2024-2025 Nominees
Balto and Togo: Hero Dogs of Alaska
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It's the winter of 1924 and a diptheria outbreak is threatening the population of Nome, Alaska. The only way to stop the deadly illness from causing a full blown epidemic is to immediately deliver one million units of the diptheria antitoxin to the affected communities --a task that seems impossible given that the only way to reach any place in Alaska at this time of year is by dog sled. The stakes are high, and the snow is piling higher. Will the antitoxin make it in time? Or will the infection spread faster than they can treat it... Follow along as Balto and Togo lead the way in this race against time to get the antitoxin and save lives.
Gracie under the Waves
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An empowering story from #1 New York Times bestseller and Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park starring a young snorkeling enthusiast who draws inspiration for fighting climate change from interacting with her pesty little brother. A Green Earth Book Award Honor Book Inspired by her own experience, beloved author Linda Sue Park tells the story of a girl learning how to impact a cause she cares about while navigating the ups and downs of a sibling relationship and turning disappointment into opportunity. Gracie loves snorkeling! She loves it so much, she convinces her parents to let her plan a family vacation to Roatán, Honduras, where they can all snorkel together. She even makes a new friend there. Now, if only her irritating little brother would leave her alone, everything would be perfect. Then Gracie hurts her leg, and all her carefully made plans start to come apart. Worse still, she learns the reef itself is in serious danger. Gracie wants to help the reef . . . but she's just a kid. What can she do to make a difference? Fortunately, her new friend has a few ideas!
Invisible Isabel
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From award-winning author Sally J. Pla comes an illustrated middle grade novel about introverted Isabel Beane, who learns to speak up to quiet her worries. This thoughtful, earnest story is perfect for fans of Elana K. Arnold and Leslie Connor. Isabel Beane is a shy girl who lives in a home full of havoc and hubbub and hullabaloo. With five siblings, there is always too much too much-ness. At school, there's a new girl who is immediately popular, but she's also not very nice to one person--Isabel. Isabel has never felt more invisible. She begins to get bombarded by fears, like being abandoned by her classmates and taking the upcoming Extremely Important standardized test. Her fears feel like worry-moths that flutter in her belly. With every passing day, they seem to get stronger and stronger. How can Invisible Isabel make people listen?
Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All
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A Newbery Honor book and instant New York Times, USA Today, and indie bestseller! Award-winning author and artist Chanel Miller tells a fun, funny, and poignant story of friendship and community starring Magnolia Wu, a ten-year-old sock detective bent on returning all the lonely only socks left behind in her parents' NYC laundromat. Down at the bottom of the tall buildings of New York City, Magnolia Wu sits inside her parents' laundromat. She has pinned every lost sock from the laundromat onto a bulletin board in hopes that customers will return to retrieve them. But no one seems to have noticed. In fact, barely anyone has noticed Magnolia at all. What she doesn't know is that this is about to be her most exciting summer yet. When Iris, a new friend from California arrives, they set off across the city to solve the mystery of each missing sock, asking questions in subways and delis and plant stores and pizzerias, meeting people and uncovering the unimaginable. With each new encounter, Magnolia learns that when you're bold enough to head into the unknown, things start falling into place.
Max in the House of Spies
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An acclaimed Best Book of 2024! Instant New York Times bestseller * Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year * Booklist Editors' Choice * Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year * School Library Journal Best Books of the Year * Common Sense Best Books of the Year * Imagination Soup Best Books of the Year * Tablet Magazine Best Books of the Year "Max in the House of Spies is everything you could hope for in a book," -R. J. Palacio, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wonder, White Bird, and Pony "Espionage! Secrets! Suspense! If you've ever dreamed of being a spy, this book is for you." -Alan Gratz, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Refugee and Projekt 1065 Max Bretzfeld doesn't want to move to London. Leaving home is hard and Max is alone for the first time in his life. But not for long. Max is surprised to discover that he's been joined by two unexpected traveling companions, one on each shoulder, a kobold and a dybbuk named Berg and Stein. Germany is becoming more and more dangerous for Jewish families, but Max is determined to find a way back home, and back to his parents. He has a plan to return to Berlin. It merely involves accomplishing the impossible: becoming a British spy. The first book in a duology, Max in the House of Spies is a thought-provoking World War II story as only acclaimed storyteller Adam Gidwitz can tell it--fast-paced and hilarious, with a dash of magic and a lot of heart.
The Mystery of Locked Rooms
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*Instant New York Times and USA Today bestseller!* Crack the codes. Find the treasure. Escape the house. From the acclaimed author of Scritch Scratch and What Lives in the Woods comes a action-packed adventure novel about three friends who team up to find a hidden treasure in an abandoned 1950's funhouse. Twelve-year-old Sarah Greene wants nothing more from her seventh-grade year than to beat the hardest escape room left in her town with her best friends, West, and Hannah. But when a foreclosure notice shows up on Sarah's front door, everything changes. Since her father became ill two years ago, things have been bad, but not lose your house bad...until now. Sarah feels helpless until the day Hannah mentions a treasure rumored to be hidden in the walls of an abandoned funhouse. According to legend, Hans, Stefan, and Karl Stein were orphaned at eight years old and lived with different families until they were able to reunite as adults. Their dream was to build the most epic funhouse in existence. They wanted their experience to be more than mirror mazes and optical illusions, so they not only created elaborate riddles and secret passages, but they also claimed to have hidden a treasure inside the funhouse. Once in, Sarah, West, and Hannah realize the house is unlike any escape room they've attempted. There are challenges, yes, but they feel personal. Like the triplets knew who would get in. It seems impossible, but so does everything about the house. As soon as they're in she immediately worries that attempting the funhouse is a bad idea but Sarah has no choice but to continue, since her future is at stake. "Trapdoors, secret passages, and riddles galore. I loved every second of it!" -- Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Kids on Earth "Lindsay Currie has crafted a winning mystery with confounding codes, misleading clues, and the lure of hidden treasure. It's the ultimate escape room and will have you guessing until the final page." -- James Ponti, New York Times bestselling author of City Spies
Olivetti
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The heartfelt national bestseller novel praised by Tom Hanks in the New York Times as "a great favor" to readers; perfect for fans of Kate DiCamillo and Peter Brown. "Perfect for young readers and nostalgic grownups alike."--Maria Shriver's Sunday Paper, summer reading recommendations Being a typewriter is not as easy as it looks. Surrounded by books (notorious attention hogs) and recently replaced by a computer, Olivetti has been forgotten by the Brindle family--the family he's lived with for years. The Brindles are busy humans, apart from 12-year-old Ernest, who would rather be left alone with his collection of Oxford English Dictionaries. The least they could do was remember Olivetti once in a while, since he remembers every word they've typed on him. It's a thankless job, keeping memories alive. Olivetti gets a rare glimpse of action from Ernest's mom, Beatrice--his used-to-be most frequent visitor--only for her to drop him off at Heartland Pawn Shop and leave him helplessly behind. When Olivetti learns Beatrice has mysteriously gone missing afterward, he believes he can help find her. He breaks the only rule of the "typewriterly code" and types back to Ernest, divulging Beatrice's memories stored inside him. Their search takes them across San Francisco--chasing clues, maybe committing a few misdemeanors. As Olivetti spills out the past, Ernest is forced to face what he and his family have been running from, The Everything That Happened. Only by working together will they find Beatrice, belonging, and the parts of themselves they've lost.
The Sherlock Society
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In the tradition of Nancy Drew, four kids and one grandfather in Miami tackle a decades-old mystery in this first book full of "atmosphere, history, and lively humor" (Publishers Weekly, starred review) in the Sherlock Society middle grade series from New York Times bestselling, Edgar Award-winning author James Ponti! Siblings Alex and Zoe Sherlock take their last name as inspiration when choosing a summer job. After all, starting a detective agency has to be better than babysitting (boring), lawn mowing (sweaty), or cleaning out the attic (boring and sweaty). Their friends Lina, an avid bookworm, and Yadi, an aspiring cinematographer, join the enterprise, and Alex and Zoe's retired reporter grandfather offers up his sweet aquamarine Cadillac convertible and storage unit full of cold cases. The group's first target is the long-lost treasure supposedly hidden near their hometown Miami. Their investigation into the local doings of famed gangster Al Capone leads them to a remote island in the middle of the Everglades where they find alarming evidence hinting at corporate corruption. Together with Grandpa's know-how and the kids' intelligence--plus some really slick gadgets--can the Sherlock Society root out the conspiracy?
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall
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From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of A Rover's Story and Other Words for Home comes an extraordinary story about two friends, a ghost, a missing painting, and a turtle named Agatha. The perfect next read for fans of The Swifts, Kate DiCamillo, and Erin Entrada Kelly. A painting has been stolen...! When Rami sees a floating girl in the museum, he knows he has seen her somewhere before. Then he realizes: She looks just like the girl in the painting that has gone missing. But how does her appearance connect to the theft? Agatha the turtle knows--she has been watching from the garden. But she can't exactly tell anyone...can she? Will Rami, with the help of his classmate, Veda, be able to solve the mystery? The clues are all around them, but they'll have to be brave enough to really look. This is a whimsical, moving story about the universal desire to be seen and understood and how art can help us find connection, even when we are at our loneliest.
Tree. Table. Book
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From two-time Newbery medalist Lois Lowry comes this warm and resonant story of an unlikely friendship, which unfolds as a revelation on how we hold on to--and pass on--what matters most. The latest compelling work from the master storyteller. When precocious eleven-year-old Sophie sets out to save her elderly neighbor (who is also her dearest friend), her journey will take her through their familiar suburban landscape and then, steadily yet unexpectedly, deeper into a landscape of history and shared stories. Everyone knows the two Sophies are best friends. One is in elementary school, and one is . . . well . . . in a little trouble of late. She's elderly, sure, but she's always been on her game, the best friend any girl struggling to fit in could ever have. The Sophies drink tea, have strong opinions about pretty much everything, and love each other dearly. Now it seems the elder Sophie is having memory problems, burning teakettles, and forgetting just about everything. It looks like her son is going to come and get her and steal her away forever. Young Sophie isn't having that. Not one bit. So she sets out to help elder Sophie's memory, with the aid of her neighborhood friends Ralphie and Oliver. But when she opens the floodgates of elder Sophie's memories, she winds up listening to stories that will illustrate just how much there is to know about her dear friend, stories of war, hunger, cruelty, and ultimately love.
