Voice of Youth Award Books 2004-2005 7th and 8th grades
Andrew Clements. Things Not Seen. 2002.
Fifteen-year-old Bobby wakes up one winter morning, looks at himself
in the bathroom mirror, and realizes in shock that there is no one there.
He has become invisible overnight. His parents have to know, but should he
tell the rest of the world? Read more about Things Not Seen in Kids' Books We Love!
Cornelia Funke. The Thief Lord. 2002.
Orphaned 12-year-old Prosper and his little brother Bo have fled to
the thrilling underworld of Venice. Enchanted by the crowded, narrow
alleys and canals, they befriend a group of street children living in an
abandoned movie theatre. Scipio is the Thief Lord, the ringleader who
directs their thievery. Their lives are to change forever as Scipio takes
them on a mysterious adventure. Read more about The Thief Lord in Kids' Books We Love!
Carl Hiaasen. Hoot. 2002.
Roy Eberhardt has just moved to Coconut Cove, Florida. It's not his
first time being the new kid at school, and he is used to the bullying.
Ironically, it's when Dana Matherson mashes Roy's head against the school
bus window that he spots a running, barefoot boy nicknamed Mullet Fingers.
Roy senses a mystery when Mullet does not show up for school several days
in a row and weird things start happening: alligators in a potty, snakes
with their mouths tied. Read more about Hoot in Kids' Books We Love!
Patrice Kindl. Goose Chase. 2001.
Goose Girl, known as such for her twelve feathered friends, is stuck
in a tower. She is to stay there until she completes her wedding gown and
decides if she will marry King Claudio the Cruel or Prince Edmund of Dorloo. She has no intentions to marry either one. Will Goose
Girl escape
her predicament and find true love?
Vicki Leon. Outrageous Women of Ancient Times. 1998.
Who were Semiramis of Assyria, Trung Trac of Vietnam, or Hedea of
Greece? Women have accomplished extraordinary things all through history,
but men have gotten most of the credit in history books. Find out how
Hedea competed barefoot in many games and even participated in dangerous
chariot races to become one of the first true athletic superstars.
Ann M. Martin. A Corner of the Universe. 2002.
Hattie Owen wants this to be an absolutely ordinary summer. Her plans
are turned upside down when her mentally ill Uncle Adam moves back home
unexpectedly. Though often stunned at his eccentric behaviors, Hattie
learns to understand and appreciate him like no one else-- changing not
just her summer of 1961, but her entire outlook on life. Read more about A Corner of the Universe in Kids' Books We Love!
Robin McKinley. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the
Beast. 1978.
Beauty is the daughter of a prosperous ship-owner living an easy,
luxurious life. The family's life changes abruptly when his entire fleet
is lost and they are forced to move back to his home town. When Father
gets lost in the forest one day and is trapped on the Beast's grounds, it
is up to Beauty to save his life. Read more about Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast in Kids' Books We Love!
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Blizzard's Wake. 2002.
The year is 1941. Four years after her mother's death, caused by a
drunk driver, 12-year-old Kate Sterling is still grieving. She is all
alone at home when a spring blizzard moves in and her father and brother
are stranded in their car right outside their home. After struggling
frantically to save them, she stands face to face with the last person she
ever wanted to see. Read more about Blizzard's Wake in Kids' Books We Love!
Mary Pope Osborne. Adaline Falling Star. 2000.
Eleven-year-old Adaline Falling Star is full of sorrow. Her Native
American mother has died of cholera and now her Anglo father has sent her
to live with his cruel, racist cousin's family in St. Louis while he joins
a mapping expedition in the Rocky Mountains. Adaline is put to work as a
servant and when her father fails to return, she decides to take things
into her own hands. Read more about Adaline Falling Star in Kids' Books We Love!
Bill Weaver. Memory Boy. 2001.
Fast forward to the summer of 2008. The earth is nearly unlivable with
ash still falling from the sky two years after the eruption of Mount
Rainier. Sunlight is as valuable as food and people in the cities turn to
crime to survive. With the use of cars pretty much banned, Miles Newell, a
16-year-old boy, has invented a vehicle that will get himself and his
family out of Minneapolis and safely to their country cottage.
