Children's Book Awards

• A Little Like Magic by Sarah Kurpiel (Illustrator)

  Call Number: E KUR

  ISBN: 9780593697658

  Publication Date: 2024-10-15

  Winner of the Schneider Book Award and glistening with winter charm, this is an exhilarating, tender story of pushing past your comfort zone and finding inspiration in art and natural beauty. Our young narrator doesn't like itchy hats or cold wind, and she especially doesn't like going places she's never been before. But she reluctantly agrees to join her mom at an ice festival, where they watch sculptors chisel and drill until it's too cold to watch anymore. That night the girl discovers that she has lost the horse figurine she'd brought with her, and she wishes she'd never gone . . . until the next night, when they return to the festival and see what the artists have created: sparkling, glorious sculptures that feel a little like magic. One surprise in particular seems even more magical to the girl. The ice art will stay with her long, long after it has melted away.
• Monster Hands by Karen Kane; Jonaz McMillan; Dion MBD (Illustrator)

  Call Number: E KAN

  ISBN: 9780593532294

  Publication Date: 2024-05-07

  Two best friends use rhyming ASL to help vanquish their fear of the monster under the bed in this fun, interactive bedtime readaloud. When nighttime comes, Milo has a problem-he's convinced there's a monster under his bed! Luckily, his best friend Mel knows just what to do-scare the monster more than the monster scares you! So using shadow puppets on the wall, Mel and Milo make monster hands that roar, chomp and even laugh to scare the monster away. But uh oh! What if the monster thinks this is funny! This is NOT funny! Milo has an idea to show the monster who's boss once and for all. Together Milo and Mel hatch a plan to scare the monster away forever. But in the end, they discover the true cure to a monster problem is a best friend who will stand and face it with you.
• You're SO Amazing! by James Catchpole; Lucy Catchpole; Karen George (Illustrator)

  Call Number: E CAT

  ISBN: 9780316506571

  Publication Date: 2024-04-16

  A Schneider Family Book Award Honor book! ​In this authentic and humorous picture book, a child with a limb difference is tired of being told how amazing he is for doing normal things. Joe and his friend Simone are practicing their best playground tricks, but everyone keeps saying how amazing Joe is, even when he tries to let Simone be the star. Will he ever get to be just Joe, whether he's amazing or not?
• Popcorn by Rob Harrell

  Call Number: FIC HAR

  ISBN: 9780593697924

  Publication Date: 2024-09-03

  Andrew's just trying to make it through Picture Day, which is easier said than done when it seems like the whole world is out to get him--from a bully to a science experiment gone wrong to a someone else's juice snot (don't ask). But as Andrew goes through the school day, and as one thing after another goes wrong, that little kernel of worry in his stomach is getting hotter and hotter, until it threatens to pop and turn into a public panic attack, his worst fear. He tries to keep his anxiety at bay, but the news that his grandmother with Alzheimer's is missing is too much. Interspersed with humorous spot art and "anxiety file" panels that depict the real, difficult feelings of anxiety and OCD and real tips for coping, this is a poignant, personal, and laugh-out-loud funny story about letting go of control and accepting help--all while trying to get the perfect school picture.
• Louder Than Hunger by John Schu

  Call Number: FIC SCH

  ISBN: 9781536229097

  Publication Date: 2024-03-19

  Revered teacher, librarian, and story ambassador John Schu explores anorexia--and self-expression as an act of survival--in the New York Times bestseller wrenching and transformative novel-in-verse. But another voice inside me says, We need help. We're going to die. Jake volunteers at a nursing home because he likes helping people. He likes skating and singing, playing Bingo and Name That Tune, and reading mysteries and comics aloud to his teachers. He also likes avoiding people his own age . . . and the cruelty of mirrors . . . and food. Jake has read about kids like him in books--the weird one, the outsider--and would do anything not to be that kid, including shrink himself down to nothing. But the less he eats, the bigger he feels. How long can Jake punish himself before he truly disappears? A fictionalized account of the author's experiences and emotions living in residential treatment facilities as a young teen with an eating disorder, Louder than Hunger is a triumph of raw honesty. With a deeply personal afterword for context, this much-anticipated verse novel is a powerful model for muffling the destructive voices inside, managing and articulating pain, and embracing self-acceptance, support, and love.
• Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston

  Call Number: FIC WIN

  ISBN: 9781547608508

  Publication Date: 2024-01-16

  Sharkita "Kita" Hayes is always waiting. Waiting for her mama to mess up. Waiting for social services to be called again. Waiting for her and her siblings to be separated. Waiting for her worst fear to come true. But Mama promises things are different now. She's got a good job, she's stopped drinking, stopped going out every night-it's almost enough to make Kita believe her this time. But even as Kita's life is going good, she can't shake the feeling that everything could go up in flames at any moment. When her assistant principal and trusted dance coach starts asking questions about her home life, Kita is more determined than ever to keep up appearances and make sure her family stays together-even if it means falling apart herself. As the threat of her family being separated again circles like a shark in the water, the pressure starts to get to Kita. But could it be that Kita's worst fear is actually the best thing that could happen to her family . . . and to her?

• Henry, Like Always by Jenn Bailey; Mika Song (Illustrator)

  Call Number: *FIC BAI

  ISBN: 9781797213897

  Publication Date: 2023-03-21

  Henry, a first grader on the autism spectrum, attempts to navigate friendships, and sudden changes in classroom routines--like a parade on Friday instead of share time.
• What Happened to You? by James Catchpole; Karen George (Illustrator)

  Call Number: E CAT

  ISBN: 9780571358304

  Publication Date: 2021-04-06

  "Every time Joe goes out, the questions are the same . . . what happened to his leg? but is this even a question Joe has to answer?"--Provided by publisher.
• The Fire, the Water, and Maudie Mcginn by Sally J. Pla

  Call Number: FIC PLA

  ISBN: 9780063268791

  Publication Date: 2023-07-11

  A Schneider Family Book Award winner! Maudie always looks forward to the summers she spends in California with her dad. But this year, she must keep a troubling secret about her home life--one that her mom warned her never to tell. Maudie wants to confide in her dad about her stepdad's anger, but she's scared. When a wildfire strikes, Maudie and her dad are forced to evacuate to the beach town where he grew up. It's another turbulent wave of change. But now, every morning, from their camper, Maudie can see surfers bobbing in the water. She desperately wants to learn, but could she ever be brave enough? As Maudie navigates unfamiliar waters, she makes friends--and her autism no longer feels like the big deal her mom makes it out to be. But her secret is still threatening to sink her. Will Maudie find the strength to reveal the awful truth--and maybe even find some way to stay with Dad--before summer is over?
• Good Different by Meg Eden Kuyatt

  Call Number: FIC KUY

  ISBN: 9781338816105

  Publication Date: 2023-04-04

  "Seventh-grader Selah Godfrey knows that to be 'normal' she has to keep her feelings tightly controlled when people are around, but after hitting a fellow student, she needs to figure out just what makes her different--and why that is ok"--BTCat.
• Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

  Call Number: FIC BOW

  ISBN: 9781368082853

  Publication Date: 2023-01-31

  Two years after a tragedy saddles him with viral fame, twelve-year-old Simon O'Keeffe and his family move to Grin And Bear It, Nebraska, where the internet and cell phones are banned so astrophysicists can scan the sky for signs of alien life, and where, with the help of two new friends, a puppy, and a giant radio telescope, Simon plans to restart the narrative of his life.

• Listen by Shannon Stocker; Devon Holzwarth (Illustrator)

  Call Number: B GLE

  ISBN: 9780593109694

  Publication Date: 2022-04-12

  "A nonfiction picture book biography celebrating Evelyn Glennie, a deaf woman, who became the first full-time solo percussionist in the world"--Provided by publisher.
• Wildoak by C. C. Harrington

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  Call Number: FIC HAR

  ISBN: 9781338803860

  Publication Date: 2022-09-20

  Twelve-year-old Maggie's stutter causes her much heartache and only her menagerie of pets, whom she can speak with fluidly, provide her comfort, but when she finds Rumpus, an abandoned snow leopard in a forest in Cornwall, their chance encounter will change their lives forever.
• Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd

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  Call Number: FIC LLO

  ISBN: 9781338654585

  Publication Date: 2022-08-02

  "When twelve-year-old Olive, who suffers from brittle bone disease and has been homeschooled all her life, finally attends school in person she soon discovers fitting in is not that easy, but if she can find the magical wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives nearby, and prove herself worthy, maybe her deepest wish will be granted"--OCLC.
• Honestly Elliott by Gillian McDunn

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  Call Number: FIC MCD

  ISBN: 9781547611324

  Publication Date: 2023-09-05

  "Elliott is not quite sure where he fits in, but when he's paired with the super-popular Maribel for a school-wide contest, they both learn what it means to be a good friend and how to be the person others can count on"--Provided by publisher.