2013-2014 Black Eyed Susan Nominees

1. 2013-2014Black Eyed Susan Nominees Grade 4-6

2. Summer at Forsaken Lake by michael d. beil Summer at Forsaken Lake is the perfect summer-trip accessory: With their father away for his job, citykids Nicholas and younger twin sisters Haley and Hetty are off to spend the summer with their great-uncle Nick. Soon, Nicholas is right at home in the country: he learns to sail, hears about his father's childhood on the same lake, and makes fast friends with local girl Charlie, who's got a wicked curve ball. Things takes a turn toward the mysterious when Nicholas finds an old, unfinished movie his father made years ago about the local legend of The Seaweed Strangler. Before long Nicholas wants answers about the legend, and about why the movie wasn't completed. Together, he and Charlie work to uncover the truth and discover some long-buried secrets along the way.

3. The PS Brothersby MaribethBoelts Russell and Shawn call themselves the PS Brothers: P is for poop, S is for scoop, and Brothers is because they’re best friends. Scooping poop is the fastest way to earn money to buy a puppy. These two are crazy about dogs. And they’re sure that once their puppy grows into a tough dog, no one will ever pick on them for being weak or poor again. Unfortunately, getting a puppy is not that easy. Russell and Shawn don’t count on uncovering a dog-fighting ring—and that can bust apart a dream faster than a dog can sniff out a bone. But doing the right thing might still get them what they want—and maybe even more.

4. The Mighty Miss Maloneby Christopher Paul curtis Chapter OneJourney to Wonderful“Once upon a time . . .”If I could get away with it, that’s how I’d begin every essay I write.Those are the four best words to use when you start telling about yourself because anything that begins that way always, always finishes with another four words, “. . . they lived happily everafter.”

5. Ungiftedby gordonkormon Curtis is an impulse-driven prankster who, at the start of Ungifted, manages to alienate both the students and faculty of his middle school. First he mocks the basketball team over the school PA system with a derisive cheer and then he whacks the school's statue of Atlas with a stick, knocking the huge globe off and sending it rolling down the hill where it smashes into the gymnasium and stops the big game. When Donovan ends up on the carpet, the district superintendent accidentally adds his name to the roll of gifted students at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction. Although he flounders at his new school, Donovan ends up humanizing a program that focuses on academic achievement and ignores the social aspects of students' success. From his first day when he startles the robotics team by naming their robot, to his saving the class from summer school by drafting his pregnant sister as the answer to a missed credit in Human Development, Donovan finds that his gift lies in helping the smart kids by teaching them how to be "normal."

6. Glory Beaugusta scattergood • Glory learns that her sheltered life as a preacher's kid has overshadowed her awareness of injustice and intolerance in her town. When the segregated community pool is closed indefinitely, her predictable world is upended. A new girl arrives from Ohio with her mother, a nurse who will be running a Freedom Clinic for poor black people. Big sister Jesslyn's new boyfriend reveals that he was once jailed in North Carolina for sitting with a "colored friend" at a white lunch counter. Meanwhile, best friend Frankie spouts dislike of Yankees and Negroes but is clearly manipulated by a racist father and an abusive older brother. Although Glory's ingenuous, impulsive behavior often gets her in trouble at home and in the community, she learns the importance of compassion, discretion, and self-awareness

7. May b. by carolinestarr rose • Times are tough on the Kansas prairie so May's family hires her out to tend house at a farm 15 miles away for the fall. Pa reminds the unhappy child that he'll be back to get her by Christmas. May knows that she'll be one less mouth to feed, but still can't bear the thought of leaving. She finds herself away from her parents and brother Hiram for the first time, and in a strange household, with a cold, unhappy bride from Ohio who cannot adjust to the hardships of prairie life. When Mrs. Oblinger runs away, and her husband sets off to bring her back, neither return, and May is left alone for several months, fighting the harsh elements and hunger and threatened by wolves, the trajectory of her story takes an unexpected turn.

8. Looking For Meby Betsy rosenthal • from booklist reveiwTwelve-year-old Edith Paul feels somewhat lost in her enormous Depression-era family. As the fourth of 12 children, she accepts caring for her younger siblings, working until two in the morning in her father’s diner, and sleeping three to a bed. But she also wishes for things she lacks: new school clothes, alone time with her mother, and a sense of her place in the family. Spanning the 1936–37 school year, Rosenthal’s verse novel is based on anecdotes from her mother’s childhood.

9. Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Shang • -Lucy knows that sixth grade is going to be the best year ever: she finally gets her own room now that her older sister is off to college, and she and her friend Madison are ready to rule the basketball courts. But Lucy's parents put a glitch in those plans when her father returns from a business trip to China with Lucy's great-aunt, who will visit until Christmas. Lucy again has a roommate, and resents this elderly lady who does not speak English and cooks only Chinese food for a family used to pizza and burgers. To make matters worse, her parents insist that she attend Chinese school on Saturday mornings, which means forgoing basketball practice. She is busy with her suburban American life and doesn't feel the need to converse in Chinese or to dwell on Chinese traditions. Slowly, though, she comes to appreciate all that Yi Po has lived through and the quiet ways that her great-aunt shows her love for the family.

10. The Grave Robber's Apprenticeby allanstratton • Hans is a grave robber in training. He's been in training his whole life, ever since his adopted father found him floating in a chest at the seaside. The problem is that Hans doesn't like his work. He'd much rather sit and stare at the young countess in the nearby castle. Angela Gabriela von Schwanenberg would much rather perform her puppet plays around the world than be a "young lady" and married off as soon as she turns 13. Then the archduke sends for her and informs her that they will marry or he'll kill her family. She comes up with a plan to avoid this fate

11. Saint Louis Armstrong Beachby Brenda Woods • Saint Louis Armstrong Beach is an 11-year-old, clarinet-playing resident of Treme, a neighborhood near the French Quarter in New Orleans. As Saint saves up his street-performing tips for a new clarinet and tries to make sense of his broken relationship with his former best friend, a catastrophic storm gathers. Saint is forced to evacuate the city, but decides to turn back in search of the neighborhood stray dog. He ends up heading right into the path of Hurricane Katrina. With his engaging voice, readers will quickly take a shine to Saint