Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award

2. Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award 2012-2013 Grade 3 – Grade 6

3. Unforgettable Season: The Story of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and the Record-Setting Summer of '41 by Phil Bildner; illustrated by S. D. Schindler At the start of the 1941 baseball season, neither Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees nor Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox were beloved by baseball fans. But all that soon changed with DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak and Williams’ impressive .400 batting average. Baseball appeals to all ages and genders and whether you are a Yankee Fan or a Red Sox Fan, you can’t help but admire the winning spirit and work ethic of these two baseball legends. This book reads as if it were a conversation between the reader and an avid baseball fan as he alternates between the amazing summers of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and the our joy and love of the game. Play ball!

4. Because Of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea What do you do when your teacher is not acting “normal”? Do you complain about him? Seven fifth graders at Snow Hill School discuss how their lives have been changed by Mr. Terupt. He does not teach in the normal way, instead he lets the students figure things out for themselves. When Mr. Terupt goes into a coma after getting hit on the head with an ice ball thrown by a student, they all realize that he is a very special person. Read this book to find out what good news all the students get when Mr. Terupt comes back for the last day of school.

5. Spunky Tells All by Ann Cameron illustrated by Lauren Castillo Spunky the dog lives with Julian and Huey Bates from The Stories Julian Tells series and describes his family from a dog’s point of view. Being a clever dog he knows what Sit, Stay, Come, Shake Hands and Good Dog mean. Unfortunately, Spunky also knows what Bad Dog means too. When he misbehaves and accidentally swallows Mr. Bates’ sock, he is in big trouble. Discussing Spunky’s problem without even asking his opinion, Julian suggests getting a cat to keep Spunky company. The family agrees and a fluffy spoiled cat named Fiona moves in. Horrified by his new “playmate” Spunky tries to ignore her nasty tricks of drinking out of his water bowl and mushing up his Nibbles. Read to find out what Spunky does when Fiona goes missing and no one in the Bates family can find her.

6. The Cheshire Cat: A Dickens of a Tale Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall Wright; illustrated by Barry Moser For Skilley, a ragged eared cat with multiple scrapes, scars and a broken tail, the famous pub, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese seems like the perfect place to relax. Famous for the grandest cheese in England, the pub is infested with fat mice indulging themselves. Tired of a life scavenging and battling other Toms for food, Skilley finds he’s ready for a change. He slinks in the front door of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Noticing his “cruel-looking” appearance, the innkeeper realizes almost immediately this mouser is just what the inn requires. The Cheshire Cheese attracts the finest writers in London, such as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, William Makepeace Thackery, and Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Skilley does notice that Mr. Dickens often curiously examines him. Life soon proves to be difficult at the Inn as the mice are too clever to manipulate and an old nemesis returns. H threatens to become the head mouser of Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and finish off a fight the two adversaries began long ago. Read to discover the secret that Skilley is too ashamed to share and some unimaginable friendships that change his life forever.

7. Titanic Sinks! by Barry Denenberg We’ve all read books about the catastrophic sinking of the Titanic. This one is different. Dennenberg gives us a remarkably fresh perspective by presenting a combination of fact and fiction to retell the story from the building and launching of the world class ship to its unbelievable sinking and botched rescue. The author creates a true “you are there” feeling through photographs, fictional diary entries, newspaper articles, journalists’ notes, interviews, menus, provision lists and much more. We meet both the heroes and the cowards. We sense the initial denial and confusion, and then feel the fear and panic in our chest as the reality of the situation becomes obvious. We can’t help but ask ourselves what we would have done if we were there. Dennenberg based everything on factual information from extensive research. It includes plenty of fascinating photographs including one picture of the iceberg that may have been the one to take down the Titanic. You won’t be able to put this book down until the last page is read.

8. Tuesday at the Castle by Jessica Day George Princess Celie’s favorite day is Tuesday – that’s the day that the Castle Glower adds a new room, moves a room, or redecorates. Celie’s family has always had a special relationship with the Castle, but Celie seems to have an even closer bond. Disaster strikes. The king and queen’s entourage are attacked while they are on their way to their oldest son’s graduation from Wizard School and now they are missing, presumed dead. The Councilors are pushing Prince Rolf to declare himself King. Will the Castle protect the family or declare allegiance to a new king? Will Celie’s maps of the castle help her save the family and the Castle? If you like action and adventure, you’ll want to read this book!

9. Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs Wisecracking twelve year old Teddy Fitzroy and his parents live at FunJungle Theme Park in San Antonio, Texas. Everyone is shocked when Henry the Hippo, the park’s star attraction, is found dead, floating belly up in his pool. The official word is that the hippo died of natural causes, but Teddy suspects otherwise and decides to sneak into the autopsy (super yucky). When Teddy overhears that Henry was probably murdered, he begins his own investigation. Teddy strikes up a friendship with Sunshine McCracken, feisty daughter of JJ McCracken, owner of FunJungle and soon they are swimming through the poop infested waters of the Hippo River looking for evidence. As they creep closer to the truth, it becomes clear that the killer wants Teddy to stop his investigation. First, he is set up in a much too close encounter with a poisonous mamba snake and then comes face to face with a hungry tiger. Coincidence? He doesn’t think so. Find out if Teddy survives the hippo hi-jinks and solves the murder of Henry the Hippo.

10. The Boy Who Invented TV: The Story of Philo Farnsworth by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Greg Couch What happens to a boy with big ideas who dreams of bringing people together to share his sense of wonder in the world? That boy just might grow up to invent something wonderful, like television. Philo Farnsworth grew up working hard, studying hard, and learning about the thrilling world of magnetism and electricity, despite being teased and bullied at school. Read The Boy who Invented TV to find out how a 14-year old boy plowing a potato field envisioned how images could be transmitted.

11. Benjamin Franklinstein Lives! by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury; illustrated by Matthew McElligott. What do potatoes, exploding volcanoes, and a 200 year-old inventor have in common? Just ask Victor. Middle school student Victor is determined to win this year’s science fair, so he carefully analyzes and determines the best paths to follow. But his well-ordered life and plan are jolted when he discovers a secret basement in his house that leads to an electrifying discovery! None other than THE Benjamin Franklin is alive and well…with some slight modifications such as bolts in his neck and ripples of blue static that shimmer from his fingers. Join Victor and Ben as they race around Philadelphia sending shock-waves everywhere they go!

12. Masters of Disaster by Gary Paulsen Henry Mosley watched a documentary and decided he and his two friends Riley and Reed should have some adventures. “I’m working to create a series of tasks that will Prove Our Manhood and show us What We’re Made Of. And if we play our cards right, we might Alter the Course of History a time or two. And, of course, Impress Girls and Get Them to Notice Us.” Henry designs the adventures, Riley records them and Reed, of course, is the one to carry out the assignments. Their first task is to break the world’s record for the most forward airborne summersaults on a bike, and what better place to launch their attempt then from their vacationing neighbor’s roof? How can they top this adventure? You’ll have to read the book to discover more of their “disasters.”

13. Around the World by Matt Phelan Who hasn’t heard of the book Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne? Many of us also know that book was the inspiration for many races around the world including, most famously, one by Pennsylvania-born journalist Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Corchran) in 1889. Phelan includes three tales of courageous travelers who journey around the planet. The first is the obscure cyclist, Thomas Stevens, who in 1884 bicycled around the world on a bicycle with the huge front whee! Nelly Bly’s challenge to travel around the world in less than 80 days is the second. And the third traveler in this collection is retired sea captain Joshua Slocum who sailed around the world alone in 1895. Phelan’s graphic novel inspires all of us to reach for the stars and set our sights on nothing short of the world.

14. Aliens on Vacation by Clete Barrett Smith David “Scrub” Elliot isn’t happy about leaving his friends and basketball camp in Florida to spend the summer with his grandmother at her Intergalactic Bed and Breakfast in the Pacific northwest. Scrub soon discovers that the guests are a bit on the odd side, in fact they appear to be travelers from other planets! Soon Scrub is in charge of dressing the aliens and helping them maintain their “cover” as tourists while the local sheriff and his daughter cast their suspicious eyes over the inn and its strange inhabitants.

15. The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens Life has been hard for Kate, Michael and Emma. Tossed from orphanage to orphanage over the past ten years, they end up in a gloomy, mysterious stone house in Cambridge Falls, where they appear to be the only orphans! Touring the mansion, they discover an iron-barred room with 60 old dormitory beds, secret passageways, and a mysterious book which whisks them back to a time in Cambridge Falls when families are separated, children are prisoners, dwarves exist and magic is real! The siblings meet the Countess, Dr. Pym, Abraham and Gabriel and have to discover who will help and who is really their enemy. Along the way they realize it is up to them to not only save Cambridge Falls, but the world! Are you up to the challenge to discover the secrets with Kate, Michael and Emma?

16. My Life as a Book by Janet Tashjian; illustrations by Jake Tashjian Twelve year old Derek Fallon is looking forward to a summer filled with tossing avocado grenades, smashing action figures under trucks and climbing onto his garage roof to mess with the satellite dish in his California home. His parents have other plans for him however, and send him to Learning Day Camp for six weeks. Derek is miserable but uncovers a major distraction in his attic. He finds a ten year old newspaper article about an accidental death of teenage girl on a Martha’s Vineyard beach. His parents don’t want to fully explain the event but somehow Derek knows he is connected to this mystery. He sets out to discover the truth behind the girl’s death. If you like Wimpy Kid’s Jeff, you will love Derek too. This is a very funny, satisfying story.

17. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas F. Yezerski Have you ever gone to New York City with your family by car, train or bus, and passed an area that looked all swampy and flat. Have you wondered what it was? Welcome to the Meadowlands, a huge wetlands area in New Jersey where the Hackensack River meets the Newark Bay. In this book, author Thomas Yezerski explains wetlands: areas where freshwater and salt water from the ocean meet and make the ground swampy, spongy, and flat. Lots of very interesting plants and animals thrive in wetlands, things like bog turtles, ospreys and sunflowers. Read about how glaciers formed the Meadlowlands thousands of years ago. Learn about the Lenni Lenape Indians who first started living there, and the European settlers who followed them. After decades of polluting the area with industrial by-products, read about how people started to realize the value of the Meadowlands and began efforts to save them from destruction. If you are a nature freak who loves exploring outdoors, you are going to love this book. If you love drawing things from nature, you are going to love Mr. Yezerski's art work as well. You might even want to find out more about mummichogs, and impress your friends!

18. Remember, it is easy to participate. Just read or listen to at least 3 books from the list by March 1, 2013. At that time Mrs. Haltiwanger will distribute ballots. Votes will be sent to the awards committee by March 15 and the winning titles and authors will be announced at the annual Pennsylvania School Librarians Conference.Keep reading!!! Annotations adapted from psla.org.