Killer: Forensic Mystery 1 by Alane Ferguson

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Last Knight by Hilari Bell

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Light Years by Tammar Stein

A Room on Lorelei Street by Mary E. Pearson

The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

Scrambled Eggs at Midnight by Brad Barkley and Heather Hepler

The Trap by John Smelcer

Virginia Readers' Choice Middle School List

This is the list for middle schoolers for the 2008-2009 school year. I posted the primary and elementary school lists a few weeks ago.

Adam Canfield of the Slash by Michael Winerip

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel

Black Duck by Janet Taylor Lisle

Blue by Joyce Moyer Hostetter

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Lawson (my review here)

Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig

La Linea by Ann Jaramillo

The Loud Silence of Francine Green by Karen Cushman (my review here)

The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer

Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White

Virginia Readers' Choice Elementary List

Virginia Readers' Choice Elementary list is for Grades 3-5. That means third graders can either read off of the primary list or the elementary list.

Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

Counting on Grace by Elizabeth Winthrop

The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, illustrated by Kadir Nelson (my review here)

The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman

Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hartkoff

Phineas L. MacGuire...Erupts! by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Punished by David Lubar

Rules by Cynthia Lord (my review here)

The Winners Walk by Nancy Ruth Patterson

Virginia Readers' Choice Primary List

My last few weeks have been crazy. I've been out of town more than I've been in town, so I've written next to nothing on my blog. One of the out of town trips I took was a few weeks ago to the Virginia State Reading Association's annual reading conference. I always get jazzed up about teaching again and really love meeting authors. I will be highlighting my notes from some of my sessions with various authors over the next few days.

One of the last sessions I attended was one on the Virginia Readers' Choice booklist for 2008-09. I always read the elementary books with my kids and vote on them. The committee releases four different lists: Primary, Elementary, Middle School, High School. I'll highlight each list seperately over the next few days. This list hasn't been updated on the VSRA website as of this posting, but I received this list at the conference.

Primary List Grades K-3

Bad Boys Get Cookie! by Margie Palatini

Duck at the Door by Jackie Urbanovic

The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens and Susan S. Crummel

I Saw An Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince

Library Lion by Barbara Knudsen

Little Lost Bat by Sandra Markle

Mammoths on the Move by Lisa Wheeler

Once I Ate a Pie by Patricia MacLachlan

Stars Beneath Your Bed by April Sayre

Wolves by Emily Gravett

He Came with the Couch

He Came with the Couch

by David Slonim

Chronicle Books, 2005

This picture book with the Jim Henson-esque creature on the couch, is one of our favorite bedtime stories. I got it from the library because it was one of the Virginia Readers' Choice selections for the primary level. After two nights of reading this, my three-year-old daughter said, "That's my favorite book. We have to buy that one." I must admit, I have said that myself if I find a favorite book that I want to read over and over again. Those are the books I want to buy for her collection.

The illustrations are simple, but with wonderful, bold colors and a fascinating little blue guy that looks like a Muppet. In fact, this book is dedicated to Jim Henson.

Sophie's family needs a new couch, so they scavenge every yard sale and garage sale to no avail. They finally find what they are looking for at a 24 Hour Rummage Sale. The only problem is that it has a blue creature on it. They wonder why he won't get off the couch. Finally, they call in the doctor who claims that he has "upholsterosis" and that he needs to get out more. So they take the couch and the creature on family vacations and he stays stationary.

One day Sophie falls out of the tree and the creature shoves the couch out the window just in time to save Sophie from a horrible fall. He then becomes part of the family.

This is a "keeper". I think my daughter might find a copy of this in under the tree this year for Christmas.

Ruby Lu, Brave and True

Ruby Lu, Brave and True

by Lenore Look

Illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

Atheneum, 2004

I first picked up this book because I'm trying to read through the Virginia Readers' Choice Books and decide which ones I'll read aloud to my class this year. Ruby Lu made the cut. She will be read aloud, just as soon as I finish Jack Plank Tells Tales (not on the Virginia Readers' choice list, but I thought my class would love it).

Ruby Lu is an American Born Chinese girl who doesn't speak Chinese. She can't talk to her grandparents in Chinese, but she insists that she still communicates with them. She goes to Chinese school on Saturdays and gets into many adventures or mishaps with her brother, Oscar.

What I loved most about this book is the spunk and vivaciousness of Ruby Lu. She is an unforgettable character along the lines of Moxy Maxwell, Clementine, and Ida B. If you like books with spunky girl characters, this is one you'll want to read. It's an easy chapter book, and would be good for a child who wants to read a chapter book but also wants a fun, quick read. It would also be a good book to make a connection for another child who lives within the bicultural experience.

I loved the book for it's pure simple story, but I can't wait to use it as a mentor text also. For my writers, I want to show them how Lenore Look uses simple, short sentences to create a rhythm. She also has wonderful descriptions that aren't lengthy and she uses fun figurative language. My favorite: "Ruby could feel herself getting warm. Drums pounded inside her chest. Her hands balled into fists. Then she felt absolutely hot. She was hotter than popcorn. Then she popped." (p. 45).

I also love the voice of Ruby Lu. Even though this book is not told in first person, Ruby Lu's voice is loud and clear. I plan to use it along with Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little and Ida B when I read good examples of stories with VOICE.

Even better, Lenore Look has another Ruby Lu book already out. Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything came out last year and will be in paperback next week.

Crying my way through My Sister's Keeper

It has been a very long time since I cried through a book. I have cried for the last two nights at My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. This book came upon my radar screen a couple of weeks ago when it won the Virginia Readers' Choice Award for the high school list. I had never heard of Jodi Picoult or this particular book by her. I must have been living under a rock. It's one of the serendipitous things. You never heard of it, then you do, then you notice it everywhere. They even have a CSI episode with a similar story line. Every store I have been to in the last two weeks, this book has been jumping off the shelves at me. I didn't buy because I was a skeptic. It is on the shelf with all of the other mass market paperbacks, and I usually steer far clear of those. But I checked it out from the local library. I wanted to see what the teens in Virginia saw in this book.

Once I got it, I was informed I only had it for a 2 week checkout. It moved to the top of my pile of things to read. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Yes, I HAD to put it down because 1) I become so emotional, I couldn't read on, and 2) I had to sleep at some point.

This evening I started up again and read the last 50 pages. I cried some more, gut-wrenching cries.

This book is about Anna and Kate. Kate has a rare form of leukemia and Anna was conceived as a donor match for her. Anna's whole life has revolved around saving Kate. She has undergone numerous procedures to help put her sister back in remission, time and again. When she has to donate a kidney for a procedure that probably won't save her sister's life, she sues her parents for medical emancipation.

Told in varying viewpoints, we hear the story from Anna, Sara (the mother), Brian (the dad), Jesse (the very delinquent older brother), Campbell (the lawyer), Julia (the guardian at litem), and finally from Kate (the ill sister).

What I loved about this book? There was so much controversy! What would I do? How far would I go to save a family member? I think I would do anything. But Anna donates for 13 years before she says she's had enough. The beauty of the alternating viewpoints is that I never once took sides in this book. You might think that you would definitely side with Anna, the protagonist, who really wants medical emancipation. I wonder about the high school students who read and voted for this book. Do they pull for Anna through the whole book OR were they as torn apart as I was?

I couldn't side totally with Anna. I was rooting for her. But at the same time, my mother's heart broke. What would I do if I were the mother? Could I watch my child die when I knew that there was a possibility that her sister could save her? I don't know.

The book is honest! It opens up and shows family emotions and dynamics in a completely honest way. We all probably know families who have been torn apart by situations not unlike this one.

I loved this book because, even though I cried through most of it, it ended differently than I expected. I hated it and I loved it.

This book formed more questions than it answered. With stem cell research progressing rapidly, this is probably happening in real life and real people are having to make these very decisions.

Virginia Readers' Choice Awards for 2006-07 Announced

The winners are in. Here are the Virginia Readers' Choice Awards. This award is sponsored by Virginia State Reading Association and books are voted on by Virginia school children.

Primary (K-3): Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen (my review of the book here)

Elementary (3-5): The Last Holiday Concert by Andrew Clements

Middle School: The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

High School: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Guji Guji

Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen was one of the books that made it to the Primary List for Virginia State Reading Association’s Virginia Readers’ Choice list. One of our librarians informed me that this book received the most votes by kids in our area. Those votes will be totaled up with other votes in the state of Virginia. Who knows if this book will actually win the Virginia Readers’ Choice Award for the Primary list or not?

Guji Guji was first published in Taiwan in 2003, then published in the U.S. by Kane Miller in 2004.

I’m wondering how to pronounce the title, also the name of the character in the book. In my mind it sounds like Coochie, Coochie, Coo—somewhat like you would say to a baby. Listen to NPR’s Daniel Pinkwater and Scott Simon read the book and you’ll hear how to pronounce it.

The first thing I noticed about this book was the fabulous artwork also by Chih-Yuan Chen. The title papers have the animals in the book—ducks and an alligator—going off the page. It’s reminiscent of David Weisner’s Three Little Pigs in that Chih-Yuan Chen isn’t confined to margins. The other illustrations are over-the-top funny with the ducks and the alligators in silly, exaggerated positions. The adult crocodiles appear mean and conniving. The ducks are striped, polka-dotted, and yellow.

The book starts when a large egg rolls into the mother duck’s nest. She doesn’t really notice that is different from her eggs. When the eggs hatch, out comes a striped duck, a polka-dotted duck, a yellow duck, and a crocodile self-proclaimed “Guji Guji”. The crocodile doesn’t realize he’s different than the rest at first. He acts like a duck and becomes part of the duck family.

It is only when some adult crocodiles notice him that they tell him he is, in fact, a crocodile, not a duck. They try to trick him into luring his duck family to their hungry mouths. Guji Guji, now a crocoduck, finds a way to trick the ravenous crocodiles and save his family.

I can see why the kids in my area picked this as their favorite. It has enticing illustrations and a romping, funny story. I can’t wait to check out Chih-Yuan Chen’s other book, On My Way to Buy Eggs.

Virginia Readers' Choice High School List

Last, but not least...the high school list.

Acceleration by Graham McNamee

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Freaky Green Eyes by Joyce Carol Oates

Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson

Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie by David Lubar

Uglies by Scott Westerfield

Working Fire: The Making of a Fireman by Zac Unger

Thanks to VSRA Virginia Readers' Choice committee for making the selections. I look forward to reading them all. The list for each age category has intriguing books--some I have read, some I haven't. I can't wait to get reading.

Not from Virginia? Want to see your own state's young reader's choice awards? Click here.

Virginia Reader's Choice Middle School List

This is the middle school list for Virginia State Reading Association's Virginia Reader's Choice:

Blood on the River: James Town 1607 by Elisa Carbone

Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac

Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue by Julius Lester

Free Baseball by Sue Corbett

Ghost Girl: A Blue Ridge Mountain Story by Delia Ray

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary Schmidt

Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble

Shakespeare's Secret by Elise Broach

Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time by Lisa Yee

Virginia Reader's Choice Elementary List 2007-08

As promised, I will list the books for the Virginia Reader's Choice list for 2007-08. This is the Elementary List for grades 3-5.

The Big House by Carolyn Coman

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford

John, Paul, George and Ben by Lane Smith

Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park (for Linda Sue Park's blog, click here)

Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look

Scarecrow and His Servant by Philip Pullman

Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson

Three Good Deeds by Vivian Vande Velde

Whales on Stilts by M. T. Anderson

Unlike the primary list, I have actually read quite a few books from this list, and I'm familiar with the ones I haven't read. One of my favorite ones is John, Paul, George & Ben by Lane Smith. This is book is hilarious--and kids who have studied American history love the humor in this book. He even includes a true/false quiz in the back to have kids figure out what parts are factual and what details are made up.

Virginia Reader's Choice 2007-2008

When I was at the Virginia State Reading Association Conference last week, Perma-Bound was handing out lists of the 2007-2008 nominees for the Virginia Reader's Choice Awards. The books are read in classrooms and libraries across Virginia and students vote on their favorite book. It's always a great list of books, so I anxiously await the list each year and attempt to read most of them.

They are four lists categorized by age:

Primary (Grades K-3)
Elementary (Grades 3-5) ** Yes, Grade 3 is an overlap year--you can pick either list.
Middle School
High School

Today, I will list the Primary books and links to find the books and their authors. I'll highlight a different list each day.

Bubba and Beau Meet the Relatives by Kathi Appelt

Duck and Goose by Tad Hills

He Came With the Couch by David Slonim

Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes by Barbara Knutson

Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth by Alison McGhee

Once Upon a Time, The End: Asleep in 60 Seconds by Geoffrey Kloske

Russell and the Lost Treasure by Rob Scotton

Stan the Dog and the Sneaky Snacks by Scoular Anderson

Terrific by Jon Agee

Three Pebbles and a Song by Eileen Spinelli

These titles all look so intriguing. I can't wait to read them!