Author: Bobbie Pyron Published: 2015 Anyone in Paradise Beach would tell you that if one of their 313 residents was going to be struck by lightning--struck out of the clear blue sky on his birthday--that person would be Nathaniel Harlow. Nate Harlow has always been unlucky. This year on his birthday, he gets struck by lightning and suddenly his luck seems to change. He wins coin tosses, he can catch fly balls and hit home runs, he can win any game at the carnival. Nate's friend Gen believes in science and logic. She doesn't believe in luck. Suddenly Nate has become popular. Everyone wants to hang out with him, and he leaves her behind. Soon, the town starts to hear of Nate's lucky streak and everyone is interested in getting a little luck from him. Nate loves his new popularity. But when everything goes his way, people in the town start to get jealous and angry. Soon Nate finds himself without friends and just wanting his life to go back to normal, but can lightning strike in the same place twice? Lucky Strike is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year.
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Author: D.J. MacHale
Published: 2013 Strange things have been happening on Pemberwick Island. A star high school football player drops dead during a football game. He was in perfect health. A pair of boys witness a strange flying vehicle over the ocean. Suddenly, light appears and the vehicle explodes. Tucker was on the football team. Before Marty died that night, Marty grabbed Tucker's arm hard and asked, "What's happening?" He sounded scared and confused. Tucker was also one of the boys to see the strange object flying over the ocean to the island. Soon after these events, the President of the United States declares that there is a virus going around on Pemberwick Island and that it must be quarantined. He sends a group of the military called SYLO to the island to make sure that no one tries to leave. But it doesn't look like this group called SYLO is really trying to keep everyone safe and alive. Communications have been cut off from the rest of the world, and anyone who tries to escape is killed. What is really going on on the island? Why can't they communicate with anyone off the island? What is SYLO really doing there? SYLO is an Iowa Teen Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. This is the first book in a series. Author: Shannon Hitchcock
Published: 2016 Sarah and her younger sister Robin are having a perfect summer day outside. Sarah is supposed to be watching Robin, but she gets distracted by her book. Suddenly, she hears a loud screech and sees a black car come to a stop. She hears a man yell for someone to call for an ambulance, and then she sees one of Robin's shoes in the street. Then there's Robin, on the ground in front of the car, hurt. Sarah can't stop thinking that if only she had been watching Robin, this never would have happened. Sarah begins her summer vacation with the feeling of guilt. Robin is stuck in the hospital, and Sarah feels responsible for putting her there. Sarah spends a lot of her time with her friend Ruby Lee. It is 1969, and this is the first year that the school will include both white students and black students. Sarah is white, and Ruby Lee is black. Sarah just doesn't understand why Ruby Lee thinks they won't be friends at school. Sarah thinks it will be easy, that they will be able to change the way things are. Ruby Lee and Me is about friendship and guilt and wanting to change the world. Ruby Lee and Me is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: April Henry
Published: 2013 She wakes up in a cabin, in pain and confused. She hears men talking about how she doesn't know anything. When she looks around she sees a picture of a family. She's in the picture... but she doesn't recognize who the other people are. She sees a chair with ropes that must have held her and a pair of bloody pliers, along with two of her fingernails on the table. Suddenly she hears a voice say, "Take her out back and finish her off." The girl has no memory of who she is. She knows she must have some information hidden inside her head that somebody else desperately wants, but she has no idea what that would be. She doesn't even know her own name. When the men from the cabin try to kill her, she manages to escape, but with nowhere to go, how will she hide from them? Will she ever remember who she is? The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die is a great thriller that will have you guessing all the way through until the end. Who is this girl? What do these people want with her? Why can't she remember anything? The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die is an Iowa Teen Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: W. Bruce Cameron
Published: 2015 This book follows the story of Ellie, a German shepherd search-and-rescue dog. As the book starts Ellie is just a puppy. She is soon adopted by a man named Jakob. Living with Jakob is different from living with her mother and her brothers and sisters. He has rules, plus he makes her do something called Work. But Ellie thinks Work is fun. She learns how to find people by following their scents. As she gets older, she and Jakob become a team, locating missing people. Ellie loves Work, and she loves Jakob. Unfortunately, something bad happens during a search-and-rescue mission, and Ellie can no longer live or work with Jakob. She has a new handler named Maya. This book is told from Ellie's point-of-view. We get to see the love she has for the people in her life, and how compassionate she is about helping find people. This is a great book for animal lovers. It is so interesting to see the process through which dogs are trained to be search-and-rescue dogs. Ellie's Story is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: Chris Grabenstein
Published: 2015 Imagine if your brain had the power to bring to life anything that you read. Billy is going to be spending the summer in a cabin next to a lake with his mom. A mysterious man named Dr. Libris owns the cabin, but he won't be there. There is no TV, no Xbox, no movies. Nothing. All Billy has to keep himself entertained is Dr. Libris' books. He picks up the first one he sees, Hercules, and begins to read it. Suddenly he starts to hear sounds from the battle in his book coming from the island in the middle of the lake. He goes outside, and he can see the characters on the island fighting! At first he thinks he must be imagining things, but then he starts to read from Robin Hood and the same thing happens. When he goes to the island, he meets these characters that he brought to life! The only problem with bringing these characters to life is that not only do the good guys come to life, but the bad guys as well. Soon Billy finds himself being wanted as an outlaw on the island. With the help of his neighbor Walter, Billy must figure out the secret to the island before anyone gets hurt! Not only does this book have adventure but there is also an element of mystery involved. The mysterious Dr. Libris is researching and watching Billy. What does he want? Does he know why Billy is able to bring these characters to life? The Island of Dr. Libris is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: Sharon Robinson
Published: 2016 The Hero Two Doors Down is based on a true story about a little boy named Steve and his hero Jackie Robinson, who moved into a house two doors down from Steve. The book starts with Steve as a twenty-year-old with the recent passing of his father. He discovers a box his father filled with treasures from Steve's childhood along with a letter telling Steve to find joy in the memories. The rest of the book is about Steve when he was a child and his love for the Brooklyn Dodgers, especially his love for his hero Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play major league baseball. Steve thinks it's so unfair that Jackie can't stay in the same places as his white teammates, just because he's African American. He has hope that this will change. When Steve finds out that a baseball player is going to be moving in two houses down from him, he hopes and hopes and hopes that it's Jackie Robinson. And it is! Steve and his family welcome the Robinsons to the neighborhood and the two families become great friends. Steve gets to know Jackie and his family, and he spends a lot of time with them. This book tackled the topic of discrimination against people of different races and religions. Steve's family is Jewish, and he grew up in a neighborhood with only Jewish families. He tries to understand the discrimination against African American people by thinking about the discrimination his family has faced. The Hero Two Doors Down is written by Sharon Robinson, Jackie Robinson's daughter. It is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: Rodman Philbrick
Published: 2014 Zane's father died before he was born, and he never knew his father's family. His mom discovers that his father's grandmother is still living in New Orleans, and she decides that Zane needs to take his dog Bandy and go to New Orleans for a family reunion to learn more about where his father came from. Unfortunately, shortly after Zane gets to New Orleans, there is the threat of a huge storm. It quickly gets stronger and stronger, and suddenly Hurricane Katrina is on its way. Zane's great grandmother gets them on a bus to go somewhere safer, but Bandy jumps out the window of the bus, so Zane has no choice but to run after him. He leads him all the way back to the house, and Zane is suddenly alone in a hurricane with his dog. He thinks the worst has passed the next morning until the flooding begins. Zane and Bandy run up to the attic, barely making it in time, trapped by the water. They are rescued by a young girl named Malvina and an old man named Mr. Tru in a canoe. The danger is only starting for this new group of friends as they try to survive the floods and the dangerous people who are taking advantage of the chaos of the city. Zane and the Hurricane is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: Natalie Lloyd
Published: 2016 Emma is a very interesting girl. First, she lives next to a haunted cemetery. Her job is to give tours of the cemetery to anyone who wants one. Second, all the girls in her family going back many, many, many generations have each had one special dream called a Destiny Dream. These Destiny Dreams show them their extraordinary destiny. Emma can't wait to have hers so she can find out what she is meant to do in her life. Emma's grandmother owns the Boneyard Cafe, the family's bakery that sells the most amazing hot chocolate anyone could ever imagine. Emma and her brother Topher help out at the bakery when they can. Ever since their mom died, Granny Blue has taken care of them. Money is tight, and business hasn't been the best, so Granny Blue is considering selling the Boneyard Cafe. One night, Emma has her Destiny Dream. There have been rumors of a lost treasure hidden near the cemetery, and Emma believes her destiny is to find that treasure so she can help save the Boneyard Cafe. Unfortunately, this treasure has been missing for centuries, people have gone missing looking for the treasure, and there may be ghosts guarding it! Will Emma be able to fulfill her destiny? The Key to Extraordinary is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen
Published: 2015 Gerta and her family live in East Berlin. They have plans to move to West Berlin, a city that has way more freedom. Her father and her brother Dominic go to West Berlin for a few days to find a place to live. However, during the night, a wall is put up between East and West Berlin, and no one is allowed to pass through. Gerta's family is divided for four whole years. Anyone who dares to cross over to West Berlin is killed by the soldiers guarding the wall. Gerta, her mother, and her brother Fritz are prisoners in their city. Living in East Berlin is hard. Everyone is expected to be the same. They wear the same clothes; they aren't allowed to read the same books that those in West Berlin can; anyone who questions the way society is run is viewed as a criminal. Neighbors spy on neighbors and turn them in to the police if they see anything suspicious. One day as Gerta is walking near the wall, she sees her father on the other side. She has to look quickly or else be punished by the guards at the wall. He communicates to her through a dance that she needs to build a tunnel beneath the wall to escape the city. The problem is, if she and her brother Fritz are caught, they will be killed. A Night Divided is such an interesting read about a scary time in history. Gerta is an extremely brave character who is willing to do anything to bring her family back together. A Night Divided is an Iowa Children's Choice Award book for the 2017-2018 school year. |
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